Long weekend away

I've had an adventure thanks to friends who collected me on Thursday afternoon and took me to stay with them in their lovely home in West Sussex. They brought me back home again this morning.

On Thursday evening we visited their allotment where I wandered and took photos.

Bean pole patterns - seagull squawking overhead

Strange bug

 
There were plenty of opportunities to enjoy their lovely garden photographing the flowers or just sitting, drawing, drinking tea, eating cake etc.

 I love the way this tall and delicate grass shimmers and catches the light as it waves in the breeze

On Friday morning we went to Brighton by bus - a lovely scenic journey. We popped into Brighton Uni to see the MA show and stayed a lot longer than expected. The exhibition was very mixed. I was fascinated by the strange panels which were stuck to the window. These are close ups - I like the way the out of focus outside world shows through the gaps.

We had quite a long conversation with a young man who had made some brilliant sculptures with thorny branches - unfortunately my photos didn't do them justice so I won't include them. We saw paintings, prints, sculptures, installations and a couple of sound sculptures - one which we liked and one which was extremely annoying and encouraged us to leave the area speedily! 

Passing the Royal Pavillion I couldn't resist a photo of the turrets against the blue sky

We enjoyed a drink on the pier. Some school children were trying to eat their lunch on the beach but the seagulls were causing them a lot of trouble!

A view of the West pier - not much of it left!

Back in my friends' garden after a lovely lunch (my friends made wonderful meals - such a treat!)

I had a long sleep in the afternoon. 

The sky in the evening was wonderful

At one point I stuck the camera out of the window and took a random shot of the sky. When I had a quick look at the photo I was very surprised to see a hot air balloon rising behind the trees - I went outside and saw it glide overhead close the neighbours' house

Mange-tout in the morning light on Saturday

We had a trip to Lewes on Saturday morning where we saw a couple of exhibitions. We particularly enjoyed John McSweeney's "Capturing the Spectacle: Paintings of Modern Life" His website is very interesting - some of the paintings that were in the exhibition are shown on "Paintings 2014" in the "Work"section. I found his artwork very thoughtful and thought provoking. 

After another lovely lunch I had a very long sleep. My friends packed an amazing picnic and we went with neighbours to the Sussex Prairie Garden  where we enjoyed our picnic and a thoroughly enjoyable evening of music by The Incredible Sax Band  who played a mixture of classical and contemporary music. 

During the evening before the concert and during the interval I enjoyed a gentle walk in the prairie gardens. I like the way the low sun caught the edges of the plants

Grasses blew and rattled in the breeze 

Sculptures are dotted all around the gardens 

Between the trees you can see glimpses of the downs

This strange bee like creature looks as if it is wearing a very large crash helmet!

Saxophones glinting in the sunlight

Shaggy flowers blowing in the breeze

Tiered pom poms (very technical descriptions!)

Weird deformed flower with curly "tentacles"

This was my favourite sculpture - I love the colour and the changing view through the hole depending on where you are standing

Poppy seed heads in the evening sunlight

Tiny flowers against a glass sculpture. The flowers have pink sepals and tufty white petals)

The glass sculpture from a different angle

I wonder what this looked like when all the poppies were in flower - it looked pretty amazing as a sea of seed pods

The last of the sunshine - by the pond

I don't usually manage evenings - this was a very rare outing for me and was a huge treat. Unfortunately I missed a lot of Sunday - sleeping. I was brought home this morning and have had another long sleep this afternoon. The tiredness and extra pain is worth it though - there are times you have to do something you enjoy and pay the price! 

Thank you very much for joining me