The World Looks so Different Today

We had the loveliest West Coast weather here. On a bright and warm star-filled Saturday morning, my darling husband passed away peacefully in his own bed with three of his family around him. There is not a hand book or guide for these things, they happen and you are stunned.

I will love him always: Philip was my best friend for 50 years and my husband for 47. (Photo by Jon Ivins)

And then one day...............

And then one day, illness entered our home and everything changed. This was a painting I started in December when daughter Helen and our youngest grandchild arrived from the States to visit her father. She had a long stay and a week ago arrived back here at the West Coast for another visit. We decided to upload the sketch as it is, and make time later to do the painting. The sketch symbolises all the visitors coming through the gate.

We were so fortunate this last weekend when we had all four children together. How they cheered and helped and cooked and were so very supportive. Two of the grandchildren were

here too, and we took a quick photograph. As far as my husband, Philip's health is concerned, we remain hopeful and prayerful and trust him to choose his course of treatment.

I love my blog, I love my blog followers! I notice that some friends check up almost daily to see whether there is a new post or at least word of what has happened to me. So this is where I am, friends, nursing the wonderful man I have known for 50 years.

The Small Things

Guest Artist #2 Lurina Fourie

"For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great" - Jose Ortega y Gasset" This short quote sums up what we are trying to convey with today's post.

I am truly swamped with work and fiercely working for two or three exhibitions which do not have the West Coast theme. But while I am otherwise occupied, there are many talented artists and photographers to keep my blog up and running and I love searching them out and inviting them!

Lurina Fourie of Lurina Fourie Professional Photography Services, also lives in Velddrif on the Berg River. Lurina zooms in on the amazing detail one finds on the beach and river bank. It was difficult to choose just a few of her photos for this post!

Bluebottles in their true colours...Lurina admired the rim
that looked like embroidery stitching

Everybody loves sea anemone shells, but what a find
 was this with hundreds of them stranded after red tide

A moment only the very patient beach dweller will see:
 Spring flowers, the ocean and a pink heart in the clouds

A wave after red tide, magnificent in its anger and beauty !

An injured young cormorant at Laaiplek, shouting at the curious photographer. Lurina
was happy when he was restored to health and flew off

Millions of tiny jewel-like stones form our West Coast
 sand,  how inviting is this sunny image. I can feel that peace

Beautifully captured, I could not resist this photo that says so much about our beaches
where there is space and you can really breathe

Thank you Lurina! Unforgettable work! Please click on her images enlarge.

Pelicans on the Berg River

Guest Artist #1 Karen van Niekerk.

(Please click on the images to see large size photos)

Over the last four years, I have often had posts about Velddrif and its famous Bokkom Lane. I have however, shown very few birds. And the Berg River is after all an estuary harbouring many species of the most amazing water birds! So today, I have invited Karen van Niekerk, a talented photographer who lives in Velddrif to show her photos of pelicans. According to Karen, the early morning is the right time to catch them on the Bokkom Lane side of the river. 

The first photo gave me so much joy, and should be in line for a prize! How neatly these pelicans march with the sergeant-major egging them on!!

In the second photo, two pelicans encourage a shy bird to befriend the heron. A super composition! The birds fit in so well with the river scene and jetty and boat!

The third photo shows once again the amazing synchronized movements of these birds. A lovely shot and beautiful reflections! I love the colour of pelicans, they have just that little whisper of pink in them!

Karen took this last photo after sunset. I usually see the pelicans here on the far side of the river, and this photo shows the tranquility to perfection. All the elements of our calm clean river are there: the soft grass on the banks and the thatching reeds. This wonderful capture tells it all!

Thank you to Karen for these amazing photos!!!

Real Butter in Darling

We can still buy homemade butter in Darling! One of the places where it is kept is in a fridge at the Darling Museum. It is a lovely pale cream butter, not as salty or as yellow as commercial butter, and it is wrapped in thick waxy paper. That is why I love these country museums, they truly keep traditions alive!

Museum Day is an annual function, where the creamery section of the museum truly comes alive. The antiques and lovingly protected utensils of the creamery trade comes off the shelves. Butter is made using the objects of long ago. We can hear about the function of shallow dishes where fresh cream were left to rise to the top. We can touch the seperators which automated the process of dividing milk and cream.....how "modern" the farmers felt when they obtained this implement! Butter was then churned, rocked, beaten, I remember that each of my aunts had a different style of doing this. Lastly the butter was sifted and salt worked through with a patterned wooden ladle. The butter was ready to be eaten on warm thick slices of farm bread!

Today's images: My third cow painting.....the first two have not been sold, so I am careful about buying such a nice frame for this painting. I painted only a few cows, not in great detail, so as not to detract from the peace of the scene and the clump of trees on top of the hill.

The sketch appeared a few years ago with my story of the creamery corner in the museum.

The photos show a real demo at the Darling Museum, the buttermilk being poured into bottles. Also some lovely antique objects from the dairy trade.