On 1 June 2010, in a somewhat rambling entry, I told of the visit of three artists who had spotted our mill and cottages as a scene they would like to paint and how, shortly thereafter, they did spend a day here painting. I also told how two of them, Donal O Bhrainan (Danny Brennan, to me) and Jackie Power, kindly gave me the fruits of their day's labours.
These I framed and one is now in Dublin with daughter Alice and the other in London with daughter Hannah.
And it was quickly revealed – with the sharp observation of Martin Dwyer of Thezan Les Beziers and formally, Waterford - that the third member of the party was Jack O'Hare who, as I also mentioned, is a watercolourist of considerable repute and, in his professional life, an architect who had trained under Frank Lloyd Wright of Chicago and Taliesin.

Well, the bell rang again yesterday morning and there were Jack and Danny asking if they could paint here again, this time with Ballyduff in its autumn colours.

And they spent the day painting in glorious, sharp, early winter sunlight. And, once again, I was given the paintings they both made.
So now I am the very, very, proud owner of another Danny Brennan and a signed Jack O'Hare.
These will grace our own walls.
It was a delightful day and when they arrived I was in the throws of making a batch of granola so the kitchen was filled the delightful aromas of toasting oats, nuts, seeds and honey. And the artists noticed this and our, now five, hens scratching around in the sunfilled garden at the back of the house.
And so, in small recompense for their generosity, they each left with a small bag of granola and an egg laid during the day.

Finally, an extraordinary little quirk to the tale.

The two of them left Ballyduff having forgotten, not only their eggs and granola but also Danny's watercolour pad. So I fled to Google hoping that I could quickly find a contact number for one of them to call them back.
As it turned out, Jack, now ninety four, quickly realised that they had left things behind them and they returned to collect.
But...........during my moments on line I evidently, and inadvertently, opened Danny's Facebook page* so I awoke this morning to find the most charming post concerning their visit here.......

*And this may have unforeseen, and unexpected, consequences.......I have booked a Facebook tutorial with Sue for tonight..........

Jack O'Hare

Danny Brennan