getting to know my camera
I have had my Canon dslr for quite a few years now. It's a great camera and I love using it. However, despite reading a lot about it and asking friends for advice, I've never been brave enough to use the manual settings properly. The other day I decided to have a go. I headed up to Holbeck Cemetery to explore and check out the view over Leeds. It turns out actually shooting in manual is much simpler than reading about it had me believe! I loved playing around with the settings and seeing the image on my screen accurately capture the light and colours of my surroundings. My preferred time to take photos is when the weather is a bit brighter, but it was fun to experiment in cloudy conditions.
in the kitchen
I love to cook. I love experimenting and I love finding new recipes to try. Sometimes recipes don't live up to your expectations, but sometimes they do. Thankfully this was one of those times. Sweet potato and black bean burgers. Easy to make and extremely tasty! We ate them with some homemade guacamole and a simple salad. Why not try them yourself?
Recipe can be found here.
the weekend
I had a lovely time celebrating my Mum's birthday with family this weekend. It was busy but lots of fun, and nice to be home. I didn't manage to take that many pictures but here are a few moments I did capture.
friday film
Today is my Mum's birthday. She is an amazing woman, and I'm so thankful to be her daughter and her friend. We are all home for the weekend to celebrate and I'm very much looking forward to it!
treasure hunting
Today my sister and I had lots of fun browsing the local charity shops in search of hidden treasures. It was freezing cold outside but the sun shone all day. With the shops offering so many lovely things at extremely low prices it was a very successful trip. You can see a few of my favourite items below..I'm really hoping I can find some way to put film in the camera!
san francisco in the fog
While in California we took a drive over to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate bridge..on my last trip a couple of years ago the fog was so thick you couldn't see a thing! This time we ended up racing the fog to get to the viewpoint before it wiped out the city. I wasn't sure if we would make it but in the end the fog made for the most magical scene. We watched it creep in from the sea, surround the bridge and slowly fill the bay. From the hill it felt like we were above the clouds with the fog covering the ocean as far as the eye could see. It was so peaceful and beautiful up there and I loved watching the colours change as the sun went down.
a little bit of sunshine
Here are a few snapshots from my time in the States. I sure am missing the sunshine now that Christmas is over and the English winter has set in!
striving to be positive
"a day without laughter is a day wasted"
This quote, most often attributed to Charlie Chaplin, is an interesting one for me to think about as 2014 begins. The start of each year comes with an anticipation of all it may hold, the excitement of the possibilities to achieve, explore and grow, the prospect of resolutions that have not yet been broken. I know that this year is not going to be easy for me, particularly the first part of it, and as I face several challenges in getting to where I want to be in life it is so important that I aim to stay positive no matter what happens. So that will be my main goal for the year; I resolve to be happy during difficult times and focus on all the blessings that come my way, both big and small. And having a bit of laughter in each day seems like a good place to start.
:: photo from New Year's Eve of my wonderful husband in his amazing fancy dress outfit ::
happy new year!
I hope you have enjoyed the holidays and been able to spend time with those you love. Over here New Year's Eve was fun, loud and full of great people in fancy dress..exactly the way we like it!
Here's to 2014 and all it may bring..
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