June 26th 08 - Raining again :(

Well it's a year since the awful floods of June 2007 and rather poignantly it's raining hard today. I feel very sorry for those affected by the floods, and many of them are still in caravans or alternative accommodation even now...they must feel a shiver go down their spine every time it rains.

I hope summer comes along soon, as it's very hard to find new things to take photos of when you're stuck inside watching the rain drops on the kitchen window :)

June 25th 08 - A rose from the garden

As I lived with my parents while recovering from the broken ankle my front garden has taken on the look of a jungle whilst I've been away. It's in a very sorry state and full of weeds. It's even gone beyond the stage when you can pretend it's a wildlife garden and supposed to look a bit scruffy :(

I just don't have the energy right now to do much about it, I'll get round to it and give it a good tidy up in the next few weeks and hopefully that will do for now. I've never been much of a green fingered man, although I do enjoy it once I put my mind to it.

The only items that are seeming to flourish amongst all the weeds are the roses and some newly emerging poppies. The poppies look great first thing in the morning when I'm off to work as the sun gets on them but by the time I get home they have been battered by the wind and are about to close up. It's a shame as they'd make a great photo. Hopefully sometime over the weekend I'll get a chance to get out with the camera and catch them at their best. Goodness knows where they came from as I didn't plant them!

June 24th 08 - A book clear out

I have too many books. Simple. I need to get rid of some as I live in an old terrace house from 1850 with very little storage. I hate throwing books away though so I've been very careful in deciding which ones are going and which are staying.

This lot are off to a charity shop in town, or maybe to be sold to a second hand store, I'll see what I'm able to do with them.

In fact after I put this photo up on Flickr a few of my friends have asked for one or two so they're about to be posted off to a better home...I hope they enjoy reading them too.

Now I have a little more space I can go buy some more :))

June 23rd 08 - Blue sky thinking

First day back at work today after nearly three months off. I was really nervous and excited at the same time. It was great to see everyone again and to catch up with what has been going on, but it was a shock to the system being back at my desk dealing with normal life again.

I enjoyed it though, it gave me something else to think about other than my ankle! I've missed the people I work with so it was great to see them again. I'm lucky that I work in a really friendly and supportive team and have some close friends there so in that respect I have a nice environment to go to each day.

In the morning I caught up on post and the hundreds of emails that had come in while I've been off. Thankfully much of the work had been undertaken by colleagues or managed in such a way that it could easily be done once I got back so there was nothing too urgent to attend to which was nice. In the afternoon I got out and did some site visits, more to ease myself into the working week than anything else, but it was great to be out in the sun again.

I wasn't even supposed to be in today. My manager and I had had a mix up when we were deciding when I was coming back. Today was supposed to be one of my compressed (I work longer hours each day and get every other Monday off in return) days...oh well, not to worry, I'll carry it over to next week instead :)

June 22nd 08 - A dry Beverley Westwood

I'd been thinking about doing this photo for a while. About a year ago to the day this region, along with many others in the UK, suffered the worst floods for decades. Hull was particularly badly hit and parts of Beverley were deluged too.

This row of houses backs onto the Beverley Westwood, a large area of public parkland on the edge of town, and they are some of the most sought after properties in the town with a great sense of character and an ideal location. When the floods hit they suffered really badly. I remember going down one evening after a meeting at work and being shocked by how far the water had come and feeling really bad for those people who were watching their homes being damaged.

I took a few photos at the time, the one below is one of them, and you can see to what extent the flooding impacted the homes. It made, photographically speaking, for a great photo, the light was perfect and the reflections really stood out. But I remember feeling very intrusive and uncomfortable taking the photos. I think it helped that the water had been there for a day or so, so no-one was in the middle of trying to save possessions otherwise I would like to think I would have put down the camera and gone to help.

Thankfully it's a beautiful day in Beverley today, bright summer sunshine, warm and breezy. I hope it stays this way, and remains a lot drier than it was last year.

June 21st 08 - An interesting invite!

I received a letter from a TV production company today asking if I would be interested in being a contestant on the Channel 4 show, "Come Dine With Me", I bet they sent it out to loads of people but it was an interesting proposition nonetheless.

However much I like meeting people and cooking I don't fancy the idea of making a wally out of myself on national telly, and having seen the programme a number of times I don't like the idea of other people rummaging through my house while I'm cooking in the kitchen either.

So thanks, but no thanks :)

June 20th 08 - A trip up the coast

I love the north Yorkshire coastline, Scarborough, Robin Hoods Bay, Whitby and all the way up to Saltburn. Full of interesting little place, great views and beautiful beaches. It was a lovely day here so I decided to take a run up to Whitby in the hope of seeing a nice sunset and getting some photos of the town. It was a lot quieter than I thought it would be, I suppose the summer holidays have not quite started yet...it's a shame the town has become so much like a cheap holiday resort in season as I think it spoils the character of the place. The old town still has much to offer though and if you head there out of season it really is a beautiful place.

I had a walk round the outskirts of the Abbey, then down the 1999 steps to the main town before walking out towards the lighthouses for a view back into the town. I'd been there a while before I noticed that the sunset was looking a bit promising so decided to hedge my bets and head further up the coast to Saltburn as it offers some of the best sunsets in the UK in my opinion. All looked on track when I got there, and the local snappers were certainly out in force with about 8 different tripods vying for position on the beach. But as is often the case the sunset disappeared behind a low lying, thick layer of cloud at the horizon and fizzled out to nothing. I enjoyed the ride up there though and it was nice and peaceful standing on the beach listening to the water.

I took the time to get a few light trail photos on a quiet stretch of the main Whitby to Scarborough road on the way back. I set the camera up on a tripod about a metre or so from the road looking down a long sweeping stretch of road and fired off shots with the infra-red remote. I was quite pleased with the results (see below). I didn't stay too long as people driving along the road were beginning to suspect I was a policeman with a speed camera and I worried a real policeman would come along and give me an earful!

June 19th 08 - Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire

I'd gone back to Mum and Dad's last night for the night as a friend of the family and business partner to my brother was hosting a Pampered Chef party at the house and I said I'd go along. We had a great time, ate some fabulous food and I ordered a few things for the kitchen too. I love kitchen gadgets, but I always run out of room to keep them, so I made sure I stuck to small things this time.

Today we went to Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire for the afternoon. I'd told Mum and Dad about it before and said it looked worthy of a visit. The house itself isn't open to the public, except for special occasions, but the grounds and gardens are beautiful and very accessible. They offer great views of the house itself and there are lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore. After a long walk round (we only saw half of it) we then headed to the cafe for a slice of cake and a drink. I'd recommend you head over there if you're in the area and it's a nice day. The adjoining golf course didn't look too bad either :)

June 18th 08 - Starting the rat race again

I'll be going back to work on Monday, for the first time in three months since breaking my ankle. It'll be very strange after having taken it easy and living at a much slower pace than normal, to be thrust into work again. I really like my job and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again and to getting my teeth stuck into it all. But I must admit to being a bit apprehensive about what awaits. I'm, sure a lot of the work that was on my desk when I left will still be there, and some of the reports I know I have to write up are not my favourite thing to do!

It'll be good to tax my brain again, do something more difficult than daytime telly for once! There have been a lot of changes within the structure of the team I work in too so it will be odd having to adjust to that too. I'm sure the changes are for the best though...it'll all work out in the end.

Now I just need to look forward to my next time off, hopefully a week in Berwick in July and a visit to Edinburgh thrown in too :)

June 17th 08 - A very lucky find

This is a photo of South Dalton Church, this wasn't going to be my photo of the day but I got sidetracked on the way back to Beverley so I decided to come straight home. This is what happened.

I was driving back down the back road into Beverley from South Dalton where I'd taken this photo when I saw what I thought was a wisp of smoke coming from one of the ditches off the right hand side of the road. I found somewhere to pull over and turned round. When I got back to the spot the smoke had gone but I pulled over anyway and got out of the car. I had a look through the bushes and down close to the ditch when I found the remains of a bumper and the grass was all flat. I walked further down the ditch following the debris and found a car in the bottom of the ditch with a lady trying to get out of it. I managed to get her back to my car where I phoned the police and ambulance service. She was really shaken up but appeared to be OK.

After a short while a paramedic first responder arrived who was followed a little while later by a police car then an ambulance too. The lady didn't remember what happened at all and there were no skid marks on the road just a trail of damage through the undergrowth into the ditch. The paramedics and ambulance crew guessed she must have blacked out and left the road. She was so lucky, the car had missed a large tree trunk by less than a metre, and at 50mph(ish) you can only guess at what would have happened. I'm just really glad she's OK.

I was pretty shaken up myself and I didn't realise how much until I got home and sat down and thought about it. Walking to the car in the ditch I was feeling sick to my stomach as I had no idea what I would find and what I would do about it if it was as bad as I feared. I only had a very small amount of battery left in my mobile so I knew I would have to leave whomever was in there and go back to the car to call the ambulance, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to leave anyone who was badly injured. I'm just so lucky that she was a walking wounded and was able to come back to my car with me. It just shows you how lucky some people are, her car was pretty hidden in that ditch and had she been trapped she may have laid there for sometime before anyone got to her.

Although it was a happy(ish) ending, it's certainly not something I'd want to repeat anytime soon.

June 16th 08 - The Deep at night

Another nighttime run out in search of different photos to take. This time I had a long drive taking in the sunset at Hornsea Mere (fizzled out to nothing), the wind farm at Easington (not enough light) and then into Hull (run the risk of chavs). I ended up at the Deep down by the fruit market. I'd seen several photos of this place at night, some of the best by a Flickr contact, CMP72 so I knew it would make for a good shot.

I was really lucky as the tide was just at the right height to make the reflection the right size to fit in the frame. It would have been no problem for a wide angle lens (10mm maybe) but I had 18mm to work with and just about managed to fit it in.

It was a lovely warm June evening too so it was quite nice standing there all peaceful taking the photos.

June 15th 08 - arty farty food shot

I was struggling for a photo to take today so resorted to copying an idea by a Flickr contact, Ben Garside, who'd done something similar a few days ago. I turned it B&W to try and give it a moody effect, but the light wasn't that great in my kitchen so it turned out a bit flat...something to try another day I think. Mind you the pasta bake that preceded this shot was superb :)

June 14th 08 - spent a day in York with Ruby

I met up with my Flickr friend Ruby today in York. She was staying there the night on her way down to Portsmouth for work. Bless her, she'd ridden all the way from Edinburgh on her motorbike then rushed into town to meet me at the Minster. It was great to see her again, having met up with earlier in the year in Edinburgh.

We went and found somewhere for lunch and ended up at Cafe Rouge near the Minster before heading back and doing the Minster. I love it in there and I'm always awe struck by the beauty of the place and how it manages to stay standing and looking so magnificent after all those years.

I've always wanted to go up the tower as I'd heard the views are amazing, but every time I'd been I was either too late or for some reason the tour was off. Today however, we were in luck. So after just over 250 steps we reached the top, out of breath and with shaky knees. But the view was worth it. You had a 360 degree view of the city skyline and as it was a fairly clear day you could see for miles.

After we made our way back down we headed into town and had a coffee...any excuse to rest our weary legs really :) We also had a walk through the town and sat down by the river and watched the boats for a little while before finding a restaurant for dinner. Then we had an adventure trying to find out where her hotel was...unfortunately Ruby shares my carefree attitude to navigation so we were like lost sheep for a while, but we got there in the end.

I love spending time with Ruby, she's a lot of fun and is great company. I hope we get to meet up again soon, thanks for a great day Ruby x

June 13th 08 - Windy day on the Wolds

I was sick of being stuck indoors again so decided to head over to Huggate on the Yorkshire Wolds where I knew there were some great views of the countryside. It was a fairly windy day but the sky was very dramatic so I took the camera along just in case.

This spot was just off the Huggate to Middleton road so I parked up and walked a little way into a field and set up my tripod. I had to take a few shots before I got a steady view of the trees and fields in the background. I used a solid ND filter to give me a longer than normal exposure time, making the crop in the field move in the photo to show the wind. I'm really pleased with the result and will use this technique again.

June 12th 08 - Skidby windmill

It was getting late and I'd not taken my photo of the day so I went out for a short drive to try and get inspired, thinking if I didn't see anything at all I'd take some long light trails of the cars long the motorway as there are lots of bridges along the stretch of the M62 near me that make great vantage points.

I was on my way to one of these bridges, having not seen anything of interest at all, when on the horizon I saw the windmill at Skidby all lit up. It looked great so I found somewhere to park and thankfully you could get quite close, so I took the tripod and got a few shots. The light was beautiful with a really strong moon behind me helping with the lighting.

I was so lucky spotting it when I did....I can now save the car trails for another non-inspired night :)

June 11th 08 - My new toy

I've got a new phone! My contract isn't up just yet but I'm finding that I'm going over my set allowance almost every month so I thought it was time for a change. I've stuck with T-mobile, even though I have no brand loyalty whatsoever with any of the mobile phone providers, I felt that they've been OK with me these last 15 months or so.

SO, the phone. It's a Nokia N95. I went for this for two reasons really, number one being the camera, it's packed full of features and at 5MP it will do as a stand in when I see a photo I want and don't have the Canon 400D with me. The second reason was the up to 8GB storage with removable memory card...perfect for lugging round the MP3s and storing lots of photos.

I'm really p-leased with it so far, and being a total gadget nut (like most blokes I know) I'm in my element with this phone...it even has maps and GPS :))

June 10th 08 - The seaside

I miss the sea when I've not seen it in a while. Today was the first time I'd spent any real time there in several months and it was nice to be back. My ankle didn't stand up to any more than a very short amble along the sand but the weather was beautiful and the clouds looked great so I was glad to have had the camera with me.

There's something really peaceful about being by the sea, it helps me get my thoughts in order and certainly relaxes me. I'd hate to move far away from the coast as I like to have it within a short drive of me. I'm lucky living where I do in Beverley as the coast and the Yorkshire Moors and Dales are no more than half an hour or so in the car so I get the best of both worlds.

June 9th 08 - Clumber Park

This is Clumber Park, a National Trust property in North Nottinghamshire, near Worksop. I used to work there as a teenager between about 1992 and 1997. It's a beautiful park centered around a lake and has stunning countryside and lovely walks to keep you occupied. There isn't a house there anymore as it burnt down a long time ago but there is a shop, walled gardens, chapel, cycle hire, restaurant, plant sales and a whole host of things to do. Or you can simply sit back and relax in the sun or watch the cricket on the green.

I love coming here, it reminds me of what a great time I had working there...especially on beautiful days like today when it truly does stand out as a great place to be. This photo was taken while Mum, Dad and I sat on a bench soaking up the view (and the sun) and shows the chapel and restaurant buildings from the lake side path

June 8th 08 - Early Father's Day day out

Mum and Dad are busy with friends visiting next weekend so we decided to get together as a family and celebrate Father's Day a week early. It was a beautiful day so we grabbed the cameras and headed into Derbyshire to the Crich Tramway Museum. It's funny how photography as a hobby opens up so many different places to visit for you. I wouldn't be at all interested in going to a tram museum without having been interested into photography but I really enjoyed the day. They had all the working trams out on the tracks and they were all available to ride on and have a good look round so we all took plenty of photos :) This is a shot of Chris (my brother) on the front of the top deck of a tram.

They have 1940's themed weekends there every August bank holiday so they should be really worth a visit as there are lots of old classic cars and people in period dress around. A must for anyone with a camera I think!

After a good old soak in the sun we headed home for dinner. We all had a really good day. I was shattered though as I'd gone the whole day without using my crutches, trying my best to get my foot working again...I managed OK although I was very slow and in pain some of the time...but it is getting easier which is good to see.

June 7th 08 - The fat fairy

I'm back at my parents for the weekend after spending a few days at home in Beverley. I'm here for Father's Day, which isn't until next weekend really but we're celebrating it this weekend as Mum and Dad have people over next weekend. It's nice to be back again, even though I don't intend spending another two months here as I did on my last visit. (I really must stop breaking my ankle!)

I also had some help from Dad with my computer as my copy of Photoshop had decided it wasn't going to work anymore so he helped me reinstall Vista and get CS3 working again...thankfully as I was really lost without it. Some of what we did was trial and error, but it worked so that's the main thing.

The photo today of the "Little Fat Fairy" was a random shot really, but it does have a bit of significance as I have lost a lot of weight since breaking my ankle. I'm surprised really as I feared I'd pile the pounds on after being off my feet for so long but the opposite happened and I'm slimmer now than I have been for a while. Don't get me wrong, I'm no stick insect and have more to loose, but it's a big step in the right direction.

Now I just have to be mindful of the "Little Fat Fairy's" wand as if I go near a chocolate biscuit or some cake a bolt of lightning shoots out of her wand and zaps me! Hopefully she'll be the incentive I need to keep the weight off :)

June 6th 08 - Come on technology, catch up!

I was reading New Scientist and the BBC Focus magazine today and they were both packed full of the way in which technology is improving our life and how better off we all are for it. I agree, it is responsible for such massive leaps forward for the planet and humanity, I mean we've put men on the moon, begun mapping the human genome, explored almost every inch of the planet, gone higher and faster than ever thought possible...and then I went to put my washing on and wondered why on earth they can't make a washing machine that not only washes your clothes but dries them, irons and folds them then puts them away in the wardrobe. It can't be that hard can it??

June 5th 08 - Presentation Day

We had our project presentation today and it couldn't have gone better. I'm so proud of us all. We did so well. The panel heaped praise on us left right and centre and gave us a distinctive mark overall and the Director who was sponsoring our project was very impressed with the work we'd done so far and was keen to progress it even further, with us on board, once the time is right for the development of the ideas. I'm really chuffed and very relieved to have it over and done with. Well done team!

No significance with the photo - I just liked it :)

June 4th 08 - Beautiful day in Beverley

I spent the majority of today stuck in an office at work preparing for a very important presentation my project team and I have to give tomorrow. We've been working on this project for just over a year now so it will be great to finally put it to bed tomorrow. We worked hard today and I'm sure it will all come together when we present to the panel in the morning.

It was strange being back in the work environment today, even though I don't go back properly for another few weeks I enjoyed being back there and having my mind active again. There's only so much daytime telly one man can watch without going mad :)

After we'd done with the practice I headed out for a short drive with the camera as it was a beautiful day and managed to get a shot or two of the beautiful sky against what has to be the only oil seed rape field left in flower around here. It made for a great contrast with the blue sky I thought.

June 3rd 08 - Back home

My first day back home today since I broke my ankle. It seems like such a long time ago, but it is good to be home. I enjoyed staying with Mum, Dad and Chris while I recovered, they were really good to me and made sure I wasn't too bored by taking me out and about which was great. I think I'd have gone stir crazy if I'd just sat with my foot up the whole time.

I love having some of my independence back too, I can now drive (short distances) so that's good, and I'll be ready to go back to work properly in a couple of weeks too. In the meantime I'm going to rest and get used to being back at home in Beverley

Thanks to Mum, Dad and Chris for looking after me, running around after me and for generally being a great family x

June 2nd 08 - These boots were made for walking

I took myself out for a drive this afternoon, I felt like I needed some time on my own and to enjoy my own company. I ended up near Haversage in the Peak District and as I drove along I saw the most wonderful view down into the valley so I pulled up on the side of the road, gingerly made my way over a style and sat on the grass and soaked it in for a while. It was really peaceful up there and it made me long for the day when this ankle is back to normal and I can pull my hiking boots on again and go for a walk with the camera. Hopefully it won't be too long now.

Today is my last day at Mum and Dad's as I'm moving back home tomorrow. The broken ankle has healed enough that I am able to get about relatively easily and can now get up and down stairs easily enough and as I can drive now, getting to the shops shouldn't be a problem either. So I thought I'd spend the last 2 and a half weeks or so before I am to go back to work recovering at home. It'll be strange being back at home after spending so long here with the family. It's been great though, they have really looked after me well and, even though I'm sure it hasn't been easy for them, I have felt very welcome here...taking over the music room :)

Thank you to Mum, Dad and my brother Chris for being so patient with me staying at their place. You've all been very kind xx

June 1st 08 - If friends were flowers...

This is a sign that Mum has in a pot in the courtyard at their house. It always makes me smile as it sums her up really, very friendly and always out to make people happy. So I thought it was about time I took a photo of this for my project365. That and the fact that it's been a horrible day today, rain and cloudy, so not many photo opportunities presented themselves.

I hope this isn't a sign of the summer we're going to be having...not a good thing to have such poor weather on the 1st June for goodness sake. We battled through it though, showing that British resolve, Dad put a coat on and lit the BBQ while the rest of us stood inside with the heating on waiting for the food to arrive :)

Got to love the British summer haven't you!