This is a little tryout I did yesterday. One A4 sheet of gessoed watercolour paper, four tubes of System 3 acrylics - Titanium white, process yellow, process cyan and process magenta, gloss medium, a paint brush, palette knives and fingers. The little painting in the top right has lots of little acrylic paint skins attached - peeled from last weeks palette.

There's a full moon tonight - I'm going out to howl at the moon........

It's 70 years since the Dunkirk rescue and a fleet of little ships are heading to France to commemorate this. My thanks go to the original sailors all those years ago as my Grandad was amongst those troops trapped on the beaches. He was rescued and brought back safely, thank you to all those brave people.

Today is towel day. Don't forget your towel!

Today is towel day in honour of author Douglas Adams. http://www. towel day.org/

Middle of May already - what a month! A general election, a hung parliament, freezing cold weather and yet another cold/sore throat.

Finally managed to get my paints out though all I've had a chance to do so far is 'play' - I'm hoping I get the chance to do some 'real painting' during the bank holiday weekend.

Managed to get some reduced Cryla acrylics from Bradbury Graphics - they're selling off the old style Cryla at bargain prices -http://www.bradburyart.co.uk/

I've tried to avoid mentioning the General Election but I suppose I should acknowledge it. I will vote - women had to fight for the right to vote so it shouldn't be wasted. I do know that I won't vote for a party who wish to bring back fox hunting. Where is the 'sport' in chasing an animal and ripping it apart - why would you want to trust someone who takes pleasure in something so barbaric.

Found an interesting link organised by Brian May http://www.save-me.org.uk , worth a look.

Today is 5th May which is my Mums birthday. She sadly died in 2005 so I'm posting an old photograph which I think was probably taken in the early 1950s. She is no longer here but I carry an infinite number of memories with me.

I was going to mention May Day, but I'm late as usual! Weather was nondescript and there aren't any Maypoles in Benwell (they would have to have CCTV cameras on top). Bank Holiday Monday was cold - nothing new there - so business as usual!