It's been quiet around here...

And when I say here, I certainly don't mean my house. I have a two and a half year old so it's rarely quiet.

This blog, however, has been quiet. There's a reason for that.

This happened...

Then, about a month ago, this...

This is baby R. He's now a bit over 1 month and we're slowly finding our groove.

Nowt else to say. I could try, but my rain has turned to porridge... my rain?! I meant my brain. And, to prove a point, it just took me about a minute to find the exclamation mark on the keyboard. So apparently, writing a blog post during a feed at 1.45 in the morning doesn't make for a very riveting or coherent post (the word 'coherent' ended up with a 5 in it before I corrected it*), hey ho!

*It's not even like I'm using a touchscreen. I am using an actual keyboard.

A bit of my summer

I've been quite busy over the summer. No crafting, sadly, but lots of days out and hanging out in the garden. I am seriously behind of photo editing, but you can see what I've been up to over on my photo blog.

Months 1-12

I made a promise to myself that I would keep this blog crafty and not flood it with baby posts (I have a separate blog for that gross mushy stuff), but here's one picture I thought I'd share here.

Aren't those nappies just so cheery?

 For a full post on how to create your own monthly baby shoot, hop on over to my other blog here.

was I meant to do something today?

Hello. How are you today? I got back from a beautiful holiday yesterday, so I'm fighting headaches, muscle aches and fatigue today. Other than that, I'm pretty good. I've just had a peanut butter break. It's like a Diet Coke break, but with bread sticks and a jar of peanut butter. It was good. And when I say it's like a Diet Coke break, you know that I really mean that it just involves a break and consuming something. To my relief, there were no half-nekked men outside my window. That I know of.

I was able to share a bit of time with Mr Pip before he went off to work this morning and, it wasn't until a few hours later (when I had a look on Twitter) that I realised that it's St. Valentine's Day today. And we both forgot.

Well done, Mr Pip! We achieved what we set out to do ;)

Here's some guerilla art I did on a car on Christmas day (there's a heart, so it's relevant).

And some buisuicts

WOW. I really didn't do well at spelling that. You can tell I'm tired. Let's try again...

And some heart biscuits I made. I wish there were some left. The strawberry icing was good.

I'm hungry. Time for a tea break. Earl Grey, perhaps...

favourite Christmas presents

What? January?! When did that happen? I didn't even have a chance to attempt to fail a 365 photo project. And as for new year resolutions, I'm still not there yet. Has anyone else still got their Christmas decorations up? That's my job for today/this weekend.

So, what did Father Christmas bring you? Interestingly, some of our favourite gifts were the free ones. These are the ones I'm most proud of (or, the ones of which I am most proud):

Yes, bird-watching.

We get quite a variety of birds visiting our garden and, over the last few months, I've noticed an unhealthy interest a love for birds in Mr Pippa that I had never known before. That is to say that he loves birds, not that there are some birds inside Mr Pippa which I love (did he swallow a fly?). I digress.

So, this Christmas, we decided we'd get library books for each other (our reasoning is that if we really want to buy something, it'll be cheaper after Christmas anyway, plus we're trying to go for consumable gifts so as not to add to the clutter).

The plan was to go to the library, split up, find books for each other, take them out, hide them so as not to ruin the surprise, wrap them up and give them to each other on Christmas day. Having made a note of this obsession interest in birds he has, I found these books and gave them, along with some photography and music books, on Christmas day.

WIN!

favourite photo of the month and a great big #reverb post

This could possibly be the most staged photograph I've ever taken, but it's SOOC (straight out of camera) and I am super pleased with it. I don't use that word nearly enough. I feel like I've just fallen out of a Ladybird book. I took a little series like this and I'll upload them to Flickr over the next few days or so.

I am way, way behind on the #reverb prompts (is anyone doing them in a different order? Has anyone else been as rubbish as I have with them? Do you know of anyone giving one word answers to the prompts?). Part of this could be to do with the fact that I've been busy. It could also be because I've been making a December scrapbook (I'll attempt to post photos in the next few days). So, I thought I'd respond to a few in one post. Here goes...

Day 13: Action. When it comes to aspirations, it's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen. What's your next step?

Day 17: Lesson learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

Day 18: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did/didn't go for it?

Day 20: Beyond avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn't because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwsie deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)

Day 21: Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)

My response to the above five prompts is this:

Stop dabbling with things I'm rubbish at or just alright at and focus on things I'm actually good at. Possibly things that other people don't really do so much or something that I can do a bit better than other people (napping?). In 2011, I will try to get a teensy bit further away from being a jack of all trades and master of none.

Day 14: Appreciate. What's the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

Day 15: 5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

Day 16: Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

For me, these prompts could kind of answer each other. The question is, with the 5 minutes prompt, would you record all of the awful stuff too, so that you know what you've overcome? Or would you only record the fun stuff?

Day 19: Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?

I've experienced much healing this year. But it's not a question of what has healed me but who. Willpower and a positive outlook can only get you so far.

Merry Christmas.

Try to do some playing, if you get a chance.

10th December {#reverb10: Wisdom}

What do you mean I'm 8 days behind? Shh, you.

Prompt: Wisdom. What's the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

I try to make wise decisions everyday. But, generally, this year, it's been to stop, collaborate and listen. No hang on, that's a song. It's been to stop, wait and listen.

8th December {#reverb10: Beautifully Different}

Prompt: Beautifully different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different - you'll find they're what make you beautiful.

Hmmm. This prompt is so not me. Yes, I'm a beautiful princess warrior, bla bla bla. So, how to respond?

Well, while typing the above sentence, I was inspired (handy timing). And for this, I'll respond by talking very briefly about illness.

5 years ago, I became ill with what I would later discover/be told was M.E. I had ambitions and plans but they all got dashed upon the rocks. And that sucks.

However, if I had never become ill, I would never have returned to one of the passions I gave up after A levels: art. I would never have discovered the healing therapy of creating and I would have missed out on learning a lot. I'm pretty sure that, had I been well, I would have blindly joined the rat race immediately after university and my imagination would have been packed away in a box somewhere. And so, what was meant to harm me, has been turned around and used for good. And that is what has made life beautifully different: that good has come out of this. 

5th December {#reverb10: Let Go}

Prompt: Let go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I let go of a few things this year, most of which I didn't want to. Instead of blathering on about it, here's a picture with some writing on it.

[If you're curious, the lyrics are from a song by Rend Collective Experiment.]

3rd December (#reverb 10: Moment)

Prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year.

2nd December {#reverb10: Writing/Productivity}

Prompt: What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing* --and can you eliminate it?

*Although it says writing, I'm no writer so I've replaced it with productivity.

Response: Wasting time on the computer. I'm already working on changing this.

1st December: {#reverb10: One Word}

I'm taking part in #reverb10 this month. Because I wanted to.

Today was the first prompt and it was this:
One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

Rather than writing my inner thoughts and feelings (which would just bore us all), I thought I'd do what feels more natural for me and interpret the prompts visually. So, for today's post, it's photos:

I had a think about this one and, when I thought of a possible word for the year, I wrote it on the mirror. When I asked Mr Pippa about finding a word to encapsulate the year, he did mention a few on my list (which are pretty much all negative - I've hidden it well, don't you think? Somebody give me a medal!), he said instrumental. I prefer that.

2010: instrumental

And how about the word for 2011? Any of the ones on the mirror would be fine, thanks. I'll go for triumphant.

2011: triumphant

Until tomorrow.

PS I won't bother with introductions for the next prompts: I'll just jump straight in, if that's alright with you?

gifts for camera lovers

If you thought that Hüfa was a great gift for a photographer (and it is. Mine has stopped me from losing my lens cap about 5 times today), you should have a look at Photojojo. It's a treasure trove!

Some of my faves:

 

Camera phone lenses! This would be very cool if I had a fancy phone.




Mr Pippa got really excited about this one. It is only a model camera though, so your borrower friends couldn't even use it.




If I was one for sticking things to my MacBook, this would be cool. You can even choose between Canon and Nikon.

And now for things I'd actually use:



Not of much interest if you're not into photography, but very handy: a white balance lens cap. No more carrying around a bit of white paper. It replaces your lens cap so there's nothing extra to carry. Although, the auto white balance in Lightroom is so impressive that I can live without this for a while longer.



Magnetic polaroid frames. Super fun!



Super-Secret Spy Lens! This is genius. What I love about my Nikon D5000 (I had to check the body before I typed that. I never remember. Why don't they have them in some kind of order like, say, after 80 comes 90? No, that would be far too logical. So what comes after the D5000? No, it's not a D5001 - that could be a bit silly. It's not a D5500. It's not even a D6000. It's a D90. Where's the logic in that?! Anyway, where was I? Oh I remember...) is the flip out screen on the back (excuse the lack of technical terminology). It's what stopped me from upgrading from the Fuji sooner - I didn't want to lose the flip out screen with live view. Why? Because some of my favourite photos of people were taken with the camera nowhere near my face with the screen flipped out. Why are those photos often my favourites? Because no-one is posing and I'm able to catch the real smiles and laughter. However, sometimes, I want to look through the viewfinder. But you know that as soon as someone has a camera pointed at them, they stop the laughing and start looking all awkward. Well, not always, obviously. And not everyone, clearly, or we wouldn't have people making a living out of being models. Back to my original point: this is brilliant and I'd love to try it out. (Photojojo: fancy lending me one?)\



Cloak Camera Bag. Not as subtle as the Super-Secret Spy Lens, but still brilliant. I've been looking for a camera bag where I don't actually have to remove the camera to use it (yes, technically I don't have to remove my camera from the Crumpler bag to use it if I only want photos of the inside of the bag). I like this camera bag so much, it's getting another picture:



And finally, we have my favourite. This is the one which made Mr Pippa and me gasp in wonder and delight...




The Camera Lens Mug. 



You can even choose between a Canon and a Nikon lens. I love it.

lens cap issues

I really like my Nikon (no it's not the name of my dog, it's a camera. I don't have a dog. But, if I did, I'd call him Spartacus or something). It's a joy to use (we're back to the camera now) and I'm very happy with the results it gives me. There's just one problem with it: the lens cap. Well, the lens cap itself works fine, but there's no way of attaching it to the camera. Surely I can't be the only person who finds this a problem? With my previous camera, there were a couple of teeny tiny holes on the outside of the lens cap and a dainty little strap thing looped through, attached to the camaera strap. Yes, the camaera strap. It's a new spelling you may not have seen before. ANYWAY, having the lens cap attached to the camera meant that I could just whip it off and snap away, without a care in the world. But now, I have to actually hang on to the silly thing while I'm snapping. The kind people at Hüfa heard of my lens cap plight and sent me this lens cap holder:

Thank you very much, Hüfa. Tell me: is it pronounced hoo-fa? Or is it just a strange decorative thing?

Thank you also for the diagram on how to use the Hüfa holder. I might have ended up attaching it to my leg or something.

The hüfa, ready for use.

The hüfa, attached to the camera strap. (I realise the diagram shows the hüfa on the wider part of the strap, but it was easier to photograph like this.)

Ooo. The hüfa holding the lens cap. Clever little hüfa.

So, I am presently testing out the little lens cap holder. It's good. I haven't had a chance to properly test it out yet, so I'll do a follow-up post when I have more to say about it.

So, how are you? It's been a while. Have I missed much? Sorry, what was that? You'd like to see pictures of the baby shower decorations I made? Oh alright then. That'll be the next post.





Do you have any idea how difficult it was to photograph the hüfa on the strap?! First, there was the holding-a-mirror-above-the-camera thing, then there was the problem of holding the mirror still, then there was the issue of focusing on the hüfa, which can be a struggle in a mirror which needs dusting, as the camera would much rather focus on the dust (see below).


Obviously, if I had known how grubby the mirror was, I might have given it a clean before the little photography session.