Lemonlight

I've moved!

Come on over to the new place - all this is there, and more...

www.angiemuldowney.co.uk

x

Monster

Hello Lovelies!

Crikey, you should see what i'm doing over in the new 'pad' I'm totally going for it! I've sorted all the content (I managed this without any lasting damage to my mouse-clicking finger which is a miracle). I'm now finishing the structure; deciding what sits where and how on earth I can make the ideas I have in my head and in my layout-pad work on an actual website... it's getting there though, and more than one code-hacking-jig has been danced merrily around my dining room table.

Next is the bit I'm more confident about which is the design; the look-and-feel. However, as this is what I do for the day job I'm feeling the pressure, somewhat!

So, yes, I'm feeling a bit like Dr Frankenstein building some huge monster - hopefully it will be a pretty one though and wont end in tragedy! I'm pencilling in the 21st May as my launch date but watch this space for the official 'in pen' date.

PS - I'm looking for a couple of volunteers - I need to try something out on you! I'm especially after you if you're a creative type (any sort of creativity) and have a website/blog/online-shop. Leave me a comment and I'll explain more - it shouldn't hurt and should hopefully only take about 30 mins (and be quite fun).

See you soon! x

Getting things in order

I'm still here. I'm working on something quite exciting actually, there's going to be a shiny new website soon!

Moving away from TypePad though is proving a time-consuming business - getting the words and all your lovely comments out and into a new database has been a piece of cake. Getting the images though is not!

I tried to find a quick and simple way of doing it but there isn't one - TypePad traps your images in a secret lair that no one can penetrate. Annoying. So, I've had to grit my teeth and right-click-download each and every image and then open each and every blog entry on the new site and re-insert them! I'm glad I don't have RSI (yet).

Doing this has, frankly, been driving me a bit crazy as you might imagine (bear in mind I started this blog in 2003)! It has been interesting though. I considered just writing off the early years as the photos were rubbish and the words were pretty inconsequential but then as I worked my way through it was really interesting to see how my work had changed and grown. One thing I noticed is that when I started using film and Polaroid cameras all aspects of my photography improved, including the digital stuff.

Anyhoo, I'm up to November 2009 so I am getting there, slowly but surely! I'll let you know when the big move will happen and what new exciting new things to expect - for now I'm just focusing on the past.

a very happy easter!

There's a heatwave going on here in England right now - plus for 3 days leave you get 11 days off in a row (easter this weekend, royal wedding and may-day next weekend), no wonder everyone is smiling!

I should have some exciting new photos to show you soon - something quite different for me! In the meantime here's some eastery inspiration from flickr - do look at the links below to check out the details of the photographers and more of their great work...

1. a handful , 2. Bunny on the couch, 3. eggs, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled

It's Friday again?

Whilst making idle chit-chat today (like you do) I remarked on how it had been another crazy week, "just like all the other crazy weeks" - I do, I say things like that. I then got to thinking - why am I always so crazily busy all the time - what's changed because my life never used to feel so swamped by the sheer amount of stuff I had to do / needed to do / wanted to do? (I have a sneaking suspiscion it has a lot to do with the internet).

Carrying on with this train of thought I realised I either couldn't or didn't want to give up any of the things that are currently on my long list of things to do (incidently, have you checked out 'ta-da' - it's a great way to keep lists online) so the plan now is to be more efficient.

List of ways to be more efficient:

• spend less time in bed (con: need to sleep to live, also is lovely)
• become ambidextrous (con: don't know if it's even possible to teach yourself something like that)
• do more de-cluttering (note: first on list to go - all stuff 'decluttered' last time but put back)
• think of more things for this list

Do you have any ideas for my efficiency drive? Seriously, I need help...

rule 2

The second rule of Fight Polaroid Club (the first being you must take photos of magnolia blossoms) is that you must take photos of Ranunculus flowers.

They I don't come up with these rules willy nilly you know, oh no! Just have a flippidie-flip through Flickr and you'll see, a very good reason for the rules exists; that is, these particular subjects look magical on Polaroid film!

Both photos taken with a Polaroid SX-70 using 600 edge-cut film and an ND filter

sunny sunday

It's another scorcher here today, yes today, here in England, at the beginning of April. I know! It's very strange indeed to go outside into July-like heat and see there's no leaves on the trees. Topsy-turvy!

It was odd indeed then to be out taking magnolia Polaroids wearing SPF 30, but I was...

Both taken with a Polaroid SX-70 using 600 edge-cut film and an ND filter

squash

As I am writing this, bubbling away on the gas downstairs is a huge pan of soup. I used this recipe, except I didn't have half the ingredients and added some other ones so it kinda isn't that recipe at all, but it DOES have butternut squash in it. It looked so pretty when I cut it open I had to take a photo - let's hope the soup will do it justice!

Also pictured is my favourite ever knife. I paid a fortune for it about 20 years ago when I was told by a particularly lovely chef friend that it was a wise investment. I can tell you now it really was, it's never been sharpened or had any special treatment but still cuts like a razor and just feels lovely to use. And now he's all famous on the internet - I love my little knife!

Taken with my Polaroid SX-70, 600 edge-cut film and an ND filter

No blossom, promise

I picked such a lovely week to have off work - record-breakingly hot I'll have you know! Crazily I promised a blossom-photo-free post didn't I... I'll be honest, there's slim pickings in that case, the stuff is everywhere and just so pretty!

Look at this naughty boy and girl - that's watercress they're scoffing, my watercress! The same watercress I bought in the farmshop and cooked in am omlette for my tea.

Ahhh, look who else is around at the moment; little woolly ambassadors for sprintime...

...and their mama (hey, pop that tongue back in please, madam)...

OK, I'm clutching at straws a bit now photo-wise. I'm very tempted to show you some more blossom. No, I will be strong - here are some logs, yes, logs!

There, I did it, not one petal in sight. For now. I'm warning you though, I have a stack full of Polaroids that need scanning and I think we all know what they're going to be of.

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Oh, I can't stop myself...

more

I promise, I promise that my next blog post won't have any mention of blossom or springtime - it will be hard but I'll try and retsrain myself!

Today though, there's blossom. These were taken with my super-cute FujiFilm Instax Mini 25 - I like how the first one looks a bit like the Jananese flag...

I'm off now to rack my brain on something else to write about!

thank goodness it's april

A day or two late but here, for April, is some lovely, blossomy wallpaper for you desktop. It's magnolia, of course - the stuff is everywhere at the moment and I for one am not complaining...

• 1024 x 768
• 1152 x 864
• 1280 x 1024
• 1440 x 900
• 1600 x 1200
• 1920 x 1200

british summer time

Farewell Greenwich Mean Time, see you in six months! The clocks went forward at the weekend - hoo-flippin-ray! Even if the clocks hadn't been moved forwards though, there's an abundance of signs all around that spring is finally here.

Some of these signs are white...

Some of these signs are yellow (ok, so i may have cheated a little bit here, but there are lots of daffs out right now, non)?...

Some of these signs are blue...

But mostly, these signs are pink...

instant love

I have been dusting off my Polaroid cameras over the last week or so - I find they really need lots and lots of light to be truly happy and what with having to be super-careful with my precious stash of old-school Polaroid film, I've given them a bit of a rest over winter.

My Polaroid Spectra (with some Softone edge-cut film) makes everything look super-moody...

It's not all been as gloomy as the above photo might suggest though - it's been really quite warm here on the south coast and so we've been delighting in the first of the blossoms, this is hawthorn (I think)...

I took this with my Polaroid SX-70 and some TZ-Artistic film.

I think the 'SX' in 'SX-70' might just stand for SeXy - there's nothing feel and and the sound on a photo physically being delivered to your hand at the touch of a button and developing before your eyes. It IS magic. It is also addictive and the urge can stike at any moment.

...speaking of which, this is me first thing in the morning (still in my jarmies) so excited about the huge amount of daylight bouncing round the dining room that I decided to try a self-portrait (this is PX-70 Color Shade film from The Impossible Project)...

in the pink

Took 'a turn' round the park on Sunday... yes that does make me sound 100 years old (and no, I am not 100 years old). I powered my zimmer frame (joke) along to the Japanese garden as they have a special Magnolia there that flowers extra early with Barbie-pink flowers - I think I need to give it another week or two but it's looking promising...

There were plenty of other pinky things to be seen though, including these Cameilas which I always think look totally out of season - their tightly-balled buds and rose-like blooms remind me of Peonies...

I'll be back soon to capture the barbieness but in the mean time I think I need to get a bit more rock'n'roll, don't I. I'll have a think about that over my knitting... which actually is pretty rock'n'roll these days - so there you go!

freshly unsqueezed

It's jolly nice to know that somewhere in the world (far, far from these cold shores) oranges are now in season and being picked just for me to be able to have something colourful to photograph and tasty to eat...

au revoir, february

It's hard to believe that in four, short months there will be this much colour, light and warmth about... 

The notion of 'summer' seems like sensory greed; a marvellous prize for enduring the mean winter. I know I will squander it when it arrives but now we are (almost) into March it feels close enough to almost touch...

domesticated randomness

hard at work in the garden

I saw my Mum yesterday and meant to get her to sign my note excusing me from blogging lately - basically my 'big' computer has been poorly to the extent that I couldn't edit my RAW files (and I couldn't bring myself to shoot in JPG).

Everything is better now though (marrying your Network Administrator helps) and I thought I'd better prove that I do still know how to use my camera (see pic below) - this place needs some photos!

I'm taking you to quite an exotic location now - my back garden. Let's have a little look at what's out here; oh yes, some curly wurly willow - I bought this as it reminded me of my hair. I like things that remind me of other things.

These twigs will one day be a leafy and lovey Japanese Acer. Do you spell 'acer' like that, like the computer brand? Hang on.... [google]... yes, you do. (Proving I am more geek than gardener).

Now, here's a treat for you - an upturned bucket that has collected rainwater and dead leaves. Some people might call it messy, I call it 'improvised bird bath'.

I am really looking forward to this particular plant blossoming and fruiting, it's a blueberry bush! Last year was quite a battle between me and the blackbirds who loved them too - I tried netting my precious little berries but the bastard birds had the upper hand as they were able to poo out blue plops in protest. I'm working on a new plan, I can't tell you though as they might be read my blog *wink*.

That blurry figure in the photo above is the aforementioned 'Network Administrator' (I call him Admin for short). He's seen me photographing the upturned bucket and is rolling his eyes and saying I'm a 'big help'. Well yes, I think I am!

detour

My 'big' computer has been poorly of late (hence the low profile and updates via my phone... soz about that). So whenever I've been procrastinating within reach of my little laptop (i.e. 99.87% of the time) I have often been turning my attention to YouTube. You know how it is, you don't need me to tell you. One link takes you to another and another and the next thing you know it's three days later and you've watched every flash-mob known to man and seen more cute kitties going crazy with cardboard boxes than is strictly necessary.

Anyhoo, the point I am trying to make is that during this highly-productive use of my time I have stumbled across a particular video which I thought was really great, so then I watched all the videos on that channel, then discovered a whole genre of video blogging that I never really knew existed but that totally has my name written all over it. Honestly, am I really the last one to find out about this? It's like finding a tribe of undiscovered pygmies living at the end of your garden - hard to believe they've been there all this time without registering on my radar at all.

So, to the subject matter of these videos. Not pygmies (I'll save that for another day), the subject is... make-up and beauty products!

You're making a face now aren't you! Now, I know this isn't everyones cup of tea (particularly if you're a boy) but personally, ever since I was a teenager any money that didn't get spent on cameras or film got spent (and still does) on make-up. Seriously, I've had to have my Boots loyalty card replaced because of overuse (that's not even an exaggeration - I've told you a million time, I just don't do that).

I'm not an especially girlie-girl... apart from the make-up. I only own one skirt and I can't walk in high heels at all.  There are many reasons why I've had this life-long love affair with make-up (but mainly it's all about point #1):

1. I look like a potato if I don't refine and define (hey, that rhymes).
2. No one need ever know I have a gazillion spots, huge pores, dark circled-eyes like Kung Fu Panda or a nose so shiny you could see your face in it.
3. It's fun! I get to be a bit artistic and look a slightly different every day.
4. I live in hope of a secret elixir that will give me the radiant glowy skin that would make Angelina Jolie herself weep. Weep.
5. If my face looks OK maybe people won't notice the rest of me (wow, that's a bit deep and psychological - see, this is the power of make-up)!

Now don't worry if this isn't your thing (although if you've read this far I can't help but think you must be a teensy bit interested) I'm not going to down camera and jump to the other side of the lens and turn beauty-blogger anytime soon (although there might be one or two little mensh's of things I am loving). I did though feel I should share this discovery just in case I wasn't the last person in the whole wide world to dicover it.

So, who've I been watching?

The one who got me hooked: A Model Recommends. Ruth Crilly (you'll know the face when you see her) is an international model and recommends all sorts of make-up and beauty products and passes on pearls of wisdom from all the professionals she meets in her work. Genius! Pretty, funny, talented, engaging, AND extremely likable (honestly)! I'll warn you now though, you'll become addicted and probably need to start selling vital organs/old dvd's to pay for your next fix of concealer.

Lisa Eldridge is a totally gorgeous, superstar make-up artist with tons of experience doing the make-up of celebs. She really knows her stuff and the videos are fabulously made. I feel hypnotised watching her videos - so calming. Lisa, I think you're amazing...

And there's not just YouTube - Sali Hughes does great articles and videos for the Guardian on health and beauty and is also, awesome!

Oh my goodness, there are so many more - every language, niche, and style is catered for. I can't imagine ever buying a beauty product again without typing it into YouTube first and having my mind blown away with every type of review, tutorial, demo of it.

I can't stop, I am off to powder my nose (I really am)! x

Special delivery

I love these cards - I feel there will be many more purchases in the very near future! http://www.amyblackwell.co.uk

Bored at bus stop

Think they've had it

when i close my eyes

I see light, not dark. The light last weekend was magical - like welcoming back a long lost friend and I see it when I close my eyes.

the end of the beginning

Today is the last day of the longest and hardest month of the year. I always, always find January a slog and for whatever reason it seems an even harder wade through treacle this year than usual; it’s felt like 31 days of Monday mornings when you’ve had no sleep and it’s dark and freeeeezing ALL THE TIME. Rubbish. No offence January but don’t hurry back!

February though has many more positive aspects and I am feeling decidedly chipper at its offerings. The best one is that on 2nd Feb it is Imbloc / Candlemas / St Brigid's Day - call it what you will, what it means is that we are equidistant between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox so from here on in we are closer to Spring than Winter. Yes! If I were a Druid (or suchlike) I would be getting out the robes and the insense and probably doing something to virgins and/or saplings. I will settle for, perhaps a scented candle and a big thumbs up to the calendar who is my friend again.

You can tell there’s a change in the air, just look at these words flowing from my fingers for one. I also managed to drag myself from the house with a camera, the soul purpose to find some colour and life; some hope. I found lots - of course I did, nature is AWESOME.

Snowdrops - a sign from nature not to give up. Just when you think that winter is here forever and you’ll never be warm again here’s a sign that life, fertility, beauty is just around the corner, just hang on in there.

The little nubby buds that cap the ends of a million twiggy branches are beginning to swell and make trees glow with potential life.

And look at these; catkins! Like little lambs tails (if the lambs were the same colour as a yellow highlighter pen)...

Everything is better when the sun is shining and the sky is blue.

Purple eyes

Sent to you via actionsnap app for my phone

Surely one cancels out the other?

some action (at last)

Dear 2011, so far I am liking you. You've given me a gentle start of lazy days at home taking it easy, the odd venture out to the forest to chase ponies with my camera, reading Sherlock Holmes stories on my new Kindle, lots of (mostly bad) TV, and of course all the lovely choccies.

"Hey, you, wake-up, I want to take your photo!"

"That's much better, now give me a little smile... "

A week or two in and it got a tad more challenging; back to the office with no Quality Street or naps to keep me going and I have to say - it was tough going!

So, yes. A new year - hoorah! I've pick a word as my mantra for 2011 - having just one word is easy to remember and a handy nagging reminder for whatever you are up to. My word this year is ACTION.

Honestly, I bore myself with the number of plans and ideas i come up with in the course of... a day. From small things like planning what to have for dinner in the evening through to big things like what I want to be when I grow up. When it comes to thinking, talking, projecting, deliberating I’m up there with the greats (honestly, if you need someone to brainstorm, gimme a call)! I am, however hopeless at getting the ball rolling. So, I am saying it now and I’m saying it loud: expect more balls to be rolled in twenty-eleven!

How about you; any resolutions or exciting plans for the year ahead?

first signs

tiny leaf buds and blue skies are making me happy today :)

twenty11

I've realised recently that I am one of those people that lives in the future. Not in a Marty McFly sort of way (although that would be very cool) more in the way that I am always looking towards what 'could be' in the hours/days/months/years ahead rather than dwelling too much on what has been.

I know this annoys people, especially when I appear to be ignoring the here-and-now in favour of the possibilities of future events but it's just how my brain works.

Suffice to say I'm not all that into the reflective nature of new years eve but love the clean slate that Jan 1st offers.

I have a new moleskine and pen and I'm off to make some plans to share with you soon but just wanted to pop by and say HAPPY NEW YEAR! And here's to the future ;) xoxox

late lunch

actually got out of the house today, first time in days!

magenta

I noticed yesterday that my red cabbage went really well (colour-wise) with my little glittery deer...