Christie enjoyed her luxury cruise, confident that her domestic robot would take care of her home. And it did - with horrific consequences.  

  The aquilegia have been glorious this year, bringing washes of colour to my small urban garden. A trip to Carr Farm Garden Centre, in Meols, yielded several new plants which I've already potted on. The clematis Westerplatte (dark red) and clematis Multi Blue (purple/violet) have each found homes in the wooden troughs-with-trellis that I bought last summer, one in each, and they're sharing those with some lavender. A sturdy Dicentra spectabilis, more commonly named as Love Lies Bleeding because of its dangly pink heart-shaped flowers, needed to be re-potted immediately as it had clearly outgrown the pot it was sold in. If all goes well it should flower every year for years to come. I also bought a small tray of pink pelargonium Zonale. Now, until last summer I wasn't keen on geraniums or pelargoniums, (don't ask me which is which!), as I always felt they were too obvious and safe a choice. But then  bargain price tempted me to buy some, and they went on to flower for s...

Jim knows how to make himself at home. He does have a dog bed of his own. Several, even. But given half a chance he much prefers to snuggle down in a soft pillow and duvet. Rosie is still enamoured of the knitted blanket. While he's busy snoozing, I've been busy tweaking my YouTube site, improving video descriptions and creating a few Shorts, all with the aim of increasing viewing figures and subscription numbers. Maybe it's just a matter of persevering? I'm enjoying filming and video-making, anyway. Rosie and Jim had a check-up at the vets last week, and were both given a clean bill of health. Jim weighs 10lbs. He's supposed to be a chihuahua. Erm, right.... A chihuahua crossed with a Jack Russell Terrier, we had supposed. This vet was unconvinced, reasoning that Jim's bigger than a Jack Russell, broader across the back, and with a noticeably wider head. Rosie is more dainty, and weighs 5.3lbs, which is still bigger than a chihuahua but easily smaller than a ty...

Here's my latest video, where I'm working in my art studio and chatting about art.  

Join me on a walk around my small urban garden. Listen to the birdsong, see what's in bloom, watch what my dogs and a neighbour's cats are doing, and generally chill out. No commentary or conversation here, on this video you can simply listen to the calming sounds of nature.

The garden changes rapidly at this time of the year, emerging from near-dormancy to erupt into the fullness of May. We've not altered the garden's layout in the eight years of living here, even though the design is too linear for my taste. Ours is a typical urban garden, a small oblong shape surrounded by high walls and fences, which means each part of the garden gets some shade at different times of the day. I've a pile of unused plant pots waiting for more plants, and at some point I want to create a pond. The one thing I miss about our old house is my beloved pond. I'm no gardening expert, but I've picked up some knowledge along the way. We have introduced a wider range of plants to this garden and aim to continue doing this as, inspired by Claude Monet's example, I plan to turn my back garden into a source of painting ideas. Okay, his garden was on a somewhat larger scale...  If anyone has any bright ideas for the garden then I'd love to hear them.

This very short video reveals, stage by stage,  how "Urban Shore" was painted. I hope you enjoy watching the process. There's a snippet of my dogs keeping me company in the studio, too.