Happy New Year

I would like to wish all the people who read my blog a very happy new year.

Not sure if I will be making any new year resolutions as I never seem to stick to them - but I have been planning a few projects to keep my busy in 2011. Pam has come up with another photography challenge for us all - more about that soon, I am taking part in a mini book challenge over on UKS to make a mini book each month and am hoping to learn a few new techniques along the way. Reading wise there are so many challenges out there - especially on Goodreads - I am taking part in the Stephen King challenge and the 100 books in 2011 also caught my eye. I managed to read 70 in 2010 so have a feeling that 100 might be pushing it. And have finally dug out my needle and tread and have started a sampler that I will be adding to every month.

But we have a holiday of a lifetime to look forward to next year and will be booking our flights in the next couple of days. We are off the the USA to stay with family and they are planning a road trip an a half for us - Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, the Smoky Mountains and then back to Clarksville. We cannot wait.

Christmas Cards

Here are the last few cards I made - one each for the boys and one for Andy.

The reindeer one was made using the Dasher Stampin Up stamp (thank you Kate) stamped onto kraft card and matted with black card. One had gems on the antlers and the other one had some tiny little pearls.





I made Andy's card using the vintage dove punch from Martha Stewart - I punched the bird out on white card and the branch with green card and them placed the finished bird onto a circle of red card stock. Thought it looked quite Scandinavian - very simple but effective.

Skywatch Friday

Series 4, Episode 25

A winter sky from our Christmas Day walk along Lossiemouth Beach - you can see more photos from our walk here.





I would like to wish all the Skywatch Friday participants a very happy new year - and you can more of their skies here.

Must See TV

The best thing on the old goggle box over the festive period was on last night (I have yet to see Dr Who as I was outvoted on that one - and Upstairs Downstairs wasn't bad.) Polar Bear : Spy on Ice was just fantastic and was narrated by the ever so gorgeous David Tennant.

The film team sent a series of mobile CCTV cameras out onto the ice to film the polar bears an the Arctic islands of Svalbard in Norway. The cameras were fantastic - one was football shaped and called snowball cam, blizzard cam was on skis and operated by propellers and ice berg cam floated about in the icy waters (till it got well and truly stuck) These cameras cost over £130K and eventually all were destroyed by the bears themselves.

The scenery was just stunning and the footage these cameras captured was amazing - it showed the bears being naturally inquisitive - and the baby polar bears were just the cutest thing ever. Parts of the film were a bit heart in mouth - would the mother with the single cub stranded on the island find enough food for them both to survive? But the bears rolling in the snow and trying to stalk their prey was so funny. I didn't realise just how intelligent these magnificent beasts were.

Too early

Can't believe these little beauties were in the shops before Christmas - WHSmiths didn't even wait to get the festive sweets out of the way before the Cadburys Cream Eggs and Mini Eggs arrived.




Not that I'm complaining - it was delicious.

Move Over Masterchef!!

Today Callum decided he would make his own lunch - and to counteract the fact that he has virtually eaten his own body weight in chocolate over the last couple of days he went for the healthy option.

First he carefully sliced enough cucumber to make a circle on the plate and then placed half a cherry tomato on each slice. The he used up the final two slices of fresh pineapple and cut them into chunks to make a pattern in between the other salad items . All topped off by rolling up the last two slices of ham and placing in the centre of the plate.

And he scoffed the lot.






We are still eating up the huge piece of beef that Andy roasted on Christmas Day - hopefully cold meat and chips (with the obligatory Branston pickle) will almost finish it off this evening.

52 Walks With My Camera - Week 52

This is the very last walk in this year long photography project - and it seemed fitting to end it on our Christmas Day walk - so I am afraid it's going to be a rather picture heavy post.

It has become a bit of a Christmas Day tradition that we need to go out for a walk at some point in the day - so as to avoid cabin fever by staying indoors all day. So making the most of the beautiful sunshine we headed down to Lossiemouth Beach - there is something very special about walking through snow on the beach.

Lossiemouth village with a swan family in the foreground.























Then up onto the sand dunes to enjoy the view.








Time for some family photos - if everyone can stop messing about for 5 minutes! Sam wasn't happy as you can see from his expression - he kept complaining that the sun was in his eyes.



























Then we decided to have a go at some self portraits by holding the camera out at arms length!

















The boys had fun - throwing snowballs at their Dad - and smashing the ice from the river over their heads!!





























Took so many photos of the bridge as I loved the reflections of the clouds in the water.










I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country with stunning countryside right on my doorstep - hopefully in this year long photography project I have shown you a small part of it. Thanks to all the girls who have played along with 52 Walks - Lynn, Kim, Debs, and Pam whose idea this project was.





But for now my poor camera is off for some TLC - a slight issue with the battery cover not always making a connection (although certain people have said the camera is just after a rest as it gets so much use!!) I can fiddle with it to get it to work fine but I want it in A1 condition for our US road trip next year as I have a feeling I will be taking a lot of photos!!

Happy Christmas

I would like to wish everyone who reads this blog a very happy Christmas - hope Santa is kind to you all.

Christmas Cards

I can share these now as hopefully Royal Mail have delivered them all to their rightful homes. Poor Royal Mail has come in for a right bashing of late but apart from one small parcel that never arrived (the company then sent a replacement by special delivery which arrived the next day) I haven't had any complaints. In fact some things have been delivered much sooner than expected especially when you take into account where we live.

For my cards I bought this set of Stampin Up stamps second hand from the marketplace over on UKS for a fraction of what they would have cost new. I then set up a production line of stamping, matting and sticking - a simple design speeded up the whole process. On some I added brads and on others it was gems or stickles. Some I made using white cardstock and others using Papermania kraft cards purchased from my local shop for local people!!

Really pleased with how they have turned out.
























Can't share the others just yet.

Skywatch Friday

Season 4, Episode 24.

A view across a very snowy nature reserve last weekend with the sun very low in the sky.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge - Activity #4

Not sure what has happened to challenge three over on My Love Affair With Books but I cannot find it anywhere - so it's onto challenge #4 which is to find a new blog.

I tend to find myself hopping from one blog to another through cyber space and today came across Bookworm To Bookworm. It combine books (of course), some crafting and plenty of thriftness.

How low can it go??

This was the temperature up here just before I left for work this morning - decidedly chilly I think at minus 17!!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge - Activity #2

Your current book in pictures.

I am currently reading Cocktails For Three by Madeleine Wickham (aka Sophie Kinsella.)



Three close friends



Who all work for the same glossy magazine



And enjoy the old cocktail or three



But who keep secrets from each other



The book itself is far better than it sounds - a light and fluffy read - perfect for these cold dark evenings.

See the original post for this challenge over on My Love Affair With Books here.

52 Walks With My Camera - Week 51

A short walk close to home - didn't much fancy taking the car out in this weather.

I went down the nature reserve at The Wards which is only down the road from our house. I went here earlier in the year for my week 34 walk with my camera for this project - you can see my photos here. What a difference a bit of snow makes.

I love my new wellies!!



The walk was very quiet - I think I only met one person who was out walking his dog. I love the way the snow makes everything looks so clean and perfect - long may it last!!

















Can't believe that there is only one walk left and then this year long project will be over - have some ideas for next years photography project.