Mobile Post office near the canal at Brimscombe on its weekly visit

I wasn’t expecting to come across this mobile post office after  a walk along the canal tow path,  but when we reached Brimscombe we found this one  parked near The Ship Inn  on its weekly visit. Since the closure of many village post offices this service has become a vital link for many people. On Thursdays, it starts at Kingscote, 9-10, Shipton Moyne 10.30-11.30,  Chalford 12.30-1.30, Brimscombe 1.45-3.15,  Whitminster 3.45-4.45. Avening, and Duntisbourne among many others.  The post van vists other areas on four days of the week. 
Wearing my face mask, as was the counter assistant, I boarded the van and bought a few stamps! 

Scribbling .. and connecting with Cy Twombly

I had fun recently, scribbling away, testing pens, felt tips, coloured pencils, some of dubious quality,  and sharpening pencils at record breaking speed with  my newly acquired battery  powered sharpener.

A couple of sheets of satisfying  scribble  resulted.

A friend had mentioned the American artist Cy Twombly, whose work is,  to be polite, beyond my understanding  and  I commented  that this may be how he made some of  his work.  But joking apart, I recalled reading that he had lived for periods of time in Italy in a small town called Bassano in Teverina, an hour or so away from Rome where we spent a holiday, 7 years ago, staying  in a very old house full of character.  I  tried at that time  to find out where it was that Cy Twombly  had been living, but I never knew found out exactly where, or indeed if he had ever lived there.  But now, with  time to look back at photos, sketch books etc, and doing  a bit of research with a view to appreciating  his work, as some obviously do,  I finally located a photo of the Palazzo which he had owned and renovated, and where he produced  a lot of his work, some of which I have found a little more interesting, and possibly even inspiring. The massive old building looked familiar, and we had indeed passed it on walks.

We'd been given use of  a swimming pool in a  large garden, which was  a  20 minute walk from the house where we were staying, descending the cobbled streets of the town and meandering along pine tree lined paths. I spent a couple of afternoons sketching and painting the scene from the poolside but I didn't know then  that I had unwittingly drawn the back view of Cy's house - with its three arched tower.  This  revelation is almost as exciting to me  as my newly discovered electric sharpener. 
I'm no closer in understanding his work but for some reason am now becoming more intrigued by it and I feel it may lead me to explore different ways of working,but hopefully something other than  just  scribbling!

Bassano in Teverina