It’s been a very wet, miserable week, despite the weather forecasters telling us it is Summer. (I think the weather is trying to tell the weathermen not to hurry it. Summer will be with us in its own time). So I looked back at a sketch I did a while ago, looking through a gateway into the garden at Chastleton House, a National Trust property near Moreton in Marsh, just to get the sense that one day, in the not too distant future, we may be able to sit out somewhere like this and enjoy the sun, the smell of the Honeysuckle or the Roses, and know we have the day stretching ahead of us to paint with friends. It’s a good thought!

The beautiful garden at Hidcote Manor was lovely to see last weekend. There were so many views which would have made beautiful paintings even this early in the year, but I was drawn to an area where the Alliums in the foreground led back across some poppies and up to part of the house in the background. It wasn’t the best day for sitting out and the path was too narrow in this area for me not to be a nuisance, so I took a photograph of the bit of the building I could see, decided on the format and later made some small pencil sketches. I painted it the following day at home, before I forgot what I wanted to do. It is a place where you could spend all day every day, and never run out of something to paint.

This cottage is just along the road from the Manor House Gardens which is where we were headed, hoping the rain would stay away long enough for us to have a quick look around. We were lucky as it turned out, and although it wasn’t the warmest of days it stayed dry enough until we went into the cafe for a bowl of soup. There were more flowers than we expected for this time of year, but the Gardening team have apparently been hard at work to extend the flowering season to please the large numbers of visitors they have throughout the year.

The next post will show what I painted after we had been around the gardens.

This cafe regular usually sports a flat cap. I wonder if he felt the need for extra warmth this week, or has he recently celebrated a birthday?

Daffodils are starting to appear now, in the garden as well as the shops, and it’s always a pleasure to see them whatever the weather. They really brighten up our lives. Painting them is a pleasure and a real stress buster for those who find it difficult to cope with Winter.

If you’re going to sketch, remember to leave your driving glasses in the car.

I had a good view of the subject here, but couldn’t really see much of the sketchbook!

The sun is shining – for the second time in the last three days! The last time we saw it, on Saturday, it had the most extraordinary affect on people. Although they were still cold, everyone was smiling . And talking to each other. It doesn’t take much to see ‘Well-being’ in action.

To celebrate, I sketched Hyacinth bulbs in a pot, in my moleskine sketchbook. Looking forward to seeing them in flower.

Although store-bought rather than home-grown, a spray of Daffodils certainly brightens up a bleak grey February day. There is always something to find to lift the spirits even if the weather may not be to ones liking. It may be disappointing but you shouldn’t let it dominate your life. Spring will soon be here and suddenly everything will be saturated with colour!

Taking some time out from painting Tulips to paint some Snowdrops which are coming up in the garden.They are so delicate and yet surprisingly resilient given the wind and the rain we have been having. They have no protection of any woodland but come up wherever they feel like it.

Although from the supermarket rather than the garden, it’s nice to have some Tulips to paint. They are still a little bit stiff and upright in their bunch, and I’m looking forward to them becoming floppier as time goes on, and I can paint them as they become more relaxed.