I'm on vacation...see you in mid-February!

Layers for inspire me thursday

This is the final piece. I used dry pastels on black card.
The various stages are below.

Snow on my birthday!!

My friend Iole was just over from Boston and she said, "But it never really snows in London does it?"

Yes it does Iole, look!!!

Happily, I have the day off today, and tomorrow, and Friday and two weeks after that as Paul & I are off to Mexico on Friday! This morning, I've been lazing around listening to BBC 6 Music and doing a bit of drawing in my journal...here's a snapshot. The drawing is of the hot water bottle that my friend Mad gave me for Xmas, and which was used last night because it was soooooo cold!! Paul kindly got out of bed and filled it up for me after I moaned at him for at least five minutes about how coooooolllllld it was! Thanks Paul :)

The Striped Avenger for IF

This is Horatio, otherwise known as The Striped Avenger. He moves stealthily and wisely, and helps to counteract and fight writer's block. He is not one of those unhelpful bunnies that snorts, "There's no such thing as writer's block" or other intellectually snooty and most unhelpful comments when you are suffering. No. He gently guides you back to what you need most: writing, and trusting yourself. Not as well known as other super heroes, or as flamboyant or dramatic as anal probe man, but I'd never wanna be without my sweet little Striped Avenger.

Eight T's for Illustration Friday

Better late than never! Inspired by shadows and clouds, I decided to draw eight t's as well, eight objects beginning with the letter 't'. A nice way to ease me back into drawing. The eight are: toaster, tea bag, tray, trinket box, toilet paper, Toby, teaspoon and a tail that someone sent me the other day.

Thank you

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been sending their sympathies about Caesar. It really means a lot and it does help to know that you understand what it's like. Paul has his own tribute to Caesar here.
It's been an emotional week and continues to be. The night he was put to sleep, we brought him home and buried him in our garden. We buried him with a short letter that we wrote saying our goodbyes. We put it under one of his paws. Laying him in the ground, he looked like he was just fast asleep. We left a candle burning for him, and a few hours later, we noticed through the glass panel of the back door that his candle was still burning. So we went outside and saw that the sky had cleared, the air was crisp and fresh, the moon had come out, and even though the light of the moon was bright, we could still see some stars (a very rare occurrence in London) and there were also a few beautiful white streaks moving slowly across the sky. It was as if the night sky was welcoming him. It was a great comfort.

I haven't done a single drawing since he died. The ones I've posted recently about him are all old drawings. The one in this post was the first ever drawing posted to this blog, just over a year ago. I'm slightly trepidatious about picking up a pen to draw, as Caesar was one of my favourite inspirations. But I will do it soon, one of these days. In the meantime, thank you for stopping by and sparing a thought for the little guy.

Goodbye Caesar

I'm very sad to write that Caesar is no longer with us. He had kidney problems, and during this last week, his kidneys had started to fail. He was put to sleep on Friday, 5th January. He is now at peace and is buried in our garden. He was 12 years old, and his last couple of years with us was very happy. He was sweet and special and we're going to miss him very much.

Caesar

Caesar is unwell and I'm worried and sad. He's just not himself at all. He had a check up on Saturday and he was fine then. But since we brought him back, he's lost his appetite, hardly moves and doesn't even say hello to us anymore, and he's usually such a sociable and talkative little fella. If you're reading this, please send happy thoughts to our little cat. Thank you.