Received this beautiful, mind bending bowl as a gift today from my young friend Mags - handcrafted using Black Dog posters!   An absolute work of art and something I shall forever treasure.   Mags also does the inky black handwriting for the Army of Ink – and is hand making the next book too.   Check out the new ink in the diaries.  Happy 21st Mags! x

NEW:  Click image to print and collect.

If you love animation and an encouraging story about difference, laced with belly hurting laughter and coupled with a groovy sound track,  I recommend you grab the DVD, Fantastic Mr Fox, adapted from Roald Dahl’s book.  My highlight of the week and definitely destined for another watch.

I watched this spider spinning its perfectly crafted web that was anchored between the house and the neighbour’s tree and I wondered – how?  I wondered – if we really need to know so much?   Can we be satisfied to simply wonder?   To value and appreciate all that we don’t know?  Not fear so much what, and those, we don’t understand?  Embrace moments of nothing.  Trust gut feelings?   Follow hearts?   Go with the flow?  Pure instinct is what many creatures operate from.   It enables birds to make nests without instructions.  Whales to navigate their way around the globe minus watery maps and satalites … spiders to craft webs.   So leave the spider webs in your house and garden and toilet – face the fear x 8 and wonder …

Mum’s home from hospital.   Before being diagnosed with cancer, Mum had ’white coat syndrome’  ie intense fear of doctors and hospitals and hadn’t been near either since she gave birth to me.  She now has quite a fan club on the ward – and off … Mags (who’s handwritten the next book) sent her this hellium balloon to lift her spirits (pardon the pun).  Humour is such good medicine.

Woke this morning to a resident Dove who’d flown into my studio and couldn’t find his way out.  A little symbolic actually.  Back on deck this week after spending a quiet week in the studio making little books.  More about that later …

Never too old for stuffed toys I say.   Bought this Bunny for Mum when she was first diagnosed with cancer and one for myself.   They both wear the army of ink black tie from the ’21 postcards’  collection for added strength and have brought us much comfort – and laughs.  Mum pulled through her latest the op (bunny in tow), so it’s now time to turn the computer off and snuggle in for the Easter break and time with Mum.    Have a good one everyone.    Back soon.

PS:  Apoligies to squishy Bun (pictured), camera batteries run low so had to scan him in – justifying the rough treatment with the artistic view point of merely offering another perspective.

Love it when I get something in the post.    This card arrived today- thanks Mags. x  In case you can’t see, it says …. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.

Look REALLY CLOSELY at this exquisitely intricate work of art and read on as I weave a zone out whimsical story … Meet Miss Mupphet.  She shared the verandah with us on our recent farm stay – or should I say, we shared hers.   Of an evening, we’d sit in awe and wonder as she created an extraordinary lace, at a flying pace, with an endless thread and no instruction book in hand (x 8).   No hand-me-down skill (x 8).  No education.  No voice to ask for direction.  I wondered … how does she know where to begin?   How does she creates such perfect symmetry with no tools of measure?  How does she know when to snip the last thread to complete her masterpiece?  And does she have any real idea why she does what she does?  Does she feel a zone of frustration in a tiny vein – knowing tomorrow she’ll have to start all over again?  Or is she blissfully happy in her delightfully thoughtless spin?  Makes you wonder …..

… love the fella who makes my bread.  And that he’s coated  in self-raising flour!

Received a ‘dance like Rumplestiltskin in sheer delight’ kinda gift yesterday from a young friend and lover of all things Black Dog – a pair of  Black  Baby Jelly Babies.  Remember them?  And she told me a story … apparently the factory in France that produced the original Jellies has burnt down.  This was one of those genuine (not sales pitch) ’last pair’.   Interesting how they top off  the Black theme that was running through the blog this week - which flowed on from a chocolate theme!  Some truely organic creative juices flowing as usual at the Dog.   Thanks M x  ps:  couldn’t resist dipping them in some ink and stamping out some dots.   Weekend here – time to apply the brakes.  Caio for now.