Today I tried to make a balloon model for the first time ever. I managed to make a dog. I then went on to make about a dozen more with my good friend Claire. I put together this short animation as a result of our efforts.

It all developed into a poignant tale about a lonely Swan and a rowdy bunch of dogs.

I love wearing Plimsolls because not only are they really comfortable but you also get a sense of freedom not found in any other type of footwear.

This is my current collection. The Blue ones are undoubtedly my all time favourite! I used to have some in White but it was impossible to keep them looking white! I would one day like some in purple to continue the rainbow and I am always on the lookout for cool new colours but I don’t want to have too many!

I am interested in seeing photos of other colourful plimsolls; if you have any you can send me a link in the comments below.

A video compiled using around 900 photos, it shows a little Robin Redbreast searching for food in our garden on New Years Day 2010.

I didn’t know what else to do or what was going on, was I somehow being scammed? Was I supposed to just leave my card in the machine? Should I try and call somebody at the bank even though I didn’t have enough credit on my phone and was the precise reason I was at the ATM in the first place? Everywhere nearby was closed so all I could rely on was a stranger offering some kind of assistance or advice but who would choose to help me? I didn’t get a good reception from those I asked and many just left me to it but I had a theory that if somebody else would try to put their card in then it just might dislodge my card, it was worth a shot but again nobody wanted to help me try my theory. Maybe they thought that I was the bad guy dressed in dark clothing and covered further by a hat and scarf but I was just trying to keep warm in the cold weather. I also wondered whether maybe my attire and appearance made me seem un-trustworthy. Why wouldn’t anybody even try and help me, one couple didn’t think my theory had any potential but wouldn’t even just try to see if I could be right. Nobody wanted to help me out and so I was left at the machine waiting.

A couple of minutes later saw a mysterious blonde come to my aid and in a friendly gesture she offered her bank card to me to see if I could try and jimmy mine free, you could hear that the machine was trying to do something with my card and as I gently pushed hers in then something else happened inside. Okay, so what we were doing was a bit dodgy but I felt like it was worth a shot and amazingly it worked as I expected. Many thanks to you mysterious blonde, I didn’t catch a name but she wished me good luck and disappeared into the night, her small gesture had set me free.

I wondered why there couldn’t be more nice and helpful people out there who could be willing to help a stranger even for something so terribly small as this, I mean it really didn’t take much to help me out, it was the smallest of favours and yet most just couldn’t even do that.

I was asked for my pin but ultimately the machine decided not to work for me today and happily ejected my card, I didn’t wish to try my luck again. Others came to use the machine and in an effort to try and prevent someone else being stuck in that dreadful position I warned them against using it and they appreciated my advice, however you can’t help everyone and one man decided to ignore my warning and he was the unfortunate next victim of the card jammer. I did try to warn him but I guess some people are just ignorant to friendly advice.