Stress and sightseeing...

It's been a strange few weeks... I've been continuing with my Unravelling course which has thrown up some major knots and tangles to think about. All stuff I need to face and deal with....Hmmmm!
Had a bit of a minor meltdown which has resulted in me being diagnosed with a stress related illness.. I pity the poor doctor that had to deal with me on a very bad day!
Still, on the positive side I've had some interesting visits out.... I went down to Portsmouth to see the Warrior and Victory. The Mary Rose is sadly closed at the mo - awaiting the relaunch of the brand new visitor centre. However, my ticket is valid for a year so I plan to go back. The day involved a brisk walk along the sea front which was well needed. The ships were amazing - similar in lots of ways but both with their own charm. Of course, Victory is the ship on which Nelson died. The spot is marked with a brass plaque. They also tell you about another crew member killed on the same spot - cut in half by the gunfire and his body thrown overboard rather than being preserved in brandy!

I also spent a weekend away with DH to celebrate his birthday. We stayed in Midsomer Norton... sounds lovely but in reality not so wonderful. Highlight was the Centurion themed hotel. The poor staff looked a little bemused by our Monty Python comments in the bar.. 'Fwiends of Wome' etc etc. I guess they'd probably heard it before.
In a new twist the bedside table contained not only the obligatory Gideon Bible but also a book on Buddha. I refrained from signing them ('all the best, love God').

During the visit we went to see the Bishops Palace and Cathedral at Wells.


The Cathedral and well as seen from the Bishops Palace.




Both places were fabulous. The Cathedral was breathtaking - we did go inside and I was truly amazed.
We didn't see where the Bishop of Bath and Wells ate his babies though... they didn't mention it in the guidebook either. Maybe Blackadder knew something they didn't! :-)

On the Sunday we visited Farleigh Hungerford Castle, built in the 14th C. Now I love a good castle and this was definately a good one! There were stories of ladies locked in towers and wives murdering husbands and burning their bodies in furnaces.... to top it off they had a crypt with some rare human shaped lead coffins. Apparently previous visitors had poked holes in the lead with sticks to reach the embalmed bodies within. Not only that but they TASTED it too! I feel the cafe missed out on a trick here... but never fear, I left a suggestion in the box!

In other news I took receipt of my Diana F+ camera - a plastic fantastic 120 creation. They are enjoying a cult revival (see 'expensive'). I got mine for free and have been tryng it out. I got the first film back today. They bask in their simplicity and strange effects. I was pretty pleased with the results so far!


White Horse Hill




In the Garden



Well - here's to less stress and more creativity. And more castles...!



And......relax!

Oops, it's been a while :-( Sometimes life just gets too busy to manage! The last couple of weeks have had some major highs and serious lows - but here I am, trying to decide what to share!

I just wanted to say a little about an e-course I am currently undertaking. It's called Unravelling and helps in learning more about yourself through photography and journalling. I can't say too much but it's proving to be more revealing than I dreamed... it's hard work finding out things that are a bit scary but it's also inspiring some great creativity and giving me an excuse to take more photographs.

Work has been crazy busy - we have just launched a whole week of new educational programmes. This has meant several weeks of planning and resourcing and then the most tiring week presenting them to different schools. The highlight surely had to be the WW2 days - this was my dream and it has been a triumph - hooray! I got to play Peggy the Land Girl and showed lots of gardening skills. I also got to be in charge of the air raid drill where we all took cover in the real Anderson shelter (complete with planes overhead, thanks Brize!!) We were loaned a 1930's Austin truck which we used to stick the magnetic mine to and to ferry lucky evacuees to the centre... I haven't driven it yet but I will!

Land Girl Peggy reporting for digging duties....

Me and Private Clark with the lovely truck!

 

 

 



We got to Friday so tired that we could barely think straight, so glad it's the weekend! But the week was a huge success, we already have bookings for the new programmes (and the boss was very pleased!)
Next week will seem almost quiet by comparison - just some tents to sort, a WW2 shop and house to dismantle, a Victorian explorers kit to pack away.... oh yeah, just another normal week!

Making the most of the sunshine!

I had a day off work today - had to go and collect the new car. However, this didn't take too long and so the rest of the day was mine!
It's still wicked cold out there but the sun is shining and so I thought it might be a good opportunity to get out and have another practice at the TTV photographs.

Sunshine and flowers. Almost like Spring!

 

Yes, it's a dead heron. Doesn't everyone have one in the garden?

 

Sculpture thingy.



 



Pretty pleased with how they've come out so far. I am rotating and cropping via Picture Manager, have tweaked the colour a tiny bit in a couple of them.

The strawberry patch - a bit bare at the moment :-(

 

Wouldn't trust sitting on this bench to be honest...



I mostly used a very professional looking bucket to balance the camera on - thought it went well with the cardboard tube tower!

Off to make a list of other creative things I can do this weekend while DH is away drinking ber and talking bikes... might even finish my knitted hat, just in time for the weather to warm up!

Bunnies and buckets...

Here we are nearly at the end of the Easter weekend. Mine has been fairly quiet - I have been enjoying lots of chocolate and creating my Springtime tree which is truthfully too big for my kitchen and has the tendency to poke eyes out when you sit at the table. However, I feel it is a thing of beauty and we all know that beauty comes at a price!!

The tree in all it's eye-catching glory!

Pink bunny - ahhhhhh!

I made the butterfly!



Mended Sylvac bunny and soon to be eaten chocolate ones.

 Sadly the weather is still not feeling Spring like, I have to say I can't wait for some sunshine. It would be nice to go out without having to wear 28 layers!

Sunshine would also give me an opportunity to experiment further with my cameras. I bought a new book recently - 'Photocrafty' by Sue Venables. It's a book stuffed with projects and inspiration and some cunning make it yourself accessories. One in particular caught my eye, let me explain... I am currently looking to buy a TLR camera which takes 120 film - still weighing up the options at the moment. I have my Uncles old Baby Rolleiflex which is beautiful but takes 127 film. This is nigh on impossible to get hold of now. Sue has a project by which you can use a TLR camera with a DSLR and an elegant looking cardboard tower to create 'through-the-viewfinder' pictures. Apparently it's a whole genre of its own!
So, today I spent some time in a Blue Peter type homage and turned an old shoe box into my own TTV tower. After all the time spent making it I tried it out and was more than disappointed that it didn't seem to work :-( However, I thought I'd upload the trial pic anyway and crop and rotate it and...voila!




Bucket

I'm actually quiet pleased with the result! I think with a little practice this could be an interesting method although I can't imagine taking my homemade cardboard tower out in public...what would people think?? Actually I can probably imagine!! :-D

(Short and) sweet sixteen!

A quick one today as we are in the middle of celebrating ds1's 16th birthday. It seems such a short time since he was little and cute and now he is huge but still quite cute!

I have been experimenting with a new camera app for my iPhone. It's called lo mob and is simply awesome! You can choose from all manner of cool effects which make even the rubbish photos look amazeballs :-)

Ahh, 16 and lovely!

It's cold outside.... any excuse for a cosy fire.

Add caption

The noisy Mr Hincapie - mouth shut for a change!

Sporti, shopping and Mr Selfridge.

Hooray, I got my Ilford Sporti photographs back this week.

My house!

Assorted sheds.

I had mixed results... some of them came out ok, the vast majority didn't! A few appeared to have something obscuring the lens, a classic schoolboy error. Some looked like the winding on thingy was not working properly creating interesting effects.

I am keen to try again though, this time I will make a note of the settings so I can rule out any issues there. I was most impressed with Peak Imaging for swift service and no sarcastic stickers telling me what a crap job I had done! (I used to work for Boots and I HATED those stickers but we had to use them).

My floristry course is fast approaching its end. I am very sad about this, what on earth will I do with my Tuesday evenings now? The last couple of classes have been spent creating planted designs... I made an outdoor planter that would have been cheaper to buy ready made and an indoor one which allowed me to indulge in fairies and butterflies as I created it for a friends birthday!

This week it's the planted design assessment and so I am taking it right back in time and creating a bottle garden. Fascinated by these for years, I have never owned one -probably because my track record with houseplants is abysmal. But hey, this one only has to survive the evening!!

Well, it's Sunday and tonight I have to find alternative entertainment as there is no Mr Selfridge :-( I don't normally watch costume dramas but I will admit to having enjoyed Mr Shellfish... I went out and bought the book which the series was based on this week, 'Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge' by Lindy Woodhead. So far it's a really interesting read, although those expecting a rip roaring story along the lines of the series will be disappointed. It's a look at the broader history of shopping here and in the US and the huge impact that Mr S had on changing the face of our favourite pastime. Some of these changes were massively positive - some of them were causing consternation back then and still do today (I am thinking especially of the buying out of smaller shops in order to expand). As a social history it makes for a great book, so maybe that's how I shall spend my vacant Sunday night spot tonight. Blanket, book and a bottle of red!

Mother Duck!

I hardly need to mention it was Mothers Day here yesterday... I was treated to some lovely flowers and gifts by my rugrats.



What a beautiful colour!





Now, Mothers Day is always a bittersweet affair for me. A struggle between appreciating what I have now with what I no longer have. Suffice to say yesterday had its fair share of tears and smiles. One of my brothers posted a beautiful picture of our Mum on FB, I have another from the same time which I treasure.

I often wonder what things would be like if she were still here. How different would my life be now? What would she make of the things I do? What would we have in common? What would she say about taxidermy??!!??

Which leads me nicely onto a serendipitous (is this even a real word?) event from yesterday. My treat for the day was a proper grown up trip to the garden centre followed by a mosey round the antique shops in Lechlade. One of them had clearly had a consignment from a taxidermist recently... a huge cabinet of parrots and fancy birds, a small dome of hummingbirds,  framed moths, spiked butterflies and this beauty.....

Now I always associate kingfishers with my Mum and I'm sure there's some wonderful animal folklore stuff out there. Brother #1 has a tattoo of a kingfisher dedicated to her. So, when I saw this I knew I had to have it and damn the food shopping for the rest of the month! DD was less than impressed with the new dead things but politely said 'they're lovely'. They are currently on my bedroom floor awaiting space to be made. Somewhere.

Meanwhile I'm off to research kingfishers!