The day started out rather on the misty side:

It soon cleared up and we took a quick stroll around China Town for the New Year Festivities. We weren’t there long and we missed the parade, but the wee one can only take so much, besides we are both sick with colds. It was nice to get out, although I could have done without the crowds (I’m just glad we didn’t take the buggy).

The previous two photos are also part of my Project Spectrum Fire series.

Same crocus, same lens, just one day later with a less wind and a wee bit of sunshine filtering through the clouds. What a difference a day makes.

I was do the washing up this afternoon when I glanced out the window and notived that there was a crocus with colour. Ah… the first sign of spring… of course, we usually get our first snow just as the crocuses come out so I guess this is out first sign of winter, too. (Unless, like last year, we just skip winter altogether.)

Not as crisp as I’d like, but we had winds running between 15 and 20mph, and even a shutter speed of 1/1000 only does so much when the buds are as twitchy as a toddler on 5 cups of espresso. I just really wanted to capture it on the day I first saw it and I’m happy I did.

This is one of those photos that is more about life than about the photo… it certainly won’t be winning any prizes, but then again one of the reasons for me doing this project is to document our everyday life and the things we do.

We took the wee one out to Hadrian’s Wall (along with my mother-in-law and her partner who were visiting from Canada) to soak up a little history. The wee one wasn’t having any of it. Between the wind and the fact she really wanted a kip she just wasn’t having it, but being the cruel and evil mum I am I made her stand in for a photo anyway.

Joey and I have always enjoyed going out and about the countryside so we hope the little girl will like it too, although we will probably plan on going out on slightly nicer days in the future.

It’s been that kind of day. I’ve been fighting off a cold for days, I was up at 4:30am this morning for a feed and couldn’t get back to sleep, had to finish cleaning the flat, took the wee one in to get her jabs and a general all around busy kind of day…. but this made me happy:

That’s a shadow. That means we saw the sun today. Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference.

Now I’m going to bed….

I again spent most of the day tidying the house so we have another indoor shot today, but it was something that caught my eye a few weeks ago. I love the colour of the scotch and I love the lines the drapes make in the liquid.

I’m also using this as one of my entries in Project Spectrum for the element of Fire.

Whilst cleaning the lounge I happened across one of my handmade books and thought it would make a good photo. I think nicely fits into Karin’s challenge for this week which is shadows.

This is exactly as it came out of the camera… I didn’t even use the crop tool. I think it’s a first. ;)

It was a stew day today… one of those days where I clean out the fridge of all (or most) of the veg and make fresh stock and then use the stock for stew. What a great way to use up random veg. :)

We headed out to meet up with some old work chums of mine and on the way back, I spotted this well near the bus stop, so naturally I took a photo.

I was playing around in Photoshop and decided to try a sepia version. I can’t decide which I like better. Opinions?

I have to admit I don’t use many Photoshop tools other than crop and levels to adjust my photos, but sometimes I just need to play a bit. ;)

Karin’s theme for this week is red which conveniently corresponds with the start of Project Spectrum in which the theme for February and March is Fire. Suggested colours for fire were red, orange and pink. So here is an entry for both projects.

Love apples. So yummy. This one was one that made it into an apple cobbler which is even yummier. :)