New Year’s Day 2020 began with a silent group walk, I usually go on all the group walks whilst on retreat, especially enjoying the silent ones.

However on this retreat I experienced listening to my inner voice like never before.

I set off on the walk but just knew it was not for me this time, so I turned back and head into the house.

I wrote this in my journal when I got back:

After deciding not to go on the walk I got changed and settled in front of my favourite view with slippers, and lemon and ginger tea.

I listened to my body.

It did not want to be outside.

It is still recovering.

It needs to hibernate a little still. 

I then did this little sketch:

‘Slippers And Mug‘

 

 My feet are up on the window seat/ledge. Getting cosy!

 

Before I share with you a sketch I did of a painting of the House, here is a little about the history of the House.

I copied it from a written piece outside the meditation room:

 

Sharpham House

Philemon Pownoll, RN Captain of the Apollo, commissioned the building of Sharpham House, having made his fortune in the Seven Years War.

His share of the prize money on capturing a Spanish ship amounted to £64,872,13s.9d. the richest prize of the war.

In 1770 building work commenced with designs by Sir Robert Taylor in the manner of the great Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio.

Sir Robert was a renowned though now forgotten, architect and the first to take indentured pupils.

It could thus be said that he founded the profession of architecture.

The designs for Sharpham take advantage of its prominent hill top position.

The landscape was reputedly made by Capability Brown.

Although beautiful to the eye, the resultant part served to isolate the inhabitants of the house from the work-a-day life around them.

The house if built in the English Palladian Style onto the front of a much older house, (some of which still survives). It is this that makes it a villa on three sides.

From the outside the ground floor is ‘rusticated’ (is given a rough finish) which was a gesture to it’s Palladian derivation, in so far as in the Italian original the ground floor would have been used for agricultural purposes.

 

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‘Sharpham House And Its Angel Penguins’

 

Above is my interpretation of a painting in the Music Room of Sharpham House.

 

Below we have another picture sketched in the Music Room.

 

‘Shadow Side – Music Room At Sharpham’

 

There is a funny thing about all the standing lamps in Sharpham house – they all have wonky lamp shades! (Those that I saw anyway!)

One evening I sat in the Music Room as the Sun went down, and the lamp cast the deepest of shadows across the wall – it got me thinking about my own shadow side, that I have been working on for years now, it was surprisingly quiet on this retreat.

This retreat was one of the lightest I have ever had.

 

‘Meditation – Me On Retreat’

 

Me on retreat, living my best life!

I received a compliment about the clothes I wore on retreat, this little number was one of my favourites – a stripey jumpsuit and the largest scarf in the world!

There will be a Part Three, sit tight.

Hope you enjoyed this one, take a look back onPart One if you missed it.

Thank you for reading.

Much love Txx