A couple of weeks ago my new to me photography group had a day out at the British Motor Museum to practise our photography.  I think this trip was more for the boys,  I couldn’t complain even though I am a non driver and being the least interested in cars person I know. It was warm and dry and there was something of the nostalgia of a by gone era about it and apparently the days out tend to be a bit top heavy in the English Heritage houses and gardens department when the weather picks up, so all is fair in love, war and photography.

There were two sections open to the public, the ground floor of the Collections Centre which houses the Jaguar Heritage Collection and the main part of the museum which allows  for interaction with some of the older cars, bums were parked on very old leather seats. I think hubby rather enjoyed the idea, I could just see him tootling around our country town. And after I got over the shock of paying to go and see cars, I must suggest the nearest safari park next time, much more me, I started to enjoy myself.  There were some interesting colours of the cars, some really pretty duck egg blue’s which would be lovely today instead of all the boring greys we seem to have.Or how about a quick spin with Lady Penelope and Parker, Thunderbirds are Go!Or how about a fanciful daydream about breaking the land speed record, there are several MG’s to choose from. And I really loved this very old bus, it was just gorgeous. There were engineers both old and new. And one of the Queen’s old Daimlers. And a very fierce looking jaguar.

Actually it was lovely to look at all the old cars and see how designs and comfort has changed over the years. The engineers who look after the cars pop over quite regularly and explain how  some of the engines worked, I could feel the wind as that information flew over my head, hubby seemed to nod in the right places though, they were very happy to help.

And the best bit is as we Gift Aided our ticket, our tickets are valid for 12 months, (apart from a few special days) and do you know, I think I might just do that – how’s that for a turn around from a not interested in cars person.

Having worked through my Cultivate Power Sheets and found my word for 2017 is Freedom, it was time to embrace the essence of the word with the freedom to just be and enjoy a little me time when #Walk 1000 miles 2017 came floating through the ether and seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I am not saying I won’t walk with hubby, of course I will, but I do so enjoy solitary walking and it is time I gave myself permission and the freedom to enjoy it. 

1000 miles divided by 12 equals 83.33 recurring, I do love the magic of a recurring number, I digress, which means when I look at my mileage so far this month, 36.5, that I have some catching up to do. (I haven’t added the mileage from days where I clearly haven’t got out of bed!, just the ones with a decent amount of activity on them).

As tempting as it is to always walk in the daylight, I am also giving myself permission and the freedom to walk at night, possibly very late at night, this time with hubby.  I am curious as to what wildlife I may discover, I can hear the foxes deep in the night calling to each other and the tawny owls screeching from the direction of the castle, what is to stop me going off for a little explore, apart from my warm and comfy bed. I know from many late night car journeys where the muntjac deer appear in our headlights, a walk along that road late at night would be very promising and early mornings bring about a warren of rabbits on the way up to the allotments, I may even see a hare!

Along with the wildlife I will enjoy seeing the seasons change in much more technicolour than from the comfort of a speeding car.  The seasons change in so many ways, the warmth of the sun, no matter how weak on the skin, the blast of a chill in the air, the smell of the first crocuses or the damp mouldy smell of autumn, I shall enjoy it all.

1000 miles, here I come.

When I married my lovely hubby I knew that out of all the men I had dated, he was like a mighty oak, compared to a bramble patch, that he would never let me down and he would always look after me, and he has. I didn’t really know anything at 22, who does! but I knew that.  We have weathered storms and enjoyed the sunshine and now we are reaping the benefits of a long life together, with deeper understandings of the other and a love that goes to the bottom of my soul.

Happy Anniversary darling xxx

It was time to stretch my legs today after a couple of days of being cooped up.  Oh how I love to breath the fresh Warwickshire air as I  trundle towards what in my opinion is the best spot in the world, new camera lens in hand, ready for the testing. I love that ancient wall so much, it is a wonderful place to rest against, deep in its shadow on the hottest of summer days.

Truliest the happiest of Happy Fields.

I’m a firm believer in share and share alike, so in that spirit may I give to you all, (if you haven’t heard of it before) Google Nik Collection. One thing I have learnt from the photography groups I belong to is that yes, you do have to get the image, that is the main thing above anything else, but then invariably a little tweaking goes on. There are a myriad of tools available to do this, Lightroom and Photoshop to name just two. I use a little bit of Lightroom to tweak, but not that much and well, Photoshop is just so complicated I’m not sure if I’ll ever master it.

So as I was bleating in a Woe is Me fashion at a meeting about my skill set, one of my fellow photographers suggested using Google Nik Collection which is now free and was apparently about £150.00  Okay I thought I’ll give it a go, what is there to lose.  Not much apparently. Teasel photograph, straight from the camera, black line at the top makes it quite unusable, unless your a photoshop guru, which I am not.  Disappointing. Until….A little play with the Google Nik Collection.  It is still not judge acceptable for competitions, but more than does the job for the blog.

Try it, it is a lovely tool.

While I was admiring the ducks waddling on the ice in their bright orange boots, I heard a splash behind me in the brook, as I whirled around I made eye contact with a lovely big Heron which by the time it took me to raise my camera was lifting off.

I make no apologies for the ropeyness of these shots, preferring to revel in the fact that I got them at all. Just such a beautiful fraction of time. Later, at dusk, in the distance, I saw a pair flying regally over Joe’s Overflow, so exciting, I don’t think we have had a breeding pair before.

I love wildlife, I do.  I love to get out into the country or even just a park bench with a pond and sit and immerse myself in the sights, sounds and smells of what ever is going on.  Sometimes its just the smell of autumn and rotting leaves that brings me back to my childhood as memories of the woodsmoke from the bonfires in the allotments opposite our home drift over, depending on the time of day sending Mum into a panic over her washing on the line.  Sometimes its the screech of seagulls soaring overhead.

It must be wonderful to be anything other than a human being, to live in the moment and not have to plan for the future, but plan we must, or perhaps should.

New Year resolutions are about planning, to strive to become something more than we were last year, to better ourselves in some way, to not be quite so human with all of our foibles we try so gallantly to hide.  Last night I trotted off to my nearest slimming group, its okay, its going to be fine, I know myself better now more than any other time in my life and I have the time.  Oh how I would love to be a seagull, soaring high, swallowing fish, not a care in the world, but I’m not and age is creeping, did I tell you I was 50 last year!  So today I will plan and do a little bit of weighing and measuring and plan for my future tomorrows, of which I hope there will be many and that they will be glorious.

Playing with double exposure inside the camera, not photoshopped.  This is an area I want to explore more fully for the next few months.  In the interest of transparency, I set up the camera, used hubby as my test model until I found what I roughly wanted in a very cold park,  hubby shot the shots and I developed them in Lightroom.

We visited Brandon Marsh a couple of days after the last visit as we had enjoyed it so much.  Even though this was a much duller day with very little light, we had a great day and stayed quite happily from ten until nearly four, they have a well priced cafe that cooks fresh food to order, I had the mushroom stroganoff with rice, salad and garlic bread,  it was lovely and perfect for a little carb loading in between long stints in the cold.  The wildlife was wonderful to see and I wish I could show you photographs of the crows paddling around the edge of the lake, it was most amusing, sadly my lenses are just not that powerful to pick this up.  There were ducks landing on ice and waddling off and we saw a kingfisher fishing which was beautiful to behold.  Hooper swans flew over head and well, I just don’t know all the names of the tiny birds I saw.

Just a few more snaps of a lovely moment in time.