I've updated my Etsy listings again today...

I'm having so much fun painting and adding to my Etsy shop, that I've been busy busy with more today.  Here they are, just click on the blue headings

"Sailing By"

 "Sheep on the Hillside"

 "Watching"

 "Woodland Retreat"

New Listings on my Etsy shop

Busy busy with painting new work for my Etsy shop this week.  Time has flown away from me, and I have more to add, I'll get there if only slowly, lol...

Here's a look at the new listings so far....(click on the titles for the links to my shop)

Storm Clouds

The Beach Hound

Harbour View

Lee Bay Devon

Port Isaac

(The above 'Port Isaac' painting was inspired by our recent visit 
to Cornwall.  Port Isaac is where the TV series Doc Martin is
filmed, known in the series as Port Wenn)

Oh No, The Winter Coat

With this painting, "Oh No, The Winter Coat",  I will be including a FREE additional painting with TEXT added

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND ALL

Another visit down to Harlyn Bay in Cornwall

Yes, I know we have been there before HARLYN BAY and when the opportunity came up to visit again, we couldn't say no...  the beach on the doorstep to the Harlyn Bay Inn is lovely and, of course, a certain Lurcher LOVED IT.

See what I mean, who could not love this.  Although it didn't mean we stayed on this one beach...

 along the cliff path we could see other small coves

and walked past crops growing right up to the edge of the cliff path

Another beach to visit is at Bedruthan Steps - I have to admit I don't venture down the steps, which are extremely steep, Vertigo city for me!!! so I sent the lads down.  The view from the top is amazing anyway, so I didn't feel I had missed anything.  I happened to speak to a lady who works in the National Trust shop and she said that having worked there for 11 years, she had never ventured down the steps (so I'm not the only one).

 ...look who I could see down on the beach (heading off to the left of the picture) ;)

and when the beaches get too much we went into Newquay and guess what....A BEACH!

Not bad when you can shop and see the beach at the same time is it!

Spot the Porpoise

We weren't expecting to see a porpoise the other day on our walk over in Ilfracombe, especially trying to spot something that only appears very briefly and then disappears into the ocean again just as quickly.

difficult to see Yes

exactly,
difficult to see and difficult to photograph

Every time it appeared, I missed taking the photo 

but eventually I got it

The Money Tree

Colby Woodland Garden, National Trust 

Described as having a secret garden and tranquil woodland, we were impressed with this gem of a place.  No house as such to look around, although there is a house in the grounds, but this National Trust venue is all about the surroundings.  

We arrived a little late in the afternoon, so our visit was limited before they closed for the day, however, it is on our 'return to list' when we will be arriving much earlier.  Anyway, I did get one or two photos and we thought this old tree stump was being put to novel use as a money tree.  (We have seen this idea at our local Arlington Court, but it is really nice to know that other places also join in this bit of whimsy.)

At first I wondered why there were 'barnacles' at the base (oh darn I need to wear my glasses more), then realised it was coins

there is even a piece of brick to use for hammering in the coins,

and needless to say Graham had to add to the tree stump collection

I've got an Award

I have to admit this came as something of a surprise, but I am so chuffed that Eileen
over at Yet Another Coffee to Go thought of me.  Check out Eileen's blog here for her blog post about this Liebster Award for discovering new blogs.

If you have clicked on Eileen's blog post, you will see that with this Award I have 10 questions to answer....so here goes:

1 - Are you usually late, early or right on time? - Early.  To the point of over early sometimes!


2 - What makes you bored? - Lack of inspiration.  I like to have things to do.


3 - Are you a good judge of character? - Not bad I guess...I can usually sum people up in 15 seconds, it just takes 15 minutes to confirm it.  (My late mother-in-law was exactly the same).


4 - Do you sing in the shower? - No.


5 - Can you keep a secret? - Yes.


6 - What colour ink do you prefer to write with? - Nowadays I like Black, but when I was a teenager I absolutely LOVED Green ink...I think that is still lingering come to think about it ;)


7 - Tea, coffee or hot chocolate? - Coffee, but closely followed by Tea.  I don't like chocolate at all...now here's a thing - It has been said that 9 out of 10 people love chocolate, the 10th one is lying...well, I have to say that is WRONG...I am really not keen on chocolate, in fact thinking about it now makes me bulk!


8 - Do you believe in ghosts? - Yes.


9 - If you had a boat what name would you give it? - Artless  - only if it were a small boat dinghy sized though...I simply wouldn't have room to set up my easel, hence no art = artless   ;)


10 - Do you like clowns? - Only the scary ones!

 That's it.

Thanks Eileen, I appreciate you handing out this Award

it was fun answering the questions. 

Plein Air painting against all odds

well, not against ALL odds, just the weather.  Oh boy, if I thought it was going to be a simple case of setting up my portable easel and painting, I was wrong.  The breeze that was travelling along the estuary certainly put paid to me setting out all my things.  On the other hand, it had a positive benefit,  I had to get on and sketch out my initial composition, and add the first wash quickly.

(This is at Crow Point, Braunton) 

By now I was feeling freezing cold and windswept, so I retreated back to the car for a coffee.  Thank goodness we thought ahead and brought the flask along.   (in case you wondered...Graham and William went for a walk for an hour whilst I painted).  One thing I would say is, if you are going to be painting outside on location in blustery conditions and the cold, do make sure you wear warm clothing...anyway, lesson learned.

I took some reference photos at the time, to make sure I had something to refer back to in the studio.  You'll see that the 'house' I painted looks more like a bungalow, but that doesn't bother me, I'm happy with how this is going.   I'll get this painting finished and then do another blog post for you to see the finished result, but meanwhile here are my reference photos....

Dinefwr House National Trust

Having walked across the parkland and up the hill to the castle ruin, we then wandered back to the house itself....you may have spotted it in my previous post, peeping through the trees in the distance...

Dinefwr House

Even when we have been to these National Trust properties before, it is still nice to take another look around.  You can't see everything in one visit, so it makes sense to look around again...(if you want to see our previous visit then click here: 24th June 2014 and 26th June 2014 )

On this occasion I ventured down into the basement, which has been set out as it would have been in the day - the side of life that the servants saw.

(sorry about the fuzzy picture.  This is the wine cellar, although I don't think the servants would have had personal access to this)

and the family silver was locked away in a large walk in safe..

they did have the luxury of a bath though..

I took a short video of one room downstairs, with a clock ticking on the mantelpiece.  It was just like someone living there had just stepped out of the room.  The video continues as I emerged at the top of the stairs to the main house.