One early morning in the beautiful Cotswolds I made a cup of tea and took it into the conservatory where I was amazed to see a thick mist enveloping the field view. Instead of the usual couple of hundred yards of fields, trees and hedges I could see for only a few yards beyond the dry stone wall. As I sipped my hot tea the mist began to slowly swirl, making fantastic shapes as it curled around the edges of trees and gradually lifted a little off the ground. After a few more minutes a low moo heralded a cow, wreathed in mist, as it emerged in the field like a sepia painting in soft focus.

Cotswold cows are among my favourite creatures and this one was enhanced even more by the soft focus treatment of this gently dissolving background.

As more cows joined the first one Randy my husband grabbed his camera and was able to capture their images before the mist was dissolved by the warm sun. Eventually the day evolved into a glorious scorcher – perfect for a picnic on the river.

But I’ll never forget those magical, early morning moments when my lovely Cotswold cows appeared to be part of a Turner painting.