Bluebells at Hole Park

Having never visited Hole Park Garden - they are all of four miles from our front door! - we decided that as the bluebells were out in force, it was about time we trundled off to Rolvenden and too a look to see what all the fuss was about.

Hole Park

As well as the planting there were plenty of other photo friendly elements to the grounds...

Some interesting statues

from different angles!

views across to Rolvenden windmill

hedges

tulips

heather

funky trees

and of course bluebells

Lots of bluebells 

did I mention trees?

Azaleas

more trees

There was also a cool swimming pool - I quite fancied a dip

A trip to London and The View from The Shard

So the long awaited day arrived. Family Allen bundled off to our fair capital city and spent the afternoon eating, walking and taking photographs. Here are some of mine...

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

At the end of this blog entry, I have repeated these two shots, but taken at night.

this is where we are going - The Shard

We had toyed with trying to cancel the trip as the weather forecast had been pretty bad, however on the day it wasn't a complete write off, the daytime was a little too dull and overcast but after a quick downpour, which we missed as we were ascending The Shard, the clouds lifted and the view was every bit as spectacular as I had hoped for. 

London's River Thames

we're quite high up!

As the light started to fade, The City turned on it's lights and began to look really quite special

St Paul's as the light starts to fade

Westminster, Buckingham Palace and The London Eye

No tripods were allowed so getting a steady hand-held shot using night time exposures and focussing past the rain spattered windows certainly proved to be a bit of a challenge

The River Thames and Canary Wharf

River Thames

Tower Bridge and Docklands

We finally came back down to earth and I couldn't resist the chance for a couple of quick shots of the sites at ground level.

Tower of London all lit-up

Tower Bridge by night

On Camber Sands

So Harry came back, and as it was Mother's Day, she drove us off to Camber Sands, where the weather was humid and a bit misty, and the light was as flat as it gets. Still managed to get a couple of pretty shots.

A couple of gulls on groin-posts at Camber

Lapping the shore

at breaking point

panning shot of a gull

so Sissinghurst is open then

As part of Becky's birthday celebrations, we set of to Sissinghurst Castle on its first day of being open  this year. The sun threatened to come out and it was full of people but it was a fun morning

I haven't done a shot from this angle before, unfortunately there seemed to be an endless stream of people - death by photoshop was an option, but in the end I decided to leave them in. 

Still trying to get the odd abstract shot - no indoor photography! - oh dear!!

there were quite a few polite keep out signs around - I liked the wonky knocker

Spring has now officially sprung I suppose

another polite 'keep out of here you filthy peasant' type sign

Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain (well some of it)

Leeds Castle - with the help of a polarising filter

So the weather forecast was good and I was feeling like I had been stuck indoors for ever - so we trundled off to Leeds for a walk and a look at the castle - which although we've lived fairly close to, we've never actually visited. The coffee was a disaster but the scenery was pretty nice.

I like knockers

winter clouds

Just another one of those days I suppose

The foul grey skies continue, there's no chance of me getting to the coast where the weather is at its most impressive and the local flooding just looks like large puddles. Life just plods on with no consideration for the wannabe photo blogger.
So, the poor old car went in to the menders to get the brake cable fixed, should be a quick in-and-out job (easy!) thought I. However, after getting to the garage in Tunbridge Wells before it even opened, apparently, they were unable to look at the poor old beast for an hour - of course it turns out that loads of stuff needs doing to the poor old thing, so I was stranded in High Brooms yet again on a cold, windy and yes, dull day - passing the time in Costa and McDonalds - oh the shame!, still, lucky I had my camera with me...

poor little Clio - legless and exposed!

Somewhere over the rainbow

So the weather has been consistently dull and uninspiring and every spare minute has been taken up with decorating the house - a long and seemingly endless task. 

However, I looked up from my paint-roller today to see the sun beaming into the back of the house, the front was enjoying this spectacular rainbow, so using any excuse not to actually do any work I grabbed a quick shot. It would appear that on closer inspection, there should indeed be a pot of gold in my neighbour's house!

Hopefully the decorating will draw to its conclusion soon and this incessant rain will abate so I can get outside and take some shots... we shall see

sun and seagulls

So, Saturday was another dreary wash-out weather wise, I awoke on Sunday morning knowing full well that if I looked out of the window, it would be another 100 percent cloud-cover stylee day - but I was wrong! the sun was shining!! I went to the seaside - STAT!!!

Gulls enjoying a blue sky over Hastings

We set off around Hastings Country Park and although the sky was at last bluer than a blue thing, the paths were essentially nothing but ankle-deep mud. Our circuit took us a couple of miles away from Hastings - slipping mainly on our right (downhill) leg, and the return journey saw the left (still downhill) leg getting a slip work-out, just to even things up. Annoyingly, I could hear waterfalls only to find out that they were hidden behind dense bramble-growth - bummer.
So it was back to Hastings to check out a small photographic exhibition by Matt Kellit and then fish and chips (when in Rome..) while sitting on the pebbles watching the gulls and the (rather small) waves. But at least the camera was out and the light was OK - sweet!

Lobster pots on Hastings beach

Fishing boats on the beach at Sunset, Hastings

just getting plastered

Well not much has been happening on the photography front for a while now, this has been down to: a terrible bout of man-flu; the fact that I have been stuck indoors either preparing for, or making tea for, our plasterers; and the weather being crap.
In good faith and with an expectant gate in my step, I set-off on Sunday for a trundle in the countryside with my trusty canon strapped to my back and as soon as I drove a mile from home, the sun dived behind a bank of cloud and decided that it was best to stay there - it seems for ever!
Man-flu is now fading, rain seems to have stopped and the plastering should be complete by tomorrow. Soon I shall have no more excuses so I might actually get my backside into gear and make a couple of images - fingers crossed!!

Going Home

So today was the day that Harriet travelled back to uni in Cornwall after the Christmas break. We took her to the train station to wave goodbye and wish her a safe (eight hour) journey. It has always been, and always will be, a tough thing for Becky to have to do so I figured, perhaps rather cruelly, that it would be an opportunity to grab a moment of emotion as we all said our goodbye's - it won't be long until she's back.