Thursday 28 May 2015

New workshop and a bit of personal news

Those of you who like to come to my workshops from time to time will perhaps have realised that I am not offering any workshops in September or October this year, this is because at the end of September we are expecting our first grandchild! We are very excited about it of course and perhaps this has inspired me a little with the final workshop I am offering for this year on November 14th. Painting children paddling, we will be painting a couple of paintings during the workshop, of both boys and girls. 
This will give you an idea of the kind of thing we will do.


I will be able to paint some more examples for you this summer when the river here in the village is crowded with children many with little fishing nets and home made boats. I will enjoy sharing these lovely techniques with you in November. 

Monday 25 May 2015

Visit to the Lake District

I love to visit Keswick in Cumbria, its one of my favourite places to meet family and go walking with Maggie May and this Spring we had four wonderful days there.
The early mornings can be glorious, no one is about and if there is not a breath of wind the reflections look amazing.
Its funny but I find myself whispering on these lovely mornings, sound seems to carry across Derwent water, the birds seem louder, our footsteps crunch in the pebbles and I feel like we are intruding on nature. Its a truly magical place.


Maggie explores all over and sniffs along the shoreline, she discovers all sorts of things we perhaps would not notice. This is one of the boats you can take out onto the lake.... I have to say, we took the motorised one instead!
You can buy a day ticket for the boats on Derwent water, they go both clockwise and anti clockwise round the lake, stopping of at the little jetties along the way.
We tend to go on one leg (not literally of course) get off at the first stop, then walk along the pathway round the lake till we reach the next jetty, where we pick up the next boat, then we go off to the next jetty.

If we fancy a coffee we get back on a boat again and head for a hotel or an obviously populated place where the boat stops. We meet all kinds of lovely people walking in both directions, often seeing them again later in the day.

The walks take us through some of the most beautiful scenery, very unspoilt. the sheep have all had their lambs which seemed so tame, they were wandering over the paths oblivious to us. Maggie however had to be kept on her lead because she would want to 'play' with them, which would be a disaster! She has never been so close to lambs other than on the farm with a gate in-between.
They were adorable!

We took lots of photos, walked for miles, found some great pubs to eat in and enjoyed being with family, catching up with news and getting lots of fresh air.
The Lake District is so different from Bourton on the Water but both have a lovely slow pace. No one rushes about, and we all find the time to smell the roses.