First visit to the Yorkshire Arboretum!

Yesterday was my first visit to the Yorkshire Arboretum near Castle Howard in North Yorkshire.

 After an early morning start, driving over the North York Moors in a combination of torrential rain and mist, which I found very atmospheric and inspiring ...

 ... we stopped at Rievaulx Abbey, another beautiful place in North Yorkshire's history, before continuing through Helmsley down to the Arboretum.

 What a change in the weather! Suddenly the skies cleared and turned vivid blue as the sun shone on us!

 Such gloriousness of autumn colours!

A grand finale of tea in the Arboretum cafe, as the evening sun illuminated the golden colours of the trees. The first of many visits to come!

Magical Mystical Mist after a Happy Hallowe'en of Caricatures!

After a very busy Hallowe'en week doing 'Spooky Cartoon' caricatures at lots of events, it was a nice surprise to have a continuation of the spooky theme in the misty weather on the 1st November!

I took these photos in Ripon and Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. Although you couldn't see very far, lack of visibility was more than made up for by the wonderful atmosphere!

I almost wished I had been wearing my Hallowe'en costume from the events I had worked at earlier in the week! :)