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!

I haven’t been able to do much sketching for the last few weeks for various reasons, and whenever this happens, it always takes a while to get back into the routine, and more importantly it takes a while to be able to sketch anything that one is half-way pleased with! This Turk’s Hat pumpkin was painted a few weeks ago quite quickly as I have been waiting years to find one at the right time.

I didn’t have time to place it into any context, so it is impossible for anyone to know what size it might be. A few days later I was able to paint it again and add a further detail…

I was hoping it wouldn’t be long before the trees started to show their Autumn colours, and sure enough, they are starting to appear in places now. The amount of rain we have had, and continue to have, means that a lot of fallen leaves quickly lose their colour and turn brown.

I was lucky enough to find this tree in the little village of Wyck Rissington, not far from my home. A charming place with wide tree-lined grass verges, a village hall and little else. It is surrounded by fields and footpaths and is a wonderful place to sketch. As well as finding this tree (and others), the sky remained blue with bright sunshine. As it was not particularly warm though, I painted this in a sketchbook from the car.

Munchkin Pumpkins are beginning to appear in the shops to remind us that Halloween will soon be with us. More importantly, it also means that the rich Autumnal colours of the landscape will soon be brightening up our days. The leaves are already turning, and all we need is a little more sun to show the colours at their best.

Despite a rather wet Summer, our grapes have obviously enjoyed the conditions, and have done better than we imagined. OK, so there may not be enough to make a bottle of wine, maybe not even a glass, but it is the first time we have ever had enough to be able to call a BUNCH. There are a few smaller nearly- bunches too. Cheers !