Helmsley, Yorkshire

Helmsley, Yorkshire

Castle Howard

Castle Howard

North Sea Lookout

North Sea Lookout

Wild Yorkshire

Wild Yorkshire

I just have to share this with my fellow bloggers, since so many of you are gardeners. Have you ever had the urge to keep a garden journal, and record your gardening delights with pen, ink, and/or watercolor? If so, you need to know about Richard Bell.

I have been an avid reader of his Wild West Yorkshire Nature Diary, which is now in its tenth year of recounting daily life and nature observations in Yorkshire, England. He records his ramblings around his village, his potterings in his garden, and his jaunts up peak and down path in Yorkshire. He never seems to be without his pen and brush, and during the day, if he has 10-15 minutes to spare, the result is a delightful moment of his life recorded in ink and watercolor, and shared with us. If you couldn't get enough of Jame's Herriott's books (e.g., All Creatures Great and Small), you can subscribe via RSS to Richard Bell's Nature Diary for a daily dose of Yorkshire.

I just ordered my copy of his latest book, Drawing on Reserves, and it was everything I had hoped for. Gardeners will love his book Rough Patch, "a sketchbook from the wilder side of his garden." If you're like me, you'll read it, and then want to start keeping a Nature Diary yourself --even if you've never sketched before! If so, Drawing on Reserves, will tell you how, in wonderfully down-to-earth terms.

His little books are beautifully done and they are surprisingly inexpensive (less than £5 or $10, in most cases), even if you order from abroad. He responds quickly and the books get here (in Ohio) within a week. Just wanted to pass this on... Enjoy!

Not that this is a great shot, but I'm posting it just to show how treacherous this coastal path was. It kept getting narrower and narrower, and muddier and muddier, and there is a sharp drop off on the right -- several hundred feet straight down to the North Sea. On the left was an equal drop off down to a torrent coming down from the moors. While it looks sunny in this picture, a half hour later, the wind picked up and we had some rain, and the hiking became pretty difficult.