brontë parsonage

January 25, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 18 January 2022].}

untitled #76 [brontë parsonage, haworth, west yorkshire, england, 2012]

we come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden

January 23, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 January 2022].}

untitled #58 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

silky oak

January 21, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 14 January 2022].}

I thought this year I'd change things up a bit and share some of my vast quantity of floral images on Fridays, with the odd fungi image making an appearance.

The change is driven by my supply of fungi images running low for now. Many of my fungi photos were taken on my iPhone and shared on social media soon after.

But also because I want to share the many beautiful images of flowers I have taken over the decades. And they don't really quite fit into the travel category (though often taken while travelling), and, unlike my late bloomers series, these flowers are real.

untitled #57 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

So, I'm kicking off my new series of #FloralFriday posts with two photos I took back in 2009 of the striking yellow-gold flowers of a silky oak tree in Redland Bay, Queensland.

During my childhood, my parents and my grandfather tracked down various items of furniture made from the silky oak tree.

They sanded them back, varnished them and furnished our homes with them. Two sideboards and a dining table and chairs I grew up with were lovingly restored, among other items. And more furniture in my grandparents' home in Canberra.

Growing up, I never realised these flowers grew on the same trees the furniture I was surrounded by during my childhood were fashioned from.

I've decided to call this curated series a floral tribute.

rambo's

January 18, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 January 2022].}

At first glance, this is a pretty simple photograph and perhaps a bit dull to most.

But there's so much in this photograph to make me laugh and so many layers to the scene.

And the splashes of bold primary colours thrown in adds to it.

I was going to use a phrase from one of the many signs in the image as a title, but there were too many to choose from, and I thought it was more fun to let you discover them yourself.

Bonus points to the signwriter/s for the spelling mistakes and inappropriate apostrophe use.

eye on london

January 18, 2022

Today is my eleventh Londonversary!

To celebrate, here's a selection of photographs I took from the London Eye back in 2012 that I finally edited over the weekend.

cracked and blue

January 16, 2022

A quick post to say happy birthday to my good friend Phil. And happy 21-year friendversary!

I took this photo during our trip to Chichester in September last year. It reminds me of a lot of his urban texture photography.

you've made your bed...

January 16, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 January 2022].}

the setting sun

January 15, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 8 January 2022].}

Apologies for the radio silence the past week.

In the wee hours of this morning, I caught myself writing, "It's been a long week but a good one."

I can't honestly say I remember the last time I said that.

A long week, yes. But a good week? Nope. No idea when I last said that.

And looking back today, I feel like the last year of "no drama" in my life was 2017 or 2018.

I have some temporary work starting next week, which appears positive. Especially since my mentioning photographing roadkill didn't scare my new colleagues off in my interview. It explained why I can manage the imagery I might have to deal with in this role.

I've had refreshingly honest conversations the past couple of weeks with new and old friends. And while I'm accustomed to that with old friends, it's a good feeling to have that with new/ish friends (and maybe more-than-friends).

After the past few years, I'm optimistic about 2022. But cautiously so. My mantra has become "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst". But, so far, 2022 is treating me well.

I hope it's treating you well too, and I will be back with more new work very soon.

a bed of roses

January 9, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 January 2022].}

new lighthouse [dungeness]

January 4, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 December 2021].}

untitled #193

January 2, 2022

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 December 2021].}

a low ebb

December 31, 2021

2020 had its challenges, but I’m not going to lie. For me, personally, 2021 was a bitch.

I’m not going to expend more energy expanding upon that topic in this post.

I’ve tried to stop giving oxygen to elements in my life that proved to be unhealthy this year. Possibly for the first time in my whole life, that involved cutting ties with an ex-partner.

While this year has been a hard one for many reasons, there have been definite highlights.

And, especially when I was sick with Covid-19 back in July, I was overwhelmingly reminded of the brilliant global support network I have. I’m still gobsmacked by that. To those of you part of that network, both family and friends (and I’m sure you know who you are), I send you my love, and I’m forever grateful for you.

Before things went a bit more than pear-shaped this year, I managed to complete another 100 Day Project starting on 31 January 2021. I had a proper go at sketching every day. And, while I don’t profess to be a master illustrator, even after those 100 days, I created some not so terrible drawings.

The 100 Day Project for the coming year will start on 13 February 2022. I’ve had a few ideas of what I’d like to do, but we’ll see which one I settle upon.

Through my Patreon, I shared writings from my attempts at NaNoWriMo in 2009 and 2016. These are still rough second drafts and are currently only available to patrons.

I shared curated series from my sepulchre work, mushroom photographs, and travel photography.

I started my series of love letters to london, which I’d hoped to complete in 2021, but I will continue into 2022.

This year I took self-portraits for the first time since mid-2018 and have shared some that continue my interior/exterior series or fall into my new wallflowers series. I already have images from the latter to share in the new year.

I won’t bore you with my plant progress this year but suffice to say, my indoor plants fared better than the garden.

And I wrote actual handwritten letters for the first time in decades, inspired (or guilted?) by my friend Phil.

The things I let fall by the wayside this year were reading (beyond news articles of varying lengths) and language studies. Both I want to get back into in 2022.

In May, I unexpectedly found myself confronted by what is believed to be the oldest tree in London. A beautiful yew, she may be 2,000 years old.

She was more impressive up close than from a distance. I’ll share more close-ups of her beautiful contours in the new year, though I shared one previously.

In May, there was also a pleasant day out in Hertford. Exploring the source of the New River and wandering along the River Lea. Though there was also a bull charging me for photographing him!

In October, Scott and I explored the section of the New River (not new, not a river) between Hornsey and Finsbury Park.

At the end of 2020, I wasn’t overly hopeful for much travel this year. I would have settled for a weekend away somewhere within the UK.

Thanks to one of my longest-suffering friends, Phil, I visited Chichester and Bosham (first image in this post),

Itchenor

and Arundel.

And thanks to a cat-sitting gig for Jo and Becky, I was able to visit Minera,

Coedpoeth

and Wrexham.

However, the most unexpected and surprisingly fulfilling element of 2021 for me was becoming a cat-sitter.

Growing up and into my 20s and beyond, I was always a dog person. I couldn’t fathom cats. I would have said honestly at one point that I hated cats. So cat-sitting was not even close to being on my bingo card for 2021.

But really, in retrospect, I think it was more that I didn’t understand cats.

A chance pub quiz with friends led to me becoming a cat-sitter for the first time this year, and it’s something I hope to continue into 2022 and beyond.

There are side bonuses, like exploring new areas of London and beyond and locations for shooting self-portraits. And going “on holiday” but being paid for it.

But I’m not going to lie that the kitteh snuggles are lovely, and winning over an anxious or difficult kitteh brings a particular buzz with it. (Though I would be all good with less claw-to-skin action in demonstrations of affection…)

So, in order of appearance, here are the cool cats I’ve met this year (apologies for the photo quality with some. I hope to get better photos of them in future!)

Shiloh

Susie

Bao

Paczi

Meg

Mog

Sammy

Lily

Poppy

I’m not going to chance my hand predicting what 2022 will hold. But I have credit for travel that will hopefully take me back to Wales and Scotland, so that’s a positive start.

Anything else is a bonus.

I hope your 2022 is better than 2021.