This one is in Sicily and is used as the house for the Mafia chief in the Detective TV series Moltalbano. A programme that is popular enough with me for us to take a trip over there a few years ago. We stayed in Ragusa, and hired a car to get us around and see stuff, including this place. The hiring of the car was the bravest part of this as the driving over there was ‘creative’ to say the least, and when it rained one day in the manner of a massive downpour, it got even more ‘creative’ but … Continue reading House 2. Mafia connections?

I do a card every year for a local garage who specialise in mending trucks. They are great clients, easily amused by my drawings and very loyal, they come back every year. I thought I’d share the progress of this year’s card. First of all the boss gets in touch and reminds me that he’d like me to do one again this year. I put my thinking cap on and try not to replicate previous ideas but I have to say that I have done a lot of Santa/Rudolf/Sleigh type drawings in the past. I sent them a number of … Continue reading From here to here, a Christmas card journey by truck.

This is the first of another series, this time on houses. This one is in my hometown of Cheltenham and although a typically English house, is not really typical of Cheltenham which has many regency houses, both terraces as well as occasionally detached. Detached sounds to me like it’s cast adrift, not wanting to speak. I used to take a walk past this place and it’s always stuck me as well-loved and with it’s sunny aspect that’s not really surprising. Houses have an aura. I’ve looked at many over the years and lived in quite a few. My parents moved … Continue reading Houses.

Looking like a luxury yacht at anchor this place is near Larchmont in Los Angeles. Most of the house around here are in a range of styles from faux Mexican villa to English Country cottage on steroids. This one was quite different, and lovely in its way. Super lines and some clever tree planting. The blue sky which is quiet normal for around here, sets off the white of the building . I love it. Probably owned by someone in the media, who only sleeps there. Too busy for the rest of the time earning enough to buy something bigger. … Continue reading House 19. Ship inspired perhaps?

I doubt that the little red wooden house here still exists. It was in Ontario, Canada, where we went a few years ago and was really the last holiday we had with the kids in tow. Heading north east from Toronto we were looking for the end of a family trail. We did rather underestimate the distances we needed to travel and spent many hours in the hired car. No wonder the kids never wanted to go with us again. They were also tortured as we got into country areas, by me insisting on stopping at any unusual Canadian barn … Continue reading House 18. Red house, Ontario.

In a typical Lancashire way my Aunty Winnie, who used to make a massive meat and potato pie for us whenever we moved house, had a way with words. Not unlike the great Hilda Baker who’s , comedy routine was based on getting the words slightly wrong but in an odd sense right. “Those evangelists have been painting the walls near the Town Hall again Dorothy!” Evangelists? Are you sure Winnie? “Yes of course I’m sure,saw it with my own eyes, take my word for it” The only bit of the word she got right was the “van” and she … Continue reading House 17. Cable Street, London

The roads, especially the freeways. They were built in the 50s and intended to be used in case there was a need to evacuate the population in the event of a nuclear war. When I found this little know ( to me ) fact, it occurred to me when being driven down one of these roads: “ Why did they build them both ways then?” It also illustrated the paranoia around the 50s about the likelihood of such an event. If they intended to evacuate everyone, where to? All very odd. The photograph above from the Runyon Canyon summit was … Continue reading It’s all so big.