I don’t often post pictures of myself on this sort of thing but this is me and my chum Alan on a great day out in Ross on Wye. I’ve been retouched, but the less said about that the better, and it’s not why I’m laughing. You can see why I’d share it, we make each other laugh almost all the time. We used to share an office together and never a cross word was spoken in ten years or so, or since! Here’s what it looked like from the other way: Alan was, and is indeed, one of the … Continue reading A Grand Day out with my chum Alan

This is Painswick Church grounds and it is said to have 99 yew trees. They have tried in the past to plant another but it is said it always dies. Taken the other day, I was taken with the chap in the blue shirt and his bright red jacket, discarded in the bright September sunshine. There’s something about September sunshine that brings everything into sharp focus. Shadows are longer and deeper and the sun seems to pick out every detail. today has been exceptional, so I took a few pictures to pass it on. The ones that follow are all … Continue reading Blue Man Church and Mrs Thatcher.

I have a bit of a thing about names as evidenced in my series of drawings that you can see here: Apt names But in reality there are loads of people with the real thing. Like Mr Tyler who is just that, a tiler. I also came across this bit of religious vandalism near to Gloucester Cathedral the other day. Saint Opath must be the Patron Saint of Back Pain. The image of the grapes were taken locally in my friends garden earlier this month. A sign of a sunny summer that is having a last blast this week after two … Continue reading R Tyler, who art near heaven.

I’m a big follower of this blog: https://www.becomebetty.com/trader-joes-carrot-cake-spread/ I’m slightly addicted to Betty’s take on all the stuff she buys from Trader Joe’s which is a large supermarket chain in California ( and may be elswhere ). Looking at what our American cousins eat might give an insight into how they behave. They certainly are n’t short on creativity. In the case above they obvoiusly dropped a cake in the baking department and shovelled it into jars. No need to worry, I’m sure it was all in a controlled environment, though nuts might have been present. In fact that exactly … Continue reading Put that on your sandwich!

September evening on the plot, only me there. Complete peace and quiet. Perfect evening. Worth sharing. I’d rather be… #allotments #gardening #plottage #vegetables #sheds Continue reading Why I’d rather be…

Off I go for a haircut. One of those days where you think things might go well, but the signs are that all is not well. Subdued barber, lady barber that is, she obviously thought she’d rather be doing something else than mowing my head. Very pleasant, but not a lot of “connection”. The usual opener ” Got a lot on today?” I suppose it’s better than the dentist in that their questions and what I call “dental gibbering” can rarely be answered when they have all thier metalwork and suction pumps in the answer box. Then a thought occured, … Continue reading I’d rather be…

It’s the only place I know in the UK with an exclamation mark in the name. As part of my series of ‘proper drawings’ this is just one of a big series drawings. This is the original and is from this photograph taken some years ago. It would lend itself to one of those Cohen brother films as a poster. I only ever did one poster for cinema and that was when the props ( a house ) were more important to the director than the then leading actor who was Tom Hanks! A very long time ago. The job … Continue reading Westward Ho! At a cinema near you soon.

  Everyone knows that the tea fields of Yorkshire are just outside Barnsley in a secret location. Here you will find repurposed mine workers earning an honest living picking the tea at night ably assisted by cloth headed women with a leg in each corner. Flavour is enhanced by night picking. It’s as likely as coffee from Italy, there is none. So when they call it Yorkshire Tea it’s bending the truth. Makes a good brew though. #yorkshire #tea #barsnley #teabags #brew #marketingbollocks     Continue reading Yorkshire Tea, it’s tea but it’s not from Yorkshire.

There are far too many first world problems that get me generating heat, but a recent bill from the bailiffs for Scottish Power really did take the shortbread. I owe Scottish Power nothing. Despite that, they continued to send letters from their bailiff company insisting that I do. I made my feeling known to them and they advised that they would get the bailiffs to desist and that they would pay me what they had demanded as some sort of recompense. I’ve since had two more letters from the bailiffs. In Scottish Poer’s cheery ‘customer service focussed’ response they recently suggested : … Continue reading Power ranger…och aye.

Here’s another drawing from my recent selection of ‘proper drawings’ It’s actually a view from my allotment plot. The original photo was taken some years ago as I was just in the process of ‘restoring’my patch from some previous neglect. There’s no big story here, it’s just a drawing of some sheds. There’s work to do here, both in the drawings and on the plot. Here’s the original photo. Continue reading Sheddage