'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.

'Book Stalls, NFT/South Bank, London' by andie butt

Book Stalls, NFT/South Bank, London, a photo by andie butt on Flickr.

I read an interesting blog post yesterday about how libraries appear to be on the decline and sadly today I appear to have experienced it for myself. My local library is fantastic and my daughter loves visiting and borrowing books. We were going to a different town in the same county today so I thought I would take her there instead to return her books and get new ones. It’s a lovely new library and looks like it has a lot to offer but the children’s section was so disappointing. There was hardly anything to choose from. We did manage to get a small selection to borrow so went off to get them checked out. Sadly there is no personal service at the library it’s all done at a self service issue desk. I know that times are changing and this is how things are done now but it made me sad. It felt more like taking money out of a cash machine than borrowing a library book. And it meant that my daughter didn’t get to do her usual job of handing over her card and the books and having a little chat with the librarian. And of course the books don’t get stamped when you do it this way. You get a receipt and have to have the write the return date in yourself. Nothing too taxing but all a bit silly really when there were staff actually wandering around looking bored. Anyway, I apologise for my little moan there. My blog just seemed like a good place to get this off my chest!

It also means a good excuse for a booky photo! I love this one because I love the book stalls you see along the South Bank in London. Wouldn't it be great just to spend the afternoon flicking through all these books. I bet there are some real gems in there if you look hard enough. When I look at this I can really get a whiff of that second-hand book smell. But what I love the most about this is the light - it's just beautiful.

'{13.365} Perspective' by girlishmusings

{13.365} Perspective, originally uploaded by girlishmusings.

What a great idea - take your camera to the library and photograph lots of books. This photographer has done just that and I love the results. This one is fabulous. I love the different perspective as it's means you can see all the different types of pages and how they are all well read. I love books and I love photography so perhaps this is what I might do on my next trip to the library.

'P is for Purple' by slightly above average

P is for Purple, originally uploaded by slightly above average.

This photo is so sweet. I love purple and the pile of purple books looks so cool. I love libraries too. I've always enjoyed going to them - as a child, as an adult and now I love taking my daughter.

I think all the little details in this are great. The 'P' in the background, the matching nail polish and the fact the book refers to ten little fingers and the child as her cute little fingers on the table.

P is for purple and it's also for pretty and perfect.