over the brow

Who can resist being lured over the brow of the hill?


It's worth it when this is the view.


May this perfect early autumn weather continue....

Happy weekend, friends.

birthday bunting

A banner for a birthday, but a bit different from last year's.


I found a bag of old handkerchiefs in the charity shop - 50p the lot, so I brought them home to sort, soak, wash and press and then chopped some corners off to make an all-white garland. I love white - it's so simple and fresh-looking. The interest is in the lacy bits and the embroidery. And I've enough corners left to make a length for myself, too.

Happy happy birthday for tomorrow, Gill!

for the walter fan club

This is the "I've just been bathed, aren't I handsome" pose.


And yes, he's wearing his fleece jumper - it drys him out super-quick and saves the house getting soaked. This is his second one. He ate the first (just like those gloves).

I never ever thought I'd be the sort of person who'd put a jumper on their dog.......

walking the land :: two

A little while ago, I came across some photographs by artist and photographer Ian Brown. They struck a chord with me both for their beauty and their subject matter. The photographs were in an exhibition of Brown's called Walking the Land at this gallery in the autumn of 2007. Sadly, I never saw the actual exhibition.

Loe Bar, Cornwall

White Agapanthus Field, Cornwall 2006

I was so moved by the images I bought the exhibition catalogue so I could pour over them at home (I think it was about £5). The images are multi-layered and have a haunting, luminous quality to them. And several of them are of nearby places familiar to me.

Set Aside (Hogweed), Cornwall 2006

Godolphin Wood, Cornwall 2007

You can view a slide show here. It's worth it just to see bigger images. I'm sorely tempted to frame some of these. Aren't they beautiful?

walking the land :: one

I walk every day - come rain or shine, blue skies or grey, hot or cold or somewhere in between. You have to do that when you have a dog, but for me it's (mostly) not a hardship. Walking the land gives me an intimate picture of nature and the changing seasons. I love that connection. I thrive on it. Walking is a daily ritual that connects me deeply with my surroundings. Admittedly I'm sometimes distracted by ball-throwing duties, but even Walter takes notice of the sea, and won't venture in very far when the waves are crashing.


Walking gives me a chance to pause and gather my thoughts, to have a conversation with myself. To think about what I'm doing and to mull over creative ideas. And to be outside is to be inspired - by beach and cliffs, by water, by the woods, the moor, and sometimes by a walk around town and along the prom. Often I find my doodles and scribbles are heavily influenced by nature.


A few days ago I walked up on the moor to a familiar spot, only this time using a route I'd not walked before. It's amazing the difference a change of perspective makes - seeing with a fresh pair of eyes. The moor was a blaze of purple heathers and coconut-scented yellow gorse. Of grasses blowing in the wind, with the sea glimpsed in the background.


On the horizon is the neolithic chambered tomb, Chun Quoit, one of the many ancient sites scattered around this landscape.



I felt like the land was mine. Birdsong, wind, rustling grasses, the sound of the sea in the background. No man made noise.

Just me, Walter and nature, doing her thing.