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.

This wooden box, with a sliding lid and a movable tray inside it, was handmade by either my uncle John or Frank. This was made when they were young joinery apprentices, as a demonstration of skills gained, presumably some time in the fifties, and before they both emigrated to Australia as "£10 poms". The image glued onto the side shows  men and women in  a gondola, clearly enjoying a romantic cruise. The colours of the box are the original ones, and the paint shows wear and tear. The stuck-on image is not really to my taste but when Mum gave the box to me, when I was a teenager, she asked me to promise not to repaint it and so I haven't. The box is used to store art materials which I rarely use, such as chalk and oil pastels, gouache paints, (the same set I've had since art school some 30 years ago), and a ridiculous quantity of HB pencils, (which I hardly ever draw with as the lead is wrong for sketching). The box sits at the back of my art table, half-buried under s

   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