Day 273: We Found A Waterfall!

The past 2 days have been great! Yesterday Sarah, Fin and I road tripped down to Carnoustie to stalk...I mean watch Hugh Grant playing golf, and then we stopped in at Stonehaven on the way home to have a fish supper on the beach in the last of the sunlight. It was so good getting to hang out with them both for the day.

And then today I ended up at theirs for lunch, and then we went on the hunt for a waterfall that Sarah and Dave had been to before. It was called Burn O' Vat, out near Ballater. You need to climb through a small a mini rock tunnel type passage thing to get to it, which made it even more exciting!

The fact that the weather has been incredible the past 2 days was the icing on the absolutely delicious cake!

Oh, I forgot to mention we also saw Andy Garcia at the golf yesterday too. You know, the bloke who's the bad guy in Oceans Eleven...it was exciting. We probably walked past a few famous golfers too, but didn't have a clue! Movie men are far more exciting.

Day 272: The Day I Saw HUGH GRANT!

Here he is folks...Mr Hugh Grant, at the 18th hole on Carnoustie Golf Course. This was after he landed his ball in the stream...he just left it there as well...I should've brought my fishing net!

It was worth the wait I think!

Day 271: Burger King Babes

A few of the girls and I went along to Burger King at the beach tonight, just for the crack. Oh, and Iain came too. He was lovin the girl chat! Here's a photo of the lovely ladies, with their empty chip bags in front of them. Ha. Thanks for coming girlies! Although I'm realising that the original idea was to take advantage of the strangely warm September evening...but we didn't actually spend any time outside enjoying the warmth!

Oh well...I guess seeing Hugh Grant's backside, while playing golf, in the Carnoustie sunshine tomorrow will have to do.

Day 270: I Love Autumn

I do not, however, love getting migraines!! With the help of a new migraine relief drug I was given to try, I made it in to work when I would usually have needed to climb in to my bed...but unfortunately the drug just prolonged the usual symptoms! I was only at work for about 15 minutes and ended up driving home during the nausea phase. Not fun.

I went out to take this photo at sunset. Loved the way the sun was still just peeping over the houses and hitting the leaves on this tree. It was such a lovely autumn evening :)

Day 269: Super Dark Bench Monday

You'd think I'd have managed to get a Bench Monday photo this afternoon, during my very nice trip to the beach at Newburgh in the beautiful sunshine, but no. There was an extreme lack of nice benches where we were! Lots of birds, and seals/otters/whatever, but no benches! There was a rather nice sunken boat in the bay...but it was just a little too far from the shore to take Sam.

Instead, I took my Bench Monday photo at about 10pm, after a delicious meal at Rustico's in town, with some lovely people, to celebrate Catherine's 21st Birthday! It was so dark that the camera couldn't focus, and I had to do a 25 second exposure. Ha! And even then I brightened it up in Photoshop. It was amusing! They then tried doing the Can Can...

Their kicks were too quick for the camera to capture, so instead they just look like ghosts! Ha.

I also had a few outside entries for Bench Monday this week, from my wonderful sister Sarah and nephew Finlay, and my dear friends the Lipps...

Thanks guys :) I love getting Bench Monday photos. Puts a great big smile on my face!

Hope you all have a good week, especially those of you who are starting back at Uni :) Enjoy!

Day 268: New Reading Notes!

I haven't had daily bible reading notes for a few months now. I'm so rarely near the shop in the town centre to buy them these days. Which is a shocking excuse considering I'm pretty sure it would be very easy to set up a yearly order for them online, and get them delivered to my house! Then again, come to think of it, I don't think I had been enjoying the last few issues...so that's perhaps why I didn't try harder to get more.

I have been getting the UCB notes sent to my phone FOR FREE every day for the last few months though, so that's something. They've been incredibly fitting and helpful the past few weeks in particular. I love it when the lesson for that day is guidance for an issue you were actually struggling with the day before, so you're able to start your day feeling stronger about how to act on it!

But, getting it sent to my phone isn't the same as having a physical booklet to read. I scroll through it all on my phone each morning before I get up, which is great! Because usually I would do my reading last thing at night. But I don't bother looking up the bible passages that go along with it, because it would take away from my "Got to get my hair looking perfect before work!" time. Which is a complete joke because it's always a mess.

So, anyway, Mum decided to order me the nexts issue of reading notes that are sold at our Church book stall. They're not what I have been using for the last few years, so we'll see if I like the way they're done. If not, perhaps it'll motivate me to order physical copies of the UCB notes. And then I'll need to find out whether I can wake myself up 15 minutes earlier each morning, because it really is a great way to start your day! I wonder if I could get an audio version for the car, and I could listen on the way to work...so I don't miss out on sleep. Ha. Shocking.

Ok, woaw. Long blog post tonight! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I sure have! Apart from a minor mishap this afternoon, but we don't need to dwell on the past. Ha.

Day 267: Note - Kindcardine Castle is NOT open to the public.

I had a lovely picnic lunch, in the chilly wind, with Sarah, Dave, Fin, and Claire at Drum Castle this afternoon. The plan was to go to Kincardine Castle originally...but, after an encounter with a very pleasant gentleman, they discovered that it wasn't in fact for open to public visits. Good times!

I'd tell you more about my rather busy day, but it's incredibly late, and there's a high risk of me not being able to get myself up in time for Church tomorrow!

Day 266: Girly Bowling Banter

Had such a good time with the girls tonight! We went BOWLING! Love. Haha. We were slightly nervous about it beforehand, knowing that Diane used to play for Great Britain for like 15 years...it was absolutely hilarious when she whipped out all her GOLD medals from her handbag when she arrived. Haha. I'd just like to point out that out of the two games we played, she won neither. I think she bought the medals. Haha. Just kidding! Andrea won the first game, and then, amazingly enough (when you see her throwing style), Rebecca won the second. We did leave the bumpers up though...

Here's another photo of the lovely ladies, and the less psycho lookin version of me.

Thank you for another lovely evening ladies!

Day 265: Speedy Gonzales

I was trying to get a slow shutter shot of Finlay walking tonight, this is the best I could get. He was just a ghost in all the others, cause he was going so fast!

He's an absolute genius by the way; keeps picking up the lens cap and wanting to put it back on the end of the lens. He's going to be an excellent assistant when he's older!

Day 264: In Need Of A Garage Sale

Mum got a little trapped while we were clearing half the garage, to make room for the new bathroom suite that's being delivered tomorrow morning...hopefully not too early...Can you spot the canoe??

Day 263: All Day Long

Staring at a computer screen all day at work, and then all evening at home, isn't the best thing for your eyes. At least I'm sitting at a desk, and not slouching on the sofa, so my neck's not complaining.

The sun's totally setting rather early now...getting blog photos outside in the evening is going to get rather difficult soon. It's weird how much it shocks me...you'd think I'd be used to it after 22 years!

Anyhoo, better get back to work.

Day 262: Bench Monday with Becky

I love Bench Monday's with Becky! Today she introduced me to Drum Castle...hello! It's Amazing!! We did plan on getting our photo on the incredible bench she showed me a photo of online the other week, but when we eventually found it...it was behind locked gates. Gutted. That's the only downer on Drum Castle! Castle Fraser doesn't lock up its gardens at night! We were pretty gutted.

However, I'm quite pleased with our plan B. Look at that background! And here's when we attempted to run to the top of the steps within the 10 second window...

...we totally almost made it!

I'm in love with this wide angle lens. It's amazing! I'm probably not going to shut up about it all week. Happy Bench Monday!

Day 261: Just A Casual Walk...

...with some moustaches and lips. And a friend has given me a 17-40mm lens to play around with for a bit, while I try to decide which wide angle lens I'd like/can afford to buy! It was good fun to try out on our walk through the forest, and I'm even more certain that I need to expand my kit list really soon. My 50mm is wonderful, but I've fallen in love with big open scenes! Anyhoo, enough of the nerdy photographer chat, here's a couple more photos :)

Day 260: Look Who's Walkin Now!

We've gone from this to THIS! My boy's gettin big. And he's loving it!

Day 259: Just Coinneach.

Day 258: Word!

I love to sit and watch the world go by, and eat popcorn, brownies, and ice cream with good friends, and have weird waiters that say "Word!" after you've given your order, and watch movies that have pretty costumes and beautiful sets (Jane Eyre). I love lamp. No, sorry, I meant life.

And this is my confused face...some of you will probably recognise it as the face I put on when you talk...

Thank you, Rach, for capturing this beautiful portrait. Haha. And a lovely evening, obvs. I think we should find out where the film was shot, and go on a road trip!

Day 257: I Love The Sky

Almost didn't go out to take a photo tonight...I was just going to take a photo of my dinner or something! But, I went in to the kitchen, boiled the kettle for my tortellini, saw the light hitting the clouds out the back, and decided to grab the car keys and drive up the hill.

I'm sure the spinach and ricotta tortellini would've made a good photo too...

Day 256: Evening Drive

As I was driving home from work I fancied an extended drive on a country road with some loud music. Rush hour was not the time to do that; being in a convoy of cars isn't quite enjoying the open road, so I thought I'd save it for after dinner. I keep forgetting the fact that it's SEPTEMBER, and it's getting dark earlier again, sob, and the clouds weren't helping! So when I went out around 7 I pretty much just chased the sunset, no particular destination in mind, just hoping the clouds would clear a bit, for a photie!

And after driving with the window wipers on strong for a while, I saw an opening! Yipee! And realised I was just a few miles from Aboyne, so I decided to go check out the loch at the golf club. Sarah had mentioned it the previous week, and I thought it was pretty shocking that I'd never gone in to look at it, during any of our many many trips out that way over the years.

It's smaller than I thought. But the Golf club looks very nice! Would be a lovely spot to photograph a wedding reception. I'd be pretty excited to be honest.

I'm ashamed to say I took the photo from the car window...ha. It was a single track road up to the Lodge, with signs saying "No Parking" so I just took some quick snaps, then began the drive home again...it was super dark, and pouring, when I reached Banchory. Not a huge fan of driving in the dark when it's pouring, but Kings of Leon kept me company, and it felt good to just drive!

Day 255: Barbies in Bench Monday

Today I was joined by the kiddies, and the Barbie twins, for Bench Monday at the Lipp residence. We enjoyed a few cups of tea, a small plate of beef, green beans, and mashed potato, and some stories about Mr and Mrs Potato Head.

Alasdair and I are both wearing our favourite jeans, mine aren't quite that holey yet, but I totally understand his unwillingness to give them up. I'm not looking forward to having to hunt for new jeans that fit my lank legs.

There's your exciting piece of information for this week! Ha. Happy Bench Monday!

Day 254: It's Been A Good Day!

I wish my words could do justice to how good our services at church were today. This morning we had Communion, and this evening we had a joint service with a few of the local churches in Aberdeen. It was so great seeing the church so full!

Tonight's service involved the use of musical instruments during the singing. To some of you this won't seem weird at all, but to others, you'll know this is a shocker in a Free Church! Normally we sing psalms without musical accompaniment, and it sounds wonderful! Even this morning, when we stayed seated to sing while people came to the front pews before celebrating the Lord's Supper, it sounded so good! Mum and I were right at the front pews and had some pretty good backing singers. Haha. But tonight, we were singing praise songs, with a praise band; drummer, guitarist, keyboardermanny, and singers. And I was loving it. It's good to enjoy praising the Lord, and it was so nice having people from a variety of denominations praising the Lord together! Each church does things a little bit differently, but the important thing to remember is that we all have the same focus - Jesus! He died so our sins could be forgiven. If people want to sing to the Lord along to a drum beat to celebrate that fact, then by all means go for it!!

That is my view in short. Hope you've all had a good day, our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones during the 9/11 attacks 10 years ago. I remember walking in to the living room in our old house and seeing it on the news, couldn't believe what I was seeing! I hope people come away from this day of remembrance feeling strong, and trusting that the Lord works through these events for our good.

Day 253: Alford Craft Fair

Judy and I were out at a craft fair in Alford today, turned out to be a lot busier than we'd thought it was going to be, and Judy's table looked Amazing! If you've not seen her stuff yet you'll need to check out her business Sparkle and Flourish. Beautiful hand crafted cards, and other goodies!

Hope you're all having a good weekend! I'm still trying to catch up on lack of sleep from Thursday night. Haha. I'm so not cut out for the life of a student.

Day 252: What?

So...yesterday I didn't go to bed until today. 5am today to be exact. Those of you who know me, will know that this is CreyC, and very very very rarely ever happens. So today I've been in a bit of a zombie like state...which would have made for a good photo, I'm sure. But, no. You're getting a clock, with a backdrop of the Ness Sunset photo I took back in June.

Now, I go sleep.

Apparently 'CreyC' and 'Ness' aren't in the dictionary. Weird.

Day 251: Britains Got Talent, Part Two.

I can't believe I'm embarrassing myself like this, again. I mean, look, I look mental! Loving that leap frog a bit too much...just like that handstand last week. If you missed part one of Britain's Got Talent, you'll find it here.

Someone had suggested that last weeks handstand could be the start of some impressive gymnastic shots. I quickly shot down that idea! Haha. But, it gave me the idea for this shot, and I thought it would be amusing to try out. I was right. And looking back at my hilarious facial expressions is great. I might need to work on my gymnastic positioning though.

Happy Thursday!

Have any of you found a bench to participate in Bench Monday next week??

Day 250: Night Time, Day Time

Well, it's actually just night time. This is my rather poor attempt at a sky photo at night time. Yeup. It's in my back garden. I took more at the beach a while later, but they were pretty dull! At least this one has some funky cloud movements. And some branches...

Definitely needs a bit of work. Ha. But, I have tried something new!

Day 249: I Got A Yummy New Book!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!? Yeah sure I've not even made all the recipes in my other Hummingbird Bakery recipe book, but this widens the selection of delicious goodies to create! Yum. If you look closely, you'll see the pink side of the cover is textured. Oh.My.Life. It's a beautiful book.

I would LOVE to take photos for a recipe book. So, if any one's thinking of whipping one up, let me know!

Day 248: Wayhay! Bench Monday!

He he he. I love today's Bench Monday! The lovely person to the left of me is Rebecca. I texted her as I was leaving work to see if she fancied a wee trip to Castle Fraser (Ooooh yes!) for some Bench Monday Banter, and picked her up once I'd nipped home to get Sam. It POURED the whole way to her house, so I was a little worried, but when we arrived at Castle Fraser it were proper lovely like.

I've also got some special guest Bench Monday entries today. How exciting!! Rachel and her friend Rachel Marshall took a few snaps while they were on the ferry over to the island this evening...

Good job ladies! Doing me proud! :) Hope you have a fantastic week, send me a photo when you visit ma beach!

Day 247: Botanical Banter

We went out for a wee drive this afternoon, since it was such a beautiful day. The destination was meant to be the beach, but the boulevard was packed with people, not surprising considering the weather, so instead we headed for the Botanic Gardens at Aberdeen Uni. Not so many brightly coloured flowers there at this time of year, but it was still a nice peaceful hideaway. And Fin slept the whoooole time we were out. Well, he woke up when we got back in the car, so lots of giggles were had in the back seat on the way home. Haha. I love his giggles.

Dave will be happy to see that I didn't post the humorous photo of him from the gardens...we were trying to decide whether his pose was a bit too feminine or not...Ha. Now you all want to see the photo don't you! Maybe one day...And Dave's probably not happy that I even brought it up! Ha. It really wasn't that feminine, we just like picking on him.

Day 246: Family Is A Wonderful Thing

Had a fantastic time in Inverness today! As if getting to see these guys wasn't enough; we went SAILING! What a day. I love being out on the water, if you didn't know...ha. But, it's far too late for me to tell you all about the hilarity of the various capsizing moments we each had, and sadly, there's no photographic evidence of us in our wetsuits...ha.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Day 245: The Day I Got A Haircut

Yeup, today is the only day this year that I've had my haircut. The hairdresser was pretty shocked when I told her it hadn't been cut since November...she obviously thinks I'm a mental case. And because of that fact...my hair was a little rough at the ends, ha, so she had to cut of a few inches! I have loved my long hair, so I was a bit like "Noooooo!"...just like the bit in Star Wars when Darth Vader finds out that Padme's dead. Lols. Not lols that she died, that would be mean, but lols at the fact that I just got a Star Wars reference in to a story about having my hair cut. Good times.

This was supposed to be a quick blog post, as I need to go pack overnight stuff before I leave for Inverness in about an hour. Ha. But yeah, back to my hair! I washed it when I got home, and started freakin out a bit, because, since my hair's currrrly, it pinged up quite a bit and looked proper short like. Eek. But once I dried it...pretty much blasting all the curls out of it, it didn't look too different. Many people looking at the photo will probably be like "Is that the before shot, yeah?"...but no! It's a few inches shorter. But I like it! I was feeling a bit like Hermione the last few weeks with my dry bushy hair. I'm a wizard no more!

Okay...now that I've most definitely talked far too much. I better go get my stuff sorted! One last thing though- Thanks for a lovely wee road trip and a cuppa this morning Judy :)

Day 244: Fun at the park

Today has been a rather busy day! Here's Fin having some fun in the playpark at the Raemoir Garden Centre. Sarah pointed out the security camera after I'd made a full of myself on one of the play apparatus thingies...good times.

Mr and Mrs Jack - Scotland Wedding Photographer

Well...where do I start? As most, if not all of you, will know, at the start of the year my friend Catherine asked me to be her wedding photographer. It's safe to say I was a little bit nervous! I had yet to do my first wedding (which was in April), and Catherine's wedding was going to be a lot bigger. But, Catherine and her now husband, Matthew, are two hilarious and wonderful people, so really, I was pretty excited about the prospects of capturing some truely beautiful and no doubt humorous photos.

We were obviously seeing each other throughout the year, and the odd shriek of excitement was let loose here and there at gatherings, and official chats were had about what she wanted on the day, and what I could do. I told her I'd love to get some Pre Wedding Photos of the two of them to put in a Signing Book for their evening reception. So we managed to meet up just a few weeks before the wedding, at Castle Fraser (LOVE), and it was great! They were looking forward to it as it would give them a chance to acquaint themselves with the front of my camera, and they were exactly the way I'd hoped they'd be- totally natural and loved up!

After that, I was preeeeetty excited about their big day! So without further adue, I'll get stuck in to showing you...quite a few...of my favourites from the day! Ha. I had to reign myself in a little, as I was close to just putting in ALL the photos. Anyway, here we go...

I went along to the hair and beauty salon to take a few snaps of Catherine while the hair dresser and make up artists did their thaaaang, complimenting her beautiful face. Love the shot at the bottom left, haha.

Then it was back to the hotel for some dance moves before the girls all put their dresses on. This was a hilarious moment, and I'm really glad I got photos of it! They were all super excited about the day ahead, no nerves!

Catherine...You.Are.Beautiful!

Love these girls!

I was really looking forward to this moment. I'd met Mum and Dad the night before, at the rehearsal, and it was easy to see where Catherine got her wonderful nature, and humour from!

Just realised I haven't included any shots of the car...let's just say it was AMAZING. I was in love. Haha. I want to talk about every single one of the photos I'm posting here...basically I just love them all!

I was a bit nervous about photographing during the ceremony, as I hadn't needed to do that at the wedding in April, so it was a first! I was worried I'd be too noisey or distracting, I really wanted to be like an unnoticeable ninja...but then I chose to wear a pink cardi on the day, ha. However, it went really well! I'm pretty sure people saw me...I'm not that good of a ninja. But the key is to not be like a paparazzi! Don't photograph every single moment that's taking place, just get the special moments, and enjoy the fact that you're witnessing the marriage of two people who are oh so totally in love...

Of course, being a lover of water, I had to take advantage of the church being right beside the river in Inverness. I love this photo...and I think the family of the asian tourist who took a few snaps will think it's super cute too!

Back at Loch Ardil House Hotel...so lovely!

FAVOURITE!

I said quite a few times on the day, and I'm going to say it again...I love you guys!

Loved this tapestry room inside the hotel...

I hope you've enjoyed my favourites! I'll just finish now by saying that I would never have imagined feeling SO relaxed throughout the whole day. Both Matthew and Catherine's family and friends were so incredibly welcoming, and encouraging...and amusing. I loved every minute of the day, and still smile thinking back to how much fun was had at every moment. I just hope there are no photographs of my backside in any albums that will be created after this wonderful day...

It was a privelege photographing your wedding, as you commited yourselves to one another before God, may he continue to strengthen you as you start your new life together!