128/365 Lily & Violet

My friend Lily came to visit today. Its been a long time since we have had a proper catch up, and the last time I went to Lily's house, Violet was asleep upstairs almost the whole visit, so I was pleased today for a photo-opp and a cuddle-opp :0) Tough choice for today, and whilst I'd prefer the pacifier wasn't there... it was such a lovely shot of mother and baby. A collage is called for.

127/365 Sands envelope stuffing

I helped stuff envelopes today for Derby Sands. A group of us collated several leaflets, booklets and fliers and put them into envelopes for distribution to local healthcare professionals. Next month is Sands Awareness Month so the idea is to make medics who deal with parents losing babies aware of what support Sands can offer. We'll be doing more stuffing later in the month. See 96/365 and here for more info. Its more common than you think.

126/365 Potentilla

The potentilla is in its first flush of flowers. We have two of these shrubs, both yellow, they were here when we moved in and we like them - another yellow flowering thing I realise. We have plenty of pink too. This was taken with a new lens I got yesterday. Well, new to me anyway - a member of the photo club upgraded to full frame, so EP & myself were happy to buy 2 Sigma lenses from him. This is the 28-300mm, 3.5-6.3 DG Macro and I love it. (My other Sigma was a budget purchase, and boy do I notice the difference now!) Sweet, real sweet :0) I must treat my hubby to a special dinner this weekend for letting me have this bargain... :0)

125/365 Mouse in the house

We have an uninvited house guest... there is a mouse somewhere in my kitchen - he has helped himself to some grapes (he doesn't like the skin, so he peels it off) and he has chewed through my potato bag and munched on a potato! He has left us a few little 'messages' as well, but soon he'll be in a trap and then released back into the garden. One of our two cats, probably Sweetie, will have brought him in still alive then (stupidly) let him escape! He's not the first, he won't be the last, but I've moved several food sources for the duration! Cheeky little guy. Useless cats!

124/365 Thrust 2

Thrust 2, driven by Richard Noble, broke the world land speed record at 633.468 mph on October 4th, 1984, at Black Rock, USA, with a Rolls-Royce Avon 302 engine from a Lightning fighter. Full details here. It now resides at the Coventry Transport Museum, which is where we saw it today. My gorillapod got left in the car, so I placed the camera on a low wall to get this shot, too slow for handheld, but this beasty was much better placed and lit for being photographed than its successor, ThrustSSC, which was in the next room - that reached 763.035 mph, Mach 1.020 on October 15th, 1997, driven by Andy Green, using 2 jet engines, RR Spey 205.

123/365 Lumsdale waterfalls

Well, words almost fail me - almost! I had a fantastic afternoon in photographer heaven. I went on another walk with some DCPC members and some walkers to Lumsdale, near Matlock, for my first serious waterfall pictures. (Two walks in less than a week - blimey! I'm in danger of getting fit here!) So it was almost impossible to select a single shot for today's entry, so I'm posting 2 ........ plus a collage. I've done some quick edits on some of the best shots and plan to revisit in the near future with the family and a picnic. Wow. Thanks Tony ;0))

122/365 Buckets

Oliver had some friends round this morning, four of them had a bit of a water fight. But this afternoon was much quieter, Oliver & Luke chilled out with the PS2, a bit of footy, planning what guns they want to make from wood for playing at soldiers (plastic ones break so easily) and hanging out on the trampoline... They started messing with the buckets of water that had been their 'ammo' for the earlier water fight. I was gardening nearby and managed to nip inside for the camera and get this shot! Had I not been in that particular spot weeding, I'd not have noticed, and was I lucky they didn't move while I grabbed the camera. We like Luke, he's very calm.

121/365 geranium (hardy)

So many flowers to choose from now spring is here! I thought today's shot was going to be a whitebell, but this shot is better.