Watercolour illustration - Swifts Soaring high

Who loves watching Swifts soaring high in the sky? 😍

I tied to capture them on film while out on my walk the other day, but like their name, they are extremely Swift!

This is my hand painted watercolour illustration of a Swift, Swallow and House Martin and is a bit easier to see 😂

This is another illustration from inside Melissa Harrison's amazing nature journal

Written by Melissa Harrison 

Fully illustrated by me

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Out November 2024.

Foraging & making Elderflower Cordial

I love Elderflower cordial, every year i say that i am going to forage and make some. This year I have actually done it!

Thought I would share with you my first attempt. Very happy with the finished cordial, I would definitely recommend giving it a go. 

I used roughly 20 heads of elderflower 

500g of caster sugar

4 tablespoons of honey

2 lemons.

1 litre of water.

Melt sugar & honey in 1 litre of water. Gently bring to the boil, until sugar has melted

Grate in lemon zest and add the Elderflower to the melted sugar water.

Squeeze in the lemon juice from one lemon and slice and add the second lemon to mixture.

Take off heat, cover & infuse for 24 hours.

Strain cordial through muslin and add to sterilised bottle.

Enjoy! 😊

Watercolour nature illustration for July's nature journal opener.

 Hello July! Lots to enjoy in nature this month. Look out for the Hummingbird hawk-moth 😍

 They are sometimes found hovering in front of tube-shaped flowers like Buddleia.

This is the final hand painted watercolour artwork from Homecoming: A Guided journal to lead you back to nature. Written by Melissa Harrison, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, will be published in November 2024.