Good Morning dear reader, I just want to start by thanking everyone for their support yesterday, well in fact not just yesterday but on the whole, I feel so many warm thoughts from you and have had literally thousands of readers, hundreds of comments, emails, beautiful words over the last few months and I don't think I would have got through some of the hardest days without you all, you're all amazing.  Of course there are those who would wish upon me to be silenced but one thing I've learnt is that you can't let bullies control your life, obviously they don't want you to speak out, they'd rather no one ever knew of the traumas they'd cause or the hurt they'd inflicted upon you but no one should ever have that power over you and if you are in a similar situation as I know some are then please make a stand and get out of that situation, it's terribly hard but I promise that being in control of your own destiny is so much better than spending a life being controlled.

Today some lovely things are going to happen, my cleaner starts today and that is going to give me back some valuable time, I really am not superwoman and can't do everything so a little help every week from Spark Plus Services is going to go down a treat.

My lovely friend Aggie is also going to come over this morning and bring Sid the spaniel, I really needed to spend time with some cuddly paws and so I guess Sid is my therapy dog for the morning.

I've also just promised Looby I'll do an online grocery shop today, Old mother Hubbard would be impressed if she looked in my cupboards right now!

One thing I am going to treat myself with today is a browse of the very sparkly and lovely Amazon Kitchen and home store, full of festive lovely things as well as everything you need in the home sense to prepare for the upcoming season of holidays as well as some great gifts.  I have my eye on this Dr Who heat reveal mug for a certain teenager, he's very difficult to buy things for and I think he might just like this as a stocking filler.

More than ever at the moment I am forever trying to teach myself to look for the beauty in every day life, it's something I was brilliant at before life was turned upside down and I will be brilliant at finding it again, some days I manage, some days are so overwhelmingly hard it feels somewhat impossible but I keep on striving to do it, todays photo is a sunset that happened last week just as Looby and I were going into town to the Fenwicks Christmas window switch on, it reminds me that even in the darkest moment beautiful things occur all of the time.

Whatever you do today I hope you can find a little beauty in the mundane or the ordinary, just remember when you find it to grasp on to it with all of your heart for it might just get you through an impossible time.

Magical Highs and deep dark lows

This weekend dear reader has mostly been a wonderful magical thing, Looby and I saw Fenwicks window switched on and they made it snow and we saw the Christmas light switch on in Jenners, Edinburgh yesterday,  2 wonderful magical Christmas moments captured forever for Looby and I. We had a wonderful spontaneous day in Edinburgh yesterday, I think we went in every single shop with the name Scotland or Scottish in the name of it, they all sell the exact same overpriced cornucopia of crap (sorry Looby, she hates it when say that C word) but Looby loved every second and we did pick up some thoroughly Scottish Christmas gifts and Looby got a pink kilt which I'm putting under the care of Santa until Christmas day.

Christmas in Edinburgh officially kicks off on the 24th of November so we'll be back in a couple of weeks time for our official Edinburgh Christmas trip, a yearly tradition which helps build our festive feelings, I know you're probably thinking "yeah, like they need help" and it's probably true although of course this year Christmas is a little tinged with sadness and the news that we are no longer allowed to co-parent our beautiful Petunia came out of nowhere last night, it's a pretty heartless man that can refuse to let his own child have the care of the dog we all love so much, for some time now Petunia has thrived and loved every minute that she's spent with us and had I known that the rug was about to be pulled from under us I never would have let her go last week, it's the final act of a desperate bully and Looby cried herself to sleep last night as did I, I just don't think I've anything left in me but fight now and fight I will, I might not win but I will give it a good go.  I guess I never thought it would come to this, I think this has to be the lowest point so hopefully now the only way is up.  

Photographer Newcastle - Changing the way I do business forever....

Good Morning dear reader, I have been thinking about this for a while now and I'm about to announce something historic.

 Being a photographer in Newcastle since the change in my circumstances it's been amazing how much my portrait business has continued to flourish and grow and that's testament to each and every one of you and the support that you've shown.

For many years if photo shoots were at weekends I'd always charged £40 and allowed an hour but because I'm so quick I often end up with spare half hours or 15/20 minutes where I usually just sit around or get a cup of tea and so from today you can choose whether you think you'll need a half hour photo shoot - £25 or a 1 hour photo shoot - £40

The half hour shoots are available at Tynemouth Longsands, Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park and I am available on Mon/Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun although I only usually work one day at weekends now.  If you have a family of 4 or less then usually unless your child/children are particularly shy you will only need a half hour photo shoot.

If you would like a photo shoot at home or you have a large family or you want to have your photo shoot somewhere different these will cost from £40 depending on your individual circumstances and requirements and I hope that this pricing is fairer for everyone.

For £25 you will get a web gallery for 30 days, 15% off for the first week your gallery is live and a complimentary 7x5 print and for £40 you will get a web gallery for 30 days, 15% off for the first week your gallery is live and a complimentary 12x8 print.

Until Sunday at Midnight if you book a photo shoot you will be entered into a competition to win a framed and mounted print entitled "The Secret Garden" which is from my collection on Philomena's Boutique, it's worth £35 and so not to be sniffed at!

Special offers, Mini Sessions and Loobys continuing quest to own a Unicorn

Brrr, it's freezing this morning dear reader, more than a distinct nip in the air!  I have portraits to shoot in Jesmond Dene this morning and it's definitely going to be chilly ones!

Loads of stuff to tell you about if you are interested in the goings on of my business, if you're not then you should probably just skip through this post, haha!

So, until Sunday if you book a photo shoot or buy gift certificates you will be entered into a competition to win this framed and mounted print worth £35, it'll definitely make someone a lovely Christmas present or if you can't bear to give it away then stick it on your own walls and it will look fabulous!

To tempt you even further if you buy gift certificates before Sunday you will get an extra 20%, so for a half hour session voucher for £25 you will get a gift certificate worth £30 which means more prints for you!

I have a new last minute date for mini sessions at Saltwell Park on Sunday 16th November, I have been getting so many enquiries about doing more mini sessions at Saltwell Park, all the details below

So lots of lovely worky things going on, I'm actually quite blessed with great weather lately, it's been such a lovely dry autumn and that's fab if you work outdoors as much as I do!

Lots of enquiries coming in about doing some mini sessions at Tynemouth even though it's a bit brisk at the coast at this time of year so I may just have a think and announce a date at the beginning of December down by the sea, if you would be interested please do email, send an enquiry through my website or facebook page

Last night we had a great night Looby and I, we went to our local fireworks display and had a ball, then we noticed that 3 separate flats on the way home had full on Christmas decorations up, now I'm the first to admit that I'm a bit of a Christmas addict but even I think that the 5th of November is a bit early to put your Christmas tree up, presumably none of the trees were real or they'll all be dead by December!

Looby wrote her Christmas list last night, amongst others on the 30 item list is a kitten, a pony and a unicorn, I did tell her that she would have a £100 budget but clearly she has no concept of my budget, item number 26 was "anything else you think I would like"  let me tell you now that she's going to get a lot of item number 26!  I'd actually love to have all of the money in all of the world and be able to buy her everything on the list (Unicorn a bit more tricky unless you're in North Korea) but single parent budgeting is a tough one, it's not that I got any help anyway but I could at least come and go and I pleased and it didn't matter when I racked up 70 hours a week but now I'm working about 20 - 30 hours a week my income has taken some adjustment, I think the biggest impact has only been working 1 day at a weekend instead of 2 but I don't regret that I get to spend a lot more time with the children, I just have to keep working on that residual income, did I mention that Philomena's Boutique is the perfect place to do all of your Christmas shopping this year? 

Whatever you are doing today make sure it's a Thoroughly thankful Thursday!

Bathroom Painting, Frozen Christmas Jumpers and other miscellaneous items!!

The house decoration started in earnest yesterday with some painting of the bathroom, and the painters and decorators of the world need fear nothing, I am quite possibly the worst at painting in the world, thankfully though after 2 coats on the wall that bit is done and I'm doing the second coat on the coving and bathroom door tonight.  Looby helped to paint last night when I got home from Slimming World and for that I am so grateful, apparently she likes painting, maybe she has a future career as a painter and decorator, actually don't tell her that or she'll be horrified that I would suggest anything other than a farmer!

So, I've been thinking about helping you all with your Christmas shopping, it's no secret that I am, well a bit of a bargain hunting shopaholic so I thought I would try and post bargains that I find and then that's your Christmas sorted really, I keep filling my Amazon basket, at the moment it's got 3 very expensive games in it for Iain, lets hope they last him longer than a day!

Mandy's Christmas Bargain - Olaf Christmas Jumpers which start at £5, yes the cheeky snowman from frozen has his own selection of Christmas Jumpers for sale on Amazon and they start at a fiver which is cheap at half the price!  If Olaf doesn't take your fancy, I honestly think you won't find a better selection than the second link and they're all so much cheaper than I've seen on my travels.

You know I mentioned Fenwicks Christmas Window a couple of blog posts ago, well on the official Fenwicks Facebook Page I noticed that there's a big thing on Friday when it's unveiled at 5pm, and yes of course Looby and I will be there, we may even manage to drag along Iain and Abigail if she's here that day.

Sad kitty news as Abigail is moving Cupcake the cat to her dads, it's only fair really as it's her cat and she pines terribly for her on days she's not here, she also doesn't like anyone else apart from Abigail and I suspect that she's always wanted to be a lone cat, I will miss her but much like Abigail I'm rarely her favourite person.  I do think though that if we are down to just 2 kitties and 1 part time woofy that we may have to consider some new paws in our house, probably just a kitten though as Petunia is the best dog in the world and I am definitely not a 2 dog lady!

This morning I am off to my Inspire Network meeting and we've got ourselves a Christmas showcase so I am taking along some exclusive framed prints which are going to make perfect and excellent home gifts for Christmas, what I don't sell will go on my wall and I may even do a giveaway so if you would like to win one of them stay tuned for more news, if I sell them all don't worry, I will get more frames and still do a giveaway very soon!

More bathroom painting this evening, more catching up with work this afternoon but I am nearly there now, just a couple of album tweaks and I will finally be caught up for the first time in forever to pinch some lyrics from Frozen, well everyone else does so why not?

May all of your Wednesdays be wonderful!

Stress, Decorating and Infuriated Voices

I've always hated early mornings, I much prefer late nights if I'm honest but I do seem to achieve more between the hours of 5 and 7 than I do for the rest of the day sometimes dear reader, my mind seems to have greater focus when I've just gotten up so I try to embrace that every day.

Yesterday partially went to plan, I did 2 photo shoots, edited lots of things, did a little album design but most of the day was spent trying to download 1.3gb of images from my good friend Jamie, my goodness, it would have been quicker to walk there and transport them myself, I still don't have them, the interwebs conspired against both of us, I'm trying once more to download again and the great thing about early mornings is that the downloader is saying that it'll only take 23 minutes currently which is slightly better than between 9 hours and 3 days.  I really needed the images yesterday so i'm quite keen that they download!

At the moment there's an infuriated voice which keeps shouting at me, usually when I'm trying to work, the space I asked for really didn't equate to a month, in fact it seems to happen every time I try to work so maybe my calendar is being looked at and it's being done on purpose, anyway I finally snapped and fingers crossed I won't have to deal with anything now until at least after Christmas, surely it's not too much to ask for a month of space so you can think and reflect and make proper decisions which will last for the rest of your life.  The truth is that the more that I get bothered the more I realise the level to which I was being controlled and the happier I am to be free of it, I actually love life on my own with my kids, cats and dog and even though I'm a little bit knackered fitting everything in all of the time I think I do a pretty good job of single parenting, I just have to remind myself that I am not actually wonder woman and stop setting myself standards that are unachievable by anyone other than actual superheroes.

I bought the final paint for my bathroom dear reader, a trio of shades for what is going to be one of the most luxurious rooms in the house, the plan is dark duck egg walls, silver coving and  light grey satin wood, I then need to investigate the possibility of a tap set which has a shower thing on it, in the 10 years of living in my house the one thing I have hated is the fact that if I want to go in the shower I have to do it in a hotel, well now I know there's nothing I can't do without the trusty help of a plumber, I'm looking for recommendations if anyone knows of one who speaks in the queens english and not grunts!

So this is my plan for today, edit wedding even though it's my day off because I should have finished it yesterday but those files, yes those damn files.... (10 minutes it's taken this morning, thank you universe) paint bathroom, meet with Janet from Spark Plus Services, yes that's the lovely cleaning company I mentioned, hopefully by this time next week my kitchen floor will be gleaming!  Oh and then it's Slimming World tonight which is pretty much going to be a bust again after I consumed too much chocolate because I was so stressed out yesterday.

Come on Tuesday, be terrific, you can do it!

Hello November

Good morning dear reader and it's great to be back to regular blogging every day, last week it all fell apart really between shooting 20 portrait sessions over the course of 7 days and then dog sitting plus trying to squeeze in life and home, in fact I would go so far as to say it was complete chaos but there've been some lovely memories made and this week for me is really about getting back into a proper routine and also really making a huge effort to get up to date with work and business.  I'm aiming for that hallowed two weeks off at Christmas and I feel I can only really do that if business is up to date or I just worry.

Life has been ok though, it's getting better every day I think, I think I'm a pretty good single parent, I seem to remember all of the good things to do with the kids and I'm managing to shoe horn a great business into the times when I can work.

Last week I got 2 new lovely advertisers on my blog so I want you to say a huge welcome to Spark Cleaning Services and Verity Wealth Management.

Spark Plus Services specialise in domestic and office cleaning all over Newcastle and the North East of England and in fact they are coming for a meeting tomorrow because I need an extra pair of rubber gloved hands in my house, I may be many things but I am not full on supergirl and knowing that someone is going to come and work their magic in the core essential rooms of my house once a week is of great comfort and well worth the financial outlay.

Verity Wealth Management, well as their name suggests they're the people to go and see if you need financial advice and again I think it's probable that I need to go and have a chat with them about pensions and financial planning for my future, especially going through a divorce, i'm sure that makes things a little bit more complicated and I really need to make sure that the kids are looked after in the event that anything untoward happens to me, I know, I hope to live until I'm 100, probably really should get that pension sorted out, I can't see myself out photographing kids, families and weddings when I'm 92!!

One of the highlights of the half term holidays for the children was of course Halloween and Looby and I carved pumpkins, made a gingerbread scary house and she also rocked her halloween costume which was Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Petunia provided her scary face as the wolf ;)

This went down incredibly well with all concerned, Petunia didn't quite manage the scary face but Looby came back home with enough sweeties to last until Christmas 2015 and I commend her for the effort that went into taking Petunia along for what was her first Halloween, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year, something Game of Thrones themed perhaps?

Abigail came over for 4 days of the week and we all went down to Teeside to visit our lovely friend Li and her daughter on Saturday, what a fun day we had and we can't wait for Christmas together when they're staying over on Christmas day so that Li and I don't have to worry about indulging in a glass of Champagne or two, well it wouldn't be Christmas without being able to drink copious amounts of bubbly stuff all day, I never really manage to do this you know, I have a couple of glasses and then I'm usually craving a nice cup of tea if I'm honest!

This week I have photo shoots on a couple of days and then next weekend I have a photo shoot in Hexham in the park on Saturday so if any blog readers would like to take advantage and have a photo shoot at 11am on Saturday in the park at Hexham please do get in touch, it seems a shame to go all the way to Hexham and only do 1 photo shoot although Looby and I have already planned that we'll have a wonderful mooching around Hexham day afterwards.

Don't forget that weekday photo shoots start at only £25 for a photo shoot in Jesmond Dene, why not take advantage while the weather is still good and there are so many wonderful reasons to have photos, Christmas really is just around the corner now and thanks to Christmas 24 I'm assured of being able to watch Christmas movies at any time of the day or night.  They're not all what I would call totally amazeballs but they're festive and an easy watch, especially if I'm trying to work at the same time.  It's just a shame that the channel isn't in HD!

And so onwards as I launch myself into Monday, 2 photo shoots in Jesmond Dene this morning and then I am editing a wedding and doing album designs, luckily for me it's Monday and Iain picks Looby up on Mondays and then they go to Mcdonalds on the way home, it's their brother/sister bonding time, not that they need it at the moment, Iain sorted out Loobys laptop so she could have Minecraft installed and he helped her set everything up and she thinks he's the best brother ever, I do have the best kids ever!

Have a great day and may Monday be Magnificent!