Sadly, the Mill at Lower Slaughter is closing down and is for Sale.

There has been a mill on this site since the earliest of times and was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. This present one was built in the nineteenth century and was making flour up to the 1950s. Since then it has become a well known attraction being visited by people from all over the world. Some of them were there, taking photographs, today.

Despite the name, there is no record of there ever being a battle on the site. Apparently the name comes from the Old English for ‘muddy place’, which seems to be a bit of a disappointment in some ways!

However, following yesterday’s rain, this morning turned out to be bright and sunny and I took the opportunity to make this little painting.

Inspired by a visit to David Austin Roses in Shropshire in late summer last year. After a day in the gardens and a restorative cup of tea and slice of cake, we found a shrub rose we had been searching for to add to our own, somewhat smaller, garden.

Cold and wet recently, but colour is coming back into the world now that Spring is here.

I was out early this morning and wanted to try and sketch a few figures from the car, as although it was dry, it is still cold. As might be expected, I had rather mixed results as of course none of these people stayed still for long. A few fumbled in their bags or looked at their phones, and one man looked impatiently at his watch, but even he moved off quite quickly. None of them turned out to be as detailed as I hoped they would be, and I had to give up on some. Neither were they all around at the same time. I will have to wait until Summer when people are more likely to stay chatting with each other for longer. By the time I got around to colour, people were long gone so were painted from memory, and sometimes I changed the colours on purpose.

A5 Moleskine portrait format sketchbook

More snow first thing this morning and for a while it was difficult to know how long it would last, but gradually the temperature nudged up enough to turn it into rain. At one point, driving along the road, the fields on one side were white while on the other they were green. Snow only remained on the distant fields.

I was hoping to go out somewhere and do some sketching this morning, but it was snowing , ( still is, but not as hard and it is not settling), and bitterly cold. Decided to stay in and paint some ‘tete-a-tete’ dwarf daffodils and friends. I expect the plants were just as glad to be inside today.

There may be some signs of Spring- crocuses beginning to come up – but it has turned cold again and next week is expected to be quite wintry

Spent an hour or so in Lower Slaughter making the most of a grey damp day until my hands started to get quite numb. Not quite Spring yet!.

Lemon Muffin, painted with no other reason than to cheer me up on a dull, wet day. Not that I actually need a reason to paint ! It also gave me an idea for a future project for the class, with a few more bits and bobs added. Funny how things can be resolved when you are not really thinking about them.

Most people find it hard to keep still for any length of time, especially if they don’t know someone wants them to. They are always moving their head and waving their hands around, probably without being aware they are doing so. But it does make it difficult if you are trying to sketch surreptitiously – luckily I spotted this person glued to his mobile phone, waiting for his next delivery job, which kept him in one position long enough for a quick entry in a pocket-size sketchbook.

I wasn’t expecting to do much sketching on my walk today, as it was much cloudier and windier than of late, and everything looked a bit dull. However, the wind blew the clouds along and a few patches of blue sky started to appear. The brief shaft of sunlight lit up the distant field to a bright yellow, providing a strong contrast with the trees and hedges still in shadow.