Hedgehog watercolour completed!

My apologies for only showing you the early stages of my watercolour painting. As you can see, this fellow is completed! Well out of hibernation!

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Early bluebells

It was so exciting to see these early Bluebells in an ancient woodland.

Usually my poetry tends to be freeverse however in one of my notebooks I came across an example of a ‘Rectum refrain and decided to write my Early Blue bell poem using the Rectum refrain style.

So basically a poem written in the above style should have 10 lines. The first line contains one syllable only, the second 2 syllables and so on. However line 10 should contain a combination of lines 1-4 thus making 10 syllables. No rhyming!

It was a challenge. I hope I got it right! However producing a poem about the experience I had of that walk, coming across the wood and Hawthorn blossom and using my senses and imagination, was far more important to me. I hope you enjoy it.

Early Bluebells

Blue,

Blue bells.

Blue bells shake.

Chilly winds wake,

Woodland creatures hide.

Twigs, new shoots lime green, fresh.

Blossom pure, delicate, intense

Hawthorn spike in dark hollows shine

Glassy eyed rabbits shy waiting. Still.

Blue blue bells blue bells shake chilly -winds wake

Cowslip bells

Mellow yellow

Cowslip ‘bells’

Jingling in scented meadows

And musty dells; amongst

Salty springy mosses.

A distant lark flutters;

The ethereal song mingling

With chimes from the sacred

Woodland.

Spring awakening

Spring awakening!

Fronds unfurl, yellow green

Freshly scented like peas just popped out of their shells.

Narcissi, ‘kissing’ in a sherbet breeze.

Forget-me-nots, sparkling like sapphires.

Precious wild violets ,

Petals like the palest early morning sky;

Perfumed magically sophoriphic when warmed by

The fairy moon.

Frozen days

My dogs love to play in the woods on frosty days. I love to feel the pale winter sun on my face, melting any muddled thoughts away. A single seedhead unseen before, now shows off a beautiful texture and rich colours dipped in frozen time.

Snowdrops great a winter scene

Snowdrops appear, greeting a winter scene like Frozen tears,

Warming fears and melting hearts.

Huddled in shady spaces by leaning larches, or under an old oak,

Its bark felted by Sleet and scented snow.

In bitter chocolate puddles, ripples of riddles scribe in dark merle clouds, dragging across the winter sky.

Battered leaves are swept into choreographed spirals.

Sirens call.

Shadows fall ready for the Snowdrop ball.

Love hedgehogs

The light wasn’t great when I photographed the early stages of my watercolour painting of a hedgehog. I will build many transparent colour layers to create this little hog. I’ll aim to capture an essence of his character. I’m waiting for the paint to dry before I carry on.

I’ll update you soon with how my little hog painting is coming on!

It is a joy to be making puddles of colour again, adding water and letting my brush drop colour onto the paper.

Whilst I’m waiting, I’ll make a hot chocolate or chamomile tea to warm my hands.

Have a lovely evening.

I couldn’t resist taking this shot from the courtyard, such a colourful sky!

Fields of Green!

Fields of Green,

Energizing to see,

Skylarks love to flutter

And chatter;

I wonder about the patterns

Made by tractors, what they

Look like from the skylarks’ sight.

Today’s walk cleared my mind of cluttered chatter, building up, fuzzing, buzzing in my ears.

The dogs just love to run across these flatlands. Now back in my warm home I can enjoy a restful afternoon.

Enjoy your day.X

Happy 2019!

2019 is here and the weather is mild in Bedfordshire, where I live. I miss my big cottage garden border full of dahlias, so here are a few of them to delight you!

My second collage is from a walk around my cousin’s garden on Christmas eve. I adore Viburnam blossom, so sweet, my favourite catkins , rhododendron buds ..should they be out now? And finally fresh green ferns.

Enjoy the offerings of winter…to cherish.

Warm wishes to all

It’s been a very strange year of many ups and downs and I apologise to everyone who follows me, likes my blog and enjoys reading my posts. I promise to make 2019 the year when I pen my poetry and get painting again. After one of our beloved Border collies died suddenly last year, the arrival of our Slate merle pup in early spring and Skye, our surviving blue merle having a Stroke, I wondered whether life would ever become calm again.

However, Storm is a year old now, pictured above, and has a lovely nature; she gets on really well with Skye and has helped Skye get over her Stroke by assisting with her physio!

We’ve had lovely holidays in North Norfolk walking along the Coastal path, across the salt marshes and on Holkham beach and I have enjoyed a few hours here and there to paint.

I hope you like my photos and my watercolour painting of the cheeky robin who visits my bird table every morning. I have designed a Christmas card, so he can be enjoyed by friends and family.

I wish you all a warm, peaceful and jolly Christmas and the best of luck for 2019!

XxX