No Regrets

Last night, just before switching off the computer, I decided to put up a quick post with photos of my oldest son from this Christmas holiday here in England.

Only I didn't have any decent pictures of him.

The lighting in our house leaves something to be desired and for most of his stay, one or all of us have been in our pjs.

There are certainly no family portraits or even a family snapshot with all of us in it--ever. That was my one goal this Christmas.

There was one day when everyone felt well, but the littlest brother was at his friend's house for the day.
There was the trip to London to see a show, but the 2nd-oldest child stayed home with the flu.
Every day was bitterly cold or the thickest fog blanket. Fate was working against me.

As I sat staring at a blank blog post in the quiet of the night, I got really melancholy at the realization that I was out of time. Today would be his last day with us- his siblings had school and Dad was back at work, so there wouldn't be anymore opportunities to take a decent family photo.

Sleep works wonders and this morning, I was determined to have no regrets, regardless if it meant stressing myself out (trying to figure out how to juggle everyone, getting them all home before the 3.30 sunset). I worried about it all morning.  #1 Son and I did a quick trip to the seaside and shot some pictures of some nearby ruins, making it home by 1.00pm.

At 2.15 I headed out to begin the race against dusk...

and it began to tip down rain.

3.00, Husband headed straight home-- without passing Go to collect his $200.00.
3.25 I gathered the last child

3.40 We managed to have everyone in front of the house just as the light got difficult. We didn't worry about hair or whether our clothing had some uniformity. I told everyone NOT TO MOVE since I didn't want to have to resort to a flash.

Not bad for our very first full-family photo ever, huh? 

Look who moved. 

Classy all of the way. 

I should become a professional photographer specializing in family portraiture.

Forget the Tree in the Forest

If a blogger stops posting
when her husband returns from a deployment,

is anyone concerned that he might be
holding a pillow over her face to shut her up?

Ok, yes, the hubby is more demanding on my time than four young children on a summer holiday, but at least the camera is still clicking away.

No one gets between me and my Nikon.

I'm actually considering applying for a job JUST to get some "me" time.

How insane is that?

I'm crazy!

It's a photographer position...

Please don't be alarmed by the chokehold-like loving this little girl is receiving,
that wound on A2's face is from her.

...crazy like a fox.

Can you give me some creative ideas to explain the 12 year gap in my resume?

All Kinds of Compassionate

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A perfect example of how we become de-sensitized.

On our lazy cruise through the broads, we came around a bend in the river Yar to discover a small community of homes on the river's edge. In this particular area, they were more like shanties really. There were buildings nearing collapse, old things strewn about, and general neglect.

When I saw this boat, I was instantly transported to a Disney World river cruise-- you know the sort, alligators lurking, hippos spraying the boat with water, pirates pillaging villages and shipwrecks.

I took two pictures before realizing what a sick individual I am.

This is someone's boat. A real someone owns this real boat that is now mostly submerged and I'm gleefully taking photos as if to plaster them throughout my Disney Trip photo album.

Not one of my prouder moments.

Wood With Water for Wordless Wednesday

Moooo-ve!

Another pretty face....


My comp'oo'er is about to undergo a face lift.
There's 12, 816 photos (give or take a few hundred) that need to be backed up.
I am tired of windows shutting down on me mid-comment, and my mail program closing whenever I open mail from ASDA (I might be missing something important!).
So, my posts may be slow for a few days while we get it all sorted.
Just think... if it takes too long, I might run out of room on my camera's memory stick and I'll have to get a new one... hmmm...



And speaking of things I neeeeeed,


Here's my birthday wish list.
Or if you're really feeling affectionate:

Hubby, you have approximately 105 days, 14 hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds until my birthday. Think of what I could do with a Hairy Coo and Photoshop :-)
I am so materialistic.....


I can live with that.

Is it still Monday?

The morning was so foggy, we could barely see the yard, but by 10.30 or so it had cleared. Out came the camera.

We had lots of sunshine today. AMAZING feeling, being able to throw open windows and let the little missy wander around the garden. This child is very busy exploring and has to be watched every second-- if not, I may find her on the table (or off, if she's fallen) or up on a chair trying to reach something. The best is the trail she leaves in her wake. A testament to a short attention span: a hot wheels car, one of her brother's DS's, keys to a door (great, which door is missing a key now?!), my recently folded (and now unfolded) laundry... But today she explored the grass and the fat, wet worms (no, she didn't attempt to pick them up) while her brothers played football.These shots were taken with my Nikon D70-- the camera that sits on the shelf while I take my D50 everywhere. But my baby is in hospital (dust on the sensor lens), so I have to get over my prejudices.

As you already must suspect, I love the phone boxes, and this is the one my landlord had to have to his wife's dismay. :-)


Yesterday, I left something behind at church and had to drive the 15-20 minutes back to get it before the building was locked up. On the way home, I looked up at the phone wires that appeared to have waves of heat emanating from them. Remember, you don't take your eyes off of these roads longer than a nano second, so after several looks up, I realized that the 'waves' were actually silky webs, glistening in the sunlight.
There's ONE day in the entire week I don't grab my camera when when I leave the house. Guess which one that is...

I did go back, but by then the sun was in a different place, so I captured the webs on the bushes instead. ( This is a large upload so you can click on it to see the webs a little clearer )

Can you look at a spider's web and not think of E.B. White?

You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

Charlotte, "Charlotte's Web"

Photographer's Anonymous

I just picked up my prints at ASDA (your Walmart). I usually upload them via my Macbaby, but since it is a Mac and the general world is geared for Winbloze, I can only download ten at a time. So, to save time, we drove to Norwich.
I stood in front of the photo machine long enough for my husband to investigate the entire store, and then made friends with the elderly man behind me while we waited for the 4-foot long receipt to slowly print out.
It was a little embarrassing. Not that I had 928 prints made (and very few duplicates), but that I could only say that these were photos from December and what has passed of January.

Yes, I have a problem.

That's the first step, admitting it, right? Is there a 12-step program to weaning myself from documenting EVERY single moment in my life? Doesn't everyone have a camera on them at all times? Normal people may run into a house fire to save their cat-- I would save my photos, and hope the cat was a good runner (save your PETA-mail, we don't have a cat) (I do now have 928 new prints).

It was a little funny when I handed the clerk my ticket and she opened the puny little drawer to discover my order wasn't in there and then walked to a corner of the room to pick up this massive carrier bag (have you ever held 928 photos at once?). She smiled and said, "Just a few photos today?" What do you say to that?

"Wait 'till you see NEXT month's!"

My husband said, "maybe buying you that bigger disk wasn't a good idea." (nor was the extra SLR, a telephoto lens that can cook your breakfast, the newer iPhoto and extra hard drive to store everything on...) I love you honey!