Yesterday we woke to a white frosty world.  The views were amazing and it was a day not to be missed, so off we went for a walk.  It was a chance for me to try out my new camera, a surprise Christmas gift from my husband.  So all the photographs today are taken by me, as I take you along with us on our uphill route. A chance for me to share more of the views of my village as we take the footpaths through the fields.

It is a steep hill and we are heading to the top of the brown hill in the distance



You can see the snow on the top of Scafell, the Lakeland hills.
Next through the old stone stile



By this time I am puffing and panting as we have reached the old stile, realising how far we have come and looking up to where we are going.

The white building on the right is the village school, we came through the field next to it.

We are walking to the top of the brown hill, something white is just showing from behind the hill.

We leave the fields and walk up the lane with high banks and hedges. I found the rosehips and snail shell along here and I carried them with me for the rest of my journey.


You can see the estuary and the snake like tidal river where I did my walk for my shore  project.



 We are now on the Moors and the brown hill covered in the rusty coloured dead bracken. It is here that the Slate is quarried, evidence of the stone is everywhere in the village, especially the stone walls and buildings.  It was actually on the television this week,  as Michael Portillo arrived by train to our village and visited the quarry last year.

The quarry workings,  just across from where I am standing.

I needed a rest by now,  a time to catch my breath and eat my snacks and take in the views.  Then the steep path to our destination, the mystery objects behind the hill.

They look small.



THEY ARE HUGE.  The red speck is my husband.

It was worth the walk for the views down to the estuary and the open sea. We can see for miles.

And right on top of the moor in the heather we found the little oak leaf in my picture.  It took us one and a half  hours to reach the wind mill, there are twelve of them on this piece of moor.   This is a place we used to came to as children,  run and play in the bracken,  picnic, paddle in the clear waters in the streams and enjoy the views.  We followed the river as it too made its way back down to sea level.

Down the muddy cart track and through the gate and home down the steep country lane.  We called for a cup of tea on the way down, and later arrived home tired and hungry.  We had walked from our home at sea level to around 800 ft,  all uphill.  It was a beautiful day but chilly on the moors with  puddles of water iced over,  so it felt lovely to arrive home to a cosy fire.
So here is my little picture from the day.  Rose hips reflecting the time of year as they are frosted and blackened and split with the cold.  The little oak leaf that had blown on to the moor and the pale snail shell found on the lane and to finish a piece of blue pottery found in the mud.

Hope you enjoyed the walk and my picture.   And I was pleased with my first photographs with my new camera. Thank you for your comments.                                          Millyx

I went for a walk across the shore on a beautiful bright sunny day and collected a bag full of objects. Since then the weather has really changed with a drop in the temperature and some stormy days.  I am preparing to work on a page of beach objects in brown inks.  On Sunday  I chose the oak leaf,  piece of fern and the two red berries from this collection and added the skeleton leaf for this little composition.  This beautiful leaf was in my garden and I picked it up as I walked down the path to my door and I knew instantly I had to draw it.   As I have been playing with my new "dip in" pen and ink I decided this was a perfect subject for the fine nib of the pen.

I drew the shape of the leaf with all the intricate lace patterns with a pencil and then started to fill in the lines with the pen and sepia calligraphy ink.  I loved the detail and tried to capture all the tiny lines,  and although it was a very slow process dipping in the pen and using the ink it felt really nice and relaxing.  I had my head down for many hours engrossed and eventually  I managed to complete it adding a little grey ink with a fine paintbrush.   

Then I used my acrylic inks to paint the oak leaf, a curling piece of fern and two berries. I used green, sepia, grey and red to mix my colours.  I used the ink pen to give outlines to them, and also on the veins of the oak leaf as I experiment with pen and ink.
It was quite a stormy day,  I could heard the wind whistling through the house and hailstones showers peppering  the glass at the windows, with a really dark threatening sky. I was content to draw all day.  Late into the afternoon, I realised the paper looked whiter and brighter, as I looked up I noticed the room seemed lighter too.  I thought the day must have improved and the sun was showing through the clouds.  To my surprise as I gazed out of the window I saw the most wonderful rainbow, a double one.  So I thought I would share it with you, the view from my garden.

I have now reached page three in my square book.  Meanwhile my other new book is home to many different pens and drawing pencils in brown and sepia tones, as I experiment with them. If you use inks or sepia, do you have any hints, a particular brand you could recommend? I will let you see how I progress with my sea objects in sepia as soon as it is completed. 

Hope you like the leaves.  

Thank you for the lovely comments.                             Millyx

More exercise on a sunny day

I have started the year off well with lots of exercise.  My Tai chi class and then a yoga evening class and now a long walk around the village with the up hill section that always gets me puffing and results in a red healthy looking complexion.  It was a lovely day and so we set off in the sunshine and I thought it was a chance to find something for my next page.  It seemed quite strange hunting in the hedgerows as I spent last year on the shore collecting my objects.  I saw so many snail shells, lots of  different colours from pale blues to dark brown and many fragile broken cases with holes pecked  by the birds.  One made its way into my drawing.  The hedgerows were all very neat and tidy, someone had given the whole village a good cut and so I didn't find many red berries.  I did snap off the little branches with the green lichen from a favourite tree near the shore and you can see the berries are now suffering, no more bright red glossy berries on this tree.  I was amazed to see some pretty pink campion flowers still flowering through the winter.  One of my favourite plants, Lords and Ladies, was growing fresh green healthy leaves and as it is a plant  I love to draw when they reach the red berry stage I will try to   remember where I have seen them.  I passed the big oak tree which spreads its branches across the road, and resisted collecting the leaves as most were stuck in the muddy verges.  I found the sycamore leaf in one of the muddy banks by the road,  the minute I saw it I knew it was going in my page.  It was so interesting with all the torn and eaten areas and I immediately picked it up along with other remnants of leaves attached to it.  It was very fragile and it lost little pieces onto my mitten as I carried it home. I have always loved drawing aged and worn leaves.

Along the way we passed the old flattened ruins of homes,  this is where my parents first lived when they were married,  this is another place we can find pieces of china as I saw several in the field by the muddy gateway.  Our village is made up of many different little hamlets, clusters of houses,  and in days gone by I guess everyone just discarded their old broken pots in the fields or rivers or at the bottom of their garden.  There were village rubbish tips where people took the household and garden rubbish but no collections at this time.  It seems we have china in our little rivers, in fields near the houses and on the shore.  We actually have one little river that runs downhill past cottages and eventually to the shore that my husband and I have nick named China River.  I think England has many similar villages and towns where china can be found.  I must photograph my collection to show you!

So here is my finished page.  The leaf was so lovely to draw and paint and I am really pleased with it and the shapes and  patterns it contains. The berries were added next and the snail shell to finish the page. I have added the colours of ink I used for you to see.  I have bought some dip in pens and a variety of nib sizes, so hoping to have something in sepia ink to post next week after I have experimented with them.
Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we  could not resist a long walk on the shore, even more excerise,  and  of course I collected  lots of objects so I might try them in sepia.  Watch this space.  Hope you like the page for this week.

Thank you for all the lovely comments on Week 52.  The winner of my give away is Martinealison. Please can you send me your address.
Due to my lack of technology ...I am sorry to say I did not receive the emails that were sent via the contact!  if you did sent me an email please could you  send it again.  (the link is not live,  so using your own provider.)   Thank you.                                                Millyx

A walk around my village

Happy New Year to everyone.  I have been thinking about what I might do this year and then decided to not make huge plans and just have fun and enjoy.  Last year I bought lots of new colours in the acrylic inks which I want to try, colours I am not familiar with and so that will be something new for me.  I also really love the concertina books and have plans to work in one of them again. The most exciting plan I have is to work in sepia and brown inks, fill a book with only brown drawings, using dip in pens with different sized nibs and  paint brushes. I love old drawings in browns and after drawing the dead crow I was reminded how I love using ink pens.  It will enable me to draw  and record greater detail in my work. So who knows what it will bring, what I will draw and where  that will lead me.  I have been looking up and reading about different sepia inks, which is made from Cuttle fish,  now there is a link from my shore project.  I hope to try out different kinds of browns and experiment.
I have bought two new Sketch books, one for the ink which is the same size as the one I used last year and the other is a square book which is the same as I used in 2010.  So here is the first page for my new square book.  We went for a walk around the village last Saturday.  I have to admit I was glad I did not have to venture on the wet grey and gloomy looking shore.  It was drizzling and there was low grey mist hiding the view of the hills.  Instead we walked a loop around the village which included a footpath through the beck fields,( a beck being a small river).  It was wet and muddy but I love this walk as you follow the beck as it winds its way from the hills to the sea.  I spent a lot of my childhood here happily paddling and fishing about collected bits of china from the beck and learning about  wildflowers and insects.  Today it felt damp and dreary with empty hedgerows and we slipped along the muddy ground with places like a mire.
I picked up the oak leaf and then the red berries on the little branch with a single leaf.  This piece did not make the grade for Christmas but I will have it.  A new section of footpath looked neat and tidy, it was the first time I have walked on it and then I spotted the pile of earth dug up and the little pieces of china poking through the soil.  Several blue and white pieces went into my pocket.  The hedgerows yielded the blue snail shells and I knew that was to be my first page in my square book.

I painted it with my acrylic inks and a number 3 sable brush.  It felt strange changing the size of my page.  So whatever catches my eye will be recorded throughout  the year in this book.  Now off to start having fun with the sepia drawings. Watch this space.

Thank you for the really lovely comments about my Shore project.  I will eventually answer you all if you have a link.  I did not realise just how many people were following along until I have had over a thousand views since I posted week 52,  from all around world, so thank you again.
Please join in the Give away...leave a comment  on Week 52.....I will pick the winner on Saturday 14 th January  from the comments on the post Week 52.  The winner announced on Sunday 15th January.
 Millyx

Week 51

Here is my page for week 51.  At a very busy time of the year I planned to take my walk on Sunday.  It worked out fine, the dinner was busy cooking in the oven, everything prepared for our Christmas meal so we took ourselves down to the shore.  It was a grey gloomy dark day and a very high tide in the morning so we knew it would be wet.  So out of our good clothes and we dressed for the shore in waterproof, windproof and warm clothes and our wellies.  I was glad to see others out walking their dogs  and looking equally well wrapped up and we waved and exchanged our Christmas greetings.  I had a small collecting bag, as I decided to limit myself to one page. It was really hard as I found so many things that I would happily draw.  It was very apparent to me that it was Christmas as I found holly, ivy and fir branches amongst the tide line.  The little branch with the two cones was the first of my finds to go into my bag. I guess they blow about and end up on the shore, some are left overs or blown from bushes but it seemed very festive.  I found red berries but I wanted to see how many had still managed to stay clinging to the Hawthorn tree on the shore and couldn't resist snapping off a little branch which appears on my page.  The leaf I chose is a Laurel and the brown spots influenced that choice.   The red Hawthorne berries are suffering in the weather and you can see the contrast of the bright red berry which is all smooth, red and shiny like brand new!


My bag of finds, the leaf and red berry can be seen.

We walked along to the boulders and to the shore where I searched for finds. I did not enjoy the sloppy wet sand as my feet slip and slide, but I did find the sea weed with the barnacles and some pretty pink shells.

The shore was very wet,  the banks show more evidence of erosion and the sea water has left large puddles and flooded areas on the grassy shore.  The high tide had reached the railway fence again as it left behind the wavy bank of tangled grass and objects.  I had enough in my bag  but you know I can not leave the mermaids purses,  they will keep for another drawing.   We saw the swan earlier but only found a few of her soft white feathers blowing in the breeze, she had gone again. 


 As we turned to walk back to the railway station we saw a familiar character,  Bare footed John out for a run.  He stopped to chat, then off he went with his trusty running companion, his dog. Yes he was bare footed.  We returned home to the delicious smell of the turkey, we enjoyed our Christmas meal.  My page had to be completed over the next three days in little pockets of time between  other things.  But at last it is finished and I really like it.

work in progress .



The finished page and the real objects

The piece of china was a little find by my husband, an unexpected gift so I had to add it.  Painted as usual with my acrylic inks and a fine sable brush and I used a black ink pen for the lower thin stem of the black sea weed.   Hope you like it. 
I did intend to post more photographs but Blogger is not helping tonight!
Hope everyone enjoyed their celebrations and had a lovely time with family and friends.
Next week My 52th week and I will have completed the whole year...So I will have a little giveaway.
See you soon.   Millyx


Week 50

Here is my week 50 page. We had a surprise when we woke up to snow last Friday.  Huge snowflakes were falling and it all looked like we were going to be a snow scene.  Thick clouds covered the hills.  As the morning progressed it stopped snowing, the clouds lifted and the views were spectacular. I wanted to photograph the day for my blog and decided this could also be my collecting walk, so off we went.  The photographer took the first photograph from the top of the temporary railway bridge.  Meanwhile I dashed down the steps to the shore, feeling like an excited child because of this.

It was just so beautiful walking with the blue sky and the sunshine on this crisp clear day.  The Lakeland mountains looked like a postcard.  The oyster catchers and gulls flying over the water. We walked up to the stony beach past the limestone barrier.  The sand was very wet and sloppy but it was here in the little puddles that I collected the tiny pale coloured shells. The huge white Mountain across the sands seemed to rise up out of the ground with such majesty with its clean white covering and the mist clinging  to the lower valleys.  The sky looked so blue,  it felt so still,  so calm,  so beautiful.

Slowly the tide crept across the shore.  We pottered around like a pair of children as I collected my shells and bits of seaweed and my husband enjoyed capturing the day.  Several trains rumbled past us, faces look out of the carriage windows. The sand was really soft and sloppy, as my feet sink into the sand I felt the panic,  childhood memories of the sinky sands, back onto more solid land!

We walked back along the edge of the tidal river as the water slowly filled into the estuary, now the highest tides are over it was a gentle calm movement contained within the river banks.  I saw some extra long lengths of seaweed, up to six feet and too big for my pages! Then we found the large pine cone washed onto the shore.  Each week I always wonder what will I find, each week something new and exciting is delivered for me.  We left after two hours, the sun had gone, clouds again building up and the day turning darker and a drop in the temperature. Last photographs as we left about 3 pm.

So here is my page for week 50.  I did a pencil drawing of the large pine cone and lots of the little shells.  Then I added the seaweeds and finally the five red berries.  The pine cone is a pencil drawing and the other objects I have used the acrylic inks and a fine brush. 

just the berries to add

Hope you enjoyed seeing the snow, it has mostly gone now, I am glad we captured the day.  Hope you like the page for week 50.  Thank you for the lovely comments.   I would like to say  to all  my readers,  "Happy Christmas and have a wonderful time". 
I will be down on the shore collecting at some point in the weekend!                     Millyx