A Farewell to Eller?

Hello Again Everybody,

It really has been a long while since my last post, but such a lot has happened in that time. 
I've been undecided whether to keep this blog going. It seemed to finish with that magical Easter time when we bought a Hare in Trier and took him around the restaurant and the Cathedral and the wine bars and then back on the train. But he's still here and is sitting by me as I write this. I've documented my latest paintings and my painting news on my new Facebook page, but it doesn't have the same feeling as a blog... I'm a bit worried about it all falling off the end of the timeline (though it probably won't) and then I'll forget what I've done...... When times were a bit dark, it was good to go back and read everything that I've written here.....

And as for my paintings? The ones I showed in progress in this blog - 'Halloween Wilbur' and 'Wilbur in the Window' (though it's really called something else) - were exhibited this summer in the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London. I've become an associate member of the Society of Feline Artists (SOFA). My last 'Painting in Progress' on this blog The Swan and the Stuben has been finished and has been accepted into the Bentlif Open Art Prize Exhibition in Maidstone. And, I've started an etching course at the local college. Have a look at my website for the paintings/prints of the above-mentioned, though I'll probably post them here as well....
I'm also starting to do Pet Portraits - I'm starting a new 'Painting in Progress' with our Princess Bups and I'll post the first couple of stages very soon. At the moment I have stage 2 & 3 - and it was when I was writing about it on my website this evening about the blue background turning into a deep sky of rabbits and stars that I thought.............

I thought..........

A Farewell to Eller? I hope not....

A Painting in Progress - Easter in Eller

Hello Everybody,


It's been a cold Easter Sunday here in the Moseltal - a bit of sunshine and a bit of cloud, but it was a different story altogether a few weeks back....... 
Back then we took ourselves off on a train ride to Trier and found out that the Easter Market was in full swing. First call was one of the wine stands and a glass of the local sparkling, then we had a wander about looking at the stalls. There were Easter Chickens, Easter Rabbits, little Easter Birds on stalks to put in a plant pot, Easter Pot Pourri, Easter wreaths to hang on the front door..... but nestling amongst all this we found a Work of Art.
An 18 inch high Easter Hare.
And he was gorgeous.


We had another glass of sparkling while we considered the consequences of carrying a giant hare around all day. H was in favour of paying for him but leaving him at the stall to Pick Up Later. I reckoned that if we were going to buy a giant hare then we may as well have some fun with him.
'You carry him then,' said H.


Our first Port of Call was Trier Cathedral, where I took his photo alongside the Domstein - somebody else took a photo too, not realizing that he belonged to us.
'That'll be five euro please' said H.

Then inside the Cathedral, in the Closters, I took his photo sitting on the window ledge - we met a very nice couple of American ladies who photographed him as well.
'Thank you so much for sharing your Easter Bunny with us.'
H was quiet about the fee this time.

Of course all this taking of photos had made us a bit on the hungry side, so we figured that  as long as we could find a restaurant that did good lettuce, then we would be O.K.

I must admit that I was surprised that Easter Hares had a taste for Ricard, which is something that I must bear in mind In The Future but the salad went down well anyway....

........apart from the peppers.

'Would he like some carrot juice?' asked the waitress when it was time for dessert.

He started to get a little bit heavy on the long trek back to the Railway Station, but he met an old friend in the Bar - and on the train we managed to get four seats to ourselves (surprisingly enough).

'Can I take a photo of your Eas......?'

We were used to his Celebrity Status at this point and just waved away, Casual Like.

We even got a wave from the ticket inspector, hanging out of the driver's cab as we landed at Bullay - he'd inspected our ticket earlier and said that Easter Hares could travel on a Rhineland-Pfalz ticket. No Problem.

And today, on Easter Day he's sitting on our window sill wearing a garland of blue flowers (the Hare, not the ticket inspector).

That day was a Magical Day.

So, Frohe Ostern!

A Painting in Progress - Fifteen Barges on the Ides of March

Hello Again Everybody,


A sunny, spring day in the Moseltal, so we made the most of the blue skies and headed off for a spin along the River. We ended up in the village of Brodenbach and had one of those nice lunches which are unexpected and inexpensive - a bratwurst and a beer from an Imbiss (Snack) stand. There was a little picnic spot there as well, so that we could watch the barges and talk to the ducks. The beer was a local one - Königsbacher - from Koblenz, since we were pointed in that direction......

......just the bottle, not a glass or even a straw - and since we didn't want to appear as people who just had to have a glass (Dahling!) to drink their beer, we knocked it back straight out of the bottle like everybody else.
We saw fifteen barges altogether during our little foray - fifteen barges on the fifteenth day of March. Beware the Ides, so they say, and a man who was killed 2056 years ago today is still remembered. Those ol' calendars were a bit complicated back in them there days - all that counting backwards, I'd never know where I was.....


I was back here this afternoon though, and got a good few hours painting done. I would like to get this painting finished in the next couple of weeks, so I'll have to find myself a few more hours a day from Somewhere....

So, until then,


Tschüss!!

A Painting in Progress - Herons, Cranes and Vaya con Dios

Hello Everybody,


A cloudy weekend in the Moseltal, not the sunny couple of days we were led to expect from the trusty weather report.
Wilbur is well pleased with himself at the moment as he has a New Source of Adventure when he helps me with the recycling. 
A Trailer.
'Look at me! I can walk all around the edge without falling off, then I can run round and round in the inside on me four fluffy paws and turn meself upside down in the corners!'
If it hadn't been for Wilbur, I would have missed the cranes this morning. Still in adventurous mood, he bounded out into the garden and when I followed him, I heard that strange eerie noise which makes you look up - and there they were. I still think it's great that with all the distance they fly, from Spain to Scandinavia, they fly over Eller. We saw them today, Wilbur and me, just about midday, so they were flying up above the village while the church bells were ringing out over the Valley..... 


Despite the lack of sunshine, it was a mild day for a walk down by the River. The herons are now back as well and are busy nesting up in the trees on the opposite bank - I always think of herons as standing about in water looking for the odd fish or a frog, so it's interesting to see them perched up high in the trees in their twiggy nests. Every now and then they stretch those loooooonnnnggg legs and have a bit of a soar about and a bit of a croak, but when I saw them yesterday, they were all standing on a little spit of land just before the railway bridge......

......I counted over twenty of them altogether - never seen so many herons in one place.


I was accompanied on my walk today (well, part of it) by the barge Vaya con Dios (Go with God) - carrying coal in the direction of Trier, then either onto France or along the River Saar. We haven't seen our ol' friend Eiltank 47 for a long time now - I'll have to check on the whereabouts of Merlijn as well, now that everywhere's waking up again. Here she is turning the curve at Bremm, by the Calmont Slope - the afforementioned Kloster Stuben is just behind the trees on the Riverbank.

H says that he would love to be a Barge Captain and I must admit that I see the attraction of it meself, traveling the waterways of Europe, seeing different places at different times of the year. Wilbur would love it too, I imagine, with his ol' friend Frankie curled up tight in the cabin on cold and windy days and hunting iridescent flying fishes leaping from the bows when the sun was shining.....


So, soon.
Tschüss!

A New Painting - And Saint Fridolin's Day

Hello Again Everybody,


Spring seems to be arriving in the Moseltal - the Sun has been shining, the buds are thinking of bursting forth, the vitners are pruning and the Hoteliers and Restauranteurs are opening up the shutters of Winter, washing down the Summertime Cafe Spots and giving the umbrellas a good dusting. 


It's also a good time to get my new painting underway - I've had the idea in my head for a while now, but it was getting a bit lonely in there all by itself. I said before that it's going to be a painting of a swan against the 'backdrop' of the Kloster Stuben......

....... The middle picture is one that I did of the aforementioned Stuben last year - so this is going to be a bit of history and a bit of local wildlife mixed together. The Kloster Stuben is a ruined Augustine Abbey and is situated on the opposite bank of the Mosel across from the Calmont Slope - which is the steepest vineyard in Europe and has 'Bremmer Calmont' in big white letters stuck into the ground a bit like the Hollywood sign.


And while we're getting all historical, today - the 6th March - is Saint Fridolin's Day. Fridolin was an Irish Abbot who is said to have founded our village of Eller and has a stained glass window dedicated to him in the local Church of Saint Hilarius.

He is often depicted with a dead body (you can just about see the skull in the photo), because as the story goes, he raised the dead to prove that he had been given land as a gift on which to build his churches.
H's latest novel is about the life of Saint Fridolin when he lived in Eller, so we had Spaghetti Bolognese to celebrate. During his research, H came across an old song, or a poem written in Mosel-Franconian, the local dialect (don't ask). Roughly translated it comes out as the following and is probably best appreciated with a pint of Mosel-Hefe (don't ask about that either).

Holy Fridolin, Holy Fridolin,

We hail you on this day,

The winter it is passed,

 Now Spring is on the way,

The 6^th of March it is your name day,

We celebrate it every year,

On this day we prune the grapes,

For the harvest soon to come,

Happy in our task for winter is now done.

But we remember daily,

that you gave to us this home,

In Holy Hilarius' church,

We chant thy holy name.

Then to St Rochas' chapel go,

And a votive candle light,

That burns all through the special day

and deep into the night.

So, Soon,
Tschüss!

A Painting Finished - Journeying Cranes

Hello Again Everybody,


Here's the finished painting of my Tortie - 'The Avatar Purr', so called because she's now the 'New Me' on the internet - do you see the little picture over there to the right? That's the one I mean....

.......and here's the painting with the Torte herself - not as confident in front of the camera as my fluffy Wilbur (see, she is like me)....

Away from the painting, we had a busy past few days driving to Birmingham, to a printing exhibition at the NEC. Recession or no, from Eller to the Encore Hotel, the ol' Chevy was the oldest car on the road it seemed, but did us as proud as ever, giving the Mercs a run for their money, especially when we were going downhill. It was a tiring trip - too much driving in too little time, but all worth it in the end I hope. 
We saw the Cranes again as we were driving back along the A4 from Reims to Metz. Circling up ahead, you could see some of them flying through the low cloud - again what a wonderful close-up photo that would be. What a strange and different world they live in..... H also heard them when we stopped at a service station, but I was busy battling the coffee machine, so I missed them by a minute. Best coffee of the whole trip it was though.
It would be good to do a painting of the cranes, from their own perspective, with the cloud or the snow or the rain, in the dark, in the sunshine, with that compass in their head which sends them so many miles across Europe.... My next planned painting is of a swan, but I must think of the cranes......


So, soon - and here's a photo I took in the NEC in Birmingham.
Appropriate enough I think.....

Tschüss!!

A Painting in Progress - Stained Glass and Broken Ice

Hello Everybody,


I must admit that I'm a bit behind with my news of the ice-breaker in the Moseltal.
The ice on the River has been gone for a few days now, but back on the 15th, it was still thick, although the temperature was starting to rise. We saw the ice-breaker by accident at the lock in Saint Aldegund, when we were on the way to Somewhere Else. It wasn't as big as I expected at all - probably the size of a large tug, but it did the job O.K. It went very slowly backwards, then the Captain put his foot down and tore forewards through the ice, crunching and breaking it all up into bite-sized chunks.
The sound of breaking ice is as vivid a memory of the frozen River as the sight of it was....

Then as the weather got (a small bit) warmer, the ice started to break down even more and the surface of the River began to move again. Today, there are still chunks of frozen waterfalls left on the land, but the River is clear and the sky was blue and sunny.
I took the top photograph at the same time as the ice-breaker - the poor swans at Alf, standing on the Alf Beck tributary, wondering where all their water went to....


Then off to Foreign Lands at the weekend - we took a spin down to Metz in the land of Pastis and Fish Without BreadCrumbs. We spent a peaceful Sunday morning in Metz Cathedral, after some spiritual guidance with the signposts (it's France remember) and a parking spot. Now I said a while back that I don't like to use the word 'wow', but yep, that's what you just HAVE to say when you step inside. It's so high, there's so much space - more space I think than would be taken up if it wasn't there, if you see what I mean....
Anyhow, the Service was on, the organ was playing and the sunshine was pouring through the stained glass, reflecting blues and yellows and purples on the stone......

After the Service, we wandered around while the organ was still playing and looked at the  stained glass windows by Marc Chagall (the bottom one in my photo) - what a wonderful artist he is, 'wow' all over again......


So, soon - (my painting's nearly finished).


Tschüss!