Actually I like my chocolate cool, and I think the band were quite ‘cool’ at the time. Anyhow this is spread number 4 of my book: “We love you more than…” It’s a children’s book and meant for young people, or large people with grandchildren that they miss. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to charity, and there are only 100 copies of the book being published. You can get your copy here, or they will be available in the Longfield shops in Cheltenham and Stroud. Click on the red link to find out what great work … Continue reading Weren’t they a band?

The book is intended for small children and this is spread number 3, or perhaps we could call it cheese spread. Here in Gloucestershire they have been known to roll a cheese down and extermely steep hill. I’ve seen this hill and to chase a cheese down it is verging on the suicidal. The cheeses chosen for the event are, I think, Double Gloucester, made by Mrs Smart out at Churcham on the road to Ross on Wye. Why chase a cheese down a hill? Well. why not. Buy this book and all the proceeds go to Longfield. click on … Continue reading We love you more than cheese.

I suppose the preoccupation with food might have been inevitable in lockdown. This is the second pie in the book. I was asked what my favourite meal was the other day and part of it would have been apple pie and custard, but not the fancy home made stuff with actual eggs in it, I like the original Bird’s custard that was yellow powder in a tin that made up into a yellow liquid gold addition to any pie. Sweet pie that is, not pork. This is the second spread of my book…buy it from here or from the Longfield … Continue reading We love you more than…

I’m a sucker for pork pies, though sucking them is not recommended. This is the first spread of my book: “We love you more than…” I hope you enjoy them in the coming days. All proceeds from the book go to Longfield which helps people at the other end of life. Continue reading We love you more than pork pies…

In lockdown I’ve had no excuse but to get on with a couple of children’s books that I promised myself I’d do for my grandchildren. The first one is called “We love you more than…” The book was inspired by my own experiences when my family were young, when I’d tell my daughter that I loved her more than….then you choose what it is you really like. This book, like the other, is quite small: the size of a standard cd. 120 x 120mm. All the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to charity, and my … Continue reading We love you more than…

Here’s my lockdown project brought to fruition at last. I’ll be banging on about these for several days from now. Hopefully a post per days and a page per day. You can buy the books from this site from each posting via PayPal. All the proceeds from the books will go to Longfield who look after people at the other end of life to my target audience. You can also buy the books from my other website. Again using PayPal. Or you will shortly be able to buy them from the Longfield Charity shops in the Bath Road, Cheltenham or … Continue reading Two books for children, both for charity

We’ve had a heatwave, but I have never watered my potatoes, they take their chances. I grow on some wonderful black soil conditioner from Evesham on top of clay like a hard cheese. It seems to suit the spuds. They grew enormous amounts of green above ground, and I thought the resulting spuds would be small and perfectly formed. They are schwarzenegger big. This is just one of a group from one plant, this is probably the biggest but the others are pretty big too, in fact half the crop from this one plant weighs over 5 pounds. The bonus … Continue reading Schwarzenegger Big Spud

From another Summer:2017 Continue reading Painted boat: Spetses, Greece

We needed a spot of culture as well as a day out so booked a trip to Compton Verney, a large house and garden in Warwickshire which the satnav lied about when we queried how far and how long it would take. Or perhaps I drive a tad slower than the average. The drive took us along conventional roads across the Cotswolds and to the edge of Warwickshire. They have it well worked out at Compton Verney to cope with Covid. How long before there are books coming out with “Coping with Covid” as the title. You heard it first … Continue reading Cultured visit with dental highlight.

This was from a few years ago when I had an exhibition of drawings inspired by “Pont”, and early Punch cartoonist who specialised in drawing the foibles of the British. This was in the late 30s when the concept of men cooking out doors would have been foreign to him, as it is to me now. What is it with these things that men cook enough protein to feed a small army in one fell swoop? I hear that we are in for some hot weather which means that men will be digging out barbecue sets from the back of … Continue reading Barbecue weather on its way