flowers

Good day to you all.

I am pleased to say that I have finally been out and about in the garden again with my proper camera. It's been a wee while, it felt so good to be using it again and was a good opportunity to practice some of the techniques I learnt in my photography course a few weeks ago. Am quite pleased with some of the shots and certainly felt like I had more control and knowledge of the camera than what I had prior to attending the course, hopefully that shows.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend, whatever you may be doing. 

instagram

I've just joined Instagram. Yes I know I am on the ball yet again. Always one step ahead of the game. Finger on the trigger and all that. 

Before I joined Instagram I had a preconception about it being pretty much just close ups of people posing and photos of frothy coffee and the like but I'm actually really enjoying it, some peoples photos are absolutely incredible and really inspiring, I was so wrong. Anyhoo here are a few snaps I've taken so far...

If you would like to follow me on Instagram, or join me on there or whatever Instagram folk say, you can do so here. Also if you're an avid Instagram fan and you have any recommendations of good people to follow, please do let me know. 

In other news me and Allsy are going to look at a little kitten tomorrow, hopefully another addition to our happy little brood. She's a little black female and she is stunningly beautiful, every time I see her photo I get an overwhelming desire to hold her close to me and squeeze her tight. A little creepy perhaps but I really am so excited.

I hope you all have lovely weekends, it's my birthday on Tuesday so me and Allsy have 5 days off in a row together, woop woop!!

photography course

On Saturday I went to a photography course at a particularly beautiful spot in the Peak District. The course was a birthday present from my folks (my birthday's next week) and it was a truly great present indeed. 

The course was held at Magpie Mine, a place I will most definitely be visiting again. There was so much to photograph and unfortunately I didn't get chance to explore it much as we were mainly there to learn the techniques. It was a stunning place to explore though, there was so much history and the nearby village Sheldon was one of the prettiest villages I've ever been to. 

It was a brilliant but exhausting day, I learnt so much my brain started to implode but I feel like I'm finally starting to understand what all the settings and dials are on my camera now. Can't wait to get some more practice done.  

So, as I said before I was mainly at the site to learn the techniques and many of the tests we did we just photographed walls and the like. I did however manage to get a few snaps whilst I was there which aren't too bad. Hopefully it will give you a wee insight into the beauty of the place. Many of the wildflowers had been and gone but this particularl site is home to many rare beauties, am so happy that a site like this is protected and so remains so preserved.

If you are in the Peak District area and fancy going on the course, please do let me know and I'll give you the details. They're apparently not allowed to advertise the courses due to rules bound by various governing bodies so I don't want to advertise it here just in case but it was a truly great course, the teacher was very knowledgeable and patient and I learnt a hell of a lot in a short space of time. I couldn't recommend it highly enough, thanks to my lovely Ma and Pa for making it happen. 

allsy's grandads

On Sunday me and Allsy went to his Grandad's house. Allsy's Grandad, Dennis, is a true character, a Hungarian man who escaped to this country during Stalin's power, he is an eccentric to say the least and has had such an incredible life.

Dennis is also a true plantsman. He has the largest greenhouse I have ever seen which used to be full of cactuses, grown on a very large scale. I have seen photos and trust me it looked impressive. Sadly due to personal circumstances many didn't survive but I would have loved to have seen it. It also has been home to a huge amount of snails and chickens, although obviously not at the same time, that would be madness.

Here is the greenhouse in its current state. I also love it like this too and would be very happy pottering about in there...

Dennis does appear to grow quite a lot of succulents, these trays seemed to stretch out for miles. 

Within the main garden, there are various buildings, one for storing wood but most seem to contain items hoarded over the years.

There are also various other hoarded items laying around the garden, no doubt in case they come in useful.

Dennis's garden is a bit of a car graveyard too, I bet this one was a real beauty in its time.

He also grows a lot of roses. His tip for growing good roses is to completely neglect them. To just let them do their thing. A risky strategy perhaps but it seems to work as all the climbers, ramblers and bushes were smothered in flowers.

With the weather being so nice we spent most of the evening outside so unfortunately I didn't manage to get many photos of the inside of his home. Will try to get some next time as I love his home in equal amounts to his garden! Here is a sneaky glimpse of the kitchen to give you an idea of what it's like. Warning: minimalists look away!

Towards the end of the evening we went for a walk with Allsy's uncle around the nature reserve behind his house. It was a very beautiful place, stupidly I forgot to charge the batteries on my camera before I went out so these are the only photos I have.

It was a lovely evening though.