A Fox In My Bedroom

Dartmoor on Thursday night, can you hear the hounds baying?

Well from continuous sun to continuous rain. We are now experiencing a typical Devon Summer, the Summers we used to enjoy when I was small staying at out friend’s farm Dunsbeare year after year since I was 3 up to the age of 13 when my Dad bought the cottage. Nice. Not.

A Peppered Moth and friend, on cottage wall outside

Grass Eggar - a rarity! Comes every year and sits by my bedroom window

We had a busy few days with Shirley. She came 2 hours early, for ages she told me the train arrived at 2:03pm but it was actually 12:08, so we were a little late, just a tad. She was there waiting for us. Then we drove to the garages and picked up my Dad’s car and got rid of that rotten VW polo! On to a garden centre, then Waitrose in Okehampton, then home . . . Finally. That evening (this is Friday) we went to The Duke of York at Iddesleigh for dinner. Had to wait ages for a table but met Peter Walters there with his wife and so had a long chat with him. Really nice food and great atmosphere.

The weather, typically, went down after a starry night. We were going to have a walk by the sea but the rain wouldn’t stop so we went to The National Trust’s Castle Drogo, England’s last built castle, completed in 1945. The family still live there on the top floor and they are now into their 3rd generation, when they have all passed on the castle becomes sole National Trust property. It was built in Dartmoor granite and has been leaking water ever since and is now part of a £5 million restoration. It’s a very dreary looking place; it looks a little foreboding and would be great as centre stage in some haunted film or ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ dramatisation. It worked especially well with the weather! We came home wet and tired and had a sleep. Mum cooked an amazing dinner and we ended up going for a walk at 1am to look at the stars.

Castle Drogo

No photography allowed inside

The next day the sun shone but it didn’t last. As soon as Shirley lay on the bench to sun bathe the heavens opened and that was that. We dropped her off at the railway station, had a disgusting coffee and then went on to Exeter city centre for shopping.

Exeter Cathedral

Today it has rained constantly. I’ve done nothing. Just reading and sleeping.

On Friday night I had a very strange dream. That night Dad and Shirley saw a fox run up the garden in the garden light. The Lampers too were out with their big beams scouring the field for poor defenceless animals in their pathway. I stood by the gate watching them, chanting, ‘Fuck you!’ For once I heard no gunshot so they left empty handed. I know the animals are there, I’ve seen foxes, rabbits, hares and deer, and they were lucky that night. I’ve also been reading a book called ‘Gone to Earth’ by Mary Webb, which features a pet fox. It’s about a gypsy woman who loves nature and is against all animal cruelty. She is so naïve and ignorant about the life around her and gets entangled up with the local squire who falls in love with her. He is a cruel, beast of a man, although he’s too late to ask her to marry him, she marries the parson. She has a half blind cat, deaf rabbit, blind blackbird and a pet fox called Foxy. To cut a long story short she falls to her death in an old quarry pit holding Foxy as the hounds were after the fox. It made me cry. So Friday night I dreamt that there was a fox in my bed. I woke up sweating at 3:30am and felt something furry and tried to get it out. The next morning . . . Well, this is where it gets really spooky; I found a muddy paw print on my bed.

Eeeeekkkkkkk!

Oh my God.

That’s too frightening. I’ve always known Devon was strange, but this takes the biscuit!

And Dad was my witness. He’ll tell you!

So. . .

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. I can’t say anymore tonight.



Emy xxx

P.S What pictures you may ask? Well, I'm missing at least 10 more all because blogger photos won't upload tonight. So tomorrow it is as I've lost ALL patience!

More Photos but of Devon, The Best!

Scots Pine (of course!)

Just a quickie today because we're still cleaning the cottage and this room the laptop is in will become her bedroom so I have to move my beloved Apple somewhere else.

Last nights blog was a major tour de force! And I congratulate anyone who has managed to read it, beginning from end!

Today is another small photograph catch up from this week Monday till last night, there are only 11 this time, I managed to narrow it down! (but still 700 photos of last week to 50 is very good going!) And also to say bye bye again as I'm going to be busy with my friend Shirley, but I'll be back either on Sunday or Monday. . . . . . So I hope everyone has fantastic weekend, it's going to be a lot cooler here and rain is expected on Saturday :(

Sunset of Tuesday night

Stingers!



Silver-washed Frittilary (1st one EVER in garden)

Painted Lady (my Dads' favourite butterfly)

The same pretty lady!

Last nights Sunset (note the field has been cut)



And the combine

Lots of love,

Emy xxx

Over 50 Photos & 3000 Words - I'm Back!!!!

Well it has been a week and a half since I last did this and since I’ve been back in the West I have been MEGA busy! So I’m sorry for lack of blogging!

Without my day diary that I keep I wouldn’t remember all what we did last week (as I have the worst memory possible . . . No wonder I didn’t do very well at school!) So:

Saturday 15th July – Good journey, up, over and across to middle England. We had to fork out £6 to get over to Wales on the old Severn Bridge!!!! (Free going out, wanting to get rid of us I suppose) and instead of stopping at tourist sites we go to Monmouth for Waitrose! My family and I will never change. Lovely town and then back in the packed car for Old Mill Cottage, which hadn’t changed since 2003, still standing in it’s charming position next to a babbling stream. I had forgotten how dark it was as it’s totally surrounded by trees and as it’s over 400 years old the floors are so ancient that they’re not straight anymore and whenever I got up to go to the loo at night I went up a sharp incline then back down (not so good when you’ve had a lot of wine!)
The weather was fab! Every day the sun shone (well except for one night where it rained for an hour with a few lovely rumbles of thunder above). Each morning we were woken up by the sheep bleating in the old cider orchards. That night we drunk a lot and so were up late with slight hangovers the next morning!

Going across into Wales on old Severn Bridge

The track down to Old Mill Cottage

Old Mill Cottage

Just pick it up and put it in your pocket!

The willow in the garden (looked almost human!)

One of the many Oak trees

And another

Sunday 16th July – I sat in the deckchair around 11pm soaking in hot sun (sweating) and then we made our first trip out to Worcester. There we did a bit of window shopping and then walked by the river Severn to the cathedral where we encountered a beautiful swan sanctuary. I’ve NEVER seen SO many swans all in one place! And have pictures to prove it! Unfortunately we met a very sad lady who was afraid to go home. For the last 20 years of her life she had been suffering from tinnitus, a constant whistle in the ears that gets louder each year until certain sounds can’t be heard anymore. My Dad suffers from it, so much so that he can’t hear the chorus of crickets every night in the hedgerows, or is favourite bird the Yellowhammer singing on the telegraph poles. This poor lady who also had a number of other problems was thinking of jumping in the river. How she ever got talking to my Mum about it I shall never know. So we spent a good half n’hour consoling her and trying to phone her son, who wasn’t in and she didn’t know his mobile number. Very sad. We left her and continued our way to the cathedral. Worcester cathedral has a world famous choir and every day at 4pm evensong is performed and that’s the sole reason why we were there. Unfortunately the usual choir were on their summer holidays so they had a stand in choir for tonight’s ‘performance’ . . . They were pretty out of tune! So that wasn’t successful! So homewards for rest and shower and on to the Three Crowns pub for dinner. Lovely food, but awful, AWFUL wine! And VERY expensive! While smoking my last cigarette of the night I heard a rustle in the flowerbed and went to have a look and found a dear old toad (my first of the year) crawling under the shrubs. I wished him goodnight and then retired.

Worcester Cathedral in all it's glory against a vivid blue back drop

Monday 17th July – Whenever we manage to have a week away somewhere we always write an itinerary, always so we know what we’re going to do, otherwise when it comes to the day we’re always so undecided and argumentative! (Anyone else have the same problem?!) And we were supposed to be going up on the Malvern Hills but the weather proved so hot that we couldn’t envisage ourselves on the top with no shade. So we decided to stay local. We went to our local town – Bromyard – and bought the usual pint of milk and loaf of bread and came home for ‘deckchair’ read in the garden and lunch. Dad and I went for a walk. At first we weren’t sure where to go and headed up a farm track to a field where the local farm (Home farm) were cutting silage. We kept to the side, walking up to the top when the farmer’s wife spotted us and came up on her quad. She thought that we were her neighbour who often at this time of the ‘cutting’ year comes over and feeds the workers cider. We told her how we wanted to go for a walk but weren’t sure where. My Dad had in mind of climbing over the gate we were leaning upon but ‘Tina’ had other ideas and tried to steer us down to the woods, my Dad on the other hand kept pushing for over the gate so she finally relented and told us a nice short walk over the fields and then down past her farm to the cottage. We thanked her and then as if in passing she said, “Watch the bull and cattle in the field, if you ignore them, they will ignore you”, Right, I thought, that’s why she wanted us to go through the woods yet my Dad didn’t flinch so I followed on behind in a very trusting sort of way (though a little nervous). The cottage is in the centre of a large estate called Lower Brockhampton, which the National Trust or NT for short acquired in 1946. 3000 acres of good farming country and parkland with the countries most important Oak trees, some 500 years old. There are 5 tenant farms all belonging to the term of ‘Freedom foods’ not totally organic but environmentally friendly. Each farmer pays £24,000 of rent every year (a little steep if you ask me), so every so often the old parkland is dotted over the acres and the field the cows were in was certainly part of it. A field? More likely a park! MASSIVE. Some cows were on one side the others on the other side on a hill and as we made our crossing the ones under the trees began to bellow and make their way across our path. Eeeekkkk! Could best describe our feelings, not only a bull but HUGE mothering cows with their calves in tow. Now having experienced herds like this before I know that the mother’s have got STRONG maternal instincts and would protect their young to the ends of the earth and to have two strange humans walk over their field in broad daylight, well, they started bellowing and running. Whoops. I’ve never walked so fast over a field in my life (it’s best not to run as they would give chase). So panting and puffing on the other side of the gate we watched them move across to the other side of the field. And the bull. A huge, strong looking beast. Well, he did at first glance but he was at the back of the herd and looked in a lot of pain and discomfort to have to walk that far on the blistering sun. These bulls are worked so hard every year and as they cost so much money to buy they’re worked well past their prime and so suffer the consequences. This poor Charalais bull had arthritic back legs and each stride was painful, luckily for him, one of his calves accompanied him, stopping and waiting for his Dad and pushing him on. Although I still would have given him a wide berth! It was nice walk after that and then home for wine and soup and then a walk up the orchard with my folks and having to chase a rather naughty sheep into the field he had escaped from and, true Emily style, falling over in the process, at full speed I slipped on a mole hill and pulled every muscle in my left knee. It was sore for ages after that.

Where we met Tina on her quad

The 'parkland' cow field

Come on Dad, keep up!

Home Farm

The orchard before the sheep

Blimey! Sorry folks, only done three days, five days still to go plus a brief run down of what had happened since we’ve been back. Be calm, be patient, keep reading!!!!

Tuesday 18th July – Up early for long drive into Wales. We went to the Elan Valley, an amazing place, where in 1880 the Victorians turned this vast valley into 6 damned reservoirs, which now feeds the water supply for Birmingham. Also a protected wildlife site as we saw Red Kites, Peregrines and rare Orchids. Of course I took picture after picture in the blazing heat and went to the visitor centre and got followed by a rather persistent sheep, which was after my cheese sandwich! Beautiful place, so lovely to be next to huge lakes in a hot day. Middle England would drive me mad; it’s so lovely only being 15 miles from the sea here in Devon. We were home late and went to another local pub called the Royal Oak. Nasty. Food was out of a packet. The 21st century and still dire pubs. Although the wine was better then the last one! So we left without pudding and drove to the local supermarket for pudding and then sat out in the garden until night fell. Then my Dad and I went for a small walk for a cigar! We could see Home Farm where we were sitting and the dogs were barking, so I barked with them and they started howling excitedly, if I wasn’t a cow, maybe I was a dog in my previous life!

Glorious Elan Valley







Elan valley shoreline

An island of Scots Pine - They DO get everywhere!

Wednesday 19th July – Another local day. We went to the old house of Lower Brockhampton. A lovely Tudor build with a surrounding mote and orchard. The family in the 19th century built themselves a larger property as this one embarrassed them, as it was so small. The ‘new’ house is enormous! They got their way then! Then we went on to Warren Farm, one of the ones belonging to the NT on the estate. 500 acres overlooking a stunning view of the counties and hills. To help pay for the hefty rent this farm did a tea room, craft shop and farm tours. We sat outside under the Scots Pine eating the BEST cream tea EVER, even better then Devon which is renowned for their cream teas. We met some lovely chickens with feathered feet, geese and two rather lovely ponies. The farmer’s wife, Victoria, was a real homely soul and an excellent cook. We walked over to the gate and looked over the field to the stunning views when we noticed lots of smoke and then saw the start of a pretty bad corn fire. The fire, literally, spread like wild fire! There had been no rain for weeks and so the land was dry to the bone and the fire raged. Over the past few weeks’ farmers in this country have lost £150,000 to crop fires, either caused by sparks from the tractors or combines or just spontaneous combustion. We went home and Mum cooked a lovely pasta which was about to be dished up and taken outside when the heavens opened! Typical. That night no one slept. It was SO HOT, it was 85.7F in my room and I couldn’t breathe and even the open windows didn’t help!

The 'new' house

The old house

Stunning although a little small!

Warren Farm

THE BEST EVER!

Lovely feet you have there girls!

He became my friend - only because I gave him some of my scone!

The crop fire

The view from the farm

One of their old barns - love the light

The rain cloud over the cottage


A Coma in Old Mill Cottage garden

Thursday 20th July – A trip to Wenlock Edge in Shropshire, where we sent a postcard to Lyn and Nick, friends of ours who have recently moved to New Zealand and where Lyn was brought up (in Much Wenlock I mean!). Then we went to the Long Mynd, a beautiful set of hills for a walk, yet down below, and a steep dusty path up, so we cheated and drove on to the top instead! Glorious views all around. And a typical view of England from above! Patchwork fields! We were so exhausted and my eyes hurt from all the pictures I had took that we decided to come home and Mum made eggs and bacon and I blew my bubbles. Yes. Right. I seem to be going through a phase of bubbles and Dad said I’d make a good glass blower. See for yourself!

The Long Mynd from down below

The Long Mynd from above

Friday 21st July – Our final full day yet spent local again. Dad and I went to Bromyard for essentials and dinner for that night. Then after lunch we drove around the miles of country lanes, trying to get to know the area! Then we went back to Warren farm for yet another one of their scrumptious cream teas! No crop fire this time. Then home for rest and dinner and blowing bubbles!

Saturday 22nd July - Had to be out of the cottage by 10 pm. So packing the car and cleaning. It was sad to leave yet I had begun to miss Devon so it wasn’t too sad. Again a slight detour into Monouth for Waitrose and the best M&S food shop I’ve ever been in for lunch. It was slow and long on the M5 as all the schools have broken up for the holidays and scores of people were travelling down to Devon and Cornwall the their caravans. Then home. What a lovely cottage we have and it’s all ours! You really do appreciate it more after a week in a rented one!

Holiday makers on the M5!

Sunday 23rd July – A sorry state greeted our eyes this morning. All our beautiful pot Marigolds eaten by the caterpillars! So upsetting. So we went to our local nursery Rosemoor in hunt for some more plants and bee loving one’s too as we have loads of bees this year all wanting to be fed! We found some good ones and came home and did some gardening. I then set about downloading my 700 odd photos I had taken over the last week and then our good friend Sue came round for a drink and a chat in the evening sun, sitting in the yard. I saw two fox cubs in the field and a rather large buck rabbit; those cubs would have NO chance catching him!

Monday 24th July – Perfect day of 27C and gentle breeze. My dad’s car was taken away to be fixed today after our slight crash a few months ago in South Devon to be replaced with a VW Polo until Friday. Now I’ve always wanted to drive a VW and was in for a surprise. It is the WORST car EVER! The clutch too deep and so too jerky, the indicators don’t automatically turn off after you’ve completed the corner and the engine is SO noisy you think you’re driving a tractor! The only good thing to say about it is it’s colour, cobalt blue but the rest of it can go to hell! I went to Sue’s farm Dunsbeare in the afternoon where we chatted and cleaned and saw the sheep. Took the dog Rocky for a walk in the fields and generally had a good time in the heat! She dropped me back and stayed for a drink and then it was an early night for me as the days had started to catch up!

Tuesday 25th July - Up early as we went out to lunch with our friend Elizabeth, lovely old eccentric lady who we’ve known for around 5 years now. Met in unfortunate circumstances by my folks on the Exeter road as they witnessed a young, irate woman crash into her car. Ever since then we’ve been firm friends. She’s in her 80s and in this hot weather she has been sitting outside and as got quite a tan! Even then all of us put together! We had a lovely lunch at a lovely pub sitting out on the terrace in the sunshine. A real gourmet treat! Then we circled our way back to hers, my Mum and I squashed in the back of the 2-door polo and Elizabeth took us on a tour of her local area she had lived in since 40 years. She got quite sad after a while as almost all of her friends had passed on and quoted this line: “As life went on there were more empty chairs”. We dropped her home and then drove back and had a bottle of fizz in the yard. At dusk I turned the big garden light on hoping to attract the moths and Dad and I went for a walk up the top and then back down on the bench for a cigar and whiskey. There were many moths and a frightening burying beetle buzzing around.

Wednesday 26th July TODAY - Wow, never thought I’d see today on this! Lovely and hot but a little overcast. Usual morning trip to local town of Torrington. Back home for more gardening and reading my book under the shade of the Hawthorn. I was reading away quite happily when I heard a strange sound from below. Only a metre away something was coming up through the earth – a mole! I only saw his claw and then he disappeared again! Lovely. Also we’ve been cleaning the cottage as out friend Shirley is coming for the weekend from London and my Mum always treats any visitor as the Queen so the cottage has to be sparkling and my Dad drew the short straw to clean the windows! So I might not be on here again until Sunday as my laptop is in what would be her bedroom (sofa bed).

We also decided where we’re going to live, but enough of this now, I’ll try and come back tomorrow with a shorter post!

Lots of love to everyone, oh and I’ve worked out how to tell the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket, long antennae’s denote a cricket and short a grasshopper!

Emy xxx

The Combine & The Man in the Moon

Well, this has been a perfect day. Vivid blue sky - not a cloud in sight - sun and a gentle breeze. The farmers are working hard, the combine is cutting the fields - I do love this time of year, it's so exciting when the cutting starts, noise, dust filling the air as the combine goes up and down, followed by a tractor and trailer collecting the seed from the flute or creating the stacks and hay bales - you never feel alone, I was sunbathing in the garden when a New Holland tractor came past with a trailer of bales and gave me a friendly wave! Unfortunately we're going to miss the rest as we're off to Herefordshire tomorrow for a week and I'll be going off air, there wil be no internet connection in sight, so you'll have to wait until sunday week for anything to appear on my blog. But I'll be keeping a day diary and taking hundreds of pictures - I'll be keeping myself busy!

Go on WAVE!!!!!

Alright then, I get the picture!

It's going to be a scorcher of a week next week and I can't wait! Although already I have been bitten by a nasty horse fly who then met his maker when I swapped him (is that a word?!) and there are plenty of other blood sucking creatures about this time of year and I'm ready for them!

Yesterday I cleaned the car outside and in (only to find it's full of dust from the combine this afternoon) and my Dad and I did some gardening and then had some West Country Cider! I never liked Cider until a few years back, it's a lethal drink if you're not careful!

Cricket or Grasshopper?. . .Does anyone know? I get confused

Swallowtailed Moth

The stars were amazing last night and the moths and I watched the moon rise, a real harvest moon, but not full, it has been full now it's losing it's shape somewhat! A tawny owl was hooting in the woods and I spoke to an old school friend, Orla, who I hadn't spoken to in 8 years - well, you do lose in touch with people - and it felt like it were yesterday when we spoke, like the 8 years magically blown away! I do love when that happens!

Who put that tree there? Move away!

Wow, the man in the moon!

Ok, enjoy the photos and look forward to more. Lots of love to everyone and I hope everyone has a good week!

Emy xxx

60% Chance of Buying an Organic Farm Then!!!!

Your Chances of Being a Multimillionaire: 60%

You have a decent shot at being a multimillionaire. Surprised? You're confident and a hard worker. Keep it up!

Will You Be a Multimillionaire?

Goodbye Scots Pine . . . Goodbyyyyeeeeee!!!!!!

Ok, I'm happy now. My pines are safe and I had my cow fix!

We met with Peter Walters at his farmhouse. He was very happy to take on all pines. Some will be planted in the parkland, others opposite a beautiful thatched long house and the 2 bigger pines were planted today up Peter, my Dad and myself in a beautiful field, next to a wood and the Tarka Trail (a public footpath, which used to be the railway). They are around 10 metres away from eachother but along the same side and will form the part of a new hedge-row. Peter was very good, he dug each hole, chatting away happily about his life on the farm and his conservation work. They now have 102 bird species and 32 butterflies and this year they're counting the moths and dragonflies. He's a big chap, I mean you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley! But he's absoultly dedicated to his work and gets very excited when he sees a butterfly! He finds Bill Odie a miserable old sod, but thinks Kate Humble is great! This is the last year the BBC will be filming Springwatch and Autumn Watch at the farm as the owners are selling part of the farm, the big house (the one near the road) and 150 acres of land. They'll be moving into the thatched long house which is just below Peter's house. It's such a beautiful place, bursting with wildlife and I do feel the pines will be very happy there, although I miss them, I know that they are in paradise!

Goodbye to the pines. . .

Pines in the car

Peter and my dad digging the hole

Planted

They look happy

Myself and Peter Walters

His land rover - Venerable vehicle

Me in the back!

And then we come to my cow fix! After a cup of tea and a piece of apple cake with my dad, sitting outside, we walked up the garden admiring the wild flowers on the hedgerows and the butterflies and insects, when I walked to our garden gate and saw the cows. I ran over to them and climbed over their gate calling them, of course they came up and I introduced myself and got a lick and a nudge! I took many pictures of them! Then after a while they moved off back down the field and I was happy to think that they now know I'm here. Well, it was short-lived as the farmer took them out an hour ago. To be fair they didn't have a lot of grass there and they were also competing with the sheep . I hope they'll be back though. Fingers crossed.

See the clouds?

Apart from being very tired and stiff from mad gardening yesterday, there's not much else to add and you all know me well enough now that I don't do linky things anymore or talk about the news, I find life is too short and I'd rather talk about Devon! So you'll have to put up with it for the next 5 weeks or so!

The sun did shine and then it clouded over, as soon as the cows turned round to go, the clouds came and a nasty day of rain and wind is predicted tomorrow. Great I say! Only because it'll give me a chance to paint. Watch this space.

Emy xxx

P.S Peter said we can go and see the pines anytime we want for always. . . That means I can watch them grow and around 30 years from now I'll see them mature and think, I planted them, they are mine! And of course I'll be photographing them for years to come. I can't wait to see them again, hopefully in mid- August!

Scots Pine Are Going To A New Home. . .

My blog is crying out for photographs, well, here they are: (Pine story last paragraph)

Cloud over wheat (almost ready to cut)

Right, there's 20 of them and only one of me! So I lured them into the field and then clambered over another gate and called out.

They all came, but then ran past, so I went up through the oat field and then down the lane to their gate, of course, they had gone back to the end! It's just I have lost my nerve and some of them are very big, strong and frisky and I don't want to be caught in the middle!

On the way up through the field I had to take this picture, blue and sun at last!

Further up the field I encountered a Roe Deer, as you can see, I only managed to photograph his ears and then he hopped it, as I was in a hurry to get to the cows!

Pot Marigolds in the yard (isn't that the greatest shade of orange?)

The beautiful roses bloom every year without fail

The wheat field at night (the straight red lights at the back is the TV mast)

Classic pine short at Windy Cross

Full moon (at last a clear sky to appreciate it!)

Right, the pines. For my MA project at KIAD I carried out a study of these beautiful trees and with that came my 'working' friendship with the team at Bedgebury Pinetum, Kent. They gave me 10 Scots Pine seedlings to nurture and grow and use for my work (the one above the last photo here was used as part of my installation for my final show). Now 9 have survived (the 10th died in my room in my student flat, too hot and over watered, I actually murdered a pine!) and two definietly are ready to be put in the ground. Bedgebury won't have them back as they weren't grown there and the other place we ear-marked changed hands. So we now have 9 150ft trees in our yard here and today they are going to their new home. Fishleigh Organic farm at Hatherleigh, the same place Bill Odie did his Spring Watch 6 weeks or so ago. The head farmer Peter Walters has a site for them and I'm very happy for them to spend the rest of their lives in Devon. This is the best news yet. We're due there today at 2pm. I'm taking my stills camera and video camera to document their final movements. It'll be sad to see them go.
So I'll be back here later and tell you how it went.

Emy xxx

Could Be Happier (Even in Devon. . .)

You Are 64% Happy

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Situations . . . Rooks, Cows, Paintings & the Weather (All in That Order!)

Hello all.

Right. I have no news. No news is good news (I hate that saying), only that it's wet and we are being bombarded with a thousand rooks everyday over the cottage into the corn fields, they have tap dancing lessons on our roof and mess up the garden. There are now crow scarers in the fields, which mimic guns every 2o mins or so (don't know what's more annoying, them or the birds!), plus actual farmers with guns hiding in the bushes! That REALLY fools them. I remember one of the farmers here once saying , "I believe in control", well, he's got it spot on, the rooks are falling like flies! There's one dead in the road and one dead in our garden and one elsewhere in the bushes somewhere and loads of black feathers flying out of the sky! I don't think I have anything against shooting rooks, I should have, I know, but imagine this, you're walking up your garden and suddenly a gigantic mass of black rises up above you, cawing, screeching, feathers flying everywhere! Hitchcock anyone? (The Birds was actually written by Daphne Du Maurier). So that's the rook situation.

The cow situation. Well, I went to look for them yesterday. I found signs. Fresh cow pats here and there and discarded ear tags, but no sign of them. There was another field I could venture into but it goes up a hill and I don't want to 'spring' myself on them because they'll only get frisky and start charging (actually I just loss my nerve!) So today we went shopping in out local 'bigger' town - Barnstable - and on the road I spotted them in another field, so I'll be going there tomorrow to introduce myself!!!!

The painting situation. I have done one painting on paper. Wow. Not great, but then I have been ill. So. . . !!!!

The weather situation. Wet, windy and slighty cold. Good, long, hot weather is predicted on the week we go up to Herefordshire. . . typical! But if it's 'long' then hopefully 'longer' then a week. Time will tell. You know I haven't seen the sun longer then one hour the whole entire time I've been here. No sun, so no sunsets, so no photographs to show of any kind. Sorry folks, you'll have to be patient! (dear God, I'm not!)

We have no plans for the rest of the week. I seem to be having a very spontaneous life. I'm not complaining.

Emy xxx

Nightmare x 1 (As In Living Nightmare!)

Hello all, well, here I am in Devon (at last).

It was a hell of a journey down. I took over on the A3o3 until the cottage, driving on fast, furious roads for the last 170 miles. It was all going so well when we ran into some traffic and actually switched the engine off as it was all at a standstill. A couple of miles to the M5 junction, and we hadn't a clue why and could we find any traffic news on the radio? No, not a sausage! Of course it was an accident and a pretty nasty one too, involving a couple of lorries and cars. One lorry was a right- off, I've never seen a lorry so smashed up before. So instead of the usual 5 hours, it took us just over 6. My Dad said I had driven very well! Well, that's something.

The garden, as usual, is over-grown. But full of birds and butterflies. We had fish n'chips for a dinner, our usual tradition for first night there and fizz! I couldn't see the cows anywhere, but I could hear them. So I went into the field to find them and where were they? In the woods, they had broken out of the fencing (the farmer who owns them is not famous for his good fencing!), so I left them to it. Yesterday the farmer, his son and a few helpers tried to get them out but failed! Well 15 hefty heifers and bullocks in a over-grown, tangled bramble wood is a little difficult. I assume they are gorging themselves on the leaves right now. All the flowers look beautiful and the animals are beginning to come back to us, they love company!

Yesterday we went to pick my Mum up from Exeter station and then onto a small place in the suburbs (Yes Exeter has them too!) called Pinhoe to get the car assessed for the insurance over the accident last time (Yes, it's still going on) and then home for a sleep because niether of us slept last night, we don't work very well apart! Then on to our local pub for a relaxing dinner. Well, it started off ok but then a chain of events brought it to a swift close:

1 I have a Pimms and lemonade to start off with (lovely summer drink)
2 I eat a piece of apple which gives me a sore and itchy throat. It passes though.
3 Time of the month starts and so I take some painkillers to stop the pain.
4 Within 15 minutes my hands start to itch something chronic and I start to feel paranoid.
5 We leave and in the car my WHOLE body starts to itch and tingle.
6. Home and I run to the bathroom, scratching and rubbing cream everywhere. Nightmare.
7 An hour passes and it's getting worse. Mum sits with me with her medical book reading out the possible causes. Food allergy or drug or just the combination of both of them. Thing is those painkillers I've had before and NEVER have I had a reaction.
8 It's still not going away and Dad says that maybe we should go to the nearest casualty in Bideford (12 miles away) and I say no, I'd rather sit this out then spend four hours waiting!
9 FINALLY a rash comes up, all over my body accept for my face and I begin to rub more cream on it and FINALLY it gets better and the itching stops.
10 I full asleep exhausted.

Great aye? Perfect start for a holiday in the best place in the world!

That's all right now, only that I missed out on having a pudding in the pub and my folks went to the supermarket today and bought something nice for tonight. That and my period is AWFUL and I took DIFFERENT painkillers for it, so it has been a lazy day doing nothing. Though I have been in the studio to check it out and see what I have, it's ALWAYS on my mind (somewhere!)

The next post will, hopefully, bring joy and happiness and photos. The weather here is pretty poor, dull and overcast and a little windy, but least it's comfortable to sleep in as London was awful, too hot and sticky to sleep.

Lots of love to one and all,

Emy xxxx

I Aint Posh!

See you all soon!!!!!! E x

Ok Guys, There's Something Wrong.

Seriously.

I'm not kidding.

I'm being honest.

I'm going to MISS London.

Yes, you read that correctly!

MISS London.

What's wrong with me? I mean, I always have butterflies the night before, but that's because of the journey, nothing else.

I'm going to miss my house here. My walks into the village for coffee and paper runs. My walk to the station for a train to Waterloo for a gallery visit, shopping trip etc (couldn't think if there was anything else going up to London for!), my drives into Kent, shopping in Bluewater and generally just being here, surrounded by flight paths and the railway! Not to mention the constant sirens in Lewisham! The general hum of the city and my favourite of all. . . my lovely Blackbird who sings so sweetly every morning on my window sill (Yes! They have a nest in the honeysuckle next to my window!).

Am I insane? Don't I want to be in the fields surrounded by everyrthing I love in one place?! Well, of course I do, but I'm going to miss London.


I've agreed with my Dad that I'll be driving from the M3 stop off. So that's the entire A303, M5, the link road to South Molton, then the A386 to Merton. Click here

So if you click on the map, find the M5, then the A30 and finally the A386, where we are in the middle of that main road (there abouts) and click here on Merton, for history and old map. When you find 'Potheridge' that's roughly where we are. Very nice.

Actually it'll be nice to get away from the weather.

OK I am looking forward to it, really I am. It's just a LONG time to be there, I haven't been there that long since the summer holidays of School and that was 6 weeks non-stop. Ever since then I've been at Art College. It's a long time!

Oh well, I'll post again soon, just give me a few days to settle and then I'll be back with the best photographs EVER!!!!!

Emy xxx

BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!!

Firstly, Happy Stars and Stripes!

But now, THE STORM. I took around 12 short 30 second films and here's 6, in order:

One Almighty Bang!



I've never heard thunder like that before!



Then the wind got up and the sirens started.



And then it REALLY came down!



AND THEN THE HAIL!!!!



Oh dear, the 6th film is refusing to come on, I'll try again later!

All in all, a fantastic storm! It wasn't meant to come here today, it's a day early. Plus it was only meant to storm in West London over Wimbledon, which so far has remained dry!

Anyway, it's still hot and sticky. It was unbearable last night, least I have a fan in my bedroom!

The following pictures were taken in the last few days:

Sunset over the Heath and rather nice house

All Saints Church on heath

Young fox in Cafe Rouge garden, they're so fearless here!

Now I'm packing for Devon and making room on my laptop on iphotos for the masses of pictures I'll be taking in the West. So I need to get burning!

Emy xxx

Short. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Very short.

Sorry.

It's hot and I want to put my fan on and read in my bed!

Ok, I have (finally) updated my painting blog, click here on Openstudio-uk

That is all.

Anyone in London, it's hot, it'll be a sticky night. Storms on Wednesday. Then cooler (as always)

Goodnight one and all,

Emy xxx

The Heat is Unbearable And The Football Has Ruined The Summer!

Yesterday was, by far, one of the most horrendous days in English history. Yet I didn't see it! I heard it echoing across Blackheath village, as my Mum, her neice Saskia and me had lunch in Cafe Rouge. My Dad was watching it at home and kept ringing and texting me throughout the match. And now David Beckham, very tearfully, has stepped down from being captain. I'm not sure if I feel a sense of release or a sense of disappointment, perhaps both equally.

My painting at my Mum's friend Yvonne's house (& I was paid too!)

Mary (Gollywogs rule!)

I don't take normal pictures of people anymore!

Teddy plays guitar . . .

We were a little drunk on neat gin!

Ditto

Ditto x 2

We took 100 of these type pictures, I like this one best!

Winsor - plane a little too close for comfort!

Chartwell (29 June)


Sir Winston Churchill and his Mrs Lady Clemy

The walled garden (the wall laid by Winston himself)

We saw this a few months ago, bare - what a difference the seasons make!


Iris (& what a beauty!)

The rose garden

The hillside

You can just about see the view

No more room on the only bench with the view!

Black swan (and a very naughty one at that!)

Highland Cow and Heron!

So now I'm just counting down the days until Devon (next Thurs - 6th July). And it's hot and unbearable, I need the cool inland breezes of Devon. 91F is predicted for Thursday in London and 80 in Devon.

Wow.

Emy xxxx