Sunday 2 March

Camera lens still broken, not heard anything yet. In desperation I charged my little old compact camera, which was on its last legs when I got the DSLR, to take on my bike ride today. I lost count of the number of times I held the LCD viewer close to my eye...
Photos didn't turn out as bad I expected. Weather was nice so I decided on my usual along the river (Yare) trip and took photos of every church I saw along the way, to show how many churches Norfolk's got (more than people, I sometimes think!) 8 churches in 24 miles.
A little collage here:

And fingers crossed my camera's back for the next bike ride, which isn't for another three weeks as B's off on skiing trip in France and we aren't going up to the ski club for a couple of weeks.

Tuesday 25 February

Just before our annual February half term trip to Lyme Regis, my camera lens broke. Again. The first time was about a month ago and it was my own fault - the camera was in my bike bag, which fell on the floor. Fortunately it was easily fixed - one call to Nikon HQ and a day later a new component arrived in a jiffy bag. An hour with teeny tiny screwdrivers, two pairs of hands and a magnifying glass and I was good to go, only to find a couple of weeks later that the lens refused to zoom in and there was something rattling inside. B. took it apart but had no idea how to fix it and in the process managed to break an electronic connection. This was the weekend before our trip away and I knew it couldn't be fixed beforehand. I had several offers of help - someone offered to lend me another lens, someone else even wanted to lend me their camera as they have the same model. In the end my dad brought over his Canon DSLR which has a better lens than mine.

B. bought me my DSLR 2 years ago. At first I was completely overwhelmed by everything it could do and truth be told, I didn't think I could ever do it justice. But by following a few courses and workshops and experimenting more and more, I got to know my camera better and I feel my photos have improved too. I drag my camera with me everywhere and very much enjoy taking photos.

Using dad's Canon showed me just how much I have learnt over the last two years. I didn't want to use the Automatic setting, I wanted to play with the settings - but the camera didn't like what I was doing and I didn't like my photos. The buttons and dials were all in the wrong place and trying to find certain settings was like navigating a very complicated maze.

I think I've turned into a Nikon girl through and through!

Having said all that, I still ended up with a nice selection of photos which to me reflect the holiday well. The camera lens is on its way to the repairer and I'm hoping to have my own camera back very soon - because I really, really miss it.

Monday 3 February

 Day 12 of 100 happy days - travelling cables on my knitting. I'm knitting Coal Cardigan by Veronik Avery, one of my favourite knitwear designers. Simple, stylish, chique, oh so clever.

Day 13 of 100 happy days - Bury St. Edmunds cathedral in the glorious sunshine on Saturday morning. When I first moved to Bury, way back in 1995, the cathedral tower wasn't finished. I can't even remember what it looked like, but they won a millennium grant to finish the tower off and in the process, renovated/cleaned the whole cathedral. I think it's beautiful now. You can see the tower from several miles away, sometimes the sunshine reflects and lights up the little golden flags on the corners. Bury St. Edmunds has so much going for it, but the cathedral is my favourite part by far.

Wednesday 29 January

Another catch-up on my 100 Happy Days photo project. As I suspected, I fell off the wagon on days that I'm actually in work. I leave home before it's fully light, I come home in the dark, and no, I don't take my camera to work. So I've relaxed the rules for myself somewhat and decided that I'd still do the project, but won't force myself to have to have a photo every day, I'll just carry on until I have 100 photos. It works much better for me this way.

So here we are, catching up:

 Day 6 - three of my favourite things: blue, stripes and a handknitted dishcloth. The tea towels were a birthday present from my mum and currently my favourites.

 Day 7 - my favourite woollen blanket, keeping me warm in winter (present from dad from his annual Texel holiday)

Day 8 - car passed its MOT

 Day 9 - first sign of snowdrops

 Day 10 - sunrise from our bedroom on Sunday morning. We get up early on Sunday mornings for B's ski race training at 9am. Seeing a sky like that makes the early start worth it!

Day 11 - a carrot cake cupcake made by 11yo at school, my elevenses treat. He's been having cooking lessons at school and has come home with all sorts of delicacies (cornish pasties, sausage rolls, macaroni cheese). Above all, he's really enjoyed it and seems to be quite good at it too - although he didn't like the macaroni cheese himself at all, but that didn't matter as 14yo and I devoured it for him. Next week is the last lesson and they get to choose themselves what they want to make. He's chosen marshmallow brownies. Good job my WeightWatchers meeting is in the morning!

Monday 13 January

Catching up on 100 happy days:

 Day 2 - a reduction in my electricity bill - the 19 pounds per year made me laugh

 Day 3 - my yoga DVD. 14yo found this DVD in a charity shop a few months ago. The first few times I did the exercises, I couldn't walk for a couple of days. Now I can twist myself in knots I didn't even know existed and can almost put my hands flat on the floor with straight legs (and I have long legs!). Above all, I really enjoy yoga.

 Day 4 - Bury St. Edmunds cathedral in the afternoon sunshine

Day 5 - Norwich cathedral in the early morning frost and sunshine

Wednesday 8 January

I'm taking part in the 100happydays challenge. With my track record of finishing photo challenges, we'll see how far I'll get with this one, but I like the principle behind it!

Here's photo 1 for 100happydays:

Back to eating healthily after a 2 week break from WeightWatchers. This is a chicken and apple coleslaw and very nice it was too. Lots of things I like about this photo - the healthy and yummy salad, the 'antique' plate, the fork, the worktop and above all, the little bit of sunlight which was very welcome after many days of storms and downpours.

Saturday 4 January

Another day and the Christmas holidays will be all over again for another year. I'm back at work on Monday and 14yo and 11yo are back at school on Tuesday.

The run-up to Christmas was the usual frenetic chaos, with to do lists as long as my arm and possibly even more things not getting done. (I can't remember the last time I managed to sit down and actually write all my Christmas cards.). Christmas Day itself goes by in a haze of cooking smells, and whether the kids are with me or with J. (we take it in turns), generally by Christmas Day evening I collapse in a heap on the sofa in my pjs. This year 11yo was actually off school on the last day of term and although he recovered pretty quickly, he kindly passed it on to 14yo and then to me on Christmas Day, which I ended with the worst sore throat I've had for a long time. We had 12 people around for Christmas Day and out of those 9 have now had (or still have) the same cold - my sense of taste and smell have only just returned.

As it was my mum's 70th birthday on 1 January, and as New Year is a much bigger thing in Holland than it is in Britain, I booked the ferry on Boxing Day to spend a few days in Holland. But I didn't actually much feel like going until last Monday. Fortunately by Tuesday morning, when 11yo and I saw the sun come up and reveal the familiar Dutch landscape, I finally felt happy to be 'home' again for a few days, and it turned out to be a good visit.

We tried to stay awake till midnight on New Year's Eve (and didn't all manage it!),

 We watched some fireworks

And we did a bit of cycling at our favourite place, the Hoge Veluwe

We made the most of the little bit of sunshine we had

We did some 'alive boarding' down the cycle path in the woods near to where I grew up

We did some admiring of the light

We played with dog and ball

And we did a bit of sentimental journeying (this is my university city)

Today's the last day where I can relax on the sofa, in my pyjamas and my pink 'fluffikins' (very pink and very fluffy jacket that was a Christmas present from B. as a joke but has turned out to be super comfortable), woodburner lit, tea and computer and lots of Dutch magazines nearby. Tomorrow is bike ride day and then back home to the kids and normal life.... but I'm ready - 2014, roll on. Happy New Year!