Has spring finally sprung?

It's been a long hard winter and I'm not sure we're out of it yet but the wildlife is certainly active now. There are chirruping birds in every tree and hedge in the garden and they're a delight. It's not all so good though - these pesky critters have been chased off our garden pond more times than I care to mention.

It's rather bizarre to see some of them perched on the roof of the house just waiting to fly back down to the pond the minute we turn our backs. I know they look pretty with the sun gleaming on their irridescent feathers but they decimate the tadpoles and make a muddy mess if we let them stay. I prefer not to think what would happen if they set up home and laid eggs -  ducklings would just be too tempting for our Bengal cat.

A little while ago I showed a selection of work made by our online Creative Sketchbook students. I've had lots of emails asking to see more so here are a few pages from Anne.

And a few from Janice.

Gorgeous work ladies - thank you both for agreeing to show it here. It's funny - Laura and I are supposed to be the ones inspiring the students but it works both ways. Seeing such beautiful sketchbook pages prompts me to get my paintbrushes out right away! I even have a suitable candidate for a still life - here's a lovely white and lime green Amaryllis just begging to be painted before it fades.

If it turns out OK I'll let you see it soon. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for dropping by - Linda