A Tale Of Two Hounds and The Sea ( or A Soggy Dog Story)

How apt that I should finish this painting of Lunil and Bil for Freyalynn the day before I left to take my own two dogs to the ocean. But that wasn't quite the original plan......

Poor Magpie cut her leg open a couple of weeks ago, and had to have several stitches, which meant she was made to wear 'the cone of shame' for a whole fortnight while they healed. She was very sorry for herself, wondering what terrible offence she might have committed, to have been punished in this way. As the removal of her collar coincided with our plans to visit a (non-doggy) friends holiday cottage on the beach for a few days, we had a wonderful idea. Magpie (short - haired, impeccably well-behaved, and very much in need of feeling like an 'only' dog for a little bit) could come too, and Daisy (good-natured, but whichever way you look at it, a bouncy, exuberant, water-loving mud monster) could go visiting by herself for a few days!
We congratulated ourselves on our great plan, and gleefully prepared for our holiday. On the morning we were due to leave, I took Daisy for a walk and play with her great friend Teddy, a German Shepherd of the same age, to wear her out. They raced, and tumbled, and rolled, through the peat bog, and through the muddy wallows, and over the muck heap, and this was the resultant state of her!

Thinking I couldn't possibly leave her with someone else in this state, I dragged her into the bathroom and showered her. This is where I shot myself in the foot.
Daisy emerged, clean, sweet-smelling and wonderfully fluffed up ( but distinctly unimpressed!)
and we set off for Cornwall without her. Unfortunately, her bath meant that over the course of the day her coat began to moult in enormous handfuls, until the house was awash with fluff, and she was not a welcome visitor anywhere.
So Daisy was fetched, and to her great delight, joined us at the beach.

She drank seawater and made herself sick,

played in mermaid's pools,

and galloped up and down empty windswept beaches

chasing seagulls. In short she did everything the children did, and had an absolute whale of a time, as did they.

Pie glumly put up with being bounced on by a large wet and sandy Tigger.
Steve and I and my sister spent our waking hours hoovering floors and washing mud spatters from the walls to try and erase all traces of Daisy's exuberant presence. Lovely as it was to have a break, it's nice to be home where a bit of dog hair doesn't matter!

A Gilded Hare and an enchanted Forest

The Gold Leaf has arrived! I haven't yet dared to gild the great expanse on Freyalyn's painting, but I have begun to play and experiment with it. Here is a teeny tiny golden hare.

And in her room one night a forest grew ..... A dark and mysterious forest, hung about with owls, of mossy green and lichen grey, just right for a dark and mysterious daughter of the earth. Dogwood stars decorated with wooden beads surround a collection of unicorn paintings. A perfect space for dreaming, and writing, and contemplating the world which opens up before you.

I feel slightly covetous - MY bedroom contains nothing but an exploding mass of laundry - wet stuff draped around on airers in the vain hope it might dry, clean clothes in huge piles ready to be sorted, (NOT ironed - life is too short to iron things) and wobbly stacks of books, ready to catch me out when I creep out to answer Beetle's midnight mew.

You would think butter wouldn't melt, wouldn't you? Hmmmm, don't you believe it.

She wanted owls, not flowers

My house is filling up with little owls, lining up on curtain rods and mantelpieces. Their soft tweedy hooting whispers round my bookshelves and up the stairs.

I have been making these to string around my daughters bedroom. At her request it has been painted dark green, and is becoming a forest before my eyes. Originally I had planned to paint twining honeysuckle over the walls, but instead these owls appeared.
They just keep breeding and breeding - I can't seem to stop myself making them ( and I feel weirdly as if I have fallen into an Alan Garner story!)

Mostly my time has been taken up with ponies and children in the last couple of weeks. We have been lurching from one vet's visit to another, and I dread the arrival of the bill.
Perry and Kestrel have become firm friends, which is heartwarming to see.

Finally I have had a couple of days to myself and have thrown myself into the latest commission piece. These are not my dogs, though Lunil and Bil look remarkably similar to Daisy and Pie! This is one of my birthday trades, and it has been swirling around in my head for weeks. I have been itching to get started properly, but I suffer from the frustrating problem of not being able to be a painter and a mother at the same time. I just can't switch mindsets quickly, and end up spending large amounts of time doing both, badly. I get slightly panicky when real life commitments pile up, and I can't see clear days ahead for painting. Everybody suffers as I get snappier and snappier. I feel horribly guilty for saying it, but it was a welcome relief to have the children go back to school on Monday. I have had TWO whole days to paint uninterrupted, and it is wonderful!

This piece brings together several influences. Illuminated manuscripts and fairisle knitting patterns. And Gold. I have been wanting to work with gold for a long time now. I have never yet found a satisfactory gold paint, so I think the answer lies in Gold leaf. This is a new medium for me (and makes me rather nervous) but I think it is the only way to achieve the right effect. I have been studying pictures and puppets brought back from Thailand in my younger days, and I love the stylised images with beautiful detailed gold leaf work. The British Library has a fantastic digital collection of illuminated manuscripts online HERE

I am planning to have a gold background to the dragonboat, making this look like a page from a modern illuminated manuscript. The gold leaf is ordered, and I have been reading tutorials on technique, so I can't wait to start playing with it. Of course, the master of this technique is the fabulous Jackie Morris, whose watercolour and gold leaf paintings are absolutely exquisite!

Stitched Hares and Guilty Dogs

At Last, I have finally listed the Hare quilts for sale. They are NOT in the Etsy shop, but currently HERE on the gallery pages of this blog. If you are interested, do email me :)

The latest Quilt, 'The Hare Wheel' is very nearly finished, although this is progressing painfully slowly. Time is so short on these long summer days, I rarely come indoors until the light is fading. Quilting is definitely better suited to winter evenings.

Here is Daisy dog, in terrible disgrace.
Friday was a bad day in her eyes, right from the start. I was out all day, and she hates to be left behind. To add to that, when I returned home, I had to take Magpie to the vets to have the dressing removed from her tail, revealing a nicely healing cut with 8 neat staples in it ( that's a story for another time!). Daisy was left behind BY HERSELF, which she was most put out about. Later we all went out to a barbecue, and the dogs were left behind AGAIN. ( I hasten to point out that in between being left at home, they had been for two good walks). Several glasses of wine later, we wobbled home, and were horrified by the scene that met our eyes when we opened the front door. Magpie had chewed all the staples out of tail, and re-opened her cut, and due to the extreme wagginess of her tail, had flicked blood all over the kitchen. Daisy, meanwhile, had decided to remove half the stuffing from the sofa, and there was fluffy wadding everywhere. Luckily Steve and I both saw the funny side of it, particularly as Daisy was so racked with guilt that she was unable to look at us. Magpie, on the other hard, spent the rest of the evening staring mournfully at us, mortified at being made to wear the 'cone of shame'.

Kestrel is three weeks old now, and growing stronger and bolder.

He likes to play with Sandpiper, who is much more tolerant than his mother, even though he keeps chewing her legs.

A foxy dog, and a doggish fox

'Boris and Bracken'


Oh my! It seems two weeks have flown by, and I have barely had a chance to go near my computer! I'm sorry - things are happening so fast here, it feels a bit like my life has been turned upside down ( in a good way!). It has made me stop and think a bit about this blog. There are lots of things I am starting to work on with the horses which I would like to document as I go, but I am worried that putting it here will bore my loyal readers ( well, many of you - I know there are one or two who are as horse obsessed as I am!). So, this is my question - should I include a bit more of the horsey stuff here, or should I start a separate blog just for that? Your opinions would be gratefully received ;)

In between taking large steps forward with my life, and listening to Regina Spektor ( listen above if you don't know her work - she's fab!) I have been out with the dogs in this glorious sunshine, taking pictures of stone walls and hedge banks for my latest foxy painting. Here is a little peek - I'll show you the whole thing as soon as it is finished!

Eostre

'Eostre'

She's finished, my interpretation of the goddess, Eostre. The colour is slightly darker here than in the original, because I can't get the colour quite right with my camera ( it is too large for my scanner). So this is another that will have to wait until I get in to Exeter to the printers studio for some professional scans.
Folklore tells us that Eostre was an Anglo - Saxon goddess, celebrated during the fourth month of the year. She represents new life and fertility, and is symbolised by eggs and hares. It is often assumed that the Christian Festival of Easter took it's name from this, hence the traditions of Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies in Western Europe, ( which, let's face it, have nothing to do with the crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Christ) though it would appear that there is scant written evidence to prove this. The only mention of Eostre in historical texts, is by the Venerable Bede (672 - 735 AD) in his work' De Temporum Ratione' .

Progress continues with 'The Hare Wheel', but very slowly. I am laboriously stitching words in the last hours of my evenings, slowly, slowly filling up the wheel.

A wander round my garden today found that my beautiful, silky rich, deepest crimson hellebore flowers had opened. I love these, grown from seed many years ago, the clumps quietly expand each year, untouched in the shadiest part of my garden, blooming in all their Gothic beauty each Easter.

And this is Daisy, come to stay for a while. I've known her since she was about 10 weeks old (she's only just over a year now) but her people's circumstances have unavoidably changed recently, and so she was in need of a new home. She has come to stay, to see how she likes being here, and she seems to have settled right in. We all love her lots ( we did anyway, before she came) and Magpie seems to like her too, which was my biggest worry, as I didn't want Magpie to feel pushed out. The cats are not best pleased, but they are asserting their rights, and Daisy is wary of them. Especially the ginger thug, Miu, who turned into a hissing, spitting, erratically bouncing hairball when he first met her. Miu even swiped at Magpie in his fury, which hurt her feelings deeply, although he did come over to apologise afterwards. Beetle, on the other hand, is more reticent, slinking alongside Magpie for protection. She mothers him, curling herself around him as a guardian when Daisy barks at him. Aside from that both dogs seem very relaxed and happy, so we are hoping it will work well.

How do YOU negotiate gates?

Jack, the anteater, with his snaky tongue, manages to insinuate himself through the smallest of gaps.

Magpie, the canine ping pong ball, shows him how real dogs do it.

Hazel thinks they are both hilarious.

One World - One Heart Blog giveaway!

Well, I decided to jump on the Gypsy Wagon as it trundled past me. I am rather late, and had to run down the road after it, and jump on the tail board, but here I am!
So, for those of you who haven't yet encountered the 'One World - One Heart' phenomenon, it is the brainchild of Lisa Swifka, and the full rules can be viewed on her 'One world - One Heart ' blog. Basically, it is a huge blog giveaway! There are hundreds of participants, all of whom can be found on the right hand side bar of the main blog , here.
The event runs from January the 19th to February 11th, and winners will be announced on the 12th of February.

I am offering this little original sepia ink and watercolour sketch of a fox, to the winner of my draw. In order to participate, you must leave me a comment after THIS post. The comments will close at 9 o'clock UK time on the 11th of Feb. You do not have to be an active blogger, but you MUST be able you be contacted should you win. If you cannot leave a blog, website or email address in the comments ( which will be visible to all) then you need to check back on the 12th of Feb. Should I be unable to contact the winner in the 3 days following the draw, I will draw a new winner.

So, get yourselves off around the blogosphere entering draws for wonderful prizes. There is no limit to the number of blog contests you can enter!


We have had Jackdaw, Magpie's son ( who belongs to my mother) to stay for a couple of days, which is always fun! He is 18 months old, but probably twice the size of his mum. Dog dinner in our house is a bit later than in his - but he couldn't be telling me any more clearly just how hungry he is!

And I couldn't resist snapping yesterday's beautiful rainbow!

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas All! First I just wanted to say 'Thankyou' to all the lovely people who read my blog! It has been such fun to start this, and I'm amazed by all the great people I have met on my stumbles through the Blogosphere.

It has been a crazy week - far too many things to try and squeeze into the short time before Christmas, but we did manage to get out to see Sheelanagig in the village hall! They were absolutely fantastic - fast and furious fiddling and fluting. Gypsy rythyms, and russian fairy tales, and a touch of jazz, and plenty of showmanship made for a hall shaking from all the boots stomping inside! It has been a long time since I've seen the whole hall full of dancing people ( and in true Chagford fashion, it looked as if half the gig - goers had just come out of the Narnian woods - lots of blokes in skirts with hairy ears!)




It has also been a week of pet portraits! The painting at the top is Henry, a wiry little terrier, while these two pics are Miu, the ginger monster

and Magpie and Beetle. ( I have to point out here that Beetle, the cat, like Magpie much more than she likes him! It is a sadly one sided relationship!)

There's something nasty in the corner.....

Oh My Goodness! I said a terrible word in front of the children at breakfast!

It was a really hectic time - you know the sort I'm sure. 10 minutes till we leave for school, and the children are STILL slowly eating breakfast and only half dressed. My aunt had just popped in for a cup of tea on her way to work, and I was looking through the cupboard, desperately searching for something to make three packed lunches with. Magpie was behaving strangely, sniffing and squeaking at the shelves in the corner of the kitchen behind the clothes airer. This was most unlike Magpie, but it reminded me that I had woken in the early hours of the morning, and heard her crashing around downstairs. I had just assumed she must have fallen off the sofa in her sleep or something similar, and hadn't come down to investigate.

There, under the stereo, and covered by a curtain, are stacked hundreds of Cd's. I went in to have a look, wondering if perhaps the cats had brought in a mouse, which had escaped. After taking out a few handfuls of albums, I spotted a movement down behind the Tom Waitts collection. I grabbed them, and to my horror, there was an enormous rat!

That's when I swore and leaped backwards. As one, the kids jumped on to the kitchen table, toast in hand. My aunt retreated to the far corner - " You screamed!" she said accusingly " I didn't think you were that sort of person". Luckily nobody seemed to have noticed the F word contained in my shriek. Mild panic ensued, as I tried to decide what to do.

The kids suggested I got the gardening gloves and grabbed it - " You must be joking" was my reply.

My aunt suggested we ran next door to borrow their Jack Russell, an excellent ratter, but they were out.

I tried shoving Beetle towards it, but despite being thrust to within 12 inches of its hidey hole, he merely flicked his tail disdainfully and sat down to wash his bottom. Then suddenly , thankfully, the rat made a dash for freedom, and shot across the kitchen and out of the front door. Beetle appeared not to even register it's presence as it shot past him, but Magpie, after a moment of shock, raced out after it and down the garden.

So, this made us late for school, but the kids were pleased because they got to have school dinners instead of healthy packed lunch. Magpie was also over the moon because she felt she had been extremely helpful in removing the intruder, and she is still keenly checking the stereo shelves in case another rat should appear. It just left me, slightly shaken, and with the prospect of cleaning my kitchen from top to bottom. Still, there was a silver lining of sorts - while disinfecting and cleaning rat droppings from the entire CD collection ( it took an hour and a half) I did find an old Lou Reed album that I haven't heard for years, which helped me to while away a days work .

Magpie, Proud Pest Controller