My Sister and I go to LONDON!!! = D

Tower Bridge All 311 steps at the monument! (we were TIRED at the top!)

Me at the top of the monument

Pippa at the top of the monument. (st pauls cathedral over her shoulder)

The view down to the ground.

St Pauls Cathederal

The River Thames

Tower Bridge! = D

Pippa and I on Westminster Bridge

The houses of parliament and Big Ben

The blue man!!

(the Embankment is FULL of some AMAZING street performers!)

The London Eye and the Houses of parliament, taken from the golden jubilee bridge

Me in Trafalgar Square!

We went to see the queen! LMAO!(she wasnt in though hehe!)

Buckingham palace is amazing. very beautiful and I love watching the guards

St James's Park

St. James's Park with a view of Buckingham Palace

Dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum

Philippa and a Diplodocus

The Seashell.

This sculpture is one of my favourites.

Stuck on a beach on the suffolk coast, this piece of art can either be swamped by people coming from all around to see it, or it can be devoid of human life. These are the special days. Just you, the metal, the sea roaring a few feet away, the gulls calling down the beach and the elements that are blown into your face. Wind, rain hail; none of these detract from the beauty of the scene.

Many people are dissappointed that the seashell was put on this beach but on a quiet day, you can go and sit on a sheltered part of this sculpture and you will not care because the ocean is there and that is all that matters.

A long time gone.

As I sit down to write my blog post today, I feel a sense of coming home. I have not written in ages! My camera has not been idle by any means however. I have had many opportunities to excercise my artistic side which has made me very happy of late.

These pictures were taken in Aldeburgh, a little fishing town on the Suffolk coast which, despite the tourists and modern times, still feels like it is in a different era. There are fishing boats on the beach, surrounded by winch cables, old nets and plastic crates to load the catch into. On the waterfront are the old fish huts where the catch of the day is sold. I find that the fish you buy from here is always better than fish stalls on markets because you are getting it right from the source. over your shoulder you can smell the salt of the sea, the crash of the waves, and the vessels that brought the catch home are stood just over your shoulder. The fish is never more than a couple of hours old so it is that much more tasty when you get it home and cook it for your tea. It is perfect. The sign on one particular fishing hut in Aldeburgh is quite the most photogenic signs I have ever seen. It must have seen some weather in its time, that is for certain. Scratched and beaten up, It makes you think of those grey, windy, stormy days when even the gulls stay tucked up and anyone foolhardy enough to venture outside does so huddled against the chill and wishing they were back in their warm and cozy house .

There are always pictures to be taken beside the sea and that is maybe why I love it so much. it can be picturesque whatever its mood and I never care which sort of mood that might be.

Have fun everyone!

Morning Comes

I have been meaning to post this picture for a few days now and finally I have been motivated by my friend Kimberly to get my act together. This image was taken a few days ago when I got to bed at 2:30 in the morning. Dawn was already breaking in the East and there were the most fantastic clouds haunting the sky. These fascinating, vaporous ghosts hung in exactly the same place for two hours and I couldnt help but watch them from my window as I failed completely to sleep. They caught the light of the rising sun beautifully and I am sure that at one point I even saw a small rainbow grace their delicate waves.

Eventually they dissappeared and all within about five minutes. I looked away from the window momentarily to read some more of my book and when I next looked up, I was surprised at their absence and almost missed them. Somehow they had something close to personality. This picture does not do justice to what I remember of that morning. There was a magic in the air punctuated first by a lone herring gull waking up and flying overhead towards the town where it would forage for food, its quiet morning squawks waking the rest of bird-kind to start their morning chorus, and then Mr Fox running down the road to get home before the humans woke up to drive around in their noisy metal vehicles all day.

I did not stay up much longer after they left and I think I eventually got to sleep at 5am. Needless to say, I was tired when I woke up 3 hours later to start my day.

Mature Summer

As summer nears its mid point, I find that it has developed a sense of maturity. It is no longer in a furious hurry to appear hot and fiery as of a few weeks since. Outside today is a near constant slow rain, a cover of clouds and a cool breeze. I love these days as I am able to wear a hoodie to keep off chills but I am still able to walk in the garden bare foot.

My feet (after a few months without being cosseted in boots) are now hardened and can walk on almost anything so pebbles and twigs or rough pavement dont bother me anymore. If society would let me, I would probably walk bare foot everywhere but unfortunately, funny looks and broken glass prevent this. My Boots therefore, sit forgotten under my bed feeling jealous of the small shoes I wear out and about.

The Photographs here were taken today in my back garden. My dog Monty kept me company as I snapped away and enjoyed just watching me (quite obviously wondering why on earth I was "watching" the flowers and bushes so closely).

He loves it when I spend time with him outdoors and days like this with weather so perfect are wonderful for my camera. It seems my camera loves damp, green, moist weather. It brings out colours that are easily captured and enhanced (given the right settings of course).

Everyones idea of a perfect summer is different but I wish you all good weather and happy days wherever you are.

Home by sundown

Hey guys, I am trying to get back into my photography which has taken a back seat for a couple of weeks. I am now striving to remember my camera whenever I go out like I used to because I keep running into wonderful scenes that inspire my imagination and never have anymeans to capture them! Wish me luck with this endeavour In the mean time, here my pictures after a fabulous sunny day yesterday. this week has been hot and last night the weather broke. It cooled down and we were treated to not only a lovely sunset, but a moon rise AND a terriffic thunderstorm much later.

I guess Summer isnt all THAT bad : )

The longest day

The Longest day of the year is coming up very soon. I keep being amazed at how long the daylight hangs around now. The picture that I took last night at about 10:30 pm illustrates what beautiful things the evenings now are.

A bonus of the light evenings is that one can go outside when the day is cooler. The heat of the day is gone, but some of it remains stored in the paving stones of our patio. you stand on the warm stones, even though it is almost midnight you stand on the warm stones and look up at the numerous stars and the constellations that you were taught the names of when you were a kid. Summer might have its bonuses after all. For all my moaning, it is a beautiful time of the year and one should not discourage mother nature from having a fun time.

At this time of the year, The sun only just dips behind our horizon at night I think as there is always a corner of the sky that is paler than the rest and you can always see the silhouettes of the trees.

~ my desktop says we shall have "t-storms"... I hear distant booms, the breeze is appearing, the sky is dimming..... im keeping my fingers crossed. ~

Storms on the horizon

~our rope swing which hangs about 25 feet from the tree~

~Foxgloves~

Our Back garden is beautiful tonight. The sun, bright between storm clouds is shining through the leaves of our Ash tree creating a brilliant green glow, Perfect conditions for a spot of photography. We have the most amazing Foxgloves in our garden! Ever since I was a child Mom would grow millions of them and one of the first things I remember from when I was little was her telling me that I was NOT to touch them because they were poisonous. That (as you can imagine) scared me quite a bit so I never ever touched them (and I still dont!). There are just some things you never forget.

Today has been very warm. Not my favourite of weather types as you propably know but the one good thing? It has spawned SO MANY stormclouds! Everywhere you look tonight in every corner of the sky are clouds blossoming high in an attempt to "hit the roof" as it were. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some storms tonight as so far this year I have been unlucky.

I leave you with a stormcloud and a happy wish for a good FRIDAY tomorrow!!!

Field gates

Sometimes I find that the simplest things can be photogenic.

Today I was having trouble with my camera. Nothing looked good in its viewfinder. Eventually I gave up and went home but on my way back, I stopped at a field gate to watch a bunny grazing on some grass. I leaned upon the fence and sudenly realised that I was very close to a perfect picture!

Ivy is probably my favourite plant. (creepers in general really). The new shoots that curl their way through anything are so delicate but can force their way through most things. Our garden fence has rotted away completely now but since it is covered and interwoven with this tenacious weed, the fence has stayed upright for years after it should have fallen over!

As I eyed this young tendril of Ivy, I realised that to get to it, I would have to wade through a bank of stinging nettles. I considered this problem and then decided "what the hell." I therefore made my way into the deadly stinging nettles and obtained a photograph! the one thing that had been eluding me all afternoon!

Photograph obtained, I went home feeling much more satisfied with my afternoon!

(p.s. I didn't get stung once!)

First storm photos of the year!

I am thrilled today because we FINALLY got a storm!!!! not a proper one, Not much lightning and only distant rumbles of thunder but we got some spectacular clouds. I therefore grabbed Mr. Camera and RAN into the sheets of rain to get some pictures.

I ADORE thunderstorms and I was complaining just today that we hadnt had a good thunderstorm yet this year. Admittedly we still havent.... there was a definite LACK of significant electrical activity, but I got the excitement of watching the stormclouds roll over and curl in their own unpredictable patterns.

As I stood outside and got slowly drenched in the rain the thought occurred that the daylight was diminishing. I love when this happens. A faint tinge of brown/green came over the clouds and the birds who had been singing quite heartily in the trees suddenly grew very still. this darkness lasted untill the clouds had passed over and the rain had eased. The birds then continued in their evening songs and I decided that the chance of lightning and thunder has vanished. I therefore went back indoors to finish my supper... only to see a flash and hear from outide a boom of thunder.

Missed opportunities!!! Life is like that though I guess.

British Summer

Everyone seems to be cold today! Jumpers are being worn instead of T-shirts and when taking Monty for an evening walk with Steph today I was bombarded with the

"How are you not COLD!"

question from her. I was fine however. No cold can reach me!!! (theorhetically).

One of the wonderful things about Britain is its summers. Garunteed rain and chilly weather for a good period of time, Britain can be sometimes the best place to keep cool.

One worry is that with a roof now installed above the Wimbledon centre tennis court in time for this years competition, the rain might decide there is no point in falling!

For years, the wimbledon weekend has been hilarious because of so much rain, thus making tennis impossible. I hope it still rains. It will not be Wimbledon without rain.

I hope that wherever you are, whether you have sunshine, rain, heat or cold, you have a brilliant weekend.

Pounding the streets

I have a great sense of accomplishment today. I have spent a day walking round with my sister Steph, collecting for her trip in August to climb mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. All the money goes to a charity called Childreach International which works in many countries (including Tanzania and Ghana) working to improve the lives of children. Building schools, working on sanitation projects and helping them finish school and get jobs afterwards.

I was thrilled at how many kind people were willing to spare a little change to our cause. Every little penny counts and after roughly 3 hours, we had managed to raise £40.45 (and since Mom said she would match the overall amount at the end of the day today, we now have roughly £80 for our days work! -a big thank you to Mom for the extra pennies-)

This will be the trip of a lifetime for steph and she is now half way towards reaching her target of £2,200.00.

On the off chance that someone will want to help sponser Steph, I am putting a link to her "justgiving" fundraiser page.

http://www.justgiving.com/stephaniewood7

Tomorrow we do the whole process of collecting again, but this time in a slightly different location. I now know which clothes are suitable for walking around in for ages (e.g. not the ones I wore today) and what not to do (e.g. forget to take off your scary make up so you dont frighten poor elderly ladies).

I am hoping we can do just as well with our collections tomorrow. It is very rewarding seeing people giving so generously, so even though today was a tiring day, It was a good one.

please wish us luck for tomorrow!

Barefoot in old haunts

I am posting these completely un-edited pictures from yesterday because frankly, they speak for themselves! there was no adjusting of the brightness or contrast needed as the light was perfect for once.

I was in Holywells park and I had a marvellous time being in a place that I spent alot of my childhood. The sun was shining and making everything look so fresh and vibrant! I spent a little while near a wildlife stream (the top two pictures) and then kicked off my shoes and crossed the wide expance of parkland towards a very inviting tree on a small hill. I lay for about an hour underneath this tree listening to my earphones (in which was playing an odd music choice for such a relaxing day. Metal. -check out "Sikth", a really good band). While there, I just had to take a picture of my view into the branches of the tree. Every now and again, a Coal Tit would come and hop along the branches above me and even the noise of guitars, drums shouting from my earphones could disrupt a reeling of relaxation.

I did not put my shoes back on for the rest of the day! I walked barefoot back up a stony track back to the car and spent the rest of the day barefoot. I like having that freedom. Days like that do not come around very often.

On the news side of things, today saw my family and I taking a trip up to Aldeburgh to take the grandparents off for their holiday and tonight sees Dad and I running to the Train Station to pick up my sister Steph who is coming home for the summer!!! *celebrates* It will be great to be a family of five again. She has been travelling first class today, with as much tea and biscuits as she can eat! I think she may be travelling first class again somehow.

Right now, I am off to do some art and then go to get lil sis.

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

As the birds wake up.

As I went to bed last night, I found that again I had left it late enough that I could actually go to bed as the birds woke up. This was, naturally, quite by accident. I had got Distracted by that most eeevil of things, MSN messenger.

The Dawn Chorus never ceases to amaze me. One bird starts. Usually a Blackbird in my area. It seems he gets up earlier every morning to start his song and every morning it gets a little bit more beautiful.

Today I actually remembered to take my Camera with me on my walk!! Now that the Rapeseed flowers have gone from the field, the colours are less vibrant. Here and there Poppies Peek through the surface of green and Camomile flowers line the edge of the field. Whenever there is a change in season, the world is filled with colours so I think I find myself waiting for the next Season wether I like what it will bring or not. This week our weatheris going to get very sunny and the temperatures are going to get up into the 70s. Not the most pleasant of weather but I do love the daylight that stays past "bed time" and returns before I even get to bed.

Before I leave tonight, I shall post one last picture. It is made by my sister Pipa whilst she was messing about on my new image editing software. It is amazing and she is such a good artist but she is not so bothered in broadcasting it. I thought therefore, that I would let you all see Baby Sis's picture. One of my Favourites.

Camping and Hilariousness

~Glow Poi at 1 in the Morning~

~the pose of the weekend. (This pic got me mistaken for a guy!!! and I have discovered that electrical tape is better than plasters! - see thumb-)~

~Dusk on the first night~ ~The flags of St. George (England) and St. Perran (Cornwall)~ I haven't had so much fun in ages as I had in Walsingham over the weekend. It was time yet again for the NACF's annual pilgramage to the shrine of our lady of walsingham (NACF= the National Association of Catholic Families) so we all packed our trailers with tents and headed towards norfolk from as far away as Pennsylvania in the USA!! The days were Sunny, Hot and with hardly a breath of wind. This was such a change from the usual weather which is Cold, Windy and Rainy! None of us could believe our luck and so ALL of the kids (me included) were running around in bare feet all weekend! I saw old friends I hadn't seen in about three years and marvelled at how much they have grown up and changed since then! It was great to hang out and just have fun with some hilarious people. One of our favourite haunts at walsingham is the ford just down the stream from our field where we stay. Any spare moment that occurs during the day is greeted with the question "shall we go to the ford?" indeed, it now is taken for granted that we will hang out at the ford anyway, so people tend to gravitate in that general direction. This picture was taken a couple of years ago but nothing ever changes at the ford. Ever beautiful and special every time. (and peaceful Untill the NACF arrives) My bruises are now flourishing from all my knocks and beatings from the weekend (a couple from the poi) as I found out the best way to silence someone making playful jokes about my height is to (playfully) punch them! (at which point I get punched back) :D My family has been attending the Walsingham pilgramage ever since I was tiny (and the NACF itself was formed when I was 6 months old! ) so every time we arrive it is like seeing an old friend after a long time apart. A big part of the pilgramage is the Holy Mile. We all walk a mile into the village (along some quite stony paths) saying the Rosary. Lots of people like to do this mile barefoot and this year I managed it!!! my feet were so painfull at the end however, I had to wear some shoes to actually get home. I am already looking forward to next year!