Best Friends - Watercolour

Best Friends - 16 x 18 cm watercolour

Sweet Sixteen

Snowy - aged 16

Snowy celebrates her 16th birthday today.

She's living proof that you're never too old to travel! Or learn a foreign language.

The Dog on the Tucker Box

Australian folklore celebrates the loyalty of a pioneer bullocky's (teamster's) heroic dog who, given the task of guarding his master's tucker box, waited, though he sat on a box of food, until he eventually died of starvation.

Dermott, the least intelligent member of our family, is in the process of creating his own legend here in Italy. His 'tucker box' is an ancient cisterna (water tank) between our garden and that of our neighbours. Here he sits patiently waiting for Lorenzo or Marina to appear with biscotti (biscuits). Now you are probably wondering where the elements of courage and character are in this tale? The cover of the cisterna is half-inch steel plate - on a summer's day you can fry eggs on it! At such times our 'hero' has to tap dance. But he never deserts his 'tucker box'.

Working in the Garden

As HWEM stomps back and forth in his filthy gumboots, trekking compost and honest sweat through the house, he is occasionally heard to mutter - 'bout time you did some work in the garden'.

So here I am 'working' in the garden!


Every now and then I have to stop to consult my Muse.


I'm still trying to keep up with the plants as they bloom.


I wasn't quick enough for the Iris, so I had to rely on the photo I took. There's more on the way, so I will try for a looser watercolour version of those.

Could it be Spring?

I couldn't manage to make anything that pleased me today, and then when we walked the dogs this evening, I found a sight that pleased me very much. The almond tree next door to our garden is in bloom - could it be spring?

The other sights that pleased me were Dermott and Snowy fresh from grooming.

Now if only HWEM would go to grooming, he could appear here too!