Summer colours

  I have just spent a bit of time giving the front of the gallery a touch-up on the paintwork. Thankfully not much needed doing but it was a good time to attend to the job as I was just about to put up the hanging baskets for the summer. These sort of tasks at the gallery dont directly bring in customers but with such a prominent location within the town of barnard Castle it would be a shame not to make the most of our position. Many visitors take photos of the Market Cross and if they think that including The Teesdale Gallery in the composition makes for a better picture then I'm happy with that!

Another Deepdale

 I stayed more local to home today again for a walk, this time venturing along the wooded Deepdale, (sadly not the Deepdale that leads up to Fairfield). Its actually a nice round of a walk which begins and ends in the town of Barnard Castle itself and is about 7 miles in length. Spring really is here now, for a time at least as there is forecast for about 20cm of snow on the high Pennine hills on Tuesday and that may include us so watch this space!

Daffodils at Barnard Castle.

The rest of the photos will be on the gallery website shortly.

Hit the Lights!

Fortunately this evening the weather held as we gathered on Scar Top, a green space in the town to witness the turning on of the new floodlights which will illuminate the walls of Barnard Castle itself. The old lights were well past their best and now, thanks in part to Barnard Castle Vision, they have been replaced by new LED, environmently friendly light boxes. The scene was nicely set as we waited in anticipation and then out of the huge castle door came a historic figure from the past whos duty it was to turn on the lights.

It was none other than Bernard Baliol who in the early 10th Century was responsible for the construction of this fine fortress. (Bernard himself wasn't available so he was represented by local actor Ian Kilburn!)

At the given hour, the switch was thrown and there for all to see was the castle, brilliantly lit with a range of subtle colours, a fine sight.

So now visitors and residents alike will be able to enjoy this fine focal point of the town with its new coat of many colours as they pass by the castle in is position high above the River Tees.

Have you seen this man?

 I took a wander down The Bank here in Barnard Castle this morning to have a word with one of my fellow shop-keepers here in the town. The Bank is well know for a "collection" (an appropriate term I think) of antique shops one of which is owner and run by this guy,  David Harper.

 Of course David has become one of televisions antiques experts and is in fact currently part of the Antiques Road Trip series on BBC2. The last episode of his week is on tonight at 6.30 so lets hope he continues his great dealing week and I am looking forward to seeing what good bargains he has found.

Gallery Saturday.

I managed to get a walk in this morning before opening the gallery. It may only have been a short route through Flatts Wood here at "Barny" but it was good to spot my first Oystercatcher of the year. There are areas of the wood which are being cleared of scrub to re-open up ther views of this stretch of the Tees.

Barnard Castle.

There certainly seems to be more people around in the town, thankfully and the sale in the gallery of mirrors and frames is going well, ready to make way for this new stock.

A gallery day

Thursdays see me spending the day in the gallery. It gives me a chance to sort out stock and get some of the admin done. Before we open at 10am I take the opportunity to give the dogs a walk so that they settle down in front of the fire in the gallery all day. Fortunately there are some great walks which can start and finish in "Barny" so this morning I wandered through the mixed woodland of Flatts Wood which lies to the west of the town and runs alongside the River Tees. Always plenty of signs of wildlife here and today we were treated to a great view of this Roe Deer Buck.

Not the best photo I admit but it was still before 8am and the sun wasnt exactly shining. His antlers are still "in velvet" and he is quite muted in winter colour. He stood for about three minutes just watching us, as Bailey did with him. The Woodpeckers were also present, drumming on the trees, is this another sign of Spring?

and more snow!

The wintery weather continues and today we had another light dusting of snow with the forecast of more to come this week. There was no point in travelling far today for a walk so it was mainly a day in the studio with a short local walk to give the dogs some fresh air.

The sheep are testing their hardy reputation.

Dog training: tonight was Bailey's first evening at dog training classes. Of about 9 dogs there he was probably the one who needs the training most but we were really pleased with him. We learnt the basics and now all we need to do is keep practising the right "moves", let see how he gets on!

Mist in Flatts Wood

Before opening the gallery for the day I like to give the dogs a decent walk. The weather however was pretty poor with fairly thick mist so I opted for the simple wander through Flatts Wood which lies adjacent to the town of Barnard Castle and runs on the banks of the River Tees. The light dusting of snow proved interesting as I was able to identify the tracks of Rabbits, Stoat, Badgers and Roe Deer. There was hardly an opportunity to get the camera out but I did rather like these oak trees in the mist.

Baileys first day at the gallery

As you may know, I am fortunate to have the dogs with me 24/7 and this includes having them in the gallery with me. The dogs have a nice basket in front of the open fire so I suppose its just like being in someones front room to them...hopefully!
The plan was to give Zeta and Bailey a good walk first thing so that it may help to burn off some of his energy. It seemed to have worked becasue within an hour or so he was settled in next to Zeta. Obviously when anyone came into the shop there were barks a' plenty but I'm sure that will soon pass. I suppose thats one of the advantages of getting him at this time of the year, less people passing through the gallery door.

Note that as a precaution Bailey still has his lead attached!

Snow and Sun

This snowy period of weather continues so I managed to get out and about to capture some of the scenes around Bowes and Barnard Castle before going to the Gallery. Luckily the sun was making an appearance early on so it lit up some of the landscapes wonderfully.

Bowes Castle in the early light.

To see the rest of the photographs click on the link.

Sun and snow