blogging block?

I didn't post a Silent Sunday yesterday, I seem to have hit a bit of blogging block! coupled with a terrible cold sore throat and pounding headache my poor neglected blog got left un loved.

The past few days I have been trying to sort out what I actually want to blog about, and how to do it.

I have trawled the internet reading some of my favourite blogs who seem to write so amazingly, and about all sorts of topics,and I read through several of the highlighted posts in BritMums Newbie Tuesday where Actually Mummy was asking 'how much is too much?'

I have no problems as such with posting photos of my children, so its not that that bothers me, but I do find it difficult to blog about personal things because friends and family are aware of my blog and read regularly. I would hate to offend someone I am close to in the real world, by having a moan or a gripe on a bad day. But  this  means quite often my blog is left full of pretty photos and snippets of our life encapsulated in reviews, and I'm not sure how to change that, maybe I don't want to at all and really I'm quite happy sharing the odd photo here and there and writing up any reviews that come my way, but then there is always a nagging feeling that I should be writing something more.. something better.

I think I will have to have a look around and join in with some memes to get me in the swing of things again and hopefully when this cold subsided and I have a clearer head I will feel better and get round to finishing off the half written posts in my draft box which seem to be ever increasing as I never hit that publish button!

365... where am I?

Yes yes I know its only 23rd January, and my 365 posts have been next to nothing, I have been taking a photo a day and I do intend on sharing them, I tried to make sure I uploaded them to my facebook page, but that only lasted a couple of weeks.

I was really looking forward to getting into the swing of the 365 challenge so whats happened?

Theres a couple of reasons first being I didn't really want to clog up my blogs with a 365 photo post a day, so was never quite sure how to show my photos, if I posted them each as an individual post per day it would surely take over my blog, as I don't actually post all that much anyway, so then I hoped on doing a round up photo each week, but the problem there was then it would mean my Silent Sunday posts became a round up and I am rather fond of Silent Sunday being just a single photo so from the very off I was confused with exactly 'how and where' to share the photos.

Secondly, and it is a problem which is most probably on everyones minds at some point, when do you say no hold on I'm getting abit addicted to my blog here, and how do you get that blog life balance organised.

Yes my children are all at school but I find myself spending far too long in front of the laptop when there at home too, not to mention the evenings and neglecting my other half!
I seem to waste away the hours seemingly doing nothing much, hoping around the blogsphere, poping in and out of facebook like a yoyo and generally not doing anything productive on any one level so adding a dedicated 'must post a photo a day' to the list of 'must do' just isn't really practical.

Then theres also the fact that quickly snatching my camera and taking a photo just because, meant that I wasn't even giving that much thought and attention to the photos and as a result they are just not great at all, which then makes me look back and kick myself that I should have taken something better!

So maybe the 365 challenge is not for me, maybe sticking with Silent Sunday and one photo from each week suits better, am I ready to pack up completely however... no not yet I will keep my camera close at hand and keep taking and maybe I will get back into sharing them and finish off the challenge!

Silent Sunday

not good news at all :(

Regulars here will know I am a fan of a photo editing site called picnik.com it is a site which is totally user friendly and enables everyone to make pretty amazing edits to their photos via just a few simple clicks.

Picnik has a free section where you can do a whole array of edits but they also have a premium feature which is something like £15 a year, I love this site so much I have been a premium member for about 4 years, and even tho I can and do use photoshop and paintshop pro, it is picnik that is there for the basic edits as it is sooo easy!

In 2010 google brought picnik, and everyone at the time warned this was a BAD idea, I reserved judgement and seems as the awesomeness of picnik didn't change I thought all the warnings were unwarranted.

however today I go to facebook and see a friend had posted a daunting message saying that Picnik was closing.

 I checked and sure enough google have decided to close Picnik in April instead adding a 'creativity' pack to google+

I simply can not believe that google have made this decision it seems totally unreasonable I know so many people who adore this site, to simply take it down is very unreasonable, it can not be because they are loosing money as google have promised refunds of the FULL membership even if you are on the very last day.

It seems to me that google simply saw an independent site that was generating alot of interest, something that was obviously amazing, and they decided their best bet was to get their claws into it themselves rather than have competition, they brought this wonderful site and then waited for the sand to settle now they rip the rug from under their loyal customers feet.

So I guess theres very little else to say, but as for am I going to be running to google+ anytime soon to see if they have anything nearly as good as picnik... NOT A CHANCE!

10 years!

 10 years ago I gave birth to my eldest Jake.

Me and my Dad and a newborn Jake

How time flies, he is no longer that tiny baby, I am no longer a young faced mother.

My three today

I hope you have enjoyed your day Jake, you have made the past 10 years the most amazing time of my life.

Last year I made a video Montage please take a look here

feeling blue?

Today is Blue Monday, 3 weeks after Christmas, cold weather and low bank balances makes this the most depressing day of the year!

I hope everyone can find something to smile about, I have shared this picture of Jackson on Facebook today as it always helps to turn my frown upside down!

This morning we decided to go into Morrisons to pick up some bits and bobs for ourselves and my brother in law, as hes feeling the January Blues more than most, we thought it'd be a nice idea to do him a bit of cheer up shopping so he could have a warm chicken roast this evening, to take away them Monday Blues. After all there is noting nicer when your feeling low to come home and enjoy a yummy meal followed by chocolate gateaux!  Whilst we were at the check outs the cashier suggested we buy a Mirror Paper as they had a voucher to take £5 off a £40 spend, seems as we were doing 2 shops we brought two Mirrors and saved our selves £10 - added bonus!

So if you shop at Morrisons be sure to grab yourself a Mirror today (or find someone who brought one!) as I'm sure the voucher lasts all week they also have a voucher for free typhoo tea bags!

Happy Blue Monday everyone.

Silent Sunday

 

(If your looking for my 365 weekly roundup then I will hopefully have it posted tomorrow!) 

its ohhh sooo Quiet...

It has been abit quiet over here, the past few weeks,

With taking a bit of a break over the Christmas period I haven't fully got back into the swing of blogging, I am trying to keep up with my 365 challenge, although getting slightly disheartened at the fact  that I don't have enough time or energy left each day to take a good photo, but I am still going with it and hoping as the spring comes so does more photo opportunities!

so this is just a quick post to shake off the settling dust over here and I will try to get my school routine sorted and blog more next week!

Week 1 - 365 Challenge

Happy 90th Birthday Granny Minnie

I am extremely lucky to still have my wonderful Grandparents around, I appreciate how lucky I am to have them in my life, and although we do not spend as much time as we should with them in person due to the demands of my children not being compatible with their old age, they are a huge inspiration watching how they have lived their life and loved and cared for each other over the years.

I remember spending  summer afternoons at their house jumping from tile to tile in their kitchen, then they moved to their bungalow, where I remember playing hide the penny with Grandad and watching the birds through their patio doors.

They are the sort of grandparents you always respected always offering biscuits or cakes brought through on a tray, with a pound coin pressed into your hand when you left, visits to their house as a child will always be held in my memories.

The years have past, as they always do, and the family grown, with just two children themselves, they now have 7 Grandchildren and 15 Great-Grandchildren!

Unfortunately health is not as great as it once was for my Gran, and the past few years have been tough for her, yet my Grandad spends his time making sure they both manage, his love and care means they still enjoy life in their own home, he helps my Gran with everyday tasks and keep up the housework, he is a truly inspirational man.

On 12th December Gran celebrated her 90th birthday.

Due to my Grans health it was not possible for a huge party, but my Grandad, Mum, Dad, Auntie and Uncle all celebrated at home.

The grandchildren and great grandchildren were not there in person, but good wishes were being sent from all over the world wishing Granny Minnie a wonderful day.

Spoilt with flowers and gifts everyone made sure Grans 90th birthday was celebrated in style topped with a truly scrumptious cake! (which although we were not there to celebrate we did get sent cake to enjoy and it really was scrumptious!)

So it is with the up most respect and love that I say Happy 90th Birthday Gran.

3 little lights

Isn't it funny how reliant we get on certain things, things which our parents generation grew up without, yet our generation is so attached too.

The Internet is such a wonderful invention, it connections millions of people, it enables you to research anything, find bargains and keep in touch with loved ones.

It is something which alot of people have grown to rely on, me included. sometimes I wonder if we are all too dependent on its powers.

New Years eve our broadband signal was lost, it resolved it self  fairly quickly but hasn't been right since, giving up completely a couple of days ago, however BT managed to sort it out for us today and the three blue lights were greatly appreciated when they were glaring out of our homehub!

The lack in internet the past few days meant that my commitment to the 365 challenge proved a little difficult to upload, but I was still snapping away each day and today I have added them to my 365 page (found on the top menu bar) and hopefully (three blue lights permitting!) I will be able to add each days on time from now on! For todays entry I thought it fitting to add this photo:

Project 365!

A simple sentiment, one photo, taken everyday for a year!

Many many times I have pondered about starting this challenge as I watch friends begin it, some finish and I feel their pride when they have a beautiful compilation of photos to show for their effort, others don't manage to complete the full set.

It may seem a simple thing, but its not that easy taking a photo that you will want to share, want to look back on at the end of the year, each and every day. It is in deed a challenge.

Every other year I duck out thinking I would not be able to stick to it, but this year I am going to commit myself and give it my best.

So here is to 2012 and the start of my 365 challenge!

(and yes I am aware that it is a leap year but I can't get my head around calling it a 366 challenge so I'll start officially tomorrow!)

If you'd like to see my photos pease feel free to check out my 365 project tab at the top of the blog :)