Welcome to Melanie’s Monthly News in November… and another month has flown by! We have been busy little bees working really hard on our portraits. Of course we will show them all to you really soon as some of them are Christmas gifts, one is a wedding gift and three are yet to be completed! We still have a few working weeks before we stop for the year but I will make sure I blog them all. We have some really special portraits and some amazing videos to share.
The first news we have is that Lily was groomed this month and doesn’t she look simply adorable! I have to say when she comes back home from grooming, she looks amazing, our groomer does a fantastic job. It doesn’t take her long, however, to roll around in her bed and mess up her newly brushed and tidy hairdo! Sometimes we say… Lily are you having a bad hair day?…. when her fringe is all flopped over her head and you can’t see her eyes and it’s sticking up everywhere! So we do cherish these moments of beauty as in the photo below, knowing they don’t last long!!
Dylan our groomer had a fantastic halloween backdrop that Lily was photographed on which you can see below. He has a new backdrop every month or so, and we are very much looking forward to the Christmas one next month.
Our Blog and business news update
Since Nicholas got Covid in March 2020 we paired back our business a little. I think a lot of companies did the same. Our framers retired, so we removed framing as an option as there wasn’t anyone else that came close to their service. We stopped taking photos of our portraits during the progress, as it just wasn’t feasible during that time. Nicholas was fairly poorly in the first year and we spaced out the work so that Nicholas could have time off in between commissions.
Each year that has gone by since, we have taken on more work which has been lovely. Nicholas is still suffering the lasting effects of long covid, but at least he can paint every day now which is amazing.
We are coming to the end of the year and this used to be the time we would reflect on how the year has gone in terms of our business. Pre Covid we would take time to reflect on what have we achieved in that year, what areas we can strengthen and in a loose way plan for the year ahead. So I think it’s time to do that again!
Now is the time to put the blog back to the way it used to be and start our ‘Oil Pet Portrait Stories’ and ‘Pencil Pet Portrait Stories’ again. I would like to start creating dedicated blog posts about our artwork with photos, videos and some work in progress photos too. I will also blog stories about some of our favourite portraits we have completed during the last few years, along with posts about art business too. Our Melanies Monthly news will go back to being about our life and what we have been up to! Don’t forget to comment or email if there is anything you would like us to write about. We are all ears!
Rainbows and Sunshine
We have had a number of storms this month, two official ones and plenty of rain. We haven’t managed to get out and about as much as we have wanted. Not just due to the weather but work commitments too. I did manage to take some amazing photos of a full rainbow while walking Lily one day. I clambered up onto the top of the hedge to take it so I could get it all in. Pretty amazing. We didn’t get too wet when walking as it was also sunny.
The farmer had ploughed his filed and is possibly growing a winter crop in there, you can just see it growing through the soil in the background. At least the cows will be happy!
New Quay with Tibetan Terriers!
This month we took a trip to New Quay to visit a friend who was staying for the weekend in her caravan. She has two beautiful Tibetan Terriers and we sometimes walk together on the beach. The tide was out so we had some fish and chips and headed off along the beach with the dogs.
It was fairly chilly but the sun did come out for us which was great. As you can see we took a photo of the three dogs, but it was not easy. Tell one to sit… the other stands and then another starts walking towards the camera….
The view is beautiful and you can very nearly see all the way up to north Wales. It’s lovely to see the curve of the beach too.
Another view where you can just about see up to North Wales, the dark bumps in the distance as the mountainous areas. We haven’t been to North Wales all year. I am hopping to do a bit more traveling next year!
Len and his POOPS friends!
When my previous Melanies Monthly News in October came out, a lovely chap from Australia called Leonard replied direct to me, letting me know about his paintings and a local dog walking group he belongs to called POOPS – Pets Of Older Persons. I very much enjoyed reading about Len’s work, the group he walks dogs for, along with his amazing stories about his life with his wife, children and grandchildren. Len and his wife are 85 and 86 and I admire them both greatly. I hope that I’m still on this planet walking – or even running when I am that age! So I asked Len if I could add the group and it’s details on our blog as I thought it was pretty amazing! I don’t think we have anything like that near us! Scroll to read more and visit the website here – POOPS
We are in Western Australia in a seaside town 250km south of Perth and we walk dogs for the local POOPS group which is Pets Of Older Persons. But we are 85 and 86 ourselves and still able to walk 5 dogs every week and it is all voluntary. The group gets lots of support from local businesses too.
I paint dogs too and I have painted for 50 years but only in watercolour for about 4 years and I am still learning. I paint and frame the clients paintings as a gift but when I get a commission I insist that the dog’s owner gives $100 to POOPS as we also pay for some vet bills.
Leonard H
One More Monthly News This Year..
How amazing is that! You can see Leonard above in his POOPS t-shirt! We wish him every success with his paintings. If we could zap ourselves there we would love to walk some of the dogs with him! I think lily might enjoy that too!
I hope that you have enjoyed this months blog post and we look forward to hearing your feedback. We only have one more monthly news this year before the end of 2023. So as always look after yourselves, keep safe and enjoy the up and coming festivities. I will be posting a Christmas blog post in a couple of weeks. The cottage is yet to be decorated… but it will be soon!
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