Skippers

Another day of all sorts. A business type meeting in the morning, to discuss a future project. I hadn't realized it had gone on for two hours when I left, and the general trend was positive. I popped in at a demolition specialist on the way home to ask about a pile of timber I am interested in getting hold of. I collected a small sample of rather decent planks from there and must organise a foraging trip in a larger truck.
I stopped off to buy kerosene on the way back as well. The store has a skip out the back and I asked the chap behind the pump if I could take a peek. I ended up going back on another trip to collect a truck load of firewood and a couple of sets of those rubber tube type christmas lights. One shaped in the words merry xmas and the other a flapping winged pony. I only want the lights, but it was interesting to see them in the skip there one month to the day after the event. They worked fine of course and my veranda is now aglow with an entirely coincidental and wonderfully garish tribute for the dogs birthday with symbols he doesn't understand. The old chap accompanying me in the sketch today is a perfect stranger. He got interested in my wood gathering so I pointed him at the skip and for a short time we were like pigglets at the trough. He had a little chuckle when I showed him the 5p price tag on one of the offcuts of 2x4 I pulled out for the stove. I am sure I will hesitate over some of the pieces, but the vast majority will be soaked up by the trees in the vicinity as carbon dioxide in the next few days.

Gouache and charcoal on cartridge 25x35cm