pumpkins

I was amazed at this annual squash display in the village of Slindon, there is a pop-up cafe this year too - in the church where we had tea and delicious cakes. You can buy pumpkins, marrows and squash in all sorts of weird shapes, sizes and colours. 

spindle berries

I haven't been drawing much lately - I go through phases like this but on Sunday I picked some spindle berries - the colour of these berries is amazing, bright pink with orange seeds. Seeing them on the mantlepiece each day I decided I must draw them before they died. I scanned in the finished drawing but it wasn't as free as I'd have liked, so I roughly drew in the shapes for colour and the result is below. A bit different from how I normally work.

fossil forest

We finally visited the fossil forest at Lulworth Cove in Dorset, something we've wanted to do for ages. It was not a disappointment and I found it amazing to be somewhere that is 145 million years old. I'm surprised you are allowed to visit with the current ridiculous health and safety laws in this country - there are steep concrete steps to get down and then a narrow strip of cliff where the stumps of the fossilised tree ferns remain. We were the only ones visiting which was nice. If you do go, check when it is open as you walk across the army firing range - so that needs to be closed!

A taste of Autumn

We're beginning to get a taste of Autumn even though the temperature is still warm and the sunshine's holding out. The photos below are from my travels around, plus a lovely one of Alf and a dog I met called Jack - who made me long for another dog. The trouble is that Bill's a hard act to follow. I would always get one from a rescue centre and the terriers seem to be snapped up quickly which is great. I'm sure one will find us when the time is right, just like Bill did.