Day Tripping

 Last week I did something I rarely do, and took a week off. At amazingly short notice, boyfriend also managed to get the week off. I spent most of the week clearing out cupboards, sorting out the piles of junk in my studio, whilst boyfriend tackled the messy and tricky job of lime plastering the fireplace ready for our wood burning stove. 

But we set a little time aside to head for the coast. Boyfriend loves photography, and photos are important to me for inspiration, painting subjects and of course to give my art students new things to tackle. We started with a little trip to Mistley (above), more river than sea, and more time was spent stuffing icecream than taking pictures if I am honest.

The sailing club was pretty though, and decked out for the olympics.

Then we had a whole day at the coast, starting with Walberswick, which I have not explored much previously:

 I loved the places along the estuary where you can buy fresh fish, although as a vegetarian I don't indulge, they were very picturesque.

My favorite snap was of this boat, just waiting to feature in a childrens illustration I think:

Then we realised we could actually walk across to Southwold, and never being shy of a few miles walk, we set off.

 I have it in my head to paint Southwold beach huts again soon, I did a fabulous painting years ago, and it gets top hits on every website I put it on, problem is, I didn't get it professionally scanned, and my photos are too low in resolution for giclee prints. Of course the original is sold, so this potential money spinner haunts me and has lead to my 'get everything scanned before framing' rule.

We finished off our trip with an evening walk along the front at Aldeburgh, musing on the fact that the same boats are always on the beach, and wondering if anyone ever takes them out?

We were lucky with the weather on our week off, and I am pleased I took the time out. I have become an appalling workaholic in recent months, this recession is no joke when you deal in what is essentially a luxury product, and like most people in this country I am having to run faster and faster just to stand still.

Taking stock after my week out I have a clearer, cleaner house, a tidy studio, we are well on the way to completing the fireplace, and found some lovely tiles in a reclaimation yard for the hearth and some for the kitchen, I visited a bead shop I had wanted to check out for a long time, and picked up some charity shop bargains, and made two new camisole tops on my sewing machine. Best of all though I had time to think, and boyfriend and I finally spent some time together and found time to talk about plans for the house.

There really is more to life than working!