Weekend in York

My first time blogging on the new website - wonder how it will go?

Just got back from a weekend in York the purpose of which was to return my son (and all his stuff) to university there. York is a lovely city so we decided to stay for a couple of nights. Unfortunately in common with the rest of the country the weather was rubbish, cold  & wet with hail storms. 

We arrived early evening after a long and rather unpleasant drive up the motorway and decided to go for a walk along the river to take advantage of a rare bit of evening sunshine.

Saturday not good for taking pictures did manage to get this one though - wonder why they changed  the name of the street?

Sunday  - gave up and came home after Breakfast - we will have opportunities to visit York in the next year or so hopefully with better weather! Took this from my iphone from the car window on the way down the M1 - brought Blake's Dark Satanic Mills to mind!

New Camera at Last!

OK I cheated! my birthday isn't until the end of the month but It did seem as if Easter on the Isle of Wight was the ideal time to try out the new camera. The weather wasn't brilliant but I managed to take a few good shots (out of the 300 odd I took) Still got it on automatic though, I have a lot to learn!

A couple of exciting things this week - firstly the good people at the Apple Farm Afton Park have agreed to try selling some of my greetings cards  - very exciting. Be sure to drop by if you're ever in the vicinity, there is a gift / produce shop, a yurt campsite, orchards, beautiful gardens and a cafe.

These are some of the beautiful grasses growing in their garden this spring

Secondly Stephanie Levy's Creative Courage course has started looks like its going to be really good!

I'll finish with another picture from  the weekend - in case you can't guess its the hull of a  boat on the quayside under repair! I just love the colours 

Back to the Island

A couple of weeks ago we were able to make our first trip of the year to the Isle of Wight, a couple of weeks later than planned due to the bug mentioned in my last post. We chose an amazing weekend - not only was the weather great but the spring tides were as low as I have ever seen them, adding whole new areas of interest to the beach. 

I just love walking on this ripple effect sand with bare feet (not in March though)

I am also in the process of trying to create a visual story of my family on the Island using a collaging approach with a mixture of information from vintage brochures and pictures of significant landmarks that I have painted, for example the Needles below.

I have used some artistic licence with regard to the number of stripes on the lighthouse  - but this is how I see it in my head!