Friday Evening

On Friday evening, the DQ needed to film some shots for a uni project in Sheffield, so I said I would accompany her as her assistant/tripod carrier/wallet(we stopped off for meal at her favourite place to eat to ease her stress!).

It was interesting being in the city on an evening for a purpose other than a night out.
It was also great to be an observer of others who were on a night out.


We covered a lot of ground and ended up having a really good walk.
The area around the railway station is really nice these days - especially on an evening. I love the Showroom (Independent) Cinema.
The building used to be a car showroom with a garage underneath. They have retained a lot of the lovely art deco features.
We love the massive stainless steel structure/water feature just outside of the station.


In a few weeks time, I am going to show you what lies beneath this area in Sheffield. You will be amazed!
We also made a fantastic discovery - a new Chinese coffee and cake shop.
We had a great time chatting and laughing and eating!

Playing with Pixlr

My daughter uses www.pixlr.com to great effect on her photographs. The vintage effects page has a little coloured dial on the bottom that lets you add effects and borders to your photographs.

I love some of the effects you get. Have a play and see what you can make.

Textures

On my walk this morning, I decided to concentrate on "textures" (as the sun soon disappeared and any scenic shots would have looked dull!).

I stopped by the Farmers Market at the garden centre - I couldn't resist buying this little beauty.

Apparently its name is "January King".
A lot of the stonework in the wall around the garden centre is very weathered.
Windows/doorways/random holes around the wall that have had a use in previous times now have a gorgeous distressed look.
...with the "Estate Green" paint peeling.
...and the old oak lintels crumbling away.
Moss covers the walls around the farm yard.

And the Hydrangea flowers are as fragile as tissue paper.

More images from Hooton Pagnell

You know I can't resist "Estate Green" paint!



I can't believe that there are so many brilliant but empty outbuildings - I see teeny tiny craft emporiums!

This would look perfect in my garden.

We had a wander around the church yard. I know its weird, but we find churchyards really interesting places.

I am always thrilled to find natures sculptures.

As you can see, the sun did shine briefly.

Whilst I am not overly "religious", I am a believer. Its quite often the church goers that put me off going to church on a regular basis (but that's another story). I always find Jesus on the Crucifix a very powerful image.

The family who own the land and village are called "Warde". We found plenty of their gravestones.

Doors Galore

Inspired by Ciel over at the wonderful Versaille Daily Blog, I decided to take photographs of some of the lovely doorways I noticed on my Sunday morning jaunt around Sheffield.

First up is the lovely red door of the recently restored "Brown Bear" in the Cultural Quarter.


I like what they did with the Brown Bear. They restored it using materials that would have been used at the time that it was built. They had the glass made out in an Eastern Eurpoean country where it was still made the old way - it has a wonderful uneven quality. The only problem with the pub is that it seems to attract a few older heavy drinkers, but its worth a swift half just to have a look around it.

This little side door into the Cathedral is far prettier than the huge modern entrance.

And I love the doors on the Upper Chapel in Surrey street. The congregation were singing and it sounded lovely - and very heartwarming.

The lions heads on the canopy over the doors on Parade Chambers are very grand.

And I noticed that there are so many doorways like this dotted around - all very beautiful, with lovely lanterns, and almost all walked past with no notice taken of them at all!

But my favourite, and I make no apologies for showing you these again (as I showed you them before) are the "Made in Sheffield" Stainless Steel doors that lead into the Cutlers Hall...

... with the Elephant handles - the symbol of the Cutlers who used to use the ivory from the Elephants in their trade.

Don't forget to pop your name on my previous post if you want to have a go at my giveaway. xxx

Fitzalan Square revisited

Forgive me for revisiting my previous post this week, but I found out more interesting things to show you.
Firstly, the Police Box in the bottom right of the photo is for sale. As it has a toilet and a sink as well as electicity, in my plan for Fitzalan Square, this would become a little flower box, selling pretty bouquets for husbands and lovers to collect on their way home - the sort they seem to have on every street corner in Paris. I would also have of course a pretty and very brightly lit Carousel in the centre of the square which would light up the gloomiest of South Yorkshire days.
I also found these amazing photos of the Marples pub before, during and after the bombing. Rowan, you will be able to see exactly where it was from these photos.

Time on my hands

Too often I find myself at weekends without a hubby as he has to work. Now that I have a modicum of freedom (the young man would rather organise his own weekends, but there is invariably a lift required at some stage!) Ive decided to stop moaning about it and organise some "me" time. On Sunday I took myself off to Sheffield to buy a ticket for an event that is on one of these weekend days. I generally park at Meadowhall and ride in on the tram. Its easier and far cheaper than parking in the city. The Tram system is really easy with only 2 lines to choose from. I indulged in one of my favourite pastimes - people watching. Two lovely ladies across from me where recalling memories of all the times they have been to Gracelands to visit the home of Elvis. One of them then produced a catalogue and they were choosing posh dresses for imaginary nights out to venues that no longer exist! It was hilarious.





I got off outside the Cathedral. It was such a dull overcast day. The letterbox really stood out.

I may use this photograph in some of my cards. If I glitter it up, it will make a great Christmas Card.

I'll show you more of my roamings later.

School Days

It was W.I. night last night - very interesting talk by the local RSPB man on "Birdsong". But I digress. Whilst waiting for the Slimmers World class to finish, my friend and I popped into the library room that is also set up in the community hall. The librarian was closing the shelves up for the evening and we noticed that on the back of the shelves were photographs taken in our village a long time ago. I'll show you the village scenes later, but I thought you might like to see the village school photos (and I'm not on them before you ask!!!).

My friend who is in her seventies, was absolutely delighted to find this photo. The tallest boy in the school - in the middle at the back - is her father.

I remember her dad and he was very tall. They were so smart! Ive made her a few copies for a surprise (she doesn't realise that you can do this with a camera!)......

and I thought it would make a lovely card for her too. (Poor photo - we have had NO light at all today).

And just for Clare, this is my card making table. Fairly tidy for me actually!