So, Agent J is turning 9 years bold on Monday! He started guitar lessons last year and has quite taken to it, passing his grade 1 a few months ago over Zoom -- ah, the modern world! Since his teacher is running Zoom lessons 4 or 5 times a week I decided to get him a second guitar that can be at my house for when he is with me. His current nylon string 1/2 size is due an upgrade i think, so today I went into Belfast and came home with a 3/4 size with steel strings so that it

I like pictures in the house to have a story to explain their presence. For example i have this picture in my lounge next to the fire place of a woman's face in negative. I really like it from a purely visual point of view, but I've no idea who it is... But who is she? I'd been wanting to replace it with a woman who I find inspiring and had been considering Hedy Lamarr due to her inventions but the more i found out about the post-Holywood side of things the less inspired i b

Painting is a good way to get extended conversation with the kids, flick paint at each other and do silly stuff. Agent K is already quite handy with a pencil or paint brush being a bit older than Agent J. So one breakfast we decided to have a collaboration between daddy and Agent J. I showed them a handy trick that i'd just learned for making a grid to scale up a picture in a book to a big canvas without the need for measuring anything. Agent J selected the picture from a

I found a drop-leaf table that fitted in the space beside the chimney breast in my lounge and also opened large enough to serve as a dining table occasionally for up to 6 people and more typically serve as a general work surface for making stuff with the kids.. Here's what it looked like when i got it from Gumtree... And i got the idea of painting it bright lime green or like a zebra. I looked online for zebra ideas and found this picture which i took as inspiration... From

Boring flights are great opportunities to try out new apps. On the flight home from a holiday in Naples, I tried out the Paper app for the iPad which allows you to paint with water-colour like effects. Unfortunately i only had a finger rather than a paint brush or a stylus. Mount Vesuvius Viewed From Pompeii Pompeii Prima Donna Does Not Watch