Part one - holiday highlights ....

After an 850 mile round trip -

we arrived home safely on sunday .

We were blessed with gorgeous weather ,

and the odd warm rain shower fall -

and totally enjoyed our time away -

even if it was tiring with all the walking and

places we visited .

I took some 650 snaps - that`s just mine -

and i have picked the best ones to show you .

I will get around to visit you all soon -

but for now - i hope you enjoy these ...

Some - not all are clickable ..

The way down to Norfolk -

rolling fields and blue skies ...

Fields of poppies swaying with the slight breeze ..

Going through many tiny villages ,

with thatched roof`s .

And seeing unusual place names -

like Little Snoring , and Great Snoring ! ;o)

Belton House - Lincolnshire .

beautiful gardens ..

The orangery ..

From inside - out ...

Some of the many succulent plants ...

Felbrigg Hall and gardens - Norfolk .

Dovecote house ..

Peach trees lining the garden walls

Chickens roaming free ...

One of the many poppy varieties - i have not seen

this colour before ...

There`s so much more to follow - including 2

outstanding houses , one where they filmed

and starred Kiera Knightly ! You could also take

photographs inside the stately home - of course i

was well pleased !!

It`s nearly time for our holiday -

going down to the Norfolk / coast and

onto Oxford again . A welcomed break from

home and to see the beach and the sea .

So i will say bye for now -

takecare - and i will see you when i get back !

xxxxxx

One last thing ...

Just a couple of blooming flower

journal pages ...

I made this reversable headband

for my holiday - and to match the

Eco bag i made too . Just 2 strips sewn

together and for the elastic part i used

an elastic hair band - those you can buy in packs

and real cheap and hand sewed it to the edges .

It turned out pretty good , as i am not really a

hat person , and thought it may give my head some

protection from the sun . I suffered sun stroke

some years ago , and i was very poorly ,

and i don`t want a repeat performance !!

Bottom photo is clickable .

We recently had a visit to

Oakwell Hall Country Park .

Built in 1583 - an Elizabethan manor house

in a 100 acres of parkland . Visitors can peruse

the grounds and garden - for free , with

an entrance fee for the house . It was a pleasant

way to idle away an hour or two .

The house front ..

Rear -with 17th century styled garden .

A few of the diverse array of flowers ..

And i was quite chuffed to capture

a bumble bee inside this flower ! ;o)

I could not tell properly on my preview

camera screen if i had a good picture , i had to

wait until i got home to download it .

Pretty good huh ??

Enjoy your day !!

Feathered friends ...

Whatever you do - enjoy your weekend !

And here is just a few of my

bird visitors recently ...

House sparrows - one caught mid hop ! ;o)

Not so good one of a Blue tit - he`s that

tiny and fast - you need to be quick .

I am waiting to get a better photo .

My friend - Mr Blackbird -

who stands on top of the hedge , waiting for

me to bring out some food .

And thinks i cannot see him

when he cowers down !

Makes me laugh everytime !

And feeding one of their babies ...

Introducing .....

It may seem like i have not been creating -

and wittering on about other things ;o)

but i am doing . I am working on drawings

and a story - in the hope to be published

for a children's book .

For obvious reasons i cannot show all

of any work completed- however i thought i would

show you at least one ...

Here is my main character ...

Pickle !!!

A close up in the grass ...

Pickle just loves to smell the flowers

Don`t you ???

As an added extra - this time only -

i have decided to printed a limited amount .

Be the first to comment to say if you genuinely

wish to have signed copies - this will not be

offered again - for free of course ;o)

And this will be my last giveaway for a while -

and before i go away on holiday .

The size is 2.5 x 3.75 on matt photo paper / card

and there is 2 sets of 2 in the give away .

Thanks !!

All Is Revealed ....

Thankyou to all who had a guess at how i did

the ghost effect in this photo ...

So - how did i do it ??

I set my camera on my tripod -

and took this photo first ...

Then took the same photo again -

with myself in - using an infra red

remote control . Thankyou Sherry - for commenting

on my skirt too ! It`s very rare i wear one , i`m more

of a trouser person ;o)

Next i used a photo editing programme -

i have Serif Draw plus 6 - although i

have just got photoshop - i know it`s

a massive programme to learn and i

still have to look into it yet .

I imported the first photo , then the one

with myself in - lined it up to match ,

clicked on a transparency tool for the top photo

and hey presto done !!

Pretty easy to do - although you wouldn`t

think so reading it . There could be another way -

for eg - cutting around myself and placing me

there - but this was the easier option for me

and i knew how to do it !!

So who has won then ...

A few suggested me using a programme ,

correct - but here is the winning comment :

Wow, amazing photos Carolyn, and I just love you as a "ghost" :)

If I was going to do that I would probably have taken two photos,

one with and one without myself, then layered them in a graphics program.

I would then fade the one with myself on using an Opacity I think it's

called so you can almost see through me. Best guess,

but you may have done it another way :)

Congratulations LYNN !!!

A lucky friend of mine - and i had the honour of

meeting her last year when she visited here in the UK .

She has just celebrated 29 years of marriage -

way to go !!!! Who wouldn`t love a man who

loves to cook for you - and clean up as well !! ;o)

Warning - contains tasteful visual photos !! ;o)

We went to see the new Terminator Salvation

movie yesterday evening . I am a big fan of all of

"T" movies , especially the 2nd one , and i thought

the third one- Rise of the machines was just lacking in

something , but that`s just my opinion .

So when i knew it was being released -

and with Christian Bale in - i had to go see !

He`s my latest crush - if you can call a 42 yr old

woman having one !! ;o)

His Batman performances were good .. and in Equilibrium

and The Prestige - with Hugh Jackman - was

equally enthralling ... A film i have yet to see whole is

The Machinist . I stumbled upon it flicking on satellite TV -

and i was shocked and "bothered " by his appearance .

I hardly recognised him and had to check the cast list -

to make sure it was him .

Having lost some 60lbs in weight for the role , he

looked poorly and a concentration camp skeletal

figure - i couldn`t view it anymore . It was necessary for

the character he played , so any extra weight on him ,

would not look realistic . I will however give it another

try and see what i think .

The new movie i thought was visually entertaining ,

the special effects were brilliant as well as the cast .

At nearly 2 hours long - my initial thought was

oh no - too much . However it did not seem like that at all ,

and the time just flew by . So i would recommend

seeing this - especially if you liked the previous ones.

Now here`s some more eye candy photos ...

All in the details girls ....

A shoot i wish i had participated in !! ;o)

But i think i would have needed my tripod -

to help with the camera shakes !! LOL !!

Pass me the soap please !!

Or even just the person who handed him a towel

to dry off !!!

Cheeky chap !! ;o)

Not a case of flicking a tea towel at those

taught buttocks .. but wouldn`t your hands

just fit perfectly nestled holding them girls ?? !! !!!

* BIG laugh and smile *

BTW - if by chance you`re reading this Christian -

i would love a signed autograph !! Wishful thinking ....

Have a " peach " of a day !!

( Sorry - bad pun !!! ) ;o)

You still have time to enter my small

giveaway - on the below post also ..

You can have as many goes as you like ..

the guess`s so far are partially right -

Hint 2 - i used my tripod !

Guess How ...

It took me 2 trips to our local

cemetery , to get some photos .

The first visit - i took mostly colour ,

and getting home and viewing them -

I realised - that the few black and white

shots looked so much better to me. So i had to pay

another visit . I had a play with the colour -

as you may be able to tell also .

Maybe because of the age of the stones , crumbled and

weathered and many probably unvisited today .The

elaborately decorated headstones something which was

done in days gone by , unlike many today .

In my opinion - they do look better in monochrome .

I`ve always loved visiting cemetery`s -

maybe you can call it , a morbid fascination -

seeing the names , how long they lived and how

old they were when they passed , some at a very young age .

I have a respect for them , and in my head , if i have to cross

over a grave for some reason - i apologise ! !

So - with out much explanation - here they are ..

Down the lane before i entered - i saw this baby magpie !!

My first sighting !! ;o) Frozen and frightened , he let

me take a few snaps . I think he had lost his mother -

but he was gone when i passed to go home .

I call it fate i saw him ...

UPDATED - i found some photos are not clickable

if you want to see them ! Just try them out !

Colour comparison ...

A missing head - nowhere to be seen

which is sad ...

A fly ...

And some camera trickery ...

adding myself - as a ghost ...

Can you see me ???

The first person to guess how i did this -

in a comment on this post -

will get a signed printed copy of a Maisey art postcard

taken from one of my drawings - below !

You have until Tuesday 9th June -

when i will reveal all !! ;o) Hint -

it was pretty simple - which it has to be for me !!

Have a great weekend !!