Normal Service Has Been Resumed...

 We've just had a much needed week away, staying in Alderney, which is one of the Channel Islands.

 While the rain poured down back at home, we had plenty of sunshine and empty beaches.

 We sat and watched the gannets from the cliff top...

 ...strolled round the harbour...

...lazed in the sunshine digging sandcastles and got gently burnt to a crisp.  This was a busy day at the beach.

I caught up with old school friends, read endlessly, drank plenty of wine and beer and probably ate far too much.  It was just what we needed and while it was a wrench to come back home, I feel refreshed and ready to don the yoke once again....tomorrow!

Walks In The Woods...

We've just had a lovely three day break in the forest cabin again.  The weather wasn't great, but we didn't get too wet over all and it was so mild I even got the chance to sit outside on the balcony and paint the view. This is just a little 30 minute watercolour sketch, but it gets down the colours at least.

My daughter thought the cabins looked like the houses in Twilight and also asked if there were bears in the woods!  All we saw were birds however.

The leaves were still partially on the trees, still with the glorious autumnal hues.

This was sunrise yesterday morning, bathing the woods with a beautiful pink light for a few minutes.

However, any benefits from being away from the world for a few days (and this particular weekend we were very glad to be away from the terrible events going on) were wiped out when we returned home to discover the water tank in our roof had leaked the whole weekend and the ceiling was streaming water through the smoke alarm, soaking the carpet below.  Desperate phone calls to the housing association ensued and they were brilliant in sending round an electrician and a plumber within an hour or so.  Nobody to sort out the saturated ceiling however, and we had to call out the electrician again as the residue water started to once again pour into our brand new smoke alarm.  Now we wait to see if the insurance company will spring for a new carpet!

If You Go Down To The Woods Today....

...we won't be there any more.  Sadly, after an all too short break, life has to go back to normal today.

We had a lovely long weekend in a cabin in a forest, doing very little other than walking in the woods or just sitting looking at the woods.

For the first time in his life, Clovis came with us on holiday.  He didn't know what to make of it and spent a considerable amount of time onthe first day doing this.  He was doing this throughout the first night as well, and I ended up having to sleep next to him in my daughter's room in order for any of us to get some sleep.

However, the next day he relaxed, although never left my side.  We spent a warm afternoon on the decking while I painted.

Little watercolour sketches in my Moleskin.

We all walked a lot, and barely saw another soul.

We saw fungi though, and some interesting ancient trees:

The weather was warm and sunny for most of the time, although there was torrential rain for one morning, so we had to stay inside and read - lovely to get the opportunity.  Then it cleared up and Stacie and I went and picked a pound or so of blackberries - a delicious crumble was made upon our return!

All too soon it was time to go home - Clovis slept like a log once he was back in his own territory.  Considering he's an old dog and quite nervous, he did very well over the weekend and I am sure we could do it again a bit further afield.

Back to work today - lots to do!