Tuesday 30 June 2020

menudos cuadros

New prints available on Menudos Cuadros...go buy some, your walls will thank you.









june 2020

June 2020. Possibly my favouritest month ever.

No alarms.
No deadlines.
No rushing round like a mad bastard.
Trips to the seaside.
Trips to the countryside.
Walks.
Sunshine.
Ice cream.
And the chance to just breathe a little.

Shame it took a global pandemic to facilitate it mind you.

Monday 29 June 2020

hello monday

hello rain
hello 11 degrees
hello grumpy mood

Sunday 28 June 2020

not in New York

We should be in New York now.
It should've been the Youngest's prom on Thursday followed by our super fab holiday on Friday. Four nights in New York, 2 nights in Boston and a road trip to the Acadia National Park.

I'm feeling like I should be gutted.

But in actual fact I think if you'd given me the choice between a two week holiday to somewhere fabulous but with two kids who don't like to get out of bed before 2pm and an OtherHalf who likes to argue with them about it... or 12 whole weeks of a slower existence with no rushing about, no alarm clocks and minimal deadlines combined with mostly the best weather we've had for years I actually think I would have gone for the latter.

Without the global pandemic obvs.


Thursday 25 June 2020

happy bunny

Oh what bloody amazing weather.

Wednesday 24 June 2020

day tripping

We had a family day out yesterday. To make the most of lockdown and sunshine. And as a delayed Father's Day treat cos we figured it would be rammed on Sunday. We went to Malham Cove so the OtherHalf could see the peregrine falcons. They're his favourite bird. Apart from me. Obvs.

It's gonna be a shock to the system when we have to go back to real life.



Sunday 21 June 2020

catch up

Wednesday was WalkInTheWoods day. Again. Seems to be a thing we do on the regs at the mo. With an ice cream stop. Obvs.
Thursday: It chucked it down all day. Like loads. 
Good for the garden. NOT good for sitting in the sodding garden.
Friday: Nothing exciting. Trip to M+S. Small queue. Bought picnic food.

Saturday: Very exciting trip to the seaside with my mates and our kids. So fab to go somewhere other than Tesco/M+S/woods/ice cream parlour. 
Spent the day on the beach at Sandsend then walked into Whitby, where it was v. busy and social distancing was clearly considered passé. Had fish and chips, after queuing 20 mins, then walked back. Via the sea. Cos the tide had come in. Shoes and socks were removed and jeans were rolled up where possible.

Today: Fathers Day. Met my sis at the parent's, where we sat outside at a safe distance while Daddio opened his pressies.
Then went for a walk round a lake with the OtherHalf and the Youngest. (The Eldest has an ear infection and had used all her available energy up on the beach trip so she stayed in bed.) Followed by a Japanese takeaway.
So that's me up to date.
Who knows what excitement next week will hold...


Tuesday 16 June 2020

shop till you drop...or queue till you need the loo...

The shops reopened yesterday.
I haven't been.
But I did see the queues on telly.
Life is just too short to spend all day queuing outside Primark isn't it?

Friday 12 June 2020

locked down in the rain

It hasn't actually stopped raining all day.
And it's freezing.
And the youngest should have had his last exam and left school today.
We were meant to be going on our first OutOfSchoolHolidays holiday in 15 years in a couple of weeks. To New York. 
But we can't go anywhere.
And it's all just a bit shit.






Thursday 11 June 2020

rain stops play

Lockdown was going well till bloody winter came back.

Tuesday 9 June 2020

life in the slow lane

Latest update:

Went for a walk on Sunday with the OtherHalf. 
Went for a walk on Monday with the Sister.
Went for a walk today with the OtherHalf and Sister-in-law and 2 offspring.

Also the Sister and the Sister-in-law had their special birthdays. They were born 3 days apart and were in the same class at school.
But they weren't allowed to do much.
So not very special after all.

Also, also I haven't got any work on so I drew some pets on skateboards.

Such is life in the slow lane.


Saturday 6 June 2020

happy haircut

The dog had a happy haircut this week. So that's just me who needs one now.

Friday 5 June 2020

back to life...

The world is opening up again. A little bit.

This week I went for a walk with my sis, our friend and assorted offspring. The cafe was still closed but we saw a rather lovely duck family.

I went to the garden centre with the OtherHalf and the Youngest. They made us have a trolley each to aid social distancing.
What a pain in the arse that was round the one way system.
They have also got rid of the shed section so it was basically a waste of time.

McDonalds reopened yesterday. Drive-thru only. Apparently the queue was so long that the police had to come to stop people joining it. So we won't be going there.

This morning we went to a proper shed place. Where they DO still sell sheds. But it was closed to the public. You have to just buy online. Which is a bit shit.

And this afternoon I met my friends in the park for my sister's birthday. We had afternoon tea in the pouring rain.
You still can't go in people's houses so it was our only option.

It's life. But not as we knew it.


Thursday 4 June 2020

too chilly to chill

Just as I was getting used to lounging about in the garden every afternoon the weather goes all British on us and it's back to being bloody freezing. And it keeps chucking it down.
FFS.

I drew this pic for instagram a couple of days ago but it didn't feel right posting it while everyone else was posting 'black lives matter' stuff. 
I don't draw actual people for insta that much but when I do they're nearly always white. That's because they're used to tell stories about my own life. When I illustrate kids books my people are all different colours. But if you look at my insta feed there's not much in the way of diversity.
I've recoloured this one to see how it looks...

Tuesday 2 June 2020

may 2020

This was May.
In Lockdown.
In a pattern.

I feel really lucky that I don't personally know anyone who's suffered badly from Covid-19. I don't have small kids to educate and entertain. We have a massive garden. The weather has been bloody amazing. And we live near to my family and in-laws. I've been able to see them. Not close up. But close enough.

I do realise that not everyone has had the same experience so don't want to witter on about it.

But I've also realised that the very fact that my life has changed so little in an international lockdown probably suggests that I need to start living a little more when the world gets back to normal. Maybe I'll step away from my desk a bit and do something other than work and feed people?