Yep, here we are spending another sunny, cloudy, rainy, warm, cold day in Dingle. I’m sure some of our friends will make more jokes about the name of this peninsula (you know who you are). The weather changes drastically every few minutes. It keeps us alert.

Yesterday we lounged, painted, I did some sketching, and we took a walk to a nearby castle in the evening. Yep, we have our own private castle about 1 km away. It is a small tower castle from the middle ages, reputedly the only one in Ireland that the English didn’t destroy. Time has damaged a good deal of it and it was rebuilt in recent years. It made a nice evening stroll up a one lane road (aren’t they all in Ireland?) past some lovely bovines, flowers, and mountain views. Yes, the Irish call them mountains although they don’t attain much more than 1500 feet. Along the way I took a picture of the Belle of Dingle.

The Belle of Dingle

I also completed another version of Dingle Dusk. This one is watercolor. Compare it to the previous acrylic I posted. I’m not entirely satisfied with either one, but that’s what on the spot studies are for. It’s a process of trying out compositions, colors, etc. to find a combination that pleases.

Dingle Dusk (Watercolor)

Today we worked on blog posts and painting. I’m doing an acrylic and a watercolor of the Gallarus Oratory. Yesterday afternoon I walked up there with my sketch pad and camera and spent a couple of hours sketching. Today I’m converting those sketches to outlines on paper and canvas. I’ve started blocking in colors and shapes on the acrylic, but you will have to wait for the finished piece.

Now we’re at our favorite pub Tigh TP’s in Baile nGall, about 2 km from our house. Jean will be posting some pictures of this pub. (Doug, watch for them!) The pork chops and sauerkraut are in the oven while we send you this news.

Life is good!