I’ve not seen my neighbour for weeks, that’s not unusual as he’s quiet and reserved at the best of times. Then this morning he’s there stepping out early to take the dog for a walk, and he’s grown a beard. Another quiet neighbour has also disappeared, his normally manicured grass cut to within a centimetre of its life is now growing like the other neighbour’s beard. The company that descend on his place every week are nowhere to be seen and the regular sound of mowing and blowing, even if there’s nothing to blow, have evaporated into the new normal … Continue reading Hair

No mention of the c word or the v. Take a tour around these images, all pieces of fine art that I liked, I hope you do too. Continue reading More short intermission…

Some will recall the phrase on the BBC by a cultured voiced announcer : “There will now be a short intermission”. That’s what I’m doing today. Some random images from my archives for no apparent reason, as there’s no apparent reason for anything these days. I hope you enjoy them. Continue reading Intermission

These were the almost last instructions from my dear late father when, back in 1966, he and my mother were flying off to Norway for what for them was a once in a lifetime holiday. They were leaving me and my elder brother to cope as best we could by ourselves, when he uttered these words I asked, not unreasonable, ” Why? “ “So you don’t cut yourself” was his simple reply, thinking that I was obviously far too young to be wielding a bread knife and that I’d be found lying on the floor soaking up blood from a … Continue reading ” Use sliced bread”

My neighbour said to me from a sociable distance. “ I wouldn’t know what that was like” I replied. “Neither do I” he countered, somewhat hurt. I’m sure he’s right. On both counts. Continue reading “It’s like being in prison”

How do you do it? Some people can turn their hands to all sorts of practical tasks to help in a crisis, and for the first time the word crisis is the correct word to use in the present situation. Perhaps a first time in recent years, makes Brexit seem almost inconsequential, even though it’s not. I do it by banging on about stuff and trying to extract a smile. I wake up with ideas, go back to sleep and then forget what I thought of. I’ve been writing “Keep your distance posters” as if I’m employed by the Ministry … Continue reading Making yourself feel useful

I originally posted this some time ago, and honestly thought that we might be getting out of this business by now, but we seem to be having to continue the effort to be sportingly stand offish. Stay safe. I recently posted a short video of me drawing. The clip was done on time lapse so it looked quite speedy, I draw fast but not that fast! So here’s another with the drawing in real time. Here’s the drawing as it was finally used, though come to think of it, although this is the final I might well have done it … Continue reading Sporting Distance

I’m tempted to make all sorts of references to trumpeting the message and the like, but I’ll resist. I’m planning to put these as available on my Red Bubble site in due course and will put a zero mark up on them, so in keeping with my recent history I’ll be making no profit! Hopefully it might keep the T shirt people and the like busy and in business. Take a look over here. More designs to hopefully lift the spirits on here and there in the coming weeks. Thanks for visiting. This is one place where you don’t need … Continue reading Don’t come too close