Ahhh the new camera is here safe and sound after a great debacle at a local electrical store which involved a scratch on the screen, a refund and disappointment. It was all meant to be though as at the place I finally bought from they stocked these awesome satchel style camera bags and, well... I just couldn' t resist!

Howard insisted on modelling it for you. I let him 'cause I know you love him so.

Into the wild.

I'm still trying to catch up with sorting all the camping photos we've gathered on the Mister's computer. Here are a few from a wild camp we did on the side of a little mountain back in September last year. It was a very interesting camp...started out sunny and by the time the evening came it was gale force winds and a lot of rain. Quite scary and we didn't get much sleep that night for worrying we'd need to suddenly pack up the tent. When we woke up in the morning we were shrouded in cloud and still buffeted by wind. I could barely stand up! We had planned to continue to another mountain that weekend but, well, the weather was CRAP.

Just looking at these pictures makes me feel cold! It was epically beautiful though. What you can't see is the view from the top of the mountain. Luckily since I'd climbed it before, I already knew what it looked like and I think i've posted some from that hike before...somewhere in the midst of this post.

Best get to work. I'm blogging instead of getting ready. See what you do to me, bloggeroo's.

Have a wonderful day
xo

P.S. In fact I believe this trip was the one that broke my good camera...Alright, alright, I'm going to work!!!

Quickly.

My Mister is way too sweet. I was just sorting through the photograph folder on his computer (an on going project) and found this picture of me at a leavers dinner at my university. He'd saved it from FB and renamed it 'Katherine is beautiful'.

  How much do we love him?! <3

Little wrinkle.

There's a wrinkle right here. *points to forehead*

Uh huh. Yup. I got my first wrinkle. At least I think it's my first, maybe there have been wrinkles before but I just haven't noticed them or maybe they were just super duper small and barely noticeable but still a wrinkle all the same...

Don't get me wrong. I don't really care about having wrinkles. It's just how life goes. But Saturday morning when I looked in the mirror and NOTICED it, it was a reminder that the clock is ticking and that I should probably look after myself, including my skin, better. I just caught myself frowning at the computer screen and immediately thought to myself...Don't make more wrinkles! Is this how my life will be from now on? Constantly fighting against the natural process of time?! Nuh-uh. No thank you. I don't want to be a woman whose entire life is taken over by anti-aging products. Growing old gracefully will suit me fine. I pointed out aforementioned wrinkle to my Mister and he said that he finds women who look a little "weathered" attractive and that it shows they've been out adventuring. I'm not sure about looking weathered, but I don't mind an adventure.

So let's be all Famous Five and go seeking adventure!


Later, Bloggeroo's.

On writing for a wedding...

So, my best friend, @bondybaby on twitter, asked me to write a poem to be read at her wedding in August, which was so sweet of her and a vote of confidence in my writing skill. I've been working on it for a while and for the longest time the pressure got to me and I came up with trash, all of which ended up in my recycling bin. Finally, I've got something I'm happy with though it's still being worked on. If you ever have to do this, here are some words of advice:

 Invitation made by @bondybaby.

Know the people.
Chances are if you're asked to write a reading or poem for someone's wedding you'll know them quite well. I started by listing the things they like, what inspires them, thoughts and feelings about the couple. This will help form the tone of the piece. Also, knowing the theme of the wedding helps.

It doesn't matter what form it's in.
If you like to work in certain, set forms of poetry, great. For me, I write in free verse most of the time and for those of us who aren't natural poet's it works really well. I start by writing a paragraph which i'll chop and change until i'm happy. Then i'll split the paragraph into lines on a page and go back and edit again. Once I have one section i'm really happy with I find it inspires me to keep going.
  
It doesn't have to be about True love, finding "the one" and "knowing instantly".
Sometimes we feel it poems and readings for weddings have to be about true love. They don't. Another friend of mine who is getting married next year asked me for advice on finding a special reading for her ceremony that wasn't lovey dovey. I suggested looking through her favourite books for paragraphs about home, family and the things that her and her fiance really cherished in life. Things that are important to you make a better statement on the day. Of course if you or your friends did know instantly and did find "the one", there's nothing wrong with that, but only say it if it's absolutely true!!

Ease the pressure.
It's difficult to write something for someone you love dearly especially when it's going to be read aloud as part of the most important day of their life so far. I set it aside for a while and only wrote when I had something to say and tried to forget who it was for. Focus on the writing, and forget about the performance...for now!

I hope this helps a little if any of you find yourself in this situation!

Good night, bloggeroo's.

Words from my notebook

Dust Jar 

The corners of my eyes,

Full of dust and sleep,

Are shaded by old blankets

With ladders where the edges

Were loved too much.

Hiding between the dark matter

And the strings that join,

Quiet in the folded linen.

The sheets possess secrets

While I dream and wonder;

Keeping still and hush about the location

Of my mind:

Stowed in a glass container

And left to the stars.

You're never really lost when you're following a river.

The other night, amid a cloud of gloom, I considered letting go of this blog once and for all. For a while I've found it hard to find things I think are worth posting about and also struggled with my own little mind monsters that make me overly critical of quite a lot of things I do. It all stems down to the fact that a few years ago I lost every scrap of confidence I had, even though I am excellent at faux-confidence. Suddenly I understand why I've not been able to hone down one specific career path, because I just don't know what I'm good at. I have a sort of idea but I hate that "Jack of all trades, Master of none" thing. I want to be really, really good at something.

So I'm trying to figure it out. I'm about to venture down a path and I don't know what I'll find at the end. It's scary, exciting and if you don't push me I'll run back the way I came. I emailed some of you to ask for advice on how to get to where I would like to be. I still haven't decided on how I'll get there. Sometimes I feel like I'm floundering a little...a lot!

I decided to keep blogging because I couldn't bear the thought of giving up this wonderful community of people who are so darn helpful. Bloggeroo's, I think you are awesome.

Apologies that this is a me, me, me post! We've all got to get this stuff out and ask for help, right?

The colour of water.

So, there's a theme emerging. Watercolours are high on my list of beautiful things and inspiration this week. Take a peek at these wonderful paintings by Cate Parr.

(click the pictures to go to individual source/etsy pages)

Super talented, right?! 

I get the feeling I'll be hanging round the blog and internets tomorrow. I might even throw in a few emails to make you smile. Am going to my follower list to see who I shall email...

Watercolour Pencils

I love those words together.

watercolour pencils.


So today I bought some watercolour pencils and some watercolour paper (also excellent together). The sun was shining and I walked for quite a way to find a little independent art shop which I was sure would be in my town.

It wasn't there.


I must of imagined it because where I thought would be one, was actually a bookshop so I had to slope into a high-street chain... and no sooner had I bought everything, the sky burst and rain poured. Then comes the  realization that I forgot to bring a jacket or anything that could shield me. So I scurried into the nearest coffee shop, which just happened to be a Starbucks.

*Cue more rain.*

I sheltered for a while, sketched and drank a rather questionable Chai tea latte... (Someone at Starbucks HQ obviously said, "Get a normal cup of tea, quickly dip a stick of Cinnamon in it for a few milliseconds and no one will ever tell the difference. Don't worry about the rest of the ingredients!")

But eventually I made it home and that, I suppose, is the end of the story.

xoxo