BLOG about PAINTING

Wow. That was an ugly few days. But I'm feeling a lot better, so it's time to add another blog item.

I have to comment on another of New Zealand's weird and wonderful birds, this time the Pukeko.

Pukeko

It looks like a big, gawky chicken. You can see them all over the fields, stalking along a bit like herons. They do fly - sort of. Native New Zealand birds didn't need to fly because there were no ground-based predators, no mammals. The Pukeko's current scourge is the Australasion or Swamp Harrier, a relatively recent arrival (mid-1800s).

Well, we'd had quite a bit of rain, mainly in sudden squalls that broke up the sunny periods. For the last day or so, however, we've had RAIN. Probably at least 50 - 75mm or more, driven in heavy sheets by gale+ force winds. Just lovely. As my Beloved woud say, "It's a harbour day."

The field in the valley has become a lake that has spread as the tide came in. I feel sorry for the poor cattle that a farmer put into the field a couple of days ago. They're not swimmimg, but they're close. Their hooves must be sinking quite deep into the turf.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

I have yet to see a kiwi vine anywhere, but there must be some somewhere because there are lots of the fruit in the stores. And they're nice and cheap. There's also a variant called a 'golden kiwi' that costs a bit more. It has a bit of a lemony tang to it and is quite nice. (I still prefer the old fashioned green kiwis.)

Yep, more skies. The last few days have been clear and cold with amazing skies. It's not good for painting outdoors since not only is it pretty nippy, but also there are sudden, ferocious squalls of rain or hail. So I sit by the kitchen window and paint the skies that I can see across the valley. I'm still struggling with the new paper. Today I decided to paint on the back of it, which doesn't have the strong texture.

Unfortunately, with this wet weather, most of the park trails - or 'tracks' as they call them here - are taking a beating. A lot of them meander across sheep pastures, so they're all chewed up and way, way too muddy for hiking. We therefore walk down the road to the beach at the south end of the peninsula. It isn't quite as lovely as the park trails, but many of the bushes and trees are blooming with exotic flowers, and it's a good, hilly workout.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Have I mentioned about garlic? It's $26.99/kilo!!! And that's not even organic. This hurts, especially since I left 90 plants in the garden when we sold the house. I sure hope the new owner realizes what a treasure she has.

The skies were quite amazing today, so I had to try again.

There's a bit of a cold snap on right now (highs of about 12C) with a forecast of possible heavy showers and hail. That's probably what was responsible for the fantaxtic clouds. After I tried dahsing off some skies - very reminiscent of doing quick life drawing poses - I had to get outside to experience the weather first-hand. Except for the usual gale force winds, it wasn't too bad, and the rain even held off until I was coming back down the driveway.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

I had another 'Northern' moment today. The forecast was for windes shifting to the south, so I automatically thought, "Oh good, at least it will warm up!". But NO. Of course not. Down under, that a polar wind, so things really will be cooling down.

Quiet day today. Rainy and grey. I didn't do much except make a big batch of chicken stock. There's a really good butcher in Warkworth, and when I asked if they had necks and backs for soup stock, he said he had whole carcasses and brought out a big bag of bones from which they'd removed their cuts. There was quite a bit of meat still on the bones. Brilliant! Tomorrow we'll have chicken soup, but I'll also freeze up the clear liquid in 2-cup measures so that I can make pumpkin (squash) and other potages in the days to come. Wonderful for lunches on rainy days.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

It takes a bit of getting used to the time difference. We're eleven hours ahead of the UK. (When its 6 pm here, it's 7 am in the UK.). And we're five hours behind BC, but tomorrow. (When it's 6 pm here, it's 11 pm yesterday in BC.). When we flew down, we lost a day, but we'll gain it back when we fly home. Fun, eh?

Afternoon Sky

I bought some new paper, real watercolour paper this time, rather than the stuff I brought with me. That was probably just printmaking paper, so its surface couldn't take any abuse. I thought this new stuff might suit better for skies, which tend to need several layers. Well, it might, but I learned that Ican't use an opaque watercolour on it. It has far too much - and too regular - a texture. The granules of pigment sink into the grooves, and one get's a vertical sky! Ha.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

There are three kinds of gulls around here. One, the Black-backed, is quite large and heavy-bodied. The other two, the Red-billed gull and the Black-billed gull are both tiny and quite delicate. The Red-billed, which is quite common on local beaches, has bright red beak, legs and eyes. It also has a very red inside of its mouth as we saw today when a nearby specimen yawned!

Looking East Again

Yesterday afternoon we went for drinks at the neighbours'. What a lovely couple. Maria and Hubert immigrated from Germany about 35 years ago, back before my beloved and I had even met. They ran a sizable farm with 50 fruit trees and various herds of animals before they sold up, travelled for a year, then enriched the neighbourhood by settling here in Scotts Landing. We very much enjoyed spending a couple of hours with them and look forward to seeing them again!

The clouds are moving very, very quickly across the sky. Apparently we're in for some cold weather over the next couple of weeks. According to a meteorologist, this is July weather a couple of weeks late. There'll be heavy snow down on the South Island. We won't get that here, but windchills will be significant. Good thing we have warm clothes!

Looking SW over Mahurangi Harbour

Today, I had to get outside to paint, no matter what the weather was doing. It didn't seem to be blowing quite so hard, so I took my pack and walked up to Ridge Rd. I had no specific place in mind; I just wanted to walk until I saw an interesting scene. As it happened, I didn't have far to go. Just down the road I found a site in the grass with a view down over Mahurangi Harbour, the body of water to the west of of the peninsula. (Most of my other drawings have been looking east.) When I arrived, the tide was out, but before I finished the tide had come in over the sand flats. (One has to work quickly when the sky, the shadows, and even the sea are changing so rapidly.) By then the clouds had moved in and rain was threatening, so I packed up and headed home with my sketch. The painting is no great shakes, but at least it was done in the field!

TODAYS TIDBIT

This is the land of sheep, right? Well then, why haven't I seen anybody wearing a wool sweater? According to a clerk in the local grocery store, it's because nobody can afford one. All of the wool is shipped overseas! This makes me realize just how lucky we are in BC to have access to lots of great quality wool at very reasonable prices.

It was another squally day. We went for a walk out toward the point. We wore our rain gear, and it was a good thing, too. Not only was it great for breaking the wind (gale force again), but also keeping us dry. As I've mentioned, this is the land of change. One minute, it looks like this:

and the next, it looks like this (sort of):

That's not a good picture. It's too green, and you can still see too much detail. When a squall blows through, you can barely see anything. Of course, you get pretty wet pretty fast. But then the sun comes out, and the wind helps you to dry!

TODAY'S TIDBIT

This place can match, if not outdo, Metchosin in several categories: views, prices, and wind.

It's a peninsula, surrounded by turquoise ocean on three sides with rolling green hills in the distance. There are gorgeous views in all directions.

It has been blowing since we got here. There may have been one day without strong or even gale force winds, but it seems that the wind howls all the time. Luckily, we're on the lee side of the ridge. However, when you go out for a walk, you're in the teeth of it.

House prices are staggering. There's a small lot up the road. Granted it has some good views, but $895,000 for 3/4 of an acre and no installed utilities?