The letter P

It's time for the letter P over at film26.  I decided to go for colour film this time having taken black and white for the last six months, it is fun experimenting, I urge you all to get out your old cameras. This is a shot of my husband's desk with all his pens and pencils on it. With regards to desks and stationary, I am so excited as Martha Stewart now has a line of stationery in staples here online! I love Martha even though every time I mention her my husband reminds me she went to jail, there is something about having everything organised and ordered that appeals to me, I think if I just own her notepads I will be a more organised and ordered person. The ones on sale seem to be in a nice shellac, I currently use the moleskins for all my photography notes, they sit by my computer and if I find something interesting online I jot it down. What do you use for photography notes? do you take any? do you have scraps of paper and post it notes lying around your desk? how do you work?

Olympic cycle race

The cycle race just went through Fulham, it was so fantastic, am loving the olympics and it's only day two! Tomorrow is the women's race so more excitement and then that is all I am seeing live, the rest will be on the telly!

Olympic fever!

Yesterday we wandered down to the end of the road and watched the torch relay. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, everyone was so happy to be there, the sun was shining and it was hot! It took about two minutes for the torch and bearer to run past us, everyone's heads and cameras got in the way so I only got one shot but that didn't matter. We mingled with the crowd afterwards and there was a troupe of dancers who appeared from nowhere and must have been dancing somewhere else. It was a fantastic afternoon and this weekend the cycle races go through our streets too!

Summer in the city

It's official, summer is here, the olympics start on friday and it is all getting very exciting here in London. The torch is coming through where I live tomorrow so I will be out early with my camera then at the weekend the men and women are whizzing down the Fulham Road for the cycle races so I will be there! The heat in London means the parks are full of people having picnics which also means that my dogs think it is all for them and do their best to eat everything in sight. I have been avoiding our local park as the leftover rubbish is just as bad so this morning I got up early and went to Richmond Park which is truly beautiful, an oasis in the middle of london. The deer were just getting up and this is as close as I could get, they are know to charge at dogs and looked quite interested in mine so I left after this shot. I did see a man lying down with a tripod and zoom lens, maybe tomorrow....

My book room

Having mentioned my love of books and my book room in the previous post I thought I would show you some pictures of it. I have always wanted a room totally devoted to books and when we moved into the house a year ago I designed this room. This is where I have my desk and my cameras and there is a sofa and window seat and not much else.

Five questions

As part of the behind the scenes course I am doing with Kim and Xanthe we are having a five question party today. The questions are as follows -

what makes you happy?......in five words or less...?

Always the sea and my family

Which talent would you most like to have?

I would love to be a novelist

Which words or phrases do you overuse most?

what would you like for dinner?
can you help empty the dishwasher?

What is your favourite book 

I love books, I have a whole room devoted to them from floor to ceiling. Each time I think I have a favourite I read another book and trump it. I would have to say that I could read Nancy Mitford - love in a cold climate - over and over again.

If you could go anywhere in the world for a creative retreat where would it be?

Anywhere in the Mediterranean.

What about you? what is on your list?

In my garden

My japanese windflower is just about to burst open

O is for orchid

We are up to the letter O at film26. I took this shot using my old canon 500d with ilford delta 400 film. Why don't you join film 26 too on our flickr page. Just get out that old camera, any camera, as long as it is film, take pictures and savour that lovely moment when you open the packet from the developers and  see how your roll turned out. All developers supply cds now so it is so easy to put your shots on the computer and then upload.

Happy Friday everyone

The sun is shining, we have a small respite from the rain here in the UK, long may it last. The good news is that it is the weekend, what have you got planned? we are going to the theatre tomorrow to see Three Sisters. Both teenagers have parties so I assume we will be lying awake waiting for the key in the door around 4am, does anyone else do this?
I am experimenting with templates in lightroom, more stuff I am learning on the fantastic reflections of you course I am doing. I didn't realise how easy it was to do them, such fun!

Flowers from my garden

I can't remember the name of this flower but it has just come out in my garden.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Where I live

As part of the course I am doing Xanthe and Kim suggested going on a photo walk so I thought I would show you parts of where I live in South London. Here is the market, this takes place every day, you could be anywhere in the world when you visit, all nationalities are represented, it is a very old and established market but I got told off by a stallholder for taking pictures this morning so didn't stay long.

This cow stands outside the local butcher complete with the British flag.You can also see the friendly British postman in the picture too!

This fence always looks so pretty

Changes

I am currently doing Xanthe and Kim's reflections of you class which is really interesting, it's all about behind the scenes of your blog, how to make your pages stand out, design etc. This week we are looking at  layout, I have always posted my text and pictures in the middle but it should be to the left hand margin which now makes sense as I was taught that your eye looks at photographs from left to right. I have now changed my layout and added a very important tag line below my blog name which lets the reader know exactly what your blog is about. I also need to update my 'about' page and Xanthe and Kim also suggest telling readers about yourself and this is where it gets tricky....I am a very private person, very shy and insecure and I don't think anyone wants to read about my life as I think it must seem rather dull and mundane, I shoot pictures of everyday life but I don't know what to write about so tend to just leave it to one line so today I thought I would open up my heart a little bit so here goes...

Yesterday was speech day at my son's school, it is a very traditional school so they wear formal dress and national dress if relevant. It was also his final day at school forever, my baby, my youngest, has finished. Yesterday was the end of an era for me as a parent and now as I enter the next phase, the 'empty nest syndrome' or whatever cliche is current, I feel such a mixture of emotions. I am proud of my son for all he has achieved, I am so sad for all that has ended. I spent last night thinking of the last eighteen years, last reports, last back to schools, end of terms, learning to read, ghastly mums at the school gate who make you feel so inadequate, each is a memory going back to when he was three years old and first began this journey. How do you move on? how do you redefine your role? how do you renegotiate your place in the world, adjust your sense of self? this next stage seems so different from when we first became parents. I  know everyone tells you that you can move on and start new things but is it that easy? if it happened to you how did you feel? was it easy? how did you make the changes?

Happy Monday!