Watercolour

123-3564 – Platform one cafe

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Our eldest daughter’s birthday started with lunch with my mum, followed by a walk in Clare Castle Country Park. We first looked at the castle remains (mostly crumbly old walls), then hiked through the park and into very dry farmers fields where our daughters stopped every few steps for photograph bugs and weeds….so only after a quarter of our planned route we took a detour (not hacking across a farmers fields as I proposed), sticking to a bridle path and back into the village along a road. We stopped at this cafe which is housed in an old train station for a refreshing drink and then had a take-away Bangladeshi dinner.

Thu-23-Jul-2026

123-3562 – St. Peter and St. Paul’s church, Clare

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Still on our first day in Suffolk, after visiting my sister, we went back to Clare so our daughter could spend a few hours working (remotely). With the jet lag hitting I could have easily gone to sleep but to keep myself awake I went out to sketch. This church is just over the road from where we stayed in the “winter cottage”.

Tue-21-Jul-2026

123-3561 – Kelly on the throne

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Here is the sketch I did on our first full day in the UK (in Suffolk), which started with a visit to my mum. Usually she sits in this huge chair (which can be wheeled about) but for some reason on this day she was in a wheelchair, so I sketched our daughter sitting on the “throne”. This is not even a close likeness…and we joked that it looks more like Millie Bobby Brown.

Tue-21-Jul-2026

123-3560 – Istanbul to Stansted

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Although I was squashed in between my wife and a stranger on this leg of our journey, I managed this sketch. This lady and two others she was travelling with handed us a goody bag when we sat down…containing ear plugs and sweets (candies), with a card headed “warning” and saying “Hi…I might cry or sing out loud” explaining that he is less than one and thanking us for our kindness and patience…very cute. He didn’t cry much anyway but some of my sweets melted making a sticky mess.

Mon-20-Jul-2026

123-3559 – Layover in Istanbul

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I didn’t have time to sketch at the airport in Manila before we left for our UK-Montenegro holiday, because a strap on my wife’s backpack snapped at the checkin desk. So we wandered around to find an affordable replacement (definitely not Tumi). After the long flight to Istanbul (12 hours) we had a few hours in the massive airport terminal (which makes NAIA and Heathrow look dreadful), so we found a spot for a coffee. My only grumble about the airport terminal?…nowhere to sit unless you buy coffee or food….which maybe deliberate.

Mon-20-Jul-2026

123-3558 – Packing pile

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This is the last sketch I did before we left the Philippines for our holiday trip to the UK and Montenegro. I spent a lot of the day packing and was left with this pile of things to try and cram into my hand-carry (which has to be small so that it can fit under a seat on our EasyJet leg to Montenegro). This is also the beginning of a new sketchbook made using CassArt smooth watercolour paper.

Sat-18-Jul-2026

122-3556-7 – Maria Uson, Ed and the old legislative building

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Maria Uson and Ed

On 16 July I joined Urban Sketchers Manila for a meet up and to join in the Centennial Trails event at the National Museum of the Philippines, which celebrated 100 years of the Old Legislative Building (which is now the museum). My first sketch was done during the introductory talks, which was followed by a guided tour with a researcher who explained the architectural history.

The old legislative building

We then went outside and sketched the front of the building from nearby the Gomburza monument – which I sketched back in Feb 2024 (see sketches No.2590-91).

Thu-16-Jul-2026

122-3555 – Ginger

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Here is a sketch of something random from the fridge – fresh ginger. It is inexpensive and plentiful in the Philippines and we always have some. Apart from using it in cooking, I like to have small slices crushed, along with honey and calamansi juice, in a hot drink.

Tue-14-Jul-2026