Blog Archive

Oceans and islands

It’s time for an adventure. Perhaps it’s always time for an adventure of one kind or another? The trouble is, many people live in my head – it gets very crowded in there. The bold, brave me makes plans to have a bold, brave adventure and then disappears a few days before it’s time to continue reading »


Sketching with a dash of salt

I’ve led two arty holiday this year, both involving a certain amount of sea travel. The first was a shore based tour on the lovely Isles of Scilly in June, travelling there on the stately ferry Scillonian. She rolls in a big sea, and the sailing time was brought forward to get ahead of a continue reading »


Oops, it’s winter

Blog posts are supposed to be short, regular and up to date. I’ve failed on all counts; how did we get from June to December so quickly? ‘Time isn’t what it used to be/I remember when a minute/had sixty seconds in it/now it seems there’s only two or three’ (words from a song that’s yet continue reading »


Firewood, filing and faffing

The beginning of January is the time I should be packing my bags and my seasick tablets, uncrumpling my evening gowns and discovering that my swimsuit has mildew because it’s been stored at the back of my clothes locker. But alas, this winter I am not cruising, for a variety of reasons. – mainly because continue reading »


Sailing and sketching in Scilly

Every year I make the long journey to Cornwall at least once. It’s eight hours of tedious driving but I need my fix of rocks, cliffs and steel blue sea. I stay with good friends down in the far southwest corner of the land and we walk the cliffs and coves of Porthgwarra, Porthcurno, Gwennap continue reading »