Author: The Dissectologist

By contributing Artist Dorothy Berry-Lound

My Special Garden

Shhhhh! Don’t tell anyone but I have a special garden. A little piece of Italian countryside that is all mine. And I just love sitting surrounded by nature listening to birds singing. It is a constant source of inspiration for my art. Let me tell you about it.

The Seat Among The Iris

This little area of my land is the place to sit to watch the sunset. I used to sit on the stone wall and watch as the sun went down behind the olive trees. But then my husband treated me to a very posh wooden seat which is now my go-to place. And there is room for me and at least two cats.

My special garden is a square patch of grass bordered by an access path on one side with an olive grove opposite edged with irises. A stone wall holds back a sprawling fig tree. And opposite the fig tree, on the other side of the grass, beautiful trees and olive groves stretching as far as the eye can see.

The view from my seat is spectacular. I can see down to Lake Trasimeno way off down the valley and the mountains beyond. It is only a small piece of my land, the rest of which is covered in olive trees, fruit and nut trees and woodland. But it such a magical place to spend time. Partly because you can see for miles. But also because I get to enjoy so many birds, animals and wild flowers.

Italian Snow Scene

Even in winter I can sit in my special garden, all snuggled up in warm clothes, probably with a cat on my lap. I can sit looking at the view and enjoy the fresh air. That is until I can’t feel my nose and I retreat back inside to warm up by the log stove.

Trees lose their leaves late in the year in my part of Italy, with golden leaves still hanging on to trees well into winter snow fall. The leaves form a carpet on the ground that crunch when you walk when dry– or you slide around on them if it has been raining!

Where Wild Violets Grow

Early spring and, oh my, the joy of seeing the first wild violets carpeting the land. Such simple beauty springing out of the leaf litter.

As spring develops the migrating birds start to arrive. I can sit on my seat and watch them swooping around, checking old nests and fighting with each other. We get a lot of bee-eaters which are so pretty. They make the most wonderful ‘trilling’ sound as they fly overhead and swoop around me.

But I always feel that spring has really arrived when the hoopoes get here. Such a cute bird with a crest and a habit of bobbing up and down and saying ‘oop-oop, oop-oop’. So comical, they are one of my favourites.

There are more wild animals at this time of year too, coming lower down the mountain. I have a wildlife camera that captures them at night and they all visit my special garden. Wild boar, porcupines, deer, badgers, foxes and pine martens.

It is funny to sit in my seat know what was going on around it the night before!

Flower Spikes In Early Summer

Going into early summer the wild flowers are in full bloom, with my seat surrounded by a riot of colour. From simple daisies to beautiful red poppies and more. By now the sunsets are really spectacular, though sitting in my special garden runs the risk of mosquito bites! There is a gorgeous little wild orchid that appeared a few years ago in my garden, really tiny. Now it grows right in the middle of my little garden area and I have to be careful not to tread on it. Somehow the animals seem to manage to avoid it.

The irises that I planted start to show their flower heads at this time of year. Other plans bloom and some beautiful flower spikes appear. These gorgeous white blooms appear just opposite where I sit and are just stunning!

My Secret Iris Garden

My pride and joy are my irises. I started with just a few and each year I split them and replant and we have several areas that burst into colour. There are hundreds of them now. But none so spectacular as on the edge of my special garden. I share them with the porcupines as they love them! If I am lucky, they will wait until the irises have finished blooming before digging them up and eating the stem tubers. They leave the leaves and flower spikes scattered on the ground in their wake! They are little hooligans.

As the year goes on the plum tree on the edge of my garden comes into fruit and underneath the tree, next to my seat becomes a hive of activity! Thank goodness for my wildlife camera, it lets me see what happens in my special garden when I am not there. All the wild animals come to feed from the fruit that has fallen.

They do the same thing when the fig tree behind me is full of fruit. The foxes climb the tree to knock the figs onto the ground so they can eat them. Deer reach up their long necks and eat the figs directly off the trees. The wild boar and badgers just bulldoze their way around behind my seat grabbing what they can find. And the porcupines have a continuous party, as now they can search among the remains of the iris for the fallen figs.

So, what do you think? Am I right to describe it as my special garden? I think so. Thank you for sharing it with me.

All of the images in this article are available to purchase as beautiful jigsaw puzzles (and as fine art prints).

About the Puzzles

The puzzles are available from Pictorem with free shipping in the USA and Canada.

Unlike traditional printing, this artwork is precisely produced by sublimation print. Pictorem utilize heat and pressure to transfer images directly into the surface of the puzzle, bonding the image to the substrate at the molecular level. All protected by a high-gloss varnish.

The puzzles are available in four sizes, 120, 315, 500 and 1,000 pieces. 30 days satisfaction guaranteed.

Links:

The Seat Among The Iris – https://www.pictorem.com/289091/The%20Seat%20Among%20The%20Iris.html

Italian Snow Scene – https://www.pictorem.com/383413/Italian%20Snow%20Scene.html

Where Wild Violets Grow – https://www.pictorem.com/444799/Where%20Wild%20Violets%20Grow.html

Flower Spikes In Early Summer – https://www.pictorem.com/453365/Flower%20Spikes%20in%20Early%20Summer.html

My Secret Iris Garden – https://www.pictorem.com/187170/My%20Secret%20Iris%20Garden.html

By contributing artist Dorothy Berry-Lound

Matchbox Label Collecting

Phillumeny

Collecting is a popular hobby; people collect all manner of things, from autographs to stamps to silver spoons and anything in between. My husband, Graham Irwin collects matchbox labels (which is sometimes known as phillumeny). Before cigarette lighters and central heating, matches were a more common household item, which made them an easy thing to start collecting. Growing A Collection

From picking up discarded boxes on the pavement, the hobby grew to swapping with fellow collectors and buying interesting labels from dealers. Over the years Graham’s collection has reached a modest 5,000 or so labels from all corners of the world. Creating a Matchbox Labels Collage

Whilst making a web page to promote his collection, Graham decided to make a collage of a few labels. He selected about 45 labels from various countries, including Japan, Nigeria, Egypt, Belgium, Pakistan, Rhodesia, Thailand, Trinidad, South Africa, Syria, Hungary, Iran, India, Poland, Austria.

Graham showed me the collage and I thought it would make a great fine art print and jigsaw puzzle. With Graham’s collaboration and approval, I put the collage through a painter program and then uploaded it to my collection at Pictorem.

It makes a fun, colorful and challenging jigsaw puzzle don’t you think?

About the Puzzles

This puzzle is available from Pictorem with free shipping in the USA and Canada.

Unlike traditional printing, this artwork is precisely produced by a sublimation print process. Pictorem utilize heat and pressure to transfer images directly into the surface of the puzzle, bonding the image to the substrate at the molecular level. All protected by a high-gloss varnish.

The puzzles are available in four sizes, 120, 315, 500 and 1,000 pieces. 30 days satisfaction guaranteed.

Links:

Matchbox Labels Collage Jigsaw Puzzle: https://www.pictorem.com/423132/Matchbox%20Label%20Collage.html

Graham’s matchbox label collection: https://www.compassion-in-business.co.uk/matchbox-labels/

Click to learn more about the artist: Dorothy Berry-Lound.