Delamont

A couple of Sundays ago we took our first day trip of the year in the camper van, down to Delamont near Killyleagh for a bit of a walk before lunch.  It was a bit cloudy and windy but when the sun did come out of hiding it was actually pretty warm.  I hadn't been to Delamont in years.  It's run by Down Council and it costs £4 per car to get in.  We just had a bit of a walk around but there is a little railway for kids and there was a place selling coffee which is always nice on a Sunday morning!

Nice view of the Mournes.

This is the Millenium stone, it was put up by lots of scouts in 1999.

Getting wrapped up... it was pretty breezy at the top of this hill.

It was the start of the spring series yacht races that day, here they all are milling around before the start of the race.

Lovely daffodils.

As you go around Delamont there are bits of green gym equipment to use.  You can get a season ticket for £25 so you can go as many times as you like, definitely much cheaper than a regular gym, but maybe a bit miserable if it's raining!

There were lots of freshly ploughed fields, I wonder what they're going to plant here?  Will have to go back later in the summer to find out I suppose!.

The walk around takes you down close to the shore of Strangford Lough and there are a few pebbly beaches you can get out on to.

There were lots of cute lambs about but as soon as I got the camera out they made a run for it!

Finally we spotted this old walled garden, it's all over grown which is a pity.  There is even an old glass house hidden in there.  It would be great if they could get someone to take this on and run it to grow veggies to sell or use in a local cafe or something.

Anyway, Delamont is well worth a visit, I'm very tempted to invest in a season ticket as I think we might become regular visitors!

Exhibition...

I'll be part of an exhibition, along with my mum and sister, opening this Saturday from 11 - 1 in Killyleagh library.  Everyone's welcome the opening so do come along if you can.  There will be refreshments, including a glass of wine if you fancy it!  The exhibition runs to the 28th June.

where does all the time go?

Well many apologies for the lack of posts recently, I’ve been working away like crazy over the last few months and I’m afraid the blog has rather fallen by the wayside. Although I haven’t been posting I have been taking pictures as I’ve been working and have quite a stock pile built.  I decided that I better get on with it and finally post some of what I’ve been up to so here it is…(this might be quite long!)

Lots of printmaking….



lots of inky mess!



piled up finished prints

a very high tech way of weighting down the drying prints ;-)



a print I exhibited as part of the valentines exhibition in Spacecraft.  Its called ‘I wonder if he’ll care?’ you can still see it in the gallery part of Spacecraft.



This is a piece that is in the current ‘Commemorate' exhibition on in Spacecraft.  Its a great exhibition (even if I am a little biased since I'm in it!) and it's on until 28th April so there's plenty of time to head down and take a look.



I’ve also got some work in this lovely new craft gallery just recently opened in Killyleagh.  Its got some really lovely work in it (including work by both my mum and sister!) They have a facebook page here



my books along with a record bowl from magpie in the kingfisher craft gallery



a view inside the kingfisher - I visited on such a lovely sunny day.


And finally…..



I’m going to be a shedworker! I’ve finally got a shed which I’m going to convert into a studio (so i can reclaim the spare room!)  I can’t wait to move in but as you can see from the photo there is lots to do!  I’ve had a shed/studio in the past which I didn’t insulate properly and it was always a bit damp and cold, so learning from past mistakes I’m going to make sure I go the whole hog and put in proper insulation.  I’ll keep you posted with progress and hopefully it won’t be too long before I can unveil the finished studio!

Anyway I think that’s quite enough for one post, plus its a very sunny St Patrick’s day out there so I am going to head out and enjoy some of the guinness brownies I’ve made for the occasion!