My chum Richard has just had a stent fitted, and as he said to me, the ticker’s fine but the pipes are furred. So what sprang to mind to my visual mind was “Dyno Rod”. For those of you from the UK reading this who might be familiar with the brand, it’s not a laxative but a company specialising in drain clearance for furred-up pipes. There is  folk tale that they used to have the punch line ” Satisfaction Guaranteed or your blockage back”, but I rather doubt it. Or perhaps the copywriter fell foul of the spellchecker. Again unlikely, as it … Continue reading Spell checker stent surprise.

We all have them, the sort of days when it really would have been better to stay in bed and not venture out too far. The plan was a trip to Gloucester with the bonus of swinging by the best fishmonger in the area. In fact probably the only fishmonger in the area, as supermarkets have swept the rest aside. I’d better take a cool bag block with me just in case it gets warm, want that fish to be as fresh as possible and not taste like supermarket stuff with all the freshness of being in a rucksack for day, with … Continue reading Ice cool in Gloucester

  My Dutch lessons resume and the latest phrases are getting positively plaintive. Whoever thinks up these should try to undertandme. I don’t even have one dress, honestly. Dutch is a difficult enough language without resorting to these liberal thoughts. My imagination is running riot as phrase after odd phrase is thrown at me without any concern for my well being. Then the latest just the other day: “Not a single child hears the sheep” Now that’s just a little creepy, or is it just my imagination. I spoke it in a sinister whisper, try it and you’ll understand the sinister … Continue reading “It is my only dress”

I’ve been rambling, more than normally, in Sardinia, where the weather last week was, to start with, not unlike the Orkney’s ; scene of a previous ramble. We do these walking hols, and generally go for the ones that include a guide. That is a human guide, not a damp book of maps. There’s an interesting dynamic in the group walking thingy. I look at people’s feet in the airport to see if, like me they are wearing walking boots. as these constitute a bulky item for air luggage and most walkers wear them for the trip. When a fellow traveller … Continue reading “Taking the lidl biscuit” amongst other things.

I’ve had visitors from China. With all this new fangled techie stuff I can find out where people who have dropped into this site, and today I had 2 visitors from China. The last time this happened there was just the one visitor from China. I was inordinately pleased and boasted about this very first visit from China to my son. Who paused on the other end of the phone and said very slowly “…. just the one Dad?” Well, today I’ve excelled myself and doubled my visitor numbers. So if you are one of those visitors from China, you … Continue reading Summertime and China

I’m trying something new with something old. This might be the thin end of the wedge for an old pro like me, but I’ve been sending some of my stuff to a stock illustration site: shutterstock  to be exact  and you’ll find me under Pauldraws. I’m hoping that this works then you can all see more of my stuff and  have the opportunity to download too. I know that a lot of illustrators and cartoonists think this might be a bit infra dig, not the done thing, but rather than have drawings just sitting in an old plans chest, at least here they … Continue reading Will it take off?

  Remember the days when the Sony Walkman was the really cool musty have gadget? Well this drawing must have come from those days. Hope you like it! Continue reading Walkman drummer.

Carrying on my latest Dutch lessons one recent gem has included this one, and the visual image and back story need telling. Could it be a philosophical offering or perhaps  a scenario where I imagine someone being interrogated and there’s no-one around.The interrogator shines the light into the poor suspects face The suspect is under threat from the odious questioner, but he’s giving nothing away. As if to threaten him even more the black coated inquisitor leans close to him and whispers with his strong guttural accent into his left ear….de muizen…then his voice trails off. The suspect start to sweat profusely. Thinking … Continue reading The mice are saying nothing…

I’m learning Dutch. I’ve got an app on my iPad where I’ve started in an enthusiastic way to learn the language. You might ask “Why on earth Dutch?” when most Dutch people speak English better than we do. Well it’s a family reason. My future daughter in law is from Belgium. Pause for thought.  Now there seems even less logic now as I hear you say, ” then learn Flemish” which is her native tongue. Well I can’t find anything for free where I can learn Flemish, and as Dutch is close then Dutch it is. This is not quite … Continue reading The turtles are reading a book

Here’s one that I published way back in 2018. Yes, I’ve been putting out this stuff for THAT long. I always like to leave a bit. Ask my kids about when I cook, there’s a family saying…”there’s a little bit left over”. It means I’m not good at finishing stuff and that applies to drawing as much as anything else. So in my fridge of  portfolio drawings there are loads that are just not finished and now with the digital age there are even more that I fully intend to cook till entirely finished. The rule does not apply to … Continue reading A passion for watercolour… not.