Back in 2006 I visited the volcanic area of the Avergne. Little did I know then that in just ten years I would be permanently settling just about hour North in Creuse. I always adored France and vacationers there every other year, with Scotland and the North of England as my walking holidays in between. After twenty years I had a good idea of the areas of France I loved. In fact the Avergne to me was far too English with its rolling hills, oaks and farmland. I loved the Southerly steep mountains and dry dusty villages, the grandeur of the Loire and the majestic and dramatic scenery and chateaux of the Dordogne. But the latter was costly, the Loire a tourist trap and the South in summer almost unbearably hot and I like to be out and have a garden that does not resemble a desert.

Creuse therefore was an odd choice but a realistic one re price, climate and rural seclusion. The land and vacated and crumbling farm buildings fired our imagination and we stuck a pin in a map and found Boussac, the perfect provincial town with history, shops and a vet who spoke English.

But I digress. Back in 2006 I sketched. Every year I used my holiday time to illustrate and write diaries. Unfortunately my ex-husband refused to hand over these personal affects when we divorced. This only one was kept safe in my room and I treasure it. My mother and his new girl friend tried unsuccessfully to obtain the diaries and I too wrote as I was asked by an artist friend if I had any old work to show. But people can be very small minded and he didn’t even reply.

So here they are, a few of many. I had always found landscapes difficult but somehow perservering on that visit, I found a simple way to show trees and rolling hills in some sort of perspective.

Enjoy and remember to keep your precious diaries very safe. Someday you may need for projects, for dates or you might even become famous and write your autobiography.