You might think that having an allotment is for you to grow your own veg. Well it is, and it is also to feed the local population of slugs snails and birds as well as for meditation. Just taking in the plot this evening was just brilliant. No one else was there, I had my own plot and all the others to myself. A redstart and a cliff chaff were in the area too, they were probably contemplating coming along for a feast on my slugs. I wish they would as the slugs are having a ‘super size me’ slug … Continue reading Plottage, meditation and spud failure…

One of the good things about this blogging lark is the way one can vent about all those first world problems that come upon us. A recent problem relating to hot water and cylinders has landed me with the task of finding an electrician and perhaps a plumber, to fix a problem. Plumbers and electricians are thin on the ground, or so it would seem, so to get one to respond let alone turn up is a minor miracle. The technique of asking either of these trades to get in touch is yet another minefield. I determined to find recommendations … Continue reading The plumber, the electrician and the bishop.

Winston Churchill used to write in the modern sort of shorthand that is now prevalent on social media and txt mssgs. Shortening words and the like or making up letters to sound like words. So lets blame him for this modern phenomenon of the two or even better, one word that’s meant to work as an entire sentence. So when one is asked if you will take a slight reduction on the sale of something the response might be ” Sorry, Cossyliv! “ This is the shorthand for Cost of Living Crisis and in normal speak would occupy an entire … Continue reading Cossyliv and other words.

I have two small resident critics staying with us at present so will run this drawing past them later, when I can drag them away from lego, flying airplanes in the garden and avoiding the “North Korea” of one of our neighbour’s gardens, eating pizza (which I’ve been trying to persuade them is Italian cheese on toast), and generally being fun. There’s work to be done on this yet. It’s a spare spread for an upcoming book written by Andy Harden. The third in the series. This one may not even be in the latest edition as it is intended … Continue reading No fly zones and constructive criticism

For crying out loud where did that come from. Excited is as excited as you can be, just leave it at that. I blame sport and the people who do well in it. Most pro sports people are really a bit two dimensional. Sports personality is an oxymoron, and many pro sports people are really just very dull people. I’m sure that Andy Murray is a lovely fellow but he has cornered the market on how to sound the opposite of super excited. That monotone Scottish delivery of his is about as interesting as a dead mackerel. Others are coached … Continue reading I’m just not super excited.

This photograph is from way back in 2009 when I worked with the Cathedral in Gloucester, they bought print from me, and as a bonus I got to visit not only the Cathedral but the Mason’s workshop too. This is Olly, as I remember, who was one of the masons then. I’m not sure if he’s still there, but the beautiful sculpture he’s working on will be, but you’ll have to look up. It’s a gargoyle and is one of many on the edge of the roof of the building and is where rainwater drains through. One block of stone … Continue reading Masonry: a tidy piece of work.

…and I should take my camera with me. I found myself in the town yesterday and this guy came around the corner as I ventured to get my watch fixed ( the repair: a new battery, cost more than the original watch ) I chased back after him and asked if he’d mind me taking his picture. He was extremely pleasant and said fine and this is the best that came out from my phone camera ( I wished I’d brought my proper camera, but hey ho ) Who would have thought that a string vest would be ‘cool’ in … Continue reading I should get out more.

I read reviews of things and am wary of those that say things like ‘achingly funny’ or add almost any adjective before ‘funny’. Funny is after all in the ear of the beholder, and in the beholder’s mood. Many years ago I watched ‘Local Hero’ with no mirth at all and could not see what the fuss was about. I watched it again some years later and loved it. First time around my receptors were functioning differently to the second. So I’m reading a review of a film that ends with my headline above, which tells me that not only … Continue reading “…in a land where all joy has been washed away”

Well nobody of course, he did it himself, or that’s my impression, pun intended. We may never know, but do we need to know? Perhaps not. Am I comparing myself to “van”? No, of course not but as I was elbow deep in washing up it occurred to me, that as long I was thus occupied it kept me away from the drawing board. There are times when I’ll do anything not to start drawing and other times when the washing up and other such domestic stuff conspire to keep me well away from the indian ink. Even writing this … Continue reading Who did Van Gogh’s washing up?

Anyone who compares Douanier Rousseau with Susan Boyle is ok in my book, and that’s what Will Gompertz does in his brilliant book “What are you looking at” I’d recommend this book to anyone, he writes simply and amusingly about modern art and its beginnings and makes sense of it all. There’s no ‘art bollocks’ here so far. I managed to pick up my copy in the Oxfam bookshop in Cheltenham not long after the literary festival we have here each year. I suspect some local philistine has been to the festival, bought it and could not be bothered to … Continue reading Nobody was expecting that.

First flowers on my tomatoes have more hair on them than on the top of my head. Perhaps I should take to drinking “Miracle Grow”, but then it might affect the hair I have elsewhere like on my chin which grows faster than my cucumbers, which appear from seemingly nowhere to surround me. At least that was my experience last year, the young plants I have this year look ready to flower but given a couple of weeks they will be hanging around all over the place. I’ve had another burst of drawing. Sheds again. In the hope of diminishing … Continue reading Hairy Toms