I have almost finished a painting!

I know, right!

It’s called

Always Protect your Cereal from Wayward Birds.

This is the first time in a long while that I have actually enjoyed being in the painting half of the studio.

Last week I gave up on painting ever again.

Again.

Fortunately I’ve slept since then.

This painting incorporates my love of colour and pottery, and also those strange bird creatures.

I’ve been listening to The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins while I’ve been in the studio.

I read it a long time ago but after listening to a couple of really blah books I decided that I needed something good and classic to get my chops around.

The last blah book I listened to was The Stone Man by Luke Smitherd.

It was just o.k.

The best bit about it was the afterword by the author and he nearly had me giving the book a good review just because of the way he asked me to.

It might just be me, but it smacked of The War of The Worlds by H. G. Wells – which I really enjoyed.

Although old, I found The War of the Worlds very tense, and that surprised me in a really good way. The Stone Man was just old and predictable.

Sorry Mr. Smitherd.

I would listen to another of his books though – just to give him a fair chance.

The Woman in White is just so lovely to listen to.

The writing, although a tad long-winded and old-fashioned, is just so good. It keeps me engaged the whole time.

Audio books are expensive but I’ve decided that I’m just going to have to go with them for now.

I love reading, but just don’t find the time at the moment. I’m in the studio for most of the day and when I come in I find that P has the t.v. on after his long day hunting and gathering, and I get caught up in it.

I usually listen to NPR during the day, but you know, it’s just downright depressing at the moment to listen to the news and how it seems the whole world is on a downward trajectory to complete destruction…

Laura Fairlie’s troubles are much less stressful, although I must admit to despising Frederick Fairlie and Sir Percival Glyde just gets on my nerves.

There’s still a lot of anxiety listening to it because back then my modern-day equal rights sensibility was yet to be unleashed, but it just makes me appreciate more the fact that I am born today and not then.

I’m sure I would have been either burned as a witch or have been outcast in some other way when I read about times gone by.

And so all would be revealed tomorrow as I finish listening to the story and, hopefully, finish the painting, except that Christmas shopping and decorating the tree is in desperate need.

Now I’ll have to wait until Monday.

Life can be so unfair…

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