Taubman Museum, Roanoke

I drove in my clapped out mini van all the way to Roanoke and back and forgot to take my cash from the ATM... tiring, expensive but worth it for an amazing Gehry-esque venue with a room of Sally Mann's Battlefield series photographs from the early 2000s and en route mountain pass views to restore the soul. I sketched, grabbed a coffee and returned for the school bell.

Food W'shop, Bon Secours (Hospital)

Chef Jason of Pasture whipped up something fabulous with collards and grilled chicken - it can be done! Behind us on the ramp the body of a less lucky hospital visitor was taken off to its final resting place.

I quietly savoured the simplicity of honey, greek yogurt and dark choc curls before wandering the healing gardens...

Dressed-up on Floyd

Hair brushed and outfits carefully chosen for Picture Day and our first St Mark's wedding - with the family tie.

Wildlife at Back Bay Reserve, VA

10 miles of nature... the cute lost turtle, wind-swept sand dunes and giant whelks were all fab though balanced by the sheer quantity and proximity of the more venomous wildlife - a large water moccasin, a smaller in-front-of-us (!) on the path copperhead and a less scary regular black snake YIKES we're not camping here, ever!

Camping at the KOA, VA Beach

Camping is not always easy but there are moments of joy. Here the homemade sausages take the heat and some left-over pizza from the drive gets consumed for breakfast. It would have been nice if the airbed didn't deflate, the neighbouring house's garage light wasn't on all night and appalling traffic hadn't meant we were tent-constructing after dark by car light and then of course got a flat battery.

Burials at First Landing

A great way to protect yourself from the breeze and the incoming sea mist...

Virginia and First Landing Beaches

Dig a hole/amphitheater for your whole graduating class's final photo or marry a sailor on the sand - it was all happening on the beaches today as we ate our great TASTE picnic and dolphin-spotted.

More Mount Vernon on Floyd

My latest purchase is a popular read but when J spotted this page she was so happy and I hadn't even noticed it - the walled gardens at Mount Vernon - which made it in to the top 250 gardens to see. I've done 10% of them but there are more within reach... Herefordshire I mean.

RVA Skyline, VMFA Studio School

Our group got to do a collaborative drawing that broke up the city skyline into sections, then got to be put back together again with trees and shadows being lined up and sheets numbered (not as straight-forward as you'd think). There was a lot of darkness and for some scalpel-scraping to get back to the light. For me atmospheric clouds and one tiny section of a skyscraper.

Come the international bike race this September our masterpiece will be on show at Glave Koven Gallery - thank you Matt for this lovely challenge.

Texas Beach, RVA

More paddling, another snake-spotting though not by us, an halloumi picnic and then a rapid return along the path for Cinderella - the movie.

Spring Break is over.

Bold Rock Cidery, Blue Ridge Mountains

We got to the cider across some unsurfaced mountain roads with amazing views and some challenging hills.

There was a stream to swim in, bottling-contraptions to inspect and of course cider to be tasted, though we really need to come back for a more restful version of the place.

Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Mountains

A proper waterfall... we couldn't even make it to the top it was so crazily far up the mountain. In fact it's the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi.

Down on the river, Scotsville

Down by the full flowing river was mud, mud glorious mud and a tire swing. Did everyone remember to bring down their wellies or did the hill have to be re-hiked 3 times?!?

The shortcut to the house was straight-up and terrifyingly vertical at some points.

Spring in Scotsville

It was spring in the woods with little flowers everywhere and red bud trees blooming.

Cars in the Woods

A soil pile for toy trucks and cars with it's own wood plank track and eventually a inflatable tire slide. A small snake was most disturbed.

Back at the garage the 1970s jeep got rolled out for endless games of 'cops & robbers'.

Mount Vernon near Washington

Us and 8,000 others were at George's place this holiday but a sharp breeze meant we had the landscape pretty much to ourselves. Two walled gardens, espaliered blossoming peaches, the friskiest fluffiest lambs, the sombre family tombs, the plain slave graveyard (150+) and the immense waterfront vistas and a packed warm bus that swept us back to the start and a crazy, over-crowded junk-food lunch. It was still post-flu exhausting but worth the effort for J's complete devotion to the subject and the real things.

Playtime in Bon Air

Post-puppet show playtime in rolling tube and with sand cakes... though borrowed child hid so well in a tire that she got rather bitten up by springtime bugs.

The Easter Egg Hunt on Floyd

The bunny delivered on a more challenging hunt this year, as requested by mail.

Easter Dawn, Hollywood Cemetry

The moon was still out above the blossom trees and then the sun rose through the city skyline, the river roared below and the pipes & drums began to play... wow, what a start to the day.

Egg Blowing on Floyd

It's hard to pierce an egg... and this batch kept cracking but the left-over gnome-painting gear added some sophisticated gloss to our efforts.

First Friday on Broad

This was an evening for great window projections and a cute black cloud we could hook down if we fancied... and we did without hooking anyone's neck, just.

Dolphin Spy Party, Indoors

The band aka The Goofy Angels, tried and the audience were attentive but shared-tempo and expectation issues somewhat threw things off key.

The guinea pigs were a hit though.

Dolphin-Spy Party, Outdoors

So finally we did the actual party in a blustery after-school moment. It didn't settle into a blissful gathering but there were highlights - not least the invasion of the frat-party princess bouncy castle out in the alley and the three minutes of shell-artiness.