The photo is of a church window, taken on Saturday at a wedding shoot.

Well, this is the last day of 2007. A good time to reflect on the year past. I just looked at my entry for the start of 2007 and see I was suffering with my joints and post-holiday depression!! No change there then! I thought I'd try to look at both the positives and negatives of 2007.

Negatives

• My joint pain is increasing and my periods of depression are harder to escape.
• My darling cat Ollie was run over and killed.
  
• Two friendships that were very important to me ended - one very abruptly and painfully and the other just slipped away...and I miss them both.
  
• Terrible gales damaged our roof and scared me rigid!
• Two ponies from the riding school died of colic.
• Phil has been away a lot and I miss him.
• Our cat Tiggy was put to sleep aged 19.
• We didn't get a chance to go camping.
  

Positives

• I upgraded to a DSLR and have never regretted it.
• Phil got a commission from the Duchess of Westminster
  
• I have photographed 3 weddings; one as main photographer and two as an assistant.
• We had the most wonderful 3 week holiday in the US.
• We met Mafia Wife and her lovely family.
• We acquired Basil, our weird but adorable cat.
• I am still emailing my brother.
• I started volunteering for Riding for the Disabled in March and I LOVE it!
• I learned to untack and rug up horses.
• I learned about apertures and shutter speeds.
• We started a weekly Book at Breakfast session at work which has been very successful as well as great fun.
• Had a great visit to FOCUS and met old and new friends.
  
• We got our drive resurfaced.
• I am blessed with two daughters becoming young women to be proud of.
  
• I rediscovered the pleasures of knitting.
• We went to Wrigley Field.
  
• I took the whole family to see the musical Chicago and it was magical.
• I read the final Harry Potter book.
• We installed a beautiful fireplace in the dining room.
• I started a garden blog.
• I went on a "Big Cat" day with photographers from the Corner and got to stroke a lion!
• I discovered sushi.
• I completed another Race for Life.
• We had a magical day at Universal Studios.
  
• We have had many happy curry or pizza fuelled evenings with the Wildcat & Co.
  
• We started Baby Bounce sessions at the library and I now sing in public!!
• Phil and I have been married 19 years.
  
• We had a lovely few days in the Lakes at Easter with the Wildcat and family.
• We redecorated Kate's bedroom and reorganised the study.
• Saw the QE2 in Liverpool
• Phil sold some photos at craft fairs and online
  
• The girls and I took our first holiday without Phil; a weekend in the Lakes.
• I have made some wonderful blog friends.
  
• My niece Steph got married.
• I helped Phil photograph a festival in Northop.
• Karen has fought her way through illness with inspiring courage.
• I finally managed to read "The Mill on the Floss" and "A Christmas Carol".
• Carolyn and I had a fun day at Chester Races.
• It is magic when Phil returns home from a trip and we are together again.
• Sian is still delighting me with her riding.
• Our kitchen has been redone!
• I have got to know CH better and I love spending time with her.
• I made my peace with an old quarrel and rediscovered some lost friends.
  
• I get to spend New Year's Eve with Jane and her family and mine.

There has been sadness this year and many tears, many hours of despair, but looking at my lists helps me to see it's been a pretty wonderful year, and one to be grateful for.

I wish all my wonderful blog friends all the best for 2008 and I hope we can share the ups and downs as we shared those of 2007.

Merry Christmas from Basil!

We do not know where Basil was last Christmas, he wasn't with us. He may even have been a Christmas kitten that no-one wanted when he grew up! We are all so happy we adopted him as he's brought so much fun into our lives. He seems to think he is a dog and likes to chew stuff...laptop cables (that was costly!), emery boards, pencils and this box that a present came in from California! Basil is one of the best things about 2007 for us so I thought he'd make a very suitable image for Christmas Day.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas :)

Suplication...

This little figure is one of three on the grave of Constance Edwina, a former Duchess of Westminster. I love the sad and pleading expression. I think my own face wore a similar expression in Tesco's this morning as I searched IN VAIN for - fresh cranberries, turnips and gift labels. I guess we are having cranberry sauce out of a jar, ready-prepared carrot and turnip mash and a game of "guess who this present is for?" tomorrow! This will teach me not to leave buying certain essentials until Christmas Eve again. However it's not as bad as the Christmas Eve Sainsbury's ran out of POTATOES!!!

Have you ever been unable to buy that Christmas essential on Christmas Eve?
I'm sure once I get stuck into the Buck's Fizz tomorrow morning I won't care about anything much except having my family around me and a lovely lazy day ahead (once I've cooked the dinner of course!!)

We are off to spend Christmas Eve night with the Wildcat...we had such a great evening last year so it should be FUN!

Every year Santa takes up residence at The Photographer's Corner to answer letters from our members. My reply was really funny this year and I'll reproduce it below...
Follow the link to check out the other replies!

Dear Julie,

I thought that I may well be receiving another letter from you. By another I do not mean of course since last year, as you well know, I mean since last week! Your pursuit of me is futile and I must ask you to call a stop to it now. I am a one woman man and before you jump to any conclusions, by that I mean Mrs Claus.

And as if you think I am not wise to your behaviour. This is not my first visit to the site you know. I have seen how you try and entrap the other men on the site by your, as you yourself admit, shameless flirtations! You and I both know it is only because you are after their equipment. You need to be more selective though as not everyone's will fit your mount. I beg you, try and restrain yourself.

Having said all that it is true that you are an asset to the site. You may think you have your knockers, but I certainly would never be amongst them! Your efforts on the site are gratefully received, long may you keep it up.

With regards your Christmas list, I think that you may have accidentally sent me last years, since I am sure I delivered a Radley item last year. And the year before that I believe?

As for the cookbook requested, are you aiming to become a domestic deity? The lens I can understand, as with the monopod. The horse? Now seriously where would you keep it? I appreciate that you have watched International Velvet 347 times, but that is taking it a little too far. Rudolph adds that it is obvious he would be second choice, and he does not play second fiddle to anyone these days (he's never been the same since that foggy Christmas Eve). I must also say that your choice in cars is a bit, well, a bit chavvy.

Thank you for my sticky toffee pudding, I will try and remember to trim my beard before eating it this time. Rudolph is looking forward to his fruit&veg medley.

This year I shall be leaving you a copy of 'The Fine Art of Flirting' by Joyce Jillson. I am hoping that it may refine your technique. And also '100 Ways a Horse is Better than a Man' by Tina Bettison. I am hoping it may redirect your energies.

Have a tastefully reserved Christmas.

Santa

It's been an interesting few days....!

The boiler is fixed, thank goodness, only a very minor fault! The kitchen is also finished - the men came and did the last little bits on Friday. Our family party on Saturday ended up being cancelled as my mother-in-law was really ill and she was supposed to be putting up several of the guests overnight. Luckily the wildcat and family came round Saturday evening to watch the final of "Strictly Come Dancing" and ate some of the party food!

Some of the fairy lights have stopped working, the fibre-optic tree in the dining room has died and the washing machine is playing up. Why oh why does everything mechanical seem to go wrong at Christmas? Phil and I drove all over the place earlier in search of replacement lights and a new tree!

It's been a beautiful frosty, sunny day here, hence the picture above. Tonight I think we'll be wrapping presents and early tomorrow I'm picking up the final bits of groceries for Christmas Day.

I hope all your preparations are going smoothly and that all your electrical goods are behaving themselves...have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

No photo today because no photo could possibly sum up how I'm feeling!!

The boiler (furnace) has broken down! I have no heating, no hot water and 20 people coming for a party tomorrow!! Plus kitchen man is coming to see me about the things not finished off this afternoon. I don't have a dishwasher so I'm boiling kettles to wash dishes...aaarghhh!

Someone shoot me!!

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful Blogfriends
with love from Julie xxxx

This is a photo I took of Sian at Northop last weekend. I only just got around to looking at it! It's been a busy week both at home and at work. I had a lovely day in Chester on Wednesday with CH - thanks so much for your company and apologies again for shocking you in Boots :) Friday morning was our last "Book at Breakfast" before Christmas and it took up most of Friday morning. We went to the the home of one of our members and had a lovely time. Everyone said so many kind things about how much the group meant to them; it was just great to get such positive feedback.

Last night I went out with the Helsby Coven - it's been AGES since we all got together and we had a laugh! Friday was also a special day because I was told that the photos I took at the wedding the other week were "great". I'm literally on Cloud Nine to hear that :)

Today we put up our Christmas decorations - finally! Also, the kitchen men came round and the kitchen is ALMOST finished. I still have a few issues but hopefully they'll soon be resolved. Phil and I moved most of our stuff back into the kitchen so we at last have a dining room again. It's been good to get the deccies up too - it's starting to feel really Christmassy around here. I hope to take some photos of the finished kitchen, driveway and decorations soon.

Tomorrow we are planning a lightning raid on Chester to pick up a few last-minute bits and pieces. Right now I think I'm taking myself off to bed!

December sunrise

I was awestruck by the wonderful scene from my bedroom window this morning. What an amazing sunrise!

I had a wonderful evening out with Carolyn last night. We talked and talked! The time just flew by. And tomorrow I'm meeting another friend in Chester for lunch. I'm looking forward to that as well. Phil is in Birmingham overnight and I miss him. I've been trying to get the house sorted this afternoon.

Kitchen progress has ground to a halt. The tiling is partly done but i have noticed a few scratches on the sides of my new wall units. I'm really annoyed by this. I have no idea when the kitchen men are returning. Right now we are waiting for them to call us back.

I'm horny...
Well, that's my title for the photo above, anyway! Today Phil was official photographer for a Christmas Festival in Northop, North Wales. Sian and I went along to see him in action. The weather was nasty; very wet and windy, but we still enjoyed ourselves. I really enjoyed the Mummers and Morris Dancers. I had the chap below lined up for a conventional head shot when he snarled at me! I nearly dropped the camera - it was all a joke, of course, but for a moment he had me worried!

Well, only 20 days until Christmas so I thought I'd get the decorations out...on my blog anyway!

I'm very happy today as I am told I can accompany my friendly professional wedding photographer to another wedding later this month. I can't wait! i've been quite busy this week editing some of the pictures I took on Saturday as well as deleting all the rubbish ones!

This morning I returned all my tubs and plantpots to the completed driveway. I've re-arranged them and like the result but I feel the need for two new pots either side the front door. I also need some bark mulch spreading on the front flower bed then all will be very classy I think!

Not much progress on the kitchen. The doors are on the new cupboards but the tiling has not even started yet...

Last RDA of the year today; we played games and the horses and riders all had fun. I really am in love with darling Bruno. He is such a gentle giant and was snuggling up to me very affectionately today. If only Phil was as cuddly...!

DAZZLED!
I had the most amazing day yesterday. From arriving at the bride's mother's home, where we did "getting ready" photos to the emotion and excitement of the "first dance" almost twelve hours later, I loved every moment. It was a real privilege to see such an assured and talented photographer at work. It was also really special to feel (even if in truth I wasn't) an integral part of the wedding itself.

The bride and groom, their family and friends, were such lovely people. I had such a fantastic time! i thought all my photos would be useless but many of them are much better than I expected. The one above is just a bit of fooling around (I copied Andy!) in the Function Room while we were waiting to do the cake-cutting. They are blue fairy lights left out of focus...
I'm a very happy Julie tonight :)

I know these photos aren't of much interest and no value at all photographically speaking but I wanted to record the process. So often when we do renovations we forget what it looked like before or during the work....

We are seeing some progress on the kitchen; the plastering has been done and the new granite work surfaces are in place. We still have no washing or laundry or cooking facilities and I am tiring of washing up in the bathroom ....it seems disgusting somehow :(



I am pleased with my new run of cubboards and work surface. I'm itching to get all my stuff back in the kitchen and for it to feel like my home again!


The drive is now finished but I can't take photos as it's dark outside now. This was taken Wednesday just before the two loads of hardcore went down. The workmen used the bags of old tiles left by the kitchen men as additional filler!

Finally, for catblogging Friday here is Shea in mid-squirm on the sofa.

It's going to be a busy weekend. I am out the entire day on Saturday at a wedding with the husband of a friend who happens to be a very talented professional wedding photographer! He is very kindly allowing me to go along and "assist"him. Not that I'll be much assistance but it will be a wonderful opportunity to see a professional in action! If you would like to check out his work (or indeed if you are looking for a wedding photographer yourself!) here's the link
On Sunday we are off to a craft fair hoping to sell some photos. Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend.

I've been a bit absent from blogworld lately and I'm really missing getting round everyone's blogs. Things are very chaotic here. when the kitchen guys came to take off the old tiles the plaster came off too. At the moment we have no sink, no water, no cooker and no washing machine, we are awaiting the granite worksurfaces before anything else can be done in the kitchen.

The JCB arrived Saturday morning - I didn't get photos of it in our front garden as i was at work and Phil refused to take any for me. So right now the house is sitting in a sea of mud as you can see in these photos. Hopefully it will be finished by the start of next week!

Tomorrow the block paving edging is supposed to be laid - fingers crossed! I still have a load of bulbs to plant in the front garden.

My Christmas cactus is flowering - a bit early, it's true! This is just a snap to show its pretty colour.

I was supposed to be on a course today; when I got there it had been cancelled. So that was a 50 mile round trip for nothing. I wasn't too pleased as apparently the decision had been made to cancel it LAST FRIDAY!

RDA was good today although we were short of helpers for the middle ride and had to have two groups. One little boy has been gradually building up his confidence and we got him on a pony for the first time last week. This week he tried his first trot and his delighted giggles made us helpers all grin as they echoed round the indoor school.

Now it's cold and many of the ponies have been clipped they need their rugs on after the rides. Some of the rugs seem to have very complicated straps and some ponies are very "ticklish" so far an amateur like me it can be tricky. But I managed quite well and Daz was very patient as I fiddled about his nether regions.

Phil's home AT LAST!

And he took some wonderful photos...I'm so proud of him :)

Beautiful birds...

Sisters

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day,
drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As
they talked about life, about marriage, about the
esponsibilities of life and the obligations of
adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her
glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance
upon her daughter.
'Don't forget your Sisters,' she advised, swirling
the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll
be more important as you get older. No matter how
much you love your husband, no matter how much you
love the children you may have, you are still going
to need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now
and then; do things with them.'

'Remember that 'Sisters' means ALL the women...
your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other
women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women
always do.'
What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman
thought. Haven't I just gotten married?
Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a
married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely
my husband and the family we may start will be all I
need to make my life worthwhile!'
But she listened to her Mother. She kept contact
with her Sisters and made more women friends each
year. As the years tumbled by, one after another,
she gradually came to understand that her Mom really
knew what she was talking about. As time and nature
work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman,
Sisters are the mainstays of her life.
After more than 50 years of living in this world,
here is what I've learned:
THIS SAYS IT ALL:

Time passes.



Life happens.



Distance separates.



Children grow up.



Jobs come and go.



Love waxes and wanes.



Men don't do what they're supposed to do.



Hearts break.



Parents die.



Colleagues forget favors..



Careers end.



BUT.........



Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how
many miles are
between you. A girl friend is never farther away
than needing her can reach.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you
have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life
will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on,
praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on
your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the
valley's end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk
beside you...Or come in and carry you out.
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters,
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers,
Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended
family, all bless our life!


The world wouldn't be the same without women, and
neither would I. When we began this adventure called
womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or
sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we
would need each other.
Every day, we need each other still. Pass this on
to all the women who help make your life meaningful.
I just did.

A friend emailed me this yesterday. And my post today is to say "THANK YOU" to all the amazing women who enrich my life - friends from Helsby and nearby, friends from further away, my work friends, new friends from RDA - my blog friends, my friends from the Corner and of course the women in my family.

And not forgetting my wonderful male friends - who for the purposes of this post are honourary girls today!

It's catblogging Friday and here is a photo proving how well house-trained our Basil is!

Just thought I'd post a picture of the work-in-progess on the kitchen. The new floor is in (and I love it!) as are the new kitchen units. All has ground to a halt, however until the guys arrive to measure for the granite work surface. I hoped something would happen this week but so far no luck.

Sometimes I sit alone in this little pool of light when the rest of the house has gone to bed, and catch up on blog reading and commenting. Sometimes I find something not intended for me at all but which really speaks to me. Tonight it was a comment on Lori's blog with a quotation from (of all people!) Minnie Driver which said:

"There is absolutely no point in sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself. The great power you have is to let go ... focus on what you have, not that, which has been mean or unkindly removed."

I've had a week or so of feeling pretty sorry for myself and I'm going to try my hardest to make next week better. I'm missing Phil a lot already but the week will soon pass. And I'm really going to work on letting go of so many negative emotions that keep dragging me down.

Thanks isabella for the quote. You don't know it but you were just the kick up the a*$e I needed tonight!

For Rose, one year ago today.

On this day of remembering I will especially think of the Merchant Seamen who lost their lives during both wars.

The merchant seamen contributed enormously to the final victorious outcome of the Battle of the Atlantic, and without their amazing world-wide contribution to the war effort, final victories over the Axis powers would not have been possible. The price was incredibly high -- over 50,000 Allied and neutral merchant seamen lost their lives keeping the Atlantic life-line to Britain intact. In addition to those who died on the "high seas" of the North Atlantic -- and the South Atlantic which was the favoured haunt of Italian submarines -- many other merchant seamen faced death while serving in dangerous "coastal" waters such as the Gulf of St.Lawrence, the Caribbean Sea and the highly strategic and fiercely contested Mediterranean Sea. Throughout the far reaches of the Indian and Pacific Oceans merchant seamen fell victim to marauding German surface raiders and Japanese submarines. Still others paid the ultimate price while keeping the life-line to Russia intact on the vital Murmansk--Archangel convoy routes of the frigid Arctic Ocean. Even after crossing the oceans safely and reaching Britain's coastal waters, merchant seamen still faced the hazards of deadly mines and savage aircraft attacks -- there were no "safe waters" for merchant seamen. Today, we must remember how much we owe those brave civilians who risked so much in the cause of Freedom, and who for so many years have received so little recognition.

Merchant Seamen Tribute