Snow, Art, Sparrows and Hawks.

Hello again, and where did February go to? I can not believe I only posted once here in the whole of February. But then I have been focusing upon other things.

We did not have half as much snow as in the South and further North of us had We have been lucky, yet there was still enough snow fall to close roads and schools  were closed down for three days. 

While the Winter weather has caused disruptions and chaos on our UK roads, and for some bringing tragedy, for others its been a time to enjoy snow in parts of the UK where snow has been a rarity for many years, So for many youngsters this was the first real snow they had seen in a while.

Sledging. over a bridge on a local walk we take. My Granddaughter aged 7.  Having Fun in the snow. 

The last heavy snow fall we had been in 2010 the year my granddaughter was born.  So while we have had snow,  for many this was the first significant fall they had seen in years.

Making sure the birds do not go hungry. We moved their feeders under the bushes for protection from the sparrow hawk.

Its been important to keep feeding the wild life, who have also been suffering, we moved their feeders around a bit to help shelter them. For where they were, they were more exposed.  And Since January our garden has also had a visitor looking for food.. A Sparrow Hawk.

Sparrow Hawk in January. Now he knows where sparrows feed, he’s been trying his luck at catching them in our garden and came on two consecutive days last week in the snow. So he/she is also feeling hungry. But as far as we know he flew away empty-handed.

While winter here in the UK last week got its teeth into us with freezing temperatures and snow storms, I was huddled warm indoors painting and doodling, while I continued putting my collection of poems together and managed to write my third chapter on something I am working on.

The parts of the green house model making took a back seat for a time.  though I did spend several hours creating these flowers. They were fiddly, but absorbing.

Roses, made by winding folded paper around and around and gluing onto wire.

Here you can see a collection of flowers I made

But my main concentration has been on creating two paintings, they are already hung in my home as I swap my artwork around every now and again.  I paint purely for pleasure . So this was the first I painted, a Leopard. The second painting a Lion. Both of these Animal totems spoke to me in different ways.  And I wrote more about that on my main blog.

My Leopard painting in Acrylic.

My Lion painting in Acrylics

I hope if you have been affected by the Winter weather and storms, you have kept safe and warm where ever you are. 

 I hope Spring  starts to Stir Soon,  I can not wait to reconnect with our garden. 

Take care until next time.