Living In Lockdown, Day 28
Thursday 9th April 3.00pm I head into the shed to look for petrol so I can mow the lawn. There’s a little bird flitting about in the shed. Its wings make the most darling beating sound as it flies...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 29
Good Friday 10th April 10.00am I receive a call from my sister-in-law in the UK, Monique. Our mutual sister-in-law has lost her brother to covid. He lived in the UK. I have never met him but my husband...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 30
Saturday 11th April 8.00am Liv (15) is up earlier than usual. “What are you doing up so early?” I ask. “You’re giving me a haircut,” she says, “and I have a Taekwon Do class at midday, so we need to...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 31
Easter Sunday, 12th April 9.00am Hot cross buns out of the oven. It’s the recipe I found on Twitter and I made them last night. Heat 300ml milk, stir in 75g caster sugar, and when the milk and sugar...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 32
Easter Monday, 13th April 11.00am I feel obliged to paint the amaryllis blossom that has made its dramatic reappearance. That’s not the same as feeling compelled to paint it, and I have told myself for...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 33
Tuesday 14th April 1.00pm I walk around the block: door to door, it’s a couple of miles and definitely more than two kilometres from my home, but not as the crow flies, which is how I justify it. The...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 34
Wednesday 15th April 9.30am A scene from two angles: I am asked to send a photo of myself to the Urban Sketchers organisation to illustrate a live talk I will be doing on Sunday. Rita Sabler is the...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 35
Thursday 16th April 8.00am I am always downstairs first in the morning. It’s just me and a quiet house, and my own privately indulgent “good morning” to the fluffy terrier Reuben. He is a nomad and...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 36
Friday 17th April 4.00pm (BST) midnight (HKT), 8.00am (PDT) It’s late afternoon for me, midnight in Hong Kong and eight in the morning in Seattle. I am to do a sound check with Rob Sketcherman (Hong...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 37
Saturday 18th April 5.00pm The apple trees outside are heavy with blossom. I know how fleeting it is, so I head out with Reuben the terrier to sketch. We have about 15 apple trees and their main...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 38
Sunday 19th April 5.00pm I do a live talk with Urban Sketchers on Instagram Live. Rob Sketcherman is a charming and loquacious host. We talk about what it’s like trying to keep inspired to sketch when...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 39
Monday 20th April 8.00am I’m up earlier than everyone in my house. I am an early bird. My husband Marcel reckons when I say this I am paying myself a big compliment. But I love early morning these days...
View ArticleLiving in Lockdown, Day 40
Tuesday 22nd April 5.00pm This is Drumacoo Abbey, about a mile from my house. To get there you walk along a country road, past the glowering ruins of Tyrone House, the road twisting and turning like a...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 41
Wednesday 22nd April 12.30pm We all sit outside and have elevenses (time is meaningless these days). My husband Marcel and I and our son Paddy (18) have coffee, and Liv (15) has tea. Honor (20) hasn’t...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 42
Thursday 23rd April 4.00pm I haven’t given up on trying to capture dandelions in watercolour. The race is on, because light grey spheres of the fluffy clocks are beginning to encroach upon the beds of...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown, Day 43
Friday 24th April Midday, coffee break No more Living In Lockdown blogs! I will go on posting sketches, because I love to sketch and there’s a wealth of gorgeous things to record and share with you,...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown – Onwards and Upwards
Saturday 25th April Paddy cooks dinner. Tonight he is doing oven fried chicken. We are experiencing a tumultuous time at home, and it is lovely to be looked after by Paddy. He looks at us all tucking...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown…Sketch With Me On Zoom!
Saturday 2nd May Plants Sketching your houseplants of not as hard as it might seem. I am going to show you how I did mine. You start by looking for a plant you think would make a suitable contender....
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown – Sketching At Home (Day 52)
Sunday 3rd May Lockdown trends I have done: sourdough (can’t open the jar anymore because the lid is now glued on with starter); baking (my daughter does it all now); yoga (every day I do ten or twenty...
View ArticleLiving In Lockdown Day 52: Long, Long Ago…
Sunday 3rd May A hundred and fifteen years ago, the last person to live in Tyrone House packed up and left. Actually, that’s not quite true: the caretaker stayed there for another few years, and was...
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