The pace has slowed a little since we returned to Nightingale Farm from Scotland but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy.  Jim has cleaned up his vege patch and we have cooked the produce as well as making use of a glut of apples and pears in various ways. We have made soups, green tomato chutney, apple chutney, various apple cakes and pies and pasta sauces. The freezer is also bursting with green beans, frozen stewed fruit and gorgeous, bright yellow cherry toms roasted and whole. Hope we manage to get through most of it before we come home.

The autumn days are becoming noticeably shorter and the sun is much lower in the sky.  It is not light now until about 7 am and coming home from the pub on Friday night we noticed it was totally dark for the first time. Or maybe we had stayed too long!! There has been quite a lot of rain mixed with some lovely sunny days as it is today. On these days we take advantage and get out for a long walk or a drive to one of the places on our list.

Portland Quarry and Sculpture Park

Tout Quarry Nature Reserve and Sculpture Park is a stone quarry on the coast near Weymouth which has been developed as a stone sculpture park. There are more than 60 sculptures in the Quarry, such as Anthony Gormley’s ‘Still Falling’ and my favourite – the Fireplace. As you walk along the winding paths through the remains of the quarry, the stone works, large and small reveal themselves as if they have always been there. There are stunning views over Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour from the clifftops surrounding the park. The park is also home to birds, wild flowers and butterflies.

Somerset Art Weeks Festival

Following an artistic theme, Somerset Art Weeks Festival has been taking place during late September/early October.

Last weekend the market town of Wincanton caught our eye because the town’s contribution was listed as “Wincanton: The town as gallery”.  Rather than separate galleries and exhibition spaces visitors “will embark on a journey of discovery seeking out the “You are Here” symbol whereupon they will discover a wide variety of artworks and installations that harmonise and highlight their environment”.  Aided by the Wincanton Art Trail brochure we explored the shops, arts spaces and community facilities that had come together to celebrate the artistic life of Wincanton.  Even the fruit and veg shop was an expression of the owner’s creativity.  It was a unique and wonderful expression of the creativeness of an entire community. Our favourite was the Bootmakers Workshop, where we saw local kids and adults transforming waste and found objects into beautiful works of art. Local artist Becca Dean took us under her wing and showed us around including her own amazingly intricate drawings.  It was fabulous. Thanks Becca!! See you for coffee soon.

Wells was also “on the list” this week and we had a great day exploring the tiny city. More on that soon.

Rachael and Rich have safely arrived in the UK and we are very excited to be seeing them in beautiful West Dorset on Tuesday. We can’t wait to show them some of our favourite places and maybe even take them to the Fox Inn on Friday night.

Goodnight for now. To all the kids going back to school tomorrow – be nice to the teachers! To all my teacher buddies – commiserations. Final term flies by and it will be summer before you know it.

Lots of love,

Jim and Frankie

PS. We have booked a long weekend in Venice just before Christmas. Hoping for crisp and cold with amazing Chrissy decorations. It would be a shame to miss the opportunity to enjoy Christmas in Italy.

Websites

Bootmakers Workshop Wilcanton

Rebecca Dean

Wincanton: the town as gallery