2013

Cupcake

It was our daughter's 9th birthday and we had a party. It was a make-and-bake party, so everyone got to decorate their own cupcakes and biscuits. It was messy, but fun!

My wife made a wedding cake today!

Didn't she do a lovely job?

The family

At Jan and Michael's Wedding

Hamish

In the woods past Cnoc na Dail between Lamlash and Brodick. I'm playing around again with Nik Silver Efex 2.0.

Rosie on Beauty

Rosie was having a fantastic time on Beauty.

Scottish ceilidh dancing

Once a year, during the summer holidays, there is the Fèis, a week of Gaelic tradition and culture for the kids. Freya's learning accordion and clarsach this week. Tonight was the family ceilidh and it was such fun for the kids. They don't have the same hangups we grown-ups have about dancing in front of people, so the floor was filled from the very first tune. The music was provided by the Fèis music tutors and they were fantastic - all young and enthusiastic, so it seems that the tradition is in safe hands. That's my daughter Freya there, front and centre.

Funny faces

I took the dogs down to the playing field this morning and took my long zoom lens to try and capture them chasing each other around the field. Clover's face is a picture in this shot!

Hoof work

This is Lorraine using her new hoof tools on Cocoa. Lorraine's a proponent of keeping the ponies barefoot and bitless.

Poppy

Poppy was great all the way up and down. She had a great time!

BBC Scotland

Glasgow Science Centre

Coffee Beans

I get my beans online, grind them in a Baratza Encore and brew them in an Aeropress. The results are very good indeed!

Homework

Doing some research on African elephants. Lighting by 24" iMac

Rose Room

Rose Room is a four-piece gypsy jazz ensemble based in Glasgow. Tonight they played at Whiting Bay Hall and it was superb - a gem of a gig in the intimate setting of a village hall and my daughter, aged 9, as company. What could be better?! I was sponsoring this one as Arran Computer Shop @ Brodick Post Office and was proud to do so!

Mario Kart

Playing some 'Kart while the girls are out on the ponies. That game just keeps on enduring. I lost days playing it myself 20-odd years ago!

megarider

Catching the bus from Brodick to Lamlash after work. The light was steaming in the window of the bus and I saw this shadow on the seat in front of me. I thought it would make a nice picture, and I was right!

Fishing

There was a group of people fishing with handlines at Brodick pier so I did some stealth Island Street with the 400mm zoom lens. This was an interesting shot in terms of composition. THe couple are actually in the middle of the frame vertically speaking, and there is some really cool seaweed on the wall below them, but this square crop seems to work better.

Schoolgirl

This girl was walking home from school as I was about to turn up the hill to my house. The 400mm zoom lens is fun for long shots without getting captured, kind of island street! Only thing is that it's huge, so not really great for close quarter street! I'm gonna use it more though for this sort of thing and see if I can improve composition, lighting environment etc.

Freya's first fountain pen

Freya was playing with my fountain pens at the weekend and reminded me that she'd told me some time ago that she would like one of her own. So we went onto Cult Pens and she chose a Kaweco Classic Sport in yellow with a BB nib. It arrived today and, well, it would be rude to buy a pen and nothing to write in, so, seeing as I'm wound around her little finger, I got her a large Leuchtturm1917 hardback notebook and, I have to say, it is fantastic!

Hamish and his Schneider

We got a nice haul from @cultpens today, including a sample of a Schneider Slider Memo XB. I gave it to Hamish and he really likes it, although he did break the clip off the lid within 5 minutes, literally. Schneider should look at that.

Construction @ Brodick Beach

These guys are digging to put steps in at Brodick beach. I'm not sure what the thinking is here. I'd rather they spend money actually fixing the bit of the beach that was supposed already to have been fixed. Maybe they will; who knows.

Lynn

Lynn of Visit Arran, coming off the ferry.

Flowers

This is the council flowerbed outside the post office with the late afternoon sun shining down and a filter applied in Lightroom.

Jesus vs Buckfast

This guy was on Buchanan Street ranting about alcohol and using Buckfast as an example. Jesus is the way. It was interesting for five minutes, given my eight years in AA. I wonder if this guy is in AA as well? I should've stopped for a blether, but he was a bit ranty. The dude in front of him tried arguing his case but gave up in the end and walked off in the huff.

Hen

There was a hen party on the plane to Cardiff from Glasgow and they were rather entertaining! The hen was sat in front of me and was fixing her hair here.