Have you been out today?

Sometimes it's hard to see the bleeding obvious.

I'm working on a couple of book covers for children's publisher Andersen Press at the moment and sent off rough versions of revised designs yesterday. Only after they'd gone did the missus get a look at them and her fresh eye spotted a tiny error I'd made in one of them.

"That dog's gigantic," she said (or words to that effect). And I looked and saw that it was true. The dog depicted in one of the covers (and specifically described in the text as being, let's not mince our words here, "small") had seemingly been transformed by rays from a radioactive pile of old Marvel comics into Superhound, a mighty canine the size of a bear. Oops. Perspective was never my strong point but normally I don't get it quite so badly wrong (or at least I notice when I do). Some redrawing to be done today methinks.

...I've only received one bad joke for September's theme week (but it is a very good bad joke, thanks Vikki) so do please email me some more.

In other news, despite horrible neglect over the past few weeks and a subsequent proliferation of weeds, my allotment has borne fruit (and veg) in a modest way. I went down there earlier in the week and wondered what horrible person had left that strange dark plastic bottle on my plot and then, on closer inspection, realised that it was in fact a singular large courgette (or is it a small marrow? Whatever. It's the teenager of the courgette/marrow world I suppose). I also pulled up a handful of potatoes (by mistake during a slightly heavy handed spell of weeding) and got a good crop of blackberries from the brambles by the hedge. Should get some butternut squashes at some point too, the three plants appear to be intent on taking over the whole plot. Almost everything else, though, is dead or pathetic.

Anyway, cooked and ate the potatoes and part of the monster courgette for me tea last night and found them to be good. Hurrah!

Dashed off after quantities of gin. I do apologise for any noticeable drop in quality...

There you go.

Overwhelmed though I was by the response to my request for suggestions for future theme weeks I've chosen September's theme myself and I need your help with it. I want to do a week of illustrated rubbish jokes but I only have one suitable such gag in mind at present. Please, therefore, send me (by email please, not via comments) your favourite bad jokes. Probably best if they're very short (and preferably interesting to illustrate).

Extra brownie points will be awarded for anything that begins with a polar bear walking into a bar.

Go to it, people. Meanwhile, I'd better draw today's chicken.

Not a great first effort. Hopefully I'll have got the hang of things by Friday.

The chickens cometh...