I hope you enjoy listening to my reading of the opening section of Bethany Rose, from my Artisan-Sorcerer series of short stories and novels. I recorded it using a Fifine microphone, which simply plugs into a port in my desktop computer. This gives a noticeably better sound than the in-built mic, and has proved its worth already. The camera used is the PC's own. I have an Asus all-in-one desktop, and the camera has been placed underneath the screen. It would have been much better if it had been placed at the top of the screen, as this low angle gives an unfortunate view of my chin, even after I've raised the whole thing up considerably by stacking books underneath it. Oh well, that's just one more design flaw to look out for next time I'm buying a PC, whenever that might be.

 Acrylic on canvas; A4 size; currently untitled. I finished this painting yesterday. It forms part of my on-going Birkenhead Park series which I've been working on the for last seven years. This scanned image doesn't quite replicate the exact colour tones of the original, but it's enough to give a very clear idea of how it looks. I've been experimenting with acrylic lately, using them initially almost as if they're watercolours by applying them in thin washes then building up layers of stronger colours. The painting is based on an original sketch done on location in the park.  I'm interested by the pattens created by the natural shapes of trees, and the multiple colours of bark. Children tend to paint bark a solid brown, but if you actually look at it properly brown is scarce. Instead, there tends to be a huge range of silvers, greens, and other colours. The flat edge of the water's far bank is created by the man-made pond's contour. Here, I was looking

  I hope you enjoy viewing this slideshow of my photographs, which were all taken in Birkenhead Park over the last year.  This forms part of my Birkenhead Park series of sketches, paintings and photos. Don't ask me how long this series will continue on for, as I don't know the answer to that one. It'll last as long as it lasts. It began not long after we moved to this area, and maybe it will continue until we move away again, whenever that might be. We're not planning to move in the near future, anyway, but having experienced the fragility of the "best laid plans of mice and men" I don't rule anything out. The camera used for these photos is an old Kodak Easyshare. Okay, it's not a model which would attract a professional photographer but for my needs it has proven to be more than adequate. Plus it fits in a pocket readily, so it's easy to carry around. The camera is obsolete now, of course. I bought it around 20 years ago, and technology has chang

  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.

Since writing my recent blog post which mentioned the male chauvinism and other bigotries of some 1970's TV shows, and how present-day statistics for domestic violence demonstrate how misogyny still damages far too many lives, America has banned abortion in thirteen states. So much for "the land of the free". America's female population is no longer free to control their own bodies. Apparently, Justice Samuel Alito , who presided over the Wroe vs. Wade case, quoted the writings of the 17th century jurist Mathew Hale , who was known for his part in the trial of  Amy Duney and Rose Cullender, who were accused of bewitching their neighbours' children and who were subsequently killed by hanging. Quite how a dealer in such superstitious nonsense could offer relevance to a 21st century legal case is beyond me. Meanwhile, America has introduced this retrogressive and oppressive law which is really about control - the control of women by men. Consider this: if the anti-

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