5th September 2026
My brave little Stella ( the Cat) was attacked whilst sleeping in the lounge by an incoming predator cat which we have been having issues with. The laws are crazy that you cannot protect your own pets in your own home. The owner knows that the cat is dangerous and i am quite angry that nothing is done about it. Anyway , we have an appointment with the Vet this Monday , her Microchip which the rescue centre placed 10 years ago is not being recognised by the microchip cat-flap and despite being wrongly advised we can add a new one so hopefully we can prevent the cat getting in the house. Stella has been getting lots of hugs and treats . My fingers are crossed this resolves most of the issue as otherwise we may have to think about moving as the welfare of Stella is worth more than this house.
I have been thinking about how things come into your life just as when you are ready for them. Including myself when things are not happening as hoped for, despite putting a lot of care and love into it is difficult to hold in peace: your mind descends into “why me” , “what have i done to deserve this” and distorts your reality so much that you begin to think that you are being victimised. You believe all those words of not being enough, or i told you so, that this is not mean’t for you.
When you are facing it , it can be tense , foreboding and plainly scary. I listened to a Monk describe it like a seed that has not germinated yet and you have lost faith in due to impatience. Your mind turns onto other things which needs less nurturing for a quicker harvest. However , the nurturing of love is the point not the expectation of a result.
I am trying to re-conceptualise events that seem like being blocked in trying to get ahead ; a non reply , an exclusion , going the wrong way and other negative aspects especially when it seems endless. Perhaps , these knock backs are just not mean’t to be as there is something much brighter , more exciting and fulfilling that you have not consider whilst trying to make yourself small grasping at everything to hold on. maybe , the resistance you are receiving is for our inner guidance of staying authentic by not over reacting to what you perceive as difficulties or being blocked.
There is a thought about divine timing , outside cause and effect , which when we look backwards the dots are joined up readying you for the next stage which seems to manifest out of nothing. Maybe the resistance you are receiving are the dots. I am not sure that my faith is strong enough to extinguish my inner attachments entirely yet but i do strive for this.
What i have found hard within this process is false flags of hope. which i get frustrated with the universe. Over the last few weeks i have received invitations to exhibit in Berlin , Paris and Lagos but i have to pay them a lot of money : it is not just their fee , its framing , getting the painting there and back if necessary , flights and hotels without any certainty of a sale. If the conversation was different ( We are having an art exhibition and we thought your paintings would be a great match for our intended customers and we will do our very best in selling it to them for this amount alongside giving you great exposure and here is our evidence we have done this already ) you would feel more comfortable that a professional is over seeing you artwork and motivated in selling it but that just is not the case , these people do not care about your welfare only your money.
It feels like the universe is offering you something and you are being ungrateful by refusing it, but, these are not opportunities, they are lessons of inner strength as the universe would only send you something which helps you not empties your bank without reward.
I had made a research mistake with Stonehaugh , even though a beautiful place the trees were mainly Larch and i had to find a Woodland quickly as i was running out of trees on my “Meet a Tree “ Blog. Then i found , Holystone Wood , In Coquetdale in the middles of Northumerland National Park. I didn’t have a map so i chanced a visit to wander just to find some interesting trees. It took some route finding but i stumbled on a hidden path which led me through a beautiful woodland and from 8th September will be featuring them on my blog for the rest of the month. Holystone is my 3rd place for 2027 , i am hoping that Donkleywoods delivers at the end of this month when i visit.
Bakethin Nature Reserve
You have to invest into looking to see the magic of September . It is all hidden in plain sight and if there was a ninth in the eightfold path it would be “Right Sight” . When you do , a whole new world emerges that wants to engage with you. The art of noticing is really the art of wanting to connect with your heart.
There are stunningly beautiful seeds just waiting for a strong wind to release them , the bare and dried flower heads are striking with their now apparent shapes and mysterious colours. Nature has reverence for it all , it blesses it throughout its life cycle equally , the flowering is just a part of the whole. Each moment has a purpose and each purpose is simply gorgeous in its form.
Instead of ignoring something as you believe its not worthy stop and take time looking. The old Foxgloves with brown dried seeds are still standing tall in the landscape and now their mission is more of them next year to delight you even more. Its beauty is still there , internally and externally just different.
The Birch trees have now a sprinkling of autumn colours peppering the dark green shades with yellow ochres and reddy browns.
The Blackberries are a little early to ripen and are scattered across the peninsular as its thorny tentacles has found new places to reside from the year before. I love that deep blackish purple which when squished out comes a precious dioxazine purple staining your fingers and full of delicious juice.
I found some Alder female catkins in a hidden corner beside a trickling brook. Alders like to keep their feet wet. Alders are associated to the giant god Bran the Blessed who possesses the cauldron of rebirth.
In the Field , Sketches
Before 7am it was pouring it down with rain but i managed to clear but whilst outside painting it was blowing gusts which made everything a little harder to make. I tried a few different techniques to connect to the place on smaller paper , allowing whatever comes to come without judgement. I love seeing how different application on different paper creates something from what is in front of me.
Left : Watercolour on A3 Cottone Rag Paper
Right : Watercolour on A4 cold pressed paper
I had some ideas with being more gestural with pencil and adding colour and charcoal afterwards , especially as it was blowing gusts of wind in the field. This led to something i have not done for years , mono printing the drawing/painting to reveal something more simple , leaving the inner energy. I am not sure what i will call this , i am still going to do the above sketches as this helps me connect , and when winter arrives the forest forms but i wanted something more from the landscape which i can develop.
Watercolour/Pencil/Charcoal Mono Print on A2 paper
Bull Crag Peninsular
It was a momentarily glance which brought me back from my thoughts wandering through the densely tree lined paths noticing the beginning of the ferns changing colours for autumn. It does not feel like a minute away that they were fiddleheads sprouting out of spring.
The colours can be amazing and sometimes quite metallic in their sheen. October will be the time for nature to conjure beautiful array of fern autumn colours but here is a lovely yellow ochre. I have already set up my 2026 autumn leaves gallery ready and waiting to finding colours.
Ascending purple flowers keeps time of up-coming autumn slowly releasing the ones beneath and then it will form its own seeds ready to populate our dreams of a summery days sat in nature once again. I cannot make my mind up whether i love the purple thistle heads or the cotton like manifestations on show at the moment. But i do love the messiness of it all together.
The Rowan berries are now transformed from orange to bright red as the complimentary greens make them pop out even more. Wherever you walk now , there are groups of birds collecting the berries. The sound of birds being extra busy feasting on natures gifts is a heart warming sound that echoes into our natural spirit.
Even though flowers have lost their petals does not mean they are less beautiful , just look at the shpae , textures and wonderful reds of this flower head. From time to time you spot tiny plants with white petals and a most striking dark cadmium yellow centre and i am in awe how nature selects such colours and why every last detail is brushed with love. Still now , a wayward dandelion escapes the end of early summer provided a few more wishes to be made.
I must say , my walk through Bull Crag brought much unexpected excitement with a range of delicious looking mushrooms. I mean , this one could be a cake ! I am not well up on Fungus identification like Flora , i have made a decision of my pondering about knowing names and have decided that i want to learn their common names and how they sit in stories.
It was a difficult decision as i feel , at least Latin names , dominates and own nature rather than be in relationship with the flora and fungus. I wonder what the Paleolithic hunter gatherer called the plants to distinguish them , or did they need to as they knew them differently than we can imagine.
I was going to begin studying their names in the new year , but that my friend , is an old version of myself to procrastinate ! Apart from Fungus books i have loads of Trees , Flora , Grasses , Mosses and Lichen gathering dust on my book shelf.
Hareshaw Linn
As you can tell above , we have had rain and it is much welcomed as now the woodland feels refreshed and relieved whilst the water is cascading down the burn rather than trickling.
A trio of wild food delights have now emerged with great excitement from local birds and other less seen creatures. You know they are munching away as the berries are disappearing.
The tiny elderberry purple bullets are almost camouflage in the deep green foliage whilst the bright red stalks give away its stealth. The dark green Hawthorne berries and Wild Rose Hips are now blushed with red.
Do not let the mass of green foliage within the woodland fool you into believing there are no flowers it is just now you have to look deeper , you have to be present with open awareness allowing everything to connect to you. Try too hard or be lost in thoughts then you will miss the tiniest lilac and yellow flowers gracing the pathways.
