Gardeners Crafting Diary of Wonderment July 2026
- Cat's Punky Stuff
- Jul 31
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 3
It has been a great July, filled with many precious moments and some big wins. I had my son stay for three weeks, so I had a bit of time off from everything usual. It was very sweet, as when he got home from work each afternoon, we would harvest strawberries and later raspberries, sitting in the garden until late evening talking nonsense. He has now gone to Canada for work and so I am back to preparing for the coming festive season. I know it may be 5 months away, but it will start getting busy from mid-September onwards. It may be warm outside, but inside it is all about robins and draft excluders.
1st JULY
Guardians of the Meadow
One of the best things about living in Lincolnshire is being part of the farming community. Our role is very, very small, as we are Guardians of the Meadow! Our drive doesn't belong to us, but to the flower meadow behind our house and usually in July the farmer comes to mow it. It is a big event and chaotic, with the enormous farm machinery only just making the turn onto our drive, plus the excitement of watching the different machines do their job up close. We have given the machines very un-farmy names, like the fluffer! Once they have baled it, we collect the loose left behind and store it in a duvet cover. It will be used as bedding for the chicken hut over Winter.
4th JULY
Holly Blue visit
I plan to spend most of the month rewriting my Etsy listings, so it is all perfect for the festive season. Things change quite often with selling online, not just trends and in-things, but also the way the platform is run. The wording used, how the words are used and just the general functionality can mean Etsy listings lose some of their visibility. Twice a year I clean house by amending listings and taking better photographs. It was nice enough to sit out and so I did my computing on the patio. Whilst sat, this
Holly Blue butterfly came and sat on my knee. He sat for ages and turned around, so I got photos of all of his profiles, we became great friends.
5th July
Butterfly Visit 2.0
You're not going to believe it, but here is the photo to prove it. ANOTHER butterfly, a Red Admiral, landed on my knee again, just like yesterday, but a different butterfly. Now, I have had sparrows and many bugs land on me in my time, but two butterflies two days on the trot? I am always curious when things like this happen, so I checked it out. Folklore says this is a good omen and could be a sign of change, luck and connection. My research was extensive and I discovered it is a worldwide cultural thing, that landing butterflies is a big deal and that for it to happen two days on the trot, I must be in for a right treat.
7th July
Lots o' Phlox
This photograph does not do the flowers any justice, because these Phlox are absolutely stunning! These are called 'Creme Brulee' and I will be growing them every year because they are just incredible. I love them as much as 'Bloody Mary' nasturtiums and have taken hundreds of photos of them. Phlox are very leggy and although these are bushier than previous years, I need to do more research on pinching them out more.
8th July
Butterflies were right
Today is a great day; my son has come to stay with us for a few weeks before his new job in Canada, having not seen him for six months. Did the butterflies know? I think they did. Whilst I waited for him to come home, I rewrote my Drafty listings as they have been underperforming for the last two winters. I really like making these, as they are very creative, but with them not doing so well, I have re-branded them as a Rustic Yuletide Gift. These Drafties are all inspired by the colours in my garden and the surrounding fen countryside. This one is titled 'Summers Sunset'!
12th July
This green and pleasant land
I quite often stop to take landscape photos and this one is just wonderful. The barley is nearly ready and although not as golden as wheat or orangy like flax, it moves with a lightness and grace, giving off beautiful harmonics as the wind whispers sweet nothings through it. To me, this photo represents all that is British, the vast open field under an unusually picturesque sky, growing a cereal to feed the nation. If ever you come to Lincolnshire in July, allow some extra time, as the tractors are out till all hours.
This time of year you hear the harvesters working through the night and the farm machine rumbling past the house becomes subtle background noise. Blessings to all farmers!
15th July
'Owl always love you'
I have dug out my mechanical-familiar drawings, having recently recoloured them. They were very subtle in colour and did sell well when I first started out on eBay back in 2019, but I felt I could add some great moody colour and relaunch them. The owl is my favourite, but there is also a rooster, bee and fish. I have been slow in getting these out there, as they were originally designed for my steampunk range. I have spent many hours researching how I would work the mechanics of wildlife into a pagan theme.
These god-forged owls could make for a great alternative Solstice card; it has that cold, mysterious feel of magic in the air, plus the wisdom of the season.
17th July
Sunrise time!
I rise each morning anytime from 4 to 6 am, depending on the time of year, as I tend to rise as the sun does. To me, the perfect summer day starts very early in the morning, watching the sun come up whilst it is warm enough to wear just shorts and a t-shirt. There are only a few days a year I get to do this and today was one of them. I just managed to get the tail-end of the sunrise with a really lovely array of colours.
18th July
Fencing Master!
One of the things I have designed that I love the most is our front fence. However, it has been a pain in my little world since it was completed! As many of you will know, I never use white in my making and house decorating is no different and so finding a wood paint that is more of a weak tea colour was a nightmare. We used a cream stain at first, but it went very dirty very quickly from the traffic on the road. I tried another variety and that was no different. My neighbour painted his fence in what can only be described as coloured custard, a thick coating paint and so I set out to find the right colour. Rather than trawling around garden centres for the right paint, I should have just gone to a proper paint shop. I did that this week and had it made in the cream colour I wanted. All of this week we have been clearing the dried-up plants and painting the fence. It looks fabulous, at last!
22nd July
Puzzled by a puzzle!
I have always loved doing jigsaw puzzles and have started buying them from charity shops for a few pounds each. Things have changed since I last did one, as now they come with strange-shaped pieces and challenges. This puzzle was a particular toughy, as the pieces were the strangest shape, some tiny, some huge. I find doing puzzles to be very relaxing and there are so many different ones to choose from, though new ones from the shops are a bit pricey. My new favourite hobby is puzzle hunting!
28th July
Colour Studies
I am still taking lots of photographs of flower close-ups, but sometimes there is a little gem like this, showing how nature changes colours, in this case from yellow to deep salmon-pink. So many of my Drafties start out like this, just a beautiful colour palette. Later in the year I plan to open an Adobe Stock Photo account for my best flower photos so I am still taking shots, though it has been difficult because it is windy every day. I think I might have to go to the garden centre again to catch up.
29th July
Pom Pom Madness
Once I have finished rewriting my Etsy listing, I will start making new door charm garlands from recycled pom poms. I have already dismantled a couple of pom pom wreaths ready to be trimmed, tarted up and strung onto various twines and ribbons. I have bought some large, antique bronze acorn bells and rustic jingle bells, but I plan to also make some runes from clay. This is a whole new venture, as it is years since I have used clay, but as this is only air-drying clay, I am hoping the pitfalls will be minimal. I am currently exploring whether it's worth putting a pattern on the back of the stone-looking rune, but it may look better if they look just like a pebble. I will have a play.
I am also going to make some bluebell blue poms to glue to a dead bush I have. It was in a pot by the front door in a cold, dark, north-facing wall. I plan to use lots of blues to make many different sized and coloured poms, offering year round colour that won't need watering!
30th July
Time for signs again
Boy, that came around quickly; it is our next Crafters Recycling Fair in 6 weeks, so it is time to start preparing. There isn't as much to do as there was for the fayre in May, but I do need to paint the dates for the road signs. I also plan to make a few plaques to sell at the Samhain Fayre, hand-painted just like the signs. I have been researching great garden sayings, such as 'Beware, free-roaming snap-dragons', 'Thyme for spells and seeds' and 'Peas and love'. I will use the new, thick cream-fence paint, so I know they will be sealed well, with a great blue/green/grey colour, one of those colours you can't tell which it is!
31st July
Rockin' Robins
It's nearly August, the height of summer, the month we all look forward to lolling around the garden, but in my world, I am already in the festive mood as the time approaches to stock-up the robins. I have to be very careful this Christmas, as I have a massive pagan Yuletide Fayre to plan and organise at the start of November. I must make sure I am fully prepared and so I have been printing stacks of address labels and compliment slips, making sure I have sewn fabric squares for my cards and stacks of robins. I will need extra robins this year, as they will be a big seller at the Yuletide Fayre. So, think of me as I start to make 200 robins!
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