On my Lambretta scooter in 1965 (the same year that the Beatles wrote the song – ‘I’ve got a ticket to Ride’) My friend Maureen is on the back. She and I went to art college together and shared a flat in London. 
I have just purchased a ticket to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, where I will be spending some time with fellow blogger and artist, Sarah Vernon – ‘First Night Design’. The last time I visited the Isle of Wight it was on this scooter in 1965!
But first I would like to tell you a story about my Lambretta scooter which points out how different the world was in 1965,
First of all no license or helmet was needed. This was long before ‘heath and safety’. Finding a puncture in the petrol tank I went to the local garage where I was told to chew bubble gum and then plug up the hole – which I did. I drove all the way to the Isle of Wight and back on that scooter…and it was fine. This time around, I will be travelling by train and of course ferry from the mainland to the Island.
This photograph was taken the same year – with Maureen and another friend in front of what was then the newly opened Commonwealth Institute in Kensington. It has just been re-opened as the New Design Museum.
Those were heady days. It was a fun time to be young in London and indeed Europe….Hope abounded.
The era of materialistic madness had not yet descended….expectations were of a different kind and consequently for the most part people were much more content.
Hitchhiking and Youth hosteling around Europe was considered normal for young people. A holiday could mean, stomping grapes in Italy or staying at the very basic newly emerging Club Med camps scattered around Europe. In short it was a much simpler life.
watercolour/gouache
After visiting the Isle of Wight and Sarah, I then return to the mainland (Dorset) where I will stay with Maureen.
I will of course take camera and sketch book…..
Magical Hummingbirds as always will accompany me……
A Bientôt
watercolour/gouache sketch – The Usk Valley where the Black Mountains meet the Brecon Beacons. 
This visit was the first time since I left Crickhowell, twelve years ago, that I was able to completely relax and allow myself the joy of visiting old haunts and connecting with dear friends.
The market Town of Crickhowell has a population of approx 3,000. It still has the butcher, baker and candlestick maker and much much more. A manageable and vibrant community.
When I lived there in my little cottage on Mill Street I was able to walk everywhere, including to twelve (or was it thirteen) pubs? – all of which served good food – from pub grub to fine dining and everything in between. That is still the case.
So why you might ask did I leave. In 1999 I began working on a project for children which used the power of art and colour to teach about environment, homelessness and many other social issues. Had it been successful, it would have solved long term financial issues. After what looked like a very promising beginning, in 2003 it was clear that the project was not going to work. A very sad moment for me.
All of which brings me to ten years of blogging and social media…………
After returning home I thought more about my response.
This beautiful watercolour was painted by Jayanthi Rani who I met five years ago when she came to my painting course in Portugal….and since then it has been my great privilege to watch her work blossom and grow. You can see more of Jayanthi’s work on her FB page. 
It seems to me that as we try to fill the ever widening holes within as our collective senses are being deadened through the over use of technology, our frustration levels grow and the need for a creative outlet even more acute.
Cooking, sewing, knitting, writing, dance, music – I could go on and on. When I observe people using a myriad of creative disciplines – I see people who in that moment feel a sense of contentment and wellbeing.
I posted these two photographs of my wonderful Grandmother and her Great Granddaughter, my daughter, because they show so clearly that within a relatively short period of time…..how our world has changed. How the lives of women have changed…..
When I went through my Aunt’s papers, I was delighted to find that her passport only expired last year – which means that she renewed it when she was 86. She also volunteered helping ‘old people’ when she was in her eighties and early nineties. What an inspiration.
I have been surrounded with strong, and unusual woman all my life – from my Grandmothers, to my Mother and Aunt Peggy.
Nearly ten years ago, Peggy lost her only son, my cousin James – aged 57….and although I know it hurt her terribly she never complained. Although Peggy was not a religious woman in the conventional sense, she was deeply spiritual and believed that eventually she and James would be reunited…..
A Benton
Once again I have been reminded through the untimely death of a good friend of the importance of making the very best of every moment we have.
Not to put off what we really want to do….but rather to take on life’s new adventures with a sense of excitement.
Not to wait for the perfect time to do something, because there never is a perfect time…just today.
“Follow your Bliss” – another quote from Joseph Campbell.
And so today I follow the example of the magical hummingbirds, soaring above all the madness and drinking from the sweet nectar of life……..:)
A bientôt