'pimm's jelly' by spicyicecream

pimm's jelly, a photo by spicyicecream on Flickr.

Hi everyone. How was your weekend? Mine was a perfect British summer one. It included good friends, a birthday barbecue, a school summer fair, glasses of Pimms (although it was just Pimms in a tin) and lots of strawberries in the form of Eton Mess. I found myself uttering the words 'it's too hot' just once and told myself off straight away. I wonder if the weather is meant to stay this nice. I am too scared to check the weather forecast incase it says rain, rain, rain.

I had to have a Pimms photo on here tonight. I was very impressed with this one as it's an excellent example of food photography. I particularly like the pretty paper straw as a really want some of them myself. I also like how this picture clearly shows how healthy Pimms is. Check out all that fruit and veg. It has to be good for you!

Hope you had a great weekend too.

'iPhone Photo 342/365' by alexkess

iPhone Photo 342/365 #iphoneography, a photo by alexkess on Flickr.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I had taken an interest in iphoneography whilst at BritMums Live. I therefore thought I should take a little look for a photograph to share with you that demonstrates what I found so amazing about it. I love that an image like this was shot, edited and posted online directly from this photographer's smartphone. I love the effect used on this one and I particularly love the colours. Modern technology really has given everyone the tools express their creativity and to potentially become fantastic artists.

'Untitled' by Haley Stark

Untitled, a photo by Haley Stark on Flickr.

The weather's actually not been too bad this week so yesterday I said to my daughter we could have a picnic for lunch today. Sadly though today has just been wet and grey so no picnic for us. I am really not hoping for a heatwave but come on summer you can do better than this. I want the school holidays to be full of picnics, trips to the playground and many other outdoors adventures.

I love this picnic photo. I looks like a group of good friends having a lovely time. I like that it was taken from above as it means we can have a good nosy at what's going on. And I do like a good nosy. I think that explains why I like social media so much!

Happy weekend everyone! Hope the next few days are full of sunshine, great friends and eating al fresco!

'Snowshill Library' by devilschaplain

Snowshill Library, a photo by devilschaplain on Flickr.

Since BritMums Live I've not really felt like blogging which is a bit bizarre. I still don't think I've processed whole thing properly in my head though. I'm still not sure how I feel about everything. I was planning on a post here that poured out my feelings but to be honest I'm not even sure what those feelings are. So instead I've been fully embracing and enjoying "real life" as in people the people that don't even know about this blog and the fact I went to BritMums Live and I'm going to go back to basics with this blog. It's all about amazing photographs and things that make me smile. Hopefully then I can start find my place in the blogging world again.

So let's start with this photo that I saw and instantly loved. It's just a picture of some wooden drawers in a library but the detail and the focus are incredible. I am instantly drawn into the image. I don't think this would have been nearly as strking if everything was in focus. I think I'd like to experiment taking more pictures like this.

'My Britmums Live photo that has nothing at all to do with Britmums!' by Me

My Britmums Live photo that has nothing at all to do with Britmums!, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

So this weekend I went to BritMums Live and I can honestly say it was amazing. I wanted to write this post yesterday but spent the day just processing the whole thing in my head. This was my first blogger conference and I think it’s fair to say the whole thing was rather overwhelming but totally inspiring. I met some amazing, inspirational, talented and genuinely lovely people.

I have no idea exactly how to write this so I thought I would go with the bullet points I jotted down in my notebook on the way home on the train. So in no particular order here are my thoughts on the conference.

Not all of the sessions felt particularly relevant to me or my blog but I loved the two photography ones I attended. I am now in love with iphoneography thanks to a great presentation by Richard Gray so expect a few Smartphone pictures to appear here in the future.

My last post was all about decluttering. Well that’s all gone out of the window thanks to the massive amount of freebies I brought home with me. Seriously I must have looked a sight carrying so much stuff through London. I was close to getting myself stuck in the barriers of the tube station at one point.

Bloggers are amazing people and I wish I’d met more of them and been a bit more vocal. Because I’m a tad on the shy side and it felt like no one had really heard of me (having an anonymous blog doesn’t help with this) I didn’t really make as many new friends as I would have hoped. I’m much harder to shut up on Twitter though so I’m sure I will chat with people from the weekend on there instead.

I got a feeling not a lot of people actually read my little blog but that’s fine. I honestly do blog just for me and if anyone else reads this it’s a bonus. I did give out a few business cards though so hopefully a few people will come over here for a visit.

I missed my family like crazy, especially my two children as it was the longest I’ve ever been apart from them. I definitely got the “me time” I’ve been craving for a while though which was fantastic.

There were some fantastic speakers. Katy Hill is hilarious. I love her openness and the way she is a self-confessed over-sharer. I will definitely be following her new blog. And Katie Piper is an inspirational woman. I met her when she signed her book and thought she was lovely.

And finally this weekend was really special for me as I got to finally meet my good friend Heather from Stay at Home Mum Loving It. We’ve been friends for a while now but had never actually met until this weekend. And I am pleased to report that she’s just as lovely in real life as she is online! It feel like we’ve know each other forever and I’m sure we’ll be friends for life. I now need to convince her to come and move to the south east of England as we live just too damn far apart.

I had no idea what photo to put with this but I figured it should really be one of mine. I hardly took any pictures at the event itself so here is a picture of beach huts in Cornwall. I figure this might be the first post some people read of mine so I should make it known from the start that if you follow my blog there will be beach huts!

'Summer the Starfish' by Two Travellers

Summer the Starfish, a photo by Two Travellers on Flickr.

Following on from my post about new year's resolutions I have also found myself making mid-year resolutions. Well maybe they're not exactly resolutions but but they are things I would like to focus on.

Firstly, I want to simplify. I guess that ties in with the decluttering. I'm going to try not to need so much 'stuff' and plan to surround myself with things I really love not just stuff I've bought for the sake of it or because it was on sale. Also I want to make sure I do things I because I enjoy them and not because I feel I have to.

And secondly, I want to embrace change and new opportunities. My daughter is starting primary school in September and as a stay-at-home mum I know this is going to have a huge impact on my life. I don't want to feel I am missing out on time with my daughter though. I want to focus on all the fun stuff we can do together after school. And I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my son as he has kind of spent the past year being dragged round to whatever things I take my daughter to. Hopefully this will also be a great opportunity to make friends with some new mums at the school gate. I've met lots already and it seems like a nice bunch of people.

I'm also starting an evening course in September which will be a great opportunity to learn more about photography and also mix with different people.

And very importantly it's the BritMums blogging conference this weekend. I can't wait to meet new people there and to also come away with lots of blogging enthusiasm.

I am using this photo to illustrate simplicity. Photos like this really aren't complicated but they are always so popular. This is definitely an image that someone would buy to go on their wall at home.

'My boy on the beach in Polaroid' by Me

My boy on the beach in Polaroid, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I am so pleased with the photos I took with my Polaroid 600 camera whilst on holiday in Cornwall. I didn't even mean to take the camera with me. I meant to take my other instant camera - the Polaroid 300 - but I didn't get any film in time.

This is one of my favourites. It's my son playing on the beach in St Ives. The beach there was so beautiful. Just like my choice of camera this trip to the beach wasn't planned either. We weren't going to spend any time on the beach that day. We were just going to look around the town but due to parking issues which I won't bore you with we did end up down on the sand and I am so pleased. The kids loved it and it really is a beach worth visiting.

Oh and I know I should have scanned this picture in instead of just taking a photo of it. I haven't had a chance to do any scanning yet but really wanted to blog about my polaroid success!

'garden for elves' by *sapa*

garden for elves, a photo by *sapa* on Flickr.

I can't believe we're half way through June already. I keep thinking we've only just had Christmas but it won't be long before we start thinking about Christmas 2013. Anyway, as we're about half way through the year I though it would be a good time to reflect on how things were going with my New Year's resolutions.

It's all going well with not needing to go on a diet. I still don't eat as healthily as I should but get a bit of exercise so I think that is doing me good.

The big declutter is coming along nicely too. I've not finished with the job but I am getting there and it feels good. I've even got rid of some shoes. Shock horror!

I am definitely finding time to read more. Although I still love real books I am finding reading books on my iPad means I read a lot more as I can just pick it up whenever I have a spare moment. I can also read in bed under cover of darkness!

And finally the photography. I've been trying to take a lot of pictures. I am loving Instagram, have a new camera to play with and I am really pleased with the results of my latest polaroid pictures.

So how about you? Did you make any resolutions? How are you getting along with keeping them?

Oh and I nearly forgot about the picture. It's nothing to do with resolutions, it's just really pretty and cleverly planned out. I like simple ideas like this. I imagine it was a shame to mess this up after the photo had been taken.

'Wind Turbines' by mliebenberg

Wind Turbines, a photo by mliebenberg on Flickr.

I think I've mentioned here before that I find wind turbines quite fascinating and think they make a great subject for a photo. I was therefore in my element in Cornwall as they were everywhere. I didn't actually take any photos of them but I did stare out of the car window a lot looking at them as we were passing them by. I guess I think they look really majestic and look so striking in the landscape of miles and miles of fields.

As I didn't take any pictures of the Cornish wind turbines I thought I would hunt out a picture by someone else to show you. I love this because it's really bold and bright and fields are so yellow. And that's another thing I like - fields of hay bales! I've never taken any photos of them myself either but I would like to.

'Cornish seagull' by Me

Cornish seagull, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

For years now I've been trying to take a perfect photo of a seagull in flight. As I have absolutely no experience of animal photography this has mainly involved me pointing the camera at the sky and hoping for the best - usually with not very impressive results. But last week in Cornwall (did I mention I went there on holiday?) I managed to finally get the shot I was after. What do you think? I am really pleased with it.

'Summer Thunderstorm !!!' by fondazza1943

Summer Thunderstorm !!!, a photo by fondazza1943 on Flickr.

The weather appears to be changing. Today wasn't nearly as summery as it has been of late (although we did still sit outside for a barbecue with friends this afternoon). The cold weather just makes our wonderful Cornish holiday seem such a long time ago already. And yes, I'm still missing the place!

In preparation for any rain we might get this week here is a photo that reminds me that rain can be beautiful too. Especially refreshing summer rain showers. If you look at all the people in this picture you can see they're not dressed for rain so it's a good job they had their umbrella's with them.

'Beach hut for the day' by Me

Beach hut for the day, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I've not been blogging this week as I've been on holiday. We went to Cornwall and what can I say, I am in love with the place. I can't believe we've never booked a holiday there before. In fact, we are already thinking of booking the same place again for next year.

It was a perfect week. The sun was shining every single day, we visited some beautiful places and generally had some quality and relaxing time together as a family. I could go on about it for ages so be warned there may be a few Cornwall related pictures and posts coming up soon!

Let me start with this photo as it is so very exciting. This was our beach hut for the day in place called Bude. My husband rented it for the day as a surprise. If you read this blog regularly you'll know I am just crazy about beach huts so as you can imagine I was thrilled to bits. And you know what? It was actually every bit as lovely as I hoped it would be. It was so nice to have somewhere to leave our stuff safely when we went walking down to the sea. We also put up our little picnic table in there and had lunch. This was a great way of giving the kids a break from the sun and meant we didn't end up with sand in our sandwiches. And of course the hut was as pretty as could be and very photogenic.

Shall love you and leave you now. See you for more Cornwall prettiness soon.

'hello, first day of summer vacation. (explored)' by cheska annelliese

hello, first day of summer vacation. (explored), a photo by cheska annelliese. on Flickr.

It's June! That means it's summer and so far the weather here has been pretty nice and actually rather summery. Long may it continue. I hope you've all had a great start to your summer.

I was looking for a suitably summery photograph to post here tonight and this diptych made me smile the most. Beautiful warm colours and fabulous purple Converse - just perfect. It really makes me want to spend this summer in the park having picnics!

Happy summer everyone!!