May Day early morning views and tulips

I was up early on May 1st and took these shots from/in the garden.

Had the weekend off, did loads of work in the new area of the garden which is coming along nicely. Finished the wooden raised bed, laid the slate area (needs a few more bags to finish), and dug the new pond which now needs lining.

Busy week this week preparing for a hectic weekend ahead, two balls, rugby club stall at the market, Wedding fayre and then nursery photos next week !

Received a booking for another charity ball today, all heading the right direction.

Flowers at Sissinghurst

Life - Blink and you miss it.

Where does all the time go? An oft asked question I am sure but one I still can't answer as my to-do list grows longer despite my constant working at various tasks. Unfortunately when life gets busy the things that give tend to be the things I'd rather be spending time on and not the mountain of paperwork and administration that going self employed has brought upon me. Well a few days away put a stop to that! Had a great time catching up with old friends, and relatives including a wedding of cousin Peter. It also meant an opportunity to take some photos for me rather than clients. I rather liked this one, any comments?

Baby Cakes

Why does life suddenly throw everything at you in one big heap instead of spreading it all out over time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining because at least three quarters of my current heap is positive but a little more time to appreciate the good times without feeling the need to rush on to the next task would be nice.

Met a lovely lady called Donna yesterday who has asked me to do a few photos of her "Baby Cakes". These are great gifts made up of various baby essentials but beautifully presented. I never even knew it was possible to fold socks to look like flowers or towels into a layered cake!

Spring must almost be here

I don't know about you but I feel like spring is just around the corner. The days are getting longer, I know because the hens need letting out earlier. The garden is full of buds just waiting for a touch of warmth before bursting into life.

Published Photograph

Well it's not the best photograph that I have ever taken but in my defence it was taken from a long way off without the longest of lenses. There was an incident further up the valley which the air ambulance attended so I thought I'd try and get a photograph of the helicopter leaving the scene after all you never know until you try. Anyway I sent it to the Stroud News on the off chance and they have used it to illustrate the item on their web site, even acknowledging me for the photograph which is great. Even better the article says that the people involved in the accident were OK.

What's the saying, there's no such thing as bad publicity, it all helps get the name out there.

Photographing Rugby

Had a great weekend. Went out Friday night for a birthday party, everybody brought food which was excellent, and plentiful! The entertainment was wii games BUT projected onto a MASSIVE screen, must have been 12 foot square at least. Won tennis doubles with the gorgeous SH, what a team!

Last night dropped the kids at mums and went to stay with friends, food, drink and company unbeatable.

Today Edward had a rugby match so I took a load of photos and knocked up a quick slide show available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQBGAgXGr8

Also took some pics of the Under 16's which are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiaAK7eiO4g

Nose back to the grindstone in the morning . . . . .

Here we go again

Up early this morning only to see this.

Cold Cabbage

So does everyone get days where inspiration is hard to find and you have to really push yourself to get even the most basic things done? No? Just me then. But push on I must as there are still so many tasks on my to-do list and every day more enter the "urgent" category because they have been left so long.

New family portrait days have been arranged for February 27th, April 24th and April 25th. Advert in the SNJ this week so hope for a good response. To-do items related to this include getting an advertising banner produced to hang outside the venue but where to start . . . ?

Getting on

Early morning picture taken a while ago when I was still driving to Birmingham for work at least weekly. I don't miss the drive but it was a great opportunity to enjoy dawn at different times of year.
Today is the first Monday of the new year when all the family are back at school so it is time to crack on and try to catch up with all the things that have back logged in the last couple of weeks. Still I'm feeling very positive.

Light on Swifts Hill in the snow

I love the faint yellow tint the clouds appear to have when laden with snow and in this shot that is caught by the dramatic light breaking through to touch the white of Swifts Hill.

Snow action

Another clear crisp day in the Slad valley but clouds hugging the hill tops this morning. Most of the local schools are shut again including the ones where my children go but the one where my wife teaches is open so it's another day child minding . . . . now who's got the sledge?

Click on the photo to see the whole image

Please click on the photo above to see the whole image


It is a crisp and very cold (-5C when I let the hens out) morning here in Stroud. The views up the Slad Valley and down over the Severn to Wales are just fantastic with the snow helping to deliniate the distances.

I'm not sure how well todays photograph will work on-line as it's such a wide panorama but it's got to be worth a try - I've had to upload quite a high def version as the detail is so small - if you click on it you see the whole thing but it doesn't display too well. I am looking forward to getting a canvas made of it though.

Like most people in the UK I spent much of the day in the snow, either clearing it from the drive, the neighbours drives, playing in it, walking in it or photographing it. Here's one I took this evening of All Saints Church at dusk.

Twelfth night

OK so I have no idea if taking down the Christmas decorations includes no more posting pictures of them on your blog but better safe than sorry so this will be the last (and first) decorations photograph for this Christmas.

Ok so every weekday perhaps . . .

Yes my resolution to publish every day has already changed to every weekday, just because weekends tend to be really, really busy so finding the time to log on proved impossible.

Anyway here is today's offering, a heavy frost on chicken wire.

Moon over Whiteshill

Happy New Year !

Well the resolution to take more pictures and post online is going well.

I was up early to let out the hens and had this view of the moon setting over Whiteshill, so I went back to the house to get my camera.