A trip to America now that they will let us in to see family. I’m writing this on a plane that recently took off from Heathrow. Idiotically dressed in a fine new pair of trousers that I’ve managed to vandalise within ten minutes of arriving at the airport dropping a blob of mayo from my home made sandwich right onto my crotch. After wiping myself down I looked like the result of pre flight nerves on my bladder, and assured my wife that other people would keep will out of range of us as my look was starting to look … Continue reading ”Mayo” weather in Merica.

I was a salesman for a print company. I got myself a proper job after over 30 years as a freelance cartoonist. In my new role I was tasked with finding customers that were new to print or those starting new businesses. It occurred to me that if I went along to the local Farmer’s Market the marketeers would fill the profile very well, and I could easily engage with them, even better if I bought something from them. I generally liked the stallholders, there were few of them that I did not take to, or thought it worth my … Continue reading Market Sunflower and my black sweatshirt

Just the sort of thing you might see on a beach in the UK. Make sure you spell it right, we don’t want any double meaning here. Theses super samples are at Lynmouth in Devon and look like that have been there for many years. They are the sort of thing that these modern gift shops would give many banknotes for if they can then repurpose them for use in the modern kitchen with words written somewhere spelling out slogans like: ” I’d rather be on the beach”. They ought to have special status and a brown sign on the … Continue reading Sunny Groynes

I have no idea what his name is and it’s a while ago. All those photos behind him are his family snaps. When I popped in he proudly pointed out a faded baby and said things like ” she’s married now” or pointing to a young toddler “he’s in the army now” He sportingly let me take his picture. The garage is on the A38, one of those old ‘A’ roads that used to be what we called trunk roads. It’s on a flat area just outside Gloucester, parallel with the M5 which takes all the traffic now. I was … Continue reading Man who mends cars 2009

This shot is from way back in 2006. At the time I worked for a printer in Gloucester and travelled around the area in my bright yellow little van looking for business, or visiting possible customers and actual ones. This is close to the centre of Gloucester. I thought at the time I saw the image, that I might go and knock on the door where the rainbow ends and suggest that they look for a pot of gold, or they could perhaps buy a lottery ticket, it might have brought them luck. One will never know. Continue reading Rainbow over Barton.

Not this winter but the winter of the first lockdown. The ethereal winter light helps this image. Not my plot but a neighbour who had it all dug over and ready for action, sadly he made the mistake ( if there is such a thing in gardening ) of leaving quite a lot of weed root in his diggings and it has many weeds now. There are various schools of thought about how to get rid of couch grass which can be really difficult to eliminate. We don’t use weedkillers around here so it’s a choice of picking out every … Continue reading Winter Plottage

This shot of my neighbour plotter Steve, on his patch, was taken last winter. I like the way the green paths frame his immaculate plot. Steve used to be a road engineer and is fond of saying that “It’s not just tarmac, you know!” He seems to be digging a small road here for some planned planting. There’s evidence of spuds in the picture, so probably they are bound for the plot. He seems to have the ability to grow vegetables all at the same size, and his red cabbage this last year was just huge. Continue reading Digging Steve

This is Edward Wilson who died on the same ill-fated trip to Antarctica as the man who spoke the words: Titus Oats. I think it’s a rather wonderful statue, and with all the present debate on statues at least this one is not contentious. It’s in Cheltenham Town centre and he looks over the posh shoppers on the Promenade there. The phrase is spoken these days whenever I go out shopping and as I mostly do this on-line these days, perhaps it should be revised to ” I’m staying in, won’t be a minute” Spoken on an ill- fated trip … Continue reading “Just going out, I may be a some time…”

Orkney, where the washing might take longer to dry than Italy in the second picture. Both taken some time ago. I suspect the Orkney washing is still damp today. Continue reading Washing and drying.

This from some time ago now, an old van just beyond Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust area by the banks of the Severn. You can get to it by a little gate at the end of the grounds, and you’ll be away from the crowds. I heard a reed warbler down there, shy bird, so did not see him. Sounds a bit like an old Hewlett-Packard inkjet printer charging up after having an ink refill. And then this from just last week. A recently deceased exquisite tiny bird on a pavement in a huge shopping area near Barnsley in Yorkshire. … Continue reading Slimbridge old van and a tiny gem

This is a small detail in a window in Gloucester Cathedral and is about 3 inches square. Found on one of my frequent visits there. Not that I’m religious, I’m not. They were clients of mine when I worked at the print company, and very good clients too. Lovely people. If you are in this area go and visit, there’s lots to see and they have in recent years done a wonderful job on making what was a car park into a garden. There’s a permanent staff of masons there, constantly repairing and renewing. There are times, in what are … Continue reading Cathedral Window detail

As we come out of January, I’m sure we all look forward to warmer days and growth. This image was taken many years ago now on a holiday in Scotland. Loved it up there and found the Scots to be very welcoming. I have no idea what is growing from this tree, so feel free to tell me. Continue reading Scotland plant