Gnarled hands, cracked thumbs and a crinkly smile reveal how much of my life I have spent tilling the soil. Toiling in all weathers, digging, weeding and planting might sound arduous, but for those of us who love gardening it is a short cut to serenity and bliss. It starts as I pull on my wellington … Continue reading
Friends and neighbours fear that I am being held hostage or have been kidnapped! No one has seen or heard from me for months. But the truckloads of wood, sand, cement, picket fencing and old Victorian ridge tiles piling up in my drive all tell another story and the real reason for my absence; I … Continue reading
When other artists were painting landscapes, portraits and flowers, I was painting vegetables. Big blowsy bunches of Beetroot and gentle bunches of Carrots with feathery fronds. The buyers at my exhibitions bought paintings of strings of garlic, onions and the like and for my private views I wore silver earrings in the shape of carrots. … Continue reading
My pre-breakfast morning walk is a push for power; for a fast-paced, heart-pumping, energizing surge where battling against the wind and weather helps me to reclaim some of the adrenalin driven lifestyle I once had. Yes, I rise when the bats are still following their flight paths home to roost and with a torch strapped … Continue reading
The meadow and moors beyond the Cottage Garden are damp and hazy with mist, as the Blackbirds swoop down to peck at fallen apples amongst the piles of rustling autumn leaves. A sudden blustery wind swirls around the house, making the cockerel weather-vane spin, and tugs at the branches of the oak tree, helping it … Continue reading
Days and days of burnished, golden, Indian Summer sunshine sees the late autumn flowers blooming for the bees and my skin turning a pale caramel. This sublime, mellow weather with its misty mornings clearing to deep azure skies and a honeyed, warming light, brings with it a feeling of calmness and contentment which runs very … Continue reading
Dartmoor Flower Shed 