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.

  Urban Shore; acrylic on canvas; Birkenhead Park series; 2023. Big plans are afoot for Birkenhead . Umpteen billions are to be pumped into the area, old stuff is to be demolished and new stuff is to be build in its place. Some of this has already begun in the town centre, where long-empty shops have been flattened in preparation. Two new glass and steel tower blocks are almost finished. One is for council offices, the other is earmarked as a mixture of apartments, with shops at ground floor level. Do we need new shop buildings, when so many perfectly good premises have been vacant for years already? Peoples shopping habits have changed now so many of us shop online.  And what's wrong with the old council offices, where not so long ago £20,000 was allegedly spent on new carpet for the stairs? One aspect of the planned changes to the area which really interests me is the intention to create a large public park stretching down to the River Mersey. Currently this area houses derelict

These table decorations are so easy to make, but look good. All you need is a clean jam or coffee jar, and  few scraps of fabric such as ribbon or hessian, and a small quantity of PVA glue. Pop in an electric candle, and you've now created a pretty decoration. I saw something similar for sale in Southport for £5 each, whereas these home-made ones cost only a few pennies each.

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.