What lovely weather we have been having this summer - for gardeners. Not so good for the societies painters, though, as we arrange outdoors painting days each Wednesday during the months of July and August. Our first venue was the sumptuous garden of a friend of one of our members and the bad weather was not a good start for us. However she was determined that we would be able, at some time, to take the time to paint at her home (and to display our work in her gallery), by making it available to us for a further two days over the course of the following week or so. I, myself, suffering with sciatic pain had to take many things into account for our painting days, trying to reduce the amount of equipment to carry yet having to consider necessary aids to comfort - an umbrella for either shade or walking assistance and chair, lunch and enough to drink should it get too hot! Kingsbury Water Park, our next venue, with access to a number of pleasant spots quite easily reached by car, is a useful venue, with a choice of possible subject matter, scenic and wildlife. With a café on site at the end of the day for a get together to compare work achieved that day along with the chance for a nice fresh cup of tea and slice of cake. Lichfield Cathedral, the following week, is always an architectural challenge. The façade of numerous biblical and ecclesiastical figures lends itself to “a study of……” whereas its three steeples a challenge to the art of setting them down on paper exactly vertical and equally trigonomically correct. Catton Park, a large house in the country, our venue following, was fortunately perfect weather wise, and a venue with many choices for the perfect picture, architecturally, gardens or neighbouring fields with and without animals. A return visit to a member’s garden containing many subjects to paint including a vast pool was arranged for the following week, but disappointingly, the weather was against us (for a second year running) for a trip further afield to the Battlefield Railway Line at Shakerstone out final venue. A few hardy artists made it, and we shall be able to see the results of their day at our Annual General Meeting in a couple of weeks time as we lay out work carried out at these events hoping to encourage