New Paintings

When it's been dry we have been out - when wet - painting - I really am trying to accumulate some stock! All are oils..

Blencathra.

Castle Crag over Derwent Water.

Great Gable from Innominate Tarn. 

Great Gable, Green Gable and Base Brown. 

Wastwater evening light. 

The Dodds plus Raise

A great walk - especially after the sodden weekend we have just had! We parked up at High Row above Dockray and headed straight out on alongside the plantation to the footbridge and reassuring finger-post sign for Great Dodd. Damp under foot after all the recent rain, but good stands of Bog Asphodel. There were 10 hang gliders ..which was fine - except for the fact that they are the one thing Rocky really hates and barks and leaps at! So a hard walk up to Great Dodd where fortunately they went out of view!  On to Watson's Dodd and then we skirted past Starling Dodd (unintentionally) and found ourselves looking across Sticks Pass to Raise ..so a 'slight' detour down and then up and back down Raise to come back over Starling Dodd. Then onto White Stones and Hart Side before heading east to the cairn and wall that you can see where the path takes you down to Dowthwaite Head - we then walked back along the road to High Row rather than going over the top, as we had previously done, as we really couldn't be bothered with more up! Just over 12 miles and a good step out. 

Heading to Great Dodd. 

Bog Asphodel.

More Bog Asphodel...

Looking across to Blencathra.

Admiring the view .. alternatively watching for cars in the valley! 

Lovely to find Thamnolia vermicularis at a new site. 

Raise - a good quality cairn! 

Company on Raise while we had lunch. 

Superb views of Helvellyn and Catstycam from White Stones.

More Thamnolia but not a lot...

Looking down to Dowthwaite Head before the steep and damp descent. 

High Stand Wood

We've never been to this Forestry England site. There are various track through the woodland - not waymarked, most of which have quite nice flowery edges - tufted Vetch, Different Thistles, Ragwort, St John's Wort, Burdock etc and as the sun came out - lots of butterflies too. Nothing spectacular - just lots of them: Comma, Ringlet, Large White, Speckled Wood, Red admiral, Small Skipper, Meadow Brown and Peacock. ...This was yesterday - taking advantage of the weather! 

Ringlet.

Small Skipper.

Red Admiral.

Large White.

Comma.

Comma.

Some nice ponmnds too...

Common Hawker. 

Great Gable, Green Gable, Grey Knotts and Brandreth

A great walk in perfect conditions (yesterday). We parked at the National Tust carpark beside Honister slate mine and headed straight up the fence line path onto Grey Knotts - a gentle meander led to Brandreth and then given the cloud had cleared from Great Gable we went up onto Green Gable. Decision time - down onto Windy Gap (horrid scree erroded path) - which wasn't windy - then up onto Great Gable. It's always a good scramble up onto Gable and then a pleasant walk onto the top - cracking views! Surprisingly there were only 2 people on the summit and we really did see very few people during the day. I found the four species of club moss I had hoped to as well ...rather than coming back over Brandreth and the steep descent from Grey Knotts we headed on the lower route towards Fleetwith Pike...given the choice between doing Fleetwith and going to the cafe at Honister for cake - we chose cake! ..and it was excellent! ..Although I'm not counting - this took me to 50 Wainwright's second time round. 

The last vestiges of cloud on Great Gable ...from Grey Knotts with Brandreth and Green and Great Gable. 

A nice reflected sky. 

Looking down Ennerdale. 

Looking across to Langdale. 

Green Gable summit looking to Great Gable ...ignoring the drop off to Windy Gap! 

Views from the top of Great Gable - Wastwater. 

Piers Gill and the corridor route leading to the 'motorway' up Scafell Pike.

A great panorama. 

Looking across to Haystacks, High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike. 

Last of the Bog Asphodel - far too early this year! 

Fir, Stag's-horn, Alpine and Lesser Club Moss. 

Spore distribution from the Lesser Club Moss. 

Buttermere

On the day the schools break up, a walk round Buttermere before the hoards arrive ..... it was busy as we left.

Arctic prints

A great afternoon earlier this week, at Linden Print Studios using their press which enables me to produce larger pieces of work ...more work is required to get the image I want, but I know where I am going! 

Drypoint of a glacier ...crevasses ....this will be hand coloured, but I'd like to take a section of this in black and white and develop it both in plain ink and as a textile.

Drypoint ...I like  the introduction of a bit of colour and am particulalry pleased with the sea. 

And I loved this collagraph ...same view as above - just a different technique - now to try to combine the two techniques! 

Cuttlefish, Terns and Roman Fishing Weights

On a blustery day ...down to the beach with friends. What started as 'Let's just get out' walk became another cracking walk with two Roman fishing weights, a pair of juvenile Sandwich Terns and a cluster of Cuttle Fish eggs. The eggs were washed up on the tide line and not attached ot their holdfast, so we kept them damp in seaweed and headed off to Maryport Aquarium (Lake District Coast Aquarium) where they immediately placed the eggs in their aerated tank ..thank you! 

Looking across to Criffel.

Roman fishing weights...and below.

Cuttlefish eggs.

Walking back...the tide was dropping..

...revealing the boulder clay the fishing weights are made out of. 

Juvenile Sandwich Terns.

Cracking clouds.

Sea Holly.

'Our' Cuttlefish eggs being cared for in the aquarium.