I have just spent most of the day walking Bourn Brook with a very nice man who lived in Caxton End, Bourn, for 60 years, and now lives in Caxton. He has worked the land and knows Bourn Brook’s many ups and downs. He agreed to be interviewed and we spent several hours driving, walking, and talking about the history of the Brook. He very kindly has lent me some books and papers which show a remarkable history. I took some photographs during our journey today and below give two contrasts of the diverse behaviour of the brook: The left hand photograph was taken today, and the right one by my interviewee in about 1980. It is so hard to believe the contrast! Note that the white marker post on the right of the first photograph measures 7feet! It is noticeable that a brick wall has now been built round the front garden, but both photographs show the wooden posts at the rear, and the concrete posts at the front.

The photographic resources and sketches for two further paintings are resting on my easels:

• Snow Leopards – 24 in x 18 in water colour. Preliminary drawings done whilst at Banham Zoo September 2012 and March 2013. I think this one will be a huge water colour – but I have not quite decided yet, and it may turn out to be an oil painting! (Snooky Snow Leopard, Artist Code 1406)
• Blue and Yellow Macaws (Parrots in the Jungle!) – 15″ by 40″ box stretched canvas in oil. A friend gave me a lovely photograph of macaws which he had taken whilst abroad and recently asked if I had done anything with it. Feeling rather guilty, I got it out and made a preliminary design. This will be a life size box canvas in oils.

What a great day! The theme was the Queen’s Jubilee, and lots of ladies wore tiara’s and much bling! I was very honoured to sit at the ‘Queen’s’ Table (Lady Captain). The prizes for the day were box canvases of photographs I have taken of the course over the years. I printed out the pictures on Epson Premium satin canvas, and made-up the prize box canvases. See below:

Played in an AM-AM Golf competition at Richmond Park Golf Club, Watton, Norfolk. Our team made 100 points, but took second place on ‘countback’. But the real highlight of the day was that just below the 18th tee in the River Wissey which runs through the golf course, a mother Roe deer and her fawn were ‘messing about on the river’! They graced us with their presence for a good five minutes before deciding they should run and hide – but how beautiful was that!!

I received an invitation from the SBA to apply for Artist in Residence at the Royal College of Physicians.

I am most grateful to have been selected again for the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art (NEWA). The Sentinel Yearling (Artist Code 1207)

In the heat, not getting much work done – although I have played several golf competitions and tennis matches! Heard from Narara, South West Australia that the Last Hunt (The Three Horseshoes, Comberton, Cambridgeshire) (Oil painting – Artist Code 0014) which I sent over has been safely received, and is ‘nicely hanging on the wall above the telly!’ Great news.

Received and approved the proof for my entry into the next Dictionary of International Biography.

I am hopeless at gardening, so asked my lovely husband to kindly prune my herb garden as the plants were getting rather straggly and crowding each other in the tiny plot at the front of my house, beside the caravan! As I sat upstairs working in my office, with window open, suddenly I could smell all the aromatic herbs as they were being cut – wonderful! A big surprise, though, as these beautiful snails came to light, resting behind a large swathe of golden oregano. I do hope they can find another damp spot to be out of harms way. It is surprising that just a small thing like making life more comfortable for your herbs, results in another creature’s discomfort – sorry little snails. The good thing is that we do not have any songthrushes around to gulp them, and the blackbirds are too busy pinching the newts out of my pond in the back garden to take notice!

My little wild garden seems to be good for visiting insects. We have a sparrow nest box (3 compartments) which has never been used by sparrows, but recently a swarm of bumble bees decided to move in to one of the holes (west facing), and are enjoying all the wild flowers in my garden, plus all the hybrids and other exciting species growing in Alan’s beautiful garden next door. And, this week, all the dragon fly larvae which have been living in the little pond the last few years decided to climb up the Kingcup (Marsh marigold, Caltha palustris) stalks and take flight. It was amazing to watch. One poor dragon fly did not quite make it because as it eased itself out of the larvae case it lost hold and fell into the water where it was immediately attacked by our myriad common newts – which took about half an hour to eat it all (except for the wings). Here are a few photographs I managed to take. Is not nature so amazing that it makes you feel something special when you see it!