Merry Merry

It's Christmas Eve, and I've just finished wrapping presents (mainly Lego). I'm listening to Bing Crosby and eating chocolate truffles. Somewhere, a few doors down, someone is playing the piano. I've been hearing it often recently. It's wonderful and marvellous playing (and I can tell it's not a recording because it stops and starts). It often sounds like Bach. It's warm; 82% humidity, and very still. I love Christmas Eve. This dog is one of my Gocco experiments. To cover up a shoddy, panicked and messy printing job, I added a bit of acrylic shading.  Have a very happy Christmas and New Year, wherever you may be.

Mad Children & Strawberries

It has been a strange week, with the good, the bad and the downright ugly all mashed up together. Abominable child behaviour combined with high humidity saw L in time out at least fifteen times. In the heat he becomes a wild animal and on one particularly vile day ran away down the road in his underpants (he didn't want to do something compulsory like get dressed), weeping, swearing and laughing like a devil at the same time. He then locked himself into the bathroom and I had to climb through the window to rescue him because he couldn't get the door open again.  The very next day, Neil did a big sloppy green poo right in the middle of the cream living room carpet. Give me strength. The good things are: a neverending supply of strawberries, the calming little lights on the Christmas tree (which didn't fall down this time as I wedged it into its bucket), nostalgic Christmas songs on the radio and the winding down of work. No scrabbling round malls for last-minute presents, no freaking out about unfinished cards... I like this new simpler way of doing things.

Phenomenon

Illustration Friday's theme of the week. Phenomenon: 'That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable' (among other meanings). Does three strange animals in a boat (and one fish) count?

Friday

It's hot. Finished my Gocco-ed Christmas cards. Tomatoes, no rain, piles of drawings brought home from school, kids and water fights, dinner on a tray in a very dry bee-filled garden. Trying to avoid Christmas mania by staying away from shops and making things instead. Much better this way!

Lovely Day

Thank you to my lovely friends and family for my equally lovely birthday, filled with flowers, food and frolicking. My real birthday day on Thursday found L and I both sick and sniveling with sore throats and grumpy moods. It rained all day, and sad images from the memorial for the Pike River miners filled the news. Birthday celebrations were delayed until Saturday. We went for dinner at Coco's Cantina and ate delicious food from enormous plates. A tiramasu with birthday candles came out and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' while I pretended to be embarrassed. It was grand. A lovely day. Thank you!

Chocolate Fish

Being a kid in New Zealand (and it's always summer in my memory) meant beaches just around the corner, bare feet, camping, icecreams, caravans and chocolate fish on Christmas Day. Marvellous. I did this drawing for a RedBubble T shirt challenge. You can see it here.