Page 1, homemade sketchbook of legion Aqua HP
Vaccinium mrytillis [Bilberry or Blaeberry] with Polygala serpyllifolia [Heath milkwort] on abandoned peat cuttings.
Abandoned peat cuttings are a common part of the landscape in Scotland. Whilst some remote communities still utilise peat as a fuel, many sites have long been abandoned. As not all the site is cut a stepped topography is created with drier peat dominated by ericaceous species sitting above saturated hollows of varying Sphagnum species and smaller wildflowers.
******* Finally decided to abandon bought sketchbooks and make a one with the surface I prefer to use. Jacksons Art which stock Legion, also do a cutting surface and the 1/4 cut sheets fold nicely into signatures, giving pages just under A4 size. Also learnt a new skill in coptic stitch bookbinding
I've spent the summer recording the botany on peatlands in North of the UK, getting about on my bike and on foot, with funding from John Muir Trust Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant and Alpkit foundation. I have several loose sketches in my old sketchbooks plus lots of reference photos. I'm know transferring to my homemade book with more detail as a final go to reference for final pieces of work I'll do over the winter.
