Retreat at the Seekers Trust

Last week I was at the Seekers Trust for a personal retreat. I used the time to sketch, write, meditate and study. I love the energy and atmosphere of the Seekers, with it's gardens and woodland and the healing chapels. Link to the Seekers website here

The weather was a mixture of sun and rain with some dramatic skies. I made some sketches and took some photos  of the skies. We seemed to escape most of the torrential rain that the rest of the country around us were getting and I was able to go for walks most days in sun and cloudy weather.

One morning I got up very early to hear and record the dawn chorus, the blackbirds seem to start the chorus at about 4.15am at the time, followed by the wrens, robins and then other birds. The chorus really is loud, it's hard to believe such small birds can make so much noise. I love that period before the sun comes up, not that I'm usually awake to see it very often. It's something about the light gradually building and the landscape becoming clearer and clearer.

More pages from my small sketch book. I have been writing a bit of poetry over the last few months and was inspired at the Seekers by the natural world. Original draft on my sketch book page at the top of the post.

The South East Wind

The South East wind blows through the trees,
cherry blossoms fall, confetti pink,
to celebrate events unknown, unrecognised.

Small nest shook free from fir trees, on the grass,
fine twigs, moss and feathers
built to last more than April showers,
could not withstand the Jet stream's dance
between Atlantic waves and land.

Tossed high above the church's tower,
jackdaws call in feathered disarray,
and bees sweet dance has other steps,
blown from the daisies far away.