Now tell me this was a cheap fountain pen

This HERO Fountain pen

(Metal body)

Extra Fine nib

with converter

was

£1.46 

INCLUDING POSTAGE!

ALL THE WAY FROM 

CHINA

 This is known as a Hooded nib

and it is a nice weight to hold, not flimsy in any way

I filled it with DeAtramentis Black Ink

Draws really smoothly

quick sketch on sketch paper
and the pen worked really well




~ AMAZING PURCHASE ~

Something a little different...

...Painting at Arlington Court yes, but this time I chose to Sketch in Reportage Illustration style - so I took my sketching kit to the reception/shop area, knowing I would be guaranteed seeing a lot of people.  

 

It took a few goes on scrap paper to get my pen to loosen up and gain eye/hand co-ordination.

The speed with which people move sometimes amazes me.  The best part is when they are standing at the counter, their attention is held for a few minutes, so they don't move away...ideal.

Anyway, enough chatter, here's some of the drawings.

~ Recording the visual happenings around me,  I loved it ~

🎨🎨🎨

Wordless Wednesday

You know us, we always have to visit the National Trust.....

....when we're on our travels.  Recently we visited Cotehele (previous post) and then we visited

Saltram  

Have been there before, but the beauty of visiting these properties is there is always something different and new to discover, so well worth going back to.

This room had paintings stored as the room they usually hang in was having the carpet and other items repaired, but I'll show you the pictures of that later in this post

I loved this courtyard, which went to the kitchens

The kitchen was interesting as it was set out as though still being used. It really gives an insight to how life was back in the day.

The large range on the left had a flue under the floor, which went to the fireplace you see on the right. It then went up inside of the wall and the heat turned the rotisserie - the heat also gave them hot water to the taps over the sink in the next picture.

These copper sinks were in a side room.  The usual two taps, and the third was from water collected in the garden

These sinks were for preparing meats

and this sink for vegetables...Yes, it is a LEAD sink!!!!   Not such a good idea!

I wasn't expecting to see so much scaffolding but it was needed to protect the ceiling and added a walkway for visitors to view the work being done on the carpet

Can you see the walkway on the left of this picture, it made a really good viewing platform.

The work looked so precise and backbreaking

Not so many years ago, a lot of National Trust properties would close during the Winter months.  That's when some of the major works/conservation  would be  carried out.  But nowadays, properties try to remain open as much as they can, hence visitors now get to see conservation-in-progress.  

I really enjoy seeing this side of the Trust, it's nice to know how things are preserved and learn more about them.   Another factor to the properties remaining open is central heating.  Not that they want properties to be too warm, that would damage precious artefacts, so temperatures are monitored carefully, but it does ensure that volunteers will still help. Nobody wants to stand around in the cold all day for their volunteering efforts.  

One volunteer I spoke to at Saltram told me she wouldn't be helping if it weren't for some heating, so there you have it, there has to be some compromise between them staying open in the Winter and preserving the property.

You wouldn't expect me to visit without doing some sketching...

Visitors in the gift shop

Visitors walking the grounds

and finally my sketch of the house itself

~ Hope you enjoyed this post ~

A visit to Cotehele

Thought we had visited most National Trust properties in Cornwall and Devon, at least on the South Coast, but COTEHELE must have slipped past us.  We got there this time though and know we have to return at some time in the future to take another look around.

Gardeners clearing up leaves and things

the next image is the view from that doorway on the left looking back into the gardens

Looking towards the river Tamar - not a bad view aye!

Here's a link to Wikipedia about Cotehele 

I have a thing about real fireplaces and love the smell of the wood burning 

another fireplaces, how could I not stop for a pic

At this point, I thought I had already gone down to ground level,
but was surprised to find I was suffering from confusion, lol ;)

There were other beds set up, but on this occasion only took the picture of this one.

and Oh there were lots of floral displays about the place -
When I mentioned it to one of the guides, I was told that all the flower
arrangements are refreshed regularly and all flowers grown in the Cotehele gardens

This is where I nearly turned back to finish my visit,
but decided to follow the pathway instead

So glad I did, because I came across this lovely lady, Lin, who was busy sketching.

Of course, I had to stop and have a chat about art and discovered that herself and friends

belong to an art group who get together at Cotehele.

If only I had more time, I would have dashed back to the car for my painting things.

As it is, I hope to be able to catch up with them another time,

something to look forward to.

Here's some more information about Cotehele (click link)

and especially about their Garland.

I may not have sketched there at the time,

but I did this when I got home, whilst the visit was still in my mind,

and from the photo ref to jog my memory

🎨🎨🎨