Friday, December 22, 2006

Its Christmas !











Well seems like ages since I last up dated...sorry.

Happy Christmas to all.....

Wondering what your Christmas was like...and hoping your having fun and that Santa has been kind to you all LOL....hoping that 2007 will a happy year for everyone.

Our Christmas was lovely, Dad came round for the day and we had too many pressies and too much food LOL...it was a lovely day. Boxing day was more relaxing Jess and I went to Moulton to get some photos of the Morris men as you can see !

The photo of the dog is Zarla waiting patiently for the kids to get up so that she could have her present! The other photo is Dad playing with his new toy.......

Then some chilling and of course more eating....but the dogs did get their 2 walks as normal so at least we had some exercise LOL....

This is probably my last post for 2006....so I'll be back to wish everyone (well any one that might read this) a happy 2007.



Friday, September 29, 2006

Almost October



Well here we are its very nearly October and autumn will shortly be in full swing! Love this time of year the colours and the fact the sunrises at a reasonable time which makes for nice photo's.

Talking of which I've started my college course City and Guilds level 2, really enjoying it, lots of work to do for it but I'm learning a lot........

So far we've covered aperture, depth of field and shutter speed...I've learnt to freeze a subject and to blur an action...and all with the camera on manual....I'm no longer afraid of the camera! LOL....

The first image is at sun rise, the second image is actually the moon at 6am with a very long shutter speed......there is NO star filter..its just how it happened!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Robbie !





















Hubby and I went to see Robbie Williams at the MK Bowl on Saturday......he was brilliant as always! Orson were cool and the Basement Jaxxs were fun.....larger than life...LOL.....

We were some way back as the inner circle had the best view but some the photo's came out ok...I'd have gone back to see him again tonight but I can't as I start my City and Guilds Photography course tonight.

Robbie is gorgeous and talented not to mention his sense of humour.......I'd love to back and see him again, I would get inner circle tickets this time though.....may be next time he tours:-)

Really looking forward to my photgraphy course, I want to get to grips with the technical stuff so that I can improve my photography.

Its the crops 1st birthday on the 21st October, planning all sorts of fun for everyone.....can't believe how fast this year has flown by......

I was contacted by some one whom I'd been best friends with in Junior school, we met for lunch yesterday, it was very strange...good but strange after 27 years! But it has inspired us to see if we could organise a reunion, might be really fun...

Bye for now...

Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Beautiful Country





We're back ! Spent 10 days in the Trossachs, it is beautiful and quiet, thats something you really notice. There is always some back ground noise here but in the highlands its quiet!

We hired a cottage in Brig 'O' Turk about 5 miles from Callendar, it was a really nice place and the garden runs down to the river which you can walk along. The local pub and restaurant was only a ten minute walk along the river so we used it quite a lot ;-) beats cooking. Te cottage was very close the Glen Finglass and the views from the window were great.

The first day we walked up Glen Finglass, well not all the way as its an 8 hour walk but we walked a long way and all of it was all up hill :-) . The dogs loved it all the smells and freedom, the views all around are stunning. It was gloriously sunny when we started our walk but half way it poured with rain for about 10 minutes then it cleared up and the sun shone!

Then on Monday we went to Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument, the castle is nice but due to the fact that the military were allowed to use it until fairly modern times its not as well kept as I had expected. The Wallace Monument was cool....a lot of steps...I do mean a lot! But the view from the top was fantastic, well worth the walking.

Tuesday we went to Falkirk to take in the Falkirk Wheel.....it was very photogenic! It was interesting too....the boat gets on and is lifted in the air to the top so that it can sail on the other canal, it would have taken 12 locks to make it the 150 feet so its quite something.

Wednesday.....we went to St Andrews...totally loved the place, its so sweet and clean and has a great ruined castle and catherderal. The beach is gorgeous...we walked for a long way with the dogs.....the golf course in the middle is a really strange sight but really special...

Thursday was pony trekking in the hills of Inverary....3 of us went on the trek for 2 hours, I had Barrow, Jess had Casper and Ben had Ollie. We trekked way up into the hills saw buzzards, rabbits and salmon leaping in the lock, it was really good we all enjoyed it!

Friday we went to Balloch on Loch Lomond to do power kiting...I wasn't totally sure what to expect but I have to say we had a blast! The kites start at about 1m and go up to just over 3m...the big one is very powerful it can lift you off the ground ! The medium size one was great strong but not too strong......it really was fun.

On Saturday we were worn out had a day doing walks and local stuff like going into Callendar then out for dinner to the Byre Inn which was a 10 minute walk away.

Sunday was the BIG day Ben had organised white water rafting and canyoning up at Loch Tay. when we arrived the guide said that there had been too much rain fall in the canyons and it
wasn't safe to do that, boy was Nick relieved! Anyway the 3 of them did the white water rafting and I stayed and took the photo's (well some had to :-) )

Monday was our final day, we went walking then went to Loch Katrine, the kids hired cycles and we went on the steam ship round the loch, great views from the boat. Then we walked the dogs round some of the loch (its 12 miles long so no way we could go round it!)

Came home Tuesday and the kids went back to school on Wednesday, I have almost finished the huge pile of washing and ironing that our holiday caused :-)

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Summer holidays!
















Well we're now in week four of the summer holidays, they are flying past as usual. Ben had a fantastic time at summer school at York University and is now in Spain enjoying a water sports holiday with his school.

This has meant that Jessica and I have had loads of girlie time together. We have been down to London twice, the photo's here are from the Tate Modern. This is "modern art".....to be honest some of it is so funny...like the collection entitled "domestic incidents" the two pictures to the left ! I struggle to find the "art" in this but there was some really inspiring stuff too...strange but we enjoyed it.

We had lunch at Pizza Express over looking the Thames, its next door to the Globe. We wanted to see a performance but it had already started :-(

So we went over the Millenium bridge to see St Pauls Cathederal, its been a lot of years since I last visited it and it's still as beautiful as I remembered it. The photo above was taken from inside the Tate. I really like this one...its like a post card!

I have a crop on Saturday so I've been busy trying out the new Wizard die cutter, its fab....the ladies will love it! I have also sorted out a kit for Saturday so that everyone gets the same thing....I'm fascinated to see how they use it ! :-)

Well did I mention that I have a new laptop? No....well its fab except it doesn't have a wireless card in it like it should have ! :-( Dell are now sending out their engineer on Thursday to fit the part to my laptop which should have been fitted to start with and after 3 weeks of frustration I'm hoping that it will now work as it should do ! So watch this space............

Its not long till we go to Scotland on our family holiday, hope the weather is reasonable, don't mind if its not hot as we love to walk. The dogs don't like the heat, Zarla has blown her coat completely and looks quite bare really LOL...

I'll upload some more photo's from London tomorrow.....I have some of a beautiful flower shop in Islington..the flowers were just so gorgeous......

Bye for now

Friday, June 23, 2006

Royal Ascot



Well Royal Ascot is here and we had a fantastic day on Tuesday, the opening of the new grandstand. What a brilliant job they have made of it, the view was great. Everyone makes such an effort to get drssed up. The colours and hats make it a special event. Seeing my cousin Jill and her husband Thomas was fantastic, we had a buffet lunch with champagne it was great.

We saw the Queen arriving in her carriage down the centre of the race track. The horses are magnificent. The atmosphere is electric, I'd recommend it ! Its so much fun and a good excuse for a new dress and hat!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Summer's here!

Isn't the weather great, summer at last..here's hoping it lasts longer than a week!

This photo was taken by me at Towcester races on Friday night..it was a beautiful summers evening we met friends and had a lovely evening watching the racing and picnicing.

It will soon be Royal Ascot, I'm looking forward to going, hoping it will be a warm sunny day as I have a gorgeous hat and strappy dress.

The Celtic Tiger show was good, it got mixed reviews so we weren't sure we'd like it but it was fun...we all enjoyed it and the NIA was packed. Probably not as good as Lord of the dance but still a very enjoyable show.

Still looking forward to seeing Robbie in Milton Keynes in September....can't wait for that, its so exciting..

Sunday, May 28, 2006

May half term


Well its half term this week, the kids need some time to chill! We are going to see Celtic Tiger on Wednesday at the NEC and will probably go to Kenilworth Castle for the afternoon.....as long as its not raining again!

Yesterday was my crop here in Northampton....a few new ladies came along, its so nice meeting new people and share a great hobby. I love scrapping its a brilliant hobby only wish I could convince every one LOL.

On the 17th June we are holding a Strawberry Tea crop ! Its in aid of Breast Cancer care, we are dressing in something red, doing a red LO challenge, holding a raffle and of course there will be loads of strawberries! Should be really good fun and it will raise some money for the charity too.

So if you see anyone dressed as a strawberry in Northampton in the 17th June you know where they will be heading.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

An Ordinary day!


Today is a very ordinary day, its not raining yet but probably will, I've spent all morning shuffling paperwork around, walked the dogs, cleared up the mess left behind by everyone else.....

I saw a small deer on my walk this morning, he didn't stick around for long, he could smell the dogs. There are 4 nesting pairs of swans on the lake, I can't wait to see how many signets they produce and how many will survive. I'm going back with the camera at the weekend to get some photo's.

I've added a new slide show (well actually I think I did it twice LOL) it contains some of my scrapbook pages.

We are going to Celtic Tiger at the end of the month, looking forward to it although it has had mixed reviews. I'm sure it will be cool!

Still can't believe I'm going to See Robbie in September......oh it seems such a long way off!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Bonanza Fun !


I have just about recovered from my Friday out at the NEC, I went to the Discover Bonanza show. I met up with two friends and we had a great time, the classes we did were fun and we all learnt some new things, so all in all a good day out.

We also met some people from UKS whom we chat to often, it was really nice to meet them in real life!

When it came to leaving though, the rain was really lashing down and we got soaked running back to the car! Then had to drive back down the M6 in a terrible thunder storm.....don't want to do that again!

We did the Heidi Swapp class, and the photo is of the finished project, it was a really fun class and the finished item is really lovely. Thanks Heidi!!

The other classes we did were the Paperartsy Masterclass which was so much fun as it was just so messy, we had gesso and ink every where ! Also did the Smart and Sassasy with SEI class, nice finished mini album but not really a class more a follow the instructions sort of thing but still ended up with a nice album, just have to find some photo's to go in it!

Monday, May 08, 2006

A spring day!


I went walking yesterday (I often do) but today I wanted to take some photo's of the bluebells, they are so lovely and their scent fills the air. At the country park the woods are full of bluebells and fresh ferns. This is one of the photo's I took during my walk.

On the way back I stopped at the bird hide, not a bird insight but as it was raining I wasn't that surprised, I sat and watched for a while, some baby rabbits came out just in front of the hide, it was lovely watching them and taking photo's.

I walked back in the rain, and found the family of geese on the concrete bank of the dam being fed by some children who were fascinated by the fluffy chicks...they were gorgeous .

This week its Discover Bonanza, can't wait it will be great to do the classes and meet up with scrapping friends from all over the country!

The other exciting thing that happend today is that I have bought 2 tickets to see Robbie Williams.....I am actually going to see him live at Milton Keynes Bowl!

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Sunday Morning


I love spring its one of my favorite times of the year, the Canadian geese who live on the lake where I walk the dogs have had chicks. They were on their first trip out this morning all fluffy and yellow. I'm going to get some photo's of them over the next few days and weeks.. the swans have made a nest and I'm waiting for their grey fluffy signet to appear.

The squirrels are out and about and the rabbits were playing in the hedgerows this morning...I love spring!

I've added a slide show to my blog...you can view at the bottom of the page.
Some photo's from Scotland and a few of the dogs and the lake where we walk.

I took my new tripod out yesterday and spent more time playing with it than taking photo's its really cool hoping to take it out again if the weather holds up.

Today I have some scrapping projects that need to be finished so thats what I'm going to do.

Wishing anyone reading this a happy spring day..

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

My Blog

Today is the first day of my blog!

I have been thinking of having a blog for quite some time and today I finally plucked up the courage to do it! So here it is....

The beginning...

This is a scrapbbok page of my Leonberger Zarla, she is 4 years old and my companion.

She is the funniest dog I have ever known, she loves mud and water in equal quantities and lives to eat.....anything!

This Lay out is Cassie, she is my ever steady protector...she's 7 years old. She loves water but doesn't that ALL dogs can swim!

Life is Good a LO with a rare photo of me!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi, Welcome to my blog, its where I upload my some of my photos and have a ramble. So please have a look round, feel free to add a comment (only nice ones please LOL) and enjoy the pictures... Thanks for looking Dawn x