Well, what a packed week, and happily so.  Not so much a week of filling and painting, but rather of rocking and soothing,  removing and replacing.
Wednesday saw us heading up the A1 on the way to Leeds to meet Henry, Mr Cooper's grandson, for the first time.
In between the arrival of Henry, and our meeting him, four weeks had passed.  I had filled that time by knitting 2 garments for him, luckily in an autumnal colour, as they should fit him either this autumn, or probably the next.  Always good to look to the future!

Henry is absolutely lovely, which is not surprising, given that his parents are too.  Mr Cooper is, for the main part, absolutely lovely too, interspersed with times of being a trifle tetchy.
Perhaps Henry does take after him, especially in the evenings.


Here they both are, keeping each other entertained

Whilst in Yorkshire, we visited a great outdoor shop, to get more outdoor gear for Mr Cooper, in readiness for his latest walking holidays.  http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/pudsey
I will have to walk behind him soon, in my antiquated gear.  At least all the new purchases are light-weight, so my burden becomes lighter in my role as packhorse.

I did buy three very handy objects, for myself and my bros.  Si has a gecko tattoo, so I thought the combination of that image, plus its function, would be an appropriate gift for each of us.  The orange one for Mark, of course.  It is always handy to have a bottle opener attached to your keyring..........

.................it is very easy to get a little thirsty on a long drive.
We did get a little thirsty on our visit, in Rodley.  Happily, we found two lovely watering holes on the banks of the Liverpool to Leeds canal.
 One called, predictibly, 'The Rodley Barge'  http://www.therodley-barge.co.uk/
and the other, 'The Railway Inn'.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Railway-Inn-Rodley/200921693271756  Excellent beer from both, and a truly delicious haloumi and sun-dried tomato salad from the latter.
That is a brief glimpse of the 'rocking and soothing' part of the week (plus a little slurping). Now on to the 'removing and replacing' element.  Having started to render our house to be suitably neutral for potential buyers, it was decided that all nudity had to be removed from the walls.
We removed two of my more significant paintings from the landing,

'You Gave Me My Freedom'

and 'The Mistress'

the former to be replaced by an almost finished 'Cinderella'.

As I have not painted anything other than walls this year, it was very good to see 'Cinderella' again, and to remind myself that I could actually paint in another way.  I have got to finish the shoe and the flower, and add another black cat.  Potential viewers may think that we are bonkers, but they won't be confronted by embarrassing body parts.

I have been getting into the artistic doldrums this year, having swapped emotions for magnolia, so I decided, for my own sanity and those around me, to slow down the decorating process, to allow time for my own creations.  And also to register once again for the Jerwood Drawing Competition,   https://jerwooddrawingprize.artopps.co.uk/ and also for the NOAC. http://www.nationalopenart.org/register.php
I have been gathering ideas for this year's significant artwork, and now it is time to put the ideas onto paper, and then some hot-pressed paper, then drawn in ink.
  I am excited already, just thinking about it!

And for this week's good read........

.............thoroughly enjoyable.  Packed with antics, antiques and outrageous adventures.  It is not to everyone's taste, but I will be reading more by this author.

We left Rachael, Ben and Henry with a degree of sadness.............and look forward to returning soon, in our new roles as Grandad, and as Granny Sue.  Soothing babies is a bit like riding a bike, you may not do it for years, but you don't forget how.

But looking at the picture below, showing a holiday snap from many years ago...... 

.......John has been buried by his loving parents, but is looking far from impressed, although Sam and Hannah think it was a good idea.
If that was how I looked after my children whilst on holiday, will I ever be allowed near Henry on a beach, in my new role as Granny Sue?  Well, I did go on to release him, so it was not all bad.

Here I am behaving most properly, so lovely to be holding a baby again, even more lovely to be holding a Henry baby!  Thanks for the photo, Rachael, and your skill with the new photo app!

A week at home now, doing the usual, and then off to Yorkshire again.  Mr Cooper will be walking portions of the Pennine Way with his 'besties', Kevin and Werner.  I am, in theory, working on my 'significant artwork', whilst producing the odd meal along the way.
I will tell you all about it, next time we meet.  Until then, take care, work hard, and do something a little bit different as well, that is fun.