I am beginning to catch up with my RBGE course at last as I have managed to finish my fruit and veg assignment now.

I am quite pleased with these though the raspberry isn't quite finished as it died  and I had eaten all the rest of them. the continual practice is beginning to pay off as I feel there is a definite improvement now though I need much more practice with leaves.

It has taken me a long time to complete the leaves for my RBGE course as I have had difficulty with light both natural and artificial but I hope that problem is now solved with the reorganisation of my work space and extra light.  The weather since the beginning of the year has really been no help at all as it has just been gale after gale with wet dull days as well. It has been so bad even Ben has refused to go for walks I  think he is fed up with being constantly wet and muddy.there are signs of spring though with the snowdrops well out and crocuses and winter aconite coming well, there are also catkins on the hazels trees down the road. If we had a bit of nice weather the first daffodils would soon be in bloom too.

I have now managed to finish the first pages of my sketchbook. I t was fun to do but due to the poor light took a long time to complete. Im sorry the image is sideways but I don't know how to turn them round when I'm uploading from a scan. I shall now have to concentrate on my RBGE Course again while I think about what is going to go in Shevaun's sketchbook.

Thank you to someone for adding me to the sketchbook blog site.  I have at last managed to get my first piece done in the sketch book. The title page and inside cover are now completed, for which I am truly grateful as I was beginning to wonder if they ever would be done. I now must start on the next pages as I need to get it in the post soon to Doreen. The title page is meant to look like a stained glass window, so I deliberately kept to only three colours but used two shades of each. It is a hybrid between celtic design and art nouveau, the pattern being based on  highly stylised plants. The centre represents a daffodil with its buds , then the red flowers in the next circle are tulips with the celtic knot corners representing shamrocks. the pattern is coloured in polychromus coloured pencil as the piece of paper I chose to do it on was too thin for paint. I did it on a separate sheet because I didn't want to put compass holes in the sketch book page.

I have a lot of pictures to put up in the next while . They will fall into two main categories, photos of plants, birds, insects etc. and art work. The photos will be divided into walks with Ben dog and garden plants. The art work will also be divided into RBGE Course pieces, Sketchbook Exchange pieces and other artwork.

Well its been a long time since I managed to put anything on this blog, as can be seen I have added to the title. This is to allow me to add sketchbook and other art work making it a more comprehensive and inclusive blog than just walking Ben Dog which is how it started. I shall be adding work from the Botanical Illustration Course I am doing through distance learning with Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and also from the Sketchbook Exchange of which I am a member. I shall also continue with comments and pictures of nature and garden as the seasons change.

As this has been such a wet, windy ,cold "summer" I have not posted anything for a long time. It has however been a marvelous year for the plants which grow in the hedgerows and along the roadsides so I have been busy with the camera recording them as they came into flower. I have also managed to get a few insects as well. There have not been very many butterflies about. I am going to put a selection of the plants which have flowered this summer up so that the huge variety can be appreciated,and enjoyed.