Finished Picture and Evening Out

After the positive comments on my gypsy caravan picture I was encouraged to go back to it. I didn't do much more, just rubbed out some of the pencil lines to give it a cleaner edge and darkened the horse a bit. I have a nearly used up pot of gesso, which I am using to get a book ready to be a summer journal, so I spread a bit of that on the white paper background. Then I took some quotes from two books written by travellers, and wrote them in the background. I love writing with a nice implement on a good surface, and pencil on gessoed paper turned out to be just that experience.'

The evening out was with two current colleagues and one ex- colleague, and was lovely. The restaurant we went to is called The Stables and is in a big park in Bexley called Danson Park. My friend and I arrived first, and ordered a bottle of proscecco to share. The barman asked if I would like him to open it with a sword and of course I said yes. He then said words to the effect of ' What really?' I had believed that he had meant it when in fact he hadn't really. He had told me that this is the way the bottles are opened in Italy. However, because of my great interest in seeing this, he went off to fetch a sword very big knife, and set about preparing the bottle. He loosened the wire a little and then slightly re-tightened it a little lower down. He came around to my side of the bar. I was holding my glass ready and so was another member of staff as my friend had gone off to the toilet so was going to miss the spectacular results of him trying to do this. He made a flamboyant chopping motion towards the top of the bottle and the cork, but his wire must have been too tight and the top of the bottle broke off, spattering us all with fizz! I did get a glass of it, and he did get me another bottle. It was all very good natured and funny, and a great start to the evening!