I was awake from 3 am...

....couldn’t get back to sleep so gave up.

So by 4 am cat Popeye had an early breakfast so he could go into the garden before the concrete mixer lorry next door appeared this morning.

So, I made a coffee and tried some gel press printing. But I was tired (but not for sleep). However I did enjoy just brayering colour and some layers. A few of those are in extra photos. The yellows in particular look dirty in the photo, but they don’t look that that in real life.

What I was using was the different rollers I had. Some are old Lino rollers from when I did Lino cutting and printing in another lifetime...a few are more recent brayers.

However the first 3 on the front row are those rollers you use to join wallpaper seams and make them flat. The first one is a soft foam and is great for some painting effects on the gel plate. The second one is a softish one with curved edges which creates different effects when brayering acrylics in the gel plate. The third one is a wooden wallpaper roller. I really like this one for painting effects on the gel plate.

The middle one, front row, is the small speedball brayer that many gel plate printers prefer.

The next one along (5th one) is an old fashioned Lino roller, not sure if it is 50 years old...

The last two are often called Lino rollers when you look online for them. These I prefer for my gel plate printing. They are harder than the softer speedball brayer in the middle of the front row.

Now back row. On the left is a more recent Lino roller/brayer you can get now. It is a harder one. But I find the wide rollers/brayers unweildly. I like the small ones. The last two on the back row are old fashioned Lino rollers, the one on the right might be 50 years old again. I don’t like the wide ones, harder to apply ink evenly.

I have more brayers/rollers/wallpaper join rollers than this!!! They were just collected over the years.

As if these weren’t enough I want/need some smaller ones. But you don’t seem to be able to buy them. However I have had various ideas the last year or so, but they didn’t work...however, my latest idea is bendy hair rollers...I may be able to cobble one of them into a miniature brayer/Lino roller...

Anyway, next door the workmen started work at 7 am!!! And the heavy machinery vibrating my bungalow. So this is the 9th day in row with horrendous big machinery and concrete breaker hammer drills etc...yes they worked on Sunday too...no end in sight...it appears to be an imprinted concrete driveway firm, but they have two driveways, one very long, the whole of the front garden, the whole of the side garden and the whole of the back garden...there is not one bit of living vegetation, nor blade of grass, nor bushes...they were all swept away by the hammer drills and bulldozers.

The whole lot has hardcore which has been hammered down by machinery to within an inch of its life...It is going to be a concrete wasteland. The Armageddon of bleak gardens to come. And my question is...where does the rainfall go? His land is slightly higher than mine...

It is only half past 5 in the evening and I am ready for my bed after being up so early, and taking this cat outside in dog Meg’s old harness and collar and lead. We went into the front garden just after 7 am when all the loud shattering vibrations started.

I do like to watch the sunrise which I can from the bench in the front garden with a coffee. However the sun was obscured with concrete dust, and Popeye began caterwauling when he didn’t get the sun he expected in his face. I didn’t much like concrete dust coffee so we came in.

Popeye climbed on to his shelves in the window to watch the concrete mixing lorry. And I had paperwork to do with a tired addled Brain...

Take care. Thanks for all the comments and love x