A Day In The Sea Breeze

It's been a day of April showers here. In between the rainfall the birds have been singing as if they were in a fairy tale forest. I think they are thankful for the water. Thankful that plants will grow and seeds will set. I've been sat at my desk all day close to my heater. (It's always chilly inside when it is damp outside) I've been working away on a new painting which I will tell you about and show you next time...

 A couple of weeks ago I made some more faerie hangers. I didn't get time to write about them before they were put into my Etsy shop and now they have all sold. But... there are some more on the horizon. They are cut out but are waiting patiently to be brought to life with the touch of a paintbrush. So if you are interested, keep an eye on my shop in the merrie month of May.

I love this time of year. Everything is fresh and new and brightest green....
 A couple of weeks ago we decided it was time to  pack up a picnic and travel to the coast. Dorset being our next door county, the beautiful coastline is not very far away, almost 2 hours, as much of the journey is around winding roads. We stopped to look at the view and had a quick cup of tea.  The sun deceived us with her enticing brightness glinting on the sea, but it was cold and windy up on Lulworth hills. So windy the flask cups almost blew away.

We carried on down to Lulworth Cove.

The village of Lulworth is a pretty unspoilt place and is quite dear to me. I've been visiting since I was a child, spent my honeymoon here and have enjoyed bringing  my own children here on several occasions. There are fishing boats, pretty cottages, a duck pond and a man painting magic on oyster shells by the cafe.

 I love this cottage..

And this one...
This one is known as the dolls house. It's much smaller than it seems on this photograph I should have  took it from a different perspective. Take a look here for another picture of it.
The origin is uncertain but, it was believed to have been shipped across the ocean to Lulworth from Canada. This house has always fascinated me whenever I visited, because for years it was empty and looked very unloved and derelict. There was something about it, a feeling? It's quite recent I think, that it has been done up? Sometime in the last 15 years or so? It was at first transformed into a replica fisherman's cottage that you could view, and now it has been turned into an old fashioned sweet shop. This cottage features in one of my paintings. Can you spot it? ;)
Now the children have become teens there is the advantage that they can walk further. (This is not guaranteed at all times. ;) When you visit Lulworth you can't go home without walking the 2 miles up the hill across to Durdle Door.

Again it was windy up here. You wouldn't think so though as the water is so still.

Such a magical beach.

 There were wild cabbages growing on the cliffs which made me daydream and  imagine  a hermits life, a secret cave, boiling up cabbages and other plants and wild swimming for bathing...

 Durdle Door.

The word 'durdle' is derived from an old english word 'thirl' meaning to drill or bore. This is exactly what the sea has done to the rock over the many many years transforming it into the perfect doorway arch that it is today. You can read more here. 

Or of course it could be gateway to somewhere else.... The land of selkies and mermen? I'll leave that  up to you to imagine..

I must say a big thank you to my daughter for taking the wonderful photo's. I left my camera in the car and only realised after I had walked a mile up the hill, so didn't really fancy walking back to get it. Why not go and visit her tumblr where she shares many a magical thing. :) 

Back home to Wiltshire there was not a trace of a cobweb left in my head. A good spring clean, the brisk sea breeze had swept them away.