Clerkenwell Birthday Visit with University Granddaughter

         My birthday was to start fairly early, as the plan for the day was for me to meet up with my elder daughter and one of her twin girls who has just settled into student accommodation having started at University in London.

         My daughter had to take the other twin to work before she could take a train to town, so Poppy and I chatted as she finished getting ready then we all headed for the Tube to Farringdon, where I could show Poppy Clerkenwell where I had spent much of my time as a photographer, with two studios just off Hatton Garden, and also the last employed job before I started ‘SOLUTIONS photographic’ — Longacre Colour Labs, where  I had been their Sales Manager.

         This area of London holds many pleasant memories for me, as I maintained many contacts even after becoming self-employed and return for Clerkenwell Design Week despite all the changes to the area that I first new.

         For many years this area held the workshops for London, and once held numerous photographers and Designers, who moved to either Covent Garden or the less expensive areas of East London around by Old Street and City Road.

         Poppy, despite being here a short time had already acquainted herself with parts I had thought she would not have found; that I had considered known to only a few! I was pleased by that. We took a stroll around the garden of St. John’s Priory, which allowed me to create a montage of Poppy in three windows, to depict ‘See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, as a small piece of fun. We were greeted by a Friendly Robin and some late roses there before a walk to Clerkenwell Green where Catherine and Poppy found a quirky piece of architecture just by one of my erstwhile clients Design Bridge.

         I was treated to lunch by Catherine and we later headed towards areas familiar to Poppy, and soon we were seeing London heading into evening and Christmas, and as darkness was falling seeing the lights reflected off the Thames, and we spent a short time by the Festival Hall and the skateboarders by the river, and all too soon it was time for Catherine to head for home to pick up Holly from work, and for Poppy to head back to Halls to catch up on her work, and for me to head back to my car back at East Finchley and drive back home, in the knowledge that I had another early start as my other daughter was treating me to a visit to Brooklands Museum.

Sent from my iPad

Christmas Family Dinner

This year has seen a new man in Catherine’s life – Jonah; and he generously invited me to join Catherine and the family to join him for Christmas Day. I was made to feel very much at home and it was far from a last minute thought, as his daughter Carly and husband Paul, and her mother and her husband must have known I was joining them as they both gave me presents when greeting me with Christmas wishes, making me feel extremely humble, as I had been aware that Carly and Paul would be there, and guilty that I had not thought to bring them anything.

We were all in the lounge barring Jonah who had his red Santa pinny on and was busy putting the finishing touches to the banquet that was to follow, away in the kitchen, but he did break off to welcome me. My entrance seemed to be the catalyst that started much activity on the present distribution and unwrapping front, followed by much oohing and ahing, and wows from twin grandchildren Holly and Poppy, followed by hugs and kisses.

The lighting was as warm as the atmosphere, as we all began chatting, and I learned Barry was guitar-playing Folk Singer, and Carol was a teacher, Paul was in Banking and Carly helped disadvantaged families within a London Borough. Much of the conversation revolved around memories of travel across Africa and the Far East, and this continued when we all were summoned to the Dining room and the sumptuous meal of beef, turkey, pigs in blankets and all the trimmings.

Two sets of crackers were pulled, one hand-crafted and one bought, the latter with the obligatory riddles, accompanied by the customary groans, Jonah was the last to join the table and was praised and thanked for the delicious spread before us. Whilst still in the Dining Room after eating our fill, we did attempt a new Trivia Game, but soon decided it was better played in the lounge, but to begin with, our ability to fathom the rules was no better in the new venue! There was much hilarity and good-humoured frustration, but we then decided on a change, and it seemed as if more time was spent trying to understand the rules than was actually involved in playing the game. Setting time limits was not universally accepted as being fair, and was a source of much banter and recrimination, and after both games, I think I was on the losing side, but it was marginally less hostile than playing  Monopoly!

Teas and coffee followed on and peace and relaxation took over; all too soon Carol and Barry were saying their goodbyes, and later I made the opening gambits towards leaving, and after more hugs and kisses, I thanked everyone and with Catherine acting as lookout I drove out of the gate, taking her directions to reach the A505 and set off for home. Most shots in the gallery were taken at 5000 ISO with very slow shutter speeds at almost full aperture; often at no more than 1/15th of a second!

Wandlebury Woods Visit

The sun had slunk behind the clouds by the time we set off for Wandlebury, but that was not enough to dampen our spirits. Despite the girls telling me that there were no ponds or lakes, we had barely entered the park before coming across a small jetty alongside a reedbed. There were numerous pond skaters or water boatmen, a pair of mating damselflies, a leech, a wounded damselfly and numerous newts. We stayed a few minutes there hoping that the damselflies might come nearer, but it didn’t happen, and the wire covering over the wood planking was hard on the knees when we bent down to get nearer to our subjects.

As we left Catherine decided to challenge the girls by bursting into a surprise run between them, and I captured the happy blur as they sped off into the woods. I was soon asked for one of the cameras, and it dawned on me I could have brought all three along as I effectively had three willing sherpas to carry them, without overburdening myself! I will remember in the future!

Holly remarked that she could well understand why I loved taking photos as she became fascinated by using the camera with the macro lens, and within minutes Poppy wanted some time with the camera. Occasionally I would swap over or swap lenses between the bodies. Catherine was using her iPhone as well as one or other of my cameras, so the gallery contains images taken by all of us at one time or other.

Catherine enjoys standing on her head and this always results in help from the girls, though I am not certain whether this makes it any easier. She also likes to practice jumping, so this gives me practice at capturing the peak of the action, and both girls enjoy climbing trees, running and jumping. We were recently described as a very ‘huggy’ family at Joshua’s christening, and this was also much in evidence. We did not get to cover the entire circular walk, because it started to rain, but it gave us a good dose of fresh air.

When post processing I did a bit of exploration of some subjects in black and white and with toning.

Sawston Village College Concert

I was pleased to see that the morning’s fall of snow had melted before my journey across country to Sawston. Catherine had invited me to join her and Holly and Poppy at the school concert which was being held at Great St. Marys University Church in the centre of Cambridge. It was the girl’s first at the new school.

We joined a long queue outside the church, which grew to at least twice the length as we waited. Martin arrived to the obvious delight of the girls whilst we were there, and other mothers spotted Catherine and stopped by to chat. It only seemed a long time due to the cold, but soon we were making our way to find seats; I chose mine carefully to be able to see the girls clearly, but I was to learn later that there were places up in the balcony which would have offered a much-improved view – next year!

I could only take the very occasional shots from the pews of the actual singing without causing a distraction, so I concentrated on enjoying listening and singing. It was a very well-organised event and a delightful performance. Next to me sat a past Deputy Head and his wife, and she very kindly pointed out that the band were worth listening to at the end, rather than rushing out, which we duly noted. This gave me the opportunity for some more shots whilst various friends gathered to chat to either the girls or Catherine.

We then took a stroll through the Market place and visited Carlucci’s, passing the longest and possibly coldest, bare legs in Cambridge, belonging to Tina, as she stood outside a nightclub.
Poppy wanted to try her hand with the camera, once she and Holly had taken a look at some of the shots on the back of the camera – I am not sure which of the girls took the shot of Catherine, but the ladle and bowl were by Poppy, so I am hoping that the next generation of photographers might include one or both of them.

Twins Twelfth Birthday, Peace Pagoda Visit

Saturday found three groups of our extended family head for the Peace Pagoda Car Park in Milton Keynes to celebrate the twelfth birthday of Holly and Poppy. Even though I had never been before, and needed guidance from others, I did manage to preserve my honour by arriving first!

The car park is in woods, with pathways leading off in many directions and once Joshua, our youngest member was ensconced in his buggy, we set off amidst lots of chatter as we caught up with each others’ news and recounted our reasons for taking so long to meet. We soon found ourselves out in the sunshine and in sight of the pagoda.

The setting is superb, and very calming, our birthday girls were soon picking up some of the messages that the winds had scattered beneath the trees, and after cursory reading from some returned them with reverence to the tree from whence they had been blown. In a straggling group we were soon back on a pathway that led us around the Willen Lake, with our groups ever changing their constituents, and Joshua gaining different buggy-handlers. There was also the natural high spirits finding outlet, which did result in Lizzy receiving an accidental elbow blow in her face. Fortunately, the pain subsided, and we continued our walk.

Once the circuit was completed, we then formed a convoy to head for a Sushi bar as a treat for the birthday girls, who love the carousel, and Joshua was not as settled after his feed as we had hoped, and that gave me a great opportunity to take him for a wander outside in the malls, and sing him songs from the repertoire of those whose words I remember and are within my limited range – I cannot claim that it is always works, but I do achieve a reasonable success rate! After a great family reunion, we got back into our cars and returned to Cambridge, Luton and Aylesbury.