13 February 2016

Raindrops and Snowdrops

 snowdrops images free use

We've had so much rain, I've been in doors all week.
What do you do when your at home and it rains everyday?

It seems like most of you clean the house from top to bottom.
Have you met Daphne she decided to wash all her blue and white
crockery that she has on display. I didn't want to do things like that,
although she did make it sound a pleasure, pop over and take a look at her blog.
Every week she shares a tasty recipe, along with the music she listens to while
cooking/baking and she can make a visit to the dentist into an interesting story.


Those of you know me well,
know I'd rather be doing things in the garden, than dusting.
I'm always looking forward to Spring.


In between the few times it stopped raining, I had a quick wander around
the garden, and made a note of some of the things that I need to do
as soon as we get some dry days. Looking at the weather forecast
it won't be until the middle if next week.

I did another search to see if I could the find any snowdrops in bloom
 this is the variety I planted 2 years ago.


I still only managed to find one in flower, which had been
battered by the heavy rain, so I brought it indoors.



 Daphne spotted this lonely snowdrop amongst the
tete a tete daffodils in a photo I shared on my Facebook page.



I had hopes of the garden being full of white clusters of snowdrops.
Just like this.

 snowdrops images free use

There are so many different species. all so dainty.
Maybe I should have chosen a more hardy type similar to these.

 snowdrops images free use

I'll have to ask my friends if I can dig up some of theirs after they have
 finished flowering, to plant for next spring. Which is called planting
 'in the green' or wait till next Autumn and plant some more bulbs.

No gardening has been done, so I did the next best thing.
As I'd left my watercolour paints and journals handy
I had a great time sketching & painting Snowdrops.







This was painted in a Stillman & Birn Beta journal.
using Winsor & Newton pan paints.
I really like this paper it's thick so you can paint on both sides.



The next sketch was done in a  10 cm x 15 cm  sketch book made for me
by Valerie Gardener who has a lovely Sketching blog,
called Colours in the Briezh at the moment she is sharing sketches
 from her clothes  designed in the 60's.
She lives in northern France and travels a lot with her husband. She records
all their trips with sketches in situé. Her posts vary from time to time,
 I look forward to seeing her next posts as she is travelling again.


This sketch I did in the lovely handmade sketch book she sent to me.
All the pages are different types of paper.



 It's still raining,
and  while I've been doing these sketches, no dusting has been done.
Who cares, I'm back into watercolour painting,
and if we do have any unexpected visitors,
I'm sure they'll have come
 to see Mr France and I
'Not the dust'

All snowdrops images
are from snowdrops images free use

Have you got lots of snow drops in your garden ?
if so take some photos, I'd love to see them.



à bientôt

Barbara Lilian



13 comments:

  1. Barbara, I've always thought the snowdrops were lovely, and your painting of them is very nice. Lots of rain around your neck of the woods. It's supposed to rain more here too, but I'm still waiting. Yes, I know Daphne. She is a sweet blog friend and a delightful woman.

    Happy Valentines Day to you, dear friend.

    love, ~Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are way ahead of us! I heard about your rain..but look how green everything is getting!
    I clean..I get a kick out of it when I get in the mood..
    I am tidy..never was till I married..dust..is always a factor..LOL.
    I am painting ...practicing..too..

    Lovely works Barbara..good for you!LOVEEE the handmade sketchbook!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The snowdrops are blooming and almost over now on this side of the pond. I don't have a whole lot in my garden - they have spread (probably with the help of squirrels) so that they don't appear in lovely drifts, but in little, forlorn clumps. How good it must feel to be able to paint a snowdrop or other fleeting blossom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello, Barbara! Thank you for this wonderful post! Your flower photos are very beautiful and so are your paintings. It must be lovely to live in France with so much beauty everywhere and... spring arriving very soon! :)
    Here it's snowing again and February is clearly a winter month.
    Have a lovely Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wowww beautiful...❤️❤️❤️ Happy valentine's day.....no sadness...today a year ago my husbunny get his accident....now a year later i am thankful for where we stand...we are not where we want to ge but we do our thing and try to Pick up our life before.....mag ik dan bij jou...is a favorite song we love.....so happy day love Ria ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  6. This song....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5uvsEs79hM&sns=em


    Love Ria x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good Afternoon Barbara, Oh what a lovely surprise to see my name in your post.... although I had to smile to myself, dusting and cleaning is not my favourite past time, it's one of those jobs which just has to be done... if I had the choice I would much rather be in the garden.... but the weather, like yours, has been dreadful and the ground is so 'claggy' (Geordie word for soggy) that I can't get out into the garden.
    I love snowdrops, they are such a pretty flower and a perfect subject for your watercolours. I have a few growing in my garden which I noticed are beginning to flower. I love the little snowdrop in your photograph as it looks like a flower within a flower. I think my snowdrops don't multiply very much because our ground gets very soggy in the winter, I think the moisture rots a lot of the bulbs.
    How marvellous to receive some beautiful paper to use for your watercolours, you must have been thrilled. It must be like writing on lovely notepaper.... there is a difference isn't there.
    George is watching rugby at the moment and I've just heard a cheer coming from his den, I think England must have scored... that will make him happy.
    Thank you so much for the mention, it was very kind of you. I hope the sun shines for you soon.
    Best Wishes as always.
    Daphne

    ReplyDelete
  8. No Snowdrops here . . . I don't think we get them . . .
    If we do, I haven't seen them.
    I must look that up!
    I love your sketches and water colors . . .
    I would paint too, instead of dusting.
    I must confess, I have someone who comes in and keeps up with the dusting around here . . .
    It is "one treat" I kept afte I retired and comes in great for my painting time . . .
    Back to the snowdrops, so pretty . . . I do wonder why I never see them here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Barbara - love those double petaled snowdrops. Mine are single and now covered with a layer of snow. Hopefully by next Saturday I will find them again. It is to warm up - Hope the weather man is right. Barbara your sketches are awesome and love the homemade one Valerie made for you. What a nice thing to have someone do. Hugs Debbie - P.S. I will go visit Daphne now and see if she can inspire me to do some dusting!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a breath of springtime, Barbara! Your snowdrops and watercolors are both just lovely! Our Midwest garden is covered with a blanket of sparkly snow. So, I am dreaming garden dreams... Wishing you sunny days ahead! ♡Dawn@Petals.Paper.SimpleThymes

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree. Who wants to dust and clean when one can be painting or sketching? For me it's quilting....
    I'm lucky if I get laundry done....
    Love your pictures....
    Nancy
    wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your sketches and painting Barbara! Just so lovely. Things are so lush and green there. Right now, my garden is under the snow, but someday I will have snowdrops blooming :)
    It was so wonderful to have you stop by! I hope you are getting a reprieve from the rain and doing a little planning in the garden.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm most productive and happiest when in my garden too Barbara!
    I have no time for dust or cobwebs!
    Such lovely sketches and paintings of the snowdrops - note to self to plant snowdrops and grape hyacinth bulbs in March/April which is our Autumn.
    I haven't forgotten about the rose suggestions for you - work days are busy but I'm off until Monday so I will email in the next couple of days!

    ReplyDelete

I really love it when you leave a note in my comment box, then I know you have popped by. Thank you