Hollow-tree....and Signs of Spring

Apparently we're halfway through Winter, or to put it more optimistically...halfway to Spring. In a break from dressing some new characters I had a wander round my garden this morning in the sun - yes just for a bit, real sun.

I had hoped to find a few snowdrops to pick, but it seemed a shame, so I left them to open and took the camera instead to capture a few spring pictures.

The Viburnum Bonantense looks and smells wonderful and I've Hellebores in  many different shades about to open properly.

Sadly the slugs have also sensed fresh flowers about and they've ravaged patches of the delicate Iris Reticulata Katharine Hodgkin - my absolute favourite - I felt quite murderous....don't slugs EVER sleep?
I've also found some beautiful toadstools, which I find very fascinating.

The toadstool picture leads me neatly on to Hollow-tree, which is a quirky cross between a naturalistic piece in 1/12th scale and if you turn it around it's a 1/48th scale dwelling......I can't really call it a cottage can I?

Along with a couple of new 1/48th scale cottages, Hollow-tree was one of the new miniatures I completed while I was waiting for my wrist to be strong enough for sculpting in the weeks around Christmas. 
I've been dithering about keeping it as it is a 'one and only', but I've decided it will go on our Coombe Crafts stand at The Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair later in the month. Creating something like this that reflects my love of nature and wild things has given me huge pleasure and I'd like to do more when there is time......never enough is there?

The old hollow tree is mossy and crumbling...a woodpecker is pecking away at the bark and a squirrel runs down from a branch to see what the rabbits are up to. The soft green bank and ferns shelter little violets and ivy is beginning to take over - all in 1/12th scale. Inside the hollow trunk I've created two tiny rooms and a look-out linked by a fixed ladder and a 'rope' ladder made from twigs.  While I think my 1/48th characters would feel very at home living there, I can also imagine it being home to a family of little animals or fairy folk.
If you click on the images you'll see more detail. 

Thank you for looking and for kind comments, and a warm welcome to new Followers over the last few weeks.
Robin