CHRISTMAS 2009 at the SCOTTS

Alison in her Marigolds

Alec is pleased with his present. Eric and Carole in background

Thomas with a new nose. Holly and Fabby on the left

Derek carving the turkey

Enjoying our Christmas Dinner in Alison and Derek's Conservatory. She had the tables laid a week earlier!!

Fabby as Snowhite

I think this is a funny one of Geoff and Alec. Geoff doesn't remember what they were saying or doing!

My foot, Buster, Charlotte, Geoff, Andrew yawning with his breadmaker in his lap. Eric in the background. Taken using the gorillapod on the floor

Geoff taken using the gorillapod on the floor - no flash

CHRISTMAS DAY 2009

Here is Eric's Mum Kit with Fabby

Here is Layla who is married to Andrew

Buster is chasing a red laser light. Charlotte is behind him. Behind her is Colin who is Alec and Hannah's other Grandpa next to him is Andrew and a bit of Layla in black. Alec has the earphones in.

The four girls. Mia in pink and Fabby in Sleeping Beauty outfit who belong to Andrew and Layla. Bottom left is Holly who belongs to Sam and Phil. Bottom right is Hannah who belongs to Ali.

Alec performing for us on his guitar. Alec and Hannah belong to Alison and Derek.

Hannah at the keyboard with Anne her other Grandma looking on

Geoff, Charlotte, Alison and Buster

CHRISTMAS 2009

Patience and determination

Success. It took me 7 days to finish this jigsaw which Cyndy and Jeff in the state sent me. They remembered the fun we'd had last christmas doing jigsaws together. This was the hardest I had ever done especially all the plain brown bits.

HOLIDAY - Walk from Seahouses to Bamburgh

This is an alternative mono version of the colour one which I wasn't happy with. I tried a boat but settled on a new sky. Hope you think it looks believable!

SELF PORTRAIT

Took this using my new gorillapod which was my Secret Santa present. That's what we call it but invariably we choose what we want ourselves and let our not so secret santa know!

You are supposed to be able to wrap this around tree branches and i figured it was a much easier tripod to carry around with me than a full size one. It works well on a table which was where I had it when I took my portrait.

Hope you don't mind I just added self portrait to November since we had nothing and have made December theme as Christmas.

HOLIDAY - Circular Walk, Hadrians Wall from Once Brewed

Geoff as fresh as a bird at the start

Looking back to the start of the walk

Close up of the wall

Geoff checking the map

Geoff, the wall and the fort

You can see part of Hadrian's Wall here.

HOLIDAY - Circular Walk past Hadrians Wall from Once Brewed

Another misty day

Sheep on the wall - though this is not actually Hadrian's wall just here

Geoff through the buttercups

Buttercups

Geoff' good old boots gave out that day. Bits kept falling off the soles and at the end it was like walking in carpet slippers. Not good when you are about to attempt to walk 180 miles from Coast to Coast. He had to go and buy a new pair before we started.

HOLIDAY - Berwick upon Tweed

I think this is the train viaduct

This town is right on the border with Scotland. In fact the other side of the river is Scotland. Lots of residents would rather it was still in Scotland. It has changed hands many times over the centuries

HOLIDAY - Copper Snout, Cheviot Hills

We were in training here for our coast to coast walk. It was a very easy day compared to the miles and mountains in the Lake District

Thought this one looked better in mon

HOLIDAY - Howick Hall Gardens, Northumbria

Onions in flower

HOLIDAY - Craster Coastal Walk

Dunstanburgh Castle is in the distance

HOLIDAY - Lindisfarne Castle

As seen from the boat on the return journey. The mist came down again and I just got this in time before we got too far away. The others on the boat saw me stand up and take the shot and then they were all taking it. For the frame I made one layer on top of the other and transformed it to a smaller size. Then set the mode of the layer to multiply. This is what made the waves look flatter and also as though they are pointing towards the castle. I also put a new sky in the top. It was clear plain blue sky on the top so I figured this would suit it better. I did get 10 out of 10 in a print competition for it. Mind you there were lots of 10s that night.

HOLIDAY - Lindisfarne

Upturned boat - one of many around the harbour

Lindisfarne Castle from the Harbour

Way up to the Castle

The castle coming out of the mist

It was a very misty day. When we first arrived by boat on the island we couldn't even see the castle and had to ask people which way to walk to get to it