The small delight of the human face

The small delight of the human face

  Faces are endlessly fascinating, don’t you agree? Everyone has two eyes, a nose, a mouth and a chin. How can they all be so different? Apparently the likelihood of two people sharing exactly the same facial features is estimated to be less than 1 in 1 trillion!...
The small delight of the sunflower

The small delight of the sunflower

The sunflower is a beautiful flower. And it can grow impossibly tall. I remember my grandmother ‘accidentally’ growing a hugely tall one (or so it seemed to me then) which she thought must have come from the bird seed she constantly threw on the ground.   Latter...
The small delight of the leaf-cutter bee

The small delight of the leaf-cutter bee

I was so surprised in France recently to see a small bee fly past me while clutching a leaf. I’d never seen anything like it. It almost looked as though it was riding a little green magic carpet. Then the bee landed on a stone wall and tried to push the leaf into a...
The small delight of the peony

The small delight of the peony

Could anyone not like peonies? Rose-like but more flamboyant, this one is a wonderful fuchsia pink. Definitely a “look at me” flower. The tightly curled central petals are a mass of shapes, interesting to draw, and reminiscent of a shaggy pom-pom. The peony is a...
The small delight of a garden in May

The small delight of a garden in May

Is there anything better than an English garden in May? At least when the sun is shining! Hiding under some trees I found this lovely weigela bush. This one is a deep pink, although I read they can also be white, red or purple. For anyone travelling north, apparently...
The Small Delight of the Cherry Blossom

The Small Delight of the Cherry Blossom

Think of spring and we think of daffodils, tulips- and blossom. There is something about blossom which brings joy to us all. The delicate colours, the fragility, and the way it explodes on what were until recently bare branches. Our old cherry tree is now a mass of...