Really does make you sick

The way I can't get a snap on this. Will now try again: No result. Only has snaps up to the year 2013. It is now 2018. Must try harder.

Will now try posting a snap

This doesn't work as it won't connect to my photographs. shame.

Back again

Dear me, I didn't realise I could still post to this blog. It may not work so will just try posting this.

Trying to post to this blog but it can't find my photographs so may have to give up!

Still sketching

I wish I could become wiser. No such problems in becoming older. Anyway have been sketching recently at the Barbican, around some city churches and most recently at the Tea House Theatre. I shall definitely sketch there again as it is so easy to get to from my house. Tonight I may well see the wonderful Winnet at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec and do a sketch or two there, and on Sunday I shall go to the Barbican Conservatory. Just wish I could get some actual images onto this blog. I seem to be able to send them to Flickr, Twitter, any mail and Facebook but not here. Strange. Ah well, no doubt the technology is somewhere as yet unrevealed to me. By the way, Kooky is behaving badly as usual. He is forgiven as he let me sleep until 6.20 this morning.

Useless

I put loads of snaps on but bloggsy has lost them and my latest post. All pretty hopeless. I may well give up blogging and just post snaps to Facebook and twitter.

Knackered of SE1

Visited the quack who suggested more visits and investigations so I slithered off rapidly. My birthday present to David: the book from spitalfields life,arrived. Also a small package from Nibby containing ten absolutely amazing chocs from Misco oop north. Intending to taste one, I inadvertently ate the lot. Dear me. Met Francesca at Toulouse Lautrec where we went to the jam session and her husband also turned up later. Did a few sketches before leaving early at midnight. On Sunday I had managed to see the Jerwood Drawing prize show just before it closed. Excellent. My young Provençal couple left on Wednesday morning. This was rather chaotic. I managed to have coffee with David before my cleaning lady turned up. Then Romy came as her bro in law is going to recover my little yellow chair which had been ruined by Kooky. This will cost a fortune but I am so fond of it. Also cheaper than the £800 plus small chairs I could have replaced it with. Fabric samples are coming soon.Quite exciting. Then Romy dropped me off in the Strand and I got a bus to Holborn for Art in the Afternoon. Robert had set up a table with still life objects but I decided to sketch the sketchers, one of whom was distinctly horrified at my drawing and called me a witch, which livened up proceedings. This sketch can be seen on my Facebook and on twitter. I still can't deal with IOS 7, which seems to move the cursor at will, but not at my will. Still can't download snaps which is quite annoying. Oh well. Today I shall meet David for coffee as usual, and prepare the spare room for my new guest. Sketching again on Saturday. Must buy some sweets as I will no doubt be inundated with trick or treaters since tonight is Halloween. More post arrived yesterday including £30 from Nibby which I had apparently lent her ages ago. I had urged her to spend it on lunch, but no, she insisted on sending it back. Dear me. My brass Chiavari chairs have been attracting much admiration from all my visitors. On a recent visit, Julian snapped them with her mobile.

Plodding on

I still don't know how to get images into this blog so have rather given up. I had a rather unfortunate evening on Friday. Lunch with cafe sketchers at Peter jones was good, then I rushed home and changed to go to fabulous fashionista sue kreitzmann's party at st pancras. I had intended to go with Jo to the last meeting place of the sketchcrawl going from the jeer wood space to backside.. Though it was not clear where they were meeting so I posted an enquiry. I suppose rather oddly, in retrospect someone from SLAM informed me that it was ending at some studios I had never heard of in Vauxhall. We hung around there until it closed before we realised that someone had sent us to the wrong place which was very annoying. We had hoped to see Janie Skuse and some other familiar faces. Pissups and breweries came to mind. I have to say the cursor on this thing is a nightmare also some kind of predictive text thing which turns things into nonsense. So I can't correct my fourth sentence which should read Jerwood to Bankside. Yesterday we sketched at the National Gallery. Trafalgar Square had been taken over by football fans so did a brief sketch before retiring to the National cafe with Francesca. Then went and did another at the Salisbury in charming Cross Road. Passed through Cecil Court on the way home and purchased Rather flashy necklace which I proudly wore when Lucy and Philippa arrived bearing masses of food which the proceeded to cook. Delicious as it all was I managed to gain 1lb this week, sadly. My new guests arrived today from Provence. Just about managed to make the place presentable in time. I shall again attempt to visit the Jerwood space today before the current exhibition disappears.

Stuff

Is stuff I can see while watching or pretending to watch television in the evening. Usually pretty boring. But useful drawing practise in the sketchbook. Caught a couple of my punters while they were doing their postcards the other day. Dorothy came around for a gin tonight. I need to get on a stepladder to try and retrieve my Cornelius Cardew biography for the guy I met at Brixton, but it will take a day or two for me to summon the courage to do this. Of course I may have chucked the book out and it will be wasted effort, but I have a feeling I kept it. The only way I can get snaps onto my blog is to photograph them and put them onto my laptop or somehow join this thing with my laptop so they go on to that, then write my blog from the laptop. I might try this soon as it is a bit boring without any visual content. Just heard that Jo Malone is opening her first Jo Loves shop in Elizabeth Street on Friday, so may well get along there. I can try things out, which would be a welcome diversion in my old age.

Finally

The boiler is in, and after a week of awful noises like a jet taking off and some pipe work adjustments from the plumber, it is working well. Now awaiting the guy who is supposed to be painting my front wall and windows. Spent all last week at the Brixton Drawing Project. Run by Janie Skuse, it was great fun to spend time doing large messy sketches in this old furniture factory, cleverly converted by Andy and hired out for all sorts of occasions. Janie managed to raise the money with crowd funding which is an excellent idea. I fell by the wayside and purchased some totally amazing old brass dining chairs. Made in Italy they are called Chiavari. They look a bit gorgeous in my living room though I am tempted to sell a couple. They fetch hundreds of dollars in America and have sold on Ebay here for up to £350 each. However I intend to hang on to them for a bit and enjoy them. I cannot find out when they were made, could be nineteen forties to sixties, but they have a real charm. Just one looks so elegant in the right place. Also discovered some wonderful French watercolours based on honey which apparently the impressionists used, so have succumbed to temptation and ordered a few. Calledl'Aquarelle by Sennelier.

Back again

New boiler coming next week. Busy with one guest pro tem but drawing fairly frequently. I can only get these on to Facebook and twitter as nothing else seems to work including my Flickr and iPhone accounts so have rather given up on these. Waterloo Zeitgeist is finishing for this year and I have removed my few pieces. Given a commission to draw a house but not sure whether to do it. We shall see. Became quite warm drawing Szandor outside the cafe today at Lincoln's Inn Fields, since they have the heaters on. Don't think they will be sufficient in the middle of the winter.. It was good to see Jules and Jo today. It's Cafe Sketchers tomorrow at St James Park. I am really looking forward to this. On Saturday we are going to meet at the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green. It really is great to have so many days out drawing. Despite many setbacks I think my drawing is improving a bit now. Though I am not happy with my drawing of the bands at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec. I may try concentrating on just trying to draw individuals and see if that improves things. I do have quite a few more guests coming, but fortunately no further bookings since I have increased my price. I am having the window frames reprinted at the front of the house and need an electrician to look at some of the wiring when I can find someone competent. Meanwhile one visit to the quack has resulted in: three prescriptions; one further appointment; having to make an appointment for a shoulder x-ray; an appointment for blood tests and another follow up appointment with the GP. You can see why I am reluctant to darken his door. Hard to fit it in with my drawing commitments which are so much more interesting.. By the way, I now have three large fish in one container, four smaller ones in another, and six babies in a third, so if anyone wants some they know where to come. Fish breeding has come to me rather late in life.

Landlady loses it

Well, I have been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the company of complete strangers in my tiny flat and have been looking forward to a few days off at the end of the month. I then had a request for just before Christmas. I am like a chicken with its head cut off at that time of year, so declined to have the guest and cancelled dates on my calendar between 15 December and 3 January. Almost immediately afterwards I received another request for October or November. This was quite a long, gushing letter from someone who adored my flat, my cat, etc etc. and wished to get up really early in the morning and wanting to have a kettle in the room. And wanted to stay for two weeks. Unfortunately experience has told me that the more gushing the letter, the more demanding the guest; that I can't stand people getting up until after me, which is why I get up very early indeed, so that I can be out of the bathroom by seven; and that the kind of person who wants a kettle in the room is likely to hoard supplies of food in there. I think I have definitely now got host burnout. I replied to decline this request. Then I took a couple of days out of my calendar after every guest visit, to give myself a bit of a rest. Dear me. I was rather annoyed with my current guests, when they hung around the house all day today. However I felt a bit sorry for them when they finally explained that one of them had been unwell since last night, not a great thing when on holiday. Fortunately he was better later, just as well since it is their last day.

Losing track

of what I am doing. Winnet was great and I must try and post a few snaps. Before seeing Winnet Jo and I drew around Westminster, first the Jewel Tower and then the Portuguese places at Vauxhall Cross, which are great. Can't get in to my Kooky Days blog, so will post things here pro tem. Jazz jam last night and some sketches below. My life becomes more complicated by the minute. What I really need is a good electrician, as I think the power circuit to the basement is more than a little dodgy as it keeps cutting out. I blame the damp in the outer walls. I am trying to resurrect my dehumidifier since the excellent Mitsubishi one owned by Dorothy costs over £300. Dear me. Noticed that the London College of Exhibitionists has reverted to its former name of London College of Communication. I suspect that new and aspiring students, many of whom are no doubt from other countries, may have failed to find the place when arriving for interviews. Definite lack of communication here. Oh well. The country is going to the dogs, as my grandfather would have said. This looks a bit vibrant. Guess who had some cheese and wine? Jazz jam.

Winnet and Cabaret Verite

Well, Jo and I sat at the Brasserie, and sketched. Winnet was performing. She is an ex dancer and actress and is now a singer. Her son Thomas and daughter Ava, also play and sing in her band. The songs are very strong and the treatment is quite dramatic, which is excellent, and the musicianship was very good. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening, but Winnet is hard to draw as she does move a lot during the performance! Jo was very impressed and wants to go there again. I got the spare room ready for my next guests having bade farewell to my American actress, who sent me a kind note from New York. My new people are pop singers from the Netherlands, very young, and very excited about their first visit to London. In the evening I set off for Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec. The performers were Cabaret Verite, which was great fun, with some excellent singers, and I did a bit of sketching as usual. Nolan keeps introducing me as the 'residential artist'. Dorothy could not join me but I messaged her to come if she changed her mind, and tell the people downstairs that she was with the residential artist. Jason very kindly bought me a G & T at the end of the evening, after which I staggered off into the night. May see if I have the energy to go to the jam session tonight, to practise my new technique of superimposing images, which seems to be my latest 'thing'. We shall see.

Westminster Jewel Tower and Vauxhall Cross

A good drawing day. Met with Luke and the others at the Jewel Tower at Westminster and did a sketch of this. Later we were due to meet at the Riverside Cafe. However, Jo, Rade and I decided to have lunch at one of the Portuguese cafes in Vauxhall rather than go to the Pret, so we set forth, and had a very good lunch with coffee outside among the trees there. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we decided to stay, and sketched outside the cafe. Jo and I went back to my place and changed to see Winnet at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec that evening.

Lambeth Palace discovery

The discovery was not Lambeth Palace, which has been there for a while, nor the Tradescant Garden Museum ditto, but the Riverside Cafe opposite. Arrived for a bit of sketching which stretched to chatting with Jo for the whole day. The Riverside is a tiny, nondescript kind of Victorian hut thing on the river with a couple of tables outside, and festooned with fairly awful banners advertising their wares. The main advantage is that there is no loo, but you can actually use the Museum loo in extremis without paying. Being Victorian, the Riverside has wide eaves all around, providing good shelter from the hot sun, and I bagged a tiny table with high seats under this. The advertising panels were right in front, obscuring the view of Lambeth Palace, so I decided to draw what I could see. Jo joined me after an hour, and we ended up by spending the rest of the day there, which was very pleasant with a fresh breeze from the river. We later withdrew to my garden for gin and tonic, sitting under the lanterns in the warm evening for a few hours. Excellent day, if dubious drawing.

Feeling a bit crap

Must be something I ate. So cancelled my gallery babysitting today. My current guest is leaving this morning with another, an American actress, expected this afternoon. Just time to change the bed, and my cleaner is coming today. I have been working on some amateurish looking posters for the exhibition which has been fun. Great Monday evening at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec, and met David on Tuesday morning for coffee. I hope I shall be better tomorrow as I am due to be sketching at Lambeth Palace with Jo. If I starve all day things should improve. We shall see. I shall have a quiet day resting today, and checking that I have some breakfast stuff in the cupboard. Dorothy due back from the States on Saturday I think, when I am supposed to be sketching around Westminster. The weather is very dismal today, back to the normal British summer. So disappointing - at vast expense and on impulse as usual, I bought something called an Xhose for the garden, only to discover it does not fit my garden tap, so have sent off another six quid to obtain the right fitting. The hose is meant to be self tidying by shrinking down as it dries and expanding when the water is turned on. A bit frustrating not to be able to try it. Fortunately it is raining anyway, and knowing my luck the damned thing will be ready in time for winter. There seem to be a lot of gulls outside. This takes me back to when my grandmother lived in a kind of hut thing on the cliff in Combe Martin. She frequently fed the gulls and had a favourite who would stamp on the tin roof, demanding his breakfast.

Back again

I have survived the Barcelona experience and am slaving away at Airbnb, doing a bit of sketching and babysitting the gallery. I think I have sorted out how to pay the bills in Barcelona and my Spanish bank account. The symposium was bearable and I met a few friendly fellow sketchers while there. My best fun was going on boat rides and going to the theatre del Raval to see zoo troupe perform their hilarious magic pantomime. Julian had been kindly minding my flat and feeding the Kookster in my absence. It has continued to be boiling hot, which makes it difficult to get any sleep. I have done some fairly awful designs for a poster for the ongoing Waterloo Zeitgeist exhibition. Unfortunately to produce anything decent would involve skills I evidently do not possess. However I have done a few very rough designs, which have been fun to try,though the results were rather unsatisfactory. The guy who was going to paint my window frames and the front of the house has not appeared, so I will now have to find someone else. We shall see. I see today that Mick Farren has died yesterday onstage. I did not follow his career but remember him well from the very early sixties. At that time J and I arrived back in London via Crete, where we met up with some Goldsmiths students. We found a flat to rent in a large house in Manor Way, Blackheath, where we had some of the students for a flat share. One of them moved Mick Farren in. I was told he was a strange guy selling rubbishy goods from a suitcase in Oxford Street at the time. He turned out to be OK and was mainly responsible for a huge party in our flat at the time. Later, we moved to Oxford where J had a new job and I had my son. We had some contact still with some of the Goldsmiths people but lost touch with Mick.

Tired and Weary

I am today. Had a couple of gins with Dorothy last night before falling asleep in front of the TV and going to bed really early. Woke up before 5am with pains in the head, which have worn off a bit but still persist. I am hoping that a vertical position will get rid of them eventually. Not looking forward to Barcelona and morbidly looked up the cost of a funeral in Spain, just in case I croak while absent on leave. Not good, but probably cheaper than bringing a corpse back. I do like to look on the bright side before going on holiday. Which is probably why I don't normally go away. Can't wait to get back here again. What with Easyjet changing the cabin bag size to a size impossible to purchase I now have a minute bag. Weighed it and 8kg so far so have a little scope. Maybe will leave the extra 2kg for any local purchases. We shall see. I think I may need to take quite a long break from doing AirBnb but am booked up well into October for the time being. Maybe I could take off December and January to try and regain some energy. We shall see.

Back again

I am having a horrible time trying to deal with technology. I think I have now reclaimed this blog so it will be basically about whingeing about everything so you can stop reading right now. I reported in the blog I set up by mistake: Kookydays.blogspot.com that one of my esteemed guests buggered the hot water control on the shower. On the plus side she paid for the plumber.. Another two guests slunk off slightly furtively having apparently broken the thing the clicks th gas on at the hob. Then I discovered that the oven which they had used for heating pizzas was also apparently broken. After a bit of a panic I remembered that the timer on the oven is very difficult to use, so fiddled about with this for a bit and lo, the oven is working again..mysteriously the ignition thing has also started working again. I shall be quite happy to get off for a few days. Anyway I may try and keep my Kookydays blog about artwork and photography etc and this one about everything else. Had a fabulous dinner at Zucca last night -Dorothy's birthday. Julian popped over today for a cup of tea. My current guests leave tomorrow and no more expected for a couple of weeks.