November 2025 | James Durose-Rayner's website

NOVEMBER 2025

The A's

ALL IMAGES OPEN IN TECHNICOLOUR

30 November 2025

Good Morning.

It has stopped raining thank God.

I was up at 7:30 am.

Julie was already out through the woods with the hound.

At the minute I'm sat at the breakfast bar with a coffee watching Julie enjoying herself cleaning the cooker down (sic).

As it was pissing it down, last night, we stayed in and had bacon, sausage and egg. Obviously, last night's cleaning down of the oven wasn't up to her high specification - hence her moaning and groaning.

We braved the elements and nipped to The Range on Skippingdale Retail Park yesterday afternoon.

With me being out of the UK for a few days, Julie is going to wrap the presents and get the Christmas cards written and sent out; therefore, the purchase of wrapping paper was on the agenda.

We also bought some baubles / wassail cups for the tree, as each year - with the real tree in the dining room; the big white ones tend to fall off and break.

So, they've been replaced.

The snowman biscuit barrel and chalk board will be out later on in preparation for the next 25 days - as it has for the last God knows how many years. A lot - anyway.

Animation. Opposite is another one of Jenny Mellor.

This is as close to perfection as I can get with 2D, although in one of the five second clips, her demeanor / style of speech changes slightly. Slightly being the optimum word.

This is also the first animation I have upscaled.

Upscaling, if I'm being honest, is a bit wank.

The animation software should output a resolution of at least 4K. Upscaling just gives you a false sense of a great output - but the resolution doesn't really change.

It's a bit like blowing photographs up in the magazine, in that you can only work with what's in front of you - and that resolution in the original photo cannot be changed.

It's just a case of you you conning yourself.

I'm still not happy with the quality of animation at distance, either.

Although Jenny is sat cross-legged on the bed, the detailing is nowhere near 100%.

That will improve, of that I am sure.

And the voices are still driving me insane - but I think that is part of this great software upgrade.

Anyway. That's me done.

Have a good one.

This is a 1:27 minute animation of Jenny Mellor talking about history.

I created this from 14 clips and from an image that I split - full cross-legged and head and shoulders - which I created with Above Photoshop 2025 a few months ago.

This is the first animation that I have upscaled each of the clips and worked on the correct audio levels.

Everything has been a learning curve.

The size of the file is just less than 1GB which tells you that a basic 60 minute episode will come in at least 60GB.

And that is without the music.

It's all very interesting.

29 November 2025

I'd say good morning, but it's absolutely fucking hounding it down outside.

I had a lay in and got up at 8:30 am and had to trawl through the sludge whilst getting battered by the elements.

When I got in the house to the smell of coffee I was like a drowned rat.

I fucking hate the rain.

Animation. Opposite is me trying to master the audio levels on a two minute animation.

The frustration is that you find a voice for a character and due to software upgrades and whatnot, that the voice command within it changes. It drives me insane and has me now leaning towards using actual voices as opposed to pure AI generated voices.

That means getting a person to do 30-40 minutes talking and then sort of converting it and using it on the characters.

It is just a thought at present, which has been brought on by the continual upgrading of the animation software.

Anyway, I'll stop now as I'm waffling.

Last night we went up to the Red Lion only to find out that it was the switching on of the Christmas Lights - and that being the case, the pub and the Market Place was rammed.

The town's Christmas Lights are shit.

They remind me of the illuminations at Wonderland in Cleethorpes when I was a kid.

Multi-coloured, cheap and tacky.

A bit like some Pride themed crocs - God forbid.

I bumped into Paul Mortimer, as generally, when we go to The Red Lion with the dog, I walk her round the churchyard and Julie gets the drinks in.

Paul has a detached house that backs on to the church path and overlooks Jubilee Park, so I sort of met him coming out of his house.

He's a great kid and he came into the pub and we had an hour or so catching up.

A good night bar the fact that I had to do the long dog walk through the woods at the end of the night so she gets her exercise in!

This is a 2:05 minute animation of the Gaynor Mellor character sat cross legged in a pink jogging suit - which is most unlike her, talking about her mum's obsession with sex.

I created this using from around 25 clips and from an image that I created using Adobe Photoshop 2025 earlier on in the year.

Rather than blow into the image using the Adobe Premier Pro software; I split the image in two using Photoshop, which I think gives a different slant on her appearance - and gives her a look of the actress Uma Thurman.

I used this Series 1 animation to try and master the audio levels.

Background Music. Sea Song by Doves (2000)

28 November 2025

A very good morning.

I was up at 6:50 am.

And it was still dark.

Julie was already tooled-up and out taking the hound through the woods.

She bumped into a lady with some little dog on the way around, who generally walks with her sister.

To describe her as either fat or overweight would be wrong as she's quite nice, so I won't (sic).

She said to Julie: "Have you been through the woods on your own?"

Julie replied in the affirmative and the lady then added: "Well, you're braver than me."

The woods; although they aren't particularly thick... you know - forest-like; they hold on to the darkness.

And the dark can be scary.

Julie's off down to the care home this morning to see her mum.

And she will no doubt be checking me in and booking the car parking down at Luton Airport as I will be shooting over to Cyprus on Monday.

It's just for three days as I need to pick up the FTO and pay some bills.

Animation. I did a lot of animation yesterday, but nothing I would want to chuck up here as it would ruin / giveaway part of the story.

Opposite are Gaynor and Mason, with Gaynor all matter of fact and talking about the engagement party.

Gaynor may have chucked £10,000 of Mason's money at it; but her mum worked very hard on this - and sorted all the 300 invitations along with the food from Facchetti's in Hammersmith.

Maureen, however - would be devastated at what was to happen.

27 November 2025

A very good morning.

I had a lay in, lie in or whatever you call them.

I was up at 8:20 am and straight out through the woods with the hound, having to negotiate all the late-morning dog walking traffic.

I was thirsty this morning for some reason.

Last night's mashed potatoes, the most likely culprit.

I did us eight lamb steaks cooked in butter with garlic and mint. It sounds a lot, but when you have them in the frying pan for an hour, they go down to nothing, and reduce as quickly as the pint of red wine lamb stock I use to keep them supple.

To compliment those, we had Cavalo Nero Kale, sliced greens, thinly stripped carrots and sprouts.

A good meal which I cooked whilst listening to Veruca Salt's Resolver (2000) and IV (2006) albums.

What an extremely underrated band.

Radio Caroline have just played Sea Song (2000) by Wilmslow-based Indie band Doves.

The only thing I have by them is on one of the dozens of indie compilations I have and that is Catch the Sun (2000).

They sound very much like Ride, My Bloody Valentine etc.

Shoegaze: Music that takes you to a different place.

I should get a few of their albums and give them a listen.

Animation.

Yesterday, I was pushing the 2D to its limits.

Today, I need to do some indexing and jump back into the Series 2 script, as the Angie character needs to play a much bigger role..

26 November 2025

A very good morning.

I was up at 6:40 am and out through the woods with the hound.

It is quite icy out which makes great dog walking weather.

Much better than the sludge and rain.

Kleitos - the mechanic and owner of the garage on Paralimni's April Avenue texted me last night. The part for the FTO arrived on the 17th from Tokyo, and it is now ready to pick up.

Unfortunately, I am in the UK until 1 January 2026.

Therefore, it looks like me shooting over to Cyprus for a couple of days to go and pick it up.

I'll look at the flights today.

We went to Tesco yesterday, to replenish the Moet & Chandon that we shifted on my birthday. It's now £37 as opposed to the £45 we paid the other month.

The movement in prices does my head in.

I also phoned Iceland to get reimbursed for the missing two boxes of 40 sachet Winalot, which was a bind in itself.

Tesco was nice and quiet, which won't be the case on the run up to Christmas.

I still recall fighting breaking out in the aisles at Morrison's supermarket on the old Cortonwood Retail Park near Barnsley. That was either the 22nd or 23rd of December, with people stood queuing and some getting pissed off and jumping them.

And it is supposed to be a nice time of year!

Last night we stayed in and had Salmon en croute, king prawns, jacket potatoes and salad, all of which was very nice.

I managed to listen to two albums by Veruca Salt: Eight Arms to Hold You (1997) and American Thighs (1994).

Both great albums.

It's either lamb steaks or fillet steak tonight. With vegetables.

This morning Julie is off to Meadowhall with Lianne and is just getting ready.

I've just had to defrost the windscreen of her car.

And Dazzling Daz - our £50 a month window cleaner is due in 5 minutes.

Animation. Opposite is the Gaynor Mellor character circa December 2022 in The Met in Hammersmith.

She looks good.

25 November 2025

A belated good morning.

It is 12:40 pm.

I was up at 6:10 am.

I had a cup of sweet tea - one sugar, and went into the study to check that everything that I signed off last night; had been signed off - and then I walked the hound through the woods.

It was quite cold out, but not cold enough for any ice.

Yesterday, was one of those typical deadline days.

The more you try to rush; the worse it gets.

On my side everything was great, but that Vibroplant advert we were waiting for, and which was promised "first thing", but which never materialised until 4:30 pm, and by then I was in the process of uploading the magazine to the printers.

And the printers' Dashboard - account log in system was playing up.

Frustrating... as fuck.

It took six goes to upload.

Anyway. That's me done.

I got back in had some toast and coffee and watched Julie drag everything out of the study and give it a good clean.

It looks good. And it only took her an hour (sic).

Yesterday - and after work, we went up to the Red Lion, where after £45 worth of drinks we called in at The Tandoori for a shite curry on the way down home.

That was after the woman behind the bar - Sue - a.k.a Teddy Bear Legs, had me swipe my debit card three times until the point of refusal.

"It'll only do it three times," she said.

She's been pissing me off since last month when she tried hitting me for an extra £7 glass of wine, and then - instead of charging us by the bottle, she'd been charging us by the glass.

It's not fucking innocent either. As there's more to it.

Sometimes, when I'm sat at out table, she'll fetch me my drink, when she sees that I'm empty.

It's decent service.

So - I'll tell her to stick her a drink on my tab.

Ellie, who used to work there used to stick herself a half a lager on, which is a couple of quid.

With Sue, I checked the bill one time and saw £7.

I shrugged it off: "A glass of wine - yeah," I thought.

Last month when she did it, she hit me for £10.

Her mate who works there told me: "Don't do it, James - she - puts the money on for her and Fraser."

Fraser is her deadbeat husband that sits at the fucking end of the bar - just drinking alone.

We drink and generally leave drunk, so she thinks she can take the piss.

Therefore. Last night she pissed me off that bit more.

It'll not happen again.

Rant over.

Animation. Opposite is Mason Green looking quite good and talking about the Code, the Faces and his girlfriend and her family.

I enjoyed doing that one!

24 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am and out through the woods with the dog.

I had been up earlier as she was barking her head off at 1:40 am and woke the fucking house up.

I went downstairs and let her out. It must have been that cat again, although I never saw it..

I should get everything signed off on my day job today and then I'm done until the New Year.

It should give me a chance to do some indexing in preparation for the 3D animation.

Therefore, at the moment I am full on working.

So. 40 days off, after this. That's what you call a holiday.

However, it isn't. It really isn't.

The past few weeks I have never worked as hard in years as the intensity surrounding what I do is something else.

Next year is the big one.

2027 should be full on production.

Hopefully.

23 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 7:30 am.

Julie did the dog walking duties, which I was glad about as it was pissing it down with rain.

I'm on deadline day.

The magazine should have been uploaded to the printers on Friday, but we are still waiting for an advert coming in from one of the Vibroplant group company's.

Julie has just nipped into the Dearne Valley to see her mum in the care home.

Animation. Opposite is a new one.

Tiffany and Madison Coulthard - the daughter's of Robbie and Annie.

It's the first time that I've animated them with sound and I've also got them interacting with one another.

The younger one is lovely and has a rather bouncy character.

Annie is a relation of Mason Green and used to sit him when he was a kid.

Aside of work, yesterday was a nothing-day - the highlight being dinner where we had three different fish. Smoked Haddock, Smoked Trout, and Smoked Salmon. All with vegetables - red cabbage and thinly sliced carrots and green beans.

I also had five bottles of Efes - the Turkish beer.

Anyway - back to work.

22 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am.

I managed to stay in bed, which was good.

I opened my eyes when it was stil dark and contemplated getting up but I persevered and dropped back off.

The problem: My head is buzzing from the workload I am currently juggling with.

This Episode 25 is un-fucking-believable.

It is here where you see a different Gaynor Mellor.

It is supposedly filmed on Tuesday 31st December 2024.

It is here she bears her soul.

The very next day she drives off with her daughter - and doesn't come back until 5 years, 8 months, and 20 days later; and that is when Mason goes to get her and his daughter at the beginning of Series 2.

Gaynor is battered, bruised and overweight; and Jenny... well, you'll see.

In the Episode 25, you'll also see how she perceives her mum - Maureen. During Series 1 and 2 absolutely nothing jumps out. Nothing. But it is here where you see the REAL Gaynor Mellor.

And she is very fucking spiky.

Yesterday, we managed to get to Home Bargains, Matalan and Marks & Spencer.

We did in £270 at Home Bargains where the Winalot - 40 sachet boxes, were £11.49.

As I've said, it pisses me off that a massive company such as Tesco charge £14 for the same product.

Julie had some 30% off voucher for Matalan - that's if you spent over £40, which is a good deal.

The problem with Matalan, however - is that it's fucking shit and full of spacker clothes for the brain damaged individual that wears Crocs and flary-Mary skirts. School teacher attire if you like.

Hence the voucher was unused.

I enjoyed Marks & Spencer and loaded up with a three different en-croutes - chicken, beef and Salmon and got a couple of pork pies, and two crumbles... mixed berries and rhubarb.

We got in and went up to the Red Lion where we had a few beers/wines with Cuban Pete and Broken Arm Sue, which was nice.

They also had their dog, which I took for a walk the other month and ended up losing.

Anyway, that's me done for today!

21 November 2025

A very good morning.

I was up at 3:40 am.

I woke up as fresh as a daisy.

Christ - that sounds very fucking gay!

I did some work on my day job and took the hound through the woods around 7:00 am.

It's very icy out band the garden centre car park was like glass.

Still, it brought the rabbits and squirrels out, which pleased the dog.

Great dog walking weather.

I should wrap up my day job today with a bit of fine tuning over the weekend.

Opposite. Here is the Angie Mellor character with a new hair-do sitting on a stool in the fictitious Jap's Wine Bar in Brackenbury Village.

Yo won't see this in Series 1 - however in Series 2, you will.

I took the name from a bar in Doncaster, which was around in the early 1980's, although I never went in it.

I think by the time I'd reached drinking age, it had gone.

This bar, as Angie says in the animation, is just a place that they go to catch up.

Series 1 was a mad 12 months, and although it was her younger sister, that Mason was with, Angie got looked after just as much by him. As did her mum and dad.

Remember tat word. Sibling rivalry: the natural competition, jealousy, and conflict that occurs between sisters, often stemming from a need for parental attention or insecurity.

It was evident, but with the Mellor's it goes a bit deeper.

"A car? What's he bought you a fucking car for?" Gaynor shrieked towards the end of Series 1.

By that time, however, Mason had ended the relationship.

I think we are nipping over to Home Bargains, Matalan and Home Bargains later.

That will have to be after the Iceland delivery, as I've ordered eight boxes 0f 40 sachet's of Winalot for the dog and four packs of 24 bottles of water.

I would have got them from Tesco - however, they were charging £14 a box to Iceland's £12.50.

It's not the money - it's the principle.

20 November 2025

A very good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am after having nearly 10 hours sleep.

I am absolutely fucked, and have never worked this hard in years.

I'm looking outside and it is snowing.

I said the other day that I am ready to make the leap to 3D.

I need to do that now.

I have taken 2D as far as I can.

And much further than you see in the animation that I chuck up on here.

As I've said. The Gaynor Mellor character is finally evolving.

In the series you see two Gaynor's.

One: A bright and intelligent young girl from a lovely family; and two, a quite snappy, chippy, humorous and very spoilt girl.

Whilst cutting a long animation for Episode 25 - everything came together.

An absolutely awesome character who possesses a highly complex personality.

It's really good. She's really good.

Other stuff. Opposite is a lovely animation of her in a bathroom.

There is much more to this, but as I said, I can't put it up here as yet.

The animation for the series needs doing in both 3D and at 4K.

The animation opposite is neither.

So, when will I make the jump?

I should wipe of this years workload for the magazine by the weekend; and then I can plan.

It's very exciting but very stressful.

I need a new 43" 4K Ultra screen monitor and a a massive computer with an accompanying graphics card.

Ideally, I need two or three, but without hiring an office, there isn't the room.

Anyway. The snows still falling, but it's more that shitty sleet stuff, than snow.

18 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:10 am and through the woods with the dog around an hour later.

Work has been fucking manic - and it is The A's I'm talking about here.

I have finally started work on it.

However, it is not any of the 24 episodes but a 30 minute extra at the end.

You watch the series and it should take you where you want to go with all its plots, subplots and arcs.

However, this extra 30 minute extra will pour petrol over the fucking thing and burn all your thoughts to the ground.

It will hopefully blow your fucking minds.

The extra is part of the truth and is just Gaynor Mellor talking into a camera with a series of flashbacks that you never saw in the series.

I started it on Friday - me just trying things out.

Suddenly, you start to create ideas and then, fucking wallop - the idea changes everything at that is what has happened.

The story is the same, but here comes a reasoning.

Anyway, enough of that.

I am now getting ready to jump to 3D.

The timing is right.

Opposite is the Gaynor character looking a bit different.

Well, a lot different.

It is the same character asset which shows what a new hairstyle and clothes do to a person.

Okay. Me done. I have to get back to work.

17 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 5:20 am.

My mistake.

I looked at my watch and thought it was 6:20 am.

The supposed luminous dial isn't the best.

I had my first nose bleed in years, this morning. Hard work and fucking stress. I've not had this much on my plate in years.

I still managed to walk the dog through the woods around 7:00 am..

I'm at the breakfast bar on my laptop with a coffee and Radio Caroline is on - with The Lemonheads knocking out Cell Phone Blues from their new album Love Chant (2025).

Good song.

I've been on with a 20 minute animation since Friday.

It isn't something what will get put up on here, and is just a case of me testing myself.

The reason it won't get put on here, is that it could be a big part of the story, if I let it go that way.

The thing is, is that it has stopped me working on the Adobe Premier Pro 2025 editing and software suite on the big computer, therefore I'm having to work from the laptop.

That new system cannot come soon enough.

I'll put some new animation up shortly, but it will only be me trying out different styles and locations.

I enjoyed my Sunday lunch yesterday. I've not had one for a few weeks.

We saw our former decorator in there.

Former as in that he retired in July.

Roy Robinson.

We've known him over 25 years. When our Jamie was a kid he was a bit dyslexic and after seeing his van asked: "Do they call Roy, Roy Orbison?"

There is a better story regarding Roy and our Jamie when Roy was decorating his house in Belton, maybe five or so years ago.

Our Jamie got in the house and Roy was doing his painting on the stairs.

"Roy - get your fucking arse in here," shouted our Jamie.

Roy came into the kitchen in a right flap. "What's up Jamie?"

"Nowt," said our Jamie. "I'm just shouting at that idiot."

Our Jamie's bulldog was called Roy and it was doing something that he shouldn't in the garden.

Right.

Some animation will be up later.

See ya.

16 November 2025

I was up at 5:10 am and out with the dog through the woods an hour or so later.

Everything is catching up with me.

Since I have had sound on the animation may workload has been nothing short of fucking intense.

I was supposed to be going over to Bradford to meet Tim, Maggie and Jessica for a curry.

Julie has just nipped to the care home to see her mum, and I've just dropped Tim a text to cancel and reschedule at a later date.

So today, there will be no blog as I am having a day off and going out for Sunday lunch and doing nothing.

This is a 1:55 minute animation of Gaynor Mellor wearing her glasses - which is an absolute first and talking about... well, things.

I created this animation using over 20 clips and from an image I created using Adobe Photoshop 2025 V.27 and the Nano Banana package that comes with Adobe Firefly Model 5.

As I said yesterday - the resolution is garbage on the latter, but I'm animating with it anyway.

To be honest it doesn't look too bad and it has given me quite a nice crack at animating without transitions as I hate using them.

In this animation I am continually breaking frames at resizing to create a continuity. I won't need to do that so much in 3D as there are numerous angles to work from.

Also, notice my attempt at keeping the neo-noir. Ideally it should be darker, but I let the photoshop package boss me a bit!

14 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 5:10 am.

I'm now sat in the study looking out of the window into the dark.

It is wet outside.

Today is my birthday and this evening we have a table booked at the Curry Leaf for family and friends.

Julie sorted it over Facebook whilst we were over at the house in Levanda Hills.

She is great when it comes to arranging nights out, dinner parties and the like. And we've had literally hundreds of them.

Yesterday, I was tired. More so than I have been in a long time.

The intensity of the animation is certainly taking its toll.

I really need to have some time out, but the system, the story and the characters - especially now they are talking, can be quite addictive.

Look at the animation opposite and at the colours.

I'm still not happy with it as some of the interactions are a bit shit - but that is 2D, and I'm still having the software wanting to go full-on anime, which you can see with the Gaynor character in one or two of the clips. Not much, but it's there.

I've also stopped using as many transitions and in the latest animation which isn't up until tomorrow I have used the resize of frames to keep the continuity.

I know what I mean anyway. But it's a much smarter idea until I go to 3D.

There is also new software coming online, which is giving me lots of different angles to explore and which is adding to the intensity.

Last night, whilst knocking back five small bottles of San Miguel, I did us a couple of fillet steaks with mushrooms and some vegetables and after walking the dog I had an early night.

It's still dark outside and the dog is getting restless. And it looks like a trawl through the sludge as its still pissing it down!

This is a 3:28 minute animation and my hardest yet.

I am getting the characters to interact as best I can - however, it drives you absolute bats, as when you start involving two characters sat looking and bouncing off one another the problems don't just double.

I created this animation from over 40 clips and from two images that I created this morning using Adobe Photshop 2025 V.27.

I was going to use Nano Banana as part of the Adobe Firely Model 5 package, but although it does amazing things - the resolution is fucking pants and upscaling is just a pointless exercise if the resolution in the faces isn't there.

Anyway, here are the Gaynor and Angie characters shooting shit about adult scenes and so on.

Follow the preconstruction of The A's.

www.the-as.co.uk

13 November 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 5:00 am and I'm just feeling my way back and adjusting from the lack of sleep on Tuesday.

It's hardly jet-lag, just a case of me playing catch up.

I'm on with my day job today. Supposedly.

If I'm not being sidetracked by the new animation process and software upgrades, I've got Evri, APC or DPD rattling on the back door.

Yesterday, Julie had a massive delivery of clothes.

She says that they weren't for her, but she went out to the Red Lion last night wearing her new - and what I term as, her Kill Bill top.

She now as two - white and black; and black and white. The second being a sort of reverse of the second and so forth.

It's like that tracky top that Uma Thurman wore in that shit Tarantino film she was in by the name of... Yeah, you've got it. Kill Bill (2003).

Above is a decent song by Fall Out Boy titled Uma Thurman (2015), which features sampled theme music from one of my favourite kid's TV series, The Munsters (1964–66) .

It also mentions the tall actresses role in Pulp Fiction (1994), which is easily Tarantino's best film.

Anyway, I'm currently working on some new animation that I'll chuck up n here in the morning.

It is without doubt my hardest yet.

I'm pushing the system to its absolute limits and am using camera pans and whatever to create different angles for the 2D.

Anyway. Tomorrow dudes.

A 1:34 minute animation of Gaynor discussing neo-noir and film noir.

I made this from several clips and from an image that I created using Adobe Photoshop 2025 V27 and the Nano Banana software of Adobe Firefly. which although it gives Gaynor a lovely raincoat and brolly, it fucks up the resolution on her face and makes her look not as fresh... older even.

I tried upscaling but that is shit.

I was upscaling photos for the magazine years ago and when the technology was still in its infancy.

There is however, still a lot of time for it to improve.

12 November 2025

A very Good morning from a cold and wet UK.

I am up and it is 3:15 am.

We got back in the house at 12:30 pm yesterday. I dropped Julie off at the gates whilst I nipped round to the petrol station and stick just short of £90 in the car as we coasted into town on fumes (sic).

Quote: Cousin Eddie. The Griswolds: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989).

10 minutes later I pulled on the drive to see Julie shifting a mountain of leaves that had accumulated. It is that time of year again!

I have a cup of sweet tea in front of me and I am looking through the window of my study and all I can see is the dark. This is a time and place that I have been before and takes me back to when I started this project nearly a year ago.

All I had then was a partially written script with lots of ideas. Now, I'm building characters and training their voices and making them move and interact.

And I haven't touched my 3D software - as yet.

I can't go rushing it.

I rush to put animations up here and I'm immediately aware of their imperfections, as good as I know some of them are. It is a learning curve. All this blog as been about, is the day-to-day routine of me learning the animation process on a very sporadic part-time basis as my day job itself is extremely intense and very hard work.

I look at similar publications that have managed to survive the internet boom and the influx of social media and they have numerous editorial staff to work on much smaller and lesser publications than ours.

With ours - there's just me. And I have an empty 84-page publication to fill at the beginning of each month.

So, to do what I am doing - The A's, isn't just hard work - it is very time consuming and as it is also a work of fiction, the story can become very real and at times can take you to an entirely different place.

We have a great life of that there is no doubt. However, what has not been said, is that I could not do this without a partner in life who gives me my own space and sort-of acknowledges my solitary needs.

Sort of - meaning that I get nagged to fuck, when the Teddy gets ripped from the pram and booted across the room to tell me that she's had enough.

The dancing figures. Chrissy K and Joanne caught her attention, however.

That is a theme of The A's.

Not dancing, but the fact that the female characters all seem to appear petite, even though the 2D animation made Chrissy look like she was flat-chested and gave Joanne a big arse - absolutely none of which was intentional.

A few years ago I watched Matthew Weiner's series Mad Men on DVD and took the idea from there. End of.

The idea not being the storyline - but its style.

"Why are there never no fat people in it?" was Julie's comment. And that is me editing the sentence to take out both the cynicism and swear words.

Mad Men ran with two female protagonists (if-you-like) that were played by January Jones and Christina Hendricks - who were Betty Draper and Joan Holloway respectively.

In The A's Gaynor Mellor and Anita Pallenburg are two of the three - with Angie Mellor being the third.

So, Angie could maybe be Elizabeth Moss's Peggy Olsen character?

Absolutely fucking NOT.

The Peggy Olsen character is as rank as Don Draper is wooden, and Angie is often seen as being the best looking female character.

Check her out opposite.

And I am still trying to find a way to make Angie as important a character in the story as their Gaynor.

As Anita says in the story itself: "Angie is a lot nicer person than Gaynor."

We shall see.

A 10 second animation of Taylor Moon and Robbie Coulthard.

I created this using three clips and from an image that I created with Adobe Photoshop 2025 - V27.

At the moment I am toying with film noir and monochrome.

These two characters are two of the 12. The nine-percenters who own The Hammersmith Vaults.

In September 2022 they are stood on the door chatting one night when Mason Green turns up with Gaynor Mellor.

It is their sort of first date.

By sort of, you will understand what I mean as it didn't go to plan - and The Vaults is not somewhere that you take someone on a date - first or otherwise.

Tay's family own several estate agents and he is part of the business, being a chartered surveyor. His mum is great friends with Rochana Reung - Mason's gran.

Robbie is married to Annie and between then they have to kids - Tiffany and Maddy. Annie is a head nurse at St Barts.

Robbie is a bit of a property developer and owns a gym.

There are a few scenes where Gaynor and Mason sit their kids as Annie used to do the same with Mason when he was a little lad.

Tiffany and Maddy refer to Mason as "Uncle Mason" and drive him up the pole.

In the series there are lots of arcs where you find that some of the characters have known each other all their lives.

What should be noted is that both Tay and in particularly Robbie, are very capable lads.

Tay (not Taylor as he hates it) and Robbie were names of two young lads that I know, that used to knock about together maybe 10-15 years ago and who were inseparable at the time.

Very nice kids.

11 November 2025

Kaliméra se ólous sas.

It is 12:30 am (GMT+2) and I am up.

The taxi is picking us up at 2:00 am.

I was in bed early but after a bit of tossing and turning I decided to get up. And I've got a headache.

Too much to drink?

I don't think so.

The aching is behind my eyes, which possibly suggests too much intense use of the laptop.

I've been checking out monitors as I'm currently working off a 32" (I think) to set the magazine.

I am now ready for a much bigger system as I now need to kick start the 3D.

I've sourced monitors and I'm told that the Dell Ultrascreen 43" is the best option as with anything over 50" you lose the resolution.

At present the animation isn't perfect, but this is a combination of a few things, one of which is that I'm rushing it to chuck it up on the blog. This is something that I need to stop. However, it is hard as it can be very addictive. The other problem is animating in 2D. It is flat and shit; and more often than not the proportions are out.

I need to be more professional.

Another problem that I have is that my indexing is all over the shop. This needs sorting as I waste a lot of time searching for stuff and that is time that can be better spent on other things.

Yesterday, we nipped into Paralimni to pick up some baby clothes from Mothercare for George and Denise (I don't think that's how you spell it as she's Bulgarian) - the couple who run the Lionheart bar on Protaras Avenue.

They are expecting a daughter in December.

We also went to Litsis supermarket in Vrysoulles and stocked up with water.

We were intending on eating at the Bulgarian open kitchen but when we left the Lionheart at 5:15 pm they still weren't open so we copped a burger in Kapparis.

Animation. Opposite was going to be a 20 second shot of the two students Jo and Chrissy who share a house with Jack Thiam in Hammersmith.

Ever watched the 1970's sitcom Man About the House?

That's where that comes from.

I was enjoying Fontella Bass's 1965 hit Rescue Me, therefore I continued the animation until the songs end.

Pop videos. Dead easy!

Joanne Lynskey is named after someone that I went to school with. She also appears in Series 2 as Joanne Hayes as she got married to a semi-pro footballer.

This is not too far from the real Joanne!

As a character, in Series 1 she's a bit lost and clings on to Gaynor quite a bit, which alarms Gaynor's mum - Maureen, who is very black and white in her outlook.

There are quite a few nice scenes between the three of them.

In Series 2, Joanne is all grown up and rather than age the character asset, I used a completely different one which has similar characteristics.

I can't tell you too much about this as it will ruin the story, but Joanne is a nice steady character.

On Christmas Eve 2022, her mum makes an appearance. Her mum is Kay Lynskey, who is also named after someone that I went to school with. In reality - these are cousins.

It was the real Kay that told me that!

If you watch Cyril Pope - History of the A's, Cyril mention's that particular Christmas Eve from his point of view and gets quite a bit wrong in doing so.

In life, not everyone sees the same thing.

The Kingdom Hall scenes are very nice scenes as Gaynor, Angie and Maureen get to meet Joanne and Clara Margieson's mothers - Kay and Joyce and do a very Christmassy good deed.

As for Mason - Cyril got that right. He had been hit with something heavy which had possibly ruptured his kidney.

Right. I need to uncouple the battery on the scooter and get a bath.

The UK beckons.

10 November 2025

Kaliméra se ólous sas.

I was up at 7:30 am (GMT+2).

The sun is out, the back door is open and I am on my laptop with a coffee to my left.

Today is our ninth day here, which means that within an hour or so, all the bedding will be through the washer and the house will be getting cleaned from top to bottom.

We are up at stupid o'clock in the morning as we fly out of Larnaca Airport on the first flight out to the UK tomorrow.

This house is much smaller than the last one we had - so it's just a couple of hours work.

I give Julie encouragement and will fill up the mop bucket for her, and maybe carry the hoover upstairs (sic).

One job I do get roped into is helping her put the continental quilt in its cover, which for some reason, is a task that I hate. And I don't have to do much - just hold both ends and shake it.

Yesterday, we drove over the hill to The Red Ruby in Ayia Napa and copped a curry.

Mine was Buttered Chicken made into a Vindaloo and Meat Samosa starters. Julie's was some house dish that they call Chilli Chicken along with some Onion Bhajis.

We also had four poppadum's, a pickle tray with extra onion and lime pickle, a garlic bread and pilau rice.

We'd not been for a couple of months so it made a change.

As I've already said, I'd sort of fallen out with the place as every time I had ordered prawns they had come undercooked.

I could complain, but then you're either making yourself look a complete cnut, or sat there like some fucking lemon waiting for your dish coming back.

We once went out with an expat couple to the Klokkos restaurant in Xylofagou. We had previously taken them and a few others out for a few meals at The Red Ruby - possibly for either mine or Julie's birthday, so it was a reciprocal thing... I think.

Martin and Sylvia.

Now these are your fucking archetypal expats.

They lie like fuck.

Martin is a professional stamp collector-stroke-seller from Birmingham and the ultimate bullshitter.

As an ex-rally driver, he drove a clapped out purple Peugeot 205 which, according to him, he once got 180 mph out of it coming back on the road between Liopetri and Avgorou.

See what I mean?

He was also - allegedly, brought in by some owners to pull a high-class restaurant from the brink as he has some underlying brilliance when it comes to haute cuisine and is the ultimate connoisseur.

And obviously, as Julie and myself possess a broad South Yorkshire accent, to him we come across as being fucking thick as pig shit and totally illiterate, therefore his perception of us when it came to food was, chips and egg.

In Klokkos he was in his element.

"Waiter - send that back - the steak is overcooked," he said with an ever-so pompous flailing arm.

To overcook a steak means that the steak is fucked and you have to cook another.

It is something that I have never heard - ever.

The man was a total fucking moron and the bullshit he spoke as he had The Chair was unbelievable.

I could go on...

The last time I saw them was in The Red Ruby when Julie's sister and her husband were with us.

Julie went over to the table with a specific intent.

Julie's dad had given me a load of stamp albums that he'd had in his loft, therefore I thought that with this Martin-gadgy being a salesman-stroke-collector, he could maybe use them. When I mentioned them, he was bouncing about like Toad-of-fucking-Toad Hall at the thought of getting his hands on a load of freebies.

They weighed a fucking ton, so for me to get them over it had to be when I was coming over sort of empty-handed and with nothing in the case.

As I'd told him about them three or four months earlier, he had nagged like fuck for them. And I mean nagged.

Finally I brought them over.

A month later.

"What was that load of rubbish you brought me?" he said.

Now, here is where you are put in a situation.

Julie told him point blank: "These were my dad's - not James's. James just brought them over thinking that he was doing you a favour.

"You are just a very rude and ignorant man."

As for me, I told all the Avgorou expat crowd straight: "If I ever see him while I'm out I'll drag him out of the bar and bounce his head off the kerb. Just let him know."

That is nearly eight years ago.

And I have never seen him since.

9 November 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:00 am (GMT+2)

Today, is my stepdad's posthumous birthday.

He was another one who left us at an early age. 52.

Yesterday, was a heavy day with the animation and very frustrating - however, by doing these clips it gives me ideas which is always good.

The Jenny character may have a inordinate I.Q like her father, but what you have to remember, is she is not yet seven-years-old, and with that comes innocence. And that showed in yesterday's clip, more than any of the others.

Her mum, suggested that if Mason was an Arab, maybe he could take another wife - that of course being Gaynor.

Jenny decides that this could be great idea and that they could all live together in her dad's big house on the river.

At this juncture in the story - this is what she wants the most.

So, Anita takes her to the library where the libararian asks, "Hello, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for books on Arab's," Jenny replies.

And she picks up a few - one of which is The Arabian Princess, which is obviously not a real book.

At first I thought of the 1985 film Harem, starring Natassja Kinski and Ben Kingsley, and based the pretend book, sort of on an exaggerated version of that.

Not any more.

The prince is anything but, and just some nonce from Afghanistan who is coming to the UK illegaly, and to work as both a waiter and taxi driver and whose sole aim is to trawl the streets of Bradford and kidnap a young British girl.

And as it is he who is telling the story, he often embellishes the truth.

He is rich and handsome but just pretends he is poor as he wants a wife with integrity etc..

As for Jenny, she thinks that he's travelled with his pet - a beautiful goat by the name of Taylor Swift.

Jenny ends up writing an essay in English on the book, but not before Dottie (Dorothy Westerman) gives everyone the inside-track on its sordid details and suddenly all the kids in Year's 10 and 11 are wanting to read it. This in itself creates alarm bells and all the local libraries end up pulling the book from their shelves

There's obviously more to the story - however, this is sometimes how ideas are created.

Just sit at your laptop and start a conversation between two characters, and see where it will lead.

8 November 2025

Kaliméra.

Well, it isn't really. It's a shit morning.

I was up at 5:45 am (GMT+2).

The door is open but the sun won't be out for another couple of hours. And then it will do it's damnedest to annoy me by shining through the blinds on the patio doors and often making it awkward to see the content on the screen of my laptop.

I suppose it's not a bad problem to have as our Jamie has told his mum that it's raining in over in the UK.

Yesterday, we had the tree trimmers come to the house as the palm trees in the back garden have been starting to get a bit out of hand, and have been rather annoyingly spitting out seeds everywhere.

Tassos - the boss, dropped off some African guy by the name of Joel who really went to town on them. Within 30 minutes the garden was full of shite

A couple of hours and €120 later, everything was gone.

A top job.

Animation. Now, this is really, really fucking annoying me.

The prompting of the algorithms is driving me literally insane as no matter what you tell it to do; it just does what the fuck it wants. You get a great take, and there is always something it decides to do extra to fucking spoil it.

Unlike people, I tend to have ultra-patience with new technology as I know it will get better, but I have to admit - it is currently fucking testing me to the limit.

"Just do as I fucking command you useless piece of shit!" was my favourite saying both yesterday and this morning.

And the computer-lag due to the huge files that are being generated is un-fucking-believable.

At the moment I'm trying to get two characters to interact directly instead of using separate frames with one character on each.

It isn't just that, however. On a white background there are no distractions for the algorithms to pick up on. This one I am doing however, is in a bedroom with props and that being the case - the distractions are numerous.

And this is taxing it, big style.

Aagh.

Anyway. It is now up opposite.

Julie thought it was funny, anyway.

7 November 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:00 am (GMT+2).

Today is my grandma's posthumous birthday.

My stepdad's mum, who was one of the nicest people that I've ever known.

She was a staunch Labour supporter and would turn in her grave if she could see what they have become. As she would the UK in general.

All throughout the 1960's she was the nearly-girl of local politics and during the 1980's met with royalty after she became signatory and the chairperson of the housing trust that signed for the largest mortgage in the UK, when that trust bought a shed load of NCB houses to privately rent them out.

Yesterday, was a nice day as we had a drive into Paralimni.

I was intending on buying a few Adidas hoodies to leave over here for when January and February arrive, as being close to the middle eastern land mass the night's can get quite cold. I didn't buy any as the ones I like were either full zipped jobs or nylon.

I prefer the sweatshirt material.

We went to Clock3 - one of the coffee shop franchises over here and I copped two Macchiato's, which were very nice.

The lady also brought it to the table which is most unlike the Coffee House franchise down in Kapparis whose staff has to be one of the worst ever.

They even make the staff at The Red Lion look half decent.

We also nipped down to the beach bar on Agia Trias and called up into Yiannis' restaurant in Vrysoulles where I had a fillet steak and garlic prawns.

We got back in fairly early and chucked Series 3 of Dexter back on the box.

Animation. Opposite is one of Anita Pallenburg and Leoni Middleton.

This is just me trying to perfect Anita's voice and personality, therefore I had Leoni - who is a gobshite throughout the script, trying to wind her up to get a reaction.

I'm very pleased with how the Anita character is playing out.

I need to fine tune the Leoni character - but that will come!

6 November 2025

Kaliméra.

My dad's posthumous 83rd birthday.

This time next year he will have been dead as long as he was alive. He died at 42.

We are all Scorpions, so these birthday's come thick and fast!

I did lots of work on The A's yesterday with very little end product.

I was pushing the animation to the limit - some of which was taking 12 fucking takes to create just a five second scene.

Frustrating doesn't even get close to describing it.

When I move to monochrome, I am rarely disappointed.

Just look at the animation opposite. I did that in less than 10 minutes.

In the story, the Leoni Middleton character keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

It was never my intention - but there you go.

Sometimes you just have to let the story take you where it wants to go. It the same as with the Angie Mellor and Astrid Karcherr characters.

It is mentioned by Anita Pallenburg in the story, that Angie is the much nicer of the two sister's - but Anita is always going to say that, isn't she?

In the story you rarely see Angie doing anything untoward. There is that sibling rivalry with Gaynor, but outside of that - nothing much.

However...

In Series 1 Gaynor has a spat with her and mentions how when she used to get a boyfriend, she'd just drop them and break their hearts, and referred to her Mirror, Mirror on the Wall act, with Gaynor snapping back that she wasn't that 12-year old dweeb anymore.

The dweeb is also how Cheryl Pallenburg - Anita's hateful elder sister always referred to Gaynor - as, and as stated, Gaynor not only wore glasses but had braces in her mouth up until starting the Upper Sixth at 40 Martyrs.

Check her out opposite.

Maureen O'Hara - Gaynor's granny wasn't that nice with Gaynor. And in Series 1, she is referred to as being Gawpy as well as ugly.

After flipping - and she does - big style, she makes a joke of it, but it is hurtful.

And yet it is Gaynor who goes to her granny in the care home every Monday night.

It is a dual purpose, as it is there where Gaynor does her English Literature homework and reads to her - but nevertheless, it is her and not Angie who goes.

That's enough waffling for today.

Have a good one.

5 November 2025

Kaliméra se ólous.

It is Bonfire night in the UK.

The worst night of the year if you have pets.

Our dog goes absolutely mental - so it will be fun down at our Jamie's when she will no doubt set his two off barking.

I was up at 8:00 am (GMT+2) and came downstairs to the smell of leeks.

We bought five of them from Litsis supermarket in Vrysoulles yesterday afternoon, as I plan to make a leek and potato soup.

Litsis is the Cypriot version of Waitrose. With the exception of the prices that is.

Mr Kipling's Mince pies along with all their other pies and cakes are a staggering €5.99.

We ended up hiring a car, as being up in Levanda Hills it is a hike to anywhere else rather than the Agia Trias beach bar or either Kapparis or Protaras Avenue - and even then, the latter two are a good walk.

I ordered the inlet pipe and O-rings for the FTO to be delivered to Cyprus direct from Japan, therefore I need to go down and see Kleitos and let him know what is happening. I did text him, but I may as well be pissing in the wind... as my dad used to say. Often.

Whilst in Vrysoulles, we called into Fosis Coffee Shop to see the main man. If I'm being honest, he is not looking too well.

I also saw Tony the barber, who I told that he can give me a haircut and a wet shave later on today.

Tony is a great guy and follows Arnothosis Famagusta FC who he always claims are shit. He also has a soft spot for Arsenal, therefore we get along very well.

I only had a haircut on Thursday so, I don't think there will be a deal to take off but a shave will certainly be welcomed. He is very meticulous and much more so - than my regular barber.

We have some Kurdish barbers a few doors up from us in the town - but aside of one time only - I never go.

They opened the shop next door and within a couple of weeks young kids were queuing outside the door to buy vapes and cigarettes - the latter of which were counterfeit.

Both shops were raided by the police and the Vape-shop ended up being closed down.

Always remember. In the main, these type of people are from war torn countries and have little consideration when it comes to your children.

So, fuck them.

Animation. Opposite is Astrid Karcherr and Angie Mellor.

Astrid lives a rather Bohemian lifestyle.

In Series 1, Gaynor described are as nothing more than a vampire - however, her elder sister was taken in, and according to Astrid, helped attain her Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A) degree.

I have no idea where Angie's husband, Pat fits in with this, as it is never mentioned.

I suppose it is something to think about and could be yet another arc.

4 November 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:30 am (GMT+2) and came downstairs to a sink full of pots. Again.

We came in last night and I stuck Series 3 of Dexter on the box.

I'd picked us up some strawberry custard pies from Zorba's (Ζορπάς) bakery on the Kapparis roundabout and shifted that; but as I was going through a bottle of red wine I got the munchies and ended up shifting a couple of tins of Octopus.

So the added task this morning, was wiping up fucking octopus oil or whatever it had been swimming around in, off the floor.

The tins are the same size as those you get sardines and mackerel in from Tesco's. However, octopus blows them away. It is a very underrated food, fish... or whatever it is.

Yesterday morning, and as I expected, I came back from the mechanics - disappointed.

Kleitos handed me the water pump inlet pipe. It had split.

"We cannot get these in Cyprus," he said.

Well, if he'd looked at the car when I'd taken the fucking thing in, instead of the Friday before we came, and picked up the fucking phone, I could have brought one over with me.

This, however, is Cyprus. The frustration capital of the Middle fucking East.

Everything is very laid back.

The car looked shit hot and exactly like the one above.

However, I read through the details in the small print and it said that it had a continual electrical fault.

I thought - fuck that.

Julie then chucked a load of money at a yellow Lotus Elise, which she drove about six times as you needed to be a fucking contortionist to get in and out of it.

So, for three or four years all it did was stand on the drive and collect leaves and bird shit, and lo and behold, each time I needed to drive it - it needed jump starting.

It had an electrical fault to do with the immobilser and one which every auto electrician who looked at it, could not fix.

So. Old cars and cars with electrical faults - give them a wide birth.

Rant over.

Animation. Opposite (if you're on a PC or laptop) is Astrid Karcherr.

As I've said before, the Astrid character was a sort of take on The Beatles first photographer - who was also the girlfriend of their Bez-styled sunglasses-wearing bass player - Stuart Sutcliffe, and the yellow vacuum cleaner that I drag out on to the drive to hoover out my car.

Here, she talks about the period before the series and her friendship with Leoni and Mason.

She also has more than a huge crush on the girl who she often uses as her model - Angie Mellor.

3 November 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 6:45 am (GMT+2) and thankfully came down to an empty sink.

The door is open and it is absolutely glorious outside.

It got up to around 28°c yesterday morning, when between us, we cleaned up around the garden and swimming pool area, Julie doing the hosing down as she supposedly finds it therapeutic.

What is strange about that statement is that she has never jet washed the patio at home.

I also cleaned down the hog, gave it a polish, and filled it up with petrol.

I shall be flying through Paralimni town centre on it later - hopefully to pick up the FTO from Kleitos - our mechanic on April Avenue.

Correction: Our mechanic on April Avenue who never answers his fucking email or phone.

No doubt I will be disappointed.

I did quite a bit of work on tweeking the script yesterday and today I plan to do more of the same.

I am still messing about with Series 2.

It is an extremely intense procedure and along with mastering the animation process is very time consuming.

I said on the Friday before we flew out here that there is not enough fucking hours in the day to do what I want to do.

Getting the voices was a big, big thing - but trying to train them into consistency is mind-blowingly frustrating.

Yesterday, Jenny Mellor decided that she didn't want to be brought up in South Yorkshire and began speaking like one of the Royal's even though I was prompting the algorithms like there was no tomorrow.

"Just do as I fucking ask will you!"

That is an animation that's not appeared on here yet.

Opposite - if you're on a laptop or PC are two short animations. The top one is just for the contact page of the website and the other - Julie Kingdom K.C.

Julie is the second cousin of Mason Green, and a background character who, in Series 1, tends to appear when the shit hits the fan.

In Series 2, there is a few beautiful scenes with Jenny Mellor.

"So what are you - my auntie?" asks Jenny.

"Well, if you call me that, you'll definitely get a Christmas present," she replies.

"Well you can deffo be my auntie, then."

So, Julie Kingdom is Jenny's new Auntie Julie.

Prior to that scene everyone is busy, and Julie breaks off from work to pick Jenny up from school and ends up spending some time with her new niece.

And the stories Julie tells, has Jenny on the edge of her seat.

"That was a right mint story," Jenny says.

"Yeah. I have thousands of them."

2 November 2025

Kaliméra apó tin Kýpro.

That means Good morning from Cyprus.

I was up at 6:30 am (GMT+2) and came down to a sink full of pots.

We rolled in last night and chucked two pizza's in the oven.

First job done. Shifting that lot.

The door is open but the sun doesn't come out too early in November. It still gets warm, but the days become shorter.

The sun should show it's orange face around half-seven.

As soon as we got here yesterday evening, I fired up the scooter and nipped to the bank to drag out some cash.

The taxi ride from the airport had taken €60 out of the €70 that I had in my wallet. I got back in and we walked down to the beach bar on Agia Trias.

In just a few weeks it now looks much different.

Dark, empty and cold.

Cyprus becomes a much different animal between November and March.

You can still wear shorts, but on a night you need either a jacket or a hoodie.

I'd say that the tourist's have all gone but there were dozens of them stifling the Anything to Declare route through the customs passage out into the Arrivals lounge at the airport.

They were British too - all destined for the TUI bus headed for Ayia Napa and Protaras.

Animation. Opposite is one I did within half-an-hour whilst writing up the blog.

If you notice on one of the clips, Jenny's face looks a bit different. The Cholestral clip. That was because I let the original frame go without sizing it to the 16:9 - 54 x 30 cm ratio. Amateurish by me.

After all this time I should know better and should have checked.

Still - I have to admit, Jenny animates brilliantly.

And her accent is spot on.

Big Scott texted me the other day and said as much.

1 November 2025

Good morning and welcome to November.

It is 3:30 am and we are up.

I am in the study with my coffee and am looking through the window at the dark.

We will be setting off to travel down the M1 to Luton in a bit.

As I've said before - these are long days.

The hoover is on upstairs. I'm surmising that Julie is vacuuming the landing and stairs for the burglars.

The carpet on the landing is a bit of a bug bear. You walk across it a couple of times and it's like a ploughed field.

As soon as it got put down Julie knew it was a mistake.

It was Halloween yesterday.

It pissed it down, which was absolutely rubbish for the kids.

Luke and Charlotte came round with their Isobel and took two buckets of sweets as her brother - their Declan, was out trick or treating nearer home with his cousin.

Animation. Opposite is a clip of Cyril Pope.

Cyril is a Series 1 character. He is a bookmaker along with his partner Cyril Essen.

Here, he just gives a bit of background.

Right. I'll hopefully see you in the priority lounge at Luton Airport.

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