What happened to providing a good service?

I'm very aware that my posts in the run up to Christmas have been, shall we say, less than festive. For that I apologise.

But I'm more than a little befuddled as to why I'm currently sitting here having to fix Chloe's "professionally" taken school photograph. I'm glad I asked for the jpeg on disk rather than having the photo printed, but I'm wondering just what exactly I paid £25 for the privilege of.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this...


dark and dreary little offering probably isn't the best job a "professional" photographer could have done.

Robert bought my mum a digital photo frame for my mum and has filled it with photos of Chloe. She's always complaining that she doesn't have enough and I really wanted to be able to add her school photo into the mix before wrapping it up.

The addition of a bit of light and a warming filter helped a lot I think...


And I have a bit of a thing for cropped photos like this one recently....



And taken just a little bit further ...



I love that the difference in colour between her two eyes is a lot more obvious in the last one. It's her thing, she loves that one is brown and one is blue.

Ten minutes, total!! So why couldn't the photographer have done that?

Menu Plan 3/8 to 9/8

Water, water everywhere, so lets all have a drink! Yep, it's chucking it down in buckets again this week.

Even so, I received a nice surprise this week in the form of an email from Emma Williams, the Managing Editor of the Schmap Guide telling me that one of my photographs from our trip to Belfast Zoo had been chosen for the Top Attractions section.

This one in fact.


If you're not familiar with Schmap you check it out using the link below. Simply put, it's an online map system when you can also run on your phone amongst other things, but instead of a boring bog standard map, in Schmap all of the sites, attractions and places of interest including hotels, restaurants and even events which have been reviewed and also include photographs taken by your average Joe, or Josephine in my case because face it, a professional photographer can make anywhere look like somewhere you'd like to visit. Schmap Guides are available for over 200 worldwide destinations, not just Belfast so why not check out a few local to you.

Anyway, food!

I'm keeping relatively simple this week, although I found out after last week that I do need a basic menu at the very least to keep hold of my sanity.

Monday

I'll make a big pot of beef stew. The poor husband was on call all weekend and he barely set foot in the house until well after midnight both nights, plus he's off sorting out cameras today. Cameras which are outside and I've already mentioned that its pouring outside. He's exhausted already and I fully expect him to arrive home soaked through so I'll light the fire for him later too.

Tuesday

Chicken, possibly fajitas or just plain wraps with all the bits and pieces.

Wednesday

Curry tonight. Toots will be at Nana's house for dinner so I'll be able to make the husband a hot curry for a change.

Thursday

Baked cod with potatoes and vegetables.

Friday

Pizza night.

Saturday

Burgers and onion rings.

Sunday

Roast chicken, with all the usual bits and pieces.

Baking

Strawberry Pavlova. Its in the oven already, the husband will need a bit of Summer by the time he arrives home and that amount of sugar might go some way towards keeping him on his feet.

Madeira cake, I feel like having some nice plain cake around the house for snacking.

Coffee cake. We'll be making coffee cake cupcakes today too. Coffee cake is Toots' absolutely favourite cake and the first thing she asks for every time and seeing as we won't be able to get too far from the house today I told her she could make some.

Actually I should probably go because she's chomping at the bit for that cake.

My Favourite Photograph (of the mo)

I'm taking part in the McLinky Weekly Blog Hop for the first time this week. I've actually just finished a mammoth resorting of all my photographs and at the minute this one is my absolute favourite. I love that my daughter wasn't looking at the camera (my usual style of photography) and she just seems so calm and relaxed, although in reality she was running around like a girl possessed that day.

Three's the charm

So I'm going to be a millionaire. No really, I am.

You, with the skeptical look on your face, yes you. Stop being so pessimistic. You must be an absolute joy to have around.

Anyway, let me explain my thinking.

I never win anything.

Nothing at all. Except once I won £7 on a scratch card. Say it with me friends "Wooooohooooo".

But this week has been a little different.

For a start I won this week's challenge in the Friendly Project 365 Challenge with this shot

So I was chuffed to bits.

Then I won a Superwhy DVD for Toots (not me, obviously) over at the Supersisters Blog at PBS Parents.

So now I'm well and truly chuffed.

I figure if luck does come in threes, then I must be due a lottery win.

Don't worry though, I won't let all that money go to my head.

I'll still live in Ireland, although maybe I'll buy something a little bigger.

Do you think this place is for sale?

And of course I'll still write (do I write?) here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a HOT date with a lottery terminal. I think I might get lucky.

Knowing my luck I'll find a pound coin on the ground on the way there......