Nurses, Nests and more Spring Flowers

This is the collage greeting card I made for the hospital staff at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, where everyone seemed to go out of their way to make me feel comfortable in what could hardly be called the most comfortable of situations!

And - spot the difference! -  I made a customizable version to upload so that customers can write the appropriate text on the ‘clipboard’ at the foot of the bed.

Customizable Thank You Card for Hospital Staff by helikettle

Once the card was winging its way to The Valleys – the brand new hospital is a replacement for the old Miners’ Hospital – I made a start on a new repeating pattern to use for creating products on Zazzle.

I had really intended to make a start on some less flowery, more masculine designs. But with blue skies, very warm sunshine and temperatures in the upper teens, it seemed as if -

'The Spring is sprung

The grass is riz

I wonder where the boidies is . . .'

Well, I know where one of the ‘boidies’ is! It’s nesting on top of the little plastic greenhouse just outside the French doors of my dining room where I work!

I’ve noticed birds, sparrows and blackbirds mostly, getting in under the honeysuckle, finding some sort of food in amongst the leaves that drop onto the roof and stay there, making it sag a little, unless I get around to clearing it out.

But one morning, as I was working as usual, I heard a tremendous flapping of wings against the plastic. I went out to investigate, thinking that a bird must be trapped and unable to take off from the slippery, plastic surface.

And there was Mother Blackbird, peeping out at me and not looking particularly 'stuck'. But I thought maybe her apparently composed demeanour was a cover for sheer terror; so I went off in search of something to lift the roof gently from inside, to help her on her way. But as I did so, out she flew, no problem at all!

But then I've been hearing more flapping, at intervals throughout the days – as my bedroom is directly above the dining room, the beating of wings against the plastic woke me up a couple of mornings. Sometimes it sounds like a helicopter! And I took this photo through my kitchen window. Other birds fly away as soon as I get anywhere near a window with my camera but the blackbirds here seem to be remarkably tame - as well as singing more beautifully than in England, Wales being known as The Land of Song, of course!

When she had flown away, I was able to see the beginnings of a nest! I have no idea what all the flapping is about. It appears to be part of the nest-building process. Maybe somebody who knows about birds can tell me?

Last time I was able to take a peek, the nest had grown considerably and seemed to be dripping with mud – not very inviting, I should think!

So this long diversion has been by way of explaining why I just had to embark upon yet another floral design! 

This time it is Spring Flowers, primroses, prompted by another scruffy scrap of tracing paper I found in the treasure trove that is my Screenprinting Designs Folder from more than 20 years ago and the signs of spring that are 'bursting out all over' in my garden!

Here are four 'blocks' of the handpainted design, put together on my computer and then 'tidied up' so that the 'join' isn't too apparent -

Watch out for these primroses as they gradually appear on everything from cushions (pillows) and tea pots to phonecases and iPad sleeves, during the course of this week!

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