WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

This year I decided to start walking every day as a meaning to moving more and getting out.  I love walking and during the summer months we do this often, but in winter or miserable weather it is too easy just to jump in and out of the car or spend the day indoors.

I am not someone who likes 'exercise' so I need a nudge to keep me motivated. I decided that I will take photos of my walk, including regular ones of the same viewpoint so that I can become aware of the seasonal change.  It will encourage me to pay attention to what is around me and then Eileen bought my attention to 'I am following a tree'.  I had started to notice one or two different trees along my walk and the idea of taking photos had already began to establish itself. So I will be joining in with Loose and Leafy and sharing photos each month of my chosen trees. I'm hoping this will add interest to my walks and help me develop a routine.

But meanwhile I wanted to share what a difference a day makes.  This is the view point I have chosen on two consecutive days:

 

 
And this is our local pub which I use as my  half way marker. 
Like so many other pubs it closed down but it is being redeveloped into an equestrian centre. It will be interesting to follow the progress and I was surprised to see the security fence removed overnight.

I am using these photos to link in with Helena.  Last year she ran a weekly neme called ZIZO and I enjoyed taking part. This year Helena has invited us to share PAIRS of photos and I see this being fun and offering more potential so I hope to join in even more.

Have a good week and if you are getting out for regular walks I'd be interested to know more about how you maintain your motivation!


This seems to be my year of blog celebration!
After saving I noticed that it is my 250th blog post. 
And yesterday I spotted that I had received over 51,000 page views.
Thank you.  Thank you!!
I had planned a giveaway when I reached 50,000 views so I took the opportunity to mark the occasion. 
So why not do the same for this?!

The first person to leave a comment here will receive a small giveway.  It's as simple as that!! 
Please make sure I know how to contact you for your address.

A YEAR IN PHOTOS, 2015 - WEEK 1

For the past 5 years I have done Project 365, taking a photo a day as a way of documenting my life and using it as a way of trying to improve my photography. But I never found a way of sharing these. The plan to print photos for each year and to make them into a book never happened and over the past couple of years I got out of the habit of organising the downloads into files.  It has now become a mammoth task and as I felt overwhelmed and did not want to add to this dilemma I decided not to continue Project 365 this year. 

But there was also reluctance to stop, as this collection of photos are something I value and enjoy.  What to do??!  Then I came across Joy's post. She has decided to share a weekly round up of her daily photos.

And I thought 'What a great idea!' 

I never stopped the routine of taking daily photos but more recently
the photos lacked sparkle, it became a mundane routine. I wanted a sense of purpose, to DO with them once I'd taken them! I still plan to print the photos and to make year books, and maybe this will motivate me enough to organise my computer downloads into albums and to do that.  At the very least it will encourage me to organise my photos on a regular basis and to stop these adding to my list of 'things to do'.  So I am looking forward rather than backwards and plan to share a weekly round up of my 2015 photos starting here:


Day 1.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  We usually celebrate with Jules Holland on TV and this year was no different.

Day 2.  I have started the year by walking each day.  The berries on the hedge attracted a large flock of redwings and I saw them two consecutive days, sadly they were gone after that.

 
Day 3.  Today it rained.  I didn't want to carry my camera so I took photos on my mobile phone, the poor light and rain made it difficult. I had barely noticed this stream other times as it is barely a trickle. Not this time, good thing I wore my wellies and good waterproofing.  

 

Day 4.  While recovering from a virus I have spent lots of time watching art journal video tutorials.  Today I decided to make a couple of journals using canvas for the cover and watercolour paper for the pages. One for me and one for a friend.

Day 5. I spent the day with friends, each with our silhouette cameos and lap tops set up so that we could share ideas and learn together.  At one time I would have taken a photo of us to record the day - the fact I didn't makes me realise that Project 365 has stopped playing such a focus in my life.  Time to change that!  I will start to look afresh at photo opportunities because I remember how much I used to enjoy looking at things from that perspective.
I did however take a photo of a book binding.  I liked how this is constructed and will be using this idea.

Day 6.  One of the things I did on my silhouette yesterday was to design the text for an anniversary card.  I love making my own designs rather than downloading ready made files, and I made this by writing the words into a frame. I angled each letter individually so there was slight overlap and then 'welded' them so they would be attached. After cutting the frame I put it onto a background and outlined each letter in pen. Card made! 



Day 7.  I love cooking and trying new recipes and this Moroccan style fish is from one of my favourite chefs, Nigel Slater.  The cod loin was marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and spices, then coated in flour and gently fried.  Mmmm... we'll be having that again as it was quick and simple but delicious!  

So that's my first week in photos.  Thanks to Joy for inspiring me and I look forward to sharing more next week.
Have you any routines or ideas you are trying or putting back into place? Do let me know!