Project Life- Week Twenty-three onwards

It has been hard going not always having a camera and trying to keep up with a daily photographic project.

Luckily I had some emergency reserve photos and we were on holiday for a large portion of the last few weeks, so I had a bit of free license with the images.

Week twenty-three

I added a 6 x 4 photo insert with images from our summer garden. This then follows on from the winter and Spring ones that are in the earlier Project Life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week twenty four

I added an A4 pocket with two collages of my nieces taken during the day spent at the carnival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week twenty five

yet another insert of ephemera and inames from our stay in Paris. All of my pocket inserts were bought at Scrap Revolution.

I am still waiting for Hubby to fill in the journaling card about his time working in Paris.

I included a copy of the journaling from my blog when I wrote of our time in Paris.

Week Twenty six

annoying, because I noticed I’d missed out a word in my journaling above. Erghhh.

Week twenty seven

The picture of me with the ice cream freaked me out. I look the spitting image of my mum.

Week twenty eight

I love the wild picture Tasmin took after she brushed out, all her curly hair  after going to bed with it wet. I think it may turn up on a scrapbook page very soon.

Well, that's  my Project Life finally all up to date.

it’s official

I have a crap body………………………………..

We spent a very wet, damp day in London Saturday.

I was on a mission to find new jewellery pieces to replace my stolen ones.

Our first stop was Selfridges to look in the Chanel boutique, but boy was the queue long. All the Arab ladies and Japs were out in force. So after a quick look at the jewels in Chanel we headed of to the real deal, down in Mayfair.

On route we called into this small jewellery designers I have loved for decades. A necklace I’d been given from there, for my 40th birthday had been stolen. So we went to look at their new collections. They are so nice in the shop and the lady was so upset to hear I had also lost the sleepers to my matching earrings in the burglary.  She sent someone down to the work room and gave me a brand new pair free.  How kind.

I tried on lots of new pieces that I loved. Bangles. rings and a beautiful long necklace with a bee on it.

We left there to go to Chanel. It was , again full of Arabs, purchasing half the store. I got a snooty, Japanese sales assistant to serve me, who was none too pleased I wasn’t going to be making a purchase today. I wanted to find out the present price for my lost pearl necklace and I wanted to look at the new collection. She grabbed a tray of trinkets, plonked it down  and left me to it. So off I take my £4 Primark scarf (LOL) and what should be hanging around my neck, but the bloody bee necklace. I must admit, for a second, I thought shall I keep it. But they were so kind I just couldn’t ,so hubby was sent back to the store. They hadn’t even missed it.

Now I would have kept the Chanel one if the same thing had happened there. Bloody miserable cow it would have served her right.

Off we went to Tiffany and they were also super helpful, even helping to estimate how much a discontinued bracelet that was stolen would be now. I chose some lovely new pieces.

The it was off to the camera shops on Tottenham Court Road. As everyone knows I always moaned about how heavy my previous Canon 7D was. Especially, when you put on my favourite zoom lens. So what should I chose this time?

A lower end body and an expensive Canon lens. Nope that was as heavy as my 7D. Go down a grade in camera body to a Canon 60D. Nope that felt just as heavy. So after much walking about,  I choose a Canon 600D body and another Tamron lens.

The salesman kept laughing when I said. Its so hard when you’ve had a good body. (Don’t we know what that’s like girls, getting older !!) But in the process of down grading my body I saved £600 !!! Plenty to buy another lens.

I did lose the 7D’s 19 cross type AF focus points. The 600D has just 9 Af points and only 1 is a cross type. (insert crying)

But hey, I could never get to grips with the wheels and dials on the 7D, this one is idiot proof. So much so that it has all the pre set features my old camera had. So my lot can now take a photo without me having to give them instructions. My 7D didn’t have any easy settings at all.

I am a real glutton for punishment. We had to go straight out to a 50th birthday party, so I took along my 50mm F1.4 and the new body. I had to charge the new battery there. By the time it was charged it was dark and all the rooms were lit with orange glowing, low watt bulbs. I did have a few palpitations that I had done the wrong thing buying a body which struggles with ISO capabilities.( 6400ISO compared to 12,800ISO) But  I suppose it wasn’t the perfect situation to try out a new camera.

But so far I am super happy with the weight of it. I even slung it in my handbag today when I went for some blood tests.

We are still negotiating with the loss adjusters the amount they need to pay us out. My pieces of jewellery have shot up in price over the years I have had them. Luckily, I had almost all the receipts and for the one item I didn’t, they still sell it in the States.

I am giving considerable thought to what I am going to spend the money on.

• A piece of personalised monogrammed Louis Vuitton luggage……
• an iMac computer
• an ipad 2
• more jewellery ?
• or all of the above.

Judith, I think you may have to come shopping with me, to make me part with the money. She’s good at doing that.

Do you know this man?

A burglary makes you take stock of things that matter in your life.

We now have peace of mind after having an alarm system put in,and a safe for anything, like our laptops we would  have been devastated to  have lost.

Hubby has talked to the police today to find out about our very own burglar. He had wanted to know his name and wants to go to the High Court when he is sentenced. They said he’s a crack addict who lives in London. Everyday he pops on a train out to Essex or North Hertfordshire and burglars some random house. Then he pops back, and sells his stash for his daily fix. So of course my Project Life photograph for that day, is one of the MANY wanted police images of him.

It puts my mind at ease, as it shows we weren’t targeted or watched. We were just unlucky. The police have finally told us nothing was recovered so we are trying to push the insurance company for a pay out. It is very hard to keep a Project Life album going without a camera. As I am sure you can imagine. I’ve even resorted to buying postcards of my town to use!

I have left my small point and shoot camera in Spain for my daughter. So no doubt she will return home with just a couple of images. Luckily I have kept my on-line Oh Life diary going and I used to take “stock” photos of random things for days when I couldn’t think of anything to capture. I’m hoping to replace my DSLR this weekend and will be window shopping at Chanel & Tiffany to decide if I am going to replace all the jewellery I lost.

One of my concerns from the burglary was the fact that the bugger stole my external hard drive. If he had found my laptop as well, all my digital images would have been lost. I do print lots and have them backed up on CDs. But it started me thinking “what if we’d had a fire?” We would have lost all our albums, and backed up photos.

I have some backed up on the web with Picasa, but there is a limit to how many it will store. CDs are supposed to have a best by date, and can fail. Plus we all know how fast technology has changed over the years and that whatever format we use will become obsolete at some point. I mean remember videos?

So after reading an Erin Cobb blog about  a photo site Shutterfly, I have started backing up all my images to their site.The storage is unlimited and free. FREE…. They never delete an image. And for the lucky people in the States, they are one of the cheapest photo labs. It is a tedious job and I spent all day and night organising 2010’s. I am going to put a copy of the link and password in our safe. In that way if anything ever happens to me, everyone will know I have done it and how to access them.

Has anyone heard about this amazing new service that is being offered ?I read an article about it here. Imagine having a recording of a loved one, talking about their life. It’s such a shame it costs £700…

Whilst writing this the door bell rung. It was a police officer with a pile of these signs for my door.

I was so pleased as I had downloaded a sign from here. But these ones are fab. I had quite a chat with the officer, he is an avid photographer. I told him that my burglar is now my picture of the day for Project Life.

And for a laugh here’s a picture of me on holiday wearing my new hip brace. Try and guess which one is me.

congratulations to Judith

 

my long-time “ glam ” friend.

She is like a dog with two dicks. Brimming with happiness as she has just secured a job as a fit model.

She has been bored since returning to live from Spain. She toyed with the idea of becoming a cupcake queen, returning to theatre land on the West End stage. But when she was at a loss to find clothes to fit her, more mature figure, I pointed her in the direction of one of my favourite shops.

They are pretty generous with their sizing. This then got her thinking she might be able to return to her old career as a “fit model”. So drastic measures where in order. Severe dieting and much texting/emailing to me. She was sick with jealousy, as I was doing weight watchers and tucking into Mc Flurry's and cakes and losing weight and she was on beans with a stock cube.

But it was all worth it as when she went to be “measured ". It would seem that her bits (thanks to some scaffolding by Rigby & Peller) are now all correct for a UK size 12.

But wait a minute what is a “fit model” ?????

I was asked this very question by another friend of mine who had been talking to Judith..

The definition of the English slang for “fit” (here) doesn’t seem to apply in Judith's case !……………………….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

maybe its because she has a “fit” body………….

 

Oh no whoops that was a picture of me……….

 

 

Maybe it is for her physical fitness. I mean she loves ball sports.

 

I mean its hard to keep up with her sometimes..

 

 

It was hard to find  a definition of “ fit model” but this was the  best I could come up with from the internet.

• Fit modelling is about sizing the garment to fit a true size. Fit models possess exact measurements for the size they try on. These models work in the realm of fashion with none of the glam or glory. They stand for endless hours, being measured and pinned, while tailors alter and adjust sizing for the sample garments. The majority of fit modelling occurs within the Fashion Marts where designers have offices and showrooms.

Oh and a little side note: here is the image Judith was referring to in her comment on my recent blog.

 

Anonymous said...

Bet Chris had a bloody lovely time. Does he have a nude coloured swimming hat on in this photo Karen??? Where is the attractive photo of you in your turban??? We need to see it Mrs Aldrin. xxx Lots of love Mrs R

There you go.

I’m not shy in sharing an image of me, after being in pain for days. I’d forgotten to take any hair things on holiday and I had to use my favourite scarf to keep my naturally fuzzy hair away from my face.

Beware Judith I have lots more images of you I could use…. LOL

lonely male

seeks lady to apply his suntan lotion to his back.

Must have sense of humour and own teeth, preferable.

I have had to abandon Hubby in Spain. He will be at this moment sat on this beach with a group of Spanish OAPS.

Within days of returning from Paris we flew out for a holiday at our apartment in Spain. I suffered dreadfully with the pain for days. The beds and furniture are too low for me with my disc problems. I had to take LOADS of drugs just to cope , which resulted in me sleeping constantly and then back in pain because I’d laid down.

I tried everything.

But it all became too much for me at 4am Sunday night. I wanted to come home. Back to my normal routine. I can cope at home with the pain, as I have adapted my life here. I don’t think anyone believes me when I say I stand all day. But when you are on a “relaxing” beach holiday, sitting and laying down are your only options. Because of the drugs I found it hard to stand all day doing nothing. But then I couldn’t do much else. The drugs made me lose my appetite and Hubby had to fend for himself.

So yesterday when Hubby woke up I told him I wanted to come home. So that is where I am now. Stood in my home. The flight cost an arm and a leg, but I couldn’t wait any longer. My in laws stayed with me last night and they said I looked drawn and grey when I arrived home. But they assure me I look better today.

So poor hubby is all on his own for a few days until our daughter joins him. But he will get a rest and I didn’t want to spoil anyone's holiday any longer.

oh la la

due to the burglary, I wasn’t allowed, by hubby to mention I was off to Paris. Who knows who's reading my blog. (can I have my jewellery and camera back, Mr Robber if your reading this ?)

Poor Hubby was off to Paris just hours after our burglary for work. He had three windows to replace in torrential rain. Then he was off for a week of  early starts and late nights to bed. I then took the Eurostar to catch up with him for a couple of days. I must admit over the years we have been spoilt with our hotels accommodation next to the Champs-Elysees. This year we were on the other side of the River Seine and in a district I’d never visited before. But then sometimes it’s good to be taken out of your comfort zone and try something new. As I was going to be on my own for one night and an entire day. I had made plans to fill my time. But as a result of eating something dodgy a few of hubbys team had been suffering the trots. The day after I arrived it hit Hubby. There was no way he could sit in the hire bus for two hours in Parisian traffic to get to work. He had to be near a toilet at all times. So I ended up with Mr miserable and his dickey tummy all day.

We stopped for lunch in St Germain-de-pres at our favourite restaurant.

I love the fact that just as you get to the end of your first plate full, they bring out another one. Mmmmm

I wanted to sample the famous sorbet ice cream at Berthillon on the Island next to the Notre Dame. I went for passion fruit and coconut. Mr miserable declined.

The passion fruit flavour made me pull funny faces, it was so sharp.

When we got to The Marais district I was still peckish so I had ANOTHER ice cream. Hubby declined again.

I abandoned him in the end after he wanted to return to the hotel and have a lie down. I had not travelled all that way, to go back to a room that I could neither sit or lay down in. I didn’t much fancy having to stand in a “smelly” room for hours, whilst the sun was shining outside and there were 100’s of shops waiting for me to discover them. After I dumped hubby I finally made some purchases. But there wasn’t much to buy in Paris. Everything was SOOO expensive, and of poor quality. Ballet style shoes in the sale for £59 !!!! and they were crap. My £4 Primark ones were better.

It was quite a relief not to have to lug my big heavy camera around. After my Canon 7D had been knicked I was left with my small point and shoot. It was great to just have it tucked in my bag. The 7D was far too heavy for me and I know I would have suffered carrying it around all day.

On our last day in Paris we queued for over an hour to see dead people.

In fact 6 million dead people.

People have been coming here since 1867. There are masses of open quarries under Paris from which the stone for the buildings was extracted. In the 18th Century after the insanitary conditions of the cemeteries and the huge number of dead due to disease. It was decided that the bones from the cemeteries of Paris would be laid to rest in tunnels. These are known as The Catacombs of Paris. It was a long way down and got wet and slippery in places.

 

I leave this post with a hastily, snatched picture of the biggest afro I have ever seen. I doubt she needs a pillow at night !!!

an update.

We have received a phone call from the Police to say someone has been arrested in London for some other offence, and he has admitted to our burglary.

It would seem he is known to police as a frequent offender. As yet we have no other information as to whether any of our property has been recovered.

Our local police where in the process of going to court to get permission to investigate the evidence that was left behind by the burglar at our home. It would seem this won’t be necessary now.

Hubby and son are eager to find out about the man. But I must admit I would rather not know. I want the image of a white, eastern European man just going about his normal “job”. That way I haven’t taken the burglary to be anything personal or even frightening.

It would be nice to think that my neighbour might have a chance of getting her mothers jewellery back that held a lot of sentimental value. Unlike me she had no photographs or receipts. So it would be a real problem claiming for it with the insurance. Almost every item of ours that was taken, had a photograph and receipt. It really helps to be anal. I mean I even had almost all of the original boxes. I couldn’t believe it when I found I even had the original box and receipt for my external hard drive.

So it’s a matter of sitting and waiting to hear from the police whether our treasures will be returned. It also served as a wake up call for us concerning our homes safety. We now have motion sensors and are alarmed to the max. There is now a safe for the items we would have been devastated to have lost. So we have made the best of a bad situation.

Everyday photographer.

 

There was an amazing resonating link on Becky Higgins Facebook page today. It’s titled “what it means to be an everyday photographer” Please take the time to read it.

I seem to be noticing lots of links to my Project Life lately.

This week Scrappi Sandi sent me an email that contained this saying.

A birth certificate shows you were born.
A death certificate shows you have died.
A photo album shows you have lived. 

I stored it away in my little brain. Then we received a phone call out of the blue from my cousin that my Aunt had died on Sunday, unexpectedly. I sent him this lovely image of my Dad and my Aunt at my Sisters wedding. It was the last time they saw each other, as my dad was terminally ill at the time. You would never know from the image that he was on his third cycle of chemotherapy.

So that saying is really the truth. I feel sorry for people who don’t take the time to capture theirs and others short time on Earth.

I had lunch with my friend Judith the next day. I took some photos of us, even though I told her that I thought a photo of my Aunt would be used in my Project life for that day.

She asked me later what image I had used? That's the great thing about Project Life, you have artistic licence to put the images where you want. In years to come no one, even me won’t remember what happened on what day. So Project Life can be just a representation of my life now.

You never know from day to day , week to week what will happen in your life. I mean read my next post. That's a perfect example.

So all you lucky people here in Europe, are now able to get your hands on the last remaining Project Life's here . You won’t have to empty an entire suitcase like I had to, to get it home from the States. (blog post here.)

It certainly has turned out to be an interesting, thought provoking project.

maybe the card wasn’t appropriate

 

 

 

Its Fathers Day here in the UK today. My son had pre bought this card for his dad. But after the happenings here in the last few days, I couldn’t stop laughing when I read the card.

 

 

 

 

Why you might wonder? This message of “support ” from a friend on Facebook will give you a clue.

“I love my friend Karen. Only she can get burgled and worry that she hadn't made her bed and put the ironing away. We always knew she was a dirty cow really. Oh, did they take any cup cakes on the way out????”

Friday was a bad day for me as my pain was through the roof and I was having trouble getting about. I told my physio that it felt like my hip bone was broken. I struggled to get to my osteopath for treatment and whilst I was there. Burglars smashed lots of windows and stole our jewellery and my new camera.

For the first time I wasn’t able to make my bed, or clean the shower. I even had left my heat pad on, in my bed. My MIL was shocked as she’d never seen me leave a house like that in 28 years. Things were all over the floor in my sons room and I couldn’t pick anything up.

My son came home just after I’d left, and thought, “boy, mum is really cross with me this time for the state of my room.” He rung his dad to say, “I can’t believe mums smashed up my chest of drawers!!!!”

He then looked into his sisters room, and to her embarrassment he thought that looks normal !!!

But it was the state of my room that made him realise we had been burgled.

He then discovered Teddy was locked in the sitting room and our dog Buzz's ashes were scattered on the carpet.

Thank God Teddy wasn’t locked into his caged area that day. He would have been hit with flying glass and china.

As it is, we know he would have gone to investigate, but so far he seems unscathed. There was glass from multiple windows and china from a large plant pot, everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Splinters are even embedded in the wall. As I found out a bit too late.

As you would expect they took my DSLR camera . But I’m really not that bothered, after all it’s replaceable. It’s just sad my pictures will be a bit crap for my Project Life. It’s particularly annoying as I had, after six months, finally finished watching my Erin Cobb video, how to use my Photoshop programme. I had just got the hang of it, and that very day I had found out how to resize my images, after a year of trying!.

They also took my external hard drive for my computer. So all my religious backing up of all my images, was for nothing. That's 2 bloody external hard drives gone in 6 months.

It turned out they also robbed our next door neighbour. So we didn’t feel so targeted.

But everything has a silver lining. Tasmin tidied her entire room !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m just off to get Teddy from under the bed, where he’s hiding. Who knows what that dog saw.

 

Thanks to everyone's for their kind messages on Facebook and text.