Today I had the day off . We ran to Gairlochy and then along the canal . The weather wasn't good - bitterly cold, high winds and showers of driving snow. Running into the head wind was tough and so we popped in to the Moorings Hotel at Banavie for a warming bowl of soup. Above is a quick sketch of the view from their window . The hills disappeared behind a snow shower when we arrived but reappeared shortly afterwards.The lamp post looks incongruous but it was there so I included it. Running home through the forest was far more comfortable with the wind behind us.
 Back to work tomorrow.

Sketch form the Pine Martin Cafe at the Nevis Range ten days ago - lots of snow but the cable car was not running due to the high winds- hence the man snowboarding at the bottom of the mountain bike trail. We ran through the forest and warmed up with an excellent Americano coffee topped with cream in the cafe.

View near Arisaig 22/1/15

We have been having some wintry weather over the last few weeks.As is normal in this part of the world no two days are the same. One day of high winds and driving cold rain will be followed by clear frosty weather or snow. Last week I had  my hardest run to work yet . A terrific headwind at times brought me to a standstill , the rain was unrelenting and ferocious. I was in serious danger of hypothermia but knew that there was a hot shower and coffee waiting for me at work. In contrast the next few days were dry underfoot but very cold. The slope up to the Nevis range access road was thick with ice on Friday and despite taking great care I slipped onto my bum and slivered half way down the slope ! Today it was back to rain and wind.

Summer evening

I've just finished a late Christmas present - a painting of a friend's house and garden where we spent a wonderful evening last summer, having a barbecue  and drinking beer on the lawn as the sun went down.
It has been very cold and frosty  over the last few days, we had some great runs up to the CIC hut and also on the west highland way. From both directions the Ben looked magnificent. I took lots of photos but didn't do any outside sketching - it has been too chilly to pause for long!

Yorkshire Coast

This is a watercolour picture I did a few years ago of the Yorkshire coast . It is from a photo I took whilst training for the Hardmoors 110 race. For us it was a long trek from Scotland  to Yorkshire but I grew to love the Cleveland Way (which the race route follows). The coast is very varied and often feels quite remote. There are some beautiful cliff top sections but the route also goes through some very picturesque towns and villages such as Robin Hood's Way and Staithes. On foot on the coastal path one also avoids the traffic and busy roads .

Robin Hood's Bay

Since I did the Hardmoors 110 Jon Steele has added a whole series of races along the Cleveland Way . The first of the year is the Harmoors 30 on New Years Day.

Beeleigh

The weather today is appalling  - heavy  rain and high winds . Yesterday there were a few sunny spells between the heavy showers and we did a run from the Well of Seven Heads  around Loch Oich . It's a good route especially if the weather is bad- enough hills to add interest but mainly on good trails so it is not technically demanding . This time of year the beech trees look amazing and at the highest points there are tremendous views down the Great Glen.
So far no running today instead I've been finishing some watercolour paintings, one a mountain scene , the other of an oak tree overhanging the canal near Beeleigh in Essex. Beeleigh is a magical place an oasis  of calm a refuge from the roads and housing estates that are now sprawling out of Maldon. There is the beautiful house built on the remains of the abbey,the Grange where Landseer once stayed, a scattering of cottages and the tidal river that joins the canal . If one is lucky a sparkle of turquoise will indicate a kingfisher- surely one of the most exquisitely beautiful British birds. Following the canal to Ulting leads to the quaint old church which in medieval times was the site of an important Christian Shrine.Whenever I go to see my parents I run to Beeleigh at the earliest opportunity . It never changes and probably has barely changed since the canal was dug in the 19th century-

Canal near Beeleigh

Mountain sunset

Resipole

Last week we went to Resipole Studios - the art gallery near Acharacle which as always had a amazing collection of pictures. I particularly like the landscapes by Alan Hayman . They are often  coastal or mountain scenes but almost always include beautiful depictions of wildlife sometimes just a single bird sometimes a group of animals. There were also some lovely landscapes by Andrew Stewart and some brilliant figurative oils by the gallery owner Andrew Sinclair. Afterwards we went to Pollock for a short run and a sketch.