Welcome May! The month where the garden feels vital and unstoppable, full of promise, starting to burst in to bloom, the first signs of strawberries, bluebells, picking our first radishes, and feeling the warming sun on our backs as we crab on the pier with the kids on school holidays! The days are getting longer, and suddenly the air is full of birdsong!
The veg patch is starting to come to life! The seeds I planted back in March are all popping though, delicate carrot tops, the crimson leaves of beetroot, and we picked our first batch or radishes!
Pickled with mustard seeds, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar! delicious!
We have been very blessed with an abundance of wild garlic this year, I have never seen so much! We have been making lots of pesto! So much that we have been also gifting it to friends!
This month, the hedgerow is teeming with tiny creatures, there is an abundance of food for all the new arrivals. We have blue tits nesting in 2 of our boxes, and great tits in another. A nest full of hungry baby birds can eat as many as 400 caterpillars a day!
Every day there is a new flower, and I can't help feel some gratitude at the familiar plants that return every year. Hawthorn flowers, swaying cuckoo flowers (or lady's smock which open around the time the cuckoo starts to call) , cow parsley lining our pathways, wild garlic and blue bells.
Heading out to the coast, this month is the best month for costal flowers in Cornwall. We are very lucky to walk these coastal paths and learn about the flowers that thrive and grow in the salty sea air.
Sea pinks (thrift) valerian, sea campion, New Zealand ice plant, wild irises and 
I've been busy in the studio this month, working on some paintings for some new fabric designs!
I hope you have enjoyed May as much as I have!
See you in June!
Hi Fiona
Love your blog! I spend a lot of time outdoors observing the changing seasons, looking at the wild flowers and all the little creatures we are fortunate to live amongst. We have lots of wild birds and several owls. I really love your designs and we have been stocking them for a few months now in our shop in Skipton, and they are admired and sell regularly. I’ve enjoyed looking at your new designs on here too! We sell a lot of books about wildlife too so your items are a good fit. Thank you for such gorgeous illustrations and such nicely made products!
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