Up close

We decided to ignore the rainclouds last Thursday and spend some time in the garden, spreading cow manure and experiencing all the joys of nature with Ella.

Although the piles of "tow poo" were very exciting to jump in, dig in and fill her shoes with, the most entrancing thing about our garden was the tiny little caterpillar Ella found on the driveway. She spent hours investigating and admiring it, especially its little black mohawk and its capacity to make its way over or around every obstacle placed (very gently but insistently) in its way.



After an hour or so of uninterrupted love we noticed that the caterpillar's cute black mohawk had disappeared. I hope it will grow back in time.

All this close observation is having an amazing impact on Ella's drawings. Over the past month they have become much more descriptive and detailed. She amazed us a week ago with this portrait of a "very cross" cat with eyelashes like Nellie (the Beagle)......