Apples ready for picking. Crisp, sweet and juicy. I love this time of year!

The leaves dangling from the tips of the little Cherry tree provide proof that we are now in Autumn. Not that I had doubted it. Any sadness at the thought of the year starting to decline is dispelled by the stunning colours this season brings.

Painted in a 4×6 inch sketchbook

Painted from a recent quick visit to El Campello, Alicante. The tower belongs to a chain built along the Valencian coast to guard against attacks by pirates.

Recently painted ‘Blue gates’, a view which always appeals to me whenever I visit the gardens at Chastleton House. Although not strictly accurate, I may have missed out one or two things, and I may have moved the thistles a little, but not too far. Some people will think this a heinous crime, others will believe such minor infringements are acceptable for the sake of the painting. I like to believe it expresses how I saw the place at that particular moment. I may well paint it differently on another day. If you don’t allow yourself permission to add a little of your emotions to a subject, you may just as well take a photograph and have done with it.

It’s been mostly dry this year and hosepipe bans are coming into force in many areas of the UK. Despite this however , the garden has done well and many of the fruits and flowers have had a glorious year so far. This weekend though I saw more ladybirds (ladybugs) in a small area of the garden than we have ever seen before. Apparently they are swarming this year in many places. Scientists think it might have something to do with the weather. Well, I managed to think that might be the reason too! They were on the figs and all over the rhubarb leaves which had quite a few little black flies on them. When I looked the next day the leaves looked brand new as though they had just come out of the washing machine. Well done Ladybird/bugs!

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have days which do not work out the way I planned when I got up in the morning. I don’t mind quite so much if there is an obvious reason for it, like having to unexpectedly accompany someone to a hospital appointment, or the car develops a puncture. Either is enough to upset anyone’s day, but when things just don’t go well for no apparent reason at all, it’s very frustrating.

Sometimes I seem to be extra clumsy. If I walk through a doorway, I’ll bash an arm against a handle, or a leg against a doorpost. If I have a mug of tea, or coffee, I’ll be guaranteed to spill it. If I go for a walk I know I’ll get stung or bitten by a bug AND all it’s family and friends!

On such days, the only thing to do is to grab an off-cut of paper and make a sketch of the first thing to come to hand. It doesn’t have to be a grand display, because you know it’s not going to be good anyway, so I look for something quite common which everyone has in abundance and probably pays little attention to.

In this case there is no shortage of Buttercups or Daisies right on the doorstep, or just beyond it. Some people may consider them the vermin of the botanical world and want to uproot them as quickly as possible, but I love to see them at this time of year, no matter how many of them may be in the lawn or the edge of flower borders. While the resulting sketch may not be so masterful, the act of painting them is sure to lower the blood pressure and to look towards tomorrow with more optimism.

The Thursday before Easter, and the morning began with clear blue sky and sunshine. The blossom on the fruit trees is still there despite a blustery day yesterday. Two young Blackbirds are being fed by a parent which looks smaller and thinner than it’s offspring. Our Robin has found itself a partner which is a good sign, and one fat pigeon still enjoys nipping off the petals from every flower it can find.

In the garden we have a cluster of Cowslips growing up through the grass. A variant of the Primula, it apparently hybridizes easily with anything in the same family. Mostly they look much the same as a Primrose but this one has a touch of red on it’s petals.

It is nice to think that as far as Wildlife is concerned, everything is right with the world.

The first of April, fine and sunny, but a bit cold if you stay still for too long. Primroses are doing well despite the number of birds who think it’s great fun to pull the flowers off. The rhubarb is making great strides after the big sleep of winter. We’ve started to sow some seeds in trays and pots, but keeping them inside as there is still a chance of frost. The little bird is a recent present and the water butt is just a water butt, it’s only there because it fitted the space!

Watercolour in Moleskine sketchbook

A sure sign of Spring is when the World bursts into pink blossom. Then you can be sure that Nature is waking from it’s Winter snooze. Despite all the chaos around us, the natural world carries on with the promise of warm Summer days, fruits and flowers to sustain us, and itself, through another year – and it does it so beautifully!

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.