It's been a weekend of changes down at the maison le Charlton (please don't comment on my very bad french, I haven't done french since I was 13 and that was many many years ago!!) Firstly I spent the afternoon yesterday changing my blog, I've made it wider, I've changed the header and I've changed the colours thanks to those fabulous HTML colour charts which are nearly as good as Dulux paint charts ;)

We're starting a major rewire this week with new gas central heating to boot, this means the entire house is going to be pulled apart, the kitchen has to come out, the floor-boards have to be lifted, the carpets rolled up and all the furniture from all three floors moved a metre into the room, this is not the best time but when is? Atleast it means I get to redecorate 1 room at a time and I'm taking my time on this one so that we do it properly.

ny amount of disruption of course means chaos for our menagerie of animals and we have to say goodbye to Boo Boo this week, he's got himself a smart new family with a huge house and a garden which is actually a field. It's never easy to say goodbye to a pet but rationally I know that we can't manage him, we're not here half as much as he needs us to be and not all clients are appreciative of a dog which can jump as high as them. Plus our constant attempts to housetrain him have just not worked so I have to admit to being releived that I can clean my carpets on Wednesday and for once not have to deal with the pungent aroma of doggy wee, hopefully the new owners will find a tactic which we sadly didn't. Sometimes Love isn't enough and you have to do what is best for all concerned. It's funny that I got a series of portraits of him on Saturday and these are now going to be blown up onto canvas so he'll always be able to watch over us.

Right, moving on before I get emotional again...

I booked another wedding yesterday with a lovely couple who I'm really looking forward to working with and sharing their day. Those hot dates are filling up like you wouldn't beleive now so one last request to any lurking Newcastle brides, book me as your wedding photographer before you can't get the date you want!!! I have another consultation tonight and 1 on Wednesday, if you want to book a consultation then don't forget to click through to my w.

Catching Up

Well the last couple of days has been devoted to me nursing sick children, namely Abigail and Looby who have had the most awful sickness bugs since Thursday, Abigail started coming down with it during our trip to the coast and Looby wasn't too far behind. Bernie the bear has also been quite ill and spent most of yesterday either in bed or lying on the settee!

So I thought I better share some photos as I seem to be collecting a plethora this week, the above of course is Bernie, that well travelled bear from Benton Park Reception class and the second one is yesterday, Looby felt a little better and really wanted to take Fiyero for a walk so we headed off to the Quayside.

She did really well though we had to carry Fiyero most of the way as we've found he doesn't like the outside world very much, just as well he's teeny enough to carry! Maybe I should get myself a doggy bag!

Once we walked to the quayside we ended up having to call Paul to rescue us, thank goodness he was off yesterday really.

Today all the children have felt well enough to go off to their grandmas for the day and so I think they'll be enjoying an Easter party though who knows how much will get eaten as Abigail atleast is still a little peaky.

Paul is off working his usual plus some overtime so it's just me and a houseful of animals, I'm thinking that I might try and take Fiyero for a walk in a little while but maybe I should take along my extra large handbag just in case he doesn't fancy it!!

Jumpers for Puppies

Yes it's true, Fiyero is truly a pampered pooch and rightly so for all the joy he's brought us, thats much more than can be said for Windows Vista!

Windows Vista + Photoshop = blinkin nightmare! It's taken all day just to get the thing re-installed and working, oh and if you like using the Adobe Bridge then don't bother with Vista because on my system atleast it's totally incompatible. I have to say I can cope without the bridge so long as I have my other bits and pieces so I'll not complain too much and hopefully when CS3 comes out I'll pay the upgrade fee, I noted today that it was only $199 which when converted to the pound isn't that much, better than paying the $649 for a new version!

Oh and I've also just bought Elements 5 which makes a great add on, I really love some of the photo effects like the one up above, it's far far far easier to use than CS2 so if you want some decent editing software and you are Photoshop phobic then Elements is the one you want, plus you can pick it up really cheap with the exchange rate, I got it for just under £30 which is £39.99 off the RRP, Bargain!!

So it's the weekend and for us that means a bit of R&R, it seems to have been a crazy week and it's mostly passed in a blur, I think we're off out on Sunday for a whole day of family fun, not entirely sure where as it depends on the weather but it's been requested that we either go somewhere with animals or to an aquarium so you know, I guess thats what we'll do!

OOh had some brilliant news this week, Iain has had all his Special Educational Needs lessons cancelled as he's been signed off for being too clever, Way to go Iain!!

Happy Friday Everyone

Sleepy Puppy!

Thought I had to share this photograph really as it's so darned cute, I took it a couple of days ago just as Fiyero was tootling off to sleep, bless his little fluffy paws!

So yesterday I went to buy a new laptop to be greeted by several techy males telling me how Windows vista would wreck my business and how I should get an XP machine except they don't sell them anymore other than through their business section and they just happen to be a couple of hundred quid more expensive than the swanky Vista model that I wanted. I remained unpeturbed, stuck to my guns and in the back of my mind was thinking "good old Bil Gates wouldn't lket me down would he???"

So a couple of hours later and I had it all set up and ready to go, I have everything on this laptop I had on my old one except Vista is so much better, yes the laptop is much better specs but you can definetly tell the difference between Vista and XP, in my opinion Vista is just a whole lot more sensible and a lot more like a MAC, I'm a definite fan already and I would advise you if you go to the computer store and they tell you not to get Vista (presumably they get less commission for it) don't listen to them everything will be fine, my software is all fine, my printer is fine, my camera is fine, even blinkin Flock is fine and thats still very much in Beta!

Oh and Napster comes as standard, so within minutes my Napster subscription was transferred although I have to rebuild the library but that shouldn't take too long and on this laptop I'm definetly not having any of hubbys music, he can have it on his laptop!!

One is not amused!

Elphaba has always been the more friendly of our two cats, she's the one who sits on my desk, comes for cuddles when I'm feeling low and follows me around the house, she's never really grown up from being a playful kitten, however since Fiyero arrived she's stating her obvious dissatisfaction and has been running off every time we try and touch her, yes one is not amused, surprising as Fiyero and Elphaba were more than just good friends in Wicked!!

They're Happy, We're Happy, everyone is happy!

It's true, this little bundle has brought so much joy to our collective lives already, he's found a place in our hearts, I just wish that he would sleep through the night, as I've never had a puppy before paul didn't bother to mention that puppies are much like babies in that they don't sleep through the night, the demand constant attention and the poo and wee mostly everywhere they can!I'm just thankful that I haven't started decorating the livingroom or bought the new carpet yet, thank goodness for indecision eh?!

Actually he seems to have mastered the puppy pads so it shouldn't be too long until he's toilet trained, it's just that at the moment he's too teeny to hop up and down the stairs so we kind of have puppy pads in every room of the house at the moment! LOL

Looby is looking after him today and giving him 3 kazillion percent attention, she's off nursery as she's hhad a temperature although some calpol seems to have done the trick, she's currently sitting in a rather large and posh wicker basket which we bought from Ilva yesterday, we're using it as a doggy bed because it doesn't look out of place in our bedroom and matches the other Ilva wicker basket we have, oh and then I bought another one for the magazines in the livingroom too. I wubs Ilva!!

Have no idea what this week will bring but remember I'm available for blog design and photo editing all week as well as the standard photography work so if you think I could be of use to you, email me :)

Meet Fiyero

So as you may have gathered we have a puppy! LOL

He's called Fiyero and he's a six week old lakeland cross fell terrier, he's super cute and just a little bit teeny and he's fitting right in! The cats are not really sure what to make of him and he's actually giving poor Elphie a bit of a run for her money. We bought the cats red diamond studded collars today but I don't think we managed to persuade them that having Fiyero is a good thing just yet although they did appreciate the puppy food satchet and goats milk, you would think we didn't give them their own specialist food LOL!

The kids adore the new arrival, especially Looby who has wanted a doggy since the first time she ever saw one i think.

We're happy, puppy is happy, Kitties are sort of happy, kids are happy Happy Days!

Introducing Fiyero

Our beautiful new puppy and a sure friend for Elphaba and Poppy.

Back more with later, off to buy a doggy bed....