Good luck Pete - rather like me in retiring early and in the equipment/paints being care-worn but my difference is the stuff was mainly bought by and for my wife and is (or was) mainly acrylics. I have found that, even with new paint, it dries a little quickly for my taste. Of course you can get extenders (and I have but often forget while engrossed). Here in Central Scotland and in my sun-trap of a workshop/shed we get hot one minute and freezing the next which doesn't help. I hope you enjoy it all as much as I do (now equal fun for me with spannering and tech-fixing).

Welcome to the world of happiness.. You dared to pursue art again that will heal everything... Stay Blessed..

Lovely as always to hear from other artists Pete. It's lovely that you can now concentrate on your art. Such a shame so much of your materials were ruined. Expensive lesson to learn. However you won't need to store them away anymore as you will be using them. Hope you get great pleasure from your hobby. I suggest you look frequently on the gallery here as artists are continually downloading (or is it uploading) their work. You'll get great inspiration and encouragement when you put your own paintings on. Looking forward to seeing your work.

Great blog post peter keep them coming. Likewise I wish you enjoyable painting. I too have stored stuff away in the past and made similar mistakes and found it be ruined on retrieving it. I'm not confident enough to be honest to paint outdoors and much prefer painting at home where I now have everything together close to hand. Look forward to seeing the results of your efforts in due course