Having painted Daffodils in a number of still life arrangements recently, it was nice to see them growing en masse at Heythrop Park in a natural setting. Our garden ones are starting to come through but are still a bit sparse at the moment.

You don’t often see Mandarins with their leaves attached for sale, so when it happens, it is worth buying them to paint and perhaps adding them to some Spring flowers to make a Still life. They certainly bring a bit of colour into our lives. We seem to have lost the recent sunshine and even had a snow shower this morning.

I didn’t realize when I bought them that the daffodils were an ‘exotic’ variety. They were in tight bud so it was difficult to distinguish them from any other kind of daffodil. It was a bit of a surprise when they opened and presented an unexpected challenge.

Most of the spears are now in full flower creating a wonderful glow of colour. In the garden they are only just pushing their way up through the cold ground, so it will be a while before there are any flowers. However, it is a good sign of things to come, as once some shoots start to appear, others are sure to follow. There are already signs of a host of Spring flowers preparing to delight us.

Day three and the spears are opening up, enjoying the warmth and the light from standing on the window sill.

Thankful for a drink, twenty-four hours later the Daffodils are beginning to open.

I saw these Daffodil spears in the supermarket and immediately felt sorry for them, dumped unceremoniously and unloved on the end of an aisle, miles away from their forced but more colourful cousins, Tulips and Roses, which have been in the shops for weeks now, waiting for us to buy them in time for Valentine’s, still a couple of weeks away. By comparison, these spears looked limp and thirsty as they begged passers by for a drop of water to sustain them, when they should have been filling us with cheer and optimism that the end of winter may not be too far away.

I brought them home with the intention of sketching their all too brief lives. I know from past experience how much I will enjoy seeing their sunny faces.

It’s January and the weather has turned much colder. Overnight frost has meant much scraping of car windscreens in the mornings. Scarves, hats and gloves appear more and more often, but are quickly abandoned once in the warmth of the coffee-shop, where a hot mug warms the hands in a way gloves don’t. People linger longer over their drinks, in no hurry to face the icy coldness outside.

I found this Dovecote during a walk around the Old Hall at Minster Lovell recently. The Hall was built in the 1400s and has been looking rather sad for itself since the 1700s when part of it was demolished so the stone could be used for building elsewhere. Recycling has been around for a long time, probably for ever. The Dovecote is still intact and still attracts doves, although I doubt if any of them end up on the dinner table any more… The site is now in the care of English Heritage.

I thought there might be a chance of some snow scenes to welcome in the new year, as we had some light flurries which looked promising, but they came to nothing, and the ground is so wet that it was never going to settle. It is probably just as well, as the cold I picked up over New Year still lingers.

Meanwhile, Snowdrops are beginning to appear at the bottom of the garden, although they are not as established as these from last year.

It’s an age since I posted, and I can’t say I have been struck by lightning or attacked by some deadly virus, it’s just that thing called Life which has been in the way of my being able to sketch as much as I need to. It happens that way. Hopefully, things are getting back to normal and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who follows me, and to wish you all a Merry Christmas – and my Number One New Year Resolution will be to post a lot more consistently!