NOW LOOK WHAT THEY'VE BEEN AND GONE AND DONE!

When you thought we'd suffered enough and they couldn't think up yet another daft idea - now look what they've been and gone and done.

OK, so they haven't really thought of that one yet ....... as far as we know.  In Brussels they may be huddled around their ideas table discussing decimal timing as we speak.

Those of you not fortunate enough to live in the UK/GB (never sure what we really are meant to be) may not believe this could be possible.  

That's because you haven't experienced the directives saying that bananas and cucumbers and courgettes (zucchini) must be straight and not curved  (and blow me down, in the supermarket now the cucumbers ARE straight, and what's more grown with an extra, skin-tight sheath of plastic).  

And then there was the idea that tomatoes should be grown square.  And the absolute ban on selling fruit and veg in pounds weight instead of kilos, with fines and possible imprisonment for infringement of the directive - and some shopkeepers were fined.  So there was eventually a decision that both weights and prices could be shown.  How kind.

I did the decimal time journal page very quickly because once I'd had the idea I really started to enjoy it, and clocks are always popping into my artwork.  This is in watercolour and ink, with the clock hands cut from black card and collaged on.  And plenty of spatter because I like doing it.

And now for something completely different.

I've said before how much I like Egon Schiele's use of line and colour (let's ignore his more ungentlemanly sketches), and when I don't feel capable of careful drawing I find I enjoy using his more distorted approach to figures.

The 'Imagine' poem just formed itself from random words cut from an old book.  If my mother knew I cut books up she'd be really annoyed with me if I were still fortunate enough to have her.

And now to switch tracks again, here is a photo I took of an advertisement outside a restaurant when we were in Southport last week enjoying the sunshine by the sea front.

What I want to know is - what on earth is live cooking? 

OK, I know they do it to lobsters, but the idea of extending that to other creatures really makes the mind boggle.  It doesn't tempt me in.

And to finish off, a beautiful rose I snapped in the garden during our visit to Sudely House a week or so ago.

Keep happy.