Summer in New Zealand is For Watersports

Unlike Auckland, Canterbury has been starved of rain this summer. I wish it would stop raining in the far north and we could have a fraction of it here.

It’s high summer in New Zealand (February is equivalent to August in England) and Molly and I have been enjoying some hot weather (In the high 20s). We have been going down to the harbour at least once, sometimes twice a day. She swims next to me, or slightly ahead and we stay in for about 10 minutes. It is really very sweet. And then she still wants to chase the tennis balls that I throw in the water. Indefatigable.

Arctic Circle - Oscar the Penguin Christmas Ornament

If you live in the US and fancy a new ornament for your Christmas tree, you might like this. I haven't seen them offline myself as it would cost way too much to send them to New Zealand.

Arctic Circle Cartoons - In Celebration of Charles Schulz and Peanuts

Cartoonists celebrated what would've been Charles Schulz's 100 birthday last Saturday. He was a huge influence on me and I'm sure I would not have become the cartoonist I am if I hadn't discovered Charlie Brown, Snoopy and all the Peanuts gang as a kid.

I loved Linus. Still do.

I guess Peppermint Patty was a tomboy, as was I, even though some people say you can't say tomboy anymore.

We had a kite eating tree in the valley where I grew up.

I wonder whether the kite is still in that oak tree.

Was Snoopy everyone's favourite?

Being dirty is sometimes a good thing.

Illustrated Epistle Extract: Power Cuts and Solar Panels

I will keep this epistle short as I’m catching up after a long weekend away to celebrate my birthday (53rd). We went to Le Bons Beach (I learned that the name comes from the original Bones Beach, and not from the French settlers who were around the place, as there were a lot of bones found on the beach, in common with many peninsula settlements). It's an hour and a half’s drive from here, unless you're in a 1975 Land Rover…

It was on the cool side and we had a lot of rain, but it was brilliant to go in the sea every day (as did Molly. The boyf was not keen) and I had a couple of good surfs. I also took lots of books (reading the wonderful Paper Palace at the moment). Fortunately, I also took audiobooks and my battery-powered speaker so that we were able to listen to podcasts when the power went out. I enjoyed being without power for most of Saturday, as we had the long days and a log burner to take the edge off and it meant neither of us would be tempted to try the DVD player (there was no phone reception, no TV, no wi-fi). But I really feel for people in Europe who are going into winter as energy bills skyrocket because of bloody Putin.

Our energy bill last month was just under $4, total. I'm hoping that in the summer months the power company will be paying us for the solar power we are feeding into the grid. We’ll never make our money back, but it does make me feel good contributing to grid power at a time when New Zealand often struggles…

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This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out once a month-ish. It is a behind-the-scenes look at my cartooning life. I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:

http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD

Or head to the archive to read more here.