365 to 42

It’s CHRISTMAS, well it will be in just 2 days and as I don’t think I will get the time to post on the day it’s self I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas (and if I’m having a really good time and don’t get round to posting before) a happy new year. To help you celebrate here a picture of a snow man who I came across in the middle of a wood, miles from anywhere, but he look so jolly I had to grab a shot or two. ---------------- Now playing: Gene Autry - Frosty The Snowman via FoxyTunes

A very quick post today as the rush before Christmas is taking over all my time. The main area of work at the moment is getting a load of shots done for the Leek blog so that I can pre post over the holidays to have some time away from the computer, not that I won’t be able to keep off it for more than a few days! The hardest part about trying to build up a stock of images is that when I get a good one I post it right away (Saturday’s image on the Leek blog being a very good example as I wanted to save it but just could not resist posting it). Today’s picture is just right as it is freezing out there at the moment. It was taken a few weeks ago up by the Mermaid pool before the sun was up. ---------------- Now playing: Suzanne Vega - Freeze Tag via FoxyTunes

Yes the dreaded E word has raised its ugly head again, Exercise, I’m not getting any younger and certainly not getting any thinner so it been decided that I must do more of it if I’m to realise my ambition to be the oldest and fittest person on the planet when global warming finally finishes us all off. To complement my swimming, I’m up to ½ a mile now; I am also looking to join a Pilates class! On top of that the new me is cutting down on the beer and trying to eat less!!! To help me do all this I think I will need a goal to aim for and one of the possibilities is to train up for something. The something I have in mind is the Great North swim, now this is still in the planning stage and I’m not sure I will try it but a 1 mile swim in the open water of Lake Windermere, in September, is certainly looking like a good idea at the moment. If nothing else it will make sure I keep the swimming up and give me at least one weekend in the Lake District next year. Keeping on the watery theme her...

While blogging I always book mark interesting blogs as possible blogs of the week, then on a Monday I sit down and wade through them to pick one for the post. Now I have not had as much free time of late so the blogs book marked are all from some weeks ago and when I revisited them all, there were around 10 blogs, I found that very few had been updated that recently and some not at all. Now as a blog of the week I would rather pick a blog that is on going, than one that has died, so I came to the conclusion that there would not be a blog of the week this week, until I looked at this blog. FAIL blog is not an indictment on all the other blogs I had book marked but a blog devoted to all things wrong, from bad signage to errors of judgement to the just dam stupid, some of it can be in bad taste and a little adult orientated, but occasionally there are real gems in amongst the so so pictures. Take this post , a real case of what happens next and a great example of what not to do on top of...

Trying to write a post while watching Top Gear on BBC iPlayer is not a smart move, a ¼ of an hour later and this is all I have written. Still its one of the best things on tv at the moment and due to the BBC changing the time without any real reason on Sunday I missed the first ½ hour, thank god for the iPlayer. The picture today is the one mention in the last post, it was such as great thing I had to capture it, but it did take a bit of work. First of all its 4 shots stitch together then it has been tone mapped to get the exposure just right. To finish I took out a couple people that were cluttering up the back ground and de-saturated the back ground. ---------------- Now playing: Simple Minds - Ghostdancing via FoxyTunes

Went to Tatton park over the weekend, looking for some Christmas cheer, the ridicules thing was that after searching the web Tatton park seemed to be the closest place doing anything the slightest Christmassy and that was nearly 30 miles away. When we got there it was a great disappointment as the Christmas gift fair was over priced and very small compared to other events that we have been to there. The only saving grace was this Truck that I managed to shoot; it was part of a travelling fair ground ride which if I get time I will also try to post a picture of. ---------------- Now playing: Foo Fighters - All My Life via FoxyTunes

Blog of the week is the fantastic Cake Wrecks , when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong. I stumble across this site weeks ago and just knew it was a must for blog of the week. The site is mainly pictures with some very funny comments added, as it suggest in the title it is mostly very bad cakes but interspaced with some really good ones so you don’t lose heart with the baking world. ---------------- Now playing: The Cranberries - Linger via FoxyTunes

The madness that is Christmas is starting to take hold both at home and at work. At home it manifest its self in a manic spree of cleaning and tiding to get everything sparkling just before we hide it all under a layer of decorations. At work it pays not to sit at your desk too long or risk being covered in tinsel and bubbles. In our house most of the present choosing is done by Caz, with me being given the casting vote, although if I pick the wrong thing I get over ruled. It is all part of the fun trying to get the right thing for everyone, but it’s made so much easier when they have wish list and you know that what ever you get it will be right. Picture today is an early morning shot taken near Rudyard Lake, the low mist and great light really does not show in most of the pictures I took, but this one was the closest. ---------------- Now playing: Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA via FoxyTunes