2020 showed me and the team at Malvern Decorators that we all have great reserves of strength to endure difficult circumstances. With 2021 facing an uneasy start, we must look to the summer of this year with a determined optimism that builds on last year’s events. It is beholden on each of us to do so.

Looking ahead to schedule some outside exterior house painting, a Malvern Decorator is beyond relieved to see the weather forecast for the week ahead - the long days of grey misery are coming to their end. As well as reflecting on the joys that heralds, our Malvern Decorator also recalls some local weather lore - the Volcano of 1761!

I have been so busy over the last few months that we rarely had a minute's break over Christmas - and thus my plans to update my famous painting and decorating in Malvern blog were frustrated. Nonetheless, I am back to it now and will try to give my one loyal reader the benefits of my hard earned wisdom.

With the weather to keep us sweating this week, a Malvern Decorator laments what it means for him and his team working outside as the Mercury approaches the high twenties. Spare a thought for us up there!

I discuss the merits and deficiencies of having an eye practised in looking for detail as I pass the shops and house fronts of Malvern, and I find myself quietly buoyed by the care and diligence that small business owners and local residents take in the appearance of their local area. It makes me reflect on two recent jobs that we have carried out in the Malvern area: decorating the exterior of the Malvern Tourist Office and then giving a new coat to the delightful Cafe in the Green - a place well worth a visit.

It's not even Halloween yet and already 'killer clowns' are rampaging, decorated in hideous visages and glammed up in terrorising paint! A Malvern Decorator bemoans the stupidity of some people, and is quietly glad that he is moving his teams indoors as the weather gets too cold for outside paint jobs. At least we can lock the door behind us!

With the swallows about to take wing and attempt the long journey to South Africa, I take five minutes to put aside my brush and come down from the ladder to reflect on what's been a very busy summer for me and the lads, and how we've worked with other decorators to get larger jobs finished off to tight deadlines. It's all good fun!

As a decorator who gets much of his trade through his reputation, I would like to give a quick voice of support to a friend of mine, John, who has given me many clients over his years in the boiler and gas trade. Setting up in a new business to provide replacement radiators in Malvern and the Worcester area is a niche market and one that his expertise will put him in good stead for.

The Malvern Decorator team has enjoyed the weekend with the Royal Three Counties Show and the wonderful MappFest on Malvern Link Common. It's always wonderful to experience things close to home when there is that frission of summer excitment.

With the May Day bank holiday almost upon us, what will you be doing this weekend? There is a lot going on in Malvern town: a donkey procession up from the Abbey Hotel to St. Anne's Well, the dressing of the wells competition, a health and wellbeing fair, and water fun in Priory Park. All in all, there is too much to miss - so make sure you know what's going on.

It's a sad moment when an old venue closes its door for good. We at Malvern Decorators are sorry to hear that Oliver's (previously Monroe's) is closing for good. Back in the eighties, those of us who are old enough remember it with nostalgic affection. But is Malvern in danger of getting too many chains? We have Neros, Prezzos, Ask, and Costa, and how can local trade counter these giants? Thinking radically, shall we off-shore Malvern, just as the traders of Crickhowell have done?

With the online world drumming up decorating business in wider areas, a Malvern Decorator recalls two jobs usually beyond his geographic range, and wonders when he will be invited out to paint a property in more luxurious settings.

With the roar of Bristolian aircraft engines overhead as a Tornado practices its manoeuvres, the team and I enjoy our first day on the scaffold as we tend to some window painting. Serving as a reminder of what is going on elsewhere in the world, it makes us thankful of our humble brushes and paints.

With over 800 new homes proposed for Newland, Malvern, it seems that the big developments are getting their way. But it does make a local decorator worry that the future of the county that he enjoyed growing up in will not be available for the coming generations. what do you think?

A Malvern Decorator recounts his Sunday evening ritual of looking ahead at the weather forecast. But this week does not look like good viewing! Time to reschedule his exterior decorators and move them to the dry confines under a roof.

I can't believe it's nearly September. The swallows of summer are putting on weight in preparation for their long flights back to Africa, the Goldfinches are gathering in their flocks to brave the autumn and winter in numbers, and we've had the first of the great storms, so near the end of August that they could be said to be the first and last great blow of the season. And now the rain is here. A permanent drizzle blankets the horizon in a grey swathe. Dampness seeps into every joint and cranny. It is not ideal weather for decorating exteriors. Every year it is always the same: we have a mad rush of clients who require walls and windows painted . . .

As a decorator with an eye for colour (I hope!), summer in full bloom is a visual feast for me. This weekend gone, we've had the delightful Mappfest down on the Link Common (with a tremendous fly-over from the Red Arrows!) and several gardens have opened their doors to visitors to come in and view the results of their owners' many hours of loving labour amongst the soils.

I returned home from a decorating job today to find my copy of the Malvern Observer lying on my doorstep. Over a cup of strong tea (no sugars), I scanned the headline to find out that fly-tipping was on the rise.

I popped into the Cake Tin café the other day.  It's one of Malvern's hidden gems, tucked away in the Malvern Community Centre on Albert Road North.  I occasionally pop in if I'm around Great Malvern meeting clients and such, as it's easy to park than in the town itself and you can get a take away coffee if needed. Back in March I had a delightful Guinness and chocolate cake (a St. Patrick's day inspired goodie, no doubt), and this time I wanted to see what they had on offer.