Rust

Oh the beauty of this rust - I'm so easily pleased these days!

Flaming June? - Occasionally!

June so far: Alf merging with the carpet, he is such a sweet dog and has been a real comfort, new leaves unfurling on a plant I thought I had killed, beautiful scented honeysuckle, a coastal walk when the weather turned murky and the South Downs on a hot sunny evening.

May

May has gone and Summer is now here although no sign of nice weather yet. I am having a creative block with my drawing which always happens when I'm sad or anxious. Although I love taking photos and recording all the things that interest me, mainly dogs, nature and food - which does help.

Arundel florist's display, Petworth Park where there was much debate about whether this was a Magnolia or Gardenia - we decided on Magnolia Grandiflora - if anyone knows differently please let me know, wild foxgloves, homemade strawberry tart and grass silhouettes from an evening walk.

A visit to Lewes which I always love, a lot of the shops are independent which makes a nice change, woodland walking and cousin Gif who gave me a lovely cuddle.

Keeping busy

I'm trying to keep busy at the moment as being without Bill is proving to be even more difficult than I imagined. We are doing a lot of walking so hopefully I will soon be fit and svelte like!

Some instagram pics - beautiful tree, flowers, feathers and Alf!  These peonies from my sister were just lovely. Walks in the Spring countryside and a trip to London to see the Matisse cut-out exhibition at Tate Modern. No cameras allowed inside unfortunately and it was so very crowded - even on a Monday which spoiled my enjoyment a little. The pictures were brilliant but it was annoying to have to queue to see each one.

Bill

Yesterday was a sad day for me as I had to have Bill, my beloved JRT, put to sleep. He became quite ill on Monday night and so did not suffer for long which was what I'd always hoped for. He was 15 and had a brilliant life, out walking every day and sharing all our adventures - a tough, brave little dog, full of character - he fitted in with our lives perfectly. My constant companion, I'm missing him so much.

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. 

Connections

One of the great things that comes from blogging is making contact and sharing your work with others - seeing ideas from creative people all over the world. Recently, out of the blue, the owner of The Richmond House Boutique Bed and Breakfast in Chichester contacted me. They had come across my blog and liked the illustration of the city skyline, drawn from a particularly unusual vantage point. They asked if they could use the image printed in large format, as wallpaper in their new Rooftop Suite. Of course I was delighted and so it all went ahead as you can see above. 
You can visit them here to see all three new suites.