“When did we finish the new lawn?” I asked.
“Dunno. And we don’t have your journal to check any more, do we?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Well, think on.”
“Is that a hint?”
“Take it any way you want.”
So I looked at ‘week to view’ diaries in the shop. All reduced because we’re halfway through the year. They used to do ‘half-year’ diaries, starting in June, and it may be that they do them still. Not in my easily reachable shops, though, and not on eBay. Nor Amazon. Couldn’t bring myself to fork out £5 when I knew I’d be leaving January to most of June empty. Waste of paper.
So… here I am again. We’ll go on calling it a journal, but it’ll be more of a diary of happenings. And on days when nothing happens, the page will remain ‘intentionally blank’.
The lawn is well established, looking healthy and green in spite of the clover that came with the grass. We had thought of using a systemic weedkiller to get rid of it but found out just in time that it’s almost fatal to treat a newly laid lawn and that we must wait until autumn top dressing time before we apply any kind of herbicide. No matter. The lawn is still a joyful sight, and Graham’s care and attention are clearly evident.
He’s made a real garden out there, with a small rockery in one corner. Very laid-back and stylish. It’s made an impact on our neighbours, several of whom are irrigating and rejuvenating their front patches, which look tired and jaded by comparison. But they love Graham dearly, and never fail to comment favourably on his efforts. This needs a photograph and I’ll see if I can’t make one tomorrow or sometime very soon.
Me, I’ve been spending my time watching documentary videos on painters and artists, seeking to find a good starting point for my future painting efforts. I’ve bought a new studio easel and a good supply of oil painting materials and they sit in a corner of my study urging me to action. I’ll get going shortly, but I’m still not sure of my initial approach. It’ls not likely to be pretty landscapes, that much seems certain. Landscapes possibly, but not pretty ones.
I have a vision of the table in our living room during the early to mid 1940s, on a typical dark evening with the blackout curtains drawn and a shawl hung over the centre light. The wireless plays in the corner by the fireplace. A miserable fire glimmers in the cast-iron range, kept to a minimum as fuel rationing dictates. It may be that I have a need to paint memory pieces of such scenes. It rather depends on the quality of my memory for visual things rather than shadowy emotional impressions. It’s not impossible to do emotional impressions from memory but I can’t quite see the way just now and I really don’t think I want to paint shadows.
I bought two DVDs of movies I’ve found inspirational in the past. First was ‘Lust for Life’, with Kirk Douglas as Vincent. It inspired me mightily when it was first released in the cinema and I visited the Granada North Cheam each evening for the first week. Now it feels shallow and over-acted. The paintings still leap out from the screen, though. The second was ‘The Horse’s Mouth’, which I loved originally and which I find to my delight is still a jolly romp through an artist’s life. I loved it. Somewhat strange to find fiction more satisfactory than fact.
We discovered a super garden centre over at Pontardulais, complete with a grand lake (with lilies and high fountain) and a more than adequate restaurant. There’s even an outdoor dining area, designated for smokers. That’s civilised, providing you ignore the silly people who walk through glaring and pretending to cough. I fail to understand why anti-smoking folks seem to think they are excused good manners. Howsomever, we’ve paid two visits so far, acquiring stuff for the garden.
The front garden is just about finished now, there are sundry pots and containers about the place, and the back garden is well on the way to being weed free and ready for an autumn make-0ver. Graham is just about ready to decide what kind of shed we shall buy as a workshop and the little silver Ford is looking forward to a winter under cover.
Other than that it’s been beautifully sunny and mild, excepting a couple of half days when the weather took time off for good behaviour, going all sulky and grey and even pretending to a little rain at one point. You can’t blame the weather for needing a break. I for one can understand the need perfectly.
