Jan

28

Winter Colour

Colour / Friends / General / Home Life / Seasonal / Winter

Well, it’s been bloomin’ freezin’! We’ve had snow in Durham for well over two weeks now, and the big defrost started yesterday. I’m now no longer looking forward to walking the dog, as he runs frantically through the mud. It was much more fun in the snow.

At the moment, the dog isn’t getting any walks anyway, after eating almost an entire large box of rabbit food, and keeping us up every two hours during the night with various antics enough to disturb my mind for weeks… No walkies is his punishment for the day. It’s his birthday tomorrow (2 years of being with us!), so I’ll have to be nice to him then.

Usually, the long nights and short days of winter, the lack of living things outside and chilly weather doesn’t affect me too much, but since our trip to Australia in December, it has affected me more than before. I love snow, but I’m longing for Spring. Longing for the snowdrops and crocuses and narcissi and muscari and buds and blooms and the colour green.

So, to keep me (and you) going, here’s a collection of ‘winter warmers’ pictures. Colours this winter season, before I start posting pictures of buds, and blooms and storks and babies and other things associated with Spring. These are things that have made me happy this winter.

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Chilli hot chocolate! Or, just hot chocolate in general. And hot water bottles. My mother-in-law ate this chilli whole. I am in amazement.

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Colourful coats! Another great way of feeling happy in Winter. How cute is this family? They were thrilled when I sent them this picture after we had pancakes together last week.

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Sunny weather on Saturday! Oh, the colour of blue sky! This photo was from my phone, so not the best in quality. This photo also makes me happy, because in this spot just an hour later, two of my good friends got engaged. Ahh! Winter warmer.

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A two-year-old’s birthday party. Now, if that isn’t a place to see colour in winter, I know of no other! It was manic!

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What was especially warming about this colourful birthday party, was it was for two young ladies who I photographed over a year ago. It was so sweet seeing them again, watching how they’ve grown and how their characters are coming out. Hilarious little girls! You can see those photoshoots here:

 Babies, Autumnal Leaves and Adorable Hats
Winter Family Photoshoot at Home

 

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May

21

Le Weekend

Friends / Home Life / Photography / Rest

This weekend, I had both days off.  Yes.  My Mother in Law was visiting, which has been really lovely. The sun came out on Sunday. The big hot star one, not the one with big hot stars on the front…

So it’s been a good weekend.  We attempted plenty of DIY, gardening and painting, ate some marvellous meals; pearl barley stuffed chicken and slow roasted sweet potato curry.  Home baked hams and banana breads. Lots of coffee with frothy milk.  Yum.  This is how I relax.

My husband’s extended family came to visit yesterday too, and we went for a walk in the sunshine and counted how many times each person was allowed to throw the ball for the Spaniel, who was having the time of his life.

Altogether a lovely break.  How about you?  Did you have a good time?

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Apr

24

Role Reversal

Durham / Friends / Home Life

There is a face to the Floral Footsteps photographer!  A friend of mine, the wonderful Jenny Jiggins took some photos of me and my husband, Phil in and around Durham.  I spend so much of my time taking memorable photos for families and couples, I decided it was time we had some of us!  So I asked Jenny, and she was up for it.

We walked in and around Durham’s streets, and down by the boathouses by the River, along Prebends Bridge (famous for engagements) and to the spot where we were engaged, over 3 years ago; Observatory Hill.  We had a photo taken of us sitting on a picnic blanket overlooking the city on this hill, almost exactly like a sketch I drew for Phil before we were engaged.  He then proposed to me on this spot, just a few months later, so it was special to revisit this place.

I was a bit nervous to be in front of the camera, rather than behind, but soon relaxed into it. It’s easier than you think…

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Jul

09

Rainy July Holidays

Friends / Holiday
Sorry for the quietness all week.  Mr T and I booked a rather large house on a rather good deal in Windermere for a few days, and persuaded fifteen of our wonderful friends to come and join us.
It was awesome, one of the best holidays we’ve had for some time!  The company and outdoors were just what we needed, and Avril the Camper lasted well all week too.
I’ll be back to posting about flowers, watercolour splodges and more soon, when I’ve finished washing my clothes and sifting through photos…
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May

10

One for the Fan Club

Craft / Friends

I received a lovely gift in the post the other day. It had travelled all the way from Teddington (I do love the way the lady on the London trains says this destination) to Durham. It was a hand painted Floral Footstep mug and bowl set!
This fan had even hand painted tiny little footprints in the bottom of the personalised crockery. I was touched, and the bowl and mug sit proudly on my little shelf (that I intended to make into a cup shelf and never got round to.) Thanks Jo*, you’re absolutely wonderful.

Today is a good day – not only do I get to admire the handiwork of my fans (by the way, if you fancy sending through fan drawings, paintings and other inspiring things to me through the post, I’m always happy to receive them…) but today is also Adobe Day.  Today, (I flippin’ hope) I will receive my birthday present from my husband in the post – Adobe CS5.5.  I’m so excited, but I really haven’t the foggiest how to use it.  I have a primitive understanding of Photoshop CS3, but beyond that – most things are a mystery.  If you have advice, please share!

*For those who are interested, Jo is married to the man who appears in this post.

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Mar

08

Introducing Local Hero: Seymour Jacklin

community / Friends / Illustration / Introducing / Local Hero / Portraits / watercolour

6 things to note about Seymour Jacklin:

  1. He has an ever changing beard and moustache.  Every time I see him it’s completely different.
  2. He’s a vegan.  Ask him about it and he’ll tell you exactly why.
  3. He’s a risk taker.  He left his secure job as an psychiatric nurse last year to be self employed.
  4. He’s a dreamer.  He thinks up stories that conjur images and stir our thoughts.
  5. He can play the harmonica.  And a whole bunch of other instruments too.
  6. He has a passion for vintage cameras and photography.  He even keeps a blog about it, called the Analog Photog Blog.

The last thing and (most important thing where this blog is concerned) to note about Seymour is that he writes.  He writes articles, journals, blogs and stories.  Seymour approached me a few months back to see if I would illustrate some short stories he was writing; an exciting and challenging request. His stories merge the lines of fables, fairytales and dreams, and as the illustrator, it’s difficult to instantly see the characters how he sees them, when I read them alone, pencil in hand.
I was at an event a few weeks back where Seymour was invited to read aloud his stories to a small audience.  It was brilliant.  These characters I had read about alone in my room came to life as he was speaking, his voice and tone brought the story even closer.

I know Seymour plans to publish his short stories in book-form in the near future, but he has also decided to release them early, in podcasts, a recorded version of him telling his own stories.  An author knows his own stories best, and Seymour, blessed with the ability to both write and tell stories is an excellent host.

I really recommend you head over to his new blog Borders of Sleep and download the first podcast, the Prince and the Bird.  It’s a bit different, a modern fairytale told by a man with an extraordinary imagination and most definitely worth a listen!

Whilst you’re there too, check out the illustrated website background I’ve been working on, and look out for one of the characters of the stories hiding…

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Feb

27

A Miniature Spring Garden

Anemone / Durham / Floristry / flowers / Friends / need a gift? / Seasonal / Spring

I had a phonecall on Friday night from a friend’s Mum asking me to create an arrangement for her daughter, the lovely Jenny, who recently started a blog called Ribbon Willow documenting her artistic adventures. Jenny had some exciting news this week and her parents wanted something more personal than an interflora gift, and one that would arrive sooner.
I was given the brief “she likes things that are a bit different” and “no pink”.  Sounded good to me! I bought some anemones and tulips (I wish I could say that I grew them, but I’m not that organised) and went for a walk in Durham to find the rest. I found plenty of lime green moss, ivy with spores, beautiful budding trees and a few clumps of snowdrops. I snipped some muscari that’s currently growing in a pot in my house and created a miniature garden in a galvanised tin bucket.
These photos were taken straight after the miniature garden was sprayed with water, but it makes the photos a little more interesting.
Aren’t anemones amazing?
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Jan

29

Meet the New Boy

Friends / Home Life / Introducing / pets / Photography / Springer Spaniel

This is Sam, the Springer. The latest addition to our family.
We picked him up today from Dogs Trust in Darlington, who really are a fantastic charity. He’s beautiful. We love him already.
And he has an absolutely wicked smile.
Expect to see many more photos of Sam in the future as we anticipate falling more in love with this scruffy, slightly naughty and adorable soft dog.
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Nov

08

Bonfire Portraits

Autumn / Bonfire / Durham / Friends / Photography / Portraits

It looks like we weren’t having much fun, but we really were! It can be transfixing watching a big bonfire. There’s something about the flames that can keep you entertained for hours. It fills the gap in awkward conversations. It creates atmosphere, warmth and great light for portrait photos.
You can see the outtakes and other photos over at my Flickr page.
I hope you had fun this bonfire night!
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