28th February photo

Again this is not the photo I had planned for today!

The plumber came this morning and fixed the water supply to our new fridge - so I had planned a nice photo of it in action - but the cold water comes out OK but not the ice - not sure why it is not working, but I can see a phone call to the help line on Monday morning!! That photo is going to have to wait until it is up and running with ice galore.

So instead I am posting a photo that I had planned for yesterday - a stream in Townbrook Hollow on the Long Mynd where I went walking.

27th February photo -ahhh

Well this was not the photo I had planned for today - I have been out walking this afternoon and took lots of photos for the painting with light course, so I thought I would use one of those.

That was until I found this little surprise on my pillow!

Jessica went back to Norwich this morning - she has been at home since she broke up for the Christmas Holidays and then had an 8 week elective placement here in Shropshire. When she left at midday I did a few jobs around the house and then went out to the Long Mynd for some geocaching and walking. I did not find this little note and sweeties until I got back in this evening - ahh - the note reads:- To Mum, I love you millions. Miss You. Jess xxx .

She is such a lovely girl and now I am stuck in the house with 3 boys!!! (Ross is back for 2 days off already!)

Just so you can see what I have to put up with - Cheryls instructions for this weeks photo assignment was to take photos of willing models - I think you can tell that these 2 were NOT willing models!!

26th February photo - my craft room

Ross went back to work at PGL last week so I got my craft room back. But as a 23 year old lad had been living in the room for 4 months it has taken me a while to sort it out!

Today's photo is my lovely Expedit shelving from Ikea all nice and tidy - it did not look like this last week. It really pleases me to see all my scrap stash looking nice and tidy - just need to start creating now.


This is the opposite wall, showing my worktop cleared of all his stuff with room for me to work at - just need to add my printer and laptop.
And this is the layout I have put out ready to start working on. I have looked at it for the last few evenings but have not come up with any inspiration. I keep hoping if I leave it out long enough some little Elves (like in the Elves and the shoemaker) will come along and complete it and make the perfect layout with it because I don't seem to be able to do so!
Sorry for the poor quality photos- this room used to be the garage, which has been turned into a room, so it is long and thin and quite dark as it only has one side window.

25th feb photo - return trip to the Berwyns

Today Thelma and I returned to the Berwyns for a hike to the summit. I don't have a landscape photo for February365 project, so have chosen this one as my photo of the day.





So here it is - Cader Berwyn in all its cloudy glory. We climbed up to the highest peak in the photo and I think we had already walked for about an hour by the time we got to this spot - it was very high at 2723ft and it did make me huff and puff!





It was freezing at the top so we abandoned the idea of continuing for a further 6 miles to reach another 2 geocaches - we will leave them for a warmer day.

Me with the geocache at the summit. My hands were so numb with the cold that I could hardly write in the log book.

We ate lunch in a stone shelter at the summit and having seen a Cadburys cream egg on Vicki's 365 photo blog (here) yesterday - I could not resist them so bought us some for our treat.

There were a couple of breaks in the cloud on the way up so we stopped for a photo opportunity - the mountains and views from up here are just gorgeous.

Once we had walked down we called at the top of Pistal Rhyader waterfalls and Thelma took this photo which I think has come out well - the rock structures are just fab and I would like to really like to use it as my POTD - but as I did not take it - I don't suppose I can.

My new book! 24th Feb photo

My new book arrived from Amazon this morning and I am so excited about it - I can't wait to start reading it.

When I did my recent Humanities degree with Birmingham University, Anthropology was one of the modules which I really found fascinating and the main anthropologist which caught my imagination was Margaret Mead. Her insight into the role of women in society and sexuality was so sharp and spot on and changed the perception of women for the better.

So imagine my delight when I found this new book (it was only published in November 2008) on Amazon on Saturday whilst I was doing a bit of browsing - I should really stop just having a little look around that site - my shopping basket is choc full of stuff I want.

I can't wait to start reading this book tonight - that will be it it for a few days now - nothing else is going to get done until it is finished!

23rd February photo

When I was on my diet - I started having a grapefruit everyday for breakfast and even though the diet has now finished (about to restart again soon) I have continued to have one everyday as I love them. These are my favourite - though at £1.79 for 3 they are quite expensive as I have to buy 3 packs each week.

My A-Z album

Photobucket Album

Has Spring sprung? photo for 22nd February

Apologies for such a boring photo of my washing line - but it marks an annual landmark - today has been the first day that I have been able to hang any washing out. Its such a relief, as over winter my house tends to resemble a Chinese laundry, with washing dotted all over the house to dry or the tumbler dryer rumbling away.

The photo also shows another achievement - Steven cut the grass for the first time this year - so Yes I think Spring must really have sprung!

Images of Liverpool

When Liverpool won City of Culture for 2008 - I must admit to being very surprised, but that was down to pure ignorance as I had never even visited the city! But since Eleanor has been studying there I am starting appreciate what the city has to offer and why it was so deserving of that title and yesterdays trip was no different.

First I went to Williamsons Tunnels to do an earth cache and was able to go on a tour of the underground tunnels which he built into the sandstone rock underneath the city in the nineteenth century.

This was a fascinating insight to the social history of that period and I wish I had lots of money so that I could contribute to their funds to allow further exploration of the site.

The day was full of contrasts - the old and the new - which Liverpool seems to do very well. Next stop the contemporary Roman Catholic Cathedral

and the old sailors church at the sea front.

The modern seafront buildings sit comfortably next to the old docks and grand old shipping administrative buildings - I can't wait until this museum opens next year.

I still prefer the grandeur of this though.

Liverpool seems to pride itself on sculpture - it is dotted all around the city and whilst I can appreciate the new modern style - I really love the old grand style of sculpture.

Just look at death slyly reaching out to grasp the soldier - whilst at the same time the message extols all men to go and do their duty.

Its nice but...

21st February photo

In an attempt to cheer myself up, I sat and watched a DVD about the great Leonardo Da Vinci. So a lazy day and a lazy photo!

20th February POTD - this is how I feel today

Yep weary and forlorn. I shouldn't be as I have spent the day in Liverpool and had a lovely time. I went on a fascinating underground tour of Williamson's Tunnels and admired the re-development at the waterfront - it is going to be beautiful when it is all finished.

But I could not find 4 geocaches that I really should have done - so instead of feeling uplifted from a day out, I feel completely the opposite. Time to give this geocaching lark a rest and get back to scrapbooking.

These photos were taken today in Liverpool - and the beautiful sculptures are on a war memorial I think, because at the top it says ' its every Englishman's duty to serve'. This is the photo I will use in my album as it is landscape orientation - but the top one is so much better.

19th Feb photo - Eleanor

But which one to choose?
Eleanor came home for 24 hours to collect some things for her trip to Chicago next week. She is presenting her PhD research findings at a conference there and I am so jealous, as I would dearly love to visit Chicago! She says she just can't squeeze me in her suitcase though!

As she does not get her photo taken very often she was a willing victim for today's POTD and in honour of Cheryl's upcoming photography class I tried some arty portrait shots - not very easy on someone who wears glasses - they kept getting in the way.

I love both these shots - she prefers the one with her teeth showing and I prefer the one when they are not showing. And she really is as pale as this as she is always in the lab - she hardly ever goes outside to get any rays from the sun!

The Source of the Severn

Yesterday Thelma & I walked up to the source of the Severn River high up in the Welsh Mountains. It took us 5 hours - though we did a geocache and ate lunch at the top!

We parked the car at Hafren Forest car park by Llanidlloes. It was visitor friendly - except that the toilets were locked! It was lovely walking up and watching the Severn become smaller and smaller until we reached the little trickle at the top.

We knew we had reached the source because of this marker post - 2 sides in Welsh and 2 sides in English.

OMG how fat have I become!! The diet must start again very soon!!!

The walk was wonderful - just a steady climb along well made paths. There was a wonderful sense of achievement when we arrived at the actual source of the river, as it was so exciting to see the start of something which has such a major impact on our lives. Shrewsbury is surrounded by the river and I cross it many times a day, walk along it and when it floods, suffer the disruption that it brings.

At the top we sat and admired the views - gorgeous mountains surrounded us completely. Then we were treated to a fly by from this plane - it was so close to us as we were so high up!


After lunch and a geocache we headed back down the valley and into Llanidloes for another geocache which we could not find - so to cheer us up we headed towards a huge lake (Llyn Clywedog) created by the building of a dam. What a treat - the sun was just starting to go down so we were treated to the most glorious scenes of the lake - it took a long time to drive round as we kept stopping to take photos!




Just beautiful!

A perfect day.