7th October photo - Jessica's surprise!

This evening Jess & I went to Birmingham National Indoor Arena to see Michael McIntyre - he is not really my cup of tea but Jess loves him - so I bought these tickets ages ago for her and it has nearly killed me trying to keep it a secret! She had no idea that I had planned anything until Monday when I asked her not to go to the gym after work but to come straight home tonight, as we were going out. She sulked for 2 days because she thought I was taking her somewhere cultural like an art gallery or a classical concert!

Anyway tonight she still had no idea where we were going - even when we caught the train to Birmingham - she had some faint hope that we might be going on a late night shopping trip - her idea of heaven! As we walked up to the Symphony Hall she saw lots of people in black tie evening suits and was convinced we were going to a classical concert and her face really dropped - but she was delighted as I walked past this venue and on towards the NIA. There were posters outside for all sorts of acts, so she relaxed and started guessing, but it was not until we walked into the box office to collect the tickets that she saw a poster for Micheal McIntyre and realised that this was my surprise - she literally screamed out loud she was so excited!!

Her face was a picture and she was so happy and could not believe that I had managed to do anything so cool as this! (I am not the coolest mother at all according to the children!) She said this was the bestest surprise of her life and was actually glad that I had kept her in suspense for so long

I knew that cameras were not allowed so I had not even taken mine with me as I could not take the risk of it being confiscated - so the following pictures were taken on my mobile phone - so aplogies for the quality.

One very happy Jessica outside the NIA

The canal outside the NIA looked beautiful all lit up in the darkness.

Our tickets were at the back of this vast hall - but when we went to see where we were sitting the door person said why didn't we go and see if there were any returns for better seats -

- so off Jess ran as fast as she could and came back with 2 seats right next to the stage - she was now in 7th heaven! look at her happy smiley face!

We now had front row seats on the tiered section - I think these were the best seats - we were so close to him and no one blocking our view.

I surprised myself by chuckling a few times - I am not known for my sense of humour! But he was very good. Jess laughed and laughed all night - so much so that her sides really hurt afterwards.

One very happy Jess on the train on the way home - clutching her precious tickets. She is going to do a scrapbook layout with them - I have taught her well!

6th October photo - big eggs!

A group of us girls were talking the other day about eggs - a very strange conversation - not really sure how we got on to it. But double yolkers were mentioned and I said how sad it was that my children would never get to see such strange quirks of nature now, due to the stringent rules on food standards.

Well today I was presented with these 6 huge eggs by Karen whose husband is a farmer. Just look at the size of them compared to my normal eggs!

And just look how amazing they look in the pan.

and the kids think they are fab!! Thanks Karen.

5th October photo - pretty chocs

A friend gave me a little present over the weekend - this lovely box of Chocolates - she knew I had a sweet tooth from reading my blog - 'you never feature anything savoury - its always cakes & sweets' she said! Oh dear I think she is right.

Anyway I think the packaging is so lovely, I thought I would use it as my photo of the day.

This photo serves 2 purposes - it is also to show the effects of the new Tiffen warming filter, I have bought to use on my Nikon DSLR camera. The top photo is with the filter on and this bottom one is taken without - it was also taken with a different camera - so not a very well controlled experiment at all - but it show why I am quite pleased with this new filter. Now if only I could find the polarising filter I bought in the summer and promptly lost - we may see some better photos!

Right now I have photographed it - I can go and rip the packaging off and tuck in!!

4th October photo - winter flowers

Yesterday (just like Karen!) I called at a garden centre and picked up some winter flowers to go in my now empty hanging basket.

I think this top photo will be my POTD

Today I have filled it with a new grow bag and some lovely winter flowering pansies. I hope that over the winter we will be treated to a wonderful show of colour (and some POTD opportunities!)
I also bought some lovely yellow primroses for the small beds at the front of the house - which should cheer the postman up!

So sorry not very exciting photos today - but I am hoping that in a few months the flowers will be in full bloom. I hope they bloom before the end of the year and the end of this 365 day project or else I could have saved myself £20!

3rd October photo - Autumn at Attingham

Today I visited my local NT property Attingham Park with a view to taking lots of Autumn photos - I did not do as well as I had hoped as the trees were still quite green -I think I came a week or 2 early. But I have still managed to get a few nice shots.

I had really hoped to find some fiery red leaves - but there were none - I am going to have to keep looking elsewhere for these. But this collection of orangey leaves on the ground have a nice reddish tinge - so this is my POTD.

A nice small shower when I was out left this collection of rain drops on this pretty leaf.

Despite lots of green trees still - there were a few changing colour.

I have been looking for Acorns for ages and despite lots of Oak trees about these 3 acorns were the only ones I could find.

2nd October photo - Shrewsbury Castle

A late posting tonight as I wanted to take another night shot. Today's photo is Shrewsbury Castle lit up at night. I drove past it earlier on in the week and thought that it would make an ideal shot for today - but perhaps a Friday evening was not a good time to go into town for it as there were lots of young people out 'enjoying themselves'! I looked a bit out of place - this old woman in frumpy clothes carrying a tripod, with 2 cameras slung around my neck!!

The oldest parts of the Castle were built between 1066 and 1074, during the reign of William the Conqueror. There were additions over several centuries. Later, in the late 18th century, Thomas Telford remodelled the interior as a private house. The Castle was acquired by the Corporation of Shrewsbury in 1924 through the generosity of Shropshire Horticultural Society. The Castle houses the spectacular collections of the Shropshire Regimental Museum Trust including pictures, uniforms, medals, weapons and other equipment from the 18th Century to the present day.There was an attempt by the IRA to blow it up a few years ago.

There are 2 photos of it as I used 2 different cameras. The top one was taken with my Panasonic bridge camera and I like the bright colours and how it has captured the moon so well.

This second one was taken with my Nikon DSLR and is more true to the real colours of the Castle. If only there had not been a huge tree growing right up in front of the castle - the pics would have been perfect!

1st October photo - my mum

I had to go and see my mum today to re-tune her Freeview box and I thought that she has not featured very much in my 365 project - so here she is my photo of the day.

The photo is taken on her balcony in her apartment. She lives in her lovely 2 bedroomed flat - it is for the elderly and they have a resident warden, but everyone lives independently. She just likes the reassurance of knowing that there is someone there. They is a thriving social community and through this has discovered card making and often comes and borrows some of my craft supplies. She moved in last year - leaving our family home that she had lived in ever since she had got married. It took a little bit of adjusting to - but now she does not miss it and the responsibility for its up keep at all. She has a lovely big balcony overlooking a small nature reserve - which she has filled with lots of pots & tubs of flowers, bulbs & small plants. She is close to town, the cinema and supermarkets - so has the best of both worlds. She is very active and is out most days at exercise classes, art classes, choir, painting, tai chi etc. - I hope I will be as active as she is when I get to 77