I came down with flu on Saturday tea-time quite suddenly and managed to work on Sunday but since then I've been pretty much housebound which isn't fun at all, so far this week I've had to reschedule meeting 2 new borns because I'm too ill to leave the house and there's no way you could risk giving a tiny newborn actual flu.  I know we're always saying "Oh I've got flu" when really we just have cold, I'm sure I've probably done it myself but I promise from this point on to never confuse the 2 things ever again.

I can't remember feeling so completely horrid for so long for a very long time, in fact probably the last time was about 2010 when I had flu.  I'm so lucky to have Iain who has been taking Holly out for her walks, I've managed to get out once a day for walkies but today I'm totally and utterly beaten, I've pretty much slept for the last 24 hours, can't eat because I have no appetite and anything I do try tastes like cardboard.  Iain even went to get me some aspirin and brought back some Lucozade saying in his opinion I should try that, I have a brilliant son!

There really isn't much else to say at the moment, yesterday I wanted to burst into tears every half hour because of that awful depressive low you get with proper flu, I realise that crying isn't going to make anything better and I guess I was just so sad at the entire situation with Christmas and my failings in so many areas, financially, emotionally, practically, I was supposed to be decorating Abigails bedroom this week and I haven't even made it off the sofa today, every single inch of my body hurts and the chills caused by the high temperature have just made me want to go and sit in a sauna which probably wouldn't have been a good idea considering that you have shivers because you're actually too hot.

I'm so grateful for Holly, she's such a chilled little beagle, apart from the mass destruction of anything made of wood, Iain took her out this morning after I regaled him with the news that she'd even had a go of eating the TV stand and my vintage milking stool will never be the same again.  She's a happy little puppy though and hugs me lots, 2 new toys have arrived today for her and she loves her new bear which has no stuffing and her doggy entertainment toy where she has to find the treats, took her about 10 minutes to figure that one out, she's a clever little beagle.

I'm supposed to be working tomorrow afternoon but whether it will happen is another thing entirely, the aspirin seems to have worked so much better at bringing my temperature down than the paracetamol (thanks Sue for that advice), whatever happens though I must work on Saturday, it's my last day for 2 weeks and if I don't we'll probably be sticking pictures of turkey to the walls and licking them instead of being able to afford the actual real life Christmas lunch.

Overthinking, Stormy Mondays and Finding Hidden Talents

You know those days dear reader where absolutely nothing of any consequence occurs, you're ill in bed and there's literally nothing to do but think, think a little more and then completely over think a situation so much that you end up putting yourself into the centre of your emotional turmoil, the one you just created in your own head by overthinking.

I suppose it's the curse of cold and flu, while the germs infiltrate your body they also have a profound effect on the mood of even the happiest most positive person.  I don't like Mondays at the best of times so Mondays ill in bed are never going to be a recipe for success.

So here we are on Tuesday, I'm just about getting there, chest is doing an impression of wheezy the penguin but I'm up, I'm dressed and thanks to the miracle that is paracetamol my temperature is on the high side of normal again, I'm even back outdoors doing photography in Jesmond Dene again later today and thank goodness, I think I need a sharp injection of vitamin D to flood my veins and shine upon my heart.

There were always going to be lighter days and darker days, sunshiny moments and grim stormy seconds on this new journey through life, I think I just wish I could predict when they would occur so that I could cancel those parts of my diary, crawl into a small cupboard and stay there until they pass.

The rest of this week is a bright and wonderful diary containing lots and lots of photography, by Sunday I will have shot 14 sessions and I might be a bit tired but I'll be happy, working hard has always kept me happy and content, I love photography, I love photographing moments in peoples lives and I love the emails I get with happy reactions to seeing their wedding or their children, I love it when I can delight people with a talent I may have found later in life but I found it and honed it non the less and every day I am thankful that I got to do something with my life which I truly adore.

And so today dear reader, go look inside your own soul, do you have a talent that no one knows about, is there something you could do with your life which makes you happy and fulfilled, is there some other possible path you could take which would mean you wake up in the mornings excited about your work for the day.  We, each and every one of us is unique and inside us I believe we all have something special that we can excel at that no one else can, you just have to find it, take a chance and then launch it on the world, it's the path to true happiness!

Family things, Future plans and Flu

Sunshine outside my window dear reader, excuse me if I get just a little excited about that, I've heard the temperatures might get close to dizzingly high (for March) today so I'm going to celebrate that, I've also just been informed that it's the International Day of Awesomeness today so go forth and be that my lovelies!

We haven't been feeling so awesome in the Charlton house unfortunately, I came down with flu for the first time since 2008, I am never ever ill so it was a bit of a shock to spend the entire weekend in bed and now Abigail has fully fledged flu, we are not amused, I am hopefully on the mend though.

So here's my weekly recap of what I've been up to personally and professionally.

On Monday I was just happy that it was springlike and sunny in the garden and everything seems to be green again which makes me happy.

I also noticed that it's my favourite time of year for really noticing the golden hour, it's around this time of year when although it happens all year round you really seem to notice it after bland winter days with no sunshine.  Obviously it's a great time to take a selfie ;)

On Tuesday I got very excited because of the arrival of this, sadly the arrival of the lens I ordered has been delayed until the 25th of March so currently I have my pile of new memory cards, batteries, a new double rapid strap, a whole new camera set up and no blooming lens, there are a couple of other lenses I want to add to the Fuji X-Pro1 collection anyway though so I'm hoping to pick up another this week, eventually it's my goal to have the 18mm, 27mm and 35mm which will sit nicely alongside my Canon selection of 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm, I shoot all primes because they're light and they're fast glass, I rarely use f3.5 or above and most of the lenses I own will happily go to f1.4, I actually think if you're just starting out in photography the glass you buy is a lot more important than the camera body, you'll replace that many times anyway but your lenses will stay with you forever.

On Wednesday I met up with one of my best photography friends in the whole world Jamie and we had a mooch around the Baltic (there was nothing on at all) but we did go over to the Side Gallery and saw a wonderful exhibition about the fall of the Berlin Wall (sort of) anyway, I loved the images, I loved the black and whites and the juxtaposition of some of the images was beautiful, go see All That Falls while it's still on.

I also received a delivery from Amazon which was full of inspirational books, if you want to know more about the laws of attraction or if you practice them and want continued inspiration these are the titles to read.

Clearly there were a lot of hours in Wednesday as I also managed to go to see Looby horse riding in the evening, she's really confident now and loves those horses so much, apparently all we have to do is find some land to stable a horse and her granddad is going to buy her one, she's a lucky little girl, no one ever offered to buy me a horse!!

Thursday I went off to Saltwell Park to meet with my favourite Welsh clients, sadly I can't share images of their beautiful little girl because they want to minimise her digital footprint which is fine by me, my clients privacy is of the utmost importance!

So you'll just have to settle for my instagram, perfect photography day it was.

I also met with a couple planning their 2015 wedding and had a great meeting with a lovely friend who I hadn't seen for ages and there's a little wedding photography prospect in there too so Thursday was definitely a good day.

Friday I was feeling snuffly, little did I know that by Friday night I would be ill with a capital I!

I went to Tynemouth on Friday for a 1-2-1 workshop with aspiring kids photographer Stacey, I offer 1-2-1 workshops to help other photographers with the fundamentals of running a successful photography business, over the last 8 years I've dealt with most situations and I've also gone from a teeny tiny business to the behemoth it is today, I've experience in all areas and have coached other businesses on all kinds of things, my speciality is Facebook marketing and social media, if you would like to have a 1-2-1 session it's only £150 and I promise I'll add value to your business.

Here's one of the little models I arranged for Stacey on Friday afternoon

and finally here's what's happening next weekend and a few photos from last weekends sessions, if you would like to book a photo shoot with me or a 1-2-1 or perhaps meet me about shooting your wedding you can contact me through my website, email or my Facebook page

Whatever you get up to this week make sure it's a good one!

I've haven't been abducted by aliens

Though you might be forgiven for thinking that I have if you follow the blog as I've only blogged once this month.

Forgive me dear readers but I've been so busy, we've been to London, I've shot weddings and portraits and E-shoots and I've not had time to post any of them.

I'm going to promise to blog them this week.

So just in the last couple of weeks something has changed my life, about a month ago I invested in an iPod touch and it changed my life, I couldn't believe the wonders this wafer thin piece of technology could do. Indeed I fell in love so hard that on Thursday I bought myself an iPhone and then yesterday to top it all off I bought a Macbook, I am an iConvert, this week I already have plans to by an Apple TV gismo.

Other than that one major thing has happened, I have damaged my neck, no one quite seems to know what I've done but since midweek last week I've been in agony, I've bearly eaten in the last three days and the industrial painkillers the dr gave me are only just taking the edge off the pain. I'm calling in the big boys tommorrow and booking myself in with an Osteopath, at the same time I have a team of cleaners coming for 4 and a half hours to try and get on top of the housework.

Whatever happens I shall be well and back to my bouncy old self by the time the main wedding season starts, 3 weeks and counting....

Phew, what a week

What a flippin week, just a quick post to say I am alive, though I have had a trip to hospital!

I've been ill, basically on Monday I got a virus what happened next was the horrid bit, would you believe you can be allergic to your own virus. I'm afraid I came down with a rare allergic reaction to my own virus called angiodema and my nose and the surrounding tissues increased to twice their size, this then lead to me getting a cellulitus infection in my leg and it's all be a little scary, luckily after the doctor had me admitted to the emergency assessment ward they gave me 4 different types of tablets (I had to take 15 tablets this morning!!!!) and I'm on the mend, still feeling a bit yacky but my facial swelling is going down and the cellulitus is under control though my leg is a tad sore.

So that was my week, mostly spent in bed I have to say and resulting in Paul having to take unpaid leave to look after the children, I don't fancy next weeks wage much, top tip, don't go and work for Royal Mail if you want them to be understanding in a crisis!!

Happy weekend everyone!

Oh the photo was a badger I found in a tree when we went up to Wallington Hall for a theraputic afternoon tea this afternoon!!

Laughter is the best medicine...

Feeling totally crappy at the moment, have slept most of the day today as did I on Saturday, not sure what is up exactly though I suspect it could be a virus, anyway Iain has asked me to go to the doctors if I'm not feeling better by the end of the week, nice that he looks after his old mum eh?!

Just wanted to post this photograph I took yesterday, not technically perfect enough for my photoblog but good enough for me, I just love that this is true laughter, nothing posed just unbridled fun.

Enjoy, hope to be back tommorrow as usual, if you want to see an update pic of the puppy check out todays Photoblog.

The Diet Begins.....

Argh, can't believe I'm dieting but since the Dr at the hospital advised that I really should be 2 stone lighter i thought I would listen to his advice rather than stare death in the face as I watched my liver turn to fatty gel! The funy thing is though as this is the part that I'm pissed at (yes i'm swearing but with reason) he failed to give me any credit for the fact that i used to be a size 20 and that the only reason I am a 16 is because I gave up smoking and had a hysterectomy (gosh I'm so bad!!!) yes no credit for either of the above. I did laugh when he said that I would feel so much better for it as I feel more well than I have ever in my entire life, we go walking almost every weekend and I can even skip along with Looby and Abigail. If it weren't for the pesky pangs in my liver and the fact that blood tests tell me that all is not well in that area I would have told him where to stick his diet but for the sake of my health I am listening and acting accordingly.

So this morning alone I must have lost half a stone as not only did I have a bowl of sawdust and woodchip shavings for breakfast but I also skipped briefly with Looby and at one point we even ran, well I am now obviously already a size smaller and no doubt by the end of the week I'll be a mere shadow of my former self!

Aah thats better...

Yes thats right listen to my friend here, he knows what I'm talking about!!

We went off to the park this afternoon after school, first evening it's been really nice enough to do that this year, Saltwell park just outside of Gateshead is such a lovely park, particularly since all the renovations to restore it to it's former glory, anyway we spend lots of time there but this evening was the first time we had managed to squeeze it in on a school day so Spring must be here mustn't it! It certainly feels like it, I saw plenty of daffodils just beginning to bloom and had the joy of watching a couple of busy squirrels as they went about their work, sadly though i had my long lens on and no tripod so no photos of them today.

I did though as per usual get just one or two of the children, they were particularly taken with some stone sculptures which now reside in the park and as I took this one of Iain and was processing it tonight I was thinking just what a brilliant boy I have, he's such a nice person and always helpful and loving, he's such a grown up these days and I'm so proud of him, If you're wondering that text was added in photoshop, I think suits him!!


So much gamboling and larking about took place and the girls had lots and lots of fun, they did seem a little on the tantrummy side though, Abigail seen here when she was in a slightly better mood had the biggest tantrum in the world on the way to the park and the whole of the journey going there and then Looby decided to reciprocate and had the biggest tantrum in the world on the way out of the park and most of the journey home, I suspect they were both very tired little girls tonight though I can't be sure why that could be, anyway they both had a half past seven bed time this evening and lets hope thats all the tantrums out of the way for a while as they can be quite exhausting, I'm sure that you parents will know what I am talking about!!

Paul is at the hospital tommorrow with his groin injury, he's seeing the sports injury people in the hope that they have an answer to just why it has gone on for so long and also of course the hope that they can put him right and he can get back to his beloved footie.

I'm going to the hospital on Thursday to see the dreaded liver specialist and I am dreading it, we already know that there is something wrong it's just a case of finding out exactly what it is. I have to say that over the last couple of months the pains in my liver have been getting more persistant and I am in the back of my mind quite worried, then again if it hadn't of been for those blood tests which told me there was something wrong I might have just assumed it was a muscular thing, well i mean I only really found out the location of my liver when I had the ultrasound scan LOL!!

Bleurgh!

Not really a lot more I can say about today, I've just been horribly ill, it's a continuation of the virus caught by being Newcastles latest interior designer! LOl I think I'm kidding myself with that one, I think I'll stick to photography it's far easier and a million times more enjoyable. I am wondering still which room should get the next makeover but I think I might invest in a few ideal home mags and wait for creative inspiration to strike. Thanks to all those who requested that i photograph my room immediately, well you know I think it's fabbo and to me it looks divine but at the risk of having you all chortle yourselves silly I think I'll leave that one for now!! Anyway I'm not really a "Stuff Portrait" type of person, I only made an exception so I could play show and tell with the fabulous bracelet from hubbinsworth!!

I have some new scrapping purchases on the way as we speak, I haven't splurged in the craft department for some considerable time but as all those gorgeous goodies from CHA winter are arriving on our shores I feel my paypal account emptying with speed, it can't be long before we're back to using our own money! LOL

Photo is obviously from stock as I haven't been anywhere or felt human today, it's from Blackpool and I love it!

Bling!

My hubby bought me this yesterday in a gorgeous little coffee shop full of treasures up in Rothbury, the coffee shop is a treasure trove of little vintage decor items and costume jewellery and I knew when I saw this it was destined to end up on my wrist, I have a bit of a thing for bracelets!

Thanks to same gorgeous hubby for yesterdays blog post, I have to admit that I have been pretty darned ill since last i blogged, I think as hubby said I inhaled just a few too many fumes when decorating our master bedroom, ooh and on that very subject I must say I achieved my goal, the vintage schreiber wardrobe and all the dark chocolate mixed in with the duck egg blue just looks sumptuous and in the end it kind of reminds me of a hotel room in Brighton in the 1920's, even if hubby did comment that he keeps sliding out of the chocolate satin bedding!! I got the most fabulous wicker picnic basket from ILVA (click to see it!!) and it's now the new home for all my knicky knacky Knoos!! Pauls undergarments are in some rather fabbo vintage hatboxes picked up from Ikea. Iain commented on how I had done a marvellous job it's just a pity that I have ended up so ill because of those darned gloss fumes and i must point out that is hubbys fault as he wouldn't let me buy satinwood!!

So after a bowl of soup in Rothbury and a walk to the park we had to come home and that was when I got put to bed, there I remained mostly sleeping and trying to breathe properly until this morning. I'm feeling sort of better yet still pretty yacky today but i feel the hearty lamb stew we have cooking in the oven might be just the thing to finally sort me out. I snapped this lovely photo if Abigail in the coffee shop, sorry for the lack of photos but with decorating and being ill I've taken less than 20 this whole week, never mind though i'm sure I'll make up for it soon. 1 more thing, I need to know which room to start decorating next, its either :- The bathroom, the sittingroom, the girls room or iains room, answers on the back of a box of Heidi Swapp Chipboard letters! mwahahahaha!!