What I do in my free time

So ... urm. This is the kind of stuff I get up to in my free time:

What you're looking at is a short clip I made of some extra shots I had from the Made With Love Market in Wynyard last month. Featured in the video is Claire, Michelle, and Sarah.

I think they are all extraordinarily [I may or may not have spelled that correctly and I may or may not have had to Google it just to check and make sure; good god get over it, it's not like I teach English or anything ...] good sports and terribly talented ladies.

And I may or may not be (I seriously am) massively looking forward to the next market where I'm planning on dressing just a little like ... this:

Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz. Image source.

Say it with me: "There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

Hope to see some of you there!

Edit: Apparently, secure Facebook privacy settings are secure and won't allow you to see the video above. Who knew those privacy settings actually worked, huh? Huzzah for Facebook, press the right buttons, click the right options and whaddyaknow your profile actually is secure. Terribly sorry about that old chaps. Anyhoo, move along, nothing to see here (literally).

End of May Mixtape

I know, I know. More music. Sorry, can't help myself.

Here's a sample of what I've been listening to on this cold, sunny Sunday afternoon towards the end of May.

One of the tracks is even called "End of May". I'm nothing if not thematically-minded.

Stanley & Highfield House

I finally got around to uploading some of the shots from our Mother's Day trip to Stanley and Highfield House. Here is a select few, the rest you can check out on my Flickr site, which will be regularly updated because there's quite a few more where this lot came from!

A song for the first day of the school holidays

Nina Simone. Image source.

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good.

Not that I'm counting down the days or anything...

But there are four (count 'em, FOUR) working days until I'm on holidays ...

... for THREE WEEKS!! (Count 'em, THREE.)

When it's done like this, counting is actually fun. Who knew?

P.S. I took this shot on Mother's Day at Highfield House.

I've finally started to upload the shots from this road trip to Flickr. You can check them out here, or just clickety-click on the link on the right over there. If you want, don't feel you have to (but you probably should, no pressure, just sayin').

Songs for cold, dreary, can't-wait-until-the-holidays days.

Image source.

Etta James is perfect for listening to on those days when you want to stare at your belly-button (let's not mention the fluff in your belly-button, just remove it and speak no more of it).

Also, for when you want to drag yourself away from feeling blue (or from staring at your belly-button, honestly, leave that fluff alone).

And, finally, I know it's soppy, but I heart this song (when Etta sings it that is, and if you're still looking at that belly-button fluff at the end of this song, there's something very wrong).

Edit: This.

Made with love

Is it just me, or was last weekend busybusybusy?

Mine kicked off on Saturday morning with the local Made With Love Market Bazaar at Wynyard. The girls (shout out to Sarah & Michelle) asked if I'd like to come down and take some photos. Would I? Would I ever! There were so many inspiring things and people and food and crafts and goings-on that I took just under 300 shots! You can check them out here if the fancy takes you. I'll probably upload a fair chunk of them to my Flickr account at regular intervals as well, so feel free to cast your eye over them there, too.

Sunday was spent with the parents at Stanley. Most Mother's Days, the three of us will head out to the pub there and enjoy a glass (or two, or maybe more) of wine, some oysters and other variants of seafood before wandering around and taking photos (Mum and I take photos while Dad alternates between listening to the football on the radio and snoozing in the car).

We managed a visit to Highfield House, which I adore. I remember the very first time Mum took us kids to check it out, way back when it was still being restored. Since that first visit, we've been back at different intervals and have been able to see the different stages of the restoration. I think what they have done is brilliant, and I only took a smidgen of the shots I wanted to there. If you haven't been, or if you haven't been for some time, I recommend a trip to check it out - it's very worth it.

Which leaves me looking forward to next weekend - I wonder what it will bring?

Mother

Nan on the left, Mum in the middle, my aunty on the right.


Happy Mothers Day to these groovy ladies, and all the groovy mums out there!