Daisy-Mae and Dora-Bella I have loved (and lost) so many cats. My last cat, Josef, died in 2015 only a short time after the death of his brother, Ossie and my beloved cat, Otto. Josef’s leaving was just one loss too many and I stopped writing on my blog. This is the story of the … Continue reading
On Good Friday, Josef, my cat was in the studio, sitting in a sunbeam; he had never looked better. Yet on Easter Sunday morning, as if to remind me that nothing in life is certain, he took sick and then later died at the Veterinary Hospital in the afternoon. Josef had needed special care since … Continue reading
Swept up and cast aside by the sparkle of Christmas and washed away by months of rain I slither and slide down the slippery path of the New Year into my waterlogged garden. Seeing all my sad and sodden potted Primulas and Cowslips, I gather them up lovingly and head for the greenhouse. Surely these … Continue reading
The words which once busied themselves in my heart and mind, words which jostled, bubbled up and spilled out into chatter and onto the empty page are all silent and still. I try to follow the path to the place where they are held, but I can’t remember the way, or the connection, or something. … Continue reading
It’s morning. Josef the cat stretches out his slim black legs to shake off sleep and then twists and twirls and pirouettes around my feet. In my small kitchen he purrs, yowls, stretches again and reaches up with his sharp claws onto the cutlery drawer until he hears his bowl being filled with food. Josef … Continue reading
This post is dedicated to my friend, Robbie, of Palm Rae Urban Potager and to the memory of her beloved dog Punk, who was her constant gardening companion. The air is at once softer and more gentle, yet at the same time tentatively hopeful and new. The Crocus buds are fat and in bloom as … Continue reading
Sharp, shiny and savvy and still in my tuxedo after a night patrolling the Karen B Vintage storeroom in the studio, I decide to take a nap on a blanket. To be frank, the way vintage quilts, blankets, toys and stuff keeps piling up in here, it’s sometimes hard for a big guy like me … Continue reading
With his sweet, gentle, loving nature and fur softer than the most luxurious silk- velvet, my cat Ossie and I made a soul connection. Together with his brother Josef, we all cuddled our way through good times and bad; through my divorce and a period where I could not walk due to a broken foot. … Continue reading
Sometimes, if we are really lucky, the people who follow our blogs and the slipstream of our life stories step though the structure of the blogosphere and make a personal connection with us. And when they do, it feels like being given a HUGE gift; something priceless, something which just could never be bought. This … Continue reading
My cat Ossie is very sick; so sick that the advice from my vet is that the cut-off point for a decision which I can not face is Friday. So what do Ossie and I do today? How do we watch this painful day tick away? The day which looks like being our last together. … Continue reading
Dartmoor Flower Shed 