It’s a very thoughtful inspiration as well and one that resonates with us all, especially if you have lost your Mum like AWNTYM who bravely, and proudly posted her photos.

I have three photos which I’m posting as my contribution. It may seem vain but they do tell a story. They were taken last month while we were stuck in Juan les Pins in the South of France and unable to get home due to the volcanic cloud. We were staying in a 4* hotel which was great, except it was empty (except for a phantom crapper who dropped a load outside of our lift – I kid you not), and also it felt like The Shining. It was weird.

So I thought I’d take some profile shots for my blog. I’d washed all my underwear with shampoo because the laundry service was about 12 Euros per item – I’d only planned for 6 days not 10. Frankly, I was also going a bit stir crazy. After too much steak and red wine, I decided I was going to pen a post on blogging styles. This photo was meant to be on the rhetoric of washing your dirty linen in public and on your blog. It’s not something I do a lot of mostly because I’m a wimp but I do admire a lot of bloggers who write cathartically. So while I’ve yet to realise my story in full, this is me everyone.

The first one is the laundry shot – I will still use this photo for a comment piece because it’s quite atmospheric – I cheekily cropped this for my profile pic too

Second is the more serious one but it actually reminds me of my Mum and my daughter so there is a thread I like. I know I was talking through my teeth to my daughter as I took this. She was watching French TV and about to go to sleep. We were desperately awaiting news of the airspace reopening so I think there’s a bit of tension too.

And finally I love this one because it looks like I am in league with an evil twin but it’s really me and me – my reflection looks soft in comparison to the hard profile so this image has a sense of inner vulnerability about it which I like – I also look like I’m sharing a joke, which I probably was with my daughter, who found the whole episode completely nutty.

Isn’t it funny though, I don’t know if it’s just me but it really shows the photos were taken in a sunny place, even though it’s the evening. I’ve always believed that location always seeps into photography and mysteriously too; this is surely proof of that.

They have been pretty much invisible until the last week or so and now they’re very much part of the landscape. They live right at the back of the garden under the shed and have dug out so much earth that I fear it may collapse but I don’t really want to disturb them.

These rather grubby fox cubs usually get up at 8am or so and have a stretch out in the sunshine before having a bit of a lark about and then making their way out of our garden and into the neighbourhood to forage or do whatever they do.

We have four little babies and one of the fox cubs has got a name. Cotton Bud – can you see the one on the right in the photo below, with the white hare-like tail?

And as you can see from this photo, Cotton Bud is a bit of a joker. He here is taking a chunk out of his sibling.

This whole experience has brought out Miniminx’s entrepreneurial spirit in a much bigger way than I’d expected. While I’m hightailing it around the house and imagining myself as an award winning wildlife photographer, she has entirely different plans.

‘Look – there’s a fox climbing on the back fence – quick – let me get my camera’ I spluttered yesterday morning as I tried to gulp down my essential morning cuppa.
‘Awwwwwwwwwwwww, they’re soooooooo cute Mummy.’
‘Quick come upstairs so we can get a better view.’
We both clamber upstairs and gawp out of the window.

More cooing from Miniminx while I try unsuccessfully to snap away and only get blurry images.
‘It’s a zoo out there darling – isn’t it amazing?’
‘Mummy! I’ve got the greatest idea.’
‘What darling?’
‘We can open a zoo and charge people £1 to come and look at the foxes’
‘Ummm…ahem…shhh, I need to focus.’
‘No, actually, £1 per fox…then we can make a lot of money…’

Ermm, so anyway, if you want to see them, it’s £4 a ticket and cash only….don’t blame me!

I love photography and I’ve been looking for the right image to blow up and put at the end of my bed as a meditation. This is the one I have chosen, it’s beautiful to me because it draws me into the blue water and makes me drift off somewhere else. In the shallow glistening water, tiny fish dart around and the sun hitting the ripples creates a prismic effect. Happy memories of laughter, new experiences (snorkelling with Miniminx), sunshine, relaxation and lazing on the beach are all wrapped in this image. Plus it’s divinely serene.

I chose to print it in 30×40 on the aluminium panel. That costs around £50 plus postage and takes around six days. I really like the process of choosing your print. You upload your image and as you can see below, it gives you sizing options.

And then you can preview the size. I quite like this idea because I often confuse cm and inches which can lead to all sorts of mistakes.

Once you’ve chosen your print, or banner, or adhesive vinyl you go to the checkout and there are also choices for hanging your image which are very reasonably priced from about £15 which is a fraction of the cost of framing. I chose not to go with any of these as I wanted to frame my print. I’ve gone locally and chosen a floating print using a double mount of acid white card and buff card with a white frame which is 60×80. I’ll be picking it up next week and will post the result. I can’t wait.

Hello snowdrops!

I spent nearly three hours walking round Kew last Sunday in search of these wonderful little flowers. For me they are the first sign that Winter is on it’s way out.

I nicknamed this very sweet little bird Supertit (pun intended) after the mighty effort it made to crash land on the tin with food in it’s beak. Weird to think that on the other side of the lens where I stood, I was surrounded by the wildlife equivalent of paparazzi. There were about ten people with lenses about three times the size of mine and about four feet long.

Oh and of course, these gorgeous polka dot Turkeys, no longer afraid of being poached and put on a Christmas table, have come out of hiding.

And I can’t wait for the cherry blossom and bluebells soon…