The red tree outside…

I read My Dog, Hen at St Stephen’s School in Shepherd’s Bush. A good time was had by all (I think).

No photographs exist, but I made a drawing of the event. When I looked out the window, I saw this red tree which was remarkable.

Thanks to the students and the teachers for listening.

Not the Shepherd’s Bush.

The Fall Guy…

The spaceman exited this vehicle.

The last of the plaka…

This is what’s left of the best plaka paint colour I have. Thankfully it was a bright sunny day and the sky was as blue as the Pelican paint.

I remember it as though it was yesterday.

Longer than they are short…

Seasonal wood-free offerings from WM Books. Jacketed hardbacks with linen case material.

Cover design and illustration © David Mackintosh.

In view of old cars…

The young characters in a new book are viewing life from the seat in their parents cars. (see pictures).

As a child, I was used to spending a lot of time being driven all over the place, whilst having no control over the destination. Even if I knew where we were going, there was almost definitely other unannounced stops made in between. And they often included visits to a hairdresser, or grocery shopping, or dropping in to chat with someone my parents hadn’t seen for ages “because we’re passing”.

I became interested in the details of the car dashboard, and the backs of the front seats too (although there’s not much interesting about those). And it was in friends’ parent’s cars being taken to sporting events and such things that I discovered the huge variety of car interior designs.

Once, I noticed that my friend’s mother’s car only had two pedals, compared to ours with three. When asked, my dad laboriously explained the difference between automatic and manual transmission, complete with drawings on a piece of paper. For weeks I visualised the clutch plate spinning and the drivetrain engaging and all this happening every time the gears were changed. Automatic transmission seemed to make more sense: two pedals, stop and go. But I was a manual transmission person and always will be – because my dad had a manual.