Sketches

Some old sketches from Celebrity Mastermind. This is astrologer Russell Grant but I didn't recognise him at first. He looked so fierce and grumpy, not at all like the jolly joker he is (or seems to be).

I'm really posting them to make up for this very basic sketch I did this week! It's been far too long since I made an effort to sketch outside so I went out one day and resolved to bring back something, no matter how small. So I did a really quick sketch of the sign above the local shopping centre where I go to the supermarket. Yes, that same supermarket I mentioned that plays all the long-forgotten hits of the 80's. And funnily enough, where I was standing was by an open door to a gym and they were playing You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Leo Sayer! Who says Geneva is stuck in a time warp...?

Raymond Blanc

At long last, a new drawing! I've been doing other creative things whilst waiting for the drawing urge to return, including trying new recipes. One of the best TV programmes on at the moment is Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets. Even Paul and Alex (Happy Birthday Alex!) were impressed when he was making a chocolate cup and saucer - both were just passing and stopped to watch the whole show! I made his 'Apple Tart Maman Blanc' and it was wonderful, and very easy, especially the pastry. Funny to think of the days when, to make good pastry, you were told to have cold hands, sieve the flour, the butter had to be cold, you had to handle it lightly and as little as possible, etc. Now you can whizz it up in a processor and you can even freeze it and grate it into a tin and it still works. I'm all for shortcuts if the result is just as good.

Hopefully, this drawing is just as good as if I fussed over it because actually, compared to how I used to draw, this is probably classed as unfinished. There are a few things I'm not happy with but it got to the point where I thought it was just 'good enough' to post so I stopped in order to get on with something else. The point of it was simply to get drawing again anyway, and also to get back to drawing on white paper as I'm getting a little lazy - it's so much easier on the brown paper!

By the way, I hope you like the new template. Sketches by Fiz has, again, a slightly darker one but I didn't want a drastic difference here, but something softer. Hopefully, it's also easier than the stark white on the eyes too.

Knit Twit

I have a new toy. Not that I'm much of a gadget person but after a long, late, rush hour bus journey last October in London, the seed was planted. Paul was listening to music on his headphones and was calm throughout, whereas I - and the rest of the top deck -was stressed and cross! A young woman at the front of the bus had 'impressed' us all with the tales of her wonderful social life for the whole 45 minutes and was still going when we got off. The irritation and anger all around her was palpable but she was either enjoying it or oblivious.

Paul has been telling me for a while how great having headphones are on public transport, and after another day having my eardrums assualted by the 'musicians' (I use the term loosely) on the tram, he took me into town to look for an MP3 player. Apple is the only brand to get, he said, so off we went. Well, I had no idea that an iPod Touch is almost the same as an iPhone. All those great apps and whathaveyou, and no phoneline charges. Brilliant idea. OK, I admit I'm really impressed, there must be something to this Applemania after all!

So Paul is the one who told me that having a Twitter account might be fun. I had decided I'd never have one of those but actually I'm finding it saves me time! Just following a few people and taking a few minutes to check the updates makes you feel connected with the world, then you can get on with your life. Following blogs takes a lot longer so I'm always trying to manage my time with those. Managing my time online is something I've been working on for the last few months (if not years!) and I feel I've finally got a handle on it now. I find it ironic that Twitter should make things easier when most people complain about it. I guess it's how you manage it.















Knitting is sort of related because in my effort to wean myself off the computor, I've been thinking about things I'd like to do if I didn't have a blog to update. It's easy to get caught up in a cycle of updating, quick drawing, updating, without taking some time out to assess where it's all going. Am I doing it for myself or the blog? Is it still fun? (Yes, it is, and this won't become a knitting blog but it's good to do other things now and again to keep things fresh!)





















I don't know where the idea of knitting came from, but when I was last in London, I had a look for some old knitting books I had in the 80's - I knew Mum would still have them! I used to knit during tea breaks when I was working and there were some lovely yarns and patterns around at the time. I wondered if those books still looked as good as I had remembered and yes, they do! A bit dated, but lovely nonetheless. So much is made of the 80's being tacky but actually there was a lot of lovely colours around then and it wasn't all bad taste.














Some of the pages. I think the model in the middle is actually a very young Lisa Butcher. How clean and groomed they all look though, compared to models today!
















I love the soft colours of the jumpers on the right and that one on the left - I can almost hear Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Then Jericho, Aztec Camera etc., in the background! Happy days!














I managed to find a lovely little yarn store here and bought two colourways - I'm thinking of making a couple of scarves. Eventually. First though, I might just attempt this little guy here to get up to speed again. There are some funky tea cozy patterns out there I'd like to try too! Even though I love knitting, it was always about the pleasure of just doing it rather than having a finished product!