2013 365 31

Ah week 31, my old friend, how are you? It seems (and I've checked) that at about the same point in last year's 365 project I ran out of steam and struggled for motivation. Then shortly afterwards, things picked up again. Lesson learned. Last weeks update was a couple of days late due to apathy; this week's update is late due to having too much to do. Shouldn't complain really.

29/07/13

I've taken this photo before - that's how low my creativity is this week. It's a bird. On a bird feeder. Big deal.

30/07/13

I know the photo makes this look huge, but it's a resin cast of my youngest daughter's hand. We came across a moulding kit (dirt cheap), took it home and tried it out. It was quite interesting and a lot of fun, although not for the wee monkey who had to hold her hand in a tub full of rubbery jelly for 15 minutes to form the mould. Next job is to finely sand down the rough bits and then figure out what we're going to do with it. And what other body parts we can make casts of with the remainder of our supplies.

31/07/13

Ok, so this is bit out of focus but it represents something really exciting in my house - a dinner made using mainly ingredients from the garden and greenhouse. I am awash with the tastiest baby courgettes, shallots and garlic at the moment and these were picked and made into a rather nice pasta sauce.

1/08/13

I was reflecting about last year's 365 project earlier and recall that I spent many shots and updates on the progress of my cucumber plants. Which ultimately failed to deliver a single cucumber. This year, the courgettes have been a big success with three very study and bushy plants producing loads of fruit. The flowers are amazing and I think they are edible too, but I haven't tried one yet.

2/08/13

......mind you, if the courgettes are a success, then the tomatoes must be the biggest disappointment. There are lots of little green tomatoes but nothing that remotely looks like it's going to turn red any time soon. Given the care, attention and love I'm lavishing on them, you think they'd have the decency to hurry up.

03/08/13

The relocation of the Open House Festival to Bangor was a bit strange in my opinion but any reservations about this were kicked into touch after tonight. Local band Farriers played in the amazing setting of Bangor Abbey, accompanied by the wonderful Arco String Quarter. I'll point out that sitting on a wooden church pew for two hours was not the kindest thing I've ever subjected my bottom to, but it was worth it. The band did suggest bringing a cushion with you - I declined. I was wrong. Only took a couple of shots, the main reason being I was enjoying the band too much. That's a compliment to them - they were that good.

3/08/13

I was out wandering about Belfast this morning, primarily to try a few shots of buildings with the new fisheye lens I'd picked up. Thus far I had managed to avoid any contact with the World Police and Fire Games being held here at the moment, and which appears to have turned Belfast into the biggest annual convention for Unformed Dating known to mankind. Anyway, as I walked along the Lagan I was rudely interrupted by the final of the dragon boat race. Swiftly swapping my fisheye for a longer lens, I rattled off a few shots, f which this turned out to be the best.

2013 365 - 25

Big week here in Northern Ireland as we gear up for G8 summit down on the shores of Lough Erne, with a whole crew of world leaders  arriving. Massive security provisions were of course put in place to avoid a repeat of previous violent protests at G8 summits. Extra police drafted in, total lock down in Enniskillen, extra cells built, judges on standby, all of which proved to be completely unnecessary. I did however, think it appropriate to concentrate on the protests, at least for the first part of the week. After that, I retreated to my greenhouse in the hope of restoring some sanity.

17/06/13

I had thought about how local people wight protest about the G8 and immediately thought of the wonderful Father Ted episode about the naughty film, The Passion of St Tibulous. Particularly Ted and Dougal's approach to protesting outside the cinema on Bishop Brennan's orders. 

18/06/13

One of the really amusing aspect of the protests was the fact that the BBC were very fond of reporting about the fact that only five people were camped in the campsite designated for protestors. Even more amusing were the reports that two of these five were actually Dutch tourists who had accidentally been directed to the campsite by over-helpful police who assumed they were here to protest rather than just being on holiday. The dog who was also present got a bit of coverage too. She was from Scotland and her name was Grace.

19/06/13

And sticking with the theme of Grace the dog, I figured she must be up to something and just using the whole "I came here with my scottish owner" thing as some sort of smoke screen. Thankfully the police also had the same idea and promptly arrested her. Grace was subsequently discovered not to be a real dog but to be two anarchist midgets in a dog suit who were planning to symbolically cock their leg against David Cameron. OK - I admit I was getting desperate here and maybe made some of that up.

20/06/13

The greenhouse is really starting to take shape and I spent a wee bit more time in it this week and things were happening. The sunflowers Sarah and I had planted were beginning to flower, much to the delight of the elderly sisters who live next door. I may take one into them.

21/06/13

Got this safety tip courtesy of my dad who pointed out that having loads of bamboos sticking up out the growbags might eventually lead to me losing an eye when I'm watering and working with the plants. Luckily, being the messy and untidy person that I am, my car was full of empty plastic bottles.

22/06/13

 I hadn't planned on posting this shot of one of the sunflower buds, but there's something about it that speaks to me. The curves and colours work for me, and there's a nice quality to the light.

23/06/13

Simone Felice playing in the Black Box, Belfast this afternoon as part of the Open House Festival. This was my third time seeing Simone in concert and he was as good as ever. A talented musician and performer (he's not bad on drums either). There was something quite magical  about listening to him on a Sunday afternoon in Belfast while supping a pint or two of the black lemonade.