地の果て

We just wanted to see the Land's End.
The pink heather carpet ended at the sheer cliff and the blue sea stretched out in front of us. And this was the starting point of our wonderful hiking!



地の果ての守り神、ベニハシガラス　Red-billed Chough

Crossing the Sea

St. Michael's Mount
干潮時のみ本土とつながる陸繋島。そのせいか日本語で検索するとフランスのモン・サン・ミシェルとセント・マイケルズ・マウントそして江ノ島を比べているページがけっこう出てくる。江ノ島も橋をかけなければよかったのに。



When we decided to walk across, the tide was already quite high. We were stupidly wearing jeans and I had short legs.
But we made it.
Although our lower body got completely soaked and had to bask in the sun for a while, I still think that we had no choice but trying it.
It was just like Titty, Roger and Bridget crossing the Red Sea in the Secret Water! I hope I have a chance to visit the Hamford Water someday.

British Bird Fair

先週末ラットランドで開かれたBritish Birdwatching Fairに行ってきた。世界最大級のバードフェアは、東京／ジャパン・バードフェスティバルと似ているようでいて、ずいぶんと雰囲気が違った。一番の印象は、FestivalではなくてFairなのだということだ。良くも悪くも商業的、営利的で、世界各国からの旅行会社ブースがほとんどを占めている。そして大天幕ひとつがアーティスト用になっており、有名な野生動物画家のオリジナル、プリントがたくさん展示／販売されている。画家本人がその場にいることもあり、非常に刺激を受けた！　欲しい本もいっぱいいっぱいあったのだが・・・



Osprey
ラットランドは、1996年にミサゴをスコットランドから再導入したことでも有名なところだ。イングランドでは剥製やコレクションに卵や鳥捕獲したこと、生息環境が悪化したことにより、1847年を最後に繁殖しなくなってしまったらしい。
今年も一ペアがサンクチュアリ内で無事に繁殖したようで、わたしもしっかり姿を見ることができた。

"My" Moorhens

"There's your Moorhen!" "I saw a moorhen the other day and thought about you"
I found it so sweet that everybody seems to think of me when they see a moorhen!



Trials on coloured paper inspired by some wildlife artists.



They are eating Blackberries these days.

ウナギの島

I spent half a day in Ely and joined Cambridge Bird Club's evening walk.



While sketching this I saw something moving in a Blackberry bush. At first I thought it was a Blackbird eating berries but It was round, had hair and long thin tail. Checking the Internet, I think, it was a Water Vole!



カンムリカイツブリが水の鏡に線を引く

Dinner Table

My friend kindly let me try her pastel pencils. They were so nice! And I suddenly felt like painting a scene with pastel based on the sketch of the beautiful dinner table at Hever Castle, that I peeped after the baby went to sleep soundly. There is a bit of basic drawing problem in this picture...but it was fun drawing lights on the dark paper!

At the Nursery

I'm working!!



Both girls and boys love this huge teddy bear and often sit in its arms. And that is one of the best time to draw them.

　

　

ice cream

I finally decided to work hard on drawing kids and started observation module again.

　

Children keep moving and moving maybe more than birds. I am amazed by their energy.

　

They were playing in the outdoor swimming pool in this cool weather! The pool is about 30 cm deep. So even their small body can not be soaked in the water. They are really strong!



I found that the best time to draw them is while they are eating ice cream! Although I have to withstand temptation to get one by myself...

Hever Castle

I stayed a night in Hever Castle in Kent! My friend kindly took me to the trip as a baby-sitter during the dinner party.



Having drinks at the Music Room.



I couldn't help getting up early in the morning. I went out of my room opening heavy wooden door, which made a creaking noise in the very quiet corridor. The light coming in from the side through the windows was beautiful.

I wish I knew a lot more of British history. I learned a little in high school but I forgot most of them. And also the input of historical knowledge was in Japanese so that it was difficult for me to associate my knowledge and the explanation in English. I won't say that we should have learned history in English like Indian schools but we should have remembered proper pronunciation of names of people and facts! Anne Boleyn, for example, sounded very different from how we pronounce in Japanese and I didn't get it in the beginning.