A September Sunday in Slaithwaite.

On September 18 in the round car park I was part of a local food fair.

The idea was to show people what food can be found in the Colne Valley.

Although the weather look a bit grey we did have sunshine and it didn't rain which was the main thing.

There was a nice buzz for most of the afternoon and there were plenty of people wandering around.

The ladies of the Women's Institute manned the cake stall and sold raffle tickets for the quilt in aid of the village Christmas Lights. We raised about £100 and we were all very pleased.

I brought plants and cards to sell as well as my 'signature dish' of treacly flapjack which always goes down well and I sold most of it.

Marion completes her work before clearing up and packing. 

I left my painting lying flat on the table so that the exciting dribbly bits don't go awol. I want them in specific areas. 

I have a lot of pieces ready to work on over the next few weeks but I must put my studio back into some kind of order before I allow myself such indulgence.

I have packed all my pieces for the exhibition next month and feel as though that is at least a bit under control - only time will tell......

The painting continues...........

This is not the most flattering of pictures.......!!!

A very dismal Monday afternoon sees us working in the studio with the door open even though the rain is torrential - we have no wish to suffer from inhaling turps and goodness knows what else we are using!

I have decided to work with great slabs of colour that have boundaries which blur and bleed. I find this really very exciting but I'm not quite sure where it is taking me. However, it is an interesting journey which I am enjoying hugely.

 Marion is working with shades of grey and has used no colour today at all. She is very disciplined and hasn't been deterred from her investigation of grey tones at all. Commendable.

Painting week.

I met Marion last year when working at the Slade in London. She is a ceramicist of tremendous talent creating the most lovely Raku pottery and smoke-fired work. Her website is www.crabbytaylor.com. Check it out people.

Anyway, she has joined me here in Slaithwaite and we are concentrating on our painting this week. Mick has gone off to see his brother in Toronto so we have no-one to worry about or get in the way. It's rather nice.

Another Monday.

Monday again and the day dawned pretty cold and grey. At the end of the afternoon out comes the sun which is nice....

Picked up 2 unsold paintings from an exhibition. This gets a bit depressing. The only high point was when the traffic warden told me to hurry up instead of giving me a ticket. I was going to smile and say something amazingly witty and clever which would make his day (!) but as he remained stony-faced and glared at the pavement I thought I'd better not in case he changed his mind!

Another exhibition to hang tomorrow at Tunnel End. Fingers crossed again although rather hopelessly.

My Grandad Mac stellar geranium won a first prize at York yesterday but just failed to get the best in show for the second time this week! There seems to be a pattern emerging here............ Anyway, on arriving home I popped him in a 'bath' to perk him up from all the travelling and promptly forgot about him. I remembered him at four in the morning! Couldn't leave him there to get waterlogged so I leaped  out of bed and rescued him to drain and dry off. Fortunately there was no-one about to see me ferreting about in the greenhouse at such an unearthly hour!!!

Allotment images.

A sunny Sunday morning on the allotment.  Although very untidy, it does look  rather lovely and the colours just lift the spirits.

Mick does his strimming in the sun. 

 Please note the wonderfully blue sky we very occasionally see here in Slaithwaite! If only we saw it more often.............

Every gardener need a shed - this is mine seen through the bean poles.........