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I actually don't technically know if this is a mushroom or a toadstool and the definition I found didn't help much, so I'm calling it a mushroom! This is on the front lawn. I'm not sure we should be entirely pleased about having mushrooms - doesn't make for a pristine lawn - but I love it. I'd rather have a wild lawn full of moss and clover and daisies and mushrooms, than a tame, boring, rolled, mown-within-an-inch-of-it's-life lawn. I like the angle on this photo too. Sort of makes it look like it is in a forest - clover as ferns and blades of grass as trees, stretching out into the distance.
A tad fuzzy, but low light and no tripod will do that! I love books, and I really like the light and shadow on these books. I also like that there is the contrast between hardback and paperback and that you can't tell what the books are.
Our tree is losing it's leaves now. They tend to be this yellowy colour rather than browns and oranges and reds. I liked the light shining through this leaf and casting shadows of the grass on it. I noticed the light because I was kneeling on the grass taking a photo of my rocket :-D Me and my best friend made film canister rockets today and it was really good fun 
- I ended up crouched on the lawn trying to take photos of them going off and screaming and jumping instead... at a wee film canister popping... yes it was pretty pathetic. It did make for a lot of giggling though :-D
This is actually a lamp! I always found it odd when I was younger that you would want a naked woman holding up a lamp. I guess I still find her a little odd but it's got to the stage where I don't notice her so much anymore. However, when you have no photos, it's things like this that suddenly stand out to you. She is a bronzey gold colour but I decided to greyscale the photo because the wallpaper and shadow from the flash was too distracting. I also cropped it rather drastically but, again, I wanted all the focus on her and on her face and to make you wonder what she was looking at. Despite being rather harsh and perhaps strange, this is the crop I liked best of many, many different crops.
I got this bruise on my fingernail when I bent it back pulling up carrots. At some point yesterday I looked at it and thought "Wow that is so cool! It looks like the cannon in Space Invaders!". Then it became only a matter of time before I drew on myself again. Drawing using your left hand when you're right handed and drawing on nail... not so easy, so yes they are rather deformed. The bruise doesn't even show up tooooo well but that might just be that it's changed a little since yesterday. I was tempted just to edit in pictures of the Space Invaders but I decided that would be cheating. It would also be rather too professional looking for me ;-p
Hurray rocket flying! I had a really good time today. There was lots of joking and laughing and flying rockets and almost perfect conditions! I actually flew everything I had with me (a measly 3 rockets, but still) without hesitation where I normally obsess over the wind and how far it will drift and not being able to find it. There was a close call when I couldn't find the last one I flew but one of the other guys found it and all was well :-D It wasn't even really that cold and I might have a hint of sunburn. This rocket went really well on a G class motor - looked and sounded great. It seems like the flame was actually bright enough to cause reflection in the lens which, in this case, is just kinda cool :-) It was a good day.
I've run out of names for posts involving hoverflies! And no, I know what you're thinking, but no - you cannot have too many pictures of hoverflies. Lilac does seem to be a good colour for them doesn't it? Goes nicely with their yellow stripes.
I picked this up on the beach on Sunday - I like the almost grid pattern it has on it. It is also saving me from smashing things in anger. I wanted to take photos of the chillis from the greenhouse because they're such a lovely range of colours. They're too red for my cameras though and no matter what I did I couldn't fix it. So look at my pretty stone instead while I try not to destroy something.
This week me and my best friend ran away to St Andrews. It probably wasn't quite the best time to go because the place was full of students, but we had a nice time wandering around and having lunch. We had a walk along the beach too but this was unfortunately cut short by rain. This seagull was fishing in the shallow water and I saw him with a wee fish :-D The photo is a bit dark and grey and gloomy but that reflects the weather!
I love M&Ms! And these are exotic ones - peanut butter M&Ms! You can't really get them here unless they are imported so when I spotted them in a shop I wanted them, even though they were expensive - but hey - they're a treat! They don't show up quite as well as I'd like - a little fuzzy and not the best light, but the best I could do tonight and I didn't have any other bright ideas. Colour splashing them helped the M&Ms colour stand out and to make the background less strangely coloured and intrusive. And now I'm done photographing them I get to eat them :-)
A lot happened in the garden today. I think the picture above is a honey bee but in all honesty I'm not sure so if someone can tell me then please do! I really like watching these guys go amongst all the flowers with the hover flies. And I like the purple flowers too! Although I've forgotten what mum called them as usual. It annoys me that the wing closest is out of focus but it's a toss up between a nice macro shot or depth of field because of my cameras. I also got this close up of a spider (above left) but the web doesn't show up too well because the sun wasn't catching it from the right angle and the web was swinging about in the wind so it was hard enough to get a sharp shot of it.
Earlier in the afternoon we spent some time poking about in the new vegetable plot to see if there was anything we could have with dinner and we got turnip, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and parsnip! Not much of any of them except the turnips really which have done really well but it's the first year and I'm really impressed. I did find the coolest thing whilst pulling carrots though (right). Aren't they cool? All twisted round each other like they're hugging, and even vaguely looking like a love heart :-D And, finally, we have the great golden tomato thief! So we knew Aaron really liked tomatoes but we didn't quite realise what lengths he'd go to get them, he is a labradog though so we should have known his stomach would get him to do almost anything. He broke a pane in the cold frame earlier in the year when he got hold of a flower pot full of pebbles mum had dug out the garden and shook it.
No problem, it was cleaned up and we haven't bothered replacing the pane because we don't need it that badly. Mum did put a couple of tomato plants we didn't have room for in the greenhouse in there though just for a wee bit of protection. This evening we heard cries of "Get out of there! You wee thief!" coming from the garden and (above left) this is the sight we were met with - Aaron managed to wriggle his way into the gap left by the missing pane and steal pretty much every tomato on the two plants. I have to admit I found it all very funny :-D
I took my sword to the beach for International Talk Like A Pirate Day! AAAAARRRRRRRRRR! (yeah, I'm not good at talking Pirate) And whilst there we (me, my dad and the sword) had a good walk up and down the beach and over the rocks. This shag was swimming about in the shallows amongst the rocks looking for food. He wasn't far away at all and then hopped out onto the rocks to dry off. I got very slowly closer and closer and he just sat there watching me to the point where I was probably about 4 metres from him! :-D I decided not to try getting any closer as I didn't want to disturb him and after a wee while he decided he was hungry again and hopped back down the rocks into the sea again. This photo is cropped but only slightly to centre him because it absolutely didn't need it otherwise. Sinbad was an excellent poser (well he had to have a Piratey name and I decided that for alliterative purposes Sinbad was seafaring enough of a name for a Pirate seabird!). 
We also drew in the sand in a
Piratey manner and I'm pretty sure I got a few funny looks wandering around with a plastic sword hanging from the waist adjustment loop thingy on my jacket, but it was good fun anyway! I also got a far better grasshopper photo than last week's, but Sinbad was far too good to pass up :-) Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!
We've only had a couple of small sunflowers this year courtesy of the birds (either dropped under the seed feeder or planted - coal tits in particular like hiding them!) and in retrospect I wish we'd had more and bigger. They're so big and yellow and sunshiny and pretty! And the hover flies love them and the birds eat the seeds when they're all finished flowering. I like things that are both good to look at and good for wildlife.
Girly night out! Three friends and me, several pitchers of cocktails and a club playing cheesy music - well the music wouldn't have been my first choice but it was fun anyway and the song of the night for me was Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. I loved all the lights too so I thought I'd attempt some abstractish photos and they were mostly either dark (sloooooow response time on the compact camera) or blurry, but this one isn't too bad. I hope these people don't mind having their backs online ;-p
I didn't get anything exciting today so here - have a picture of my tasty, juicy Victoria plum all colour splashed to make it look pretty. They're really good plums.
Run away day again! This time we went to Peebles and wandered round the shops and ate ice cream. Are you impressed that we went somewhere away from the seaside?! We did still find ice cream though :-D One of the things I find strange about myself, when I really think about it, is what I like looking at and taking photos of. I took next to none and then when we got back to the car there was a very shallow puddle behind it with autumny leaves in it and I loved it. The light and shadow and textures and bright points, where the sun is reflecting on the wet leaves, and the colours. It's not quite right, I feel, but I can't quite place what I feel is wrong with it, possibly just a depth of field thing since the leaf in the foreground is a bit fuzzy. Anyway, it's nice and it shows the start of Autumn which is definitely in progress now, from the cooler air and wind,
to the leaves and conkers.
Later on in the evening we toasted marshmallows (or well, I repeatedly burnt them because I wasn't paying attention! Love the noise of a marshmallow on fire...) whilst watching In Bruges (strange, funny, weird, sweet and really sad - not what I was expecting - much better really - oh and has the best extra on the DVD - every swear word and mention of Bruges in the whole film - so funny!). Point being, candles and fire and marshmallows on fire also make me think of Autumn and Winter :-)
Not perfect but I do like it and I like it better than I liked the normal conker photos. I had serious problems with exposure today - the photos ended up either too light or too dark and sometimes both at the same time. The sunshine was very strong though and conkers are very shiny so they reflect light a lot. Yeah that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. As for this... I might have taken the exposure down another notch but it's hard to tell on a little screen anyway, even without bright sunshine on it. And I was supposed to be being the fun honorary auntie who runs around the park daft with you, and a best friend, as well as a photographer all at the same time. Hard work! ;-p
These gladioli were part of the centre pieces on the tables at the wedding. We got one of the centre pieces to bring home and it is taking up most of the fireplace! It is really pretty though and I loved the colours. You can tell this was taken with flash and while I don't always like using flash it does add a bit of drama and sparkle which is rather nice.
We have grass what hops in our garden! I think it was my cousin who used to call them "grass what hops" but it's one of those phrases that has entered regular usage in our family and it's origins are getting hazy! Anyway, we have been able to hear them and occasionally, briefly, see them but I haven't managed a picture until now, and while it's a tad fuzzy because it is so cropped in, I don't mind too much because I'm pleased I got it before they all disappear again. And, you know, not just because of the camouflagedness.
Doesn't he look handsome! Mum made him a wee button hole type thing with white heather and tied it onto his collar with ribbon and amazingly he didn't try to eat it! This was in the church yard before the wedding and he is stood between my dad and the best man I think... I was more interested in the dog at that point ;-p The wedding went really well - there were issues, as there always are, but everyone enjoyed it. The bride was beautiful, they both looked happy and I'm quite pleased with some of the photos I took despite the sunlight not quite cooperating! My little brother is married, and I have a sister in law... this is really weird!
It's not terribly exciting but it was pretty at the time. Have you ever noticed how much better a street full of cars looks in silhouette? We're all very busy trying to be ready for the wedding tomorrow and it only occurred to me quite recently that I would have to pack for staying away on Saturday night... I hate packing.
I spent today decorating biscuits - they're shortbread and they taste great. Mum baked them and I decorated and we both bagged them up - hurray for collaboration! The original design had another smaller heart between the two you see there but the colouring I was using for it just wasn't working properly so I ditched it in favour of something that did work! I love that silver. It just paints on and it's edible (can't even taste it) and so shiny and pretty! I'm very impressed with it :-)
Snail safaris, venturing slowly into the undergrowth! I now have a picture to illustrate me and my blogging! Although you will note that I am actually posting this on time ;-) Ever noticed how snails just appear out of nowhere when it is or has been raining? I still don't know why this is but our front path can become an obstacle course. Mum tries getting rid of them by sending them off in the brown bin to the place where all the garden waste goes (you'd think that would make them happy?) but either they make their way back (yes, it probably is miles but who's to say they don't... and it just takes them a very long time) or there are always new ones to replace them. Well anyway - they presented a good opportunity this evening when I remembered I hadn't done anything except get lost on the internet and go to Rainbows today!
We're on the Floral Clock! It was mentioned at our district meeting and since I was in town today and had time I went to look and I think it looks great. It actually made me all proud - I'm part of something that made it onto the Floral Clock :-D There is also writing (in plants) along the top saying "A hundred years of Girlguiding" and on the right of the clock is the 100 logo (pictured below). I subtly colour splashed the photo to try and detract from the bus and buildings out on the street. I didn't want to just crop it as I think the context helps it a lot.
And I am slightly annoyed that it didn't all fit in the frame but I only had the compact camera (well it's bad enough having to go shopping without lugging a heavy SLR bag with you too!) and it seems that I could do with being about 2 feet taller than I am to take a photo showing the whole clock with this camera!
I was out shopping all day - I hate shopping - it was stressful - I didn't even remember about photos until just now. So we're back to the weird and wonderful world of my mind and it's liking for writing on me with permanent black pen. The "there" is rather shinier than I would like but I'm not sure how to stop that as it is caused by the flash and I need the flash... Oh well. It's interesting to see the products of my mind at times. Anyone want to bet on how long I have writing on my finger? I'm going for another day.
My best friend and I ran away again today and, although we ran away to the countryside, we still ended up at the beach on the rocks watching the tide come in and splash on the rocks! There is something really calming about it - I suppose it might be the rhythm and the fact that you can get so sucked into seeing whether the next wave is bigger or smaller than the last :-)
Today was a long day and I forgot all about photos because I was busy worrying about other things. When I finally did remember I had biscuits in front of me and that was pretty much all I could think of to photograph! So here they are. Can you tell what they are yet? And that they put one of the sides on back to front?!
This didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped but I didn't have much time to play with it as the light changed - always a problem with sunlight and clouds and such like. Plus my fingers got in the way holding it up so there is less stem than I would like. And it's a little bit fuzzy I think but it is kinda hard to tell because, well it is fluffy, as well as being very much cropped in. But the point was that I like the seed head and I liked the way it caught the sun. And it's not too bad really. Just not as good as I would have liked.
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