Birthday Greetings.

       It's my sister's birthday today.

      Best Wishes for a

                     Happy Birthday Pat!!

Peace at Christmas

                       Best Wishes for a Happy,
                             Peaceful Christmas.

Snow in Rainham December 2010

Snow....I

                         We've had a heavy  fall of snow this morning, transforming the rear garden.

                          Aand more snow....

s

                  And yet more snow!

                Then Dennis went out to the front garden and found yet more of the White Stuff!!

'That's it' he said  and set about plying his snow shifter!!

 

Charcoal sketching

What does one do when on holiday in deepest frozen  Herefordshire?  Stay in the warm and attend one of the activities organised by the hotel staff.
I had the opportunity to try out using charcoal (very different to the normal pencil). Having selected a photograch to copy we set to work....and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
I am happy with the result, given it's a first attempt.  There's no doubt about which picture is the oricinal photocopy though!!

Watercolour Pencils

There was time for some sketching whilst resting my leg.

This treehouse was another picture I drew to pass the time.

Seeing it here I feel it needs more shadow but it was interesting to draw.It takes practise to ge tused to the water soluble crayons.

Frosted Cobwebs and tree trunks

 

There were beautiful traces of frost designs in unexpected places, even deep within the old hedge I painted a picture of last time we were at Holme Lacey.

Icy Cold Herefordshire!!

 

What beautiful views we had whilst visiting Holme Lacey.  Driving conditions were too difficult to go far, due to the severe frost, but who needs to drive with views like this from the hotel grounds?

Holiday Weather

We have just returned from holidaying in Herefordshire.  Not exactly ideal holiday weather bet certainly VERY BEAUTIFUL!!

Flowers

A recent watercolour,  with an unexpected background colour!

Alfred (alias Arthur}

Apologies for previous error, now corrected.  Always did get my Arthurs and my Alfreds confused.

Deep Mid Winter

This is one of my recent watercolours, a possible prediction of the current weather conditions!

Winchester again.

 King Alfred's's statue stands resplendent facing up the main street of Winchester.

 Here in the Great Hall is King Alfred's Round Table displaying the Knight's names.

King Alfred is of great importance in Winchester, here in the Great Hall, beneath Alfred's Round Table sits this splendid bronze of  Queen Victoria.

A new friend.

Dennis is always on the look-out for a dog to make a fuss of.  He struck up a real friendship with this lovely, friendly boy who loved having his tummy tickled.  You can see the admiration was mutual!!
He became such a hit with Dennis we visited the stall three or four times!!

Our Visit to Winchester

We visited Winchester for a few days, to see the Christmas Markets.  Unlike in Essex there was no snow, just bitterly cold, and we had a wonderful time.  The stalls were so very bright and colourful and I hope you enjoy seeing the photo's.

Sunset2

Thanks to my friend Marion for her dramatic photograph of the sky above the Isle of Mull.
My painting looks better than here on the blog.  The picture was far too wet in the painting so I'll be doing it again. Watch this space!!

Autumn Leaves

        








 The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine!

Feels at each thread, and lives along the line!

Sunset 1

I have it in mind to do a series of sunsets in the near future. This is one painted following a recent project at my watercolour class.

A Winter Scene.

Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies grow

Between the crosses,row on row,

That mark our place.

It was a privilege to join so many people in Tesco's Rainham, observing the two minutes silence at 11.00 a.m. today.

Sunflowers

Who countest the steps of the Sun;

Seeking after that sweet golden clime,

Where the traveller's journey is done.
William Blake.

Final Flower Festival Photo's

The arrangements are too beautiful to miss!!

Flower Festival

A Harvest Thanksgiving and Flower Festival at the Church of St. Mary and St. Peter, Wennington.


 Welcome to our first flower festival our theme being the hymn 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter'

'The splendour  of Autumn Colours' guides you into
our beautiful church.

                                                                ' The Water of Life.'

                                                                'Shades of Autumn'

                                                             'Celebration of Marriage'

                                                      Gorgeous skies from The Isle of Mull.

 As we depart the church the new etched window, depicting Christ, can be seen clearly in the background.
I hope you enjoy this selection of pictures from our Festival.

Window Gazing

I always have my camera with me when we visit new places, particularly on our holiday destinations. These 'Window' pictures came from a photo taken in Belgium some years ago. I thought it was about time I used it!!

Flower Festival

There is to be a Flower Festival at our local church in the near future. This is a crescent shape I have created in silk flowers ready for the celebration.
It's an age since I have arranged flowers and this took a while to develop but I am satisfied with the finished article.

A New Wall

This looks promising, preparations for a small wall to replace one built by a contractor which fell down through lack of sufficient cement in the mix. This was a job from our "ten year list", long overdue.



A triumph, the new wall and what a back-aching job it was for Dennis. It's well worth the long wait. I'm delighted!! He's made a super job of it.