July

Another time warp - July almost over. I know they say that as you get older - time goes more quickly but this is ridiculous! In my defense I have been pre-occupied with a project in July but that is really no excuse. We went to Hastings and walked through beautiful Hastings Country Park to Fairlight Glen where all the little grottos and waterfalls were Victorian attractions. On the way home we made it up Firle Beacon - Finn loved it!

Apart from that I have been walking and photographing as usual, picking raspberries, picnicking in the heather up at Bignor Park, tending my garden.

Picking samphire, swimming in the sea, walking around pagham harbour, watching the starlings and generally making the most of summer.

Missing

I can't believe I've missed over a whole month on here and I really don't know what I've been doing! We've just come back from South Devon and it was Finn's second holiday. He was a good boy and we spent the days walking along the beautiful River Dart, sketching and just sitting taking in the wonderful British countryside at my favourite time of year. 

Blossom

I can feel Spring in the air - even though it is colder than it's been all Winter ... the end is in sight .. 

Winter

I don't love winter but I'm glad to live in a country with definite seasons. In nature colours, plants and light change dramatically to give a totally different atmosphere which means there's always something new to see and to inspire me.

Here is my mood board inspiration for the last illustration - woodland collection.

Time flies by ...

.... I cannot believe it's over 2 months since I've updated my blog. I upload everything to Instagram at the moment so if you click the link at the side, you can find me there. But here are some of the photos from my Autumn walks and things I've collected plus of course Finn doing what he does best!

weekend

olive trees

I've just finished my latest painting - inspired by olive trees in the garden with sunlight dappled through their branches.

April

Oh dear I missed April completely. Finn has been taking up my time and a myriad of family problems unfortunately, but that's life I suppose. Here's a photographic montage of the missed month - it's my favourite time of year - so beautiful to see the Spring colours with leaves and plants unfurling in the woods and the blue sea sparkling in the first warm sunshine. 
Finn is settling in well, he's a little wayward and has eaten all the wild garlic in the garden and scared off the birds which is a shame. It's a year since Bill died and Finn has made me feel better about everything, as well as being a great walking companion.

Blues and reds

Here is the past few weeks in pictures. Walking on the South Downs and enjoying beautiful landscapes, Alfie modelling his new coat, managing to fit in some drawing and Alfie and I having a lovely cuddle. 

A great night at the Komedia in Brighton proudly watching Gra's band.

still a bit early

I had to wait until today to write this post as I don't like to think about Christmas until December. One of my Christmas card designs is featured on the gibson holt blog and they are also searching for freelance pattern and surface designers for 2015. Closing date for submissions is 1st January if you are interested. Details can be found here.

Blues

There's been a last minute burst of Summer which is fantastic and it's rumoured to last into October - I hope so. I thought I should do a post before September is over - I've been busy with lots of work - making the most of the lovely evenings - and my continuing obsession with instagram. When the nights draw in - which they are doing rapidly  - I will have more time to spend on my blog - well that's the plan anyway...

Here are photos of things I've seen on my walks, an old chest I finally painted, a beautiful bag which is made from the ring pulls on cans - an amazing birthday surprise. 

July

Apologies as my blogging is a little very sporadic at the moment - we are in the middle of a glorious summer and the temptation to be outside is too great.

I visited Arundel Castle Gardens again and loved them as much the second time round. I would like to be entombed with my favourite dog at my feet when the time comes but think it is highly unlikely to happen.

Visited London to see the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on the hottest day of the year which was a bit silly, but the exhibition was well worth it. I also saw a lot of Patrick Blanc inspired gardens.

Went to  Standen House for the William Morris Exhibition. It was in a tiny room and so quite disappointing but the rest of the house is well worth a visit - especially to see the Rossetti paintings. Apart from this amazing spurt of cultural activity I've also been doing the usual things - walking, swimming, collecting, jam making and painting.

Passing weeks

More weeks pass. June has been lovely: reflections, evening walks by the coast, collections, Alf - he loves posing, blue skies, an evening out by bus and my first new potatoes of the year.

I've been swimming in the sea twice, it's lovely and warm, more walks, my olive tree about to blossom and I've actually started a painting - first one on canvas for years!

April

The days are flying by - this is my favourite time of year when everything starts changing and there is an amazing amount of colour which seems to suddenly arrive from nowhere.

The bluebells this weekend were beautiful, no photo ever does them justice. The rapeseed is turning all the fields vivid yellow and the sky has been an intense blue - apart from the odd murky day of course when we could only just make out the shape of Bill. He has had adventures of his own - chewing up a toilet roll tube and getting his top and bottom teeth stuck together! We tried for ages to free them and had to take an emergency trip to the vets, where they tried everything but with no luck. He has a bad heart murmur and I thought this would be the end of him as he was becoming quite agitated and trying to pant. Suddenly it just came unstuck and he trotted out as right as rain - I on the other hand had to go and have a lie down to recover from the stress! My sister now calls him 'Billy the Eternal'.

We also all had a trip to Boxgrove Priory - the ruins of a 12th Century Monastery on the outskirts of Chichester. 

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.

calm before the storm

                           

It's alternating between calm and storm here at the moment - the weather and our work situation too - strange.

Autumn

There won't be any evening walks after next weekend when the clocks go back. It's already getting dark too early for my liking. 

A rare day out in London - so crowded, some vibrant shop interiors and the best bit, a restorative glass of wine in Hush, people watching.

The last fair of the year - Sloe Fair made me dizzy just to watch and some beautiful arrangements seen through a shop window.

October

Not bored with Instagram yet! Some pics from the past two weeks.

Autumny walks

 Great exhibition of Eduardo Paolozzi at the Pallant Gallery. 

I added My Jack Russell as he fitted in with the colours of the other photos. 

The sweetest public toilets I've seen, my favourite colours in hydrangea form, so much fruit and a different view of West Dean House.

The best eccles cakes ever from M&S - my latest addiction, lovely old wooded fruit box, nights drawing in and MJR again for the same reason as above.

Limbo

I feel very much in limbo at the moment - I think it's because Spring was nearly here and then we had snow again with more cold weather and snow forecast for the next couple of weeks. This illustration is called Spring Woodland and kind of sums up how it is here at the moment.
Also I've been really busy with work and a friend's wedding so have not been posting anything recently AND have not been visiting other blogs either. I'm hoping to remedy this soon!
© 2013 nicky linzey

Wings

Roll on summer so we can see some of these . . . although this variety is quite rare in the UK. 
For the illustration friday theme of wings.
© 2013 nicky linzey