August 28th 2019

Sighed approximately 432 at the day's news, watched the news channel, signed several petitions and got quite cross at several points, getting cross is such a British thing isn't it?

I do think that we British are fabulous at protesting in a peaceful way so congratulations to the person protesting outside of parliament with his glockenspiel, I only really recognised "Wombling Free" and I can't work out what that's got to do with Brexit but bravo, it can't be easy carrying a glockenspiel around London when it's crowded.

Weighed myself, I've lost 3.5lb, weighed Holly Bobbins, she's lost another 100g, we shall be slinky Mandy with the slinky beagle before the end of the year.

Questioned why ready to eat peaches cost £1.85 but ripen at home peaches cost £1, now I think this is a scandal we should be protesting (with glockenspiels if necessary) I don't want to buy fruit I can only eat in a week or fruit which you put in the fridge and it never ripens until they day you want it and then it's magically overripe!

Bought unripe fruit with a very British resolve that I will just eat it hard and like it, screw you, supermarkets!

August 29th 2019

have resolved to go and peacefully protest on Saturday after work, did think about making a "Beagles against Boris" placard but called our quiz team the same name last night instead as a mini protest.  I bet Boris didn't even care, I doubt he even likes a pub quiz.

Spotted a few nice bearded men in the local, this, however, means I cannot speak to them, I go mute if they're even near me and I have to ignore their entire presence which doesn't bode well for me ever finding my lobster, who cares though?!  I have years before I am shrivelled and dead (she said, hoping).

August 30th 2019

Stayed in bed for most of the day, awoke with "driller biller killer" migraine and feeling rougher than a 45-year-old woman with a hangover, I don't even drink!  I am assuming my new resolve to be a social butterfly didn't account for the fact that the general public en masse is full of germs.

Sent Looby to Morrison's to look for emergency avocado's, apparently, there were none, not a single one, there must be some kind of avocado crisis.  She also came back with cat food when I asked for cat soup (for our old and infirm cat, Pyracantha who hates us) so I'm not ringing Huw from the BBC just yet!

August 31st 2019

Went to work followed by a protest against Boris Johnson and his crazy cabinet of wannabe dictators, proud of being there with my son (his first protest, proud mother moment), it turns out that protesting makes you really hungry so we went for lunch straight after the end of the protest which really, well it seems a terribly British thing to do!  We sit in the middle of roads, we meet others doing the same and then we have a terribly nice time getting to know each other.  I think we're the best at peaceful protests.  I did see at least 4 vicars leading each other through the crowd towards the end of the protest, again if a crowd of vicars are protesting then it must be bad, did Jesus ever stage protest marches I wonder?

September 1st 2019

The realisation that I am now nearer to 50 than I am to 40 has just hit me, mostly because my son turns 23 on Friday, even on my rough days I'm pretty sure I don't look like I am approaching 50, maybe there's been some kind of mistake with the numbers, after all, I was never very good at maths.

Unceremoniously fell out of my gate on my way to work, I tried to cling on with my nails as I saw myself in slow motion falling into next doors wheelie bins before I finally landed on my bottom with a thwack, luckily it was early and no one saw, my bottom has been hurting ever since.

Got caught in a super scary storm on the beach which seemed to go from 0-150mph in the space of seconds, couldn't catch my breath, though I might die and then I remembered it was Tynemouth Lonsgsands and not the Sahara, even though I was on the secret beach, it's not the same as being trapped in the middle of a desert in a sand storm.

Went to the pub quiz and had 3 whole glasses of Viognier (first time since February), did not die or have horrid hot flush, skipped home at 10.30pm in a haze of slightly squiffy happy bounciness.

September 2nd 2019

Stayed in pyjamas, headache caused by happy wine drinking, note to self, alcohol consumption is not big, nor is it clever...

September 3rd 2019

Finally caved into the young adults of the house and bought a microwave, thankfully technology has moved on since I had one 10 years ago and you can now cook things in dishes instead of having to cook everything in bowls, yes, a flatbed microwave, how very up to date!  I suspect all they'll use it for is the heating of beans and the reheating of Chinese food but I shall be stocking up on Jamie Oliver grains which never seem to cook as well in a wok!

Mostly felt dreadfully depressed at the political shenanigans going on currently, my son and I have decided that we need new swear words, ones you must never use, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg were the most hideous ones we could come up with.

When your teen tells you they're gay

Last week was a week I'll never forget, it was the week that Looby chose to tell me in her own special way that she is gay!

The event went like this...

A text message which said "Come to the shoe cupboard"

I went down to the shoe cupboard and there she was sitting in the cupboard holding out a cake which she'd just baked and decorated, on the top of the cake it said (in rainbow coloured icing of course) "I'm Gay".   Now for anyone who knows Looby, she's my quirky comedy child so when she followed that by asking "Can I come out of the cupboard now?"  I burst out laughing and replied "I think you mean the closet?"

After that I asked her if she was sure, if she might be bi-sexual or pan sexual but she said no, she's definitely gay and she's known for a year.  I cried, she cried and I told her "Looby, you can be anything you want to be, just don't be a moron" and gave her the biggest hug.

Abigail had known since just after Christmas and Iain simply said "oh, okay" followed by his two best friends asking if they could be Looby's gay Godparents.  We ate cake and inside me, I was just so full of pride (no pun intended) because it must be something quite difficult to come to terms with when you're a teenager, societal norms still mostly evolve around hormones meaning you'll be attracted to the opposite sex, in fact, thank goodness she's no longer at a Catholic school where gay relationships aren't talked about at all and in fact, they're still seen as wrong.

The thing is, I've brought my children up around the best of all people, I've never worried about anything other than not bringing them up around morons and they've seen straight people who are terrible at relationships and LGBTQi+ people who've had long lasting, beautiful relationships.  

I actually thought we were moving into a world where there is no prejudice but two of my children's friends lately have told me that their parents didn't support them coming out or that they can't tell their parents because they'll be angry or worse and to me, that's such a sad statement, in fact I've told them they can live in my cupboards if necessary.

I don't know why we live in a world that still judges people on their sexuality, surely the only thing that should define you are your actions and ergo, just don't be a dick!

I know now, as I've always known and told my kids, that I don't care what they do, who they are, as long as they're happy.

I did have a more serious chat with Looby just to make sure she's okay, she doesn't need, help or advice from friends or organisations but she's so zen with her own self that I can't fail to be proud of her.

I do have to admit something though and it's just between us, when she told me, somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear myself thinking "gay, but, but, you're little Looby, aren't you still 3 years old and only thinking about horses" . The realisation that even my baby is now a grown up makes me feel, very, very old!

Every Moment Counts

I was talking about this last week on my blog, how the moments of childhood pass so very quickly and pretty much every moment counts.  I've been trying to live more mindfully over the last couple of weeks, I've really slowed myself down, I've taken my camera out of high speed shooting again and I'm back to shooting the way I used to, mindfully, taking my time, and making sure that each precious  image I capture is exactly the way it's supposed to be.  In our lives at home I'm trying to be more aware and more present in the time we spend together and in the last week at least, by catching up on editing so I'm completely up to date, it means I have more time during the week with Looby, something I feel that is so important.  Yes we still have times of work but she needs those as much as I do on our home education journey.

This week I've been taking a challenge called "Every Moment Counts" it was set by Families online and when they got in touch to ask if I wanted to take part, I had to accept, a chance to take at least one mindful image every day for a week, it actually proved to be more of a challenge than I thought even though I do take photos every single day whether that's on my iPhone or on my camera.  I'm happy with what I did though, if anything it proved to me why living mindfully is the way forward, as someone who can be accused at living life at a million miles an hour it's so important that I slow down and enjoy the present, the now, the immediate because otherwise time does pass so very quickly and before you know it, well let's just say I don't want to get to 100 years old and have regrets.

So here are my seven moments from last week - 

1. Together, I caught them unawares, they really are the best of friends, Holly and Looby have a real sisterly relationship and from time to time they do get grumpy with each other but at the heart is real love and togetherness.

2. Tradition, last week we were learning about Hygge in our home education and Looby wrote the Hygge manifesto, Hygge is so full of tradition and gets the Danish through the cold winter nights and the darker times of the year, we really did learn a lot about them last week.

3.  Laughter, yes, Looby the comedian who thought I wouldn't notice that she'd put a giant bear in the trolley at Costco, she thought she was hilarious and much laughter ensued.

4. Three things - self explanatory really but Abigail came over and they're teaching Holly to be the ultimate agility dog, I have to say she's doing so well and enjoying it, Looby is buying weekly agility training things and how long, I wonder before we see Holly Bobbins at Crufts?

5. Colourful, there's no one more colourful than Looby and her new autumn jacket is proof that we don't need to conform to the dark colours of a uniform code anymore, it's no wonder that she's so happy since we started our home education journey.

6. Love - No explanation needed, Holly adores human sister Looby

7. Reflection, yep, we could have gone for a thoughtful photo but no, Looby is still trying to teach Holly to self actualise, Holly of course just thinks another girl and her beagle live on the other side of that glass!!

So there you go, 7 moments from the last week of our lives, some were just phone moments, a couple were with my camera but each one is special and precious, we can use technology for good I think, as long as it's not all the time, something which I'll be reminding myself of as we go through the rest of the year and beyond.  It's over to you now though, what are you doing to ensure as a family that each moment counts?  I'd love to hear your comments and ideas.

The Modern Hermit, an escape to Embleton, Northumberland

So here I am, the middle of the countryside, in a teeny tiny cottage, 10 minutes from the beach at Embleton which if you're not from the North, it's part of the Northumbrian Coastline near Craster where the kippers come from and where I'm going to walk with Holly tomorrow, it's near Dunstanburgh Castle and it's around 7 miles from Seahouses, there are buses approximately once every 3 hours and there's a village shop which also doubles as the post office.  There are however 2 pubs and both seem to be dog-friendly.  I have no phone signal which is perfect as I hate using the phone, I do however have reasonable wifi which is a must, even Hannah Hauxwell tweets these days!

I think I'd make a fairly good hermit though I must admit I did bring a Sainsbury's shop with me, some Lavazza coffee for the cafetiere and a bottle of Sancerre so I'm far from roughing it.  I have a Velux window in my bedroom and because there's no light pollution if I'm lucky I might just be able to see the stars tonight!

I didn't bring masses of camera gear with me, just my amazing Fuji X70 and my Joby Gorillapod, I mean I have to at least be prepared in case the Northern Lights show their face this week, it would be a travesty not to photograph them.

So, what do I do now?  What changes can I make to be a better person, a better mum, a better businesswoman, I really thought that life was going in the right direction and that the kids were happy and appreciate just how hard I work and how much I want things to be good for us all the time. It's upsetting because we've gotten along so well for so very long, I simply did not see this coming at all!

The girls really seem to want me to shoot more weddings and whilst I don't want to increase the number of full-day gigs I'm quite happy to shoot more short small weddings, I love short weddings, I'm great at sweeping in, photographing a great outline of the day and then sweeping out so maybe if you know someone who's getting married who needs 2-4 hours of coverage this year or next you could send them my way.

Being discovered for my writing is just going to take time and hard work, I've only been pushing it for a couple of years now whereas it's nearly 10 for photography, I know only too well just how hard it is out there in the world of freelance writing but I do think I have something unique to offer the world so I'm just going to keep writing for myself as I've always done, for my editors at Huffington Post and Nights Out in Newcastle and of course I'll continue to do portrait photography, travel photography and travel writing for anyone who'll pay me.  It's not like I'm not trying!  If anything I am a serial entrepreneur and if I get an idea about something which can potentially make money you can be sure that I'll do it.

A life lived in fear is a life half lived!

It's Time To Take A Break

I've made it to the end of a particularly brutal week and all I can think of is, where on earth did I possibly go wrong?  Looby is staying with grandad for a week so she can have some space and in her words, so I can "sort out my life." Now I'm not exactly sure which part of my life needs sorting out which surely makes it harder but I think I'm going to try and get away for a few days, I have some Airbnb credit so I should be able to go away for virtually nothing and I'm sure Holly Bobbins could use the break.

I do know that if I have at all lost my sparkle it's only because I'm working so hard and because I'm lonely in my heart but tell me something new, it's always like this, I'm a self-employed writer/photographer single parent trying to juggle approximately 34 things at once and I have terrible coordination.

It's hard being a mama to teenage girls, teenagers can be irrational at the best of times and it's hard to know exactly what they want, I remember trying not to work so much at weekends before but then they both had so much on that I was just sitting on my own.  I don't think there are any answers, the harder I work the less I'm likely to be around and the less I work the more broke we are so I can't support us, it's a rock and a hard place situation and I would never have chosen to be here, single parenting was not something I happily opted into.

The truth is that mums have needs too, I get lonely and I need my friends around, when the girls aren't here I like going out because the house is so empty and being mostly freelance I have to work whenever I'm called to do so.  Whilst not everything I do is monetized currently I know that it won't always be like this, I am on a path to be discovered I guess, one day I hope that my writing will become more mainstream and that the ideas I have will be paid for.  You have to work hard, though, you can't just sit and rest on your laurels.

This is, I think why a break would do me good, somewhere near the beach or in the countryside, a quaint tiny cottage just big enough for Holly and I, we can go for long walkies and in the other times I can be inspired by nature and I can write and write and write some more.

All I want for my kids and I is for everyone to be happy but that has to include me too so now it's time to plan and think and dream and work, and then it's time to come back refreshed and put plans into action, watch out world, I'm coming to get you!

An Interview with Abigail aged 14.5 (ish) and Looby aged 13.5

My daughters are possibly planning to take over my blog, just after my phone had pinged with Abigail's weekly email another email hit my box with an interview with my darling daughters, I have to say that it's pretty obvious that they're very different types of people and really, I wouldn't have it any other way, it's one of the reasons why, when we are together we laugh so very much and that's mostly because Abigail and Looby are brilliant at teasing me and doing impressions which are hilarious but please don't tell them.  I'm not sure what gave them the idea to interview each other but I suspect that after the saw the article where readers put their questions to Mr France it probably had something to do with it.

Favourite colour?

Laura: Green

Abigail: Light grey

You win 500,000 pounds, what do you do?:

Laura: Buy a horse and stable the horse!

Abigail: Put it in a savings account, collect interest then use the money to pay for university.

You're on a desert island and can have one food what do you have?

Laura: Apples

Abigail: Ice cream!!!

The opinion of America's new President, Mr Donald.J.Trump?

Laura: I don't like orange!

Abigail: Honestly I'm waiting for the mid term elections on November 18th 2018 when the Americans can vote against the republican party and stop Trump passing any laws!

Favourite animal?:

Laura: Horse

Abigail: I don't know, dogs? Maybe cats. 

3 words to describe yourself, GO!:

Laura: Unicorn, Rainbow, Happy

Abigail: Sarcastic, Unique, Dramatic

3 words to describe the other person:

Laura: Nice, Opinionated, Strong minded

Abigail: Serendipity, Creative, Lovely

To my dear daughters,

You two, you are the funniest double act since Ant n Dec, you have the comedic timing of French and Saunders and I love that you are actually friends with each other, well at least for some of the time, you are as different as chalk and cheese and that's the reason I adore you both so much, whilst one of you will probably end up running the country the other will be saving all of the animals and you know what, that's a future we can all get on board with.

Why I don't live with my mum by Abigail Charlton, aged 14.5

I moved out of my mums house to live with my dad and grandad in the autumn of  2014, this was after my dad had already left about 2 months earlier. It was not an easy decision but I can say I would do it again because it has been the best thing possible to ensure I retain a good relationship with my mum. 

I love my mum unconditionally and forever! It was difficult to leave at 13, knowing that it was hurting my mum. Even though I sort of hated her at that time it didn't mean that I didn't feel guilty for leaving her. However I am so grateful that she allowed me the choice to go wherever I was happiest.

I'd spent 13 years on top of my sister, brother and mums' toes always feeling cramped so when the opportunity came to have my own space, I took it! The most difficult part of moving out for me was not seeing Laura (my younger sister) as much as I wanted to. In the beginning I was so happy to be away from her, as being so close in age was very difficult particularly when you're both teenagers! 

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss going home to my mum and talking about my day, or chatting with Laura before bed about school and gossip and stuff like that! I miss playing sing star and screaming down the stairs at my mum to turn the radio down as she blared music whilst making tea.  Truthfully I miss having a mum to come home and cry with after a hard day. I never realised how much girls need there mums up to now, because you never realise what something means to you until its gone.

Living with my dad has been fantastic though, I've got my own room and space to breath! Space to scream at the world for sucking but also to dance around my room! My relationship with Laura is also better as she has her own space, however I often worry that she hates me sometimes for leaving her. She denies it but I was always there for her as a sister and friend but also as an outlet to scream at! I rely on her just as much as she relies on me.  Overall, I'm glad I left my mums house 2 years ago.  

To finish I would like to say that if any parents are out there with children who want to leave home to go live with there dad or mum, I think you should let them (obviously that has exceptions), because at the end of the day, though it may be unbearably hard to begin with they will come back to you in one way or another because children and young people need their mums and dads no matter how much they deny it.

My darling Abigail, watching you leave was the hardest thing I've ever done as a mum but to let you go was to set you free to find yourself and it worked, when you left you were angry and cross and you hated me on the outside but I always knew that one day we would have the best relationship and I am so proud of that, we laugh together and sometimes we cry together, we talk about everything, some things we do just to freak out your sister, heehee  I will always love you and I do miss you every day that I don't see you but I hope we make up for it in the times we are together, I'll never stop being grateful that you are my wonderful amazing Abigail and I am proud of you every single day, I love you so very much.

Why I am protective of my Mum, a guest blog by Abigail aged 14.5

After last week's blog, I wasn't sure what to expect from my dear daughter this week, she's obviously a teenager with a lot to say and whilst she feels she doesn't have the time or energy to blog herself I'm quite happy to let her publish a weekly article.  I'm not going to lie, there was a sharp intake of breath when I read this one and I totally understand why she feels the way that she feels, I should also say that we talk about this stuff often and it's only going to be time, and time itself that is going to heal things and make them better, I know one day she's going to meet Mr France and I hope that when she sees he's not a fly by night that she'll learn to trust him but I appreciate how difficult it must be for her to see both her dad and me with new people in our lives, one thing we do agree on though is that it is right that we were apart.

Over to Abigail - 

"If you hadn't heard my mum is dating Mr France, Mr France won't have it easy getting my approval. My siblings and I are very protective of my mum, however, neither of them are as protective as me. 

In my lifetime I've seen my mum feel heart broken too many times. I swore to stop it happening as much as possible. Luckily my mum respects my opinion and if I don't like someone or feel that they are going to hurt her I will tell her to steer clear. I have done it before and will do it again. My mum is a hopeless romantic which is both her best and worst characteristic.

It's important to say however that thus far Mr France has been given my approval but my opinions change like the weather and are not permanent (remember that Mr France).  I have wholeheartedly accepted that my parents have split up for good, what I have not accepted yet is the fact that they have both moved on and found other people, other people that I will have to get to know".

For children with parents who split up it must be agony to watch the people who love you and care for you separate, to see people you thought loved each other not love each other anymore, I can imagine it's heartbreaking, especially if you are a teenager who's only just formulating their own identity and don't forget that it's families and the people around the kids who do give them their identity and shape their personalities in the formative years.

To Abigail...

I can tell you, I love and adore you Abigail and I know you had to go through so much hurt and heartbreak yourself to get to this place you are in, you and I we have great times together and a relationship where we can discuss anything and everything, you are brilliant beyond brilliant my darling girl, in getting to this point in my life I have had to forgive myself for the hurt you had when your dad and I parted and there is still much to do.  Please don't think that you, Looby and Iain aren't my entire life and I wouldn't let anyone into my life unless I thought they were the best kind of person, the kind I'd want to introduce you to one day, someone worthy of meeting my amazing children, the most amazing teenagers on the planet.

Fro- Yeo Bars, a healthy tasty yoghurt bar recipe for little ones

When I have friends over for dinner at my open house Mondays I always invite people to bring their partners or their little ones but with diverse ages and dietary requirements when you have people from 10 months to 40+ years in attendance it can be a bit of a tricky proposition to keep them all happy.

Then there's the ongoing challenge of the fact that it's in the evening so the older kids who come have been at school all day and they want to eat the second they come through the door even though dinner isn't until seven because the big people who work in offices don't finish until later.

I think I might have a small solution to part of the problem, well at least for the kids.

Yeo Valley got in touch and asked if I could come up with a suitable healthy but tasty treat for the kids using some of their Yeo Valley Little Yeos, they come from a range of yoghurts made especially for children and so I used the slightly larger Little Yeo's limited edition Yoghurts as the recipe might have been slightly more of a challenge with the tiny pots.

Here without further ado is my easy recipe for Fro-Yeo Bars, a healthy tasty frozen yoghurt bar which can either be broken up and popped in a bowl or if you are little like baby Carter they're just as easy to hold in your hands, (maybe with a little help from mum)

Fro-Yeo Bars

8 pots of Little Yeo's Limited Edition Yoghurts

1 pack of assorted dried fruits (and nuts if the little ones are an appropriate age) I used cranberries and blueberries

1 sheet of non-stick baking paper

1 foil tray

Line the foil tray with baking paper and then decant all 8 pots into the tray and spread evenly before sprinkling on the fruits, place in the freezer overnight and voila, that's it, easy peasy!!

These are the perfect snack to keep in the freezer and now when friends call around with their little ones I've always got something I can offer them at short notice, Carter loved them and being 10 months old he definitely knows what he likes and what he doesn't, my lovely children who refused to be photographed also loved them and at 13 and 14 that's not a bad thing, they are a little messy when they start to defrost but hey, that's all part of the fun, when was the last time you had yourself a little messy eating fun!!  Oh and I also tried them and I'm 42, if you can please family and friends who range from 10 months to 42 then that's not a bad thing at all!

This is a sponsored campaign in association with Yeo Valley.

Pokemon Go, A Hack, Essential Kit and Pokestops and Gyms in Heaton, Newcastle

Pokemon Go is a worldwide smash, the app has become the most downloaded app of all time and every where you go people are playing it, it appeals to young people and parents alike and it's such a simple concept but then all of the best ideas are.

Last night when we were out for dinner at a restaurant which also happened to be a Pokestop someone had set a lure so the place around us was full of wild Pokemon, I spoke to the manager and said he could really benefit from this as other food and drink businesses who are a little marketing and tech savvy already have.  The whole concept seemed to be completely lost on him which left the marketeer in me puzzled and bemused.  Honestly if I could come up with a way for it to work in my photography business then I definitely would and lets just say that I have some ideas so watch this space.

In the last couple of days I have done more walking with my teenagers than ever before, yes, parents, if you let your kids play Pokemon Go they will want to go for walks with you, even better than that though,  because Pokestops are around landmarks you can now hear your children cheer as you announce to them that they're going for a day out at a historic monument!  The National Trust and English Heritage never seemed so inviting!

Here's some essential things you'll need - 

The Pokemon Go app is not exactly easy on the power for your smartphone but I've found a power pack (I have one and my son has one and Looby now wants one for her phone/tablet) which charges your phone up to 6 times or 2 at once for 3 times presumably and it's only £13.99, less than half the price of similar powered chargers.

Soon the Pokemon Go Plus will launch and this will sit on your wrist connected to your phone by bluetooth and it will just vibrate when you are near a Pokemon so you can save a bit of your battery with that!  I've found the best one on that link which will ship as soon as it launches on August 1st!

You might also want to think about getting a cheap data bundle, get a free GiffGaff sim card  and their data plans are pretty unbeatable, in tests it's been recorded that the app uses approximately 10mb per hour that you play the game.

Finally, a cheap tablet that works great, well Looby has this Huawei MediaPad from O2 and she's never complained about it yet, hers came with 3gb of data for £15 a month and the tablet was free so it's worth seeing what offers they have on, it's certainly a little more sturdy for kids than an iPad mini etc and she can switch between the app on her tablet and phone as she's also got an android phone.

Now, I've been thinking about ideas to make this more interesting if you have kids and want to plan some fun activities around the summer holidays so - 

Why not plan a Pokemon themed picnic or party?  Party City has the coolest Pokemon party supplies around and shipping to the UK is not a problem.  Alternatively Amazon also have a great range of Pokemon party supplies.

Now, if I was a business expecting an influx of kids this summer, I'd be planning a lot of Pokemon themed cakes, activities and other various things and if I was a business that was a Pokestop then I might just consider paying for lures in the app to make people come to my business and then maybe offer a free drink or cake with every purchase, remember a board outside with your Pokemon Go related offer...

You remember a couple of years ago when Loom bands completely took over the summer?  Well this is about a million times bigger than Loom bands ever were, even at their peak and I for one wish I'd been the one to invent this app!

Where to catch Pokemon in Heaton, Newcastle?

We have some super cool Pokestops and Pokemon Gyms right on our doorstep in the east end of Newcastle, there's one just next to us at the Molineux football court, there are 2 Pokestops on the top part of Heaton road where the old Heaton bingo is now the Newcastle dream centre, there are 2 gyms nearby too, one right at the top of Heaton park which is at the temple lookout and the other is just as you come into Armstrong park where the shoe trees are.  What you really need to do if you want water Pokemon is go by the sea ;)

Oh also when your first Pokemon appears walk away from it four times and you'll then get yourself a Pikachu, I got Charmander because I didn't know this hack

Parents, if you are booking photo shoots with me you'll be able to tell your kids that everywhere I shoot has Pokestops and Pokegyms nearby.


I use affiliate marketing to facilitate the feeding of my children.

Why you should teach your teenagers to be entrepreneurs

Whilst the summer holidays are my favourite time in the whole year (well they give Christmas a good run for it's money anyway) they're also not exactly kind to the purse strings, it's no great secret that the beginning of September is one of my quietest times in business and it's because all parents everywhere have ran out of money!  This leads me to believe we need to find some much cheaper activities for our beloved tweens and teens to engage in so that we aren't all as broken as chocolate teapots when the month of September arrives.  Now I have a theory that the best thing we can do for our older kids this summer is to teach them entrepreneurial skills.  We could use those 6 weeks of summer to teach them new skills they're not likely to learn in school, and skills which are way more usable in real life than trigonometry!

This Summer why not help your kids set up their own business over summer?   Encourage the entrepreneur in them, the chances are that if you are an entrepreneur then your kids will have picked up some skills, I know that Looby is the queen of doing chores for extra cash and she's going to undertake the laundry role over the summer, she'll be paid £20 a week for doing laundry and then putting it away and whilst I could just give her that money as pocket money I like to think it teaches her skills she'll be able to use in the future.

My cleaner charges me £36 per week (and she does a fabulous job) but if you have more than one teen and you could negotiate a £20 a week fee for cleaning, you've guaranteed yourself less bored teens, a cheaper rate of cleaning and happier teenagers who have money in their pocket.  You'll also have a sparkly spangly house, and if you are a hard working parent it's going to make your life so much easier.  For teenagers I find that money is a great motivator, you just have to negotiate a price you're both happy with, when the kids are younger you can pay them 50p a task and sometimes they'll do it but it's only because they don't really understand the concept of cash yet, embrace that stage whilst you can.

I think it goes further than just doing chores though, If you are running a business you can get your older kids to help with that, they could address letters or build a database of information, if you are a blogger, why not get the older kids to guest blog, I've just been chatting with Iain today about him guest blogging for me about gaming and tech, subjects he has a completely different viewpoint to me on.  I see this as a way of increasing my readership, gaining new readers from a different demographic and also opening my blog up to a whole new sector, obviously I already employ Iain but it's something you can do with your kids.

If you give your kids goals this summer you might just find at the end of it that they'll thank you for teaching them new skills, maybe they want a new PS4 or Xbox game, show them how if they do tasks they'll achieve that goal and they'll love the game even more because they've worked for it, something I've noticed with Abigail and Looby is that they are keen and thrifty shoppers and they can get a whole lot of stuff for around £10 so I love to set them a charity shop challenge, they get half a day in Morpeth (or somewhere similar) and they get to go root around the charity shops and get amazing stuff for their budget and I'm usually either with them or I can be having coffee and catching up on work with Holly Bobbins at my side.  It's a great skill because it teaches them about the value of money.

A couple of years ago when Looby was a little bit younger I helped Looby set up a lemonade stall, I bought her the ingredients and then we worked out how much she would have to sell the lemonade for to make a keen profit, she sold it to friends and made a little money but not a lot because what we found out is that to make great lemonade using good ingredients (lemon, honey, water, recycled paper cups) it's not the cheapest thing ever but that's good too because you need to know that not every business idea you have is going to turn out to be the most rewarding financially but maybe that's the thing you love so much that you do it anyway.

This summer don't just let the bored teenagers stay in bed all day watching endless youtube videos and then complain until midnight that they're bored or they need you to do things for them, teach them the skills that they'll be able to use for the rest of their lives and hopefully you'll not only survive summer but you won't be so broke going into September because you'll have a spangly house, you'll have been able to regain more working time and therefore have earned a little extra cash than you would have (fingers crossed)!

The summer of crazy, the summer of work..

This has been the summer of crazy, the summer of work, the summer of feeling like I've hardly a spare moment to breathe, life has become like a Japanese Bullet train hurtling along at a billion miles an hour.  In past years summer has been the calm time, the quiet time, the time to take it easy, not this year, I can't even remember a busier summer, I'm glad we took a holiday at the beginning of the summer holidays because it's looking doubtful I'll get one at the end.

Far from complaining about it, I love it, I'm in a place where I adore what I do, my clients are so lovely and wonderfully grateful for the images and experiences I am able to hand them, perfect galleries of expertly curated capsules of our time together, each photo shoot, no matter how it can seem at the time with the little ones looks like the easiest most amazing times spent together, charming families playing together, taking a walk or a stroll, laughing, giggling, a moment in time preserved forever.

The sunshine it seems has come out from hiding and these past couple of weeks have provided the ideal weather for fun photo shoots and on rainy days I've not worried when photographing families on their beds in their homes, an intimate view into a family in their living space, the places they love and cherish, people have such beautiful homes, it's a joy to shoot in their treasured spaces.

So, what now for the dog days of summer, midweeks are quieter whilst weekends seem to be full to the brim of kids, families, babies all looking for that most smily portrait to preserve forever.

Each day I come home and reflect upon my day, I go to sleep tired but with a smile, I'm happy and confident in what I but I'll never be complacent, my most important goal in life is to make other people happy and that in turn makes me happy, i want to bring joy into peoples lives with thoughts, words, deeds and photographs, I am the same in my private life as I am in business, I exist to be happy and for those around me to be happy too.

Next week my girls fly to Majorca with their daddy for 2 weeks in the sunshine, I can't help but feel just a little sad that they'll be so far away and envious that I want to be with them but this is what life has set out for me, and I know the weeks will fly over, particularly if I can keep a full diary, so that's where you come in, if you can do a midweek photo shoot get in touch, if you are bound by weekends then please book now for September, October and November, never underestimate just how busy work becomes in portrait season and now that I only shoot 3 or 4 sessions each weekend space will be at a premium.

Book a session via email, my website or facebook

There is no such thing as too many photos, curating our digital legacy

You know that moment when you're photographing your own kids (or in my case this also applies to some of my clients children too) and they say "no, you've already taken too many photos"?  Well I don't think you can have too many photos of the ones you love and here's why...  What if tomorrow you woke up and for whatever reason you could never see the people you love again, all that you have left are the moments inside your head, the memories and perhaps the photos, I think people faced with that dilemma would agree that there's no such thing as too many photos.  I have to admit to being someone who's collected thousands of photos of my kids, pets and the people I love, I have occasional clips of video from when Looby was little and they're on Youtube, Looby and I were watching them the other day and it's just a magical wonderful thing to be able to relive those gorgeous moments.

We are the curators of our own history, never more has that statement been true, we live in a truly digital age where our children have a digital footprint so big that they will be able to look back to (in some cases) nearly every single day of their lives.  Imagine when they're older and they have their Timehop app, we all think it's amazing because we can see what we were doing 5 or 6 years ago but in some cases our children will be able to go back to the moments they were born and announced to the world and then every day since.  I understand why we worry about the digital footprints of our children but I also marvel at this wonder of the legacy we create in a truly digital age.  I do at times I confess, worry about the lies we tell ourselves with the digitally curated history, will our descendants think we all had perfect houses/lives/relationships setting themselves up for failure by comparison or will they be so in tune with us digitally that they in turn curate an even more perfect digital legacy.  I'm not one for photographing food but some people photograph every meal they have so in addition to the history of their family they're also building up a future history of the foods we ate and loved, a future almanac of sugar in some cases, haha!

I was in Edinburgh this week with Looby, a breakaway from all of the stress that surrounds us in our modern lives, time spent being able to switch off (well sort of) and time spent just being able to have fun and enjoy time with each other, I dread the day that Looby doesn't want to go on adventures with me, whilst she says she'll always take time for time out with mum I see her growing and changing with every day that passes, I see the beginnings of those teenage traits and I know it won't be too long before the teenage years step in and separate our minds for a while so I take each day as a precious thing and even during dinner on Thursday I managed to take just a few photos of Looby being Looby.

I'm lucky that I'm a photographer and I get to help others curate their own digital legacy, I've had people contact me and ask if I only photograph well behaved kids but it's not true, I just curate a gallery of images so lovely you'll think you had the most well behaved family in the world!  (this also applies to misbehaving daddies).

This weekend I am offering mini session vouchers for just £20 instead of £25, they're valid pretty much forever so you can buy them now for yourselves and for presents for anyone else who might like to capture some memories and you can use them during summer or maybe in Autumn when the whole world entire seems to have photo shoots, the important thing though is just that half hour session will lead to beautiful precious memories you can save forever, the offer is valid until Midnight on Sunday and if you would like one or maybe more than one then all you need to do is contact photographer newcastle/email me/visit my facebook page

5 top photography tips for parents, take better photos of your kids today!

This weekend it's Easter, i'm sure you know that already dear reader but just in case ;)  

One important note of the day, my website is mobile friendly, check out it's new makeover here, the least you can do is go and admire it on your iPad or iPhone as it nearly made my eyes bleed until very late last night achieving that.

I've always thought that as a parent you should photograph your children and pets as often as humanly possible, of course you may think that it's easy for me to say that but anyone can take photos, not everything has to be technically perfect, to be honest not everything I take is technically perfect but it's about the moments isn't it?  So with that in mind I thought I would offer up a few photography tips and tricks I use in the hope that it'll help you take more photographs of those precious moments you have in your life every day.

1. Light is the very most important thing to note in photography for without it, well photographs are just going to be black aren't they?  For today just do one thing, watch the light, watch how it changes throughout the day.  You'll mainly find that the very best times are the hour that follows sunrise and the hour that proceeds sunset.  As the sun gets higher in the skies you'll find it gets harsher and the shadows get harder.   If that happens try to run into a shaded area.
2. Direction, again this is pretty light focused, I like to photograph people with their backs to the sun, you'll notice when you do this in the golden hours you end up with lovely light on the hair and you'll get great skin tones, one thing you should note with this is that you may need a touch of fill flash to illuminate faces, you never ever want to end up with panda eyes and whatever you do please don't make your kids face the sun in bright sunlight, can you say Squint?
3. If you can possibly avoid using flash at all ever then by all means do so, especially if it's the flash on the front of your phone, it's the harshest most awful kind of light and it's not kind to anyone ever, this is because of where the flash is, if you really want to use flash and you have the means then you want to take your flash off the camera in as many cases as possible.  I actually never use flash on camera anymore, the only time I ever use it is off camera to do clever things.
4. Don't ask your kids to pose or you'll miss out on the moments, the little things that they do, if you do want portrait photographs then hire a photographer, once a year is a lovely time to do update shots and if you have a great photographer they'll just get the kids having fun and doing stuff to with a few portraits thrown in for good measure, that's why I choose to photograph families in the places they love.
5. Sometimes it's not even about photographing their faces, when they grow up you'll want to remember those tiny hands they had or those cute shoes they always wore, sometimes the most beautiful photographs of children are not about looking at the camera
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

I've included a sprinkling of personal, professional, iphone and dslr in this article to give you a brief over view of whats possible in any kind of situation and something I'd just like to say is, yes I actually have total posers for children, I'm sure they weren't always that way but they've been photographed constantly for the last 10 or so years of their lives. Possibly it's a good thing to also say that if your kids ask them to take a photo, just do it because one day they won't want you to take their photo anymore!

And if all else fails you'll just have to hire a professional and if you're looking for a photographer in Newcastle then get in touch, I have a few spare sessions remaining over the bank holiday and I'm available all next week including Saturday 11th April which will be at Jesmond Dene.