Landscape Painter, Life Writer, occasional Nomad in perpetual pursuit of a dream
One of my greatest joys in life is finding food. Don’t laugh: Finding it in the fridge is good. If it’s actually made into something tasty, then that’s even better. What I mean, though, is finding it outside. Growing wild. On the hill, in the woods, along the shore, among the hedgerows. There is something …
I received a wonderful piece of news last week. Some good friends of mine have finally managed to sell everything they own, and are buying a boat in La Gomera. They have no further plans. They’ll be there in time to claim residency, before the Brexit fiasco hits and leaves the rest of us stranded. …
How blessed we have been, confined to place, to have found ourselves ‘imprisoned’ in such a naturally bountiful area with almost infinite possibilities for wild exploring. From rocky, salt-washed coastlines to inky, silent lochans secreted into upland folds; tangled birchwoods scattered with primroses, bluebells and now, chanterelles; still, calm waters where black-throated divers lead their …
My mother was a gardener. Not by profession but by choice. She had studied botany and knew all the Latin names but I think, above everything, she just liked an excuse to get her hands dirty.Dressed in the oldest of clothes, small fork in hand she spent every spare hour on the kidney-shaped kneeling pad …
Already, it is May. How strange, the way time moves. Sometimes it gallops; sometimes, it crawls. Occasionally it appears to do both at the same time. We have been in lockdown now for around seven weeks. We are still very lucky here in Assynt, in that we can get out and enjoy the wilderness without …
Today I sat down and put my virtual pen to paper. I realised with disbelief and some embarassment how long it is since I wrote anything here, and I vowed – I vow – to change my behaviour. From now on there will be regular updates, I promise. How strange that it should take something …
Hello everyone, This time I’m writing from very warm and sunny Sri Lanka, where I have to come to recheck accommodation and arrangements for my up and coming Vistas Sketching Holidays. Yes! The website is now written, made and live, and you can see it here: www.sketchingholidays.co.uk I do hope to see some of you …
Although we are now a couple of weeks past the summer solstice, you wouldn’t know it, as we in the ‘Frozen North’ are still waiting for good weather. As I write, the mountains of Suilven and Canisp are still under their duvets and look as if they will stay there all day. The strong winds …
Since my last update, the winter months have seen me trundling around the UK visiting some old haunts as well as some old friends, pursuing a variety of short-term solutions to what is luckily a temporary problem, which has seen my globe-trotting wings clipped and creative juices somewhat stifled. I managed a short visit to …
So suddenly the summer of 2014, which has been a relatively dry and often hot one, is hurtling to a close. The bracken is golden amongst the purple heather and the trees are slowly, if reluctantly, beginning to develop the odd yellow leaf. It is by no means autumn yet though, and chanterelles continue to …