A chromatic conundrum …

The extension and renovation of our farm cottage is entering an exciting phase. Now that the structure is more-or-less watertight, the interior is being plastered and the exterior cladding is being applied. We are particularly pleased with the way the exposed trusses in the living room are highlighted by the internal plastering. We also love the high triangle windows on the east facing wall that help to bathe the interior in sunlight.

 

Looking east in our new living room

This week the level of excitement rose as the painter and his crew arrived and gave part of the exterior a first coat of paint. Now it is fairly obvious that that the way humans perceive colour is very much an individual process.  One is forcibly reminded of one of the most iconic scenes in recent movie history in The Devil Wears Prada in which Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) cannot see any difference in the colour of two blue belts and is schooled in epic fashion by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep).

Andy Sachs:
No. No, no, nothing… you know, it’s just that… both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y’know, I’m still learning about this stuff, and uh… (giggles uncomfortably) 

Miranda Priestly:
This… “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You… go to your closet, and you select… I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance … because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back, but what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.

In terms of our paint job, the puzzle stems more from the difficulty in distinguishing blue from green, apparently a common conundrum that remains a subject of scientific and neurological research. The phenomenon is illustrated quite nicely on the website "Is My Blue Your Blue?" ( https://ismy.blue/ ) where you are asked to label successive colours on the screen as blue or green.  The results are presented in the form of a score that allows you to compare yourself with others. It turns out that I see a lot more blue than Cath does.

Going through the process of selecting a colour for our cottage, we painted numerous test colours on some of our old weatherboards and eventually settled on Wedgewood, which when looked at in isolation appeared blue, but when set alongside other shades of blue appeared to be quite green. We chose it not merely because we liked the colour, but we felt it reflected the blue of the Huon river while simultaneously giving a nod toward the verdant pastures and orchards of the valley. It also honoured our Queensland history in the sense that our previous family home of 23 years was a majestic green Queenslander.

 

Test colours - Wedgewood second from bottom of the test strips

The first appearance of the colour on the boards of our new extension did raise a few eyebrows.  The painter and the builder both seemed to be a little taken aback. However, after a day of painting the painter confessed to Cath that Wedgewood had grown on him. The builder mumbled something about being a white and grey person but eventually admitted somewhat grudgingly that the colour had some merit. So far we are extremely happy with our choice. The house appears blue in the bright sunlight but shows green hues in the early morning and evening. 

 

07:00 Tinge of green?

 

15:30 - Definitely blue?

 Luckily there are no such chromatic challenges when examining the produce from the veggie garden and the orchard. Late January and early February has seen bumper crops of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini and cucumbers. From the orchard we have harvested our early ripening Vista Bella apples for cider making purposes and have also preserved a heap of plums. We are getting to the end of the late summer harvesting now and starting to restore and improve the soil in the veggie beds.

 

Plums 

 

 

Tomatoes and capsicums

 Although the days are slowly starting to get shorter, it has been a hot and dry summer. While this weather pattern does bring with it a few problems, some of the views over the valley have been very beautiful. And in keeping with the general theme of optical illusions, the following photo of cloud reflections in the Huon river might easily be two photos stitched together ...

 

 

Huon illusions