Glass of cheer

Feeling a little mopey about my weight and the fact there's too much of it, so decided to make myself feel better with some cheese and biscuits washed down with wine. Possibly this won't help my said weight issues but at least it makes me feel happy for the rest of the evening!

Birthday Balloons

Today is my birthday and I had a very scrummy lunch at The Slug and Lettuce in the city centre. Charis and Seren were given a balloon each so I decided to set up a little photo on the way home. Charis was actually reasonably cooperative and stood where I asked her too!

Making Pretty Patterns

Another photo of Nathan throwing his ipod touch in a semi juggling manner. It's just a long exposure with no light in the room other than the ipod itself. Its a bit like the Water light display we saw on the Isle of Wight, only about half an hour shorter and therefore better.

Tall Trees

On the way back home from a very lovely little three year old's birthday party we stopped in the peak district for a short walk through a pine forest. I tried out some wide angle shots and Nathan likes this one best because you can appreciate just how big the trees are with the children in the bottom of the photo.

Mmm Yoghurt

Tea at Ikea always goes down well in the Rae family!

Spiral

Long exposure while Nathan draws with his ipod touch

Carpet Cleaning

Hired a 'rug doctor' this afternoon for 24 hours, emptied two rooms and cleaned the carpets. The colour of the water was incredibly disgusting, but then we've not cleaned the carpets for at least a couple of years!! The contents of the rooms were transferred to our bedroom and the lounge, as you can see above. We're making the most of the opportunity, moving Charis into her own bedroom and having a good spring clean.

The lounge still looks likes this and probably will do until the weekend!

Beautiful Newborn

Yesterday I met and had my first cuddle with a very special little baby girl. She is only six days old and getting her foot jabbed by the midwife for the various tests they make.

She did not make me broody, she did not make me broody, she did not make me broody . . . . .

bright blinds

Experimenting with the white balance and exposure again.

Reflection

Charis' birthday party went really well yesterday. The weather was glorious, the best we've had so far this year. We spent practically all day in the garden and had a wonderful time. Obviously we took a ridiculous amount photos of Charis, her friends and the party in general. This was a spur of the moment shot that worked out much better than I expected.

Here is a little snap of Charis in the midst of everyone and loving the attention!

Saturday 18th - Manchester at night

My wonderful friends and I went out for a scrummy meal at a Greek restaurant on Saturday and then on to the Hilton Hotel Bar located in the Beetham Tower on Deansgate, Manchester.
We queued for almost an hour!! It was well worth the wait, the view was excellent as was the atmosphere and company. A very enjoyable evening.

Gecko

Today is Charis' 3rd birthday so we've had a family day out to celebrate. We've been swimming, out for lunch and to The Manchester Museum. This little gecko is a resident at the museum and I thought he was cute and had kindly placed himself in a photographic position for me.

Oh and this is the video we were editing last night.

Editing

We've spent the evening editing a little film of Charis' birth diary as it's her third birthday tomorrow. After about an hour of sitting watching the same clips over and over it all becomes a bit of a monotonous blur.

Workman

Our window's are going to be replaced sometime next week and scaffolding has been put up today (we live in a 3 story house so simple things become more complicated).

These are the feet of the painter who has started on the woodwork of all the doors and windows whether being replaced or not!

Blue Brooklyn

Had a play with Scott's camera today and every photo kept coming out this bluey white colour. Of course it was the white balance and I couldn't work out how to change it at all!

Later on I had a try at intentionally making my photos bluey today by changing the white balance and this is the result. Brooklyn is a brownish black cat and the room has very yellowy lighting. I think she rather suits the blue sheen.

Blossom

Easter Monday walk in the park. This photo isn't as well composed as I desired but the wind was blowing the blossom in and out of shot and I was getting cold. That's my excuse anyway!

Today!

Easter Sunday = Messy faces

We arrived back late last night and I've spent most of the day watching the kids and trying to make the house livable in. as a result I haven't really concentrated on photos today so this one of the girls watching a DVD whilst eating kinder eggs will have to do!

Saturday 11th - Nell

Meet Nell, Leah and Mark's mouse. Nell was found wandering a graveyard all lost and alone. The children love playing with him every time we visit Barnard Castle.

Friday 10th - Cuddly Otters

Blair Drummond Safari Park. Definitely recommend!

Thursday 9th - Reflections

Charis walking along the Dam across the River Tummell in Pitlochry. It was a wet but warm day, perfect Scottish weather! I made use of the shimmering puddles and good lighting and am quite pleased with the composition of this photo.

The Dam is a Hydro Electric power station but also has a fish ladder for Salmon to swim upfrom the river into Loch Faskally during their breeding season. The ladder has a fish counter built a public viewing area and whilst we were there fish number 11 of the season passed by! Apparently this early in the season there's only 1 fish a day so we were fortunate to be there at the right time.

Wednesday 8th - Bruar Falls

Our second part of the holiday was up in Pitlochry where my other Aunty (Kathleen) owns a guest house. The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday so we walked up to Bruar falls and admired the beautiful mountains, trees and waterfalls around us.

This is not a photo of one of the waterfalls, it is a little stream running under the path and into the river. I love the mossy green and peaty brown colours.

Tuesday 7th - Hair cut

A regular occurrence for my family when we go up to Edinburgh is for everyone to have their hair cut by my Aunty Susan. She has been cutting my hair since I was a little girl and is obviously the best hair dresser in the world ;-) Charis is enjoying her second Aunty Susan experience.

Monday 6th - Crow Landing

Hello! It feels very weird having been away for so long from my blog. I have had internet access but we've been so busy and I've taken so many photos that I've not really had chance to go through them and put them up here. I can't believe I'm almost a week behind though!

This was taken on Monday afternoon at the summit of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. There were two or three large crows flying around and I happened to catch this one as it came into land. We had great fun that afternoon climbing up to the top of the hill and the kids didn't whine at all!

Spirit of Scotland

The Spirit of Scotland sculpture by Loudoun hill in Scotland.

Its been a lovely day today and the weather has been fabulous . We made the rest of the way up to Glasgow to meet our friends and then on to Edinburgh.

Scottish Kisses

We drove up to Scotland yesterday and found somewhere to camp overnight. On the way up we stopped in the Lowlands by a wee stream and played there for a bit. It was incredibly windy and pretty wet, so we were all wrapped up in numerous layers and waterproofs.

Here is Seren in the sling, giving Daddy some kisses on the top of a little hill by the roadside.

Cluck cluck

We're going away for a week tomorrow. Popping up to Scotland to visit family and hopefully some friends too. I should be packing right now but as always I'm finding 'better' things to do. This evening we went to The Trafford Centre to do a little shopping and decided to grab some dinner whilst we were out. When we were waiting for the food I took this snap of the Rooster.

Bronx

This may not be the most exciting photo but I'm really pleased with it. Bronx is such a hard subject for photography as whenever he sees a camera he jumps up, tail wagging, ready to 'chase' the light. As a result it is virtually impossible to capture him looking at anything other than expectantly at the floor. Staying still is beyond him and so I just get lots of blurred pictures of the top of his head.

Today, however he was rather calm and chilled playing in the garden with bunny. I sat on the grass and waited and got two good photo's that I had to choose which I preferred! I think this is quite possibly the best photo I've taken of him in years.

Colourful hands

Painting in the garden this afternoon and enjoying the sun a the same time. I hope the weather keeps up like this as we're going up to Scotland next week.

Scones Scones Scones

We ate them with Rodder's clotted cream and raspberry jam. YUM!