A Painting in Progress - HochWasser?

Hello Again Everybody,

I knew something wasn't quite the same as usual, when I looked out of the bedroom window this morning and saw a swan swimming alongside the road. Now the River level has been rising quite fast and the current was very strong yesterday, but the water has risen a great deal since then. Because yesterday (if the fancy had taken me and it hadn't been so cold and my healthkick resolve had been a bit more positive...) I could have walked along the path by the River and taken some photos of the water. But today, the path is all flooded.....

The little bridge (not the Railway one) on the top photo is part of the path and is where the Ellerer tributary the Eller Beck flows into the Mosel. This photo was taken back in the summer when there was very little water, at the moment the path itself is at least 6 inches underwater, probably more. You can see the green railings, but you can't walk to them. Perhaps with a pair of those fisherman's trousers (certainly wouldn't try it with wellies) - but I don't know any fishermen and wouldn't fancy all that wading anyhow, what with the strength of the current. The photo alongside it is the view from the CamperVan park - the actual course of the River is far off in the background.
The bottom two pictures are a 'Then and Now' of the direction sign on the path. When there was HochWasser (High Water) last year, you couldn't see the sign at all and the water was over the road - but last year we had early snow - this year it was only a few weeks back that the Rivers were really low.....


So, we'll see what happens - if, when I look out of the bedroom window tomorrow morning and see a swan swimming around in the garden, then We Are In Trouble. Don't forget your lifejacket Wilbur.......


Glug, glug,
Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Didn't we have a luverly time the day we went to...

Wasserbillig?
A dutiful day, there were storms all the way,
We could hardly see the ground you know....
But on the way back
The skies weren't so black
and we stopped for a Glühwein in Trier
Glad we were dressed in our Long-Johns and vests
As the rain poured down...


Don't the 'Old Tunes' just bring all the years together - I had wanted to bring a Musical Link at this point but you know as well as meself that you Can't Have Everything.... So here are  a few pictures of Trier Christmas Market instead.....

These photos were taken just a few minutes apart, so you can see that one half of the sky was blue and the other half ..... wasn't. The stalls are very picturesque and Trier, Germany's oldest City is well suited to it, with the Old Market Square and the lovely Cathedral. You can buy a mug of Glühwein (with the mug, if you like) a sausage, little wooden animals, Christmas ornaments, hats, jewellery, traditional cakes, have a ride on a carousel and even do a little bit of Shopping if H has Somewhere To Sit Down.


In the unlikely event that you didn't know, the aforementioned Wasserbillig is in Luxembourg, only an hour or so down the road and is the home of cheap (inexpensive) petrol, sparkling wine and coffee. H says that the cost of driving to Luxembourg to fill up with petrol evens out the cost of driving there in the first place - so basically we get a Free Day Out. Even if it is raining. And if you manage to drive into the town itself, there's a lovely Church.
We had a very good burger and coffee in the Burger King on the way back into Rheinland Pfalz - as it is sometimes nice to have something different from the Eternal Schnitzel. 


But all this rain is pushing up the River level - it's brown and muddy and flowing fast ....


So what with all the travelling, together with some design work, the Progress to my Painting has been slight, though I have definitely decided to make the celtic border a darker green with more of a golden outline. But I did do a sketch of Wilbur looking out of the window at the rain and the barges.

Soon,
Tschüss.

A Painting in Progress - Cochemer Weihnachtsmarkt

Hello Again Everybody,


As the Season of the Bah Humbug rapidly approaches (wot me? I love it) - I said to H that we should visit a Christmas Market. Now the nearest one to us, as far as I can gather, is up the road at Cochem. Now, Cochem Does Not Close - not even in the winter - we even saw a Hotel Ship today, cosy on the inside, cold on the outside. 
Anyhow, it was all dependent on us finding a Parking Space - but H was triumphant (he loses the Bigger Picture sometimes) and we paid our 20 cents for 30 minutes.

Now this photo hasn't been digitally remastered in any way whatsoever, so as to give you the Full Christmas Experience. 
We had two Reibekuchens (between us) and a mug of Glühwein each. Reibekuchens (I'm not sure about that middle 'e') are a bit like hash brown potatoes and were tasty enough - freshly cooked While You Waited. H had apple sauce with his, but I really didn't fancy that at all. The Glühwein was nice though - always is. 


Got a bit more painting - or thinking over my painting - done this evening. I've painted a lot more fur and Wilbur is almost finished and I've also done a lot of work on the landscape - but now I'm thinking that the Celtic Border needs to be a stronger colour.....

So, I did a bit of colour changing via my trusty computer - I didn't need anything refined, just a rough idea of how the painting will look with the colours a bit different... I'm thinking that a darker green circle with a gold outline onto a sagey green background (3rd picture across at the top) could work O.K. - but I'm going to think about it tonight..... It's important to keep the Green Theme as it's Ireland.

So, Soon,

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - St. Nicholas' Evening

Hello Again Everybody,


When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining into the garden and bouncing off the walls of the neighbouring houses. What a big difference a little bit of sun makes.....
I had an appointment this afternoon - a Cake and Coffee with the local ladies on the eve of St. Nicholas' Day - so I went for a good walk (preparation is everything) along the path by the River. The Eller Beck was a lot livelier of late, what with the Rain of Yesterday and was pouring a good bit of water into the Mosel.

I took this photo of the Calmont Slope with the River and the trees. I've always liked these trees, they remind me of a painting of Georgia O'Keeffe's cottonwood trees - spring or autumn, summer or winter, they always look picturesque.
The afternoon was very pleasant - coffee and One Piece Of Cake (kirsch krumble) since I see a diet before me. It's very interesting to be 'in-tune' with the Saint's Days - I think to meself 'What's all this about then?' then I look it up on the trusty ol' internet - and there you go - everything all seems to fit together.....
I enjoyed the singing and came home with a chocolate St. Nicholas - a present for H. of course, even though he only went 'Hummmppphhh' and it's not even Christmas yet. He says that these 'Women Only' events are a Good Idea, but I think that he feels a bit Left Out sometimes...
I had my camera at the ready, to take a photo of my St. Nicholas before he's eaten, but Bertie decided that he wanted to share the stage....

I was reading that St. Nicholas can appear with a white horse or a donkey - but here he is with an ancient (but very lively) black and white cat....


Bis Bald!
Tschüss.

A Painting in Progress - UXBs

Hello Everybody,


There was a bit of excitement today in the area as two WW2 unexploded bombs were made safe after years of being in the Rhine. Now if you were listening at the beginning of this week (and why not?) you would have read me going on about how low the water level is in the River Rhine at the moment - so low in fact, that a couple of bombs were discovered when they were made visible by the low water.
They were found at Koblenz, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. It was the biggest bomb disposal operation for many years and over half of the population had to be evacuated. But everything worked out O.K.
Normally Koblenz is a busy place and at the confluence, where the rivers merge together (on a good day you can see the two different colours of the water) is a place called the Deutsches Eck - the German Corner. It's shaped like the prow of a ship and is a great place to stand and watch the boats and barges.

It has the flags of the German Länder flying along either side and a big equestrian statue of Wilhelm I behind them. When the rivers flood, all this is covered with water..... The opposite problem today though, even though it has rained.....

Still, all this was a good hour's drive from Ediger-Eller, so I kept an eye on the news and carried on painting.

Did some more detail on Wilbur's white fur. Still wondering about the background....


So, soon.


Tschüss

A Painting in Progress - And Some Rain

Hello Everybody,


Well the chicken stew has gone the same way as the broad beans, so next time we see a 'cheap chicken' in the supermarket we will walk on by - and next time I find some 'out of date' beans or lentils or whatever in the cupboard, I'll chuck 'em straight into the bin without even mentioning them to H. who will say....
'5 years out of date? You don't need to take any notice of THAT'


Anyhow, it rained today which was good news for the rivers - a good ol' Irish type of rain - not torrential, just continuous and soft except when you need to take the shopping out of the back of the car, when it buckets down.
But it meant that it was a good day for sitting inside doing a bit of work and a bit of painting - we had a spin to Treis-Karden - and bought some coal bricketts and some Cat Sticks on the way back. After we dried out, there were a few peaceful hours of painting - Wilbur kept me company for some of the time, watching the birds, the neighbouring cats and the odd barge.
This is the painting I was saying about before I was interrupted by the Chicken Stew....
It's Wilbur and his friend Frankie, back in Ireland - I did this painting just for me....

My new painting has the same thoughts behind it, but nobody else would know that except meself.
Wilbur's still part of it - and there's a mountain that's somewhere in Cork in the background......

I'm enjoying this painting - I'm thinking what colour to paint the background surround - something dark? something light? something contrasting? something to blend in?

I'm thinking on it.

So 'till next time.

Tschüss.

A Painting in Progress - A Chicken Stew

Hello Again Everybody,


Did a lot of painting today, but you'll have to take my word for it, as this evening is concerned primarily with Chicken Stew. There will probably no pictures unless it's one of the Noble Boys of the Feurwehr with a Feur Extinguisher and a Saucepan.
It all started when we discovered a Cheap Chicken Mine in one of the Cheap Supermarkets. 
'99 cents for a chicken....!!! Aha!!!!!'. H was elated.
'Grand Job Altogether' said meself.
Now, I'm also clearing out cupboards at the moment (you know how you do....) and I found some Butter Beans ( best before 9th January 2007 ) and some split peas ( NOT lentils - I made a mistake) - best before 25th July 2003. Now you know yourself, that these 'sell-by' dates can be given a little bit of leeway here and there.........
'Will they be O.K.?' asked meself as they festered away in a saucepan.
'No Problem' said The Chef.
'Are they supposed to look like that....?'
'Have another glass of wine' quoth He.


So I did - and in The End....
our Cheap Chicken Stew cost us......
Price of Cheap Chicken
Price of Dried Pulses and Stuff we bought Quite A While Ago (Investment For Our Future)
Price of 8 Hours electricity, cooking the aforementioned Dried Pulses and Stuff.
Half an hour's heating for having to open up the Front Door to let the smoke escape.
Worry about the plumber's fees for extracting Butter Beans from 'The Plumbing'.


We're having Omelette tonight. (With Ketchup)

Tschüss!!

A Painting in Progress - Mist and Mouse Towers

Hello Again Everybody,


It's been a while since my last blog - but as a blog only reflects what's happening in life, then there are bound to be a few gaps every now and then.
It's been very misty here in the Moseltal and even though the other side of the valley is only about a quarter of a mile away, we can't see the other side from where we are. It can be a bit depressing, so today we drove up out of the valley, up into the sunshine and blue sky all the way to Bingen on the River Rhine. There's no mist there, but the water level is getting very low as there's been no rain for ages. 

On a small island in the Rhine at Bingen, is the Mouse Tower, or Mäuseturm, which was used in past times for collecting tolls from the boatmen, but is better known as the Bad Bishop Hatto's final refuge from the mice who pursued him and finally had him for lunch. No mice today, except this one that I saw in an empty hall alongside the path....

It's possible to walk to the island at the moment, if you have a good pair of wellies a sturdy stick and a waterproof bag for your camera. I had the wellies, but the path was made from slippery stones and the water was calf height at places - so I watched someone else slip and slide and paddle along it instead. The barges are still passing in the main channel, but apparently their loads are having to be cut back a bit because the water's not as deep as usual. The last time we visited the Rhine was back in January, when a barge had overturned by the Loreley - on that visit we couldn't even drive along some of the road by the River because of the flooding, now we can almost walk to the Mouse Tower because there isn't enough water. Times change.
Indeed they do, so I've put my last personal painting on hold and have started a new one. It's very similar in thought to my 'Frankie and Wilbur' painting - I'll post that in my next blog, or you can see it on my website.....
www.ramplingpaintings.com 
under the 'Katzen/Cats' section.

Just beginning it anyhow, better get the brushes out.....


Soon,


Tschüss

A New Painting - And Some Time in Ireland

Hello Everybody,


It's been a while since my last blog, but it's been a busy time - a trip back to Ireland, with the long journey across Belgium and France and then a bit of a boat ride at the (almost) end of it.....


But it was a good trip, an important one too - the ol' Chevy did us proud, burning up the autoroutes along with the Mercs and the Audis (well, almost...).
It was good to see that all my little 'markers' for the journey, that I always used to look out for, were still there - there have been times when I wondered whether they would still be there at all... The brown French autoroute sign of the old planes at Albert near the turning for Amiens, the huge white 'corkscrew' sculptures before the Pont de Normandie, the strange old contraption built on the wall of a farm outside Caen, the sign for La Manche as we're getting close to Cherbourg.....
We took the ferry - the Oscar Wilde - from Cherbourg over to Rosslare.

 I had wanted to stand on the deck where I've stood a few times before and see Ireland gradually appearing in the far distance. First the wind-farm at Carnsore Point, then the low land of County Wexford - and say 'Hello Ireland, we're back...' but of course it didn't happen like that - there was so much fog and mist that the first sign of land we saw were the harbour walls. But it cheered up considerably once we were on dry land and started the drive to Cork.
Nothing had changed - it seemed to me that we had only been away for a couple of weeks....
So many thanks to all our friends who gave us great hospitality and introduced me to the world of big and lively dogs!
And also many thanks to our friends here who looked after Wilbur and Co. so well....


So, after catching up on work and sorting out a few commissions, my own personal piccie is still in the opening stages....

But I'm looking forward to getting it underway, especially since the evenings are getting so dark now. When we arrived back, there was sunshine for a couple of days - and a little bit this afternoon - but winter seems to have arrived already at the Moseltal.....


So, soon,


Tschüss.

A New Painting and - Merlijn!

Hello Everybody,


We saw Merlijn today - for the first time this year.
I love Merlijn. Love, love, love. 
I love Merlijn as I'd love a dappled horse standing on a hill, somewhere on a wild Irish landscape, with his mane blowing out in the wind and his grey nose smelling the sky. 
I love Merlijn as I'd love a big old train going to Venice, with the carriages painted in a navy blue so deep and shiny, you could see your eyelashes in the reflection..... I love Merlijn.....
When H wins the lottery ( I don't believe in it meself and think that you should put the money under the mattress instead ) - he can buy me Merlijn and we can go to Venice the Hard Way, with Wilbur sitting at the pointy front bit as a furry little Figurehead, looking out for flying fishes and dolphins with big deep eyes.
We saw him waiting at the lock at St Aldegund this morning (Merlijn, not Wilbur) and we waited and watched until he was gone from sight. He's a converted barge, at one time carrying freight, but now passengers. 
We saw him many times last year and like that classy sports car, he always stands out from the crowd. He's my favourite barge on the Moselle, along with our old friend Eiltank 47, who's a industrial/commercial barge and probably three times the size.
I should probably get out more.
Did a lot of work with my new painting - thinking up the composition and the colours - I'll post my sketches with my next Blog.
In the meanwhile, here's Merlijn....

Waiting to go into the lock at St. Aldegund.

.....and a photo I took last year when he was moored at Alf for a while....

I also did this sketch last year, from Bullay across the River at Alf. In the end it was so cold, it was just me and the geese.

Soon.

Tschüss!

A New Painting and a German Haircut

Hello Everybody,


I'm still looking at my painting and doing a small bit of tweaking, but I'm thinking now of the next one..... It's been interesting for myself to log the progress of my Wilbur painting - it's the first time I've ever broken a painting down into all the different stages and see how it develops. I'm also happy with introducing a more of a 'Fantasy' element than I normally would. Has this come from living here in this Ancient River Valley with all the history? I can't really say, but I think that I'll stay with it for the next painting too...
So what to paint next?
Wilbur in Winter?
Perhaps a painting with a Swan?
Or maybe a painting with Wilbur and a Swan in Winter?
There are endless possibilities....
Which brings me to my new haircut.
I had my little piccie of what I wanted it to look like. I had my phrasebook - 'Hier etwas kürzer, bitte.' I had my fingers crossed. 
But the hairdresser did a Very Good Job. She cut it how I wanted it to be, even though the picture wasn't quite what I really wanted and my phrasebook didn't have nearly enough phrases.... So that was meself in a good mood anyhow. It was also heartening not having enough vocabulary to discuss what I'm doing on Saturday Night and whether I've bought all me Christmas Presents Yet....
After all that, we went across the way to Globus Hypermarket to get the deposit back on our plastic mineral water bottles. They've got this great machine where you put in the empties, it reads the barcodes, then prints you out a slip which you can exchange FOR CASH. This is a wonderful thing and the machine reminds me of something you might come across in Las Vegas. 
Only you have to drink a lot of water first.


I must find a little picture for this post. Can't have a blog without a picture. Me new painting is in me head (don't want to go there), me finished painting you saw yesterday evening. So..... what can I find? Even though I said that it's quietish here in Ediger-Eller at the moment, the grapes are being picked and there's a yeasty smell along the old streets. But The Grape Picking is not that noticeable really - people get on with their work and drive tractors up and down the roads and that's about all you'd see unless you were in the midst of it... So here's to you and the wine of tomorrow....

They've progressed a bit since I took this photo, but you get the idea.

So.

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Finished?

Hello Everybody,


Long Time no Blog - just over a week, but it's been a hectic one to say the least. I had a couple of very urgent design jobs to do, which was good for work but not good for my painting. But they're finished now and I think my painting is too.....

See, it's on an easel, signed and everything, so it must be done.... probably just a little bit more tweaking... 

Then I must scan it into my computer with my trusty A3 scanner, set up the colour profiles to get the best print - I might put a small black border around the edge too. I won't be selling this print in a mount, so I think that a little border on the print itself might look O.K. - I'll see.

Then it's time to set up the shop - I must get the header worked out, all the key words and phrases and all the bits and pieces that go together. The one big problem I have is that I may have to be away for a short while soon (only just found out now...) - so I don't want to open up the shop, then have to put it on 'hold mode' after only a week or so.... But if I don't open it until I get back, then it will be too late to sell the prints of this painting for Halloween....

What to do.....What to do....

Don't you find that things always come together at the same time and tangle themselves around your plans? Yep.

Of course, 'Celtic Cat (that's Fluffy Wilbur to thee & me) in A Moonlit Forest' - Fantasy Cat Painting from the Moselle Valley - would probably work too. And just like a 'Dog's Not Only For Christmas', Wilbur isn't just for Halloween....

I must think it over.

Away from the studio in the Valley, things have been quietish. There are quite a few tourists about, but they're mainly interested in walnuts. For some reason this year, some people are finding big sticks and bashing the poor ol' trees to get the nuts, rather than waiting for them to fall naturally. Hey you lot - don't do THAT. It's just not nice.

Bis Bald.

Tschüss.

A Painting in Progress - Peaches from the PeachGarden

Hello Everybody,


A nice, sunny day today - got my washing out and it stayed out and dried. Got some more of my painting done (the fur,the fur....) and had a walk to Ediger and back. 
Now we had three missions to accomplish in Ediger - make a hair appointment, have a glass of wine (since it was a sunny day and winter is fast approaching, so how many more sunny interludes do we have?) and buy a couple of bread-rolls and some Black Forest Ham.
The hairdressers was closed two hours for lunch, it was the ruhetag (rest day) of the wine place - normally they still serve wine, but not today......that left the supermarket - we were O.K. there anyway.... One körner brötchen (with seeds), one normale brötchen (no seeds), a packet of ham, a packet of cheese slices (not for meself) and a bar of chocolate (uh oh...)


So what to do about the glass of wine? - (forget about the hair, I suppose another week doesn't matter so much anymore...)
'Conzen's' says H.
'Grand Idea Altogether' says meself.
Conzen's is a classy establishment and has a grand view of the River because it has a huge first floor terrace with big umberellas. So we sat for a pleasant lunch hour in the corner table alongside a big-leaved plant which H said could be a Triffid.
I decided to have a beer in the end. A very nice light wheat beer - and even though it was only a small one, it looked big enough in the glass.
'That's a big beer for a small one' says I in my best German. (Well I think that's what I said.)

See, it DOES look big.

Settled down to painting this afternoon, and this evening I was off for my German lesson and came back with a big plastic pot full of peaches.

Soon,

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Walnuts Keep Falling on....

......well everything at the moment.


Hello Everybody,


It's been a busy past few days what with one thing and another - we even had to miss the big Straussenweinfest in Ediger, which was a great shame. But H had to go to the little supermarket in Ediger at 8.30 Sunday morning, and people had already started the wine tasting. The weather was really bad for the rest of the day though - pouring rain and wind - but Saturday was really hot and I'd say that there were plenty of people about.
Anyhow, to make up for this deprivation and because we had a few hours free, we stopped for a glass of wine and a sausage this afternoon at Theisen's. The sun was shining again, but we got the tail end of Katia - I didn't have enough hands to hold the glasses, the menu and H's manuscript all on the table. It even shook the walnuts out of a tree just across the way. They were bouncing off the parked cars and off the ground - perfect walnuts, not in their green cases anymore - all they need is drying out in the sun..... 
H collected two pocketfuls.


Finished all the ironwork detail in my painting, now it's back to Wilbur and his fluffy fur - then it's the whiskers. I have a special brush for them.

Oh and the necklace, mustn't forget that...

Tshüss!

A Painting in Progress - The Bremmer Kreuz

Hello Everybody,


Sorry for such a boring blog post yesterday. I broke my own little rule of 'if ye don't feel like writing your blog, then don't'.
Not today though - today was a 'wow' day for anybody who's mad about landscapes and far horizons. We decided to take a hike (from the car-park) to the Bremmer Kreuz - the cross up on the Calmont slope that I mentioned the other day. It looked a bit rainy, but it didn't last and we had a nice little walk past a huge ploughed field then through the woods with oaks and pines. H was on the lookout for bears. As usual.

Anyhow after about a kilometre (we thought that it was an Irish one to start with - i.e. two kilometres) we came up to a slight slope and a little clearing in the trees.....

It really was a 'wow' view - I don't really like that word, but that's what it was. The photo doesn't do it justice at all, as it was overcast and you would need to be up there on a good day for a good photo - but you could see for miles and miles. Our village Ediger-Eller is there on the left by the railway bridge and there's a lovely little church and another Cross on the high ridge between the River.

(There are paintings of these on my website www.ramplingpaintings.com )

And that huge meander - that's a great meander that is. All the cultivated areas are grape-vines and the Calmont slope, which we were standing on top of when I took the photo, is the steepest vineyard in Europe...

The cross was lovely too - simple and peaceful - I can't understand why we never found it before, but I'm glad that we've found it now...

Just look at all that sky...

Naturally all this fresh air put me in a good mood for painting and I worked away on the detail on the gate...

So, till tomorrow.

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - A Windy Day in Eller

Hello Everybody,


It really was - this little bit of the Mosel valley was like a wind tunnel - there were leaves and walnuts all over the place. The walnut season is cranking into gear and already there are people clutching plastic carrier bags and probing around in the grass looking for them....


And - another Birthday. Tis the season for Birthdays and it was a great, unexpected party. Good company, good food, good wine and good music (except when I was doing the singing). The great Mosel tradition of celebrating Birthdays continues....


I'm a bit short on pictures today.... I've got some work done on my painting, but I'll post the latest photo of that tomorrow - it's mainly more work on the gate. 


So, here's a photo that I've taken of one of the aforementioned walnut trees. In a Georgia O'Keeffe inspired composition (I love her paintings), with the trunk at a diagonal. There are two schools of thought as to which way up, is the right way up, for her painting of 'The Lawrence Tree' (as she didn't sign her work) - my own feeling is, that this way is the right way round. For me anyway...

The bottom photo is of the River between Ediger and Eller.

Tschüss

A Painting in Progress - Out for a Drive

Hello Everybody,


It was a hot day yesterday - 48 degrees in the garden in the full sun - and fluffy Wilbur (star of my painting) was out sunbathing in his fur-coat.
'Ain't you hot, Fluffy?' says I.
'Puuuurrrrrr' says Wilbur very quietly (he is a very quiet purrer).
Today was cloudier and not so hot, and we went for a ride in the ol' Chevy up behind Bremm and out of the valley. There's a sign post I'd noticed before, directing the unwary to some Roman monument or another, and which I saw today is also the track to the Bremmer Kreuz - a cross up on the Calmont Slope. Now I wouldn't mind a little hike to the Bremmer Kreuz - I never knew how to get there before today - and with a cool morning and me pair of Good Boots there should be quite a view at the end of it.... I'll let you know.
For now, here's the view from the track before the car park.....

Nothing spectacular, photographically speaking, but you see that darker bit of slope in the background? That's where the River has worn the valley away into these huge meanders - the land above is mainly flat and ancient volcanic. There are wind generators and cows up here.....

Been working away with my painting - got more trees painted in and today I also started on the ironwork of the gate (? perhaps).

I had to put a bit more light on the tops of the pine-trees as they were blending in too much with the sky - and putting the detail in the ironwork is now starting to bring the background and foreground together....

Till Tomorrow...

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Walnuts and Radlers

Hello Everybody,


I discovered a short while back, that a 'Radler' is a shandy - now it's been a long, long time since I've had a shandy - I think it was back in the New Falcon in the early Eighties. I've only just rediscovered it now, because H was looking for a can of beer to put in the curry and bought a shandy instead - even though it had 'Radler' written all over it. Anyhow, it was left in the fridge for a while and I decided to drink it the other afternoon. 
And do ye know what? It was really nice, tasted just like the one did in the New Falcon.
So this afternoon, as it was sunny and warm, we went down to Siegfried's Bier (and shandy) Wagen and I had a Radler made by Siegfried himself.....
Down by Siegfried's, there are loads of walnut trees - and the walnuts are almost ripe and ready to start dropping to the ground. Then it's a WalnutFest when everyone goes out collecting... Those who are in the Know, get up early and collect the best ones, but a second-best walnut is good-enough for me.

This particular walnut was on the ground, with part of the green casing eaten away by some little creature - there are supposed to squirrels here but we've never seen any. Plenty of moles though - 

'Where do the moles go when the river floods?'

Nobody seems to know.

Got the conifer trees painted in my picture today - I had intended to paint the trees under the castle, but when I mixed up the paint it seemed to me to be more conifery, so I did those instead. Also used much the same colour for painting the River. The water is whatever colour is reflected in it plus a little bit extra....

So for now,

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Vine Leaves and Zell

Hello Everybody,
Had to go to Zell this morning to the Bank and whatever - a lovely, sunny day and we decided to have a glass of wine on the way back.....

Unfortunately, the place we chose was having it's 'Ruhetag', which means 'No Wine Today' - it was a shame as it as the perfect day for a wine by the River. All the bars and hotels around here, have a 'Ruhetag' - a quiet day, a day off once day a week (always the same day, but different days for different hotels) - and this can sometimes be a bit unfortunate as there can be six days of bad weather, then on the good day, when there's business to be had, it's the day off..... Got a nice photo anyhow...... I love these half-timbered houses....

Got the vine-leaves done in my painting this afternoon - I made them a bit more spikey and smaller than real vine-leaves would be, but the tendrils are curling around the Stars (well, one of them) - so that's good enough for meself.

The Star formation is The Plough, it's not to scale and more than likely not in the right position, but it's my favourite Constellation and I think this is where it fits best.

The weather was hot and sunny here today, but the evenings are getting cold. Can we really be thinking about winter already......

Tschüss?

A Painting in Progress - Cricket and Angels.

Hello Everybody,


It's been a quiet few days here in the Moseltal, which is why I haven't written much in the Blog Department. No Hailstones, No Drumming Parties, No Birthdays. But today the sun was shining and we had a glass of wine this evening. There's a 'weinstube' just up and along the road from us - the owner is a wine-grower and has a 'wine cellar' that he opens up for half the week in the evening in the summer months. For some reason, there always seems to be a very talkative or a very intellectual clientele, which counts me out anyhow. But the wine is good and the tables are very rustic.


We went for a stroll around the village before our wine and walked up a street we had never walked up before (not sure how that happened).... Found this '3D mural' - and alongside it are a row of heads peering through the wall. I thought this Angel was the sweetest.....

On our way back up to the Weinstube, we said hello to a pair of wonderful rabbits who live in a hutch and a run, just off the little village road. One is big and black with huge ears and the other one is small and creamy and very furry. But they're both gorgeous of course.

Got quite a bit of painting done these past few days. I did a lot of work on the sky - first I put in the two blues, then, with the help of my trusty 'Stay-Wet' palette, I blended the two colours together, to give more of a cloudy look.

My trusty 'Stay-Wet' palette is a great help, as you can mix up a colour or two and know that it will still be usuable the following day (this is for acrylic paint). I thought about buying one of these palettes, but then I looked up on the good ol' internet and found out how to make one myself. You need: a container with a lid. Some thick paper, such as a spare bit of watercolour paper and some greaseproof paper, the kind you use for cooking. So you just cut the watercolour paper to fit the bottom of the container (make a template from card and it also saves time for the greaseproof paper) - then cut the same shape with the greaseproof paper. Then soak the watercolour paper with water, stick the greaseproof on top and use it as a palette whenever you're ready - just put the lid on top to keep everything damp when you're done. The paint you mix up will last for a while - if it's hot, lift up the greaseproof and wet the watercolour paper again - I use a cooked-chicken plastic container we bought from Dunnes Stores - not only have I got a good palette, we also had a tasty chicken for lunch...

So I just put a bit of fresh colour over the clouds and the sky, then got a clean brush with water and mixed the two blues together.

I did the castle today. I like castles.

While all this was going on, H was busy writing - he was also listening to the Middlesex - Leicestershire Cricket Match. he sent them an e-mail and they read it out on air - how H is writing a novel about St. Fridolin in Eller and his wife is busy painting and how cheap the wine is etc. He got Ediger-Eller on the airwaves anyhow!

So, Tschüss!