Beauty

I don't think I've seen such beautiful dogs as these two (apart from Bill of course). They're always sitting outside the pub and the whippet cross often perches on the wolfhound! Late summer landscapes and a luminous passion flower fruit.

August is pretty busy so I'm only dipping in and out of the August Break this year.
Subjects: In my bag; Blue; On the table; Bookshelf; From above.

Olive update

So much for my vision of eating home grown olives at Christmas. As you can see, they are still on the tree and have never ripened enough to be worth picking. It's disappointing but on the up side it has saved me hours of rinsing, washing .. etc. etc.

More instagram pictures of a mini adventure with My Jack Russell. He's been very lively recently and has demanded some longer walks, so I decided to take him up to the windmill - it's only 20 minutes away but for some reason I have never been. We had a lovely walk and I was surprised how much Autumn colour was still around in December. Bill loved it too but disgraced himself infront of several people by barking nastily at a very sweet donkey. But that's a jack russell for you.

pom poms

Dahlias always remind me of allotments and are some of the last flowers still going strong as autumn arrives. I love their different shapes and colours.

sea defences

How beautiful are these? They didn't work though and are being replaced further up the coast by a lot of concrete for £1.8m. Mind you I would be glad it was happening if I lived yards from the water, the sea is changing the landscape and will soon be taking the houses with it.
PS You can click on pics to see them more clearly.

Seasons

My photographic record of our last 3 weekend walks. Lepe in the New Forest, the canal at Loxwood and the South Downs. I think they also show that Autumn has arrived here in the past week - strange how one minute it's summer then the atmosphere changes almost overnight and it feels very autumnal.

Dusk

The evenings are definitely getting lighter now - Spring is just around the corner. I was hoping to get to Brighton this week, where the starlings put on a display at dusk but time is running out ... it's Wednesday already.

Trail

Watching the bees trail around my garden on a hot summers day ...

I cannot make up my mind. Do I prefer the one with the line drawing or the one without? What do you think?

© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Absent

I've been absent without leave for a week in one of my favourite places.

Aroma

The weekword is aroma - chosen by Caroline, you can link to all the other entries there after stopping a while to look at her beautiful blog. This word was easy for me as my house has been filled with flowers this week and the fragrant aroma drifted into every room. I'm a big fan of Keri Smith and was given this brilliant book a while ago so decided to draw my flowers by looking through a square hole in a piece of card - exploration #48.

© nicky linzey 2009

Summer's end

The last of my sweet peas for this Summer. This is the first year I've successfully grown them from seed.

Unfold

I love the way the petals of peonies unfold like tissue paper.

© 2009 nicky linzey for Illustration Friday

Stop and Stare 9

I love this time of year, it is my favourite and I don't want it to end. The woods are just alive with plants, flowers, shoots, colour. I had to stop and stare at all this beauty; buttercups, bluebells and wild garlic, in fact this should be called stop, stare and smell.

Willow

Can you believe the intensity of these colours?

In the bleak midwinter

The colours of the bare trees this year seem to be more vibrant than usual - winter is not so bleak after all.

Stop and stare 6

While walking, we came across these gunera plants - their leaves were massive - if you think the fence posts were over 3 feet in height - it was impossible not to stop and stare. Apparently they grow above the cess pit of the house! Say no more . . .

Autumn woods

There was something about the colours, shapes and sunlight in this view that simply took my breath away.

Patterns

Patterns from my sitting room.

Late

Late at night the moths come out!

For Illustration Friday ©2008 Nicky Linzey

Sail 2

While we were away we saw these beautiful sail boats. This picture does not do them justice, the vibrant colours, the vast expanse of sky and ocean which made the boats look so vulnerable. The sight filled me with joy.

Sky blue

My favourite colour has to be sky blue. What's yours?