CHRISTMAS WISHES

Here is one of my original paintings I used for a Christmas card a few year's ago and still sent out one or two this year to art friends who had not received them in the past. These fresco angels were created with a palette knife and lots of acrylic paste to create the feeling of plaster peeling off an old church wall.

Originally, I thought I'd send you my Christmas Greetings using some photos this year... so I'll still do that and add these too ...........

This first one is a decoration I have created for our lounge to substitute for a Christmas Tree, as we are going to our daughters for the Christmas period. When the candle inside the snowman is lit, it makes a really pretty corner.
Here's another lounge decoration, two robins sitting on the hi fi equipment in front of one of the many windows along the long wall running through our lounge and dining room.

So I'll finish with HAPPY CHRISTMAS GREETINGS and every good wish for a happy and successful arty New Year.

NANNY'S GARDEN POEM

Nanny's garden - a beautiful place

Like a dream

Like a fairytale

It brightens the day

It brightens our way

The sun upon nanny's garden

This little verse was written by my youngest grand daughter (aged 11 yrs) when she and her sister stayed with us for a weekend recently. Elisha has always liked 'playing' with figures and words and we often make up games together. This time it was to give her a title and for her to produce a few lines in less than 5 minutes. We happen to be sitting in the sun room when I mentioned my garden and out popped these wonderful words in no time at all.

We had some magic this past week or two as I had almost given up on my planted cosmos that just seem to grow taller and taller as the summer came and went and could almost be entered into the Guineas book of records for their giant height. Not until now in October have they decided to bloom - three colours and at least thirty blooms out all at once with many a bud awaiting. So here's a couple of photos, both taken through my bedroom window. In one you can just see the village church down the hill over the rooftops.

Elisha nearly broke my heart when she wrote the following for the subject of family:

Family are forever

Family stay together

We love

We care

The sky never dull

The sky always bright

We see brightness

We see darkness

but whatever happens

we stay together.

Unusual posting but just had to share them with you. Hope Elisha doesn't mind.

very busy - so here's my garden!!

At last summer has arrived and we are basking in warm sunshine - correction - hot sunshine!! This is a corner of our rear garden with packed herbacious border leading up to the little gardenhouse with steps up to chairs and table - a very sunny corner all morning. Great for breakfast coffee and toast.

The garden parasol Clive bought me last May was made of wooden poles and has been a real pain with the struts breaking, so we ordered a posh new Acamp metal one that tilts and also has a crank handle. It arrived this morning and here I am already in its shade reading a super book about Queen Elizabeth's childhood - just popped in for a cool glass of sparkling rose delivered this afternoon by our dear neighbours to celebrate our 51st anniversay this weekend!! .

I've had winter pansies all through the darker months and now they are blooming their little hearts out and growing taller and taller in a raised bed full of blues and purples.

I bought these aliums when visiting Amsterdam flower markets some years ago and was able to dig them up and bring them with us for our new garden.

I used to have the most incredible passionflower in my Cherry Trees garden (photo below) , but somehow they don't seem to like this soil at our house in Coltishall. I do so miss these beautiful unusual flowers.

... and finally a view of the front garden steps up to the garden gate passed the garage and flower bed where the lovely big white poppies grow - remember I painted them last summer in my garden sketchbook - and they are just coming out.

Sorry have not been posting of late or visiting/commenting your own , but have been very busy creating a new commission 20" x 44" entitled Springtime in the Woods to make a trio with my Summer and Autumn acrylic paintings on canvas. Thanks DJ for your concern , but all is well just a busy bee!!

VISITING FAMILY

Luxembourg City Saturday market with cathedral spires behind

The day after returning from my weekend sketching with Anita, Clive and I went off to Luxembourg for a few days to visit our son and family. No sketching I am afraid to show you though, so here are some photos I took. I plan to use this market photo plus a couple of others to create a painting for their Luxembourg house. Two visits to the city, one to have an Italian lunch with our daughter in law in her lunch break and on Saturday a visit to the market.

This is the lovely riverside walk in Remich with all the beautiful Autumn colours.

Clive and I walked down into Remich riverside town for lunch or a drink most days, while our son worked on their house extending the kitchen.

Our eldest grandson pushing his quad after it had broken down.

Richard took me out on Sunday morning before a glorious roast lunch to see the boys on their bikes.

A pair of Disney characters I painted for our eldest grandson when he was born, using fabric from his nursery curtains to frame the figure.

They are now in our youngest grandson's bedroom matching the original curtains.

Then two days after returning went off to my daughters home the other side of Norfolk to look after the girls in their half-term from school, so that she could have a few days break with a friend. The last day was Halloween, so lots of dressing up and trickle treating.

friends came round to dress up with the girls before going off round the village with their eldest sister and boyfriend.

This was one of the mum's dressed as a witch.

They came back with a large bag of sweets each!! Got too hyper could not get to sleep until midnight!!!

When they were getting ready, Lili was attacked by her younger sister dressed as a vampire!!!

Finally here is a shot of the wonderful designed stockings for Halloween.

Today's children are so lucky having such fun things to buy for these occasions.

WEEKEND AT SNETTISHAM BEACH

Birds gathering to leave the mudflats in the Wash and move over to the nearby lakes at the RSPB Snettisham Beach until the tide goes out again.


I was invited by Ruth and Tony, whom I met in Italy in June, to visit their seashore cottage over the weekend with the highest tide in August so that I could see the spectacle of the gathering birds leaving the mudflats at the Wash as the tide came in. It was a magical few days. For those who don't know our Norfolk landscape, the Wash is an area cutting into the Fens between Norfolk and Lincolnshire coasts. It used to have many a cargo ship ferrying goods to and from abroad but the Wash has silted up and is too shallow for this trading to continue into the inland harbours.


Not having permission from mine hosts, I have not posted images of their lovely little old fashioned cottage and moored boats on a spit of land with the Wash one side and the lakes the other, nor Tony going off in his sea going kayak...... but here are some images from our walk early Sunday morning going down the raised bank towards the RSPB.

walking down to the RSPB passed the remains of an old jetty

'twitchers' with their large interchangeable lenses

Twitchers is a local word for people who are fanatical about viewing birds and travel many miles just to have a sighting of one unusual species.

Here are the lakes where the Society builds 'hides' for visitors to view the birds after they've left the Wash because the tide has come right in.

As it turned out, we saw more and larger flocks of birds that evening from the shoreline immediately outside the cottage as can be seen from the first topmost image . Here is one of the many interesting sights during a long walk Saturday after passing the Sailing Club.

Searching for lunch on the mudflats

Finally (before I bore you to death) is a fond farewell on Sunday evening after a walk across the flats (part mud, part sand, part pebbles). We walked back to the raised bank outside the cottage and sat in deckchairs watching the sun go down before packing our cars to leave for home . Forgot to tell you we actually swam out here where the water was safe with firm sand beneath our feet and the sun was going down. I even swam up the wonderful bright sunbeam. Magical.

Hope you enjoyed my wonderful weekend communing with nature. By the way, well worth enlarging the images to get full detail.

NEW CAMERA AT BUTTERFLY PARK

Last week I went over to my daughters for three days so that we could take the girls to the Long Sutton wild Life Park for the day where they have a butterfly house, iguanas, snakes, terapins, spiders and ant houses, and birds of prey with flight demonstrations.

I enjoyed the butterfly house and tried to photo the butterflies flying all around us amongst the tropical foliage. I am quite proud of these 4 images I am posting which I took with my new Panasonic Lumex camera. Afraid I have no idea what any of them are called, as the children were in such a hurry to get on to see the tarantullas (!) and we never got back to see the information board naming all the butterflies as there is so much to do here!!

please click image to enlarge to see the sharp image of his feet

click to enlarge for detail

afraid this one is a bit blurred when you enlarge

amazing how many colours you see when you enlarge

We saw one of the flying displays with the American Bald Eagle, a rather fun looking Bush Baby owl and a falcon. Had a picnic lunch and then walked round the enclosures where there were llama, ostrich, water buffalo and domestic animals. It was a remarkably hot day and by 4 o'clock after a quick visit to the shop, made our way home in our very necessary air conditioned car.

Here are some other images, which you will recognise. I think I am getting used to my new camera now.

you can even see his eyelashes in detail when you enlarge

his sharp scaly skin is amazing on enlarging

well worth enlarging these two as well for detail

I waited ages for this little finch to show himself coming out of their little nest being encouraged by his mum. The bald Eagle flew round for ages up on the thermals before getting closer and coming in to land.

Hope you enjoyed this little trip with us and the excellence of this new camera for sharp detail.

JUNE GARDEN FLOWERS IN BLOOM

I've been so busy during May and since I got back from holiday that I have not added anything new to my garden flower sketchbook, so decided you might like to see some photos of the various flowers currently in bloom in my garden.

Hope you enjoy seeing these lovely blooms in an English garden, mixed with trees and shrubs. I'll leave you to name them all!!

Hope to be back blogging properly with new art soon, but am now in the throws of planning two works for a show in Felixstowe based on tall architecture in the flat landscape of East Anglia.

NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM VISIT

The Norman Keep , a stunning galleried space where we saw enormous leathal weapons, bright shiny armour, tapestries, depiction of a goal and lots more . If we had time it would have been worth joining the tour with a very knowledgeable guide. well worth enlarging for detail

Anita came to spend a long weekend with us and on Saturday I took her via the park and ride service into the city to see the exhibitions on at the Norwich Castle Museum. First of all we looked at the special exhibition of pieces by Moore, Hepworth and Nicholson, where we were not allowed to use our cameras. Still not able to stand and sketch with my bad thumb. The exhibition unfolds the development of sculpture in the 1930s as their holidays to the North Norfolk coast inspired them by the natural forms on the beach and the landscape.

Then there were visits to the other galleries within the building with paintings of the Norwich School of Artists, modern art, decorative arts. Plenty of English history too from the amazing Norman Keep, Egyptian mummies, Anglo Saxons and Vikings and Queen Boudicea.

What a long and exhilarating day with a break for a lovely lunch. Here are some photos for you to enjoy

THE BABES IN THE WOOD a beautiful marble full size piece that took your breath away by John Bell a Victorian Norfolk sculptor

Earthenware tile design by William de Morgan in the 1880's

A 13 gallon teapot thought to have been made for the London Great Exhibition in 1850. The designs depict the growing, picking, fermenting and shipping of the tea from China.

In the Decorative Arts gallery were a collection of historical dresses and this crinoline fashion from the 1850's for an unmarried lady caught my eye. Imagine all the hoops and layers beneath in the summer???

Sorry no paintings, but I hope a very interesting assortment.

WALSINGHAM PILGRIMAGES

I have been away from home for four days and one of them was spent visiting the Norfolk village of Little Walsingham, where there are ruins of an Augustian Priory dating from the 1150's, which thousands of pilgrims visit from all over the world every year. !! Above is the enormous East Window, with the 1930's Church and tower of the Anglican Shrine to our Lady of Walsingham in the background (red roof/tower)... and an image of another aspect of the ruined priory on the left. It must have been a collosal building.

The village is full of historic buildings including timber framed and lots of delightful coffee shops. We found this one, where we sat by the fire in large cushioned leather chairs and ate fruit cake with filtered coffees before our explorations.

Then we had the glorious walks through the woodlands, by tranquil rivers and over bridges among the snowdrop thronged natural woods and parkland - all on a wonderful sunny day. Looks like snow but I can assure you it was stunningly carpeted with snowdrops.

We then visited the Anglican Shrine , stopped for tea and then walked down hill through the village to the wonderful Saint Mary and All Saints church with a 14th century tower and lead covered spire. The third snowdrop image above is of the East Window of the Priory from the church graveyard wall. The great interest here is the east window designed by John Hayward in the 1960, when the church was renovated after a great fire. The window has over 15 sections, all depicting the area's history and celebrating a number of saints. Rather a lot of lead so that the whole window from a distance appears quite dark. ... but what interested me most were the STATIONS OF THE CROSS created in carved different coloured woods, but on speaking to a member of the church they had no history of them. Here's one (isn't it marvelous and all the otheres are as creative)

A wonderful day in company of my friend Anne from Cromer. We went to church in the evening and then sat up chatting till late. We took her dogs for long walks Sunday morning before I left for home.