We really really saw this!

En route to Nea Epidavros, it was an incredible sight!

Impressions of Perdika

The harbour and church.



The camera obscura.

Windy Perdika

A couple of watercolours from the front hatch of the boat at dusk, just as the wind started to blow.

Panayia Krasata

This chapel on the coast north of Vathi was apparently built by a wine merchant who had been saved from a shipwreck nearby. Rumour has it that the mortar was mixed with wine rather than water.

Aegina Beach

Although the beach itself wasn’t particularly desirable, the sea, rocks, palm, pink building and mountains beyond created an image in my mind that I had to put down on paper later.

Bougainvillea round the door

My second painting of the morning

Limin Angistri

Up early to the village on the hillside to buy bread and draw.

Xavier playing on the beach at Angistri

Marissa

After our meal we went shopping for a snorkel (or as Xavier would say ‘a snork’). I tried to draw the children playing in the square. This delightful little girl (who was on holiday from Athens) was fascinated with what I was doing, so I abandoned my drawing (which was going nowhere fast) and asked through international sign language whether she would like to pose. She was so sweet – so thrilled to be drawn. This only took a few minutes but she was so excited with the picture that I indicated that if she could write down her name and address I would scan and post her a print of the picture. Marissa was only nine and bearing in mind that there is a different alphabet in Greece this turned out to be quite complex. We walked around, trying to find Marissa’s mother to get her address. Eventually we found her and I have the address in the back of my sketchbook, so a print will be winging its way to Greece tomorrow.

Meal out in lively Poros

This was the last evening for most of the flotilla – who had started their holiday a week before we had.

Monastery Bay, Poros

This was the bay where we first allowed our fearless little Xavier to be towed in the ‘Ringo’ from the boat

Emerald bay, lunch time swim

Friends sailing alongside

Thank goodness for the Greek sun, the water colour dries as soon as it hits the paper, so this really was drawn and painted as we sailed.

Dawn in Astrous

This is a perfect demonstration of why you should never attempt to paint a sunrise or sunset.

Up at dawn – Robin and Xavier

In this heat, where you sleep on the boat is a bit of a movable feast. Hugo seems to be the only person bendy enough to be able to get through the night happily sleeping in the hammock hanging from the boom. I can’t bear to have anyone too close to me and Xavier is enjoying the novelty of sleeping with a different person each night. I woke up early this morning and this was such a sweet view through the cabin door, I had to draw them.

Half a litre of wine later

This is what happens when you try to draw your children after an enjoyable evening. Your daughter ends up looking like Princess Fiona (Mrs Shrek), one son has a developed a club hand (if there is such a thing) and I don’t know who that is to the left hand side – I think another son. Never mind it still reminds me of a lovely evening – sitting outside looking over the now becalmed harbour enjoying a meal with all the family, late at night, tiny Greek children whooping it up, running around and thoroughly enjoying their holidays.
Later on the older kids babysat Xavier so Robin and I were able to enjoy a rare half an hour alone to drink coffee and my favourite holiday tipple, Amaretto.

Windmills en route to Astrous

Why in trios? And can you imagine carrying the bags of wheat and flour up and down the mountain sides?

Spetses and Leonidhion

Spetses as we sailed by, Leonidhion in the evening and another attempt the next morning.

Ermioni in the morning

Oh how lovely to be on holiday in Greece, with a boat to sail.

I’m back!

Today is really the third of September and after a truly awful delayed flight back courtesy of EasyJet, I’m ready to start blogging and posting. A wonderful family holiday in Greece. Quite a few pictures to scan which I’ll post according to the dates they were produced. There will be one posted for every day on my other blog and the rest will be posted here.

Woo Hoo - Holiday Time

No posts for a couple of weeks – but I promise I'll be back

Hugo watching TV

My youngest for the first nine years of his life. He’s grown so quickly, what a blessing that another child joined us.

Job applications – be true to yourself

I swear to God this was a real speculative job application

“…I am affluent in Photoshop which I use as the basis of most of my design work, but I am also trained in Quark Xpress…

Working for a company that strives towards providing the dynamic services and marketing research for major retailers, and helping to inject different views and opinions into an already ever-changing environment, would truly encourage me as a designer, to really help demonstrate how important these aspects are in today's multicultural society. If given the chance with my unusual and striking design ideas I think I could convey them in a way which would inspire others to jump on board. ”

Which wouldn’t matter too much, if the applicant surrounded by her boxes of Photoshop software, had included samples of good quality relevant design work, but this was all I had to go on. Oh well, ten out of ten for spelling.

This has nothing to do with the picture – which was where I went with Xavier this afternoon.

Tom playing with his phone

Okay, this doesn’t look in the slightest like Tom – but hey it looks like a person doesn’t it – so that’s a start.

Flo watching TV, again

Lunch with Hugo and Xavier

After school stationery and new trainer shopping, a sandwich and melon picnic lunch in the Abbey gardens. The scaffolders erecting scaffolding on the Abbey provided the entertainment.

Council house snobbery?

Waiting for Hugo at the orthodontist.
When we were looking to buy our first house we looked at one of these attractive tiny houses. However we were planning to start a family and for the same money we could buy a much bigger ex-council house, which is what we did. Nevertheless, no matter what the quality of the house, being ex-council lingers. The prices are always lower even if they’re better built.

Card from my brother

I received a wonderful thank you from my brother this morning which I will always treasure – and wasn’t his choice of card inspired? For more very funny card designs visit Cath Tate Cards.

That need to do nothing

Flo, worn out by a day chatting with her friends on MSN and watching ‘Friends’ on TV

Darling Flo

One day she might sit still long enough for me to get an acceptable likeness

Breakfast in Limerick

My final Limerick drawing from last week. A place I will never need to visit again, thank God.

The final animal park sketch

More animal park sketches

His Lordship

A day out with the children at an animal park. This was all I managed of this bird before a child crisis dragged me away. He looked just like a balding, crusty member of the House of Lords. His angry red eyes, disapproving expression and his resplendent dark robe which had wonderful white and blue stripes, dots and lilac edges to the wings.