My Month in Numbers

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December 2013

I’m joining in with Julie (that sounds like a little song!) by recording last month in numbers.
I don’t actually keep a log of numbers, I use my calendar which serves as my mouse mat and my photos from the month to make the post. Not very technical but very accurate as I can’t move and go no-where if it’s not on my calendar. I’m going to try to look for more numbers this year though.

Min December

I’m not sure what has happened to my image this time. It is perfectly legible in Photoshop but by the time it arrived here I can’t read any of the numbers!! I’ll fix it before I print it.

31 pictures taken for project 365, that completes another year.

591 pictures taken this month but then we were away for
4 nights as a pre Christmas treat and then there was Christmas. Santa was very generous indeed and gave me a
100 mm lens for my camera

3 lunches with friends

1 lunch with family in a fun place in the middle of no where. It was an old mill now a craft centre and shop selling all sorts as well as coffee every day and Sunday Lunches!. Ben said he wasn’t sure about eating lunch in a shop although the pair of us had fun trying all the hats on whilst waiting for lunch.

1 visit to the hairdresser, I have had enough of growing my hair now.

2 nail appointments this month, just the way the days fell

1 new carpet fitted. A gorgeous dark red in our hall stairs and landing…I love it!

1 day with 2 appointments at the doctors surgery and 2 appointments at the dentist!!
Goodness knows how that happened.

1 craft evening complete with nibbles, wine and our secret Santa

1 lunch with my wednesday group. You may remember the fuss one of the ladies was making about our Christmas lunch. Well as it turned out, she didn’t come!
Mary made Duck terrine with confit of oranges which was ‘to die for’
I cooked a beautiful beef in red wine with chestnut dumplings for the main course and Jean and Sonia each made a dessert. No we couldn’t move afterwards but we laughed a lot and evereyone was thrilled with their Secret Santa.

52 cards received from Moo.com The second half of the year of Looking Up and Down.

6 days my dog was in the Kennels NOT a happy bunny or dog actually.

3 sad days this month. Life also happens in December not just Christmas

But we had 1 really fabulous, relaxed, fun, family Christmas Holiday.

and the Communal Count

06 Dec The Communal Count

I watched
2 films for the life of me I can’t remember the names of! We watched them one afternoon, one after the other, very unusual for us.
Love Actually
Polar Express
Four Christmases
While You Were Sleeping
The Holiday
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Miracle on 34th Street
and The Snowman

Mistletoe and Photo Art Friday

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I love Mistletoe. I love the shape of the leaves, the shiny white berries, it’s abundance way up in the trees around here all year long and yet only for a few weeks in December can you buy it.
Along with the holly and the Christmas tree, the evergreen mistletoe is symbolic of the eventual rebirth of vegetation that will occur in spring…or sooner if last year is anything to go by.
I was lucky enough to get hold of a beautiful branch of it this year which I kept on the table outside my door so that it would stay fresh for longer.

I made an abstract to hang on the wall at Bonnies gallery for the first Photo Art Friday of the New Year

Abstract mistletoe

and thought I’d share some of my mistletoe pictures with you.

mistletoe 1

Mistletoe 3

Mistletoe 2

mistletoe 6

Mistletoe 4

Mistletoe 5

I put a few small twigs of it in the wreath at my back door, this morning when I saw Lotta she was thrilled to tell me that for the first time in her life (24 years) she received a ‘kiss under the mistletoe’. How beautiful is that?

Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photos gave us a new texture she calls Old Tablecloth.

Thank you for the beautiful texture Bonnie. I went back and had another play. I couldn’t resist the idea of throwing an ‘Old Tablecloth’ over an OK photo and instantly turning it into something special.

I like the way this looks a bit like a tapestry.

Mistletoe and tablecloth

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year 2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with everything you hoped for?
I did, which is why I have been AWOL for ages.
I have spent zero hours on the computer/internet since my last post and need a few more days to get back into it. I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year, to thank you for your Christmas wishes and once again Thank You for taking part in my festive swap. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to see some decorations on my Christmas tree that have come from you. I’ll post some pictures soon.

I have been thinking about Helena’s new weekly meme Zoom In/Zoom Out or ZIZO as I’ve affectionately named it.

Here are my attempts for the first of January 2014 or ZIZO Week One

We have had some appalling weather here over the holiday and on the one lovely day I was out I didn’t have my long lens with me. I made the Zoom Out first and knew I would have to use my photo-editing programme to Zoom In on the black dog.
It wasn’t great so I made it look like a painting, it is just what I was thinking of as I made the picture though.

ZiZo dog and tree

ZiZo Tree and dog

The second pair I made by walking towards the fallen tree and then walking backwards towards the precipice (not really) but it was so wet underfoot that I had to stop here.

Zoom in Tree

Zoom out

Thank goodness the tree didn’t fall on the house!

I loved doing this and had I made a plan I would have taken my long lens but as it tuned out I had to work a bit harder. It’s going to be a really fun project.

Thanks Helena
zoom-in-zoom-out-button_thumb

The School Term is Almost Over

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I can’t resist posting this Christmas Story received tonight from my brother, a teacher.

A Christmas story from the school where my brother teaches

A Colleague was teaching a year 9 class and was asking them about Christmas and what their plans were.

They each told their stories of being with family and friends and looking forward to all the nice things that Christmas will bring.

He then asked them whether they knew the story of the three wise men visiting the baby Jesus. They knew the story or had least have heard about it. He then asked them do you know what gifts they brought the baby Jesus? One began with G one began with F and the last one M.

They soon guessed that the G was gold but they were a little unsure about the F one suggested Fudge and the other one suggested Frog because she had a pet Frog and enjoys poking it with a stick.

Roll on the end if term, can’t wait to see you.

Bubbles 2

Better get something chilled ready for him, perhaps something with bubbles which is what my photo is; bubbles from a bubble machine.

Looking Up and Down…

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… at a guy playing with fire.

Looking down at the pole balancing on his feet
Looking down playing with fire

Looking up as he made the flames huge
Looking Up playing with fire

He was very entertaining and the large crowds loved his show. I wondered how you find out you can balance fire on the ends of a pole? and I also wondered why?

And as it’s been raining here so much I had to find something positive about it all…puddles.
So, Looking up at the lichen on the branches of a tree

Looking up at branches

And down though the puddle at the branches on the same tree
Looking down at branches

Thank you Helena. Only one more week to go. It has been a wonderful year Looking Up and Down with you all.