Working Weekend at Home

No chance for art this weekend instead I made batches of fishcakes for the freezer while my husband planted up our garden tubs with geraniums and other annuals - we would normally have done this a couple of weeks ago but the weather has been too cold and wet.

in the midst of all this I still managed to get out and take some photos if only in the garden - I particularly liked the seed head of our Pasque flower

and I also took some pictures of our ailiums coming into bloom - this is the same photo processed 3 ways - natural, enhanced and black and white - which do you like best?

Yay Etsy Shop Open!

Hello, Sorry about the rather long gap since my last post - I’ve been very busy opening my Etsy shop which was certainly a steep learning curve - I haven’t listed to much yet as I’m taking it slowly, but do go and visit - I would really appreciate your feedback.

 I'm planning to donate 10% of the profits from my web sales to Honour Village Cambodia, a charity founded to help children and families in Siem Reap. You can find  out more about Honor village here and I hope shortly to be posting an interview with Honour Village founder Sue Wiggans so more about Honour Village coming soon.

I have also been really enjoying the Creative Courage course especially the support from other members of the group through the Facebook page - it really has been awesome.

Just a short post this time but I’ll leave you with an image of a new card I have just sent for printing, which says it all in terms of the weather here in Hampshire today.

Rain Rain Go Away!

Rain rain go away, come again another day! we used to chant this as children and I have to say I really feel like shouting it out loud. This of course makes me feel guilty as we are officially in the  middle of a drought and I should really be welcoming the rain!

Its been a cold wet bank holiday weekend in the south of England with only a few glimpses of sunshine to cheer us up. For me it was another photography weekend as I attempted to try out my new found skills on the Isle of Wight. Sunday found us having a day out with the first stop Mottistone Manor which has wonderful bluebell woods and a lovely garden. No photos of the woods as what bluebells really need is sunshine in order to look their best. I can't at present remember the name of the flower below and am too lazy to look it up  up I love the pink petals and bright stamen.

This Clematis Montana was very beautiful too!

After getting thoroughly frozen looking round the gardens and walking in the woods we decided to stop at a pub for lunch and managed to find one with a roaring log fire - bliss! it also had a trout stream.

On the way back home we passed a verge full of wild orchids - a fairly unusual sight these days unfortunately.

last stop before home was Compton Chine known as dinosaur beach because of the fossils often found there and the fact that you can see casts of dinosaur footprints millions of years old. (I'm never quite sure exactly which of the rocks on the beach are and aren't footprints despite having been on a guided walk with my son when he was small and very into dinosaurs) I'm 99% certain the rock below isn't a footprint but I loved the shape and colour of it.

and was fascinated by theses patterns in the sand nearby 

Photography Weekend Part 2

Day two - weather still grim had to get up even earlier to catch train due to Sunday service, but worth it. After the first teaching session we were off to the graffiti tunnel underneath Waterloo station to practice blurring backgrounds and photographing in low light. Graffiti was amazing and I love the different ways there are to capture it.

I have to say I might not really have enjoyed being there on my own but as part of a group it was fine - we also had a chance to watch one of the artists at work.

 After reviewing the photos and grabbing some lunch we were off again  - amazingly the weather had cleared up so we returned to the Southbank - I loved seeing these 'Boris Bikes' all lined up!

Although the weather had dried up a bit nothing much else had and the kids were really enjoying splashing through the water

All in all it was a great if exhausting weekend - and I would absolutely recommend the course

Photography Weekend Part 1

Well the big birthday has come and gone and I had a fab time. Part of my present was a two day photography course in London with Creative Eye.  We started off with an indoor session where we began to get to grips with the non-automatic features on our cameras before heading off to Borough Market to practise. This was a bit difficult as I love Borough Market which is a real foodie heaven and it was torture not to be able to buy anything, as it would have been impossible to hump bags of food around as well as take pictures!

These onions were painted on the wall but the tomatoes were just as much of a work of art in my opinion!

 I loved these eggs as well!

After a quick pasty (sadly no time for tapas at Brindisa) it was back to the office to review our photos and learn about shutter speeds. Then back out into the cold and drizzle, April? more like November!, with tripods to take pictures of moving objects. First it was buses on the Waterloo Road

Then it was down to the South Bank to photograph the carousel  - after a further reviewing session back at the office I crawled home exhausted - ready to do it all again on Sunday!