Christmas is coming...

....and the goose fox is getting fat! With the sudden disappearance of Gracie this week I am strict about taking the register every night when I shut up the chicken coop- 
Johns Junior
Gabriella 
Darcy 
Sylvie 
Miranda 
Sharpay 
Jenny 
Saffy 
Tal 
and Raf 
If only the cunning fellow had consulted me before picking off a plump-breasted juvenile. In a gesture befitting the season I would have willingly sacrificed one of the wheezy old pensioners. Happy Christmas Mr. Fox

To do...

Forget the back of an old envelope. This year, the lovely pre-christmas chaos in my kitchen is festooned with these cute little stickies that I was asked to illustrate, for the fabulous store Anthropologie.

After spending a day in sparkly London last week I have now banished all thoughts of spring (apart from taking seed catalogues to bed with me, but that’s another blog).  The urban mix of chats over coffee, favourite shops and my agent’s christmas party has whipped me into a suitably festive frame of mind. 

There was even a whisper of Christmas next morning back home in Suffolk, as a passing angel paused on top of the christmas tree.... 

...and by Monday, like shepherds to Bethlehem, the entire starling population was a-chatter.

Spring is in the Air

I’m so excited to finally see the Blossom range of stationery, that I worked on with the lovely, New York based Galison back in the spring. Perfectly on cue, outside our front door, the pale pink petals of Prunus Okame are blinking in the crisp, sunlit morning. Under the weeping ash there are flashes of white snowdrops, and a lone primrose has been flowering for weeks unable to contain itself until spring.... so I’m not the only one feeling unseasonably giddy!

Gorgeous commute to the studio this morning. The sun was up early and had already pencilled in these lovely sketches along the way. Not bad for sixty-eight paces.