A proper afternoon tea was provided, with sandwiches, scones and cake (scrumptious) - all aided and abetted by Dorothy’s friend Christine.  Many thanks to both.
Don’t forget:  next week we are invited to Sarah Hucklesby’s in Hemmingstone. ​

Today was another enjoyable visit to Hannah’s, exploring her garden and surroundings.  Ten of our ‘plein air’ artists came along to practise, experiment, look for ‘angles’ and generally try to advance their art … and have a great day too!  Watercolour, oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil and mixed media - all came into play.  Besides looking at our work over tea (great cakes, by the way, Hannah) we had the opportunity to chat about all sorts of related matters such as exhibitions, courses, workshops and other artists.
Lavender in the border was a great attraction for the butterflies and bees (see right).  
The promised downturn in weather is due tomorrow so we were very lucky today.  

Next week we are at Dorothy’s at Burston.  Click here for update on her available art materials.

A fine day, lovely garden and great hosts, Avril and Richard, for our sketching today.  We had a variety to choose from:  an enormous walnut tree, other smaller trees, shrubs and flowers everywhere, beehives, chickens (if only they would stay still and not hide!), a little pond and more.  Some members arrived early and left early, others arrived later - twelve altogether.  
We agreed, there’s nothing nicer than tea in the garden on a summer’s afternoon, but especially when Richard has done the baking.  
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Next week we’re at Earsham for the river, landscapes and animals - and of course to see our new exhibition there. 
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PS  I gather my cultural reference to “Grasshopper” last week was lost on some of you and may have been taken for loopiness on my part.  In Kung Fu, Grasshopper was the nickname given by the old monk Po to the young monk he was tutoring.  No wiser?  Ah well …

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​Were there more planes - or parts of planes - here today than last time we came, in May ’17?  I thought there were and I’m sure it was hotter today.  And did we have a vulcan flying over to celebrate our visit?  (See first photo.)

Planes are notoriously difficult to draw or paint - all those 3-D curves, shiny surfaces and perspective angles to test a saint.  And you’d better be quick or it’s all changed, complicating matters even further.  But our intrepid members had a go, producing some creditable results in the time.  

There are lots of little museums dotted about, a shop, and the NAAFI where we had our tea and viewed our work.  The chap in the final photo produced a lap top and showed us paintings he had done, including some superb portrayals of aeroplanes.

PS  This little grasshopper was hard to shake off while I was painting.  Was he looking for a tutor?  Sorry, “Grasshopper”, no monks here to mentor you.
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PPS  Avril's next week.  I have put some instructions for finding her place on Messages.  

A day in Hoxne - what could be better! - starting with coffee in the village Tea Rooms, or at Sally's, then dispersal to wherever we were inclined.  This included Sally's sumptuous garden, complete with tortoise, chicken, gargoyles (good likeness, Sally) et al.
A beautiful sunny day, not too hot.  Fourteen came and most stayed to tea and showed what they had done.  
Thanks Sally for the tea with scrumptious chocolate cake, which you assured us was not the one dropped into the dish of washing up water.  

Lots of activity at the moment, concerning our exhibitions:  Earsham entries due soon (July) then The Swan at Harleston (August), and discussions are ongoing regarding our terms for a Christmas exhibition at The Bank.  

Next week we meet at the Flixton Aviation Museum.  Hope to see lots of you there. 

We were last here in August 2018 but it seemed even better this year.  Loads of flowers, beautifully maintained plants and shrubs, a pond, and all designed to provide a myriad of different views.  Three acres I'm told, but it all blended into the surrounding countryside as though it were a much, much larger garden.  About eleven of us enjoyed wandering around, sketching and painting, till it turned rather chilly.  So we stopped a bit early to have tea and view some of our work.  
Thank you to our hostess, Linda, for looking after us and supplying the refreshments.  The garden is a great credit to the Batteley's.

​It was a day of dodging the rain and finding shelter from the wind.  A really blustery, cool, wet day.  Still, ten of us were out sketching in Lesley's beautiful garden, where there was much to admire, or we found views of the Dove valley nearby.  Lesley was very ready with teas and coffees to keep us going, and cakes at teatime.  We did seem to spend more time than usual indoors, but then we had begun with a committee meeting for some of us.  Our thanks as always for the hospitality.

PS  Notice a post-blog photo from Richard (see right) putting my quick snaps to shame.
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We are really hoping for a fine day next Thursday, as it's Batteleys Cottage Garden at Wortham - a garden well worth seeing.

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