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...

Rosie and Jim Discover Snow Rosie and Jim give their Verdict of Snow Here on the Wirral peninsula we've had 2" of snow. Our dogs hadn't seen snow before, and so they were eager to explore the garden. They soon changed their minds, especially little Rosie who rapidly scurried off back to bed. The knitted patchwork blanket in the second photo was a bargain find. The wool it's made from would have cost far more than I paid for the finished item. No sooner had I brought it home and stretched it out on the living room carpet to take a better look than the dogs had claimed it as their own, settling down on it and preparing to snooze. They were quite disgruntled when I put it through the laundry rather than just hand it over to them there and then. On Monday 15th January, I returned to my day job after having been on sick leave for five weeks, having developed a horrible chest infection. I've never been so ill before in my entire life. I've lost almost  stone in weigh...

Rosie helping in the garden Earlier this week, at approximately 5am, we were awoken by our dogs barking. The room was full of flashing blue lights and a strong smell of heavy smoke, and we could hear voices outside in the road. We looked out of our bedroom window to see various neighbours in PJs, all looking and pointing in the same direction. Thick black smoke was billowing up the road and one neighbour's dogs were running around in panic, whereas they are usually either in their garden or with their owner. Other neighbours corralled them in one front garden, and a police officer captured a ball of fluffy white fur and carried it over to join its buddies. The fire was quickly extinguished and then all the police suddenly sprinted for their cars and even commandeered an approaching van, or so it seemed, whose driver followed the police vehicles off the scene, all driving very fast. All this took place within a very short time. It turns out that someone threw oil or similar onto our...

  The snowdrops photographed in The Arno have almost finished flowering already. They spiral away from the tree trunk, blurring into a more naturalistic planting style nearer to the hedge. This small urban garden in Oxton is maintained by volunteers. Nobody seems sure why it's named The Arno. Possibly it's a corruption of some old Viking word or phrase meaning "high point" or "eagles nest here" - the jury is out. Most of the garden is given over to a series of tidy beds which, when viewed overall, make a geometric version of a rose. Each bed is filled with roses. At this time of the year, the roses look like a snarl of dormant sticks. Of much greater interest to me is the cottage garden border which runs along one side of the park. This holds a variety of traditional plants such as honesty, hellebores and elephant's ears, and a host of wildflowers which have either been deliberately planted or which have have helped themselves to a patch of unmanicured e...

Jim always joins in whenever he hears one particular song. He doesn't do this with any other song, ever, and he's only started doing this recently. We thought we'd better film him doing this in case our neighbours imagined something awful was going on, judging by the ear-splitting noises he makes!

Rosie and Jim had never experienced snow before, so when we woke this morning to find the world had been covered in a blanket of white crispiness, our two little explorers were eager to play in the garden - for a few minutes, until they discovered that snow is cold on paws. At this point, they rapidly ran back inside.

I came across this gorgeous vintage lacy tablecloth while I was browsing around the shops in Liscard, and thought I'd share how it looks in our dining room. In this video I also show you a couple of Richard's recent drawings, so I hope you enjoy this little tour of one part of our home.

   Can a whole year have flown by already since we adopted Rosie and Jim? Well, yes, it has. And what a difference there is now with these two bundles of fun. When they first came to us, both were very thin and cautious. No wonder; they'd had a rough start to life, and then a period of life in kennels surrounded by other anxious dogs.  Rosie especially was quite timid. It has been lovely watching them gain confidence in their new home and in us. Jim settled in more quickly, but still doesn't like sudden loud noises or swift movements near to him. Rosie took longer to trust us, but now she's a complete cuddle-pot and doesn't think twice before clambering onto a lap for a snuggle. She starts off most games. She's currently in love with a ragged bit of cloth which is all that remains of a rainbow-coloured teddy bear. Jim is fond of dismantling toys...! We needed to do  lot of work with their behaviour when outside, as they were very reactive to other dogs, yapping fran...

  Here's a very short video showing New Brighton beach, our dogs, the driftwood pirate ship which is slowly being rebuilt, (for the 3rd time?), and then Vale Park which houses various fun sculptures and fairy houses. Vale Park is also home to the Mersey Arts Zone, where local artists exhibit and sell their work. There's a pleasant café, too, where on summer days you can sit outside and enjoy the formal garden.

This vlog shares a cross-stitch project, a walk around my small urban garden, film footage of Birkenhead Park, and my dogs keeping me company while I paint in the art studio. An informal, chatty video, which I hope you will enjoy watching.

  Rosie and Jim have a bath! So does Richard, by the looks of things... I hope this little video brings a smile to your face as you watch our two chihuahua x Jack Russell dogs have a canine pampering session. And, yes, Richard did get drenched too.

  Jim   Rosie Rosie and Jim have settled in well. They've been with us since December last year. As their confidence has grown, it has been interesting to see their characters emerge. We were told by the animal rescue sanctuary that Rosie was timid. Oh no she isn't! This tiny bundle of fun is the instigator of most games and the creator of much mischief. She loves digging holes in (what's left of) the lawn. For Rosie, anything can be a toy; yesterday she and Jim were enjoying a tug-o-war with a long blade of dry grass. Jim often runs around the house with toys in his mouth, the fluffier the better, and will bring us toys - but really he just wants cuddles. He loves being able to ramble around our garden by himself. Sometimes he just wants to snooze in a quiet spot. He'll do that for a few hours then come bounding back into company and want more cuddles. We've had a few funny comments about them. One small child thought they might be "miniature moo-cows"....

  In-progress oil pastel sketch of Birkenhead Park It has been a very long time - years, in fact - since I had used oil pastels. I'd been tidying up my art studio when I came across them stored away in a wooden box. The photo above shows a nearly-finished piece based on a sketch done on location in Birkenhead Park, where I've been regularly sketching for six years or more. I quite enjoyed using the oil pastels, and so may well turn to them again. The drawing is on dark grey A4 Khadi paper. While tidying the art room I also found two tubes of watercolour so old they'd gone solid. Rather than throw them away, I carefully cut open the tube, scraped the pigment into a large-sized palette, ground it into powder then mixed in some water. This has since dried into two pats of paint, one yellow ochre, the other crimson, which will be put to good use now they've been given a new lease of life.. Our garden seems to be confused. The winter jasmine is now in flower but so are the f...

  Emily AKA Little Mouse November 2007 - 21st August 2021

 Poppi Our little princess  Summer 2011 - 18th May, 2021.

Life drawing; pencil on A4 paper; 2018. First take a look at this interesting and diverse series of photos which depict womens' jobs from around the world , then have a good chuckle over the absurd descriptions of women by some male writers. The contrast between the two is quite telling. I am reminded of a conversation, which took place years ago, between an ex-boyfriend and myself.  He remarked that it must be marvellous to be a woman as we have breasts. I looked at him in bewilderment, and then pointed out that we also have knees and elbows but don't pay them much attention most of the time. "Oh," he said, crestfallen. "You disappoint me." "Really? You're the one with the delusions about female anatomy." It is no co-incidence that he became an ex. Life drawing class, March 2018. Photo credit: Marie Mairs. Here's a photo of my hands holding a pencil. The A4 sketchpad I'm using here is nearly full, mostly of life dr...