sunny bunny

The sun is out in Yorkshire. Happy days!

chrimbo limbo

I'm bloody loving the chrimbo limbo this year. I've mostly been eating, drinking and being very merry. 
Also ... sitting on my arse a lot. 
And another full week of it to come. Yay.

merry christmas

Merry Christmas people, hope it's a good one x

the little angel returns

Our little angel came home from uni on Saturday.
I'd say how lovely it is to have her home but we haven't seen much of her.
Since she arrived she's either been in bed, working (she got her old job back for the hols) or out with her mates.
But her room is trashed, she's needed a zillion lifts and she's eaten all the food. So it's lovely to be back to normal.

election rant

I wanted to take the dog with us to vote last night so that I could use the suddenly popular #dogsatpollingstations But by the time the other half arrived home it was cold, dark and chucking it down. So we went in the car. Without the dog.

Anyway I'm glad the damned thing is over now. I'm bloody sick of seeing political rants everywhere. I haven't asked a single person how they voted. I don't care. As long as they're funny, kind and entertaining we can be friends. All those people who think that others, who don't share the same political views, are idiots get on my chuffing nerves. I'm hoping they all shut the fuck up now and go back to moaning about the weather and the amount of dog poo they encountered on the school run.

monday mood

Getting out of bed in winter is a complete ball ache. How is it Monday already?

christmas party round1

I will be leaving my desk this afternoon to go to my work's Christmas do. There will be two of us in attendance. Me...and my favouritest art director. 

If it goes the way it usually does we will have consumed 3 bottles of prosecco before we remember to eat and we'll have to resort to a plate of mushrooms and chips to soak it all up. 

Who needs a fancy eaterie when you're hammered 😬😂

christmas catchup

Taking a nano second break from the busiest December in the history of Dawn Machell to share what I've zapped on instagram in the last couple of days....cos I'm too busy being busy to remember to double post.
It's not an advent. But it's close. (Rejects from my christmas card design which I niftily shoehorned into my schedule)

winter blues

I hate bloody winter.* 
And I hate it when I say yes to too many jobs.
And I'm very grumpy.
And I need a holiday.
That is all.

* Yes I am aware that it's still probably sodding autumn. And no that doesn't make it any better.

weekend visitor

The eldest came home from uni for the weekend. It was so lovely to have her back. And all her washing. And her long shopping list of urgent requirements.
She won't be home till Christmas now.
But it's ok cos we're going to Durham for the night on Saturday and we're gonna hop up to the Toon to take her out for some grub on Sunday 😊

monday

I could call this "Monday morning warm up". 
But really it's just me avoiding the real work list after a fab week away in the Lake District with my sis and two teenage boys. (Our own teenage boys, not two random ones that we picked up en route).
Back to the 673 emails in my inbox now then....

october 19

The October pattern is a little thin on the ground due to me being v busy churning out stuff for other people all month.
It's great to be busy but there's often not that much creativity involved in the jobs I do. Most clients tend to play it safe, terrified of taking a risk and doing something different when big bucks are at stake. I can't complain. It pays the bills. But I need to do my own stuff to keep me sane.

crap weather

My car pinged today when I started it. It was the warning ping to alert me that it's 3 degrees outside! 3 bloody degrees! And pissing it down. There was no ping for the rain. I didn't need one. I was soaking bloody wet walking the 4 steps from my front door.
To cheer myself up I booked a little trip to the Algarve. Not till February. (When it won't be that warm obvs) But the thought of it will keep me going through January. Have I mentioned I hate January?

snail mail

Well she might be studying Latin and learning all there is to know about Ancient Greece at university...but it was little old me who taught the eldest how to buy a stamp and post a letter yesterday. Winning at life.

fat birds

Fat birds.

In a pattern.

fly away

To hibernate or fly away. That is the question. Sadly the answer is neither. Too much to do mate.

ffs

It was dark when the alarm went off this morning. 
😩😩😩

weekend end

Weekends aren't long enough.
That is all.

september 19

So this was September... surprisingly mucho considering I don't feel like I've had much time for personal work of late...

catchup

In other news....my little night owl flew the nest and went to live in Newcastle to start uni....I have many amusing tales already which I will share when I get a minute.
And we got new Loaf sofas which I bloody love. The eldest thinks we waited till she left on purpose, but there is absolutely no truth in that rumour....none at all...

NOT halloween

I realise that it's now October... but I drew this in September, I just didn't have a minute to ask my question....What's with all the people banging on about Halloween in bloody September???
I don't get it? Halloween is one day. Right at the end of the month. It's not even that exciting. A bit of trick or treat and some pumpkins? Woo!
Surely people have more interesting things to think about in their lives a full 5 weeks before it arrives?
And do not even get me started about the fecking idiots who are already twitting on about Christmas! GET A LIFE!!!

I feel better for that.
As you were x

work avoidance scheme

When you just can't get into the work you're meant to be doing.... make a moose pattern.

university shopping

We spent most of yesterday spending a zillion quid on kitting out the eldest for university. She now owns better stuff than we have at home and I am most jealous of her moving to a swanky new pad on her own. 
We're taking the first lot up to Newcastle this weekend ... but then she's coming home to slum it with us for a week before she actually flies the nest next week.
Tissues at the ready...

lately...

A couple of pics from this week....autumn innit....

autumn

I literally have not had a minute for any personal work since July.
Apart from when I was in Mexico obvs. I had loads of time then.
But for the first time ever I just could not be arsed!
I was so very busy with other people's drawings before I went that I just lost the joy.
We've been back almost 3 weeks and I was thrown straight back into the busy-ness as soon as the wheels touched the tarmac at Manchester airport.
I was gonna do some proper work last night but then I gave myself a slap and reminded myself that it was the weekend. So I drew a fox. Cos it's all very autumn round here.
And I actually love September.

Back to the grindstone now...

what holiday?

Did I ever actually go away?
And did I ever sit relaxing in the sun, deciding that I wouldn't work so hard when I got home?
Maybe it was all a dream?

british summer time

Just as we were loving the hottest day ever in the history of Britain and living our best life in the beer garden on a Thursday... along came 48 hours of torrential rain and temperatures better suited to March. 
Bloody British weather.

man on the moon

Loving all the stuff about the moon landings at the mo...

holiday shopping

I want to be one of those people who spends the week before they go on holiday just pottering round the shops buying new HotWeatherClothes, insect repellant and sunscreen.
I'm not quite sure how I ended up being one of those work-till-the-last-minute-then-stay-up-till-2am-ironing-and-chucking-random-stuff-in-a-case-whilst-screeching-at-anyone-who-dares-to-sit-down sort of people.
But this year is no exception.
I have actually turned down a few jobs this month. But obviously not enough cos I'm having to work my little arse off and stay up till stupid o'clock just to stay affloat. 
That early morning beer at the airport can not come soon enough.

just bury your head in the sand mate

If the work list is long and the time available is short....just make like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand. 
In three weeks time I'll be sipping a margarita and eating nachos on the beach
Work?
What work 🤷🏼‍♀️?

monkeys and stuff

Yay, it's the eldest's last night in the jungle, she sets off home tomorrow. Can't wait to see her. She sounds to have had an amazing time! Two nights in Dubai followed by a week in Bali doing jungly things like riding elephants and visiting the monkey forest certainly trumps my first holiday at the same age with my boyfriend. (A 24 hour coach journey to Spain to spend a week in a pre-erected tent in case you're wondering.)
And only 17 sleeps till she's back on a plane for her jollies with us.
The youth of today 🤷🏼‍♀️They don't know they're born.

elephants

The eldest is living her best life at the mo. Today she rode on an elephant in a river! Then washed him. And fed baby elephants.
Meanwhile at home I made a winnerwinnerchickendiner for my mum and dad. Similar. But not the same 😐

child free

OK so this is weird. The eldest is living it large in Bali. And the youngest is away in a tent till Sunday. We are child free all weekend. And we're staying at home. This has never happened before. Well, not for the last 18 years and 10 months. Whenever a child free opportunity has arisen in the past we've taken full advantage and legged it to a hotel. But the other half is going away for the week next Saturday and it's only 3 weeks till our jollies so we didn't bother.
In any case, with the eldest leaving for uni in September and the youngest only 3 years behind her Im guessing that this empty nest is the future.

what's going on

Currently happening in my little world:
The eldest is on holiday with her boyf. They're in Dubai at the mo but fly to Bali tonight. Not. Jealous. At. All. 😐
I've joined a gym. I've never been in a gym before. I have my induction tomorrow. That might be the only time I actually go.
I've taken on more work than I actually should have done and I'm getting a twitchy eye at the thought of everything I need to do in the next 3 weeks and 4 days.
We go on holiday in 3 weeks and 5 days. So I won't care anymore.

june 19

That's June done and dusted. Another year whizzing by superfast. 

sunshine

It's suddenly totally tropical in Yorkshire. Woohoo. I might even have to take a layer off!

[It's completely not true that all Brits ever talk about is the weather. I hardly ever mention it myself.]

centerparcs

The eldest finished her last exam on Monday. Happyflippinglulliah! So we zipped straight off to Centerparcs and rode bikes through the forest all week.
I've now got about 10 weeks worth of work to do in the next 5 weeks before we jet off on our jollies.
Bye then.

father's day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Especially mine. Who's away on holiday. And the other half. Who's out working for a couple of hours.

the big shop

Our Tesco online delivery comes between 9 and 10am on a Monday. To secure this apparently popular slot I have to place my order sometime soonish the week before. So I go online, chuck a few random items in the basket and check out. Then every Sunday night, after moaning about it for 3 hours, I go back online to update the order to something we actually need.
Only this Sunday I moaned for 3 hours, went online, spent forever updating the order....then forgot to checkout.
So the delivery arrived on Monday morning and it was basically a bottle of Jack Daniels, some prawns and 12 packets of crisps. 
My sister said that this was the equivalent of spending an hour walking round Morissons filling up your trolley, then leaving it in the bread aisle. She's not wrong.
So I logged back in and secured ANOTHER slot for Tuesday morning. Apparently Tuesday mornings aren't as popular as Mondays. I chucked a load of cleaning products and toothpaste and toilet paper into the basket and checked out. I intended to go back and add actual food before the 11.46pm deadline.
Only I forgot. 
The delivery arrived on Tuesday morning and it was basically dishwasher tabs, tin foil and bog roll.
Still no food.
I had to physically show up in person at an actual supermarket to buy our dinner. 
We've run out again now cos I hate supermarket shopping.
But at least we have the Jack Daniels.

rain rain rain

You've gotta be suspicious when the weather men say it's gonna be a "flaming June"
They're usually flaming lying.
This June is no exception.
It hasn't stopped chucking it down all month.
And don't tell me it's good for the garden. I don't want it to be good for the sodding garden. It's overgrown and like a bloody jungle as it is.
Just send some sunshine please.
And warmth.
It would be nice to stop wearing 15 layers of winter clothes.
Thanks.