Scribbly Cottage

Gwithian sunshine

2011-08-19T12:11:00.000Z

Yes, it does sometimes! This summer has been a disappointment, apart from the early bit so when the sun does come out, it's wise to make the most of it!

Looking past the lifeguard hut towards St Ives

I adore these firey crocosmia, they set the hedgerows and moors ablaze!

Vintage Board meet, Lusty Glaze

2011-07-29T15:24:00.000Z

Looking across to Newquay from Lusty

Just a few snaps I took on the 26th June of some lovely old sticks.... is it me/the angle of photo, but has that Surf Rider got a narrowed nose?

Here's another Surfrider. Lovely.

Little and large

More belly goodness.....these belong to Sean. He told me the board with the Classic board with the girl logo is the only one that's allowed in his flat! Hee hee...

Sweet little moggie

The british Museum of Surfing van was there with a goodly selection of nice boards

Gavin of Traditional Surfing with his boards....see those little bellyboards over at the edge? He shaped those. One of them is mine.

Here is Gladys as she was....

And as she is now I've done a paint job on her. Nice....?

Surfed her twice so far, had an absolute ball. Am in again at Gwithian tonight with any luck.

Jampot

2011-02-14T10:00:00.000Z

We went for a nice Saturday morning stroll over Gwithian beach. The swell was heavy and waves were breaking high against the lighthouse rocks. One poor lady misjudged the waves as they broke on the beach, and got caught with her little dog! She saw the water coming too late, tried to run for it....but fell over! The little dog was fine, he just had a jolly good shake and was dry. Obviously that wasn't an option for the lady, who was soaked from the waist down, but to her enormous credit, continued the walk to the end of the beach and back again to the warmth of her car.

The 'Better Half' surveys the scene. No surfing today, me 'ansome!

At least the dog's happy, snuffling and scratching in the sand.

When we returned to the van, we decided to go for a coffee, so we deposited the dog in the front of the aged camper and walked towards the far end of the chalets, where the Jampot Cafe reigns. Very different in character to the Sunset cafe, by the carpark, which is more surfey, the Jampot is a sweet little venue to sip a decent mug of chocolate and survey the sea. It's distinctive roundhouse design stands out and is very simply furnished inside. An electric fan heater disguised as a log stove, brought ample heat to the little room, although there was also a vintage, out-of-action and very rusty pot bellied stove, which bore the sign 'No Smoking'! I did take a photo, but sadly accidentally deleted it, along with some of the other Jampot shots. Sigh..... Still, here are a few survivors to give you an idea.

The Jampot Cafe! And aptly named for it's appearance.

A few local magazines are thoughtfully left for browsing.

The inside roof structure, very interesting. We will return!

A Sunday Stroll

2011-01-09T15:18:00.001Z

What a lovely change from the vile weather we've had of late. Almost spring-like and a perfect excuse to get out for a stroll through the Towans and down the steep path to the sands of Gwithian.

Part of the old mine workings that dot the area. It was a steep scramble up here and I had to grab the dog before he launched himself over the drop onto the beach, at the top!

The mouth of the tunnel/cave

Old ironwork that has rusted to a sculptural form and stained the rock it's attached to.

Another intriguing shaft-like cave. I must try and find out about this area.

Bits of wood and iron jut up from rock, their original uses obscured.

There were plenty of other walkers on the beach, luckily the beach is so large everybody's spread out. Till the tide comes in and everybody is confined to a narrow strip of pebbles!

Sea-worn bricks form an old outlet.

Back on top of the cliffs, a last gaze at the panorama. In the far distance across the bay are the houses of Carbis Bay, St Ives's neighbour.

And finally, a pic I took last week with my new camera. The lighting was wonderful.

Boxing Day walk to Cadgwith

2010-12-31T16:56:00.001Z

Cadgwith is a picturesque fishing village nestled down at the tip of Cornwall, near the Lizard. A mecca for tourists with very un-vehicle friendly streets (unless you have a boat!). We parked in the free carpark up the hill at Ruan Minor and with the dog bundled up in his new winter coat, headed off towards the steep footpath down into Cadgwith itself. It was a grey day with an icy wind to probe your unmuffled bits. Brrrr!

Over the stone stile.....

There's Cadgwith below......

And another stone stile into a cut which gave blessed relief from the wind.

The footpath leads into the village...

Parking spaces are like gold dust, here, even if you live here.

Walking down between the pretty cottages

And down into the village centre, past the pub (which hosts the very excellent Cadgwith Singers every Friday night on St Inebriatus's Eve!)

And here are the fishing boats, pulled up onto the shore.

Christmas decorations hang from wires, seagulls relax on the shingle.

A jolly pleasant sight.

What scared the seagulls off?

Ah.

Pretty cottages in abundance. I have to say though, I've seen photos of this place taken during storms and the waves batter the windows!

And if you haven't got a car, park your boat in your car parking space!

Time to get home for a hot chocolate!

Snowy Troon

2010-11-29T16:07:00.000Z

Today we were treated to another dollop of snow, along with some quite meaty - sounding thunderstorms!

Just a few pics taken on a short walk out of the village today, once it stopped snowing:

Back from the printers...

2010-11-11T09:03:00.001Z

This year's Christmas cards. I have illustrated my own Christmas cards now, since 2001. I used to print them myself, on the old inkjet, but it took so long and cost so much, I ended up getting it done at Vistaprint much cheaper and as good quality, and envelopes too!

Last year I had to break with my tradition (because of the move to Cornwall) and send out shop bought cards. This raised howls of disappointment from friends and relatives, who look forward to my quirky, very personal and very Cornish designs.

Worry not.....I'm back on the case.....and they're all done and printed, it's not even December!

The inside reads: Nadelik Lowen ha Bledhen Nowyth Da Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Cornish and English)

Here's the front design clearer:

And a little detail......that's me, hubby and Charlie the Jack Russell. We're wearing our Pirates rugby scarves, as is the seagull atop the chimney! (What, you didn't know seagulls watch the rugby? Have you never seen a seagull mug a tourist for his pastie on Penzance promenade? )

We don't live in an old converted Engine House, wishful thinking, that!

Our small front garden

2010-11-08T13:30:00.001Z

Well, we've been here almost a year now and at last the front garden is looking more like I envisaged. Originally a patch of grass, bordered by gravel paths, the lawnmower had to be lugged from the back garden, down the communal lane alongside next-door's house and around to the front. Given that the grass was little more than eight feet square and our petrol mower more suited to our old, large garden, the actual mowing was done in just a handful of passes! Not ideal, so I decided to banish the grass at the front and create something easier to tend, that would provide the backdrop for some more plants.

I saw this (below) at the Lost Gardens of Heligan and liked it. I've also seen a more intricate pebble pavement at Perranporth, part of a Cornish-time sundial on the clifftop.(look at the pattern of pebbles, placed on edge, it's lovely!)

However, all this was beyond my present means. When the builder working next door kindly offered me a few barrowloads of gravel, I decided to have a circle of gravel, rather than pebbles, in the hope that one day I could afford to replace the gravel with a nice pebble circle. So I set to, taking off the turf. This only took a couple of hours (remember I'm 57 and not as fit as I could be!). Another day I set about marking up the circle, digging it out and setting the logroll edging. As I had some logroll left over, I decided to put in a smaller circle, offset slightly, for planting up. The next few days the weather was vile. Then a couple of days later the sun came out and the wind dropped, allowing me to lay the fabric liner and start barrowing gravel...from the back garden, down the communal lane....etc etc. It was then just a matter of raking it out and trimming away and tucking in the liner. I shall add a little more topsoil to the surround and rake it level. I think it looks ok, not bad work for an old bird! Now for the plant planning!

As the front faces southwest it gets plenty of sun and the existing planting, lavender, santolina, sage and rosemary has done well. (All right, the lupins were claimed by slugs the size of small family cars; they'll have to be moved to the back or go in pots.) I have a weakness for rather exotic plants and am looking at perhaps squeezing in a palm, cannas, aeoniums and the like. Although this is Cornwall and therefore a bit milder than the rest of the UK, up here in Troon we are prone to wind (!) and I shall have to bear that in mind. Watch this space!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2010-09-13T07:23:00.000Z

Yes, once again, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th September. A chance to dress up in garb piratical, practice your "Arrrrr!'s and get some serious timbers shivered.

Many take the opportunity to make it a charity fund-raiser and raise funds and laughs at the same time. And if you live in Cornwall or will be there on the day, the Cornish Pirates rugby team in Penzance (many of whose fans dress as pirates on match days anyhow) Sunday Sept 19th coincides with a home game against Birmingham and Solihull Rugby Club. So we are encouraging everyone to come dressed as a pirate. There are prizes and give-aways for the kids and a 'best dressed pirate' prize, so come along! Sunday 3pm. You might even see a decent game of rugger!

My local beach...a panorama

2010-09-07T16:34:00.000Z

Gwithian, Cornwall. A nice swell for the surfers and warm September sunshine. Husband's one of the surfing specks!

Minack Theatre

2010-08-31T08:47:00.000Z

Friday evening saw us at the Minack Theatre on the cliffs of Porthcurno. We were waiting to see a performance of 'Larkrise', a play based on the books 'Larkrise to Candleford' by Flora Thompson. After a wet and misty week the weather relented and gave us a warm dry evening. The performance was a sellout.

The gardens round the arena are pretty impressive, too. People took warm clothes, blankets and most people took picnics....wine and champagne were quaffed and it was all very civilised! We had eaten fish and chips at home so were full, but the lady sitting next to me opened a tin and took out a large Victoria sponge cake! We got offered a slice, too!

And as the moon rose over the sea....wow! What an amazing venue! I didn't take photos during the performance, was too absorbed. This was taken during the interval.

A magical evening, all for the princely sum of £9.50. We will go again.

Belly laughs

2010-06-18T08:56:00.000Z

I thought it was about time to christen the new bellyboard, so here I am at Gwithian, one warm summer's evening, suited up and ready. I wasn't sure what to expect; the ride was likely to be different to my floaty, foam Morey bodyboard.

This chap was just checking I didn't have any pasties on me.

And this one was just checking the seagull out.

Eeek! Water!!

Hmmmm.....not bad....not bad at all!

And again......

Good so far, hair's still dry though; can't have that!

Now if someone would just cover that pesky sun......

There are a lot of these jolly - looking jellyfish washing up on the north coast at the moment. Best not to tread on them, I believe they don't sting much but could give you problems if you are prone to anaphylactic shock. (The spellchecker has just suggested 'intergalactic' shock! I like the sound of that. It's jellyfish, Jim, but not as we know it. LOL!)

You lookin' at me? Are you lookin' at me? Do you want some, come on then....do you think you're hard enough? (Sigh from bored jellyfish)

Meanwhile, back at the surf, Sue has finally got her hair wet.

This is the one that gave me the washing machine experience. I emerged sandy, dripping and with a long string of er...snot dangling.....not in the least ladylike....at least I wore a wide grin!

Come on in, Charlie, the water's lovely!

Ooof, that was a refreshing one! The ride is lower in the wave than with a foam board and my take-offs need working on. Still, I'm not missing many waves.

Just one more ride.......

It's almost 9pm and curry calls. We came out straight from working late and haven't had our tea.

Put that camera away!

A parcel arrived...

2010-06-10T13:50:00.001Z

Aeons ago, when we first mooted the possibility of a move to Cornwall, Mart said he'd buy me a new surfboard. At the time we assumed that, because I was a boogie boarder (shallows only), that the next obvious step would be a beginners stand up board, or Swellboard. Decades passed....or so it seems when you badly want something....(but it was some 15 years), and six months ago we moved to a little piece of Cornish heaven.

However, having tried stand-up surfing on numerous holidays in between moot and move and not doing everso well at it, (too stiff despite yoga, too unfit and a weak swimmer plus that bit older) the idea slowly slid towards the sunset. I was a one boogie-board woman. (Similar to a honky-tonk woman, only wetter) Until.........

We joined the National Trust! You weren't expecting that, were you? It's not that we were that keen on walking round old stately homes for free, you understand but the best car park for our local Beach is owned by the National Trust...anyway we joined; get free parking to go surfing; result. But when you join organisations like this you get presented with rainforests worth of jolly newsletters and info and after a quick read it was destined for the recycle bin, when I noticed an article about the World BellyBoarding Championships, held near St Agnes, Cornwall in September.

The photos showed not the young rippers, with foam Morey boards and flippers doing aerials and 360s, but old buffers like me, having a really great time on thin little wooden boards! Well, I had to check out the website, didn't I? http://www.bellyboarding.co.uk . And blow me, what a wheeze it is! Basically you charge into the water, wait for a wave and launch yourself onto the board in front of said wave. You should get a nice ride into the shore. I do this when I use my foam bodyboard of course, but apparently these little plywood boards can catch smaller waves than a bodyboard can (no more disappointing ankle-slapper wave days) and your ride is faster, more in the wave than on it. (The competition rules don't allow wetsuits though!)

How could I resist? After all, he said he'd buy me a board.......

Fresh from the wonderful Original Surfboard Company, owned by Sally Parkin (we had a lovely chat over the phone, what a nice lady!) my shiny new plywood bellyboard arrived next day (today) and stands resplendent by the door. I'm off to check the surf webcams!

Gwithian Beach

2010-05-09T15:36:00.000Z

This is our local beach, Gwithian. It's a great place to surf or walk and is just a few miles from where we live. There's a car park at the beach, but as the charges have just gone up again, we like to park further away and walk over the sand dunes.

There's Gwithian lighthouse in the distance. Just beyond the headland is a seal colony.

Today the beach is almost deserted, even though it's near the bank holiday. That's St Ives in the distance.

Down the steep steps by the lifeguards hut to the dog-friendly part of the beach. Despite dog dirt bins, too many people still don't pick up their pooch's poo and even worse, do pick it up, but then leave the filled bag stuffed under a grass tussock in the dunes! Why don't they take the bag to the poo bins?

Down onto the sand. Safe to let Charlie off his lead. He really doesn't like other dogs; a legacy of his past life before he was abandoned, I should think. He's just a grumpy old man, now.

Hubby's job is to throw the ball as far as poss.

The steps we came down. We won't be going back up them!

It's yours truly and Charlie.

Not a soul about, to the left...........

...or the right.....apart from Him Indoors, of course!

A bit further along the beach are the other steps. Much less steep!

A Cool walk on Praa Sands

2010-01-26T17:39:00.000Z

Saturday late afternoon and surf was up, so Mart loaded up Boris the faithful Vee Dub with board and dog and we sped off the few miles to Praa Sands. Praa is just along the coast from Penzance, a steeply sloping beach, pretty area.

Mart suited up, grabbed his board and was in like a shot. Not me. I was full of cold and not inclined to bare a single centimetre of flesh to the cooly-blowing wind! That and I don't have a winter wetsuit! Instead I took Charlie and the camera for a little pootle along the beach.

Our digital camera is starting to have little problems and at present you can only see a blurry image through the viewfinder, although the picture itself comes out sharp. So much if the photography was guesswork composition-wise. I think it turned out ok tho'.

There was a stiff offshore breeze

Plenty of other walkers. Who lives in the house on the cliff?

I bet it gets a bit rough during stormy weather!

The water looked...refreshing!

Speaking of refreshments there was a cafe...closed for the winter.

A surfer comes in...not mine, sadly. He was still out there enjoying the waves.

The surfers look like seals as they bob about.

Wipeout!

As the sun sank, textures revealed themselves

Time to wend our way home.

A bit of the cold stuff

2010-01-08T14:38:00.010Z

It's Cornwall...and it's been snowing. Not much, by what other parts of the country have had but this is somewhere that doesn't generally 'do' snow. The ground is rock solid and glass-slippy, the steep road up the hill from the town has only just re-opened to traffic and the good citizens of Troon are wandering round, looking bemused. 'What's all this yur white stuff, then?' and 'We ain't used to this!' I hear them chuckle. 'Roll on, summer,' we all say. And there's apparently more of that thur white stuff on the way. Time to get out for a walk while I can, then.

Out of the house and down the road....

Past Pendarves St with it's little stream.

Walking to the other end of the village, to the old South Condurrow tin mine workings. This is Marshall's shaft Pumping Engine house, used for pumping water out of the mine.

And this is the Winding Engine House.

Across the road another walker exercises his hound. I can see at least 6 old chimneys in the landscape beyond. This area is riddled with old mine shafts. When you buy a property here these days you have to get a mining survey, just to make sure there aren't any known shafts that run beneath.

Peering inside there's not a lot to see now.

Says it all, really.

As magnificent as any cathedral.

But a good job the shafts are filled in!

I love these old places. In their heyday the village wouldn't have been a pretty place. There would have been noise and spoilheaps and muck aplenty.

Inside one of the engine houses, a tumble of twigs look like writhing snakes.

Fantastic views are to be had.

Looking over towards St Ives

Look...there it is! And you can see the huge sand dunes of Hayle too.

Man and his dogs go walkies

And so do I...back into the village and homewards.

Christmas in Kernow (Cornwall)

2009-12-29T12:32:00.006Z

It's taken years, but at last, just in time for Christmas, we moved into our little terraced cottage in a quiet area of Cornwall. We have moors on our doorstep and a brief drive to beaches; town within walking distance; it's perfect. The history of this place encompasses prehistory, the place is dotted with ancient stone remains and the industrial revolution, in the shape of the many old mine workings and engine houses that dot the landscape.

Yesterday we decided to walk up to the carn at Bolenowe, where I was sure there would be panoramic views. I wasn't wrong.

Starting off from our gate...

A few turns and down the lane towards the moor

Charlie finds something of interest where the brook tumbles underground. Our house rear is one of those behind the field.

Jacobs sheep in the field up the lane.

Climbing the track upwards onto the moor. There are many stables and liveries in this area.

The view from the top. In the distance is St Ives Bay.

Old mine buildings dot the landscape

Just imagine what it would be like on a clear day!
This mysterious deep cut had the look of old mine workings but we didn't venture down there. Onwards!

There are at least two mine buildings in this telephoto shot.

Sweet ponies wearing their winter coats

Modern signage hasn't reached this sleepy corner, thank goodness!

You don't need many of these stones to build a dry stone wall!

Great views of the monument on Carn Brea.

Looking back from whence we came

Dropping back into the village

And back home!

My favourite garden...ever!

2008-11-08T10:39:00.002Z

Sculptor Barbara Hepworth's garden in St Ives, Cornwall. I want one!

Lookin' good!

2008-07-19T16:18:00.006Z

There have been several weeks of heavy DIY since the builder left, mostly performed by hubby. The cottage has been painted , prinked and preened. Every room had to be completely redecorated because of the renovation project and now only oddments remain to be done, mostly outside. Even the front door has had a new coat of shiny black paint and I was out there this morning applying Brasso to the brass letterbox and lock.

Here's our sitting room before work started:

And after:

Pictures, long stored, have started to go on the walls again. It's looking more homely at last. Here's a portrait of me done in the 70's by my friend and flatmate Lynda, as part of a project when we were at art school. It's 20"x16" and it's now on show in my stairwell at home. I love it!

It's not all been plain sailing, not by a long chalk. For instance, the little original pine plank door under the stairs suddenly broke a hinge, just a few days ago. Unfortunately we discovered that a previous owner had embedded the hinge screw plate into the door jamb wood somehow, making it impossible to unscrew......and after a lot of head scratching (and cursing), hubby had to part saw and part wrench the broken remains out of the doorjamb so that the new hinge could be attached. It meant repairing and repainting that patch...good job we've kept the pots just in case!

Hey ho.......at least things are getting back to normal now and one last push tidying up the drive and garden will see us ready to go on the market. At possibly the worst time for 20 years! Sigh..................

Busy Times

2008-05-13T19:12:00.006Z

It seems a long time since my last post, but much has kept us at Scribbly Cottage busy. The house renovations have accelerated with Neil the builder working hard to tidy the upstairs, skimming walls and putting in new floors and a built-in wardrobe. One room was done while we were away for a week in Cornwall, so we missed the dust and noise. It took me a chaotic two days just before the holiday to scrape off the vile woodchip wallpaper in that room though. Then on our return we discovered a lot more wallpaper in the stairwell/landing/hall areas, hiding under layers of paint and it all had to come off! That was when we caved in and bought a wallpaper stripper! That's ongoing, while Neil works his magic on our bedroom. We're having a big fitted wardrobe!
Our elderly 1940's bedroom furniture, which was good and solid I would have liked to retain and use elsewhere, but apart from a chest of drawers which I've pinched for my studio, the rest has been put on Freecycle as we have no more space, and found new homes. Chaos reigns generally upstairs with the furniture and clothes all over the place, then a room is finished and it's musical chairs...clearing stuff out of the next room and distributing everything between the other rooms. Hubby and I are sleeping in the sitting room and I'm working on the dining room table. There's not a clear surface in the house! Still, it'll be worth the aggro in the end I hope.

Our week in Cornwall was variable weather-wise but the water was freezing! I went into the sea in my wetsuit but without my wetsuit boots and within the hour I'd lost touch with my feet!

The boys were well wrapped up, though!
More photos soon!

Trees with texture

2008-03-13T12:17:00.002Z

The last few days have been extremely windy and Charlie and I have had to pick our walkies times very carefully. Being a rather small terrier he's been in danger of flying off, although being close to the ground obviously helped him stay paws on ground. It hasn't prevented us from experiencing eye-wateringly cold horizontal blasts, unfortunately, but one day I managed to take the camera with me as I'd found a different route and some interesting trees.

The one above looks very like a dryad's bottom, doesn't it?

The other is a dear little house for Mrs Tiggywinkle to curl up in with a good book. It only needs a shiny red front door and a little window.

Dining room decorated (more or less)

2008-03-11T11:08:00.004Z

Because a couple of expected jobs were delayed by a few days, I've felt obliged to get on and paint the dining room walls at last. It's the biggest room in the cottage and the bare plaster sucked the paint off my brush almost before I touched the walls! It needed at least two coats and took me several full days of slog. I ached abominably after each session; am I feeling my age at last? I really must get back to doing yoga!

Then hubby offered to put up the curtain rail and we ran into problems. Drilling into the centre part above the French door he hit a very hard bit, which our elderly drill wouldn't penetrate. The screw hole wasn't deep enough to hold the bracket and despite re-siting slightly it remained the same. Eventually, after a couple of frustrating hours during which we cursed DIY and homestyle shows generally and hubby decided to put a shorter screw in the offending top part of the bracket (after a bit of a Polyfilla job on the now-too big hole) and this jolly wheeze did the trick. So curtain bracket and pole are now securely ensconced above said French door. Hooray!

Finally it's pretty much done. I just want to at some point give the doors another coat of gloss and paint the new pipe under the radiator, but then that's it. Phew!

Next job...the kitchen! (But that's much smaller.)

I now have a small birthday portrait/cartoon to do so that'll keep me away from the paintpots for a day or two. But I'll have to pick up the brushes and do more soon...sigh...

Wobbly Scribbly Cottage!

2008-02-27T11:32:00.003Z

What a night here at Scribbly Cottage! There we were at about 1am, asleep, when we became aware of a deep rumbling and heavy vibration in the house. We thought as we woke that it was just a heavy lorry rumbling past the house, as they often do...but the noise got much louder and the shaking much worse. It lasted about 10 seconds, then stopped. Deadly silence. I snapped the bedside light on, must have looked worried because hubby kept asking if I was ok. We guessed it must have been an earthquake. Hubby has experienced a smaller one, years ago in Spain.

Son woke up too, he's a teenager, so it must have been loud! We all took a long time to get back to sleep, so the aftershock was less noticed as we were fitfully dozing again. All I really noticed was a little vibration in the bed and a door downstairs rattled. I didn't realise it was an aftershock until morning, when we listened to the news.

When I spoke to my Mum in the next village, she said she had been awake and sitting on the bed edge with the light on. She said she saw the room RIPPLE! Weird!

I love stuff like this. It's a bit scary when it happens, but I like to know that nature's still in charge.

Spring is just around the corner!

2008-02-25T15:31:00.002Z

February already...almost March, in fact! I've not had my blogging head on for a while, a mixture of being too busy/ too lazy. Never mind.

I put seed and nuts in feeders out for the birds, but had to stop putting food on the bird table, because a rat kept climbing up and dining there in style. So one morning last week I glanced out of the window and there was a pheasant on top of the bird table! And it was happily nibbling at the feeder it could now reach! I had to take a photo, it had to be through the glass though, as opening the door would have frightened it off.

My other photo is of my first batch of propogating seeds, on my studio window. I have lettuce coming through, along with some onions and a few flowers that will be planted amongst the veggies. I've been inspired by Geoff Hamilton's Ornamental Vegetable Garden dvd, which I bought recently. The veg patch at the end of the garden was dug before Christmas, but needed weeding again before planting, so that's what I'm gradually doing. Already I have a patch of garlic in and another cleared area ready for some early salad crops. Oh, and lots of old plastic drinks bottles sawn off and ready for duty as individual mini-greenhouses! I'll take photos as I go along.

'Tis done!

2007-12-11T16:22:00.001Z

It's the usual imaginary Cornish scene, a figment of my tortured imagination. In this my fantasy, we are living in the larger house with the surfboard propped up and the fairy-lit palm tree. I have a lovely big studio down on the quay and there's a pub nearby. Fans of the Cornish Pirates rugby team will be pleased to note a couple of scarves in team colours.

Down by the tree are hubby, son, me and the dog. The old couple walking up towards the church are Martin's parents...this will be our first Christmas without them.

Have a peaceful Christmas, all.

The glowing!

2007-12-11T09:07:00.000Z

Here's the illustration painted, but not finished.

So here's a detail of the church area:

And here I've started to put the glow on:

Nice? More when I've done.

The finishing line's in sight!

2007-12-09T18:35:00.000Z

Here's the latest state of my Christmas card. I've worked my way down the hill, though there are still bits to do uphill...the tree in the graveyard and the surfboard for instance...and the glowy bits. of course, which will come at the very end.

I was hoping to get it finished today, but circumstances dictated otherwise and so I hope it'll be done tomorrow. Then I have to start praying the card and envelopes I ordered, arrive in time for me to print and post them!

Christmas is coming...and I'm not ready!

2007-12-03T17:33:00.000Z

The card is coming along bit by bit...but it's now December. Argh! I've ordered the card and envelopes so I should be able to print them as soon as the design's finished. Anyway...here's the latest state:

As you can see, There's some more snow on the roofs and the old couple are done. More tomorrow!
When it's finished I'll blow up one or two details in the illustration for you to look at.

Progress...

2007-11-27T18:20:00.000Z

I've done a bit more, as you see. Because of time I'm constrained to working in 'fits and starts' so progress is little and often.

Ready for colour.

2007-11-20T18:20:00.000Z

Firstly, I must congratulate our 17-year-old lad who yesterday passed his driving test at his first attempt! Well done! Now you can drive me around for a change! :-)

Back to the Christmas card:

I've done a loose black keyline for all the main elements now. It's ready to start 'painting'.

First I drop a dark colour into the background. This helps give a little body to the colours.

Next I start smudging a bit of colour into the sky....

More later!

Personalising the rough a bit...

2007-11-16T18:08:00.000Z

A bit more work done...it probably looks a bit confuddling, but I know what's what. It'll look fine when I put 'paint' on it, trust me.
I've widened the quay so I can have some people admiring the tree, and I've given myself a smart studio. The pub has a name and the boat will be named the 'SS First' after the galleon (coach) that the Press Gang (away supporters) of the Cornish Pirates Rugby team travel in for away pillaging (rugby fixtures). You might notice a rugby post peeping out beyond the church. Our family's fantasy house in this picture is the largish one set back a bit. The one with the surfboard propped up.
I won't be able to do any more to this tonight, but watch out over the weekend!

Christmas card 2007

2007-11-15T16:27:00.000Z

The 'festive season' is hoving into view with relentless mercilessness and while we're so skint we haven't even started to think about buying presents, I've started to have thoughts concerning the design of our family greetings card. It's something that has evolved slowly over the years and always seems well-received by it's recipients, some of whom are kind enough to frame the card and bear with it all year.
My Christmas cards generally have an underlying theme, probably stemming from fond childhood memories of fifties Christmas Eves. It's always snowy, twilight (so that I can make the most of fairy lights and lit windows and the scene usually looks somewhat Cornish. (I don't need to go into that now, most of you know about the ambition to move there)

With that in mind, I decided to show you how I go about creating such a card, in easy steps.

Above, you see a little scribble, the germ of an idea, done in my teeny sketchbook when I had some time to myself in the rugby club bar. (I've just designed and delivered their Christmas card, too)

At the moment, it's pretty generic, no personal details...it hasn't yet been 'Woollattised'. I've just imported it into my Mac and in my paint programme (Corel Painter) I shall personalise it this evening. You'll have to wait till tomorrow to see, probably.

The big Yacht

2007-10-23T12:29:00.000Z

This is an Edwardian Pond Yacht that 'lived' behind Dad-in-law's armchair. It's 71.5 inches tall (almost 6 foot!), without the stand and was made by my hubby's great grandad, Edmund Louis Saunders (born 1853), who was a carpenter. The family lived in Sunninghill, Berkshire.

It's beautifully made, a real work of art and really sails; dad-i-l saw it in the water and said it handled very well. The sails aren't original, and it's been re-rigged by dad-i-l when mum-i-l fell over onto it once! The hull is hollow and inside is kept the stick with a hook used to retrieve the yacht when sailing was done for the day.

Now sadly mum and dad i-l are no longer here and the yacht has come to live with us as nobody else in the family has room for it. We know nothing of sailing, even less about conserving such an item, but we'll do our best. If anybody happens on this blog who knows about these things, or even a family member who knows more about it, do let us know.

Goodbye Mum

2007-10-11T07:48:00.001Z

Wednesday 3rd October started off as a pretty ordinary day; work in the morning then a bite of lunch and then off to Grantham to visit mother-in-law, Jessie. She had been moved from the Care Home to hospital some three weeks ago, due to concerns about her refusal to eat and drink. Nothing much had changed, except for her deterioration, despite all efforts to coax her to at least keep a drip in her arm. We had been advised by the medical staff to be prepared for the worst.

So Wednesday dawned. All was normal till noon. There was a terrific crash from outside and when we ran out we saw that a lorry had lost control, collected a painter's van parked opposite (next to a bus stop), folded it up and pushed it 200 yards down the road and uprooted a telegraph pole, damaging roof tiles and gutters of two adjacent houses! It was incredible nobody was hurt.

We hadn't realised straightaway, but the telegraph pole served at least 6 homes, ours included...we had no telecommunications at all. No phone, no internet. I'm writing this 7 days later and Telecom have only just got it fixed.

In the meantime, we had no idea that the hospital was trying to get in touch; Mum's condition had significantly worsened. (For some reason they didn't have our mobile numbers) so it was with profound relief that we were received, when we turned up at visiting time, 2pm. One look at her told us we were here for the duration, however long that turned out to be.

Mart phoned his brother, who had also been uncontactable, due to his being asleep at the time as he works a night shift. He and sis-in-law came straight over, and we all sat there sadly, holding Mum's hand and watching her life slip away. The staff brought in hot drinks on a tray and later a trayful of sandwiches, which were gratefully received. Mum was unable to speak, her eyes glazed and fixed (this due to her condition, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), and only moved feebly.

We decided to try and get Mum's local vicar over to say a few words for her; Mum being a lifelong church-goer, we knew it would be what she wanted. In due course the vicar arrived. It was about 6.15 by now and the day was fading. She administered to Mum a last blessing, a very moving experience, and upsetting to us all, but it proved to be a great comfort to Mum. We knew we'd got something right.

From that point on, her breath, which had been harsh, became shallower and lighter. Within a half-hour it stopped so gently that we weren't sure that it had. But Mart, holding her hand at the time, knew. In a few minutes we asked the staff to check her and it was confirmed finally. It was 6.50.

Mum slipped away with the last of the daylight. Sorely missed, at a time when we were still grieving for Dad in law, who passed 4 months earlier. I can only hope they're together again, inseparable as they were in life.

At last.....

2007-09-04T16:49:00.000Z

Yup, the bathroom is finished, bar painting. (Which I intend to paint in a neutral shade called 'toasted almond' according to the Crown Paints colour guide (a sort of sandy beige in reality), with white woodwork.
Plus I have to get storage, mirror, blinds etc but at least the place is functional.
Trouble is...it's much too posh for us! LOL!

Today's progress

2007-08-31T17:28:00.000Z

And thank goodness the loo is flushable again! The chaps made good use of it as soon as Neil had gone home, but I'm afraid I'm gridlocked. Time for a good curry, methinks!

On a pleasanter note, the new flooring is down. It's a laminate textured like slate, and non-slip too, very useful in a bathroom.

The shower cabinet is being put in tomorrow and the bath put in place too. We have to go out, but Neil and his helper will just soldier on.

Bathroom in progress!

2007-08-31T08:31:00.000Z

Neil the plumber (and builder and electrician) started Tuesday on the bathroom refurbishment. I think we're about through the messiest part, bath ripped out, tiles off and loo and basin disconnected (we're keeping them, they're in good order) and the walls and ceiling have been replastered. Today the flooring goes down. It's a bathroom laminate tile in a textured dark slate.....really tactile!
I'm looking forward to a working loo again; we can use it but it's a bucket job to flush it. No hot water either so we boil a kettle for our needs. I hope Neil puts the new shower in next...it's ok for the chaps as they shower at the rugby club!

More holiday bits and a Birthday Boy

2007-08-15T13:07:00.000Z

Firstly, I'm late by two days, but I must say Happy 17th birthday to Ben. And on his very birthday, he booked his first driving lesson! Here he is, waiting for the instructor to take him off to the old airfield to get used to the car before he tackles the surrounding villages! We tried to get a photo of him as he returned and parked up, (only scuffing the kerb slightly!) but it came out too blurry. I think hubby was laughing too much!
Ben loves driving and I don't think he'll have any trouble passing his test. He's raced karts successfully and driven both the Fiesta and Boris at the old airfield. The next lesson will be taken in the streets of the local town; I'm sure he'll take it on with aplomb.

Next, here's a pic of the two Cornish Blue mugs we fell in love with in Cornwall and bought. I love the simplicity of this pattern and as mugs they hold just enough, and are nice and chunky to hold.

And lastly, here's a quick shot of hubby's new Longboard. For those in the know, it's a Surftech 9' 1" noserider made to a template by Bo Young. Lovely thing.

Back from Kernow!

2007-08-14T16:04:00.001Z

As always, Cornwall was a great hit...and we were so lucky with the weather. Two solid weeks of summer sun; we all got brown! Boris the camper ran impeccably too, if slower than everyone else on the motorways.
I got plenty of water time in, on my bodyboard. Charlie the Jack Russell had lots of fun in the rockpools and got very wet and sandy. Good job we're not precious about the camper interior!
The boys got plenty of surf time, Ben seemed to out-surf his dad throughout the holiday. There was a major disaster half-way through the hols when Mart was caught in a heavy rogue wave, which spat him out and snapped his longboard in two!

It's repairable apparently, but it couldn't be done till Autumn so Zuma Jay's surf shop lent him some test boards for the rest of the week, till Saturday, when he bought a new one from them. (Argh, the expense!)

Duck!

I managed to do some sketching, though due to holiday ennui, not as much as I'd hoped. See here for those, and the latest on my wood engraving.
More soon!

Some like it hot....

2007-07-22T10:09:00.000Z

especially in July, but we're certainly not getting it here at Scribbly Cottage. The weather has been utterly vile. The flooding caused by the torrential rains hasn't affected us , as we live in an area well-served by drain ditches and dykes and also we live on a small hill. However, the rain has lashed so long and hard it's decidedly dank and chilly of an evening and the last two nights have seen us firing up the stove in the sitting room! In mid-July this is unheard of for us! So take a long look at the photo...it's a rare beast!

And here's another rare beast ......along with his dog. The dog sleeps downstairs, but every morning, as soon as someone goes down to make a coffee, he slips upstairs and snuggles down with whoever is still in bed. He's not everso particular about where he puts his paws and a rude awakening can ensue.

Pirate cup sold!

2007-07-04T14:32:00.000Z

It went at the last minute for £89.96! Not bad at all. I must make sure it's well packaged for posting. I'd hate for something to happen to it. My proofing press is a little bit closer now.

Ebay-ing

2007-06-29T08:38:00.000Z

I've started to ease myself back into printmaking, specifically wood engraving, more details on my other blog http://studio-window.blogspot.com/
and the mission now is to buy a printing press, as printing with a spoon is slow and very hard work. Also harder to get consistent results. As money is very tight I decided to part with one or two old possessions in a bid to boost the fund and ensure I actually get something usable.
To this end, I've offered up to ebay a Carltonware walking peg-leg pirate cup, complete with parrot, see the pic below. I've had this since 1975, bought it new and it's sat on display ever since. I'm very fond of it and hate to lose it, but we must be practical. I now discover these items are popular and sought-after by collectors, especially if they still have the paper stickers under their feet...as mine does. So I put it on ebay with a starting price of a fiver, and waited to see if any interest was shown. Before I knew it, I have one bid and 20...yes, 20 'watchers'! Watchers are people who have bookmarked your item and are keeping an eye on bidding , usually with a view to jumping in at the last minute with a winning bid. The thing is....they don't know how many are watching the cup, the only person who is given that information is the seller...i.e. me. Well, in 5 days we shall see if all these watchers create a feeding frenzy or if they were just interested onlookers. I know at least I shall get a fiver for it!

The other item I'm thinking of selling is one of my beloved Graham Clarke etchings. I have two, one called Turnip Court, and the other one of a set , of which I just have this one, called 'Summer'. Both are old prints, circa late 70's early 80's. The one I can't bear to part with is the Turnip Court so 'Summer' will probably be the one. Looking at general prices I should get a reasonable sum for it, all grist to the printing press mill. But I think I'll just wait a tad longer.

Sad news

2007-06-19T07:33:00.000Z

Ron Woollatt 1921-2007

I have to report sadly that my father-in-law Ron Woollatt passed away on Wednesday 13th June, in hospital. He was 86 and he'd been ok , if frail till about 3 weeks ago, when he was rushed to hospital with breathing problems. Vulnerable to infection, he was isolated and his breathing improved somewhat. However he suffered periods of confusion and refused to eat or drink, pulling out his drips and not keen to move from his bed. For the final days he was moved to a ward in the hopes that company would pick him up. But on the Wednesday night, the nurse turned her back for 5 minutes and in that time he slipped away from us.
He will be sadly missed by all.

Life goes on and the garden blooms

2007-06-13T07:53:00.000Z

It's been a beautiful weekend and the garden is awash with the perfume of old fashioned roses. They're my favourite flowers, even the names set me off sighing........Buff beauty, Rosa mundi, Shropshire lass..........I have several in my garden and I'd love more but I'll wait now until we've moved ans see how many I can cram into my new space. They're all coming out now. My favourite, Rosa Mundi, with carmine and pink stripes petals and a scent to die for, has just opened it's first bloom. I'll take photos of it when it's at it's best. Here it is as it was last year.
In the meantime here are some others.

Then we had peacocks/hens in the garden! They appeared on the roof of the bungalow over the road, then flew down to Walter's front garden. They seem to lack the long tails, maybe they're youngsters? Any peacock fanciers out there?

After picking about in his flowerbed they strolled over the road, onto our wall and into our driveway. We watched them from over the back gate; poor Charlie was beside himself, trying to ooze himself under the two inch gap under the gate!

They apparently belong to some people who have just moved in up the road. Makes a change from sparrows anyway! I'd like to see them tackle the bird table!

The new bath came!

2007-05-27T13:02:00.000Z

Yes, our new bath has arrived, finally! It's sitting in the dining room presently, full of packaging, taps (faucets) and other plumbing essentials. It's a sweet little slipper bath, shorter than normal so we can fit it in. I'm so excited, which is unlike me...I don't get excited about renovation. But for the first time we'll have a posh bath and a separate shower cubicle (one of those curved quarter-circle shaped ones). We've been able to get most of the stuff in sales. Now we await builder Neil's estimate for the job.

In the meantime we have an ongoing situation with two of the elderly family members, to deal with. One fell (a result of her condition, a rare brain disease called Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, similar to Alzheimer's) and was taken to hospital for observation. She returned home a week later and a few days after that Father-in-law was taken ill and whisked into hospital too, where he is, still. Because Mum I-L can't live alone any more and we can't take her in a temporary care home had to be organised, which is where she is now...and seemingly enjoying the attention!
Father-I-L was put into an isolation room as he developed an infection that made him disorientated and confused, pulling out his drips and refusing food. He thought he was in a prisoner of war camp and at one point barricaded the door and tried to climb out of the window! Thankfully they managed to sedate him and treat the infection while he was quiet. We await the results of blood tests.
Busy times!

Moving on to the bathroom.....

2007-04-26T10:45:00.000Z

The latest stage of the House Renovations (which will enable us to sell up and move to Cornwall in a year or so) is upon us. The bathroom is getting manky and is ripe for a makeover. I've got to make the decision of whether to put in a standalone shower as well as the bath, or to have one of those P-shaped shower baths? We have just enough space for a bath and a shower, as long as the bath is small- a slipper bath would suit. And the shower would have to be a corner-entry one so we don't come out of the shower and fall into the toilet. Bearing in mind they keep grinding on about good bathrooms sell houses, should I go for the full 'country living' look or a more modern shower bath approach? The difference in prices is only about £150.

In the photos, the tape marks on the carpet represent the worst-case sizes for the bath, etc I'm looking at.

A Day at Twikkers

2007-04-16T14:07:00.000Z

We went to Twickenham stadium, home of English rugby union on Sunday, to watch the Cornish Pirates play Exeter Chiefs in the EDF Energy cup final. It was really a support event to a game featuring Leicester Tigers v Ospreys, but to us the Pirates game was the one to watch!
It was an incredibly warm day and we were in seats right at the top of the east side...fortunately in the shade. The Cornish Pirates have a huge number of loyal supporters not just in Cornwall but all over the country, and most of them seemed to have made the trip down to Twikkers to see their team play in the most important game they'd ever played. We have supported the Pirates for years, we're not Cornish and don't live there (yet) but have been so impressed by the sheer heart and enthusiasm of the club. The supporters club, named the 'Press gang' fill coaches for every away game and travel hundreds of miles from their base in Camborne/ Penzance , to overwhelm other clubs with cornish flags, singing and cheering. Hubby Mart (aka Woll) is one of the volunteer reporters/photographers for the fan website, for the away games that are played 'oop north', Doncaster. Leeds, Nottingham etc so he generally gets pitchside passes, along with son (Woll Jnr) who takes notes and types the report on his laptop in the car on the way home. No pitchside pass at Twikkers, of course, but he still managed to take some good photos from various spots.
Anyway...to cut a long story short and there are match reports elsewhere on the web, the Pirates WON! The Chiefs are a tough team and no pushover and to beat them 16-19 was a huge achievement. It must have gutted the Exeter contingent, and I feel for them, but the Pirates really deserved this one.
The Pirates management had hired one of the bar areas in the stadium solely for the use of people holding Pirate tickets, and there after the game, congregated fans, management (including multi-millionaire boss Dicky) and most importantly the players. They aren't precious about the trophy...as soon as it came into the bar it was thrust at an unsuspecting supporter with the instruction to 'pass it around'! So here's family Woollatt with said trophy! Yay!!!!

Drawing a (washing) line

2007-04-04T16:50:00.000Z

Is it me? Am I alone in finding a line of washing worth a photo? Hubby thought I was potty! (Well pottier than normal.) I have always admired the lush colour and luminous quality of backlit washing. Once I went with an art group to a pretty Cotswold village, to paint. At the end of the session, everybody had painted the honey-stone cottages except for me...I'd painted a line of washing. I'll have to dig out the watercolour sometime. Hubby's not keen on it though...it's not art. Is it?

My new Docs

2007-03-20T18:24:00.000Z

I just had to show you my new Doc Martens! Aren't they lovely? I treated myself to them when the sole started to come away from my old (well 1 year-old!) trainers. These were on Ebay brand new at under 40 quid, so I grabbed them. Soooo comfortable for walking the dog and standing watching rugby matches on draughty pitches. They've had lots of admiring comments too. Mmmmm...smug mode! :-)

Now see what you've done...

2007-03-14T17:03:00.000Z

It was Gretel's blog ( http://allaroundus.blogspot.com/ ) that started me off.....the printmaking bug has bitten again!
It's been at least 20 years since I last got out my wood engraving tools. I once even owned a table-top Albion Press...but I sold it, like a fool. Anyway, reading Gretel's blog and seeing her lovely old woodblocks and printers 'sorts' made me wonder what sort of condition my stored engraving kit was in, up in it's cardboard box in the attic. So I yanked down the ladder and crawled up to have a look.
Well the ink roller had literally melted! Left a sticky deposit on everything. I should be able to replace the melty bit though, so I've kept the holder. Everything else was perfect though. I'd forgotten how nice the burins looked in their custom cigar box holder (made by an ex-boyfriend). I found some old proofs too, not very good, I was still struggling with my style in those days and was a bit tentative; and it shows.
Soooooo...time to have another go, although this time I shall be printing using an old spoon as a burnisher. Maybe if I keep at it I'll get hold of an old pinch press or adana. (I still also have all my galley furniture and quoins; see how the terminology surfaces again! hee hee!)
I'll post anything worthwhile!

Six weird things about me

2007-02-06T18:54:00.000Z

I've been 'tagged' by Penny at http://naturalattrill.blogspot.com/
to list 6 weird things about me, then to tag 6 others, so here goes:

Here are the instructions copied from Penny's blog - The Rules: Each player of this game starts with "6 weird things about you". Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

Six Weird things about me...............Hmmmm......... well most people would say I'm weird generally, but here's a distillation of my little ways:

1. I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi. Always have been. As a tiddler I got a Dan Dare intercom set for Christmas. I devoured my brother's TV21 comic...much better than my Lady Penelope one. I read lots of trashy sci-fi novels...and my elderly mother is as bad, so that must be where that comes from. However, I would draw the line at dressing up as a sci-fi character and attending a convention.

2. As a teen I would throw up the chance to go to a disco for standing in a dark garden peering through a telescope at the sky. I loved astronomy and would have been an astronomer except my maths isn't up to it.

3. I can't bear to drink milk. The mere thought makes me shudder. Back in the mists of time when they gave out little bottles of milk at infants school at playtime, I'd do anything to get rid of it without the teacher spotting me. Nowadays I only dampen my cereal with the stuff and milkshakes are out unless laced with tons of icecream and flavour.

4. Of my two brothers, one's a buddhist monk and the other's an ageing punk!

5. I loathe driving. I've had a license since the 70's but have never ever felt at ease behind the wheel. I can drive locally, if there's easy parking.

6. I wish humans were covered in soft fur, like cats. Wouldn't it be lovely to stroke your partner! I see myself as tortoiseshelll colouring. And who would see your wrinkles then? Ha to all those cosmetic companies!

So my tag-ees are (if they don't mind):
muddy red shoes
middle of nowhere
Paula Becker
Fred's Blog
Alison Wonderland
Deborah Burr

We have heat!!

2007-01-28T17:18:00.000Z

At last! The pain of shuffling from room to room carrying convector heaters with us, is over. The new multi-burner is in it's newly opened-up fireplace and although we're having to bleed the huge amount of air in the radiators, we're warm and cosy again! Today Mart and I went to fetch some more logs from Dave, down the road.

Wow, it's been about a month since I last wrote in my blog. Christmas came and went quietly, we had a big family get-together in January as one brother arrived from China and the other drove up from the wilds of Zummerzet and both our lovely nieces and a boyfriend and an unborn Wakefield , our Mum and my lot all smiled for the camera. I had to Photoshop myself in afterwards though so that we were all in. Great stuff!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-18T17:01:00.000Z

I hope you like my card. If you're interested you can see the progression from bare bones drawing to finished painting on my other blog 'Through the studio window'.
I hope you all have a peaceful and wonderful holiday.

Pick of Champions

2006-11-24T15:07:00.000Z

Here's a great shot taken at a rugby game by hubby. Hell, that ball went high!
I have to say though, one of the best sporting photos I ever saw was taken by an old boyfriend; it featured racing driver Jackie Stewart picking his nose. The title was 'Pick of Champions' !

Freecycle worked it's magic today, when a lady came to pick up our old sofabed. It was only with the greatest reluctance that we let it go as it was squidgy and cosy and jolly useful. It's done service in the spare room (now my studio), Ben's room (where he covered it with the detritus of teenage bedrooms) and in the sitting room for a while, where the dog took a shine to it. Now we find it's become a piece of furniture too far and as we already have a pump-up double bed in case of visitors I advertised it on Freecycle. And so it's gone and I'm sure will get a new lease of life elsewhere. The dog will default to his bed again.

Before...and after!

2006-11-22T14:19:00.000Z

The house renovations have stopped now till after Christmas, except, hopefully, for the installation of the new stove as it's getting a bit chilly now. Here are a few 'before/after shots so you can see what Neil the builder has done.

Here's the dining room, before and after plastering and reflooring. The 'new' stove is still waiting to go into the sitting room but until that glorious day we've chucked an old sheet over it to keep dust off. It's chilly and the convector heaters follow us around the house at the moment.

This is the other end of the dining room, showing the new ha ll door.

And the hall, with my new bookcase!! Not finished yet, still some mouldings to fit and a coat of paint which will be done when the hall is plastered, but the books are off the floor and out of boxes again, at last!

Lots and lots of painting and tiling to do now, worse luck. Still, it'll look nice when it's done, as they say. Maybe it'll sell quickly when the time comes, too.

Christmas card contemplations

2006-11-21T17:01:00.000Z

It's getting near that time of year again and I'm starting to wonder what to draw on our family Christmas card this year. Last year's offering went down a storm and it's going to be a job to follow I think. Maybe an interior scene for a change, featuring the dog; a new addition to the family? Or an exterior snow scene of our cottage ? I bet it won't really snow here, but I'm so fond of painting snow scenes! Perhaps a Cornish scene, on the lines of last years, or is that cheating? Here are some of the previous years offerings starting with last years:

Warmer days to come...

2006-10-31T17:16:00.000Z

Here's a photo of our 'new' Hunter stove. It's it bits at the moment, awaiting the builder to whack a large recess in the chimney breast and the plumber to plumb it into the central heating and water tank. Then we'll have some heat in the house! Hooray! We're using a couple of convector heaters and the immersion for hot water. Cold radiators are horrid when you want to dry out your towels or air anything. Still, the stove will be worth waiting for and it was a real bargain at £400. We were about to go out and spend at least double that on a new one, so it's a wonderful find. It's only a year old and hardly been used; sadly the owner lost a leg and was unable to carry the fuel in for it and has had to install oil heating instead. He was relieved to sell the stove and he's decided to put an aquarium in the recess the stove lived in. I can't wait to get stoked up and cosy!

I upgraded the Mac's memory this weekend, to just over a gig as I have an A1 poster coming in and last time I did anything large the computer coughed a bit! I hope I have enough, I can't afford to get any more at the minute; we're stoney broke, trying not to delve into the house renovation money, but failing. Hubby's not got enough work and I've got enough but it's not well-paid and the clients take an age to pay up. Makes for some uncomfortable cash-flow situations. Don't even start talking about Christmas!

And now the reality!

2006-10-18T08:28:00.000Z

Taken this very morning...just to balance out the previous two images! :-)

Glam to Grunge

2006-10-06T16:30:00.000Z

Just uploaded a new profile picture...thought the old one was due for a change and actually looked a bit manic. And the march of time has left it's mark as they say, since I drew the first one, best reflect the fact. Menopausal Woman has been awarded a more 'blurred' jawline; this the legacy of too many hours in front of the computer scribbling for a living. Must get out on my bike more...then maybe I would have the pleasure of editing the picture a little and firming up the soft flesh. Virtual nip-and-tuck, so to speak.

Some 10 years ago hubby treated me to one of those make-over photoshoots; they do your makeup and drape you over exotic furniture dressed in swathes of satin and pearls then take a series of photos. They looked stunning when done but not a lot like me! Here are a couple...

"Start the other cement mixer, Claude...we've got a bit of work to do on this one!" LOL!

Meanwhile...back to reality............
I've spent far too long of late chasing workmen who keep promising to come and finish this job and that in the house and come and look at our fireplace...we have no heating at all at the moment and are waiting for a man to come and install a Parkray fire that will serve our radiators and hot water. He promised to pop over this week 'after tea', as he lives about 200 yards down the road. No sign of him yet. At least we have a couple of electric convector heaters and an immersion for the water so if a cold snap comes along we won't freeze.

21 again...I don't think........

2006-10-03T10:10:00.000Z

It's my birthday today! Parents and hubby have between them given me the cash to buy a really nice jacket..something classic that I can wear for ages because I like that sort of thing. :-) Son gave me a big box of chocs, so I shall be stuffing them away tonight...with help I have no doubt.

Had a lovely suprise Sunday after the rugby game (we won!), sitting in the rugby club bar with some other 'rugby mums', when there was an announcement over the tannoy to say it was my birthday on the 3rd and someone had gathered all the team around me to sing Happy Birthday while a huge bunch of flowers was thrust into my hands by hubby and a cake plonked in front of me by son! Blimey, my face must have been a picture! What a lovely thing to do, though.......

And this is what's left of the scrummy cake!

Donald Caleb Wakefield-1924-1982

2006-09-20T18:00:00.000Z

On this day, 24 years ago my Dad passed away unexpectedly. He was just 57. He went to bed, his suit hanging ready for the morning and the loose change he always took out of his pockets at night, on the dresser, unknowing of what that night would bring. He never woke.

To say his family all still miss him would be to state the painfully obvious. He left a vast rift. He had a crazy sense of humour, fuelled by radio shows like 'The Goons'. He loved gardening, would have had a fit if he'd seen the weeds in mine! He met my Mum at the Talisman theatre in Kenilworth, where he was an enthusiastic scenery painter and actor. Never seen without a pipe clamped between his teeth, he took great delight in volunteering for work at the Boy's Club in Swindon, where we lived in the 60's. Later, in Grantham he founded the new Kontak Social Club in Grantham, when their old premises were taken from them. He loved rugby, playing for many years and breaking his nose and legs on separate occasions in his youth. He played Golf on Sundays, never failing to bring home a bottle of wine to drink with Sunday lunch!

He rose from being an apprentice in the drawing office to fully-fledged hydraulic engineer and Technical director. He loved his work which sometimes took him all over the world, and was proud of his achievements.

He never knew his grandchildren, he'd have been so proud, as we were of him.

Rest in Peace, Dad.

Breakthrough?

2006-08-28T17:08:00.000Z

I drove Boris the camper for the first time today! I asked Hubby if he'd give me a lesson and his jaw dropped! This is because I avoid driving as much as I can, as I seem to have developed a bit of a phobia about it. I've held my license for about 30 years but never felt at ease behind the wheel.
However, I have decided that I won't be beaten by this and as a result decided to tackle driving the biggest vehicle I've ever tried! Hubby took me to the local disused airfield and I had a go at seeing how many gears I could crunch! All went well, though reverse was tricky to select as the gearbox is a bit 'approximate'. I felt so good about it that when Hubs suggested I carry on driving off the airfield and onto the main road to visit my Mum in the next village. And I made it!

Major smug mode!

Holiday snaps

2006-08-28T16:11:00.000Z

We're baaaaack! :-) It was such a success, mucho beach-bumming, surfing and quaffing of rough red vino. All this and Boris the bus performed faultlessly! Charlie was a very good dog, if taking his responsibilities as Veedub security doordog a bit seriously at times when he leaped out of the van barking viciously at passing dog-walkers! Good job we had him on a rope. (His nick-name is now Dope-on-a-rope)

We actually persuaded Charlie to swim across some rock pools!

The only pic featuring little me, taken during the hol! Back garden of the cottage Boy and board

The boys suit up by Boris

The weather was varied but generally good if windy (which spoiled the waves later in the second week) and so much water time was had. I did tend however, to leave my bodyboarding till the crowds had departed. I like to wade out quite far and catch unbroken waves, which means I have been known to catch the odd very strong wave and get hurled uncontrollably towards the more timid bathers in the shallower water. It's like seeing transfixed rabbit eyes in your headlights...I always try to avoid mowing them down but sadly some waves are so strong, collision is unavoidable! The numbers of near-misses mounts, too. Worryingly I find myself muttering 'Getcha next time' to folks I just missed by a whisker!

Even hotter!

2006-07-27T15:30:00.000Z

Seems like a long time since I blogged......... I blame the heat in the studio; I can't concentrate!

The holiday looms large now and we've been preparing to take Big Black Boris on the 300-odd mile trip to Cornwall. I have given the shabby cooker/sink cabinet a temporary coat of blue paint which cheers it up somewhat. The tie-dye curtains will have to wait till I have time as I'm needlework-ably challenged and need to take my time with anything resembling sewing. So that's my Winter Job.

We took Boris out for a run to hubby's parents' home, some 35 miles distant....15 miles out, the engine conked! AArgh! Luckily we managed to limp back home and got the bus to the garage in the village, where the mechanic took one look under the bonnet and said 'Aha! The widget's worked loose!' And promptly fixed it...took seconds! (I say widget because I don't know what it was called, but for the sake of the technically minded of you, the Bus was sucking more air than fuel. That done we were once again on our way and this time all went as smoothly as a 2 litre 25 year old VW engine can be. Phew! Only one thing now..........another techy thing means that we don't have time to finish doing the heating/cooling bits on Boris, (risers? shrug) before the hols as it's quite a fiddly job, so we're driving round with the interior heater ON! Now remember we have 300 ish miles to travel and you'll understand why we've decided to travel overnight! Think of us arriving at our destination, red and dripping with sweat........and me at my time of life too! Oh well, makes life interesting and gives me something to write in my blog.

Hot hot hot!

2006-07-20T16:15:00.000Z

Well, after the drama of the other day, anything else is a bit of a let down. Still, one must make the effort.......though in this heatwave it's hard to think straight!
The Phormium plant in the back garden has flowered again this year, just the second time ever. Last year it was covered with huge majestic spikes of flower. This year...one. Oh well, a good excuse for les boys to strike a dramatic pose in front of it!

I took Charlie for his walk very early yesterday because of the heat. Here are a few shots of our route. The landowner blocked off a part of the walk a few weeks ago, which was a blow. Fortunately the local council came to the rescue and reopened up an ancient footpath that hasn't been used during the memory of the people who've lived in the village all their lives. This footpath joins up with the old one at a point before the blocked bit so we can walk the familiar way again and just finish the circuit by walking this new/ old path. Trouble is, it's not been trodden down yet and is criss-crossed with plough marks and some beds of very sharp thistles!

Some late flax flowers among the seed pods

Tiptoe through the thistles to a gap in the hedge by that house!

Look what I found in our garden!

2006-07-16T15:38:00.000Z

We'd drained our pond to a shallow sludge ready to move it as we need a seating area in that position. Any time now we planned to tip all our hardcore into the hole to form a base for patio area. Now we have to wait. As I walked from the back gate to the house I saw something moving in the bottom of the ex-pond, from the corner of my eye. And blow me if it wasn't a bloomin' grass snake...complete with adult frog in it's jaws! I rushed in to get the camera and here are the better shots. I did feel dreadfully sorry for the frog; it was struggling to escape but had no hope. The snake had it's head in it's mouth when I came across them and was slowly dragging it under it's rock.
There's a short bit of video too, rough quality but it shows the poor frog trying to get away. Don't look if you're squeamish or upset by nature in the raw.

http://swill.co.uk/blog/struggle.avi

Saturday Scrumptiousness

2006-07-16T15:24:00.000Z

Ahhh....the weekend at Scribbly Cottage! I cycled about 6 miles to the next village Saturday afternoon to pick up some shopping. It was a really pleasant ride as there was a cooling breeze. In the evening Mart put on his pinny, as he always does every Saturday night, and cooked dinner. It's always something special, something fishy and this week it was salmon steaks with Muscadet, watercress and dill potatoes. (Thank you Rick Stein, for your inspiring TV cookery programmes!) It was absolutely scrummy as always. He's a good cook and I had to take a picture of him (with inane grin) beavering away in the kitchen. What a guy!

Grumpy old beach bum

2006-07-13T09:02:00.000Z

Here's a little watercolour study of a couple coming back from a snatched hour at the beach. (apologies for the quality of my scanner, some sky wash has disappeared) Although this couple don't seem to have too much stuff with them, I see people trudging back and forth weighed down with clutter. They fascinate me. I have to ask myself why they need all this stuff. It's as if they have the need to set up their little suburban space on the 'wilds' of a beach lest they feel insecure without all their trappings to hand. Sit on any beach this summer and listen to the sound of the waves being drowned out by the inane trill of mobile phones and the bellowed conversations that ensue.

Windbreaks I suppose have their place but the massive multi-windbreak corrals that are making an appearance appal me. 'This is our space, keep well away!' is the message. The only trouble with windbreaks is that although they keep the wind out they also screen the occupants from good things. last year a crowded beach in Cornwall was treated to the spectacle of wild bottle-nosed dolphins jumping and showing off not far out to sea. The people behind windbreaks missed most of it.

Kites......argh...I HATE kites! I was almost brained by one that some unrepentant nincompoop lost control of. They glide and swoop above me like predatory birds awaiting their chance to get me again. I walk kite-infested beaches with the top of my skull crawling in anticipation.

There will be more beach-related sketches and waffling. I have to go and do some work now, but I'm looking forward to our holiday at the beach in a couple of weeks. We will go down to the beach with surfboards and a towel and a bottle of water and everything else left locked away in the van till we need it.

Busy week

2006-07-08T14:25:00.000Z

It's been a bit busy here at Scribbly Cottage the past few days.
First my mother phoned on Monday in a bit of a panic; she'd forgotten to take her insulin (being diabetic this is NOT GOOD) and needed somebody around to make sure she didn't slip into a coma. So, to cut a long story short we had her sleeping overnight with us. She had to have our room which put us on the futon in the sitting room. Frenzied rifling of airing cupboard to find fresh bedding and enough to go round! Come morning Mum was right as rain and declared she'd not slept so well in ages!

Then in the afternoon, Dearly Beloved and son came home from their shake-down trip to Cornwall in Boris the Camper, which seems to have gone well. A bit of a fuel leak still, though, despite a new fuel tank. Off to the garage again! Nevertheless, the camper made good time and tackled the Cornish 'ups and downs' with aplomb. Now I want to get something done about the inside before we go away. I'm poised to create some tie-dye blinds to replace the army-surplus drab green ones presently installed. And I'm going to paint the cooker/sink unit too. Thinking of a nice pattern in blues. And I have some seagrass matting to go on the floor too. Hubby bought some horrendous flourescent yellow plastic plates which are so flimsy I wouldn't trust them to hold a meal...they have to go! Watch this space and I'll post developments.

So this week I managed to finish the game board I was doing for an Irish publisher. I enjoyed doing it and was sad to see it go, but hey ho. here it is anyway, in all it's glory. And a little drawing I did for an English primary school book.

Secret life of a Surf-widow

2006-07-01T13:36:00.000Z

Well I waved adieu to my nearest and dearest at midnight last night as they clattered off rather noisily in the old veedub bus Boris, for a quick shake-down weekend before the main hols in August. They phoned at 8.30 this morning to say they'd just arrived in Bude to surf heaven and apart from a teeny fuel leak the old bus was fine. Phew! I spent a restless night waking at odd times, checking the clock and thinking 'they haven't come back with the AA yet then' and 'oh, they must be at about Bristol by now' , as one does. I was particularly proud of Son as he passed up the chance to go to his school's end-of-year prom in evening dress and mingle with all the young ladies in their long frocks...to go surfing with his dad. Ahhhhh!

Anyway, here I am, just me and the dog. Chocolate for this evening has been purchased and is in the fridge, as it would have been molten by now in this heat, wine is lined up, and a nice bulghar wheat salad, but that's for later. This morning I managed to shift a stack of paving slabs, double-glazed panels and rubble, so that I could get at the soil by the house wall and plant Mrs Cholmondeley (clematis in case you're wondering) that has shot to the top of it's cane and needed a nice trellis to grab hold of. There's another hole ready for another clematis at the other end of the house and a tub down the side. I have to admit, this is a cunning plan to hide some brickwork that the builder couldn't match (our cottage was made with hand-made bricks apparently and we couldn't afford the obscene sum it would have cost to try and get some reclaimed ones. ) So...different coloured patch where the windows and french doors were altered...chuck a clematis at it! Give it a couple of seasons and it'll be rampant vegetation, just what I like!

The garden pond has, alas, been drained. It was due to be moved, as we want a patio there now and I was going to put another smaller pond up the garden to replace it as I can't stand the vision of disappointed froggies with tear-stained little cheeks, next Spring, coming to find their spawning place paved over. Then we got the dog and he kept jumping into it, chasing flies and stuff, by which time it was becoming a bit whiffy as I hadn't dredged it out as I was moving it; so Charlie was coming out wet and stinky. Then the worst thing...I found the sodden body of a hedgehog floating there. :-(((( They usually go to drink at the low shallow end but somehow this one had fallen in and been unable to get out. I felt so bad I set to and pumped the water out ready to fill it in, a couple of evenings ago.
So now the ex pond is a stinking pit and ready to fill...but I still had a waterlily to save and also a marsh marigold, which flowers it's heart out every spring. I don't have another pond ready yet and I don't want them to die so I've done a bit of lateral thinking. I present to you.....the waterlily-in-a-bin! Well it may not be elegant, but you must admit it's different! The old dustbin was the only thing I had that was big enough and waterproof enough to house the lily. So...now the marigold. It's big, I may have to have another lateral think!
Below are a couple of pictures, one of the lovely surfers weathervane that I designed and George next door made for hubby; and my favourite rose, Rosa Mundi, which was magnificent in it's stripy petals and scent a few days ago, but typically I didn't get a picture of it then. Oh, for scented-blogs!

Time-poor!

2006-06-29T14:56:00.000Z

So much to do, so little time..... apart from the 'making-a-living' stuff that is, the list is growing. I owe a couple of people emails, I need to get some self-promotional illustrations, then there's some nice little watercolour sketches I could put on my blog...oh and must write my blog (I missed yesterday, oh well you didn't miss much). Order some curtains for Mum,hit the weedy garden again, design my new web pages, get shot of some stuff on evilbay...argh! Stop the list I'm getting dizzy!

All this and I have to make a list for Hubby and son who are soon taking Boris the elderly VW camper for it's inaugural trip, down to Cornwall. Son has just finished his GCSEs and this is the chance for him to blow off a bit of steam. To save money they're sleeping in Boris (something that we won't be doing when we go down en famille in late July/August) If I don't make a list of stuff to take they'll end up in the middle of nowhere without matches or pans. Suddenly I realise they don't have a kettle and may have to take the nice Le Creuset one from the kitchen, talk about posh! The van now has a nice big gas bottle for it's two-ring and grill cooker so I expect they'll survive. Sleeping bags are purchased, some ghastly plastic cups and plates from Tesco and a coolbox. The main thing is that they'll be able to get all the surfboards inside the van; a big improvement on strapping them to the roof of the old BMW for the 300-odd mile journey. How exciting was that in windy weather?!

Here are a couple of shots of Boris inside, showing a few bits ready for the off and the cooking arrangements. On top of the cooker is Rocky, the glove puppet otter. Bought by some surf chums for son years ago he's been with us on every surf jaunt since.

Leaving day depends on the surf reports but Boris can't hit the road before Saturday as his road tax isn't valid till then. So that'll leave Charlie and I to potter about the house for a few days, up to a week, even if the surf gets good. Perhaps I'll pamper myself a little!

Speaking of the old BMW, we waved goodbye to it at last, yesterday. Neil, the builder who's doing our house renovations, took a shine to it and bought it off us to do up. It's done us proud over the years, never let us down and as mentioned before, has lugged the surf gear up hill and down cove for 7 years without complaint. I hope it gives Neil as much as it's given us.

A right Charlie

2006-06-27T17:01:00.000Z

Charlie, the Scribbly Cottage resident troublemaker has been chasing his rugby ball into the inner of the futon sofa again. This time the camera was handy so I snapped some pictures. At times he disappeared right down out of sight under the top layer! He loves burrowing through the layers for it! Luckily it's only layers of upholstered foam down there and nothing sharp; his
only worry is making sure nobody sits on him!

Just a quickie

2006-06-26T16:36:00.000Z

I've been working today on a game board for a spread in a kids' annual. It's the most fun thing I've had to illustrate in a while. I'm savouring it, taking as much time as I dare; but another job is pressing... corrections (not my errors, incidentally) to a job for abroad; dull stuff but necessary.

When the board game is published I'll post a reduced version here. In the meantime, here's a sliver of it:
All done with the digital watercolours in Painter on my trusty old Mac.

Well, must go and get tea ready...more tomorrow. And I'm hoping to get some sketching done tonight, so watch this space!

A nice day...

2006-06-25T19:07:00.000Z

What a nice day it's been today at scribble cottage. Warm and sunny, but not too sweaty. Time to take off one of my raincoats!

The garden was cleared up a bit, a weedy patch went to make way for some kidney bean plants the neighbour donated. The old-fashioned roses are looking and smelling divine, but there are still stacks of weeds to pull out. I only ever use chemicals if I really have to.

Went to see my Mum ; her garden's looking fab too. She has a man who comes to help keep it tidy every couple of weeks, but she claims he uproots as many of her precious plants as he does weeds. Calls himself a gardener!

All this and hubby put my plate rack up in the new kitchen! He hates DIY and so I'm appropriately grateful. I spent hours last week doing a 'distressed' paint job on it, it looks a bit better than the orangey varnish it sported before.

To finish the day I took a glass of red vino into the kitchen and cooked a lovely lean bacon joint (from the butchers in the next village) and served it with potatoes, carrots, onions and a parsley sauce. Yum!

Charlie buried a bone in the garden, then dug it up again and ate some more of it.

Oh and I'm told England beat Ecuador in a world cup game. (I'm more of a rugby gal myself)

Days like this don't come much better. Ahh, simple pleasures!

2006-06-24T17:17:00.000Z

Well, everybody else seems to have a blog, so I thought I must gird my loins, set my jaw and probably brace myself, too, if I'm to join the happy throng. My first attempt was a mess of holiday snaps which looked like they'd been arranged on the page by the dog, so that's gone now and I'm going to try again. Not. you'll be grateful to note, with holiday snaps though!

So...I'm an illustrator by trade, at which point most people ask whether they've seen my work. Well, maybe if you're an avid reader of educational books, I've done a lot of them. Also if you buy your kitchen rolls and tissues (and toilet paper) from Boots or some of the main supermarkets you may have bought a design of mine (for which I thank you; I never buy decorated tissue myself), I've done tissue boxes featuring Puppy in my Pocket and Rupert Bear and lots with flowers on. Mostly it's the educational market for this country and abroad that keeps me going though; courtesy of my lovely agent Graham-Cameron Illustration.

I live in a village some 15 miles south-east of Lincoln, UK with my surf-hunk hubby and teen son and our 7-year old (ish) Jack Russell terrier Charlie, whom we rescued on January 4th this year and love to bits. Charlie is a rough-coated ruffian whose hobbies include chasing balls, scrounging biscuits and having his tummy tickled.He's also partial to pinching socks and running off gleefully with them.

Today hubby and I took Charlie for a walk out of the village and along farm tracks. Weather was lovely. Our usual walk route has been blocked off by building work, which is a great shame; so we had to create another route and this isn't bad apart from the fact that it takes a bit longer to get away from the road and into the fields. We usually see something interesting on our jaunts. Sometimes the barn owls hunt during daylight hours; they're fab to watch. We get lots of hares round here too and you can get quite close before they bolt. Charlie doesn't bother with them, strangely. There were poppies out today, and fields of blue flax looking like weird uphill lakes. I took a photo but the light was wrong and it wasn't a good shot. I'll try again tomorrow.

Had a bit of a shock when Son -and-heir decided he was going to hoover out and wash down our old VW camper (named Boris)! That child and the hoover are strangers, and to see him wielding a bucket of soapy water and a sponge was too good an opportunity to miss! I can't put in the other photo as he was giving me a two-fingered salute!

His sudden enthusiasm is entirely down to the fact that we haven't had Boris that long and he's spent a lot of time being made road-worthy at the local garage and we just got him back. Hubby and son want to go off for a jaunt in him for a few days to make sure all is well before we all go down to Cornwall in August. Anyway, the bus is now clean and sparkly and the rust patches are being treated. It will have a respray some time when finances allow. I keep thinking I should perhaps do an arty job on it, being an illustrator an' all, but I suspect I won't have the time. Son is adamant he wants the bus to remain black, I think it's a bit funereal. Sigh.......