Day 57/365

I am so thankful for Family.

Day 56/365

So I had the cold for about 5 weeks, finally got rid of it last week, but then I visited a cold infested friend on Tuesday (not saying any names!) and they managed to pass it on to me...yay! My trip to the beach on Wednesday night probably didn't help, but nevermind. I'm making sure I take as much Echinacea as I can to try and get rid of it, fast!

Day 55/365

I babysat this happy chappy and his adroable little sister on Thursday night, so their Mom n Dad could have some time together before they welcome their third (Scottish, woohoo!!) child to the family in just a few weeks :)

Day 54/365

I nipped down to the beach after the prayer meeting on Wednesday for some misty water shots...kinda chuffed with how they came out! I lent my wideangle lens to a friend (don't worry, Ginger, I'm not gutted I didn't have it!) for the week so used my 50mm, which wasn't letting in as much of the scene as I would've liked, but I think my 24mm would've been too wide for what I wanted. I want to try a 35mm, as a nice inbetweener. One day perhaps. But I still love it!

Day 53/365

We started a new course at Church this week, called The God Question, which looks at creation; whether it came about by a series of chance happenings independent of a creator, or if it was all brought about by God. It was a really interesting first night, I recommend checking it out!

Day 52/365

I had a big clear out of clothes on Monday! That's not just any black bin bag, that's a (Marks and Spencers...just kidding.) wheelie bin black bag, and it is very much full of clothes! It's probably as heavy as Santa's sack. It felt good to have a clear out, next is all the random bits n bobs I've accumulated over the years and hidden in my chest of drawers.

Day 51/365

I was very glad I had my camera to hand at this moment...I love this photo! Doing a great job there, Dear :)

Day 50/365

After a week of being inside, editing, I decided to get out for some fresh air on Saturday. I ended up driving around for 3 hours, to Braemar and then back to Aboyne, before parking at Glentanar Estate and enjoying a swift walk around the river trail. I've said it many times before, but it won't stop me saying it again; I love being near water. I stopped for a wee break at this beautiful spot, and it made me wish for a beautiful hot summer's day to come back to Glentanar with friends and enjoy a swim in the deep rock pools there. I love it so much!

Day 49/365

If in doubt, grab some teacups!

Day 48/365

I got to enjoy dinner, and even a movie, with Cassia last night! It's the first time we've hung out in over a month because I've been away so much, and the weekends I wasn't away, Cassia was away! So it was lovely to finally catch up, and then enjoy a late showing of the new Spiderman movie. Mmm, Andrew Garfield.

Day 47/365

Can't believe I'm posting a photo of a Sainsbury's bag as my blog photo...Ha! I spent the whole day editing, and decided to get myself out the house and drive to Tesco at Danestone for a few bits n bobs for dinner, and a wee perusal of their clothes. However after driving the back road to Blackburn and heading down towards Tesco I discovered the bridge was closed...and the detour to get to Tesco is absolutely ridiculous, especially when everyone's heading home from work. So I eventually rerouted to Sainsbury's, tried on a bunch of swimwear from their clothing range (which has 25% off this week, woo!), and then grabbed some things for dinner. I was gone for about 2 hours...so didn't start cooking dinner till 9! But I got a couple swimsuits for summer adventures, so it wasn't all bad :)

Day 46/365

I am loving my new orange feather earrings. A couple months ago I would never have thought of buying bright orange earrings, but I have just realised how good they look with aaaaaaaall my blue things! Hooray for beautiful bright colours for Spring and Summer :)

Day 45/365

Mumsy and I went out for lunch together yesterday and caught up on what we've been up to the last couple weeks. It was so lovely to spend some proper time together after all my galavanting this past month.

Day 44/365

I had to take Katherine to the train station on Sunday afternoon, and another friend texted in the morning to ask if she could get a lift from the station, so I hung around for half another to pick her up. I know people don't just love me because of my car!

Day 43/365

It was such a pleasure to host a Hen Party for this lovely lady, along with her sister, Caitriona. We had a wonderful day enjoying Afternoon Tea, and making fascinators :) I'm really pleased the fascinators went down so well. I ordered a bag full of tartan fabric, and bought feathers, buttons, flowers and ribbon for us all to pick and choose from, and create our own individual masterpiece, and then we wore them out for dinner in the evening, before heading to Megan's to relax, and watch a film. It was a great day full of friends, laughter and food, food fooooood.

Day 42/365

After almost two weeks away I headed home again on Friday, and in the evening picked up this lovely lady who was up for our friend Megan's Hen Party on the Saturday. We hadn't seen each other since December, but we just picked up where we left off, and caught up on all the things we'd done since then. I was very thankful to have her company for the weekend as she was a huge help in preparing for the party :) Thanks, Love!

Day 41/365

Look at that handsome chap, being a good student and getting on with his work :) It was so lovely spending a week with Matthew and his parents, just going about normal life. With Matthew and his Dad working 9-5 every day, and Maggie doing the spring cleaning, and preparing for her next lot of B&B guests, I was able to get on with work each day too, and build on my relationship with adorable Bindi. Maggie and I did of course nip out for the occasional shopping trip too, so it wasn't all work and no play!

Day 40/365

Some very serious faces, for some top secret stuff.

Day 39/365

We hung out with a couple of Matthew's friends on Tuesday night, and I finally got to go to Dores Beach...sure it was dark, cold and windy by the time we got there, but it was still a fun wee adventure. When we got back to Inverness we paid Inez a surprise visit at work, and stocked up on some snacks, before heading back to Michael's to finish off personalising a travel Monopoly board for their friend's birthday...it was very impressive!

Day 38/365

Date night to celebrate this guy surviving a whole year with me :) Do I get all soppy and talk about how wonderful he is, or do I save you all from the cheese...I think I'll spare you and simply say we had a lovely evening at The Mustard Seed in Inverness, and Matthew's favourite part of the meal was probably his very manly pink martini...haha. But seriously, I love this guy, and I am incredibly thankful to have him in my life :)

Day 34/365

The portrait shoots continued on Thursday, and everybody knows I love cuddles from an adorable baby so it was such a pleasure to meet this little guy. Look at those lips!

Day 37/365

This photo cracks me up. When I saw Matthew's Gran getting kitted out with headphones and a laptop to watch a gaelic sermon online I couldn't resist snapping some photos. She's so cool!

Day 36/365

As some ladies were unable to find childcare, and lads got called offshore earlier than scheduled, only these three lovelies were able to attend the workshop, and we had a great time! I stayed with Catriona and her family on Friday night, and it was so lovely to meet her after weeks of messaging back and forth to decide whether the workshop was going ahead or not and make plans. I'm really looking forward to heading back to Ullapool later in the year to catch up with Catriona and run another workshop for everyone who was unable to attend the first :)

Day 35/365

I got back to the mainland on Friday afternoon, as planned, with no ferry issues...it was wonderful! Haha. As I was running a workshop in Ullapool on Saturday I headed out on the hunt for a nice location to go to for the pratical time in the afternoon, and found this lovely wee spot, where I tried out my new neutral density filter for the first time. Not bad.

Day 33/365

I was happy to finally get stuck in to some portrait sessions on Wednesday, and since I've put a few shots of these lovely ladies on Facebook already I thought I'd show you something a little different. Gotta love a classic black and white shot :) Aren't they all so cute!

Day 32/365

When I eventually did make it to Lewis, I arrived to a very cold house, as the boiler had run out of oil. So I was very thankful for this beautiful contraption, providing some heat! But because the house is empty for the majority of the year, it's pretty cold, and it took a while to raise the temperature even a little, so I snuggled with two hot water bottles and an extra blanket through the night. Good times.

Day 31/365

Stuck in Inverness for another day, but I didn't mind really when this fluffy little monster was following me about :)

Day 30/365

So this was the day I was supposed to be getting the ferry to Lewis...I stopped off to see Matthew's Parents, and give them the canvas they'd ordered from their family photos back in January, and then headed on towards Ullapool. 45 minutes in to my journey I got a call from Matthew's Dad saying I might as well turn around as the ferry hadn't even left Stornoway! Good times. So I made a U-turn and headed back to Inverness, to spend the night at Matthew's Parents house. These are the beautiful tulips that Maggie got for Mothers Day. I love tulips!

Day 29/365

 With Easter weekend a few weeks away, and the students going off on their half term break before exams, we decided to do an egg decorating night for FCYA. I'm pretty chuffed with their efforts!