Sorry for the delay in posting, but I haven’t been very well lately …

I suffer from TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder), a chronic condition that causes pain and dysfunction in the jaw muscles and joints. I have arthritis, lockjaw, burning sensations in my face, and migraines. 

I try to hide the pain as I don’t want to be seen as a moaner, but sometimes I have a severe flare-up and all I can do is lie on the sofa, or bed, and not move.

I wrote a little poem from the perspective of a dog with TMJ, and produced this illustration, to express the despair that 

TMJ sufferers often experience …

The Dog with TMJ

He sits, jaw ajar, to keep the pain away.

When he chews on a bone there’s a price to pay.
Poor pooch with TMJ.

He’s careful not to yawn too wide,
Or woof too much.
Poor dog with TMJ.

He’d love to howl at the moon,
But his jaw would lock all too soon.
He whimpers: Why is he the Dog with TMJ?

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Moving on to happier stuff … Fred has been checking out the art in my sculpture park (our garden). Which is his favourite? I wonder …

Fred with ‘Rosa’ …

Fred and the Giant Ladybird (not too impressed with this one?) …

Sniffing out ‘Dali Untapped’ and Gala (Dali’s soulmate) …

Fred and the Frog (note how they share the same squint) …

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Here’s an excerpt from our wooftastic canine cozy mystery, Somebody’s Doodle. Click HERE to download your FREE COPY ( until Wednesday, April 10).

If you could post a review on Amazon and share our books on your social networks, you’ll make the authors (and Fred) very happy and motivate us to Keep Scribbling.

(Excerpt) THE BOOTIFULL LADY – Chapter 3

“Jack and Harry arrive back in Stoke Newington feeling like they’ve just pulled off the crime of the century. Time to activate the next stage of Jack’s cunning plan …

“Right ‘Arry, phone your mum and fill ‘er in. She can take the pooch back this afternoon and collect the reward money, like you suggested.”

Harry sighs. “Yeah, I know I said that, but now I’m not so sure. I mean, you’ve met my old ma, ‘aven’t you …”

A picture of Pauline floats into Jack’s mind, and he shudders. He knows, only too well, what his partner is getting at. But they don’t have much choice. “Thing is, we can’t take Angus back ourselves and who else can we trust not to run off with the dosh? Um …” A thoughtful pause, as the cogs turn in Jack’s brain. “She wouldn’t do that would she, mate?”

“Watch it mate, that’s my ma yer talkin’ about. We’re thick as thieves, ‘er an me. Of course we can trust ‘er. There’s no way she’d …” Harry lapses into silence as he too weighs up the probabilities—but yes, on balance he’s reasonably confident Pauline won’t do a runner with their wodge. It’s the rest of the package that worries him.

Jack’s been thinking about that too. “We can dress her up so she’s not so scary. We’ll make sure she leaves out the leopard-skin leggings, the bling jewellery, and the lairy make-up. If we put ‘er in a sensible coat and a woolly hat, she might even look like a normal granny.”.

Harry tries to picture his mum playing the sweet-old-lady role. It’s not easy. Years of eccentric behaviour and hair-raising appearance have crushed all hopes of Pauline being any kind of conventional role-model.…….¨

To read the complete book for FREE click here.

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As usual, I’d love people to contribute text to go with my next illustration ‘The Dog and The Crow’  which will be included in my book ‘Once Upon a Time’ – A collection of imaginary animals. Please post your suggestions as comments on the blog post, or send them to me by replying to this email. 

Anyone who contributes to the Once Upon a Time book will get a credit and a print of their choice.

‘The Dog and Crow’ is available on Tote bags, mugs, coasters from my shop on Redbubble

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See you again in two weeks.

All the best,
Nikki

PS. Do please Subscribe – By subscribing, you’ll get regular updates about my art, books and some other fun stuff. I won’t bombard you with emails, I only publish a newsletter every 2 weeks, and you can easily unsubscribe if you wish.

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