Its been a while.

But here i am. Down at rock bottom. Scrambling around in the dirt just trying to dust myself off.

For a period of time i actually fooled myself into thinking i was getting better. Like the darkness had all but lifted and the demons had gone back into hibernation.

And to a certain extent they did.

I was happy god damn it!

Have you ever looked at someone creating something beautiful and wished you could do the same thing?

For me its Crochet ... I have longed to make these amazing creations that people seem to materialise in minutes but the best i have ever made was holey bunting and even that was supposed to be a sample solid square.

For a lot of people, painting seems to be the thing that many want to do but believe only few can ... well I'm here to show you that EVERYONE can paint ... and i mean everyone.

My preferred medium is Watercolour which is in my opinion is the easiest. Acrylic is pretty close but i think if your just dipping your toe in then watercolour is the way to go.

So what do you need to get started?

Well the first thing i would say is a good set of paints.

Watercolours come in so many different forms, it is easy to get overwhelmed but once you break it down, you can get a feel for what might suit you and even if you change your mind you can always start out small and build up a collection of materials.

For simplicity, well just cover paint pans at the moment.

Kids today ... I remember when i was little i would just chill in the garden or find something to keep me entertained yet these days kids need constant stimulation. I am gobsmacked when Agent M says to me he is "bored". How with everything you have can you possibly be bored?

Then it clicked, Its not that he has "nothing to do" ... Its more he cant think of what he wants to do. So that's where this gem come in to play.

The boredom jar.


Its such a simple idea ... I'm surprised i hadn't heard of it before.

Take a bunch of lolly pop sticks and write activities on them. When your little one says the dreaded words, ask then to pick a stick from the jar.

He's the catch though ... They HAVE TO DO IT! And not every stick is a fun activity but that's the compromise as there are also sticks in there that might be stuff your not keen on either. Whatever they pull is what they do

So imagine how amazing it is when you add it to a batch of brownie mix. Answer - Mind blowing!

Here is how i made mine and i was luck enough to get to try them before the M descended and the tray was all but licked clean.