Friends

Just before Christmas our outdoor group was painting at the eco village of Oude Molen. 

While we were there, a group of youngsters from the next door area came by to exercise the horses.  They run down to the river with them and then walk back and allow them to browse until they go back to their holding area.

These horses belong to the children of wealthier Capetonions and locating them at Oude Molen provides income for the locals and the village itself.

I took this pic as they walked past my painting spot and have wanted to paint it for some time.  Now that I finally have, I'm not that happy with it.  I think I spent too long a time on it and tried to get it 'perfect' thereby losing the looseness that I so desperately want.  Photographing it was also not the easiest.

Anyway, here it is - I've called it Friends.

I'm going the apologise to all the wonderful bloggers I visit regularly.  I've been absent and will be a bit busy for the next 7 days as I've got the job as 'Official Sitter' at the current South African Society of Artists exhibition at Kirstenbosch.  Despite not having qualified for this exhibition, it's a job I enjoy doing as you get to see all that great art and meet many wonderful artists and art lovers.  But I'll be back on my computer in bits and pieces during the period.  Then I will have to paint again so I have something to post!

A Palette Knife Bluebird

I was totally bowled over by the response to my American Robin and all your comments have inspired me to try my hand at some more birds!  I'm just a bit scared that I won't live up to the Robin and be a total disappointment.

So, instead of posting a brush painting of a bird, I did it with a palette knife. 

First time working an entire painting with a palette knife.  Our Friday group decided it was palette knife day and we were shown the nitty gritty by artist Heather Selby who paints with us.  I must say that I did enjoy it, but I think I'm really a brush painter.  It's kind of nice finding out where your interests lie by constantly trying new things!

So, this is my Eastern Bluebird, also from the USA and from James Parker's Windows to the Word blog.

(This is taking a heck of a long time to dry!!)

An American Robin

Wonderful James Parker has done it again.  Given us a choice of some wonderful pictures to paint - this time of birds.

And already he's had a stack of paintings to post on his blog, Windows to the Words.

This is my contribution.  The American Robin, which looks totally different to our smaller Cape Robin and very different to the English Robin that I saw many years ago.

Zoë

This is my friend Wendy's daughter, Zoë.

What an absolute delight to paint this picture of her.  She was so unaware of the camera, concentrating on what someone else was saying - I always think that these are the best photos to paint. 

Zoë is about 6 months younger than my grandson and an absolute delight.  Highly intelligent and so quick - a typical Leo!  This painting of her is a gift to her Mom.

 

It's been so hot here that my art room has turned into a sauna!  Hence the week gap between posts.

In one of my previous posts, I put up a charcoal sketch of a horse skull.  Wonderful artist Carol Horzempa left a lovely comment on my blog saying that it reminded her of Georgia O'Keeffe.  Strange, I thought.  Then the next Friday, the skull's owner, Barbara, brought in a photostat copy of the Georgia O'Keeffe painting and it was almost exactly the same!  It was the first time I'd seen the painting - luckily Barbara's skull was a bit battered and bent so you can see the differences.  Just to prove that there was no copyright infringement, here is another sketch, done from a different angle, of the skull.

A Special Day

Tomorrow is my beautiful grandson's 8th birthday and sadly I will not be there to share it with him.  And his wonderful mother has her birthday the following day with my one and only granddaughter (whom I have never seen in person) celebrating her first birthday the next week.

Now, as is the case with all first born children, there are hundreds of thousands of photographs of Andreas, so I have plenty to choose from to paint.

But I am ultra lucky if I get one or two of Catherine!  Maybe they'll take the hint and send me a whole bunch of the little lady so I can get to paint more than the one I already have.

This was done from a photograph taken when they were last in SA almost 2 years ago, but I liked it, so I painted it, and it is one I'm going to keep!

 

Andreas - Just Listening

Sunshine Award

Every  now and then some enterprising person sends out an award to marvellous people in our blogging world.

The latest one is the Sunshine Award and what a lovely idea it is.  I have received mine from fellow South African and fabulous West Coast artist, Marie Theron.  I hope to connect with Marie after Easter when a group of us plan to take a painting trip to her wonderful part of our world.

I am also so thrilled and blessed to have 135 people following my little blogging patch and the first thing I would do is to pass this award on to all of you who have made my life so much richer.  So I'm breaking the rules (I think Autumn Leaves also bent them a bit), but then creative types aren't really known for being that obedient!

Please take this award with my thanks and may your days always have sunshine even when it rains.

Sketching

This past Monday I thought I would try James Parker's challenge in Watercolour!  Ha!  What a disaster.  I find that about one in five of my watercolours I'm happy with, yet I keep on trying.

So, after tearing that one up, I thought I would try it in pencil.  Only having watercolour paper with me, this is the rather 'bumpy' result.

Redheads

Now I don't usually use graphite to sketch with, but this one was also done with pencil in about 10 minutes.  I had decided I'd finished the oil portrait, and did this whilst waiting.

Lauren

                 

And then finally, my favourite sketching medium, charcoal.  One of the ladies brought in this skull one Friday and it was quite a challenge to sketch.  It used to be her horse until it died.

Lion the Dog (in watercolour)

In the suburb of Hout Bay there is an 'informal settlement' that goes by the name of Imizamo Yethu, which roughly translated means 'through collective struggle'.  The settlement is made up of shacks and the residents are primarily Xhosa speakers from the Eastern Cape who have made the trip to Cape Town looking for a job and a better life.  There are also immigrants (legal and illegal) from northern parts of Africa.

Imizamo Yethu is a hodge-podge of people and cultures and despite desperate hardship there are also little gems that can be unearthed.

Lion the Dog is one of them.  

He used to live on the dusty street even though his owner made sure he had fresh water and a meal of some sort.

But Lion the Dog was getting old and his joints were feeling stiff and sore, so Hilary Barclay*, a former nurse and animal lover, decided that he needed a kennel.  Through generous donations, Lion now has shelter and warmth and loves his kennel so much, he "only comes out of it to eat, pee and pooh!"

*Hilary Barclay, a registered nurse and dog trainer, started an animal sterlisation programme in Hout Bay's IY township in 2004 to uplift the animal welfare of pets in this community.  To date they have sterlised over 1000 pets and have thus gone a long way to curbing the animal population.  The original black and white photograph for this pic was taken by Mia Davila who is the publicity and liaison person at DARG.

Plein Airheads

I think I have now officially joined the 'Tuesday Plein Air' group, or plein airheads as I think they should be called.  I mean, you've got to be daft to go and sit in the boiling sun with a piddly umbrella trying its best to give you some shade, or, as we've been doing the past two weeks, sitting on top of the mountain (oh, alright, hill) with a good chance of being blown off!

My complete and total admiration goes out to people like Rob Ijbema and Rene Plein Air who actually go and sit in the SNOW and paint!  Bill Guffy in the USA tends to do that as well.  Daft, as I said.  But they do produce jolly good work.

Now I'm relatively new to this outside process and am still trying to find my way around bringing this vast panorama we call Table Mountain into a teeny weeny 14"x18" canvas.  For the past 2 weeks we've been on the top of Signal Hill which is part of the TM facade and the views overlooking the city, the mountain and the new Soccer Stadium are breathtaking.  

The first week was misty when we arrived so it was hurry, hurry, try and catch the mist before it burnt away. 

Then the following week I sat crunched under a short tree for shade and painted the right hand side of TM with the cable station sticking up at the top.  The 12 Apostles are on the right hand side with a lone pine tree that was in front of me on my little bit of mountain.

I was not that happy with the result, but the light was changing so had to stop.  I may try and do some more on it this coming Tuesday - I think the darks needs darkening.  But here is our wonderful - at least a bit of  it - Table Mountain.

I just want to add here that all the trees in Cape Town are bent.  The Southeaster, or Cape Doctor, keeps the air nice and clean, but the trees have trouble standing up to the wind.

Xena the Pitbull

 I still occasionally do the odd painting for DARG, but not quite as often as I would like.

This is Xena and DARG think she's about 5 years old.  In the blurb they say she was rescued 2 years ago after being burnt on her back with hot oil!  Amazing how people think that these poor creatures don't feel pain.  She was adopted but was returned after her new owner decided to move without her.

It is a bit of a problem when people return to places like the UK where dogs and cats have to be quarantined for 6 months before going to their new home, so sometimes I guess it is best to try and find a new home for the animal.

Apparently Xena is "adorable, super playful, super affectionate, super cuddly, loyal, protective and strong.  Belly rubs are a must!"

Sunflowers

We are sweltering here at the moment and Dana Marie's sunflower post seemed so appropriate for our climate.

But, she lives in the USA where, I believe, it is rather COLD!  Maybe the sunflowers were a promise of things to come?

Anyway, I finished them on time for a change and got them up and posted.  All the time whilst painting them, I thought of that marvellous Sunflower/Pug lady, Nancy Medina whose favourite flower is the sunflower and who also loves dogs (especially Pugs).  Her sunflowers are a must-see if you haven't already.

Devil's Peak

It is believed that when in the city of Cape Town, you absolutely cannot get lost.  That is, if you know the Mountain.

No matter where you go you can see some part of the Table Mountain chain, whether it's the 12 Apostles on the Atlantic Ocean side, the back of the mountain from the Southern Suburbs, or the well know 'front' of the flat topped edifice from the north.  So, if you find yourself in a strange part of the town, just look at the mountain and you'll know how to get home!

When looking at the front of the mountain, on the left hand side is the part known as Devil's Peak.  This is the part of the mountain that I see every day when I go into my garden.  But to get an unobstructed view, the best place to go is Oude Molen where our group has been painting for the past number of weeks.

I did just that and although it was blazing hot that day, managed to do a pretty fair rendition of the slopes of the Peak.

And guess what Rob Ijbema - I'm starting to enjoy plein air stuff!

From Wikepedia -

Devil's Peak was originally known as Windberg, and supposedly gets its current name from the folk-tale about a Dutch man called Jan van Hunks, a prodigious pipe smoker who lived at the foot of the mountain circa 1700. He was forced by his wife to leave the house whenever he smoked his pipe. One day, while smoking on the slopes of the peak, he met a mysterious stranger who also smoked. They each bragged of how much they smoked and so they fell into a pipe-smoking contest. The stranger turned out to be the Devil  and Van Hunks eventually won the contest, but not before the smoke that they had made had covered the mountain, forming the table cloth cloud.

Puppy Love

James Parker's blog Windows to the Words was the inspiration for this painting.  He has posted a number of pics of 'look-a-like' kids and their pets, included a rather nice poem, and given us a month to do the painting.

Now, I'm always late with these challenges!  But I so loved this delightful couple, I had to finish it in a morning.  So I'm probably one of the first this time.

The dog presented quite a challenge at first.  Just one black mass but after figuring out that a couple of brush strokes in the right direction would give the impression of fur, a dab of colour where the nose and eyes should be and voila! a dog appeared.

Check out James' blog to see the other pics he's posted.

Now for something completely different.  As most of you know, I love two sports codes - cricket and rugby.  Last night I went to the cinema for the first time in about 3 years because I just had to see the movie Invictus on the big screen.  Directed by Clint Eastwood, it's about our past President Nelson Mandela and past Rugby Captain, Francois Pienaar.

We went along with a bit of trepidation because I've seen American productions depicting South Africans with the most awful accents, but Matt Damon with his Afrikaans accent and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela were magnificent!  And so many memories of the games, of the flypast by the Boeing 747, of the game against the French where we thought the players were going to drown in Durban and the incredible New Zealander, Jonah Lomu!

If you haven't seen it already, go along to have a look-see and enjoy the wonderful photography of my home town of Cape Town.

Our much loved past President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

handing the Webb Ellis Trophy to Captain Francois Pienaar

A Road Runs Through

As I'm always late with challenge blogs, I looked to see if this pic was still up and yes! it was.  So I painted this in about 3 hours, waited until the next morning to get a fairly decent photo, went to post it, and lo and behold, a new challenge was in its place!

So I was late yet again!  But I put it on Dana Marie's blog anyway

Because of the time limit I gave myself, I really enjoyed slapping the paint on this without worrying too much about detail.  It was so incredibly freeing and I quite liked the end result.

A bit of a shine on the dark tree trunk (I did try to keep it thinner Dean!), and there is somewhere in America a national park called Sarah Helmick.

Berg River, Velddrif

Over the New Year weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited up the West Coast to a town called Velddrif.

Velddrif is 60 kms before Piketberg, the town that Marie Theron paints and writes about - she is incredibly knowledgeable about this part of our country.

The West Coast (or Weskus in Afrikaans) is a rather harsh, windswept coastline, but has many beautiful parts to it.  Velddrif is situated on the coast at the mouth of the Berg River and although not the prettiest of towns, has many charming plein air places.  I stayed at a friend's holiday home on a small holding overlooking a tidal estuary of the Berg River and thank goodness for the wind.  It is so incredibly hot there that by the time 3o'clock comes round, you are totally knackered!  Anything for a swim!  Luckily there is all that lovely cool water around.

I only managed to do one painting early on New Year's day before the heat set in - this is from top of the bank overlooking the Berg River as it makes it's way towards the sea.

We are planning for our Friday painting group to go through maybe over Easter, so will bring you more of this part of the world then.  In the meantime, check out Marie's blog for more about the West Coast.

Shadow Dance

Every now and then, one has a favourite painting which replaces the previous favourite painting!

This one was taken from a pic posted on Dana Marie's Inspiration all Around Us blog - she really takes the most amazing photographs and I would encourage everyone to have a look!

There was something so peaceful about this photo and the colours were so appealing.  Hope you like it.

Have a fabulous 2010 everyone!  Winter Olympics in Canada, FIFA World Cup in South Africa - should be a funfilled year!

Oude Molen

I think this is going to be the last of the plein air for this year for me - after all, it's holiday time and it's Christmas and New Year and there's cricket to watch ... so much activity at this time of the year.  But the group will get together again round the middle of January, although where we'll be going, I don't know!  A wait and see experience.

This little painting (9"x12" is little for me!) was again done at Oude Molen, but boy was the wind doing its thing.  I was all ready to give up, but these die hard plein airheads said, no, it's part of the atmosphere.  So, if you look closely, you will see all the dust and dirt that now decorates my painting!  I guess once it's dry, I will be able to brush it off.

Last week I painted the back of the little shop, so this week, here is the front!

To all those who celebrate Christmas, have a wonderful day tomorrow, and to everyone else, enjoy the holiday season.

Plein Air - Again!

Summer is definitely here!

We have had some blazing hot days and with the school holidays in full swing, I am off the teaching hook and merrily trying to paint the days away.  Unfortunately yesterday and today, cricket interfered - the first three days of the first 5day test against England.  So very little was done.

But I have been trying (again!) to do the plein air thing.  Some time ago I did a watercolour of our special Table Mountain from a friend's upstairs lounge, and last week did the same scene again, this time in oils.

Then I was very brave and went out into the open (yes Rob Ijbema, I am trying to let Mother Nature teach me!), armed with sunhat, sun lotion factor 40, water and painting paraphernalia!   Went with a group of regular plein airheads to Oude Molen, an eco village/farm/horse place with an incredible history, that overlooks the Liesbeek River and M5 highway, but more importantly, has an incredible view of Devil's Peak, the part of Table Mountain on the left hand side.   I will try and paint the mountain, probably next Tuesday when we go out again, but last week did the back of the eco shop/restaurant whilst standing amongst the strawberries.

 

And the week before, as a test run, just sketched this sunflower in full bloom.

Meagen Mendoza - Latin American Dancer

This is a beautiful American dancer who said I could paint one of her pictures.

Her name is Meagen Mendoza and if you love dancing and dancers, click on her name to see the original photograph from which this was done.

I hope I have done you justice Meagen, and thank you for letting me use the pic.

Again, I had trouble photographing this painting, but Dean from Deano's Den has given me many tips and this one is to thin down the darks.  I didn't have this info in time for this painting, but will certainly give it a try in the future.  Thank you Dean. 

Air Travel aka Business Class

Karen Jurick posts the most incredible pictures for us to paint on her challenge blog.  The last one was of the airport travellers, which I did, and completed in time!  I even put it up at a local competition and was placed 13th (out of 65) for it!

BUT, and it is a huge but, no matter where I stood, no matter how hard I tried, I just could not get the glare out of the darks on the photograph.  Even with Dean's tips of indoors with a shield - nothing!

Ja,well,no,fine! as we say in this part of the world.  This problem had to be solved somehow, because I really loved the pic.

So here it is, in charcoal!  Black and white, no glary oil paint - maybe I'll try it in watercolour next!

A Home Wanted

As I haven't done anything for DARG for a while now, and as they have so many new dogs and cats up for adoption, I thought I must really do another painting.

This is Sledge.  He is a cross Husky something and was apparently abandoned by his owner.

It always amazes me how human beings can be so callous about their fellow creatures.  We domesticate them to such a degree that they become totally reliant on us for all their needs, and then idiots like this owner decide they don't want them anymore!

I believe we share this beautiful planet with our fellow creatures and our intellect does not give us dominion and lording rights over them.

I hope Sledge finds someone who will care for him.

My Prize

Yesterday I picked up my wonderful prize for coming second in James Parker's  Windows to the Words challenge blog!

All the way from the USA, arriving safely in Cape Town (we never know whether anything will get to its destination or not!), here are the two marvellous paintings - the hummingbird is a tiny little painting which will sit next to me in my art room.

Thank you James!

 

Quinces and Walnuts

My computer was non functional for 3 days this week.  Our single, state run telecommunications service took its own sweet time about restoring lines in our area, and my service provider was not amused when I asked her if I needed to take up writing letters and using the post office again!  Absolutely no sense of humour.

And with Summer finally here, life seems to get very active, so not much painting gets done.

I did, however, manage to paint from a rather nice pic taken from Dana Marie's Inspiration all Around us blog, of quinces and nuts - I called them walnuts - I think that's what they are.

Now she has another amazing pic posted, so hopefully I will get to that one in the next week! 

Koi

Another challenge I was late for, and I submitted the pic for painting!

I just can't seem to make deadlines.  After spending all that time in the advertising industry where deadlines are sacrosanct, I have fallen off the wagon.

This one was for the blog, Inspiration all Around Us - one of the newer challenge blogs, but one where Dana Marie posts some really magnificent pictures.  Check it out.

These koi were part of the a household where my sister was housesitting.  The other 'residents' were three dogs, a cat and a parrot.  I don't think the fish presented any problems!

I have just bought a new camera - very nice indeed.  But oh, technology is defeating me!  It has a nice new SDHC 4gb card which I discovered my computer can't read (or find, or whatever it does).  So the last couple of paintings I've done are sitting inside the camera, unable to see light of day.  This also means I will be late for any other challenges out there!  Sigh ...

Contemplation

This is my favourite painting at the moment.  I loved the intense white of her dress against the dark background. 

But oh my, was it difficult to photograph!  The shine on the background was a nightmare and no matter which way I turned it or where I placed it, there was this horrible bluey sheen!  We have had cloudy weather here and even in the early morning with this cloud cover, nothing worked. 

So it was off to the local art shop for a tin of re-touch varnish and that seemed to do the trick.  The shine of the varnish seemed to counteract the shine of the paint, and this is the best result I could get.

Watercolour, flower, and portrait

I have decided that I'm not a watercolourist. I love the medium and will probably persevere simply because I'm stubborn (and have a lot of watercolour paint!) but my attempts will surely remain just that - attempts.

I look at artists like Fabio Cembranelli who paints flowers in watercolour like an absolute angel and then I dare to post my couple of flowers in a pot! Cheek of it, but I thought, it's one of very few watercolours that I will be putting up. I need to practice!



Whilst on the watercolour theme, I tried a portrait as well! (Pushing my luck here). Not too bad, but still on the overworked side.

Eudith is a lovely lady with a beautiful smile who works as a housekeeper/cleaner for a number of people. She works like a demon and when I asked to take her picture, she didn't want to smile. She did eventually, but I did the one she liked first.

Bushman of the Kalahari

I have mislaid a week of my life!

Not really, but that's what it feels like. I was sitting at the SASA Annual Exhibition at Kirstenbosch last week until Thursday, then Friday first thing, it was on the 'plane to Johannesburg for a friend's daughter's wedding. Only got back last night, so have done nothing with a brush for over a week!

This painting is of a Bushman, one of those incredible hunter gatherer people who are the original inhabitants of this country. They owned no land (they believe only God owns the land) and lived off it in much the same way the Aboriginal people of Australia and the Red Indians in America did.

Their ability to live in desert conditions is amazing and in this painting he is using his bow and arrow as a musical instrument.

The Bushmen, often referred to as the San or the generic term Khoisan, are the remnants of Africa's oldest cultural group, genetically the closest surviving people to the original Homo-Sapien core from which the Negro emerged. They are small in stature generally with light yellowish skin, which wrinkles very early in life. Despite the later massive expansion of the pastoral and agrarian tribal cultures, those Bushman groups that utilised environments that were unsuitable for farming, survived until fairly recently with a high level of genetic purity.

Insomnia

I did so enjoy painting this one, but I battled with the photograph.

I picked up on Dean's tip of using black gesso and then just painting with Prussian blue/Cad red and a bit of white mixed in in varying degrees.

Painting the negative shapes was a total challenge and sometimes I had to double back and constantly check where I was going with those tree shadows.

But the title! I finally settled on Insomnia, but am not 100% happy with it. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Autumn

I keep finding these wonderful challenge blogs, and the latest on my list is Dana Marie's Inspiration all Around us. That is where I got my last posted painting of the horse from .

Dana Marie runs her blog a little differently in that you have to do your own posts. All you do is email her and she lets you have the details, and off you go!

This is the latest one from the blog - just a reminder of Autumn to all of you living in the Northern Hemisphere!



Oh I'm as pleased as Punch and so honoured! The inimitable James Parker, who lives in Texas, has a wicked sense of humour, also runs a challenge blog called Windows to the Words.

Last month he posted pictures of cats and my drawing of Michelle's Figaro was given 2nd place and a prize to boot!Thank you James, for doing what you do, and being who you are.

Brown Horse

Last night at our painting class, my wonderful teacher, Margie Johnson, pushed the envelope and told me I needed to free up! Ok, I agree - it's something I've been trying to do, with very little or no success.

So, a beautiful picture of a horse from Dana Marie's challenge blog, Inspiration all Around Us, was the subject of choice. I know this was an old challenge, so I hope Dana Marie doesn't mind me using it now.

Painting this lovely animal also reminded me of Maree, a fellow South African, who has just done the most amazing sketches of horses. Have a look.

For a typical neat Capricorn, it was almost teeth pulling to blur the outlines, especially of the back of the horse, but I think I did it.

Anyway, I kind of like the result! Would love to know the thoughts out there.

Michelle's Cat

I never knew until I saw Gwen Bell's painting, that this is Michelle Burnett's beautiful cat, Figaro.

This is part of James Parker's challenge blog - some of the cats he put up for this challenge were great, but I do think Michelle's cat came out as the number one choice for many.

This is my painting of him.

Tiggy and Selection Day

This is a painting done for a friend whose little dog, Tiggy is very special.

She's quite elderly but I am greeted with such enthusiasm by both her and her 'sister' Abby.

I just love Tiggy's whiskers and the way she looks so poised, almost as if she was deliberately posing for the photograph.

Yesterday (Saturday - it is now early Sunday morning here in SA) was a hectic day. We had our society selection day for our Annual Exhibition which is held at the Sanlam Hall in the beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens. I am on the South African Society of Artists (SASA) committee and besides running around from one end of the hall to the other, was responsible for the computer work! Me, who's not that fantastic with computers, is deemed to be the computer expert! Oh dear.

It all went very well even though it was a long day and we had just short of 600 paintings submitted, a record. The judges were put through their paces, and it was a fascinating experience watching their marks. There are three judges and each judge gives his or her own mark without knowing what the others are doing. Apparently this works in England and we have adopted it here.

I was lucky enough to have one painting submitted, my still life, but the other two didn't make the cut. Maybe next year.

Old House in Lisbon

This is for Bill Guffey's challenge this month - Lisbon. I searched and searched and eventually found this old run down looking farmhouse type building (and yes, it is in Lisbon) that I thought was rather nice to paint.

I struggled a bit and feel it's not quite as I would like it, but I've sent it off anyway.

Another problem is the photography! My trusty old camera died. So now I've had to use a 'cheap and nasty' that my sister has. But that's no excuse, I just took lousy pictures! So if it seems a little bit blurry, it is, don't check your specs.

Cup Cakes

I don't often do the paintings from Karin's blog because I always seem to be so slow - never finishing in time to send to her.

But these cup cakes were irresistible! To paint, that is. I don't really like cakes of any kind to eat - I find them too sweet. I prefer salty and spicy foods and love the food of the East, from India through to China.

I know many of you are going to think I'm nuts for not liking these sugary delicacies, but that leaves all the more for you out there!

Hammersmith Bridge

The last time I spent any time in London was almost two years ago! Time goes by so quickly.

It was in the colder month of November. It was quite a shock coming from our really lovely sunny Summer weather to hit the streets of London at close to 5 deg C. But no matter what the weather, London is a place that I really do enjoy.

And by total coincidence, last month's challenge on the Google Earth site , The Virtual Paintout run by wonderful artist, Bill Guffey, was ... London! So my immediate reaction was to google where I went when I was last there, and one of the nicest sites was riding on the number 9 bus over the Hammersmith Bridge.

It is an incredible bridge - yes I know Tower Bridge is the one that is associated with London and beheadings and all that! but the little known Hammersmith Bridge has such lovely markings and old fashioned lights and all the little English quirks that we've come to expect.

Next time you're in London, take the no. 9 bus just for a trip to Hammersmith Bridge.

Catherine Irene

Meet the newest addition to my family, Catherine Irene. She was born 7 days after I left Sweden, so I have never actually seen her in 'real' life, only through Skype!

This is painted from one of two pictures the family sent me and I think she's gorgeous! (But I am biased as well).

About the leaves and flowers in her hair. Midsummer is a national holiday in Scandinavia and they celebrate by dancing around maypoles and doing all sorts of wonderful summer holiday things. The girls dress in white and put garlands of flowers in their hair, so Catherine joined in the party, although she's only four months old at this stage.

Kiera

This is Kiera. She is a 4 year old cross Pitbull whose best activity is to watch TV on the couch with some biscuits to munch!

Kiera is a DARG dog, and according to DARG, she's a great companion, bonds well with people, is love-starved and is a real softie. I guess that's quite hard to believe from a Pitbull, given the bad reputation they've got over the years.

But like all protective breeds, if they're treated properly, they will be great companions. The Pitbull reputation has been brought about by unscrupulous owners using them for fighting purposes. So, there is no such creature as a bad dog, only a BAD OWNER.

I hope she finds the loving home she so deserves.

Carlos

Carlos is an elderly gentleman(dog) who lives in an historic house in Constantia, one of the first wineland areas established in the Western Cape.

My sister was doing her dog/housesitting with Carlos and two of his pals whilst their mom went overseas to the UK.

I met him when she brought him round for a visit. He is practically blind and quite deaf, but he still loves life, and very definitely, FOOD. Put your hand near him and it's snuffle, snuffle, looking for tidbits to eat.

I don't think he's going to be with us for much longer, but as his doctor says, he's happy and in no pain, so let him enjoy his twilight years in the luxurious comforts of the Constantia greenbelt.