Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, How Lovely Were Your Branches...

I was driving back from the studio today and I saw a massive pile of flames dancing dangerously close to a house. I was about to call the fire brigade when I realised that it was only a pile of Christmas trees being dramatically disposed of. The residents of Brooksby Street in Islington have a very definitive way of saying goodbye to Christmas. In my tired state, I felt a bit sad.

I have spent the weekend engrossed in my work. The daytimes have been a mixture of sticking, cutting, sanding, painting, casting and driving round London finding materials. By night, my mind has been swimming with rabbits, harlequin floors, playing cards, white picket fences and green sweets. Constant travelling has also led to me to test how many routes there are from Deptford to Crouch End. With the neverending (and believe me I am not complaining, just not sleeping very well) piles of work at the moment, it has been giving a refreshing meaning to the saying 'we'll cross that bridge when we get to it'. I love driving through London at night.

Last night I settled down to (try and) shut down for the night by writing some 'tomorrow lists'. The Dragons Den was on Channel Dave and Peter Jones came out with another one of his usual, witty and cutting quotes, "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity". Wishful thinking, my budget could just about afford me an apple turnover at the moment. I much prefer some of the quotes I found scribbled in the back of my sketchbook as I was leafing through. My favourite being Ron Norsworthy's answer to the question "What are you doing today?" His answer: "Well loads of bullets are gonna be flying my way and I just have to decide which ones I dodge and which ones hit me." Amongst my New York doodles, my little black book is full of his wise words, frantically noted down, so as not to miss a (legendary) trick. A wealth of advice and encouragement to which I constantly refer.