Wells Day Trip 2 - Harbour Office

 

The harbour office from across the quay.

 

I'd forgotten how beautiful the paper is in a Venezia Sketchbook...I'd also forgotten how damn annoying it is to scan one of these books!

Weekend In Wells-Next-The-Sea

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

I purchased this cute little cup and saucer from the antique shop just around the corner from the cottage and just had to include it as my final sketch of the trip.

Weekend at Wells-Next-The-Sea

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

There are two sheds at the bottom of the cottage garden at Wells. I sketched the other one here: www.flickr.com/photos/anitadavies/4873060987/
This shed was once the outside toilet and it sits beneath the invading branches of next doors' apple tree.

Weekend at Wells-Next-The-Sea

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

This is the fireplace at the cottage, sketched before bed late Saturday night.

Weekend at Wells-Next-The-Sea

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Sandra prepared some of her homemade scones, for dessert Saturday evening, and served them with her homemade strawberry and rhubarb jam and whipped cream.
They were absolutely delicious!
Luckily she prepared more than enough which meant I could eat mine WHILE I sketched a couple of the spare ones.

Weekend in Wells-Next-The-Sea

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

The carnival was on during our stay in Wells and on Saturday various stalls lined the square in the Buttlands. I popped out of the cottage, when the rain paused, to grab a very quick sketch of the pork pie stall. Since there was no where dry to sit, I leaned against the back of an ice-cream van.

Weekend in Wells-Next-The-Sea

A very quick sketch of the Quay, trying to get something down before the rain became too heavy, and a sketch from the corner of the cottage lounge.

Weekend in Wells-Next-The-Sea

Just returned back from my relaxing weekend trip to the cottage at Wells with Joannie and Sandra.
Sandra has been busy redecorating the cottage in soft blues and whites and it all feels very coastal.

I finally managed to sketch something! A few pages infact!

I thought I'd scan and upload one spread before going off to bed. This spread shows the newly decorated lounge and one of the sheds at the bottom of Sandras' beautiful garden. There is another shed, that was once an outside toilet, I sketched that too!

It is carnival week in Wells, so the place was alive with activity, the cottage walled garden was a lovely refuge.

More soon, hope you had a good weekend!

Snettisham Weekend - Sunday

We woke early Sunday morning and set off for a stroll along the coast line to the RSPB reserve where I found interest in the curves of both the coast line and the path leading back towards the cottage.


My last sketch was of the lake shortly before lunch.

We ate lunch, packed the cars and, just before we left, we grabbed a towel and some shoes and popped down to the beach to enjoy the warm sea water...right up to our thighs!

Such a fabulous weekend, full of wonderful memories with a very dear friend.
Thank you Ruth and Tony.

Snettisham Weekend - Saturday

Woke on Saturday morning and, after a long coffee, got started on sketching the cottage for Tony and Ruth as a way of saying thank you for their kindness. I took a matt and frame with me and framed it for them before leaving, so the photograph is a little wonky and poor quality I'm afraid...Sorry!




We had lunch on the newly built landing deck; sothern fried chicken breast strips, salad, wine, chocolates...all splayed over various rugs and cushions, and finished by dangling our feet into the warm lake.




A quick stroll along the beach, where the colours changed every second...stunning! I produced all of my sketches with a size 12 brush and with the hot sun drying everything so quickly and the brush size I found it quite a challenge.




On finishing my quick sketch I had just enough time to capture Joannie in all her beautiful colours, looking ever radiant.




Early evening I popped our lasagne in the oven and while it cooked, and Joan went out to find more wine supplies, I captured this guy appreciating the wonderful view.

Our dinner was delicious...as was the wine!

Snettisham Weekend - Friday

Joannie and I arrived at the cottage in Snettisham just a few minutes apart and Tony and Ruth greeted us with a delicious lunch which we ate on the patio at the rear of the property with the most wonderful sea view...infact the beach was just yards from us!
When Tony and Ruth said goodbye, Joan and I took a stroll along the sea front up to the yacht club and back along the lake at the front of the property...again, the lake is just yards from the front door.
About half way through our little stroll we sat for a while and sketched.
What a wonderful location, Ruth and Tony are so kind to share this little haven with us.


The electricity in the cottage runs off a battery, so we lit the cottage with candles after a long dinner and sketched with a glass of wine. You really could not see very much at all so I was quite surprised when I took another look at my candle sketch the next morning...a bit wobbly but a fabulous memory captured in my journal.

Sandringham - 19.10.09

After saying goodbye to Joan at Heacham beach, I stopped in on the Sandringham estate for a quick cuppa, before making my way home.


A fantastic weekend. It was a wonderful way to catch up with a good friend and spend some much needed time together.

Holkham Hall - 18.10.09

Joan and I spent Sunday at Holkham Hall in Wells-Next-The-Sea, a beautiful palladian style mansion where 'The Duchess' was filmed.

We finished our day with a sketch from a bench looking back towards the Hall. By this time I was so cold that I had very little control over my hand and the pen kept hitting the page and making marks all by itself!

Holkham is a fantastic place. With over 3,000 acres of designated walks, I think it would be impossible to cover all of the beauty it has to offer in just one day and will deffinately return....Perhaps in warmer conditions!

Old Hunstanton - 17.10.09

My last sketch of the day, on Old Hunstanton beach watching the sun go down.

Sketched while standing, feeling more than ready for a hot bowl of soup back at the caravan.

Brancaster Staithe and Titchwell - 17.10.09

Burnham Overy Staithe - 17.10.09

I may add colour to this sketch at some point...I took photos in case!

Holkham Beach - 17.10.09

On the Saturday, Joan and I decided on a beach-crawl. We wrapped up warm, packed our sketch kits and headed off to Holkham beach.

Norfolk Lavender - 16.10.09

I arranged to meet Joannie at Norfolk Lavender and, although we left at very different times, we both pulled into the parking area at exactly the same time!
We shared a slice of carrot cake, a slice of lemon cake and indulged in a latte each while we caught up on one another's activities during the huge gap since we were last able to share time together.
It was wonderful to see her again and the perfect start to our exciting weekend together.

We wondered outside to grab a sketch and I managed to find a bench that gave a view of the magnificent building, the greenhouse and the cute little lavender kiosk all together.