I took the dogs into the garden in crisp, windy sunshine and the defiant roses inspire me to adopt the word "bloom" for my 2012 philosophy. How wonderful it will be to grow and flourish in the coming months, not to mention one of my favourite songs to help me on my way. I will not let the fact that 2012 is not an odd or prime number put me off, besides it's much easier to sign than 2011, so that's a good thing for a start.

So here's a little look at my worktable. In a few days I am taking a short trip to England for my Father's birthday. I have a storybook of his from his childhood, the rather unfortunately named "Gay Company". He probably doesn't even remember I have it, but I am using images and text to make him an accordion book, without destroying the original which is now very tattered and torn.

As you can see, the book is covered in his own little drawings and handwriting, and he had coloured in some of the pictures too. Yes, those are my glasses…….I have had to bow gracefully to short-sightedness when working in detail. Joe tells me they are the same as Le Corbu's, so that's OK then.

This is where I am with it at the moment, I will show you the finished book when I return next week.