I was determined to find everything interesting there is to paint in my immediate vicinity before exploring the rest of the West Coast. On the farm road close by I stumbled upon this window-less cottage with a rusted, moss covered roof. I saw what looked like a firmly locked little door and the field grasses in front of the cottage was short. Can we deduct from these facts that the place is still lived in? No cat, no chickens?
The house is dwarfed by the large tree, ensuring coolness in summer, especially as there are no windows (a few hidden on the other side, perhaps?). I was also very impressed by the proper West Coast chimney. We need our imagination to call up a kitchen alcove with a wood stove inside, hooks for cups, a pleasant table and chairs that form kitchen- dining- living room all in one, and the flavours of hearty food. On the far side of the house, (to effectively balance the chimney in the painting), is a water catchment tank on a built pedestal.
And that is absolutely all I can say about this cottage! Goodnight, little house, if there is a candle burning in there tonight, no-one will know!
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I loved your description of the kitchen: feels so odd because we recently visited an old little house preserved intact exactly as it was in around 1860 in a rural vilage in Lyon and your description could have been of that kitchen. Maybe silly observation, but I could not help but be struck by the similarities -like 12000km apart?
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that you also looked at a similar thing! The Cape is going to loose part of the wonderful heritage if only the large homes are restored and not these tiny ghostly little places. How easy it will be to attract tourists on their winelands meander to pop into a restored quaint windowless cottage!
ReplyDeleteAnd talking about spooky white, one of my next blogs will be a historic lime kiln.