A Little House on a Hill

This is Marlene, all dressed up for going a-visiting. My daughter thought the special occasion warranted it! I had heard from Terri Windling that the Travelling Hermitage had arrived, and as I regularly read Rima's wonderful blog and love her work, we wandered over the hill and paid a visit.

There are times when immersed in blogland, that I pause and think to myself - this is just an illusion! We 'meet' people on our virtual wanderings, and build relationships, and count some of them as real friends, and yet we only really ' know' an online persona. The person behind it could be entirely different from the image they project. ( I'm sure that most are not, but these are the things I start to think of when I feel I have spent too much time on the computer, and not enough time connected to the real world!) It was wonderfully refreshing to meet Rima and Tui, and find that they are just as nice in real life as they appear in Rima's blog!
They were kind and welcoming, and it was lovely to see them and their wagon, tucked away in a secluded spot, a haven of calm and beauty on a hot afternoon!

Foal Update

Foals change so fast! These are the ones from my earlier post, and already they are growing away and changing colour. This colt below is the one we named 'Paddington' because of his spectacles. He has already whited out.

This is the black filly I have been admiring so much. She too is losing her foal coat, and is looking grey beneath it. She is still very nice, but now, 6 weeks on, and into the hotter weather, it is obvious her dam has bad sweetitch, so there is a 50/50 chance she will have passed it on to the foal.

This is another favourite of mine - a mare I have liked for years. (you can see her pictured in my drawing for the WHOA sketchbook, at the top left of this blog). She has a nicely made filly foal this year.

Midsummer nights

I love these long hot summer evenings. Walking on the hills this evening I stopped to watch the hay being baled and brought in all around me. The grass is nearly waist high, pinky seedheads puffing pollen at me as I wade through. As the sun sets in an orange glow, the hills looked as though they were burning, an echo of the real flames that licked across them as they were swailed earlier in the year.

The forecast is good for the next couple of days, and everyone will be baling through the night. Even I suddenly have a glut of grass on my poor, dry hill pasture. The small ponies are grumbling at being shut away from most of it.

I've almost finished the painting too. It is still continuing on with the transformation theme. Can you see that this is my crow girl again?

A Positive Pep Talk!

Seagull

ink and watercolour

Oooooh, I am such a bad blogger! Sorry, for the lack of posts, and I'm really grateful to my readers and friends that you still bother to come back and check. I'm afraid it's that time of year when there are just not enough hours in the day to fit everything in. If I don't get the garden up and running then we won't have any vegetables this year. What I really need ( but I'll whisper this so no -one hears me!) is a couple of days of rain. Then I could catch up on all my indoor jobs without feeling guilty!
Anyway, this painting above is the fourth in a set of card designs I have been working on. All these are now available as prints (A4) in my Etsy shop. Now the children have two lovely weeks of Easter holidays, so I doubt I shall get much painting done till they return to school.
BUT, among all the busy-ness of this last week, I did find time to pluck up the courage to contact local illustrator, David Wyatt, who was just as nice as could be. He invited me round, made me a great cup of coffee, and gave me a brilliant pep talk. It was just what I needed, and I came away feeling positive, and knowing exactly what I need to spend the next six months doing! It was fascinating to see his working process, although it did make me realise that actually, traditional artists are going to struggle in the industry if they can't 'go digital'. The ability to make alterations to images at the drop of an art directors hat is vital, when it could take a couple of weeks to repaint an image traditionally. I can see, I need to start saving for photoshop and a tablet!

Stone rows and sunlight in the trees

This is the finished image of the fox and the crow. It is too big for my scanner, and my photos have come out darker and duller than the original. Still, I am fairly pleased with it. All the big paintings are off at the framers to be mounted now, in their second hand frames.

It's half term this week, which means a house choc full of children at all times, so not much painting time! It does mean plenty of walks and outdoor time, and yesterday we walked out over Shovel Down, where there are several sets of stone rows. These two are the best, double rows of stones, one lining up along the ancient trackway which crosses the moor here, and the second, at an angle, ending in the usual huge slabs, and concentric rings.

I love to imagine how many thousands of feet have walked these paths before me. These tracks have been in existence since iron age times, and it would be fascinating to reveal the memories they hold.

And finally, my middle daughter has been as prolific as ever with her artwork, but this is one I grabbed before it hit the bin. Her first attempt at altered art/ collage, which is probably better than I could manage!

A new cuff and Peerifool trailer

I had a wonderful gift in this morning's post ( the first we have had in a few days because of the heavy snow) . It was this absolutely beautiful leather cuff made by Bridget ( Heart of a Cowgirl). I had been coveting it for ages, but was too broke, and then she suggested we do a trade, which I was thrilled about! It's wonderful, beautifully made, and just so comfy - it's even nicer than I thought it would be. I feel like a little kid - I keep grinning when I catch sight of it on my wrist, I'm so happy with it! Now I need to save up for some of her beautiful earrings to match!

Our white blanket is finally clearing away, which is a relief, as everything takes twice as long to do in the snow. The fields are still covered, but the lanes are navigable without a 4 x 4 now. It's meant I have even less computer time than usual, so my apologies to those OWOH entrants whom I haven't managed to visit. I have got through a substantial chunk of the 900 odd entries, but there are roughly 100 in the middle that I just haven't had a chance to look at yet.
The little bit of online time I have had , was spent compiling a seed order. I love doing that and this is my favourite seed company - The Real Seed Catalogue. I buy peas, beans, shallots etc, loose, by weight, locally, but I just love the heirloom varieties that the Real Seed Catalogue sells. It's superb quality, sensibly priced, and comes with brilliant little sets of instructions and helpful advice.

And the other good news of today is that the trailer for 'Peerifool' is out. In the summer, my middle daughter took part in the making of this film by the Chagford Filmaking Group, led by Elizabeth Jane Baldry. She had a wonderful time being one of those small, shrill, golden porridge fairies! We can't wait to see the full film when it is released.

Proper Job Bookstore

I went down to Proper Job yesterday, our local recycling centre (and pirate hang-out ). It's such an Aladdins cave , I could spend hours rummaging around! One of my favourite resources is the 'Book Box' , a beautifully organised and catalogued second - hand book store, packed full of treasures. I always come back with an arm full of books.

I also rooted around in the clothes section ( currently temporarily squashed into a little shed, but in a couple of weeks the huge new cabin opens , where they will have loads of second hand and vintage clothing) As it is, I came away with two new pairs of school shoes in exactly the right sizes. Clarks brand, and barely worn at all. 50 p a pair! I am so pleased - school shoes are so expensive, and my children wear through them so fast (probably because I buy cheap ones in the first place

I've had children at home this week, one after another going down with coughs and colds, so it has been difficult to get on with any painting. That, and the fact that I turned the heater off in my studio because I was horrified by our electricity bill, and now it is far too cold to work out there! There was frost on the inside of the window yesterday, and the lovely cosy spare bed in there isn't cosy at all.

It's a busy time on Etsy this weekend. Jen, from Gypsy Mare Studios put me in her beautiful gypsy themed treasury. I am coveting most of the beautiful things in this collection!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=34198

Also, don't forget the 'Buy 2 , get a 3rd free, and free shipping sale' runs all weekend, until midnight on Monday.

Sewing Machine Days

"Queen of The Pumpkin Patch" - the only little ACEO I've had a chance to paint this week, mainly because I've been busy sewing for my sister. She has a fab kids clothes company, Blow-Pipe, which uses vintage and recycled fabrics to make great jackets and hats. I occasionally help out at times like this when she has more orders to complete than she can manage. I quite like it - it makes a nice change for me, and keeps my hand in cutting and piecing. We are both lucky that our mother was a textile artist and dressmaker, and we were taught to sew almost from the cradle, and were both making or adapting our clothes from our teens. It is one of the most useful and versatile skills I have, and I am extremely grateful for it. My sister went on to study and get a degree from the London College of Fashion, while I opted for ceramics, but that early grounding has left me confident cutting patterns and making clothes ( or curtains , or costumes, or anything else that might need creating!)

This weeks it has been hats - dozens of them in beautifully soft coloured fleece. The best part is going through the huge vintage fabric collection, and choosing linings for each individual hat. It's great - no two are the same, and I get to put together all sorts of beautiful combinations.

This is my all time favourite jacket - those vintage poppies are sumptuous. If there had been enough fabric for an adult jacket I would have been swiping it!

The finished collection! Most of these ones are intended for Wonderworks, a really exciting annual craft exhibition / sale in Chagford, on Saturday the 22nd and Sunday 23rd of November.

Pony Sales

Just a quick post tonight - sorry , no new work to show yet! Instead I have been playing with my printer, and now that I have some gorgeous new prints, I think it must be time to have my first blog give-away. Keep watching - I will post it over the next couple of the days.

Chagford Hill Pony Sales today - so I took the day away from the studio and my chores, and spent the day down at the market. Though sorely tempted, I resisted coming home with anything. There were a lot of ponies there, a mix of Dartmoor types - some registered, and many from the approved commoners scheme, as well as a many spotted and coloured ponies. Prices seemed to be low, with small colts making around 20 guineas, and fillies making 70ish. The best prices were fetched by the coloured ponies, especially the gypsy cob types, of which there were at least a couple of dozen.

October brings the ponies down from the moor

I thought I would post a picture of the view from Middle Tor towards Frenchbeer, showing the moor at it's most welcoming, in July. Just to remind me that the sun does shine occasionally!

But for now, brrrr! The weather has definately turned here on the moor. The skies have darkened ,bringing icy rain in, and the air is full of the smell of woodsmoke , as stoves are lit in every house you pass. The bracken has died back, and is crispy underfoot when I walk Magpie over the back of Meldon. The hills are empty of ponies now, all rounded up over the past week, driven down the lanes to stone pens and crowded farmyards, to be sorted and checked, weaned and evaluated. Most of the suckers will be taken down to the sale in the town next week, and mares turned back onto the commons. Most of the ponies these days go for riding ponies, since the outlawing of the transport of horses for slaughter to the continent, and the concerted effort of commoners and supporters to improve the stock. This is Phoenix, my superstar , who sadly was lost to colic 3 years ago, aged 17. She was a hill pony mare, of a good Dartmoor type, though slightly overheight - closer to 13hh than 12.2hh. I bought her at pony sales for 45 guineas when I had just turned 15 and she was a wild 6 month old sucker . I had already chosen her earlier in the summer, as she was born to the herd that runs on the commons next to the town, and I, a pony mad teenager, watched eagerly for the first foals each spring. My friend and I had saved up the money from our Saturday jobs , and spent hours watching the ponies and deciding which foals we wanted. Phoenix proved the best choice I could have ever made.

Until a few years ago, when cattle grids were installed to protect peoples gardens, the ponies often came into Chagford for shelter in bad weather, or looking for food when pickings were short. It was a common sight to see them in the churchyard, or on the primary school playing field. I have a magical memory of waking up one cold, icy, moonlit night when I was about 9 and running to my bedroom window because I could hear hooves. I opened the window and looked out, and there, flying down the narrow street, led by the big grey stallion, were about 30 wild ponies, on a midnight dash through the town.

These ponies are still the same herd, and though the stallions are now changed fairly regularly ( every few years) the mares are nearly always retained and many of them now carry the stamp of the big grey that sired Phoenix. Every year I feel tempted to bring another one home from sales, but can't imagine how I would begin to justify it to my family!

And finally, my middle daughter , a passionate 6 year old artist, who finds it difficult to function without a pencil in her hand, has been badgering me incessantly to show you some of her work! So here is her latest drawing - a fairy princess being delivered a magic message while she admires the beautiful ring on her hand.

Sheep, sheep, and an odd alpaca

Woo Hooo! Chagford Show was a great day out, as always. There were masses of entries in the childrens crafts classes, but Maddy got a third place with her witch ( thank goodness - she would have been furious if that one hadn't won a rosette), and Marlene, to my delight, came second in her class ( Heritage Dartmoor Pony), despite me not wearing a hat! She behaved impeccably, all day long, without batting an eyelid at the traffic, the marching band, and even the heavy horse display taking place in the ring with her while doing her class. Jonathan Waterers beautiful Shire horses demonstrated chain logging to the crowds, followed by a flat out gallop through obstacles by another pair.

The sun finally came out after weeks of rain, and you couldn't ask for a more picturesque setting, in the valley below Castle Drogo

I managed a quick peek at the rest of the show. I especially love the sheep lines, with the many different breeds . This was the biggest sheep I have ever seen!

It's Chagford Show Tomorrow!

Thought I would show you a quick paint sketch that I did for a friend who lost this dog a couple of months ago. This is Flute, a beautiful smooth coat lurcher.

I haven't managed to paint anything else, as it is Chagford Show tomorrow, and we have been far too busy getting ready. I am so proud of the girls. They have both entered the art and craft classes, and have been working really hard on their entries. I have taken photos tonight, before their work turns to mush in the rain tomorrow! Maddy spent all yesterday making a plasticine witch, complete with cat, frog, a sprinkling of stars, and a large packed lunch. She also made a face on a paper plate ( that is the scary picture!), while Lily had to make an olympic event on a biscuit tin lid, and a vegetable dinosaur ( not pictured, as it needs it's final assembly in the morning). I meanwhile, am taking Marlene in a class tomorrow, and am beginning to get nervous, as I anticipate some serious competition. This is all new for me - I don't do competitive stuff at all, and usually pooh - pooh people who take it all too seriously, but now at the last moment I am wondering if I really have been too lackadaisical about the whole thing, and should have done a bit of practising, and set about borrowing a hat to wear. Hmm, who can I ring at nearly midnight to beg a hat from?

What a lovely English Summer!

WOW! We have only just dried out from the camping trip. What a washout! We managed to pick the worst three days of the summer, but in true British fashion we decided to go on in the rain anyway! Still, it wasn't an unmitigated disaster - there were some great bits as well as some extremely wet bits, and most of us had a good time.
We rode out on Monday, in light rain, from Chagford to Holwell via Bowermans Nose, and stopped at Hound Tor for a late lunch, from the van in the carpark. They do a sterling job there all summer, serving real sausages and burgers , and homemade cake, to tired walkers, washed down with a decent mug of tea ( in a real mug, not a plastic cup). The best, and cheapest meal around!

The rain became torrential as we arrived at
Holwell Farm, where Sebastien and Phillipa Hughes had very kindly allowed us to camp with the horses. The farm is one of the most picturesque spots on the moor, nestled in a valley, with views of Haytor and beyond. You couldn't find a better base for walking and riding. What we hadn't bargained for were the free range piglets! Cute and hilarious as they were, the horses were not impressed, and Red, who is quite phobic about pigs , became a jibbering wreck.

Poor boy! He couldn't settle at all. We turned them all out together, but Red spent the whole night standing on the highest rock in the field, stamping a warning and 'barking' like a stallion calling the alarm. It was a really wild night, and neither he, nor us in the field next door got more than a couple of hours sleep. The wind and the rain were deafening. Thankfully the tent was snug and dry, and we weren't washed down the hill in the rain.


Rain paused for long enough for us to venture out again, (this is the view from Bonehill Rocks, down the valley beside Chinkwell and Honeybags Tors) Normally we would ride into Widecombe and tie ponies up at the pub, but this time we opted to walk out without them. There is always a fire going at The Old Inn, and good food, and it is a great place to warm up.

Wednesday dawned dark and roughly. We sat in the tent for as long as we could, putting off the moment of getting drenched, but there comes a point when you just have to brave it! We did, only to discover that little Cleo was lame. The day was looking grim, certainly for the children, and then - we were rescued! As we rounded the corner to the farmyard, there was my friend's husband with the horsebox. Completely out of contact as we were (no phone signal in the valleys) everyone was starting to worry about us out in the storms. The little ponies charged into the horsebox, quite desperate to get home, just leaving myself and Kathryn, and her daughter, to ride for home as fast as we could.

So we have finally recovered, none the worse for our adventure, apart from Cleo who has strained her tendon, but is looking much improved now.