Everyday for ten days the rhythm was much the same. Enjoyable and arduous in equal measure and without doubt cathartic after a nasty bout of covid in the confines of the West Country. As I make my way from Le Puy en Velay in the Auvergne and at five-thirty in the morning the rousings of fellow walkers would start: so that by first light we could step into the freshness of the day well before the unforgiving sun took hold. Breakfast maybe a scratchy apology for nourishment as we clambered to get out to take full advantage of the early part of ...
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Who would ever have thought that to follow trails through a grecian mountain range might beat those azure blue island beaches and all the sun that goes with it. Well we did both and the novelty of the hills alive with no-one was a delight. Staying in high villages of a lost age where the building are fine and the aspects tremendous but alas devoid of the young and proper activity or even a shop. So that might be a detraction, though not really as we found the solitude of the hills, the ravines and the wonderful trees, a place ...
If we couldn't get abroad we had to return to the old hunting grounds on the Cornish coast. The trick was to avoid the traffic and to get into a spot away from those who would normally be in the med. That was only possible by leaving a eleven at night and booking the lodgings two years ago and we squeezed north and south in all weathers. We got jabbed by the wind, jabbed by the rain and nothing else to worry about but food and our maps. Doubly good for the soul. Helford on the Lizard side - as glorious ...
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So where did the summer go as June faded into storms and the May heat left the ground beneath our feet? With solid shoes, a coat and scarf I went down to the sea the first clear morning after midsummer and captured the mood. A few days later the evening sky at home showed no compassion for us requiring warmth so we could eat comfortably outside. I bounced along the cliffs west of charmouth where old fashioned fields with a wild sward of healthy grasses abound with colourful butterflies and tiny creatures loving the weather. And larger beasts too cuddled up against the ...
Like many the lockdown to us is at the same time as confusing to the rhythm etched into our dna as it is offering a strange liberation. But without end, there is a persistent search for what might come and out of that some good contemplation of ideas for the future. My method of adjustment partly took me to the fields around home at Yarcombe always within range of the closed church which I now notice slightly changes shape as each evening stroll was recorded onto paper.
Not that the indigenous peoples of Morocco would necessarily wish to agree but the French influence provides a rather agreeable ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the experience of a visiting incomer. French has integrated into the language to the extent one can often hold a full conversation: but perhaps its most prominent legacy is in the food and there is brilliant fusion through for example the use of fresh herbs and spices with bright uncontaminated tomatoes with things like local mutton and chicken. As we wander through tracks and poor villages see the raw simplicities of the people eking out a ...
Not everyone agrees that walking in the snowy mountains can be every bit as enjoyable as the fast thrill of the skis nicely cutting down a red slope: or was it black but more like blue I'd say? However the thought of all that tramping around in cumbersome extended boots bleeping through the gates into drafty lifts just to fly for a few minutes, perhaps with agony on some muscle or snowboarding hooligan, only to repeat, is a long way from the tranquil soft uncomplicated pull into the parts where clattering metal apparatus and such speed is unknown. Just to the right ...
We have a friend with a lovely place on Paxos - in amongst the olive trees and not far from some stunning rocks with a private view of the sunset. The ideal place for quiet rest and painting. The day consist of three things - a good walk along the shady droves, a swim in the azure warm sea and a paint somewhere along route: however this has to be interspersed by successful coffee time, grabbing some fresh delicacies and a good lunch. Sleep is not allowed. [caption id="attachment_2039" align="alignnone" width="300"] Serenas boat in Loggos[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2038" align="alignnone" width="300"] another of Serena's ...
Using a variety of media and styles the work responds to mood and geography but is more than often an observation of simple scenes in everyday life and on the travels across Europe.