Paula MacGregor Mixed Media Artist in: Assemblage & BookWorks
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the summer house - is more than it seems....

26/6/2020

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the summer house in all seasons
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We built this summer house in the style of a beach hut, as a memorial to my mum. It was to keep her ashes in (dads have since joined her). But it is much more than that - it is a permanent art installation as well. My art work is very museum like, it is the historical cabinets of curiosity that inspire me. The photo below will give you an idea of what it looks like inside. 
There is a wonderful atmosphere inside, I often just go and sit in there with the door shut and close my eyes...
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the meditation bench

19/6/2020

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We built this structure last summer - the wood is all reclaimed. Most of it had belonged in a nursery school garden I think as there were big wooden animals attached as well as lots of random paint daubs! We cut one of the large panels in half, giving us two ends - then all we needed to do was make a top. Once it was all stained forest green it looked great! We already had this rustic bench in the garden, so we moved it over into the shelter.

We built three wooden planters, the third one is in the centre round the other side. I planted jasmine and lavender at the front, and passion flower and lavender round the back. Hopefully it will be a beautifully fragrant place to sit. I often use jasmine and lavender oils together in the house and as a temple balm - so I know their calming properties.

Can you see the two verdigris peacocks on the top? Behind them is our dove cotte - for many years we kept beautiful, free flying, white fantailed doves. But last year they were constantly harassed by sparrow hawks - and now there are none.

​If you look at the rainy day picture below, you can see that when we sit on this bench we have a lovely view of the pond, and can hear the running water.
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This is Toby, our first rescue rottweiller - keeping an eye on some juvenile doves. He was such a gentle giant, sitting so still letting the birds come up to him.
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Love-a-doves - can you see the two tiny babies at the back of the box? Dad cares for them in the day time, and mum takes her turn at night.
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Rain

18/6/2020

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There is nothing like the smell of rain after a long dry spell. It came down in what my mum would have called 'stair rods'. Washing the dust away, refreshing everything it touched. The poor grass was looking more like a beach than a lawn. We do not do 'knife and fork' gardening, we leave areas wild as much as possible. Over by the barns is our wild swathe, it is full of buttercups, Ox Eyed daisies, Peggles, nettles and other wild flowers. The greenery at the far end and the left side is part of our traditional Old English Hedgerow. 

Our pond was here when we moved in, 17 years ago - but it had been filled in. My kids decided to dig it out one day - the stuff we found in it, lol! It has been extended several times and now has three areas, the main pond, which is kept netted to keep the fish safe - on the left is a shallow rock pool for the wild life to drink and bathe in - at the back is a lily pond.

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some of the 'not so wild' animals we share our life with...

15/6/2020

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Top left: Lola, Barley and Fudge - all rescue dogs. Top right: Lola, Beth and Cody - all rescue dogs, but only Lola is left now. Bottom left: Barley and Fudge - both rescues. Middle is Raven and Bracken, a mischievous pair of pups - bottom right is Lola and Raven again. We have rescued four rotties over the last 18 years, we love them, unfortunately they do not have a very long life span. 
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some of the wildlife we are privileged to share our domain with...

11/6/2020

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Our baby Tawny Owls - the one that is being held has just been 'rung' so it can be identified at a later date.
This is our fourth successful clutch over about seven years, we often hear the adults 'twit-twooing'. 
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below: grass snake - giant green bush cricket - bunnies - juvenile gold finches - swallows 
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below: baby toad - baby toad - common lizard - Mr & Mrs Toad - common lizard
​Our garden is on the migration path for frogs, toads, lizards and newts - we see lots of them.
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We also have foxes, badgers and deer - sparrow hawks, buzzards and kites - goldfinch, bullfinch and chaffinch. 
Grass snakes and adders - Great Crested newts, Smooth newts and Palmate newts -  and so many more....
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a peep behind the scenes of my secret life...

10/6/2020

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I live in a tiny hamlet on the edge of Colchester, Essex, in the UK
Colchester is Britains oldest recorded town!
A few years before we came to live here, 17 years ago, it was a dairy farm - so we are surrounded by lots of quiet countryside. The view at the top of this page is the back meadow - there is a big lake opposite us, a water meadow at the side of us and hundreds of trees all around.
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This 2013 Google image shows the position of our 'humble abode'. The barns in the old farm yard next door have been renovated since we moved here and are now small business units. We have access to the yard where we walk the dogs - the red arrow pinpoints our own area. 

When we first moved here, the tumbled down derelict barns were full of wild life, barn owls, stoats and hundreds of swallows. Most of that left during the renovations - but there is an owl box which has been home to several lots of Tawny Owls, and the swallows still come each spring - but not so many anymore
Never a day goes by without us saying how lucky we are to live here.
Our dining room looks out onto a traditional Old English hedgerow, so whenever we sit at the table our view is straight into our own personal nature reserve!

​This photo was taken late autumn - the view is quite different in the spring! We keep that part of the hedge cut lower so that we can see into the 'willows'.

This north west facing window sill is perfect for my collection of orchids. I will photograph them again in a couple of weeks because there are so many new flower stems coming up, that it promises to be an amazing display. Most of them are white, because I love the pure simplicity of all white  flowers.
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