31 days....

So i've managed a whole month into my 365 photos! I've amazed my self a little bit! I've also blogged every day since new year - it's the longest I've ever kept a resolution! But's it's a fun one, so I guess that's cheating!

Green....

Bit of retail therapy this evening including this yummy necklace from Next..... it's perfect for Green Wednesday! (Don't ask!!!)

Bam!

So this isn't my news, but it's still pretty exciting!! I'm on the Bam Pop gallery!! It's my LO of Martha munching on her ice-cream! (It's further down on here!) Hurrah! I so love Bam Pop so i'm thrilled to be there!
People (who haven't met my girls in person) are always asking just how big they are.... well this is Martha who can easily each the middle of the (rather tall) kitchen table! She's a right skinny bean still but after weighing her on Friday she weighs 62.2kg (that's 137lbs in old money!) and she's only just hit 13 months. That's just a little bit less than Lola, even taking into account her slight spread after her resting from her ops and shes at least 3 inches taller! What a great beast!

Giant tongue + news?

Just a pic of Lola at hydrotherapy - check out the size of her tongue! Plus it shows all it's lovely spots!

So just to drive you all crazy again, I've got some more news, but can't reveal it yet! Stay tuned though! Patience will be rewarded... actually that's pretty appropriate!

Challenge.....

My team over on UKScrappers are setting the weekly challenge this week. If you are a member I'd love for you to join in and share your pages over there... If you're not, why not share them here!!!
Here's my page, I just adore Love Elsie ribbons, and keep them all securely stuffed in one of my more capacious tote pockets so I've always got them to hand!

I lost my Lost Prophets!!

I've got no idea where they went from my post a couple of days age.... but here they are again!

Composition 101

Oh my gosh another glorious day!! It's a bit unnerving! Went to Poole Park and after Martha had romped around in the water, entertainng the crowds, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures.

So as I was shooting merrily away, taking advantage of some families kindly feeding the birds, I noticed that a group of people had started to gather either side of me, shooting the same direction as me with their compacts! It seemed like they thought that as I had a large lens, I I clearly had the best vantage point and that standing within 18 inches of me was the only way to go! I popped my lens cap on as I finished and as I turned around to leave, I nearly wiped out a little Japanese lady with a teeny camera with my camera bag! She must have been within inches of me!

Loving this at the moment!

Although Nick assured me it wasn't new, I heard this for the first time on Radio 1 the other morning and really like it!

Look into the light!

Finally some decent weather and a chance to get out and about with my camera! I love, love, love my ultra wide angle lens and i think these are ok for early days! The first few are at Moyles Court one of my favourite places, (Newfies like it quite a lot too!)

These cows were hanging out near Burley

This gorgeous little chuch is quite close to home at Harbridge, I've been wanting to take pictures of it for ages, but it's always been far too dreary when I've been passing.

And this one is the oak tree at the end of our road - it wasn't taken with the Ultra wide, but it's here because I can't believe how blue the sky was!

Martha's Cheer Squad

Walking Martha in the village this afternoon, I was stopped by a girl who ran out of the hairdressers and asked if it was ok if she could say 'Hello' to Martha. 'Of course' I said, Martha loves meeting everyone and anyone who's brave enough to risk the slobber is ok by me, straight away she asked if I could bring Martha to meet the rest of the staff, and all of a sudden Martha is being swamped by about 8 hairdressers!!! I was tempted to leave her with them for a quick trim and blow-dry! I wonder if it'll work the same with Fireman or Rugby players???

Just call me Jacques Cousteau!

It's not amazing... but it's definately Newfie legs and they are definately underwater! Hurrah for Olympus!

Lola thoroughly enjoyed the second of her biweekly hydrotherapy sessions, and I got almost as wet as her as usual!

I made another little purchase last week, that arrived yesterday and it had it's first outing today. Although Martha knows exactly how to walk nicely to heel, she's at that naughty teenager stage and weighing in at about 10stone when she gets a bit excited to see other dogs, she can get a bit strong, so I've invested in a Dogmatic. It's an absolute revelation! It's now absolutely no effort to walk her and is a lot more relaxing for us both, i'm thinking that walking calmly is the best way to train her that walking calmly is a good thing!!

Wise....

Courtesy of my wise friend Kat....

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort…

Rollercoaster of emotion.

What a traumatising morning already! In my car I have a little Auxillary socket, that I can plug my ipod into, it's great because I don't have to cart around a load of cds or have one of those radio-transmitter things. But this morning, I was convinced my little red ipod was broken, I couldn't get the socket/or headphones in the hole.... I was very sad... especially as it's just out of warranty.

But then a little ray of sunshine entered my world. A teeny silver lining to my cloud... the wonderful new PINK iPod Nano has just been announced! And come pay day it was to be mine! So all was good with the world... and then i thought 'I'll just have a little look at my old one..' and after much peering I spotted something untoward about the socket.... there appeared to be something lodged inside! So (and don't try this at home kids!!) I had a little probe with my pokey tool. And out came.... a teeny collection of dog chew bits!!!

I really shouldn't be surprised....

So i've saved £130 quid.... but i'm a bit sad that my life won't have this little nugget of goodness.....

Rosy posy pie!!

Todays picture is my lovely Lola, who I think has decided she's all better and is wanting to frolic around all over the place! Here she is looking gorgeous as ever!
Spent the afternoon at work playing with the fab Two Scoops from Basic Grey, I adored it straight away and think I could us it for ever!!! I can't share my pages yet though!

I've been far too lazy this evening to go to the crop, but i'm sure the girls are still having fun! I've been out every day this week and i'm knackered!! Must be getting old!

There's a new challenge up today at A True Friend - this time it's all abour Muddy pets, so it was a breeze for me!!! I used some more of my beloved Love Elsie and a picture of my kitchen floor apres Martha! I think I could use this title on about a million pages!!!

Extreme close up...

No.... I haven't caved and bought a Macro lens, this is using my 50mm and a set of 25 quidaroonie extension tubes. Bargain! Although donations towards lenses gratefully received!!!

Panda Toaster

I want one!

Bam!

I realised I hadn't posted any pages for ages! So here's couple from the last few days. The first one is using the new Papermania Love range, I love these, and think they go great with all sorts of other products - The papers and brads are my total favourites!

Next is loads of Bampop and Hambley, I'm so in ove with both of these at the moment! The pictures are Martha having a Birthday ice cream!

No news...

So perhaps unsurprisingly I never heard from the RSPCA inspector, despite ringing again. I've lost the tiny scrap of respect I had for them now and honestly can't think the best for poor little Fernando. They seem to be totally uncaring.

Lola went to hydrotherapy this evening, I think she's really getting to enjoy it now, and it's quite wonderful to see her amazing swimming action - Newfs swim differently to other dogs, it's much less frantic and very stylish! She knows exactly where she's going before she gets there and gets very excited!


So it's been pouring down here again this evening. So i've got a damp picture of Martha today.

My lovely clean kitchen floor, is like a big puddle again!! Hey ho!

If I had to do the same again, I would, my friend, fernando!

With a little trip to Poole Park (that left me wanting to upgrade some of my glass.... anyone got a couple of spare grand??) this was my favourite little guy. He's a tufted duck and reminded me of another special little tufty chap from Friday.
After arriving at work at 8am, there was a sad little duck sitting in the middle of our car park (right in the path of the huge lorries!), and after Nick and I tried to usher him out of the way we noticed that he had a poorly leg - the poor little mite was hopping along. Little Fernando (yes... we just had to name him!) decided the safest place to take sanctuary was under Nick's car! So after calling the RSPCA, while we were waiting we wondered if he might like to get his strength back with a little snack, and although we didn't have any bread, a bit of a plain sponge angel cake went down a treat. Later in the morning the RSPCA inspector arrived and after extracting him from under the car with a net, she seemed to think his prognosis was unsure - she thought his leg and maybe his wing was broken, but she promised to call us to let us know his outcome. After waiting all day, and even after trying to find out how he had fared, we were still none the wiser. So i'm hoping some news will be waiting on my voicemail in the morning at work... if not I won't be a fan of the RSPCA! So here's to Fernando!! This posts' for you!

Floods!

Well compared to lots of places, our floods are pretty mild, but they make for a fun picture! I've never seen this river so high! Pretty much all the fields around here are under water!
Martha of course loves it though and is working on digging her own lake in the garden ! Her trench is gradually filling up, so she can now enjoy a little paddle whenever she fancies!

Me and Lo...

Brave!

Just love this snap of Martha... Looks like clanger is taking a leap into the jaws of death! :-)

What a hoot!

Gotta love a good pun.... I didn't make this little guy... but i do think he's rather awesome! We're taking orders now!

Insert random Clanger whistling here!

Lazy evening here, had fun with Martha with her favourite toy... this is actually her second Clanger! She wore the first one out!

Jammies.... and a scarf!

So here's the evidence of my new technique.... it might not fit on a page, but it's a damn site warmer!! I've learnt (learning!!) to knit!!! Yes, I can cast on, knit (and now purl!!!) and cast off! Yay for me!! For those that know me, it's a real feat, as I was sure i couldn't even hold the needles!! Haha!

Up close!

Back later with an update, but here's my picture in the meantime!

What a difference a day makes!

Went up to Moyles Court again this morning to check out the water levels in the ford. It was much dropped and Martha had a good bounce around and a paddle along with lots of stick saving!

My canvases are just drying so I can't share yet, but they're looking nice and simple but really striking!

Spent a bit of today learning a new technique! It's quite time consuming, but i'll hope to share that tomorrow too!

Monsoon season!

It's officially monsooon season in Dorset! I'm almost tempted to hang out near the ford up at Moyles Court to see if any nutters try and drive through 12inch deep water! There have been a few vehicles over the edge and floating upsteam recently! Everyone's been safe so it's ok!

Sadly though it was a bit rough even for Martha! I've got some mini canvases planned, that i'm hoping to make a start on tonight, i'm going to use a couple of inspirig words and a whole lot of acrylic paint... i'll aim to show you tomorrow!

I'll take two scoops please!

Two Scoops and Design Objectives.... a great combination!

Coming Soon!

Anyone for a pun? Water palavar!

So this evening was Lolas first time back at hydrotherapy after her last (and hopefully it will be her last!) op. She was very good, with just enough splashing to wet me through! So in honour of that, my pic of the day is her in the pool! It's not an amazing shot, but it was taken with my little waterproof camera and think it did pretty well! You can nearly see Newfy brain, right up her nostrils!!
With Lola is Lisa from the very fantastic Dorset Aqua Dogs. Lola loves Lisa and Suze, especially when she gets her after swim bath and blast!!

Yesterday....

So we had to hold our crop last night in the community centre cafe (Scrap Cafe anyone??), the only plus side was there was a cool mural for my lovely friend Em to pose in front of!!

Just a quickie!

Been to my crop this evening, so i''ll be back in the morning with my pic of the day and my pages!

Martha Resolves?

There's a new challenge today on A True Friend - this time it's all about resolutions. Here's my page, actually it's a canvas, of Martha's resolutions (wishful thinking on my part!) i'm pretty sure her resolutions would be the exact opposite of most of them!!

7 swans a swimming...

Had a day off today to take Lola up to the Orthopaedic vet, she's progressing well and can go back to hydrotherapy now. Yay! Building up a bit of muscle will do her no end of good!

Took Martha up to Poole Park afterwards for a paddle (had to go to B&Q for a fit of fence - yuk!) and she had lots of fun rescuing sticks and watching the swans.

Hair today... gone tomorrow!

Dark days = flash = dog catchlights!

Martha is currently going through a rather fun process, which can only fully be appreciated by other Newfie owners (i'm sure Kat will agree with me!) Its known as blowing coat. Now this isn't a simple moulting process, it's a little bit more dramatic! On Saturday bits of Martha's coat started to come out in little clumps, the next day it seems like her entire huge fluffy puppy coat has erupted to the surface and with just a bit of encouragement explodes over every surface! So i've spent the last 2 evenings combing out literally armfuls of coat... i think i've got her hair trapped everywhere, in my eyeballs, and up my nose, thank goodness I'm not allergic and thank god for Dysons! The coat left behind is definitely not huge at the moment, but it's a gorgeous chocolaty brown - beautiful, but thankfully she's got a couple of months to grow a bit more before Crufts!

Now i'm sure owners of other breeds reading this will be saying.... 'ah yes, my dog moults, she's making such a fuss, how bad can it be?' Well put it this way, the pile of hair has been at least equal to the size of a Newfie each evening! Gotta love em!

At last!

Finally a glimpse of sun, and it was quite a shock! So my pic of the day is a bit cheerier today!



Found some fab round canvases yesterday and used one for my next project on the A True Friend blog. It should be up in the next few day, so keep an eye out! I had lots of fun with it and think I may have to go back and grab a few more!

Housekeeping - Newfie Style

Martha doesn't like clean floors.... or walls.... or anything to be honest... so whenever i've cleaned the kitchen floor, she likes to try her hardest to immediately get it even dirtier than it was to start with! So today she found her scummiest, most chewed, slobberiest (sp) and most caked in mud toy she could find from the garden and deposited it on the floor! Thanks Marth! Martha loves balls, she's rather adept at football and thought it was a perfect day a quick match around the kitchen table! So in her honour... my picture of the day! (I don't need a macro lens, i don't need a macro lens, i don't need a macro lens.... repeat until convinced!)

Bam!

Here's my page from the inspired by the AL Calendar from yesterday. I love this pic of Martha, but it was a pretty dodgy shot of her taken with my wide angle, so to get her anywhere near filling the frame i was rather close, and as it was very early on a very dark and dreary morning it's a bit blurry and rather noisy! But not to be deterred, i've photoshopped it to within an inch of it's life to get an 'arty' (hahaha) effect and I've scrapbooked it anyway.



I've used some Love Elsie -Zoe as well as some Hambly and Bam Pop.

Back later with my picture of the day!

The nose knows...

Rain, rain and more rain today, rather depressing and the sort of cold that makes you want a hot water bottle to snuggle up in. I received the most amazing snuggly dressing gown for Christmas - it's a gorgeous deep crimson with great big pale pink spots, so I'm quite happy snuggled up away from the rain!

Rain also means more indoor pictures, i love my 50mm lens but it's quite a feat getting Martha in focus with such a narrow depth of field, with her bouncing around! And there's plenty of slobber to see (which I know Jo will love if she's reading!! Haha) Here's hoping I can get out and about tomorrow!

Day 4 of the AL Calendar will be uploaded tomorrow now, i've got a great picture in mind to use for this one!

I'm keeping quiet at the moment, but I'll have some news to share soon... so watch this space.. It's all quite exciting!!

So... where's my snow?!

Well I knew it was never going to happen really, but I was still optimistic that we might get a little flurry, even if it wouldn't settle, but not even one flake!! So in protest and due to the fact that it's pretty much dark that it's dark when I get home at the moment, I've taken the opportunity to have a play with a torch out in the garden. (Front garden actually, because Martha was rather keen to knock over my tripod! Eek! - my neighbours already think i'm insane so it's all ok!)

So here's my pic of the day for today! I'm quite happy for my first go!

My name is Katy and I'm a Scenic Route Addict...

When I get some new Scenic Route papers (I received both Loveland and Roxbury for Christmas - Thanks Mum!), I have a tough time using anything else until it's nearly all gone! I just adore every little bit about it! It's one of those rare ranges that I sometimes by second sheets once i've used them, being double sided makes it doubly difficult!

So for challenge 2 from the Autumn Leaves Challenge I dipped into Loveland again.

The picture is of Martha's lovely big brown snout, taken with my new wide angle lens - so it looks even more massive then it is! This is the view I get when I come home just before I literally get a big bear hug from her! She's such a cuddly bun! Way sillier about cuddles than any of the previous 3. Lola is pretty silly, but she's a kisser!

Day 2... Back to Work

And so it's back to work... and rather than share the whole of my desk for today's picture (which would be far too terrifying!), i picked my favourite thing on it and with some serious cropping of the mess around it, it doesn't look half bad! This card has just come back up to my desk from our photo studio as it's this week project of the week.

I'm having a bit of an eyelet revival at the moment and it doesn't hurt to combine them with lovely flowers and the essential spots!

I'm looking forward to cracking on with Jan2 for the Autumn Leaves calendar this evening... it's one of the most satisfying techniques!! Check back later for my page!

Just stop blogging!!!

Number three... and I promise my last today!! I've decided to try and attempt a 365 photo a day challenge. I'm not going to stick to any particular theme, just whatever takes my fancy each day!

I already carry my camera everywhere, so i hope this will be low stress!!! Here's my first... it's a friendly black headed gull at Poole Park, thought it would be nice to share a pic taken on the essential New Years Day walk! I love how silky the water looks...

2 posts in one day??!

It may be unprecedented, but my second post of the day!

I've been ensnared into some challenges over on UKS, specifically the Elsie 52 challenges and the Autumn Leaves DW2008 calendar... It's a tad scary that the latter is daily, but i'm going to try!

Today i've managed to combine both challenges on one page! (Not cheating!!!) Elsie's first challenge is to journal in cs/paper strips (check!) and the AL challenge is to cover a chipboard shape in ribbon (check!) and i'm quite pleased with it!

Happy New Year!!

So the new challenge is up on Scrapping Frenzy - Emma's taking over the day to day running for me but i'll still be involved - you can't get rid of me that easily! Here's my page.. I couldn't resist using my new Scenic Route papers (this is the Loveland range, but as you can tell, highly useable for any occasion!) I've also used some of my Prima mountain (which I'm lovinh using all over again!) and some Fuzzy alphas!

I've also been having a play with my amazing new ultra wide angle lens. It's a Sigma 10-20mm and is insanely wide!! Love the converging verticals on the first one (yes the sky really was that white!!) and getting up close to Martha in the second. Can't believe the detail you can see on her big snout!

One of my many resolutions is to blog daily.... there's a prize for the person who guesses closest to when i break the resolution! But i warn you!! I'm stubborn!