15/7/18

The UK has been basking in a heatwave in the last month and, unusually our end of Cornwall has had a very dry & hot spell too!

I took an early morning walk along the River Cober and up through the fields on the eastern side of Penrose this time, partly to avoid the heat of the strong sun during the day and also to see the landscape bathed in a glorious golden light.

With the unexpectedly low rainfall, Penrose is looking slightly browner than usual, with some areas of exposed grass and some of the hedgerows looking slightly scorched.

Nevertheless, it is still beautiful with the colours changing from spring with more oranges and straw yellows as well as the lush greenery of the trees and shrubs emerging now.

I wonder how long the dry weather will last and how this will affect the landscape in the following weeks...

31/7/18

This was a slightly shorter walk as anticipated as I developed a migraine and had to head home rather quickly! However I did manage to get some lovely reference photographs of some of the treen lined paths at the Helston end of the estate. The grass was looking quite brown and dry after the warm, dry July that we have been having, but the trees with their deep roots were very lush and green.

There were the first signs of Autumn not being too far away as the blackberries were starting to form and plump up. The promise of crumbles and jam to come! I did the sketch a few days after my visit as my migraine would not allow me to sketch onsite this time. I loved the contrast of the rich, green, velvety leaves and the shiny, red blackberries...