Sketch Friday 23rd July 2021

Sometimes Sketch Friday happens on Saturday. This week is one of those annoying - arriving at the wrong time - weeks. A week that has been mostly becalmed and listless. A week of not quite connecting. Of setting off to do something in the kitchen and then forgetting and finding myself outside. Then later remembering the thing still undone in the kitchen. A week of muddle and fuzz. A week of quarentine. Of grief settling into its slow steady sadness. A grief that will not leave quickly but which somehow must now be lived with. A week of heat. A week of looking over the parapet into Twitter and feeling scorched by the awfulness of UK politics. I am not ready yet for it. But I can feel a roar of rage beginning to build. A week of eating too many crisps. Of watching great TV. Of writing new tv ideas, some how, despite the muddle, some new ideas about the new thing I’m writing, emerged. A week of zooms and catch ups with awesome writing squad writers and leaving calls feeling possibility and inspiration bubble up against my listlessness. Thank you awesome squad writers. A week where I received proofs of the pictures I have drawn for Matthew Bellwood's #APerfectWorld project from his lovely designer Amy Levene. I was so excited all I could say was 'wow' and ‘these look ace'. I expect that artists are supposed to be more descerning / have more useful things to say about tones and whatnot. But here we are. Amy has been so generous throughout this whole illustration experience. Explaining things, being patient. She’s been fab. Anyway. I was excited. I am excited. I just hadn’t released it yet. So, as quarantine and the heat and the moving from garden to house to house to garden like a bear in a zoo enclosure designed in the 70’s, I didn’t really notice at the time that actually a lot of good things happened this week. I was just too busy grumping and feeling low to notice. Cos blimey have I had the grumps. Have I started pictures and ended up just scribbling like a toddler. Yes reader, I have. But also, have I sat and really looked at the flowers in our garden. Did I spend ages just watching Lara Darling the cat play. Yes. Did I take in at the time that this was lovely for itself? Not really. But then, the temperature fell and quarantine ended. Friday morning came and I could walk free. So Janey and I went for a run. And it was so good. And as we entered a field, a pony looked up and just ran at me. From across the field. And I don't know that much about horses, but somehow I knew not to be scared. And the pony came galloping in for a cuddle. I am not kidding. It came for a big fuss and cuddle. And despite it bringing a lot of flies with it, it was nonetheless one of the best welcome backs I have ever had. And it took a beautiful pony to remind me that joy exists amongst sadness. The world lit up again and then I realised its not been a bad week at all. That's the news. Love to all.