Weather report. .

Is there any chance of just a little bit of sun? Oh, I beg your pardon - the torrential, horizontal rain has momentarily stopped. And just to make it worse, the online BBC local weather page shows the Isle of Wight sitting serenely in a specific area of NO RAIN. Hmmph.

Photo above shows detail from a bucket bag with a cheerful tune. We can but try.

(As we said - weather-obsessed)

New Font

We thought it was time for a slight change of style, so have transferred the font recently used in Ali's artwork, onto a bag. Simples.

It's a nice clean, simple font in a large size, which has the added benefit of being easily seen. Without reading glasses. . .which seems to be a bit of an issue here at Dr Bean HQ, much to the amusement of everyone under the age of 23. And if our internet connection (the seemingly NO-talk talk) behaves we may even be able to upload the bag images to the shop.

We'll also add the Edward Lear 'Jumblies' bag, which is one of our favourites, just because it's a darn good rhyme.

Today's Forecast . .

Another fine morning, so I set off to Gurnard sea front for some photography. It's beginning to sound like I'm obsessed with the weather and there's no harm in admitting that it's probably true. Well, in a sea-related-radio-4 type of way.

Last year, I experimented with some framed textile pieces that incorporated text (no surprise there then). One used 'Crossing the Bar', by Lord Alfred Tennyson (good Island connection), and the second was based on John Masefield's 'Sea Fever', both obviously with a seaside theme. However, it has suddenly dawned on me that the beloved, equally poetic 'Shipping Forecast' would also work well in a framed style. I'll try and get a few done and hopefully take them to Bovey as part of our collection.

(posted by Ali Hughes)

A Fine Afternoon

It has been a lovely day here in Gurnard. A good day for taking photos, although slightly windier than it looks from the picture and we forgot to take anything to weigh down the bags. .

We're trying out a new larger size bucket - the diameter of which is roughly the same size as a LARGE supermarket pizza(Yum). Not that we make the family eat pizza all the time, that would just be wrong. . .

Bag IOW0540

We had a brief, but enjoyable trip to Cornwall this week. The sun was shining, the sky was blue. . . and it was still rather cold, but St Ives looked just as beautiful as usual. We stayed at the Chy Conyn Bed and Breakfast, which was ideal.

Flat Bags

This is our first flat bag, with a handle long-enough-to-put-over-ones-shoulder. We think it works quite well. But we might do a test run in wearability before it goes to the shop.

This one features our favourite extract of the moment, taken from 'Alice through the looking glass'.

"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." 'I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Maybe it's something we should all try, it might help.

New Bags

We have added some new designs of bag to the online shop - a new 'Alice in Wonderland' bag (yes, darlings, it's just SO on trend) and the very popular 'Pirate Song' Bag. (We're not sure why this one has proven to be such a hit. Good words, we guess).

Photography (for website and blog)proves to be the hardest bit to control. It sounds easy, doesn't it? Everyone else manages perfectly well. . . Make some nice items (that's the easy bit) and then photograph them to put online.

We wait for a sunny day, which has been a long time coming this winter, and go down to Gurnard beach, behind the Sailing Club, past the very desireable beachside homes and position the said bags ready for a pleasing picture. Well, there's usually a gale blowing, or the sun suddenly disappears, or the tide is in (doh). . . or the camera isn't charged. . . ok, perhaps that wouldn't happen to a professional.

But, we're working on it. And we think we've found the best option - park next to the sea front on Egypt Esplanade, place bag on concrete balustrade and voila - as long as the bag is weighted down, we can usually get a reasonable image and background. And, given time, we might improve. After all, we have a very photogenic location.