We finally said a sad goodbye to our 25 year old bread-maker and our new replacement (a Baumann) arrived on the day before my birthday (a present from my sister and mum). Of course I had to use it straight away and it worked brilliantly – it didn’t jump about on the worktop, there was no need to jam spoons in it (see sketch No.116-3417) and the bread came out perfectly!
Thu-26-Mar-2026
We bought this Asahi kettle last year. It’s rather fancy in that it’s glass and has settings for different temperatures and coloured lights to indicate what it’s up to. Unfortunately one of darling our cats knocked it off the worktop soon after we got it the plastic at the bottom cracked. It still works but leaks a little…and my attempt at sealing the hole did not work.
Wed-25-Mar-2026
After our sketch-walk at Tandang Sora, we went for lunch at the Gateway Mall and then walked to the Art Caravan store in the Katinko Building on the corner of Edsa and New York Street, where they were having a “warehouse sale” with up to 90% discounts on selected items. The sale goes on until 8 April and we went a bit mad. I bought these paints (mostly QOR brand and one Daler-Rowney)…and it turns out I bought mostly blues and greens!
Mon-23-Mar-2026
We have been waiting, nagging, reminding, complaining and following up with our ISP (Converge), for a router upgrade that we started paying for in September 2025. Then out of the blue we suddenly had a visit from their engineers and they installed the new device. Of course the speed of our internet connection didn’t improve much! Included in the package was a little box that connects to the TV and gives us local channels…so we now have four remote controls to lose down the side of the couch!
Fri-20-Mar-2026
Here is a sketch of the bag I got for Christmas from my wife. As I was sketching it she asked me why I would want to sketch it, as it’s just a grey blob…and it kind of ended up looking that way too. It’s made by The Tannery Manila and is a lovely bag though.
Thu-19-Mar-2026
I confess that one of the first things I thought when we were buying some fruit in the supermarket, was “that would be nice to sketch”. I do like to eat watermelon too of course…plus I admit I have sketched watermelons before (see sketch No.768)…but I enjoyed having another go!
Tue-17-Mar-2026
These are my wife’s paint brushes, two of which I bought for her at the Centris Market – second hand original Japanese brushes at a little stall called “Goods from Japan”. Thanks to Ray, Reuel and Randy for recommending it – what a find!
Mon-16-Mar-2026
This is a little souvenir (a fridge magnet) that my daughter bought me in Boracay. It’s legs are on little springs. When I opened the package up it made me jump a little as it has spider vibes and I am terrified of spiders! It’s clearly an octopus though.
Fri-13-Mar-2026
The day I did this sketch I had made pizza in the evening – making the dough in our ancient bread maker, which is failing fast. During the part where it kneads the dough with a paddle it constantly jumps up and down with the bucket popping up and out. I have to jamb spoons down the side to try and stop it…but I have had to try bigger and bigger spoons!
Wed-11-Mar-2026