Travel Blog

Boy, did it blow yesterday! Some gusts were upwards of 40 knots, and the rain was blowing sideways. But it was warm. Go figure. The garden furniture got blown across the yard, and a lot more fruit self-picked from the citrus trees.

I was a weather refugee, driven indoors by the wind. Wind is one of the main triggers for my migraines, so there was no way I could venture out. There weren't even any good clouds to paint. So I made up for it today, painting skies. I'm really struggling with these. Partly it's my failure to 'see' and remember the shapes and the colours of the clouds, and partly it's my not having the necessary watercolour painting skills. For example, I don't know just how long to let any particular layer dry before I bleed in a bit more colour, how to soften edges without getting washback, etc. (I really should have taken Clive Powsey's course at MISSA.) But that's what practice is all about, eh?

There was an accident just south of Warkworth yesterday. My Beloved was being treated to beer at the venerable Puhoi Pub, and he and his host got caught in the traffic hold-up on their way home. Shades of the Malahat Drive on Vancouver Island - just one road heading north and south, and any glitch can stop the traffic dead in its tracks.