I realised just how long it's been since I updated my site and my blog. Bad me!!
Well it's been an interesting few years - the last couple in particular. Covid arrived and the idiot man-child in No. 10 decided to ignore it for ages so went around shaking peoples' hands and pretending all was ok. Gotta keep those right wing loonies happy. Lockdown was inevitable and it was hard for so many people. As a freelancer I was used to wfh. I was informed by nurse, doctor and in writing  that I was a "vulnerable person" so had to shield. That made life harder for quite a while. We Zoomed and FaceTimed though and family did drive-by visits, dropping  bags of goodies (beer) onto my doorstep before retreating to the pavement from where we chatted for as long as the weather permitted. 

I baked banana bread but didn't start my own sourdough. I pottered in the garden and was ecstatic to be able to go and queue at a garden centre when they finally opened - socially distanced of course and masked up.

Unlike so many people who found myriad things to do, my creativity disappeared completely. So I didn't learn another language or even try to improve my lousy french. I did watch lots of bad movies and tv series, none of which I can remember. Later I ran some workshops for Ravensbourne students via Zoom. It was like teaching into the void with students muting both video and mics. 

The "will we won't we" have Christmas came and went - shielders like me zoomed some more. Of course we all had to lock down again immediately afterwards and so it went on. Hard times for so many people, although not for everyone as we now know (are you filling out your. police form with crayon Boris?). 

I decided my creativity wasn't going to suddenly reappear unless I did something different so I enrolled in some courses - zoom courses to start with and then the real thing, in person (masks on). I've made a few prints, did some drawing and painting and am trying to get to grips with watercolour now.  I thoroughly enjoyed the zoom sessions Debbie Hinks ran throughout lockdown. It'd been such an age since I'd done any life drawing. 

I gave up the allotment after a bit of health scare which turned out to be nothing too serious and in August 2021 my lovely moggy, Daisy, got ill and had to be put to sleep. I miss her while Maisie (her sister) doesn't miss her at all . 

So now it's 2022 and Spring is almost here. So is Covid but apparently we'll all be able to rip off our masks, stop any notion of social distancing and play "Let's pretend it's all disappeared now."   I'm following up on the watercolour course and deciding whether or not I can cope with negative painting (I can't). Other exciting things could be on the horizon but more of that some other time. 

Spring might be here in theory but it's been bloody cold and windy at the allotment! Lack of rain means the ground is rock hard but not a sign of any rain yet. Arctic weather has been forecast so I battled against the elements to cover the tender flowers on my blueberries and strawberries.
When my allotment neighbour, Dave, dons his helmet hat it's a sign that it really is cold and I'm not just being a wimp! 

​With the weather far too cold for me to venture far from a radiator I've been doing some more wood engravings.

This is the final print which is based on a view that caught my eye while out for a drive around the South Downs.

​It's so much easier to create tones on a sketch than on a wood block.. but I'm working on it. I've got a way to go but I liked parts of this print and it's getting easier to work on a darkened wood block too. 

September arrives all too quickly along with spiders everywhere (groan) and  unwanted "gifts".  (Doodled on my ipad using Tayasui Sketches).

​So it’s been a strange allotment year - weather wise.
Wet, dry, windy, cold, wet, windy, sunny, wet, windy… just a day! 
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I took my carefully nurtured young plants to the allotment and they all died.
I sowed more seed at home again before planting them out at the allotment again.
I replanted more beans in a different spot on the allotment - they also died.. so I grew even more and these finally took off,  a bit late but they're delicious..

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​The strawberries looked fantastic but then the rain got to them and they rotted.
Those that didn’t were eaten by slugs and snails before the wood lice got them. 

The birds loved the red currants and the raspberries weren’t as good as last year - but on the plus side I won’t have to make more jam this year! Yeah!

​Blight got most of the tomatoes and the ones that escaped  are still green so it looks like there will be some green tomato chutney.

I managed to finally grow some aubergines and a cucumber (just the one and slightly nibbled but who cares?). The crystal apple cucumbers (my favourites) and the mini cucumbers haven't grown at all this year but I do have some globe artichokes which is a result. 
So all in all a funny old growing year so far but there's still lots to do and of course I can start to plan for next year!

 I was a bit surprised to see a young gull toddling around in the flat this afternoon! It took a while to gently persuade it to go back out into the garden.  The agitated parents squawked loudly and dive bombed me while the youngster furiously flapped it's wings until it finally made it over the wall. Phew!

​I put up with the foxes digging up the garden until one bit chunks out of my cat as she tried desperately to get in through the catflap.  There are holes in the lawn, flower beds and the crushed plants everywhere. The war is ongoing... I think I'm losing it though.

The rain and wind has kept me away from the allotment for the past few days so I’ve been doodling instead. I’m sure the bugs, slugs and snails are having a feast on my carefully nurtured seedlings as the sea of blue slug pellets will have all washed away by now. But hey ho it looks like I'll have a bumper crop of strawberries and watching the robin chicks nesting in my shed while an anxious parent swoops in and out is a delight.
​At the moment I seem to have more wildlife on the plot than green stuff but it’s early days…