Memories, Dreams & Reflections... & ABC Wednesday

Two for the price of one!  This is my post for both ABC Wednesday (in this case Y is for Year in Photos) and also:

The wonderfully talented Ashley Sisk at Ramblings and Photos (click on the link above to go to her blog) hosts the Sunday Scavenger Hunt.  This week is a little different in that it's about looking back over the year and looking forward to the next.  Here's my take on the headings she gave.

Me!

What am I most proud of this year?   Learning to meditate, losing two stones in weight and keeping it off, doing a 10km moonlit walk for charity, not doing things just to please others all the time, and finally beginning to get to grips with my camera!  (Tip: A Gaussian blur does much more for your complexion than L'Oreal ever could - because you're worth it) ;O)))

I Love You...

I was going to put something sentimental for this one, then I thought

damn it, I'm English and proud of being ironic and emotionally repressed!
So here is my new camera, it's a Canon 7D, it's mine, and I love it :O)

 My Favourite
I took this when we were having coffee in Starbucks
after a very cold walk.  I like the tones, the composition and the expression,
this is very David, oh and he's my favourite bloke too...

Still Laughing...
'Let me them eat cake',
says Cath.  And if this shot doesn't make its way
on to her birthday card then I'm a banana.

Winter Wonderland...
Someone said this reminded them of rasberry ice-cream.
Every time I see it now I feel hungry...

Friends...
Me and Posky.  Does this make
me seem like a person nobody but her cats like?
Am I being paranoid?  Possibly yes to both
but what the heck...

I was inspired...
There are some amazing photographers in blogland and on flickr that take my breath away
with their talent and vision.  And I see them and then I become green with envy,
and depressed that I'll never be that good, and then I eat chocolate
and drink too much red wine and it's all just hideous.  Then I get over myself.  Anyway...!
  In this case it was an image in a photography magazine,
which made me think 'I have got to try that...' (I think that's got to be
my longest preamble to the introduction of a photo of a leaf ever).

Spring Fever
Pretty mundane daffodil shot.  It was either
that or get someone to dress up as the Easter Bunny,
and David just wouldn't do it no matter how
much I screamed tried to persuade him.

Travel or Vacation
Lincoln Cathedral taken on a recent trip there...
Note teeny-weeny people in front.

Summer Days...
This isn't the sunniest of pictures (I live in England remember), but it was taken
in August.  Some of my fondest memories of the summer were of
tramping around the countryside with Cath early on Sunday mornings in our quest for fitness
(and a large Starbucks coffee at the end of it).

A Day in my Life...
Since it usually consists of me doing very
boring things in an office, I thought I'd take a photo
of some of the stuff on my desk at work.  (The thought
of the mundanity of what I do has caused a small
cloud of gloom to appear over my head as I type this).

All Smiles...
My cats always make me smile, no that's a lie, when
they wake me up at 4a.m. I'm not usually happy about it.
The majority of the time they make me smile, Mrs Pod represents the
feline four here (if I ever got all four in a photo at once it would
probably look like a scene from Kill Bill).

Autumn Harvest
Taken when we visited Grafton Underwood in Northamptonshire
The good thing about living where we do is we're only a few miles
from the borders with Northants, Warwickshire and Lincolnshire.
It makes getting around pretty easy.  As my friend's (see I do have some...)
husband says 'it's easy to escape from' .

Family
David and Mum J, and of course my cats.
I have half brothers and a half sister but they're
a bit odd, so for the purposes
of this I'll consider myself to be an only child :O)


Celebrate
No it's not the release of yet another box-set edition of Lord of the Rings.
Just because it's 15 years and we're still together...

Let's Do it Again...
Go to the theatre (but don't get me started on ticket prices)
This is a view from the balcony into the foyer at the RSC.

Beautiful
I find many things beautiful, but I do love trees.
(And there's also a pic of George, because well, he just is.
Unfortunately I didn't get to actually take this, it's courtesy
of Google)

Dress Up...
Mrs Pod winner of the Halloween Devil audition

Macro
I have no idea why I have this many
pencils in my desk drawer as I never use them.

Holidays...
Christmas - new camera, new ornament from Lakeland :O)

Don't Ever Change...
We don't always agree but we trust
each other completely, and I love the
way Cath willingly does silly things
in the name of photography, or anything
else for that matter...

Just Because...So There!
I love books :O)

Hopes and Dreams...
Two images for this, the first represents creativity, that's what I want to
work on this year, photography and writing.
  The second is because I want to be awake to the moment,
not fret about the past or worry about the future.  The Buddha, whose teaching
is all about being awakened, is there to remind
me to try and do just that.