366 project

Some of last week's daily photo's.  I know they should be in b&w to go with the 26 wk challenge, but these were taken with my compact which doesn't do b&w.

Bernadette waiting in the queue to register for the run.

Cup Cake display at the the Ovarian Cancer Cupcake Tea Sale that a friend held in the village, £295.80 was raised for this very good cause, one that I feel gets over looked abit.  Guess this one is close to my heart as the friend who organised it lost her 18yr old daughter to it and I lost mum to it.

Moving swiftly on, this next image is actually tulip stems, messed about with in photoshop, just something different.

Amanda came home from the UCAS day last Tues with a bag full of uni prospectus's for us to wade through and short list to 5!!

Talking above of b&w images, the current challenge in the 26 wk challenge is to only photograph in b&w.  Started this last Monday and I was surprised at how hard I have been finding this.  Especially as the weather has been gorgeous and the colours of nature so beautiful trying to capture that in b&w it seems very odd. So hand on heart I have been taking both, it would be better if I just set the camera to b&w and then turned the LCD screen off, then I would just take the photo and not immediately look at the screen - did you know the act of taking an image and then immediately looking at the screen is known as "chimping" lol -  I do a lot of chimping

Run completed

Sunday finally arrived and what an odd day it turned out to be.  I surfaced casually and excited about the impending 10K run to find Bernadette already up and dressed to go - very eager.  I casually came on here for my morning fix and was deciding what to have for breakfast just to discover I had forgotten to move the clocks forward and it is 8.03am not 7.03am, we had to be out of the house by 8.30am, I'm in pj's, Mick is still snoring and I am hungry, not even had my hot water!!  Not a good start.  So mad panic follows for the next 27mins some how we made it, leaving Amanda at home to cycle to work.  The run was due to start at 10am ...... after four trips to the delightful portaloos and a fair bit of hanging around we finally got going at 10.45am.  Me being me,  never thought about the wind aspect when running along side a runaway - it doesn't half whip down there, it was like resistance running.  Eventually approximately 2.5K later we turned round and the wind was behind us which was lovely.  We did really well and didn't stop - other than for B to retie her shoe lace - until we reached  a hill (I just don't do hills - abit ironic considering where we live!)  that was nearly 4K into the run.   I totally confess to struggling with the last 2K, purely due to the knees and the fact that just after we started I literally felt my calf go 'ping' and I knew something was not good, but was not going to give in until I really had to!!!  I can hear so many saying stupid girl - yep that is me!  Still we did it, it was good, I was amazed to discover how good my breathing is when running (my lungs are obviously the fittest part of me!) as I didn't really feel out of breath at all, maybe the pain shoooting through my leg was a good distraction LOL.  Bernadette is hooked and looking for the next run - think it could be a 10mile one (this was  6 miles), so I best get this leg sorted and back into training.  When we finished we queued for our free leg massage, the guy I had kindly informed me I had torned my calf muscle, thankfully not a big tear but a tear nevertheless and needed to ice pack it asap.  So my afternoon was spend hobbling around and ice packing and feeling sorry for myself - my own fault - I will learn - one day!!
The downer to the day was returning to the car to find the bloke who had parked next to us upon our arrival had put a huge dent in the front passenger door, which will cost around £800 - £900 to repair - Mick was not a happy chappie, which I can't blame him. :(  Then when home we get a phone call from Amanda asking if she could be picked up from work, as she fell off her bike on the way to work and landed on her operated knee and cut her elbow up - thankfully the knee appears to be only bruised and she is OK, the alternative does not bare thinking about!!!!
In fact I had to smile in the afternoon at one point, as Bernadette was shattered and lying on the sofa, Amanda winching in discomfort with knee and arm and myself sat on the other sofa with ice pack on said calf and Mick cooking tea and looking after us all - bless him. He is soooo good.  That must be a first.

The best bit of all though is we raised a huge £230 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance - THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored us and have supported us throughout the training, it has helped so much.  And that is the reason I was NOT going to give up when running because of the amount people had given so vey generously. 

Anyway here is one of the photos Mick took for us, prior to the run.

 For some reason the ones of us running are refusing to upload so once I can work out was is wrong I shall add them :) in the mean time here are some fil took,

 just to prove we did go over the finishing line. :D

Ever felt ripped off?

You may remember this post I wrote back in Dec re my new running shoes.  Well for the last few weeks my legs/knee have been suffering and last week I began to wonder if it was my trainers.  So I popped into a specialist running shop and explained everything to the owner (who had been recommended by a couple of runners). He booked me in for a gait test on the Friday.  So in I go armed with my trainers and I am put through this test of running on the tread mill and being videoed.  The result was he says I have a very good case to go back to the first shop and complain as not only were the shoes sold to me NOT running shoes but the wrong size as well hence the pain I have developed in legs, knee and hip!!!!  The end result of this is

my new running shoes that feel like a pair of slippers ( should do at the blooming price!! - no I haven't confessed that to anyone .... yet - not even Mick).  The nice chap assured me that I will be able to do the run on Sunday though the legs will take a couple of weeks to recover and get back into a normal running position and that I will be able to do a half marathon by May next year!!
Guess I am just one of those people that shop assistants see coming, too trusting!!

366 project

Some of last week's images

 Amanda very kindly agreed to model for myself and a friend so we could do some slow shutter speed shots, the idea was to blur the motion of the sea with a Amanda sitting still.  Happy with this but need to practice more.

 Statue Boy in Truro, fascinating the public.

On my way home from work yesterday afternoon.

26wk Photo Challenge - Shapes

The last theme was to photograph shapes, be it in nature or man made.  Here are my three offerings.

 Love the shapes created by the hyacinth coming into bud.

  (AV mode, 90mm, ss1/160, f4.5, ex comp -1, ISO 100)

Circles,

(AV mode, 90mm, ss 1/125, f4, ISO 200)

(AV mode, ss 1/250, f5, ISO 200)

As for my favourite I am torn between the wheelbarrow and the hyacinth.

The next challenge is to set your camera to black and white (most cameras will allow you to only take b&w images have a look in your manual)  and only take black and white images for the next fortnight.  So when composing you shot look for tones, contrast, shadows, textures etc.  All these will make a b&w image much more interesting.

A nice day out.

Mick is using his annual leave up for the next two weeks, unfortunately I couldn't get the same time off, so we planned that on my days off we would go out somewhere different each time and work our way through our places to visit list. So last Wednesday we started off with a walk up Rough Tor (pronounced router!) it was very misty when we got there in fact we couldn't even see the top of the Tor!! nevertheless we set off with a head on wind which was biting. 

This was the view when we reached the top, still very misty so we have planned another trip there on a sunny day so we can really appreciate the view.

By the time we had walked back down the mist had cleared and the sun was out and this is where we had been.  The little dot on the left hand side of the pic half way up is a person!

After our picnic in the car we headed for Port Issac -  of 'Doc Martin' fame. I have never been before and it is a lovely little fishing village with some gorgeous cornish cottages.  To be honest I would not like to be there in the summer as I bet you wouldn't be able to move for people.

A number fishing boats had gone out but this one was still in and Mick fell in love with it, it did look nice and I know nothing about fishing boats!

I couldn't resist the patterns in the sand, they looked like trees to me (or shapes that could fit in with the photo challege theme!!)

and last but not least it would not have been right to visit Port Issac and not take a photo of Doc Martin's surgery would it now!!  So for all you fan's there it is, did we see the man himself?  No, but I have to confess to literally bumping into him years ago in Littlewoods restaurant in Truro (now Bhs) and all I can say is he is VERY TALL!!  and very pleasant especially as I was carrying knives and forks which ended squashed between us!!

On Thursday we had lunch at Fifteen Cornwall, (Jamie Oliver's) they were doing an offer of a three course meal for £20 each, so as a special treat we went (birthday's, anniversaries etc etc!!).  It was stunning the food was gorgeous and we had a sea view even though it was misty again, we could just make out the surfers.  I'm not one for taking photos of food in restaurants, but I could not resist taking this one of my dessert - it was just so pretty I didn't want to eat it.

and it tasted as good as it looks.

A belated monthly image

On Sunday I took my monthly photo and then in the evening whilst messing around with the camera promptly deleted it so I retook it today, the only difference being today we have been covered in thick fog so it is not a very exciting photo,

it doesn't really look any different to the others, but the trees are starting to bud so hopefully next month is will show more.

Sky Watch Friday

Couldn't resist stopping the car and taking this photo as I drove out of the village yesterday.

For my lovely skies visit

Running Update

Thought it was high time I updated you all on my running progress from this post  well since then I have been out running nearly every other day and I am now up to ........5 miles :) the charity run takes place on the 25th March which is not far off now - I am getting a little worried that I may not reach the 6.2 miles before the run but I am going to do my best.  I run with another lady who is not doing the run and only wanted to be able to do a mile without stopping, which I am proud to say we can do 1.3miles without stopping and she suffers with asthma, so it doing absolutely fantastic. Bernadette is training hard in Bristol and I have a feeling she is going much faster than me :(  but then there are 30yrs between us!!

So if any of you have the urge to part with some money please visit our fundraising page here .  I know some of you have already seen it on facebook and flickr and sponsored us via it or in person to me, but any one who knows me knows that when it comes to fundraising for a good cause I have no quarms about asking for money, any other time I wouldn't ask for anything :)

Anyway must go 5miles is calling and I'm still in my dressing gown drinking tea!!

Especially for Janice

As flattered I am by Janice's comment last week on my Heligan post I had to laugh,  so I thought I would post some just for you Janice - some rubbish photos that you won't be able to say "lovely" at lol :) all sooc.

This is what I get when I use a slowish shutter speed, hold the camera in an awkward position and don't use a tripod!!

 The next two taken in the evening last night with compact, didn't check white balance or hold the camera steady - again!!

So there you go Janice - enjoy :D

Last week's daily photos.

Here is a selection of my daily photos from last week, though I missed Thurs and Friday due to a horrid headache that arrived on Wed and would not go away regardless of what medication and how much I took :(

Wednesday, such a beautiful day,

 Tuesday, playing with b&w - not sure if it really worked.

Saturday, spent a lovely morning at the garden centre and bought lots of small plug plants so repotted them all when I got home. 

 Sunday, still pottering in the greenhouse, this is my freshly repotted begonia - well a close up of a leaf.

Sky Watch Friday

Took this last Wednesday as it was just such an amazingly beautiful day, it read 18o in the car. Not a cloud just some whisps,

 For more amazing skies go to

26wk Photo Challenge - Random

The theme for the last two weeks was to photograph random things, things you would not normally photograph. Here are Yvonne's

So here are my examples of randomness. 

 First on taken at Heligan, no idea what the tree is but I just love the colour of the leaves.

 AV mode, ss 1/200, f5.6, ISO 500, WB cloudy, fl 80mm.

Sat in the car whilst at work in the evening waiting for time to pass so I could do my next call, found myself photographing the inside of the car with my compact. This is my gear stick and a grubby one at that!

AV mode, ss 1/60, f6/3, ISO 100, flash on (it was 8.45pm!!)

Alarm clock number 2 (yes I need two!)

AV mode, ss 1/100, f5.6, ISO 500, 90mm,

As to which is my favourite, I am torn between the first and the last, love the colours of the first but love the idea and composition of the last one.

The next theme on the list is shapes, so that can be shapes in anything, obvious shapes or shapes that nature has made that you really need to look for. Upload by the 18th March, but most of all have fun.