Thursday 18th August - It rained! it rained!

 It rained enough that the grass is now green and brown, instead of yellow and grey, and no longer crunches underfoot! We have had a couple of days of relief from watering - very welcome, although we have continued to fill rows of buckets and garden tubs with 'grey water'.

Drawings;

There's quite a lot of catching up... 

Wednesday last week was when I did a sudden backwards roll when trying to crouch down to write 'MILK' on the up turned bucket, ready for the new milkman.

Tuesday's milk delivery, the first in the new schedule, was safely deposited under the bucket. Today's was just left on the door step. On Friday night we shall try and remember to leave the bucket on the doorstep where he will be able to find it. Although at 8am rather than 4 am when used to be delivered it should have been light enough to see it beside the door. 

I've started doing bits of water colouring again, just 'pits and pieces' as my godmother used to say. She was Finnish, and came over in the 1950s so her English was very good, but she still counted her stitches in Finnish, and remembered the Lord's Prayer from Sunday School in Finnish.

I started on my French 2021 planner, originally with pencil, but found it easier with a fine brush and watercolour. The paper is too absorbent for water colour really, but manageable. It's really for getting practice.

    

The spaghetti squash seedlings I gave to our neighbours produced two squashes. Their little boy, about 2, was convinced it was some kind of unsatisfactory ball. Too heavy to kick, and it didn't bounce at all well. They gave me the one that he hadn't been playing with.

My vines have also produced two squashes; the LH plant has leaned oved and laid its squash in the right hand tub, so the RH plant has dangled the squash over the side.

Tuesday it rained a little, like a sort of 'trial run'. We collected about an inch in each bucket - enough for just one half bucket in total!

Our cats have never seemed to mind being caught in the rain; they come in absolutely dripping and then demand to be dried off. Preferably while sitting on a lap.

I've never cooked a spaghetti marrow before, and went for the easiest recipe as it was hot and I was feeling bothered. I found a website with several different methods for cooking them, and chose the slow cooker one. The instructions were simple enough; pierce through the skin in a few places, put it in the slow cooker and leave it. 

• SLOW COOKER SPAGHETTI SQUASH

For this method, do not cut the squash in half and instead leave it whole.

With a small, sharp knife, poke several holes into the outside of the squash. These will allow steam to escape. Set the whole squash into a slow cooker. Add the lid and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 5 to 6 hours. Depending on the size of the squash, you may need more cooking time.

When the squash is done, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, and then cut in half. Run a fork through the flesh to separate the “spaghettilike” strands/noodles.

Yup - it worked, just as they said! I seasoned the 'spaghetti' with butter, salt and pepper and it was delicious. 

I came over all dizzy and faint at the beginning of the week, felt very unsteady and very unhappy about it. Then I had a brainwave; when living in Indonesia and Singapore in the 1970s I experienced the same thing several times, and the cure was to eat or drink something salty.

I'm a great fan of  this brand of vegetable stock, and quite often drink a teaspoon of the stock powder in a mug of hot water as a quick and easy alternative to tea or coffee if I want a hot drink. I therefore had a cup of bouillon in the morning several days running (I did feel as though I should be lying on a deck chair on a transatlantic liner, being served by a superior white-coated steward, but that part of the dream remained a dream).  

It seemed to do the trick, and I've been fine since, especially now it is cooler. 

I've finished last week's 'toadstools on a stump' picture, using watercolour pencils for the background.  I'm part way through this week's now; a wreath of flowers and leaves. 

  

Saturday 24th July - Water

Woke up to thunder and rain. What a relief after the last few days. We had taken a gamble on not watering the garden last night, and this time it paid off.

Luckily it didn't last for too long - now, at the end of the day, it has become hot and sunny again.

 Sometimes I imagine what I would pack if we suddenly had to deal with imminently being flooded out; what would we salvage? For a start, we'd take the computer upstairs, and any important books and papers. 

Then collect passports (I think mine is out of date), empty my drawer of medicines into a bag, along with portable oxygen concentrator. Toothbrushes, soap, towels, shampoo (I can deal with anything as long as my hair isn't getting me down!). Cats into the cat box, and all the cat food. Scoop up the loo rolls and a tube of germolene which represents my sum total of First Aid equipment. Then food - would we have time for the little storm kettle? It might be useful. Blankets. Pillows.

 

Ah yes, and all the myriad computer and phone chargers... never forget the chargers!

still sort of on the subject of water,

Here are some splodgy watercolours; I have got hold of a thin book by Hazel Sloan called 'Learn to Paint  Watercolours Quickly' and am copying her pictures. 'You can read this book in 30 minutes,' she says, but you will be painting before you reach the end.' True.

I'm looking at her flower sketches at the moment, sloshing the colours on, letting them run together and saying ' well, that'll do,' after a minute or so. I want to use up anA4 sketchbook I started as an experiment, much larger than I have used before, and I don't think I really like it. Or do I? It might be growing on me.

I divided this page into six at the beginning of July, intending to do one square per day, but the picture I painted in the top right square was so awfully awful that I cut it out and threw it in the compost bin, which is why there's a bit of a sunflower showing in that square from the next page.

I did the poppies at the beginning of the month; paint first, following a you-tube tutorial that I half remembered. Then I went over it with a pen which turned out to have sparkly brown ink in it - yes, I'll do that again!

'Try twisting your brush to make the leaf shapes more interesting' she says.

I've got to be a bit careful if I go in for splattering when painting indoors, as the white curtains are a bit close to where I work.

They aren't meant to be 'real' flowers, just 'flowerish' flowers.

Yesterday I set up outside; this end of the garden is in the shade until around lunchtime.

 I wasn't sure how useful a ceramic hot drinks container, given to me as a 'thank-you-teacher' present was going to be, but it is brilliant - there's no risk of rinsing my paintbrush in my coffee any more!  

Monday 28th December 2020 - 3rd Day of Christmas

 Woke up to a white morning, no, not snow, but frost.

I also woke to the glad thought that I have the whole of this week off, and my diary for the week is completely empty!

After the second coffee I put on a coat and hat and scarf and gloves and went for a slow walk... it started to rain quite heavily soon after we left the front door... so we turned back... and the rain stopped. Still, it cleared the frost.

And it was enough to clear my head. 

Today was the day for getting acquainted with some of my Christmas presents; a couple of tubes of M Graham watercolours, and the Rosemary & Co Eradicator brush.

I cleared out two of the little sections in my china tray, to add Hansa Yellow, Pale Green, Crimson Alizarin and Deep Ultramarine Violet. They are glorious

 I'm also starting a new sketchbook, this time A4, which feels a bit ambitious. It is a statement of hope, as much as anything, in this current lockdown. What shall I sketch?

The Eradicator brush is designed to lift off the paint; I've watched a couple of videos but I need to watch some more. "I use it to create veins in leaves, and also window frames" says one blogger. I started with the leaves, but it looks as though the dampness or wetness of the paint is important. Making lines in the blue slurps of paint, and creating a window frame were the most successful.

Beginning any brand new book - sketch book, notebook, is always a bit scary. In the past I have tended to start at the back, in the hope that I will have improved sufficiently by the time I get to the front in order not to mess up the first page. Recently I read a suggestion that a good way to start a sketchbook is with drawing the pens, brushes and paints you are using. I have 'cheated' even more; these two pages are the inside front cover of the book, and the facing page, so in my mind they don't belong to the main part of the book.

I've started reading Georgette Heyer's Regency Romance 'Friday's Child'. A real paperback version, printed back in 1976, so I've had it a little while

. 

When I opened the book I was tempted to download a Kindle version. The pages are yellow, the glue is no longer sticking, and the print is minute...

I can just about read it comfortably if I shine the reading light on it. I reckon I'm overdue for the opticians (and the dentist and whatever else needs doing). Those days of reading books by the light of a torch under the bedclothes are L o n g G o n e. 

I don't think I've read one of her romances for years and years... there is a row of them on the top shelf so I've plenty to look forward to over the coming year.

 

Wednesday 29th July - Coffee mug update

Well, this is just an update of all the sketches of coffee mugs I've done since the last time I posted them.

On Sunday 26th I was a bit bored with coffee mugs, and spent an afternoon happily watching and following a youtube tutorial on painting leaves. I did shove a coffee mug into the bottom corner!

It seemed to me that the paintings were all looking a bit samey, so I started being more experimental with using colour. Monday and Tuesday's mugs were just an excuse to watch all the colours running in and around each other, although today's picture is a return to realism.

I'm ridiculously excited because my new tubes of water colour have arrived, and a box with empty 'pans' to fill is coming tomorrow. I watched a youtube of an artist explaining why he chose these shades, and demonstrating how they work together and I was HOOKED. My current box of watercolours is in the bottom of the picture.

I've also ordered a new sketchbook, as this one will be more of less filled by the 'month of mugs' project.

The Bible quotes are all taken from the morning prayers in the Franciscan Daily Office Book, called 'Celebrating Common Prayer' which I've been following for a couple of weeks. 

Anyway, here are all the paintings so far!

Monday 20th July

Tuesday 21st July

Wednesday 22nd July

Thursday 23rd July

Friday 24th July

Saturday 25th July

Sunday 26th July

Monday 27th July

Tuesday 28th July - actually I cheated; I did this today, Wednesday 29th July - but I started the page yesterday

Today 29th July

Two more days of July, and already I'm pondering the next project...

Saturday 18th July - And.... breathe.... relax

I finished teaching for the term (officially) yesterday.

The last two weeks have been a maelstrom of piano lessons scattered throughout the days, schedules changing almost hourly as students miss lessons, have other lessons, go on holiday, have extra lessons at school - oh, you name it... it happened...

The net result is that I would end the day reeling, and blogging just didn't happen.

Ah well. Summer has propery i-cummen in, at very long last. I've reired now, from one of my employers, or will have done after Monday. I had a splendid time this morning recycling loads of the blah blah blah paperwork that used to blight my life... when I've finished this post I can feel another happy half hour operating the shredding machine coming on.

(I have just had the typos pointed out. I'm leaving them in. Seems fitting)

I managed to keep up the painting...

no cup painted on Sunday the 12th, by the look of things; I did other stuff instead.

I'll keep this up until the end of July, then think of something else!

I've also been making facemasks; the shaped ones, not the pleated version, simply because that's the video I watched first.

I tried one on - it's not that annoying to wear. I've used the leftover fabric from making this top a couple of years ago to I was a bit matchy-matchy - I suppose I could make masks to match my other tops that I've made and got scraps; no, and there again maybe not.

Someone sitting quite close to where I am at the moment told me that this is the expression I had on my face when some of last week's zoom lesson's were more than usually wayward.

Saturday 4th July - Discouraging Weather

I'm very glad it is grey and cold and blustery today. That might sound a bit mean, but today is the day that pubs andbars re-open, from 6am (six o'clock in the morning!! although I suspect not many will open their doors at that hour) and the tabloid headlines have be all 'let's go and have a good time at the pub! Although, to be fair, most are also saying (in smaller type) 'don't blow it.

Zoom piano teaching continues; we've upgraded the internet something or other in the dining room, where the piano is, involving miles of purple cable and several torrid hours of crimpimg connections to ends of said cable (and a few choice words). The result is that zooming is much improved - most of the time. I have a couple of students with truly horrible connections, where I'm listening with intense concentration to try and distinguish the actual sounds they are playing from the surrounding 'snap, crackle and pop' noises. I think this extra noise comes mainly from having other children playing and talking and using the computer in the same room, confusing the poor old zoom connection.

I shall still be zooming in September, as far as I can see. I've probably said it before, but zoom lessons are far more intense to teach and administrate than face to face, so I will have to manage my time carefully.

I'm following a number of watercolour sketchers; one, Liz Steel, starts her day by painting a sketch of her coffee. That's a good idea, I thought;

Liz Steel gets to go out for her coffee to a coffee shop whenever she wants... that's because she lives in Australia. Going out for a coffee is one of the things I am sooooo looking forward to.

Perhaps I should start a list of things to do once I feel that the chances of catching covid19 are properly reduced.

Meanwhile, there are books to read, weeds to pull up, and potatoes to harvest. Yes indeedy! I dropped a couple of chunks of potato into a suitable container way back at the beginning of March, and they are ready just in time as we are about to run out before the next delivery in a week's time.