A New Toy (and I'm Loving It Already!!)....

Yesterday we took delivery of our first ever proper camera:

It's a Canon EOS 550D - an entry level DSLR but by far the fanciest camera we've ever had. Of course I spent a lot of time playing with it so you may find this post a wee bit picture heavy!!

Chico - our (very noisy) orange-winged Amazon - who has started shouting the cat this week!!

Milo, who hates having his photo taken....

Daisy, eating her hide rugby ball on the sofa!!

Yesterday I had a look online to try and learn a bit about aperture/shutter speed/ISO and today had another play - I really like that lovely blur you get in the background of a good shot:

I love this one of my Trollbeads which I collected before I had horses (can't afford both!!)

Mr G is chuffed with it as it can do HD video too (I kinda sold him on the idea with that - you know you have to make them think it's their idea!!)

I'd love to do a photography course but finding one during the day that I don't need a mortgage for is proving difficult, although I have found a 3hr tutorial locally for a good price so I'm going to start with that.

So hopefully this means that here at Shabby Chic Sarah the photo quality will improve - I do love a blog with good photos....

Hugs,

S x

We're So Rock & Roll!!....

Hello all - how was your weekend?


We have been very rock and roll this weekend:

We got 2 x jigsaws and 2 x board games for £4.00 at our local charity shop on Friday and started this one on the coffee table - it's very addictive and I find I can't leave the thing alone!! Mr G and I were sat in our nightwear doing it until lunchtime on Saturday morning!! What a pair of saddos, eh?!!


Saturday was weigh in day - I haven't gone on about here on my blog but since the second week of January Mr G and I have been doing Weightwatchers online. Mr G lost over a stone in the first few weeks but I have struggled and only lost 7lb - then over the last two weeks I gained 3lb!! 


So last week I was really good, the only naughty thing that passed my lips was a piece of Victoria sponge at my friends and I got on the scales with high hopes - only to find I had stayed the same!! So after dieting for about 6 weeks I have only lost 4lb!!


Mr G's weight loss has slowed down and he has been moaning, which does my head in as if I had lost a stone AND THEN stayed the same I wouldn't be bloody complaining!!


So, to "drown our sorrows" W and I made this:

And yummy it was too.


We've had a few "heated debates" this weekend here at Shabby Chic HQ over the use of the PC and xBox - H is 13 (14 in June) and has always been pretty obsessed with electronic devices but it's getting to a point now where it is affecting family life. We have always tried to limit it to a couple of hours a day but for at least the last few years H has had no interest at all in anything other than the PC/xBox - when he is not on the PC he mopes about complaining he has nothing to do and makes a nuisance of himself by winding up his younger brother.

H doesn't want to leave the house even to do nice things (he recently kicked off about going swimming and the cinema because he'd rather stay at home).

We worry he is properly addicted and have not been sure what the right thing to do is, he doesn't make friends easily and we realise that todays teenagers are different even to what we were like as everything now is so orientated round technology - the way to interact with friends is by chatting via headset on the PC or xBox.

H has a couple of close friends and it's them he talks to though the PC/xBox so he is interacting with his friends that way - and in some ways I'd prefer that to the hanging on the street corners thing - whenever he is on the PC he's chatting to his best friend about the game they are playing together.

So on Sunday in the spirit of Doing More Exercise And Things As A Family we packed some sandwiches and set of to the Hayling Billy Trail which is a disused railway line that runs the length of Hayling Island adjacent to the shore. 


The boys took their bikes and Mr G and I had a nice walk. We stopped down a bank to eat our lunch as the wind coming off the sea was bitter!!:

Over the bank behind there is the sea - for some reason I didn't take any pics of it!!

How many Jack Russell's can you see?

The dogs don't often go on proper walks, they get to free range at the stables when I go to play with my horses and we throw balls for them in my field so it was all a bit new for them. Daisy had to stay on the lead for much of it as she is not good with other dogs - she's all bark and no bite & she's certainly never hurt another dog but many owners get snotty with us if she does it when she's loose. 

On the way back Milo was ready to go home and even stopped asking us to throw his ball - he just pottered along ahead of us carrying it in his mouth:

"I know the car is up here somewhere...."

Crafty wise I have been plodding on with the patriotic quilt for the boys but I fear I have bitten off more than I can chew - the design is a sampler quilt with each block different but even though I took care when cutting out I am having trouble getting the seams to match and it's a bit of a bodge which is making me Not Want To Do It Anymore.

So, that was our weekend - what have you been up to? I hope you had a good one....

hugs,

S x

H, The Budding Photographer....

On Saturday before we had to start moving everything round and painting for the floors to go down we took a walk to one of our favourite spots. H was in charge of the camera and we discovered he has a bit of an eye for it - he is desperate for me to show you his photos.

Daisy & Milo in the lake:

Look, he even captured the splash of the ball and the dogs in mid-air in this one!!

They are both so desperate to carry the ball they try and mug each other for it.... 

Daisy always tugs on Milo's collar and if he is not wearing one she will tug on the scruff of his neck!!

I love the jaunty angle of this one....

Considering the pics were taken with the same mediocre camera I use I think H has done really well, some of these are very good!! It was the first time we had let have free use of the camera and we'll definitely let him be in charge again....

On the flooring front we have the laminate down in the bedrooms (it looks fabby, photos to follow soon) but have encountered a problem in the bathroom, I went to rip up the lino yesterday evening and the area of floor under the sink (which is just chipboard) was wet through - something was leaking. 

Mr G had a look and luckily the leak was easy enough to sort but of course we are now having to wait for the boards to dry out - thankfully the leak can't have been going for long because the floor isn't spongy or damaged, just wet.

So, there is a delay on my lovely Cath Kidston tiles - hopefully our chap will be able to return at the end of the week to fit them....

Come back tomorrow for giveaway news!!

hugs,

S x