Rain and Aroma

Finally got a slow but working compter and time to use it, YIEAHY! so thought would go for a wee wonder to get some shots and start to blog again. The weather however had other ideas and I almost drowned in the downpour, but luckily I’m Scottish and hence partly amphibious, however the camera isn’t. So thought I’d tell you about my new venture in writing instead.

The book cover

The book cover

Throughout my life me and my sister Amy have revelled in telling each other how smelly the other is and in a spurt of sheer genius I decided to win the smell game once and for all. I have topped the dubious limericks and even more dubious shakespeare quotes (hubble bubble toil and trouble, fire burn and Amys bum bubble, that’s why she smells so bad) and have gone for the big guns, I wrote a book, dad illustrated it and we got 50 copies printed! Written as a kids book for her girls and also appealing to adults with our slightly odd sense of houmour, I called it lovingly “How Mummy Smells“. It tells the story of 2 girls trying to best the other in saying how foul their mother smells, from comparing her to manure and sewers to comparing each others smell to the infinte minging aromas of their mother. Of course it has a good moral ending!

Mummy smells pretty bad!

Mummy smells pretty bad!

So Amy, thank you for the inspriation and for getting me started on the literary path! After all I do still love you even if you do smell so bad that there is an environmental warning tatooed on your ass!

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1st Birthday

Smelly London 2-6 December

Tabby playing with new toys

My lovely little nieces were turning one so the family decided to go down to London for their party. Of course the weather wasn’t going to make that easy. What is usually a 6.5 hour journey from my flat to my sisters turned into a 3 train, 2 tubes, very snowy, rather cold and very busy 11 hour one. We traveled on a a very busy train through feet of snow which stretched all down the country, even into London. Though London only had a shallow covering. By the time we got there the little ones were asleep in bed and I was ready for a drink and an early night.

The next day I started early at about 5:30 as I was sleeping on my sisters sofa and apparently 5:30 is a good time to get up when you are one! After bottles and breakfast and once father got over from his hotel it was on to present opening. So out came the camera. The lighting was hard to deal with as 2 walls are all windows and the other walls are white, leaving the middle where babies were quite dark and the babies back lit. The flash bounced everywhere. But I got the hang of it and kept the iso high at around 800-1600 and only used the flash as a fill from a distance as had the remote on, I kept the F number low to keep the shutter speed up as the wee ones are not so good at staying still anymore so needed high shutters so they wouldn’t blur with movement. But as they are so beautiful it is hard to get a bad shot ( yes I may be a bit biased).

Georgie at her Party

The day after we had a little party for them and invited some of their wee friends. So it was off with the zoom and on with the wide as space was getting a bit short. Fortunately they have very photogenic friends too and I got some lovely shots of babies and parents, again using the remote flash from a distance. It was all good fun with balloons, chocolate cakes and lots of toys, and I’m glad to say the favourites were book, MegaBloks and musical instruments, all very educational. Only 1 and already Geniuses!

Too soon it was time to go home and I had to leave my beloved nieces and sister behind and have another 11 hour journey, including 2 long cold hours in Edinburgh station, home. But as much as I miss them, I do love this country and was very glad to get home again. And even though they live in smelly old London, the 22 hours of cold and busy travel were well worth it to see them all.

Georgie showing Tabby how to play with the new toys!

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