adventures part one

Last October I flew out to visit my daughter and her husband in their new home in Yorkshire, England for a couple weeks.  Amy and I decided to take a little trip on our own.  Peter took me out to practice driving several times in preparation for our expedition.  It was really challenging because it has been years since I've driven stick shift and you have to shift on the left, naturally since you are sitting on the right.  And driving on the left.  Oh my!  Did I mention roundabouts?  And one lane roads with two way traffic?  

We set off on a rare sunny day with reservations for a guesthouse in Richmond on the edge of the Dales.  We made a stop at a wildlife refuge to do a little birding.  There were large shallow ponds that attracted flocks of the prized lapwings mingling with golden plovers.   The lapwing is an elegant bird, with a feather on his head, white and black tuxedo tucked under his wing- only visible in flight.  When they all startle up a flock of lapwing is a striking sight.  

We walked along the edge of ponds near a quarry, through pastures of sheep, edged with bushes loaded with berries shining in the sunlight.  We were not accustomed to how cheerful the landscape looks on a sunny day.  Walking through a little woods we noticed slender little birds with long tails.  Their chests were a soft cinnamon color, their backs bluish gray.  It was the only place we saw long tailed tits.  We ate our lunch on a picnic table then set out for Richmond.  

I had done well so far driving but was feeling anxious about the small, unfamiliar hill town.  Hills and stick shifts...  All went well until we tried to find a parking space for our guesthouse.   The narrow cobblestone lane with parking spaces all filled led up a steep hill, up and around the corner  where we came to a wall.  There was nothing to do but attempt a three point turn on a hill.  It was scary but I did it!  

Our room was cozy- heavy wooden beams, a window seat, micro bathroom, a tray under a chair to put hiking boots on.  This was a resting place for people walking the coast to coast trail.  The row of houses were built in the 1700's- it was a Georgian town, but the owner said the house had originally been built in 1400.  Our host gave us a flask of milk for our tea and homemade fudge- balm to our jangled nerves.  We caught our breath and then set out to explore Richmond in the little bit of daylight left.  

We walked up to the Norman castle that dominated the town, built in 1,000 to conquer and control the rebellious region.  From gray stone towers we looked down on the town directly below, a ring of market buildings and church.  They looked like toy blocks.  From the walls to the south we had a view of the Swale River below and the rolling hills.  We wandered around the grounds, found a little chapel in the stone wall, a hidden garden outside the wall.  When the light was gone we headed back down to the town to look for dinner.  

a poem

I have a pulled muscle in my leg.

It’s a gentle sort of word,

pulled, like taffy, almost French.

It’s not like a kidney stone or a cataract,

or tennis elbow.

Rest is best

and ice.

No need to call the doctor

for a pulled muscle.  

Yorkshire, England

January thumbnail sketches

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commission

I think a lot of people feel nostalgic about Colonial Beach, Virginia.  I do and I've only been there a handful of times.  I love the drive along the river with old houses and stately trees on the right.  Osprey nests top most of the telephone poles on the water.  I did this commission painting of that drive for a young couple here in Fredericksburg.  

remembering fall

It's cold and wet now, we have rain, just north of us snow is on the way. But I'm looking back through my journal and an entry from early October, maybe late September, I don't know because I didn't write the date, brought back memories of warmer weather:
       
My friend and I drove over to Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield at 5:30 for a picnic and walk. Sitting near the meadow we watched the dragonflies cross stitching the air above the grasses. Flocks of small birds commuted from one tree to another, settling down for the evening. It's the end of summer and the fields are ripe- burnished copper grasses dotted with goldenrod and white daisies. The end of the day. It comes earlier every evening. We walked out the light. On the return loop the dark gathered in the woods, bats carried it across the sky. Deer quietly walked out from the woods but stayed in the shadows. Everything is so beautiful, it's just woods and fields preserved to remember the dead. An empty space colonized by deer and mice, hawks and dragonflies, grass and trees. 

I did some small 8x10 panels in December, oil paintings on wood. I am still using a medium under the paint with a fine grain sand that adds a little texture. 

hill rag

My show at Hill Center Galleries is being featured in the Hill Rag, a community newspaper in Capitol Hill.  See page 111 for the article.

English birds

I'm visiting England for the first time. I was really hoping to see an English robin. They are little birds with delicately colored plumage. This little guy hopped out of a bush and onto the sidewalk at my feet. We also saw a blue tit and a goldcrest on our walk.





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Location:Montpellier Gardens,Harrogate,United Kingdom