Another day of painting white walls white or waiting for white paint to dry. I was painting a stairwell in the yard that drops from yard level down to a rear service lane and our garage. Not in the original painting schedule for June. But part of the extended, aspirational plans now the yard looks so fabulous in bright white. If a two graves were dug end to end that would describe my working space.  Hugo helpfully rested on the top level, inspecting and encouraging.

The biggest challenge was not brushing any part of me against the freshly painted walls in such a confined space. Hugo had no such qualms and is now a white dog tipped with bright white  enhancements.

Our lunchtime walk took us past very similar walls with a much more naturalistic appeal.

All of the stone used in this area would have been quarried extremely locally. The original Quarry boundary is 20 yards from our front door. I have qualms of guilt about painting such an ancient natural building material but previous owners made that decision a long time ago. The grubby white I am painting over covers a very strange colour choice. A sort of pinky orange. Texas Adobe walls is my closest colour reference. One external yard wall remains in this dubious shade.  Another addition to the extended, aspirational wall painting schedule.

Adobe is a fabulous colour choice in Texas and other places with extremely harsh sunlight and where the colour is naturally occurring. Not so great in South-West England.

Whilst not exactly a ponder, here is an unrelated fact.

Adobe Walls is the site of a historic battle in Texas!

My relationship with the colour of Adobe walls is much less blood-soaked. Two of my favourite women artists had studios in Mexico and New Mexico and used the colour often in their later works. I always rather fancied being an artist in that environment.  Not that I will be rushing out any time soon to replace my newly pristine white walls with Farrow and Ball, Red Earth.

That particular fantasy cannot be lived comfortably in Devon.

Meanwhile a quick romp through my colour theory books gives me a whole family for Adobe walls to live with.

So much blooming nonsense to fill my mind whilst painting walls white.