Quick McLaren Vale sketch

We were collecting some wine on our way home from Adelaide, visit my mother buy some shoes, and while John was organising the wine I sat and did a quick sketch, sort of coloured it later, brown hills and green vineyards.
Busy day, didnt sleep well last night, friend visiting tonight and tomorrow for New Years Eve.

Frenchmans Rock

This sketch is not showing up at all well. I did it while I was on the ferry in black pen and it should be better than this.
The little white domed shaped edifice was built to protect and commemorate the rock on which the Frenchman Nicholas Baudin or one of his crew scratched the fact that they had been there and found fresh water.
The actual rock is now in the visitors center as it was being defaced.
Hog Bay Penneshaw Kangaroo Island.

Rowing boat on the beach

I sketched this while waiting for the ferry to leave this morning, a damp and overcast morning a good way to leave the Island as we had a week of wonderful weather.
Home tired and crotchety!! Miss the view, miss the relaxed feeling, have got home to all sorts of things I dont want to know about.
I know holidays cant go on for ever but I really cherish my days on the island.
Any way all the packing and unpacking is now done and tomorrow, well more racing around.
I hope I have time to keep up the painting and sketching more regularly than I had been in the last few months.

A yacht in the bay

Lots of activity this morning, two yachts in the bay, a helicopter overhead and the ferry running all day. not to mention the pleasure craft fishing and towing skiiers.
Millie went to the beach and had fun in the sand and the waves, the area is so flat that she couldnt get frightened.
I think my yacht is totally out of proportion but remember I am looking at it from the side of a hill and not down on the beach.
We head off tomorrow and Tab and family this evening, lovely to have them. None of us really want to go home.

From my sketchbook

Just a few sketchy sketches I have done in the last day or so.
I did the shells this morning, after I had collected them on my morning walk.
A totally different day today, windy and although not cool overcast and not such a beautiful day as yesterday.
Probably good for all those over indulging in Christmas dinner, we had oysters cooked under the grill with ham and breadcrumbs and soy sauce and sweet chili sauce with them done very quickly followed by a salad and with a very nice bottle of bubbly. Delicious.
Oh and I hope every one has had a lovely day today, we had a late afternoon walk at Pennington Bay, the sea was the most incredible colour but we were walking not sketching.

Today I collected shells

Not a terribly good sketch, not much in the way of shells either really but at least I have had two walks today, once to the shops and once along the beach and back again.
Warmer today and the flies were bad as I went through the sand hills but we havent done much except finally relax and enjoy the wonderful weather.
I sat outside and sketched and thought and did some embroidery, finally this is being on holiday.

From the kitchen window

This is the mainland and the rocky headland along the coast, if I look to my right when standing in the kitchen this is what I can see.
I was trying with some wet in wet and somehow it went all misty and hazy.
We have an easterly wind blowing today which is not so nice, no good sitting outside for drinks tonight.
we went into Kingscote today and did a bit of shopping and had lunch at Roger's Deli, bought some abalone at the fabulous fish place they had, not crayfish at about $100 a kg, these were not cheap either but it is so long since our diving days of just collecting them off the rocks, now you have to have a licencse and they are no longer as available as they were, I believe these are farmed. I hope they taste as I remember them.
Oh for those young and carefree days of weekends at the beach and cooking the stuff we had managed to gather from the sea. we used to camp over here then with the children, a rather hedonistic hippie lot we were in those days, although our drugs were alcohol, and not much of that, and sun and wind and the freedom to camp where we wished.

Chidren on the beach

Yesterday thunderstorms were threatening in the late afternoon and I quickly sketched these children while we were having pre dinner drinks out the front of the beach house.
I didnt have much time for sketching today as we were on the move all day but I have some fantastic photos on my other blog of the re growth of the fires 12 months on. We went to have a look and in some areas were very pleased to see so much young stuff coming on. Of course a lot of our scrub needs a fire to regenerate but some areas were so hot there was a very real worry that regeneration would not happen.
Lots of people people dont realise how big the Island is and it was an all day trip with sandwiches packed for lunch.
We have just had an excellent dinner of Kangaroo Island lamb chops I bought at the market yesterday with a salad and followed by more of the Christmas cake, which in all reality was just a boiled fruitcake but perhaps i put a bit much brandy in as it is delicious!
red wine of course with dinner., but we didnt have any pre dinner drinks or nibbles this time, I may never fit into my clothes again.

Penneshaw Farmers Market

We went to the farmers market this morning asn I bought all sorts of lovely goodies and also spent some time sketching. I did this when I came home, trying for color and movement but made it a bit busy. I will have another go at this.
John's birthday today and apart from walking to the market we had a lovely lunch of oysters and various things to with it that I had bought like aoli and chili sauce etc and then we followed that with a yummy mango and ice cream with a lovely sauvignon blanc.
He is sleeping it off while I play with a variety of things to do, like the altered book I am playing with.
My knee held up with the walk to the market where John caught up with so many people that he knows. I am hoping for an evening walk along the beach.
Sometimes life just doesnt get any better.

Penneshaw bay and the mainland

I have finally found time to paint something small in my sketchbook.
We are here at Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island having arrived on the first ferry this morning, after packing the red ute we arrived and had to unpack it again!
A glass of lovely D'Arenberg Dry Dam riesling with our ham sandwich for lunch followed by a piece of the best Christmas cake I have made and a small nap and all is well with what will probably be a very fat making week!!
We had a lovely trip over watching the small dolphins playing around the boat and going at incredible speeds, leaping out of the water and generally showing off.
No scanner so I will have to take photos of what I paint, this is done in a very small sketchbook from Dick Blick which I bought when we were in America, San Francisco I think.
I will try to get something done every day this week.

From my sketchbook

I was parked yesterday in the car park of the water something or other at Stirling waiting for John to finish his meeting, which went on for an hour longer than he told me it would be so to do something I did some sketches and this is one of them. there are some rather straggly callistemon bushes along the fence infront of where I was sitting.
I cant believe I have done about three things to put in this blog this week, but apart from some pre Christmas cooking which I plan to do next week I have just about caught up on all my presents etc, unless someone gives me something I am not expecting!

Early morning Encounter Bay

With the Islands back lit and the sea dead flat and the pinks and yellows of early morning.
I dont think that my perspective is all that good but it still pleases me.
I hadnt realised how many rocks poke up out of the water there but it could have been low tide.

Watching the watched

We had coffee and this couple were sitting watching the boats in the bay, what you cant see are the yachts who were sailing too but not in my line of sight. the Norfolk Island pine really does have a lean to it too.
I cant find my sketch book I have been doing my across the page stuff in, I have no idea where I put it but I am too busy at the moment to even think about much sketching or painting.
We leave for a week on Kangaroo Island on the 20th and there is a heap of stuff that must be done before then, including hosting a bbq for my grand daughters 21st, the three birthdays, hers her mother and John's are on the 21st but as we wont be there I am doing this for the 18th, have just taken her younger brother out for his 18th birthday. December was a busy month birth wise.

Sketchbook pages

Sorry for some reason I couldnt do any more with the scan below so I am writing this seperately.
I have had very little time to do anything except a few rough sketches in the sketchbook.
Christmas is fast approaching and we head off for Kangaroo island on the 20th for a week so I have to get all my presents organised and delivered before then. I am getting into rather a panic and I still dont know if the Melbourne family are coming over then or not.
Our computer signal has been extremely slow as well for some reason and I spend far more time here than I would normally, an absolute pain but apparently the 3G doesnt like a lot of use and I imagine there are far more people using it than there were and as well as that we are not in a good position for the tower.