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

This is a profile drawing I did on the day after Orangeman was elected President, and sort to sums up what I felt then. It could have been used dozens of times since. Could have been used when we idiotically voted to leave Europe. Could have been used when posh school prat was voted in, which one? Or it could perhaps sum up what I feel about how they have handled the pandemic. It’s like a universal tool. I shall try and be a bit more positive in the future, but fully expect to be able to use this again … Continue reading Still life?

My friend Robin and I have been working on an idea where we could say thank you to Coronavirus Heroes who have kept life as near normal as possible for us. The drivers, pickers, posties, small shopkeepers, delivery people and the bin men ( or should one say waste operatives in this politically sensitive time, perhaps we should but I dislike the word operative, so perhaps waste workers would cover it ) We’d like to buy them all a drink but that being impractical we thought perhaps we might just design a mug for them. So we did. We got … Continue reading Intrigued Bin Men?

I used to dread getting this on my allotment, it was a beast to get rid of. Some call it mare’s tail and others call it horse’s tail, so lets settle on horse’s and then it’s not being sexist in any way. Anyone knows that pulling a horse’s tail can produce an interesting result and in some cases the kick might make your eyes water for some time. This eye watering view is part of my return to walking after a short lay off, this being the longest I’ve done for a while and this one in the company of … Continue reading Mare’s Tail

I make no excuses for re-visiting this subject. Many people have heard of Yorkshire tea, but not many people know where it’s from. The T fields of Barnsley are awash with product. Rotherham has one or two cultivated areas of tea production. It’s about the only cultivated thing in Rotherham. Although they do make the most excellent greenhouses there, I know I have one, so you would expect cultivation to be rife, but the tea grows better in Barnsley. People should know that Yorkshire tea is harvested almost entirely at night by ex miners watched over by their ‘norahbatties’ which … Continue reading Yorkshire Tea