Lazy Days

The weather was nice for a change last weekend so we decided to take the puppies on a different walk.

We live close to Bolton Priory, a ruined Augustinian monastery on the banks of the River Wharfe which always makes for an interesting walk.

On this occasion though, we decided to walk from further down the river at Barden towards the Strid. The Strid is a short stretch of the river where the water is forced into a deep narrow channel, well worth a visit when the river is in spate. It is said to get its name from being a stride wide, but you don't want to try it out as over the years fatalities have occurred there.

This is the view from Barden.

Roxy and Rio enjoyed the different scenery and the many cuddles they got from different passers by.However they had to remain on their leads as they are not yet to be trusted on the recall, and there was stock in the fields.

Rio soon tired of lead walking and closed his eyes pitifully every time we stopped to admire the view or take photographs of the many trees. We decided not to go as far as the Strid as he complained we were making his legs shorter with all the walking, so we turned round and strolled back to the car.

Roxy however remained enthusiastic until the end.

The kitten painting I'm doing is at the stage where I need to look at it for a few days before moving on, I need to make sure I have the background right.

In the meantime I started another drawing of two sleeping cats. This is colored pencil and acrylic on blue pastel paper, round about 10 x 8 inches.

I am pleased with the progress so far, you do have to be aware that the colours are not quite true to life, the scans were not quite right.