My blogging has dropped off due to my focusing my energies on other things - work, family, home, bookshop and a sick friend. Hope you are well and looking forward to more light and blue skies.
Photo Phrenzy
At the beginning of 2012 I embarked on a 365 project; a photo a day, with the intention of loading the photos onto Pummelvision to make a slideshow of my year. Sadly, Pummelvision was taken down so I have made do with choosing 12 photos, one from each month of a very memorable year.
Click on the photo to view a larger version.
January - gulls swooping in the cold, blue
February - leaf in the green
March - from the terrace at Cliveden
(with an eery blur descending the steps bottom right, where no person was present)
April - clotted Cornish clouds
May - luminous white foxgloves in the early morning sun
June - the iconic bow of a gondola
July - two nuns at a crossing in Rome
August - flags flying at Eton Dorney
September - the London skyline, taken from the river bus.
October - a lone swan gliding on the Thames in the early morning
November - my attempts at celebrity pumpkin carving, can you guess who it is?
December - gossamer thin sheets of ice, adorning a flooded field of stubble.
Self portrait, taken back in April, in a freezing Westminster Hall.
Happy 2013.
Part two - a happy ending.
The building work is finished in time for the holiday.
To recap, the space as it was before
and after, as it is now
I love it, as you make your way towards it there is a powerfully evocative smell of new wood. The fact that it has been a wet and cold couple of weeks and yet it was still finished on time, is something of a building trade miracle.
Thank you for stopping by in 2012, and taking time to leave your thoughts and comments, it is much appreciated. Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas.
I feel so foolish
...I've completely ignored the end of the (Mayan) world.
What if the Mayans were right?
I've got a nearly complete office,
a freezer full of food,
video I still haven't transferred to imovie,
an unfinished book,
an enormous uneaten bar of chocolate
and a 2013 calender I just wrote all of next years birthdays on.
Just in case, tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1989.
The Office Part 1
Day 1 - The Space
Despite having a large Lime tree with a preservation order next to the proposed site of the new office, progress has rocked on. We needed to use special pad foundations (that rest on the surface) and don't damage or disturb the roots of the tree. The building work is being supervised by an arboreal consultant to ensure the builders do their job without damaging the tree. I'm not kidding. So the tree is fenced off and boards have been put down to stop soil compaction.
Then, and only then could work commence.
Day 2 - The foundations and footings are complete
Day 3 -The walls go up
Despite the ferocious cold, by the end of the day the roof was on, but by then the light was so low I couldn't capture it in a photo.
To be continued.
The Joys Of Working From Home
This morning I planted a beech hedge before work!
We needed to plant a hedge due to moving a shed on a boundary, it had left a big gap. The beech whips will establish their roots over winter. I look forward to seeing the new leaves in the spring.
We have other changes going on in the garden over the next month. A garden office will be built under our large Lime tree. Does anyone else work from home? Do you find it liberating or distracting?
October in pictures
I love the colours that dominate this month, the sheer amount of orange which seems to be everywhere at the moment is compensating for the diminishing light and warmth outside. The car picture was taken at the RAC club, I don't believe it's the car in the Bond movie but a replica. Speaking of which, if you are thinking of going to see Skyfall, do. It will leave you shaken and stirred, even Mr Bond showed emotion. The only time when I have been in a cinema and the film has had a round of applause at the end.
Walking On Sunshine
My achilles is on the mend! I can walk again, properly walk. Walk through woodlands, by rivers and across fields. I have so missed the fresh air and the smell of the seasons, whether it's the dry scent of summer or the smell of wet leaves and decay.
This week I have been on my first long walk for 7 months. It was bliss. I forgot my camera, but made do with my phone. At the beginning of the walk we passed this hedge, at the bottom of somebody's garden. What a master stroke the boots are.
My (well groomed) friend spotted a slow worm on our path, it did move exceedingly slowly.
It was such a bright Autumn morning. Towards the end of the walk we had to climb one last hill; charmingly nicknamed Heart Attack Hill, it was a big push. But the feeling of having earned a sandwich and a slice of cake was fantastic.
It was a circular route, so we ended up back in the village where we started; Hambledon in the Chilterns. It was being used as a film set that day. A regular occurrence, it has appeared in The Vicar Of Dibley, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Nanny McPhee and North and South amongst others.
It's a very picturesque village, nestled in rolling green hills. I hope it's not ruining the romance by sharing this shot of a 'snowy' cottage. I asked the crew what they were filming; something called Endeavor, a spin off from Inspector Morse.
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