Solway skies

A quick walk out from Mawbray towards Allonby ............

.

Criffel 

Across to Criffel .......

The Isle of Man

Towards Mawbray...........

Allonby......

Criffel

St Bees head walk

We do this walk every year to see the seabirds on their rookeries. Plenty of guillemots with fulmar, razorbill and kittiwakes. The new gates and improved path, as part of the 'England Coastal footpath', are great! The bluebells and thrift are just coming out while the primroses were spectacular.

The views ......

The rookeries ..................

On the sea......guillemots ..........

Everything was very green! 

Spring flowers..........

Kestrel and raven.

The lighthouses of Islay

Well now I have a set of 3 lighthouses - there are another 4 on Islay.

Port Charlotte

McArthur's......

Port Ellen.

Picos de Europa...snow and spindrift!

Well that was mist and snow painted recently, so why not combine them? The photograph is from the Picos de Europa; I've done it before as a soft pastel...but an oil was more challenging! Snow and spin drift.......

Felt daisies ..........

As part of my ongoing 'felt-ball' project I've made a daisy ball ready to take up to Islay and photograph in the daisy field.........

The idea of the project, which is entirely for fun, is to be inspired by somewhere, come home and make the felt-ball, and then return to photograph it in situ. Two of the most 'extreme' journeys have been from Cumbria to Orkney ...for Scottish primrose click for the Scottish Primrose trip and Cumbria to Lizard Point for spring squill for the squill balls on the Lizard click here.

These are some of the past balls ....

Top: Scottish primrose; water crowfoot; spring squill
Bottom: silverweed; spring gentians; rockrose

And in situ..........

Xanthoria lichen; sea urchins; rockrose; spring gentians; spring squill; primrose; sea balls and purple saxifrage.

....and the daisy ball in my rockery - not in situ!  

..and where it'll be heading in May...

Parton - a two marble day.

Parton in West Cumbria is always a good walk out - quite a temperature difference to Saturday mind you! Our previous visit http://juliagarner1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/parton-west-cumbria-more-beach-finds.html was a tad warmer - no biting wind.

Codd bottle marbles.

Pen-y-ghent field sketches

While the dog slept in the sun..................