Hares, stone, water, foxglove, fell and Hill Top.

 Two more pieces on wood, that were finished recently.
'The story within' and 'I used to be an Alchemist'

These two have joined the other smaller hanging pieces that I showed in my last post at 'The names of the hare' exhibition at the New Brewery Arts in Cirencester Gloucestershire. Do pop along if you are in the area it's a real treat for lovers of hares and features work by 28 Artists including magical work by Jackie Morris, Catherine Hyde, Hannah Willow and many other talented folk that feature hares in their work.  I visited last Saturday and would have loved to have taken much of the exhibition home to live with me, including these hares by Sophie Ryder which were just outside the gallery and would be perfect and happy living in my garden of course. ;)

 I've been quiet on here, enjoying the summertime and being outdoors as much as I can. 

A couple of weeks ago I ventured up to northern parts on a short break to the Lake District.

 It was my first visit and of course I fell in love. So much green and stone and moss. Trickling stream, waterfall, mountain and foxglove. I think we chose the right time to visit because there were foxgloves everywhere. So pretty. I wish the spleenworts would grow on my small bit of wall here, but I think it is much drier here?

We did some fell walking.

Up the 'Old man of Coniston'. We were lucky as the sun shone down on us and it was warm!

I bid a good afternoon in my best Cumbrian accent, to the local beautiful sheep...

The views at all stages were glorious. 

And finally at the top! It was incredibly windy at the top although looking at this picture, you could never tell. 

Nearby was the home of Beatrix Potter.  Hill Top  a place I've been meaning to tick off my 'to visit' list for  a long while.  What a priveledge to quietly walk around this cottage, with the fire crackling, grandfather clock slowly ticking everything left just as it was. It was a step back in time to life of a slower pace. It's a beautiful cottage inside, quite dark, but very cosy, and looks older on the inside than it appears to be from outside. The perfect place to be on a dark and rainy day.  It was so interesting to see Beatrix's things, from the odd shells that she kept and tiny dolls house treasures, china, letters and sketches on her desk to her delightful bedroom with it's original William Morris wallpaper.  There is no photography allowed inside but the pictures below show the cottage and the gate to the garden.  

Afterwards we went into the village of Hawkshead and visited the Beatrix Potter gallery and saw her original work. What a treat indeed. :)

We only had a few days in the Lake district and there is so much to see and so many places to walk. I must go back.  My toes have only just been dipped on the shore of a sea of adventure. No wonder the poets and Artists loved this place so much.