So that was 2011

And so .... another year is nearly done.  I look back at hundreds of photos I have taken over the year and realise I need to get out more haha!! Here's a tree, here's another tree, and another .......

This year we have had 3 new pets - a hamster called Tilly and 2 new cats to join my other 4,000 ..... but also lost one (Bella).  T-Bone got all conure crazy and became daddy to T-Bone junior and Charlie.  My son Jon celebrated 18 years of age and my daughter Sophie became a teenager.  I joined Marwell photographic club and decided to join a singing group (that will start in the new year though).  I have had loads of trips to my local jazz club and have been to see one or two bands including Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood in London with T-Bone.  Preferred Tin Spirits in Swindon though!!! We went on holiday camping to Dorset with my new tent, which was an absolute bugger to put up, I forgot the camping gas and alcohol, but other than that we had a fab week in the sunshine.  I enjoyed an amazingly hot April at Tumulus, saw my sister move over to the Isle of Wight, visited the historic ships in Portsmouth and the bluebells in Wiltshire ... I am sure I have done much more than that but my memory is pretty shocking these days.

I think I have done more than that but my memory is awful these days .....

I think particular highlights for me have been playing with my new camera and learning its new features and taking some cool photographs (although will always need to do better!), and also having some fun in Logic Pro making some music, being taught by the ever patient T-Bone.  I also sang for the first time in front of T-Bone for his prog rock tune, which was an altogether scary experience but has taught me not to be such a twit, it's alright really to have a rubbish voice, who cares at the end of the day, it's just the one I've got!  I am determined to do some painting and drawing too before I go back to work and maybe read a book or two.  It's times like the end of the year you feel you can indulge hobbies a bit ...

Anyway Happy New Year to you, and let's hope 2012 is a magical year ......

Some moods of Hipstamatic

Pub!

Quite liked this one taken with Hipstamatic

Pub ceiling!

Sophie's Children In Need Cupcakes

Sophie designed and made these beautiful cakes for Children In Need.  Quite a work of art I thought! She spent many a happy hour making them, and I took them in to work for the cake sale.  We made over £300 all in all .... well done Sophie!

Autumn

At the weekend I was in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside.  Always a tonic that, and the weather was particularly beautiful this weekend, Sunday especially.  Blues skies and gorgeous autumnal colours.  So I decided to head out with my camera and as T-Bone wasn't feeling too good, I went for a wander on my own in Stitchcombe.

Here are some photos I took.  I am feeling I am getting the hang of my camera a bit more now :) .... Pah to Blogger though!!!! Any edits I have done of my photos just won't upload .... so these are all in their original state I'm afraid!


Loved the contrasting textures and colours here on this one:

Beautiful views from the top of the hill to the valley, stunning

And so, to the woods I go ....

And have a bit of a wander up the lane in the sunshine

And just because ...

Jon

October sunrise

Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley at The Concorde Club Eastleigh

Another night of fabulous music last night, this time we enjoyed some vintage blues, courtesy of Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley from across the Pond.

I really enjoyed this one, what a wonderful night of blues music it was .. lovely band too, and such nice folk!  Lovely to hear some blues, such a shame the jazz club was so quiet ... don't understand it really, but they missed a great night of music.

 Here are some of my photos I took last night:

Itchen Navigation and Brambridge

My girlie

Soph is growing up so fast now … here she is, now aged 13, with Minne the minx

September sunset

Lovely sunset tonight, really beautiful

Happy Times at The Hospital

I had to laugh at this photograph I found today.  I was telling my daughter Sophie about this incident the other day and was pleased to find photographic evidence!

I worked at Southampton General Hospital from the mid 1980s and had very happy times there.  I worked for one of the Rheumatology Consultants.  Opposite my office was the Physiotherapy Gym, and in those days life was a lot more straight forward and we had opportunities to have a bit of fun at times (something you just wouldn't get away with any more sadly!).

In the Gym there was a skeleton model and we used to take him out in one of the Rehab wheelchairs for outings on a  regular basis.  He doesn't look very well does he?

In this photo, the skeleton, whose name I have long forgotten, was being wheeled about by Mollie and Rosemary the physic porters, and Sue who was another Rheumatology Secretary.  The patients always looked very bemused.

A few years after that I do remember being tied up with bandages and put in the wheelchair outside the Rehab entrance on my hospital hen do.  I wonder if those photos are still around?!

One of my very earliest photographs

Whilst looking through some of my old photographs earlier today, I found a photograph I took with my very first camera, a little 110 film camera that I had for my birthday when I was possibly about 10 years old. I loved this little camera, although the results were a bit grainy to say the least.

I scanned in one of my very first and favourite photos that I took when I was about 10 or 11 years old, taken at one of the Lakes in the Lake District.  We had many family holidays there as a child, staying with old friends of the family, friends that had worked with my dad at Southern Television.  Holidays were fun times with them, remembering old times at the Studio and lots of laughter.  I took delight in the fact that "Uncle Eric" (being rather vertically challenged) was smaller than I by the time I was a teenager.  He was a lovely and jolly man, and was a constant feature in my childhood years.  He had a great love of cycling and hill walking, and took all the family on some lovely walks in the Lake District.  He also had a very strong Lancashire accent which I loved to imitate and was usually quite fluent by the time I returned home!

I remember taking this photo - dad - always an encouragement to me with photography - called over to me that this would make a lovely photo - so I quickly took it (you only took one photo of each scene in those days due to the expense of using film - none of this multi image digital photography).  I was quite pleased with the way it came out.  I have tried to bring it back to life on my computer, after all it is 35 years old!

Frank

Introducing my friend Vicky's new kitten called Frank.   Isn't he a beaut?

Macaque Monkeys