Eight White Curious Visitors.

A lovely cottage with views across the lake and the village. I am fascinated by this place. It's had a new roof after some severe hailstones peppered holes in the roofs around here in 2005. The house was lived in by Georges the 'Menteur' or Georges the 'Liar'. The man inherited his name from his father. I have never seen anyone here as it has been left to decay.
There are still a few folk here who were schooled here but they are slowly disappearing. Mine is a very small village of only 15 or so houses. Very quiet.
This photograph was taken while I was looking for the moon to watch the eclipse.I did eventually see it;  strangely red in colour as it rose.

Yesterday I painted  in my studio while, outside, it poured with rain.

My farm visited by 8 lost cows. Here they are, by the back-door.

After half an hour they decided to hit the road.

This is my place. When dry , I catch up on-line, and  drink coffee. 

Toms are ripening.

The geese have just got out of the pond. Behind them, the little ducks  are going  back in.

Here is my atelier from the back. I may try to cladding it with planks, or paint it. Behind me are our sheep fields, leading to a wilderness of forest.The building with the tin roof is the sheep cave where they sleep when it's hot. 

My painting today. I have changed the sky colour, and there are lots of other  smaller changes.

Big Jam Making Day

Close up

    We had a bumper year here for cherries. Many of the luscious fruits  

are still in the tree as they are just too high to pick. We have my washing pole with a hook on the end for shaking boughs and then we have the geese to fight for the droppings. Last year we had a Polecat after the    Mirabels.

They seem surreal to me. So ripe, red and against the greenery in the orchard.  

I bought some plants from the market, 10 tomatoes  of a variety  of kinds. These  pointy ones are doing well.I am watering them every day, often twice. If I miss watering the leaves droop.

My cat with 3 legs. He was found on the roadside a year ago tomorrow. He sits up  in the barn during the day and has an old wooden ladder to climb to get up. In the evenings I try and keep him in. Otherwise he fights other cats and comes home with lots of scratches. He is a little bit of a moaner, with a very loud yowl for a tiny cat. He's fiercely independent with plenty on his mind all day. I tell him he's lucky to live in a farm with a very obliging owner.I don't think he realises quite how lucky he is. 

I've never made jam before.I had a pound of blackcurrants left from the garden so I decided to jam it. Then before the cherries ripened and fell to the ground I jammed some of these too. I had to stone the cherries and hunt for jars sterilise and not really knowing about making jam a bit of research. I'm sure I learnt lots but I don't know if any of my jam has set.

This is the cherry jam, i'm not sure if it's going to be the jammest of jams . I'm sure it will be great  to taste in the lean winter months, maybe on a cake.

I walked up the lane to collect hay for the sheep in winter. A tractor came and cut own some of the verge a few days ago. There are no cars or  spraying here so I am collecting it for winter roughage. This huge redcurrant bush caught my eye. I wonder if anyone will pick the fruit. Blackbirds?

While out I had a peek at a cottage garden.

The cows are by the lake so I am off tomorrow to sketch some to add to my landscapes.

Stretching Ducks

After flicking through I realised I should put more pictures of the creatures here. They are getting bigger  and I love the way, as you can see they pull and stretch themselves as if willing their plumage to open and grow.  I especially love it when they do a leg stretch combined with a wing. Sometimes they stretch along the ground with their necks at the limit along the floor with the leg outstretched behind along with an outstretched wing. 

Back to sleeping.

Burgundy Painting

So this is where I'm at with this painting. It is over a metre wide. I work in thin layers gradually adding details. I work quite slowly, I think.
I am quite spontaneous at the beginning trying not to be too precious. While working quite slowly by building over time I  like to keep the paint fluid and expressive. I like to think I am  developing new techniques all the time.

The ducks are developing lovely plumage, these wings are the last to  arrive. Although they are at the pond all day they do get out now to sleep on the bank. When I went to visit them they stood and stretched before returning to sleep.

These  were the seeds I sowed back in February. A few are flowering. I collected a few seeds from my sisters' garden in Malvern. Now I come to think of it her poppies were flowering in September.

Tomatoes.

Vintage Wallpaper,Linen and Craquelure.

Vintage wallpaper. I have put a post about this on Burgundy Bygones

I am at the Brocante again. For all those budding artists's amongst us. He wanted E110 for the box.

I keep seeing the most amazing hand made wonky ceramics at the Brocantes. I was looking for a 'Vinaigre' today, where one throws the dregs of the wine bottle or glass to make vinegar. Traditionally the 'Mother' or 'culture' is passed on from generation to generation  with these rather spendid rustic pots. They have spouts and a wide neck. This pot on the right caught my eye. It had rather fine proportions and it was a bit squashed in. It  was not a 'vinaigre'. Spout was up near the top, the neck was narrow and the top was broken otherwise if I hadn't already bought 2 linen sheets and a pile of vintage wallpaper and a shelf it may be sat beside me now. I might be patting it.

I bought this sheet, - heavily patched very rustic and frayed, - because it  was  lovely . Ancient.

My sofa dressed in linen.

I have never really had my own garden before. I have worked in many . I think this is why I am so intent on taking so many images of flowers. This is a poppy from a seed from my sisters' garden (Malvern) that I  sowed in February. This one is about to pop. Tantalising.

A Mallow. I don't pull up the wild flowers.They all mingle with everything else.

I saw a Hen Harrier in this field, just outside the Brocante. Amazing bird.

We stopped in the village and I couldn't resist this paintwork on a door.

Route to Autun along winding roads to the fishes

Lovely curving glacier formed landscape. It wants to be painted.

Everything is so familiar and yet there is dryness and this incredible softness .  

Spectacular clouds

My favourite farm along the way

Beautiful

Then the shock in the supermarket of the fishes. This is a shark, cut into two.

we bought smoked haddock, Julienne, and tuna steaks for me to make sushi.

I eat fish, and no meat.