Going ever so slighty Shouty-Crackers...

It is one of the most splendid Winter days we have had in London so far this season (so much so that my beloved MetCheck Weather even went as far as having a pulsating sun- completely unheard of!- for today's forecast) and I am stuck inside with flu waiting for the UPS man to arrive with a delivery- ack*

I am itching to get outside and bang off a few rounds with the Nikon but unfortunately UPS deliver "between 9am and 7pm and cannot specify a specific delivery time within that window"....so I am stuck. inside. going ever so slightly Shouty-Crackers.

To relieve my need to press the shutter button, I photographed my new Reindeer mug for y'all to see (exciting life I lead, huh?!) It came all the way from Starbucks...yeah, I admit that I sometimes grab a cheeky Starbucks if I am not anywhere near my usual coffee haunts :)

In other (much more interesting) news, a big shout out to Master Riley Elliott (son of lawyer extraordinaire Ms Heidi Elliott) who has, at the ripe old age of 2, behaved splendidly in his 2nd encounter with the Big Fella himself, Father Christmas. Here is an excerpt from Ms Elliott's email:

" We took him for his Santa photo. Was a bit worried as last year he went mental and we had to sit with him. This year he just marched right on up to the big fella, put his arms up to be picked up, sat on Santa's knee and told him he wanted a "BIKE!!!!" for christmas, smiled for his photos and then when Santa gave him a lollipop he said "THANKS Santa!!" "

I am loving Master Elliott's direct approach- no pussy footing around for this little chap!

*"ack"- does this word remind anyone else of a large labrador (aka the Hoover of the canine world) throwing up a half digested smelly sock?

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On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love gave to me...

...A Tiffany & Co Hot Chocolate (with marshmallows and whipped cream) and teeny Fruit Mince Pie dusted with icing sugar :) Okay, so it isn't quite the Tiffany&Co Art Deco inspired diamond and platinum bracelet I was hoping for but a gal can't be too greedy in these Credit Crunch times ;-)

I absolutely adored the SKATE ice skating at Somerset House which is sponsored by Tiffany&Co. It truly was a winter wonderland with a giant Christmas tree adorned with Tiffany blue skates and giant glittering silver snowflakes, beautiful music, skaters gliding (errr, well, some glided most slipped, lunged and clumped) across the pristine white ice rink, and a fabulous cafe serving Hot Chocolate, Champagne, mulled wine and delightful Tiffany&Co cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery.

Your London correspondent did not brave the ice on the basis that a photographer with 2 broken wrists and a broken leg is not a very productive photographer ;-)


How gorgeous are these two girls (I gave them a little cheer each time they completed a lap!)

P.S. Just so you know, you can click on any of the photos and it should (I say "should" because that is what is suppose to happen, not necessarily what does happen with my computer!) open a larger version.

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Sniffle, Sniffle, cough, cough, splutter...ack

Most Excellent Blog Fans, your London correspondent is SICK with FLU. And just needed to tell everyone about it :) :)

Mmmmm think maybe it might have been something to do with those freezing cold afternoons I spent last week in Hyde Park at the Winter Wonderland and at the Tiffany&Co "SKATE" Ice Rink at Somerset House (I will post photos from that tomorrow).

Don't feel obliged or anything (hee hee!), but if you are feeling uber generous then y'all can send me bunches of these to cheer me up ;-):

Later this week stay tuned for Messy Musings on cameras, lenses etc. A couple of you have been asking me what camera I am using, what lenses I shoot with etc so I thought I would do a question and answer session with myself to let y'all know what I am using right now.

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Posted in Messy Musings

This Little Piggy went to market, This Little Piggy stayed at home, This Little Piggy had roast beef?!, and this Little Piggy went wee, wee, wee...

...all the way to the Jackman/Cusack/Perrett Christmas table this year...poor little piggy :( :(

This year Mr Messy and his partner in piggy crime, Mr Mark Cusack (actually I think it was all Mark's idea), decided to go all Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (he of River Cottage fame) on us and get an "ethical" piggy for Christmas luncheon. Basically this means that we are having roast pork from a piggy that has been raised on a lovely organic, free-range farm, has had a lovely piggy life snuffling in the mud, sleeping on warm hay, eating lots of nummies (soya bean meal, cabbage, corn, bananas, pig nuts and whatever the heck else happy piggies eat) and has gone to piggy heaven in a respectful, non-stressful manner (well, as non-stressful as going to the great big departure lounge in the sky can be...).

I admit that I am still a little bit squeamish about the whole thing although I know it is completely irrational as I eat meat, wear leather etc. and it is much better to eat meat which has been raised non-intensively, with ample room to move and play, and live "normal" animal lives.

Anyhoo, I received an email the other day from Mr Cusack which had me giggling and snorting my head off- so I thought I would share it with y'all. Mr Cusack is concerned that he and Mr Messy have not yet received the "cut sheet" (I assume this sets out the different cuts of meat that the piggy has been made into) nor has the arrival date of the piggy been confirmed by the farmer. Hence there is some stress in the Jackman/Cusack household which the wives (me and ewah) have had to deal with. Here is Mr Cusack's email re Porkulus Nocomin aka pork stress:

"This condition is known clinically as “pork stress”. I have now copied wives into this email, just in case they are curious as to our current mental status.

Pork Stress – aka Porkulus Nocomin

A condition first identified in the early 21st century. Symptoms in the disease’s early stages tend to take the form of hyperactivity in emailing and cursing. This is then followed by disbelief, dismay, and what has effectively become known as meat depression. Pork Stress relates to the anxiety and fear brought about by a lack of locus control surrounding the unknown yet anticipated delivery of free range farm fresh pigs. There is no known cure other than what is known as a farmer’s presentation. This involves the pig farmer taking and removing the digit from his/her back end and making haste with the delivery of said beast".

Mrs Cusack, wife of the world's biggest pork fan (organic, free-range, happy piggy only etc etc), Mr Cusack. These photographs were taken when we went "glamping" (glamorous camping) in October in Lancashire.

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On Dasher, On Dancer, On Prancer, On Vixen.....where the heck is Rudolph?

Despite the frightful weather, your London correspondent has been out and about this week sipping egg nog and hot chocolate, riding the Giant Observation Wheel at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, watching the thrills and spills of outdoor ice skating (note to self: office Christmas parties+alcohol+slippery ice rink=disaster!), snacking on Bavarian Hog Roast and Gingerbread, and slugging back copious amounts of Glühwein to try and keep warm : all in the name of research, you understand!

The photographs from this post were all taken at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. For any of you who have been following the progress of my "100 Strangers Project"*, you might recall that the Winter Wonderland last year was the place that I took my first Strangers portrait (of the guy with the toddler on his shoulders). I can still remember the look of utter horror on Mr Messy's face when I explained to him what I was about to do!!! Ahhh dear Blog Readers, so much, yet so little has changed since then.... ;-)

*which I am still doing by the way, umm, I just haven't posted any photographs lately of my strangers. (I am rubbish, I know)

Anyway, onwards to the photos. These reindeer's (the "Reindeer Express") were one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. They moved forward with quite some force and the little kids had to hold on really tight! I love the look of "Crikey, I don't quite know if I am enjoying this....maybe I'll just do one little lap on this here Reindeer then I'll get off" on the face of the little girl (above)!

This chap (below) will be added to my 100 Strangers project. He is a born and bred Croydon lad who is shortly moving to Kent for a more "relaxed" lifestyle with his wife. He asked whether his photo would be on the internet and I said "um yeah, sort of, on my blog". He got very excited about this prospect and I felt a bit bad when I had to confess to him that my readership consists of, oh, about 3 people at the moment!

In the interests of bringing you all the fun of the fair, your blogger braved her fear of heights and rode the Observation Wheel. Best £7.50 I have spent in a long time. The view was fantastic (when my eyes were open!) and I had a whole little "pod" to myself so I could grip the sides, squeeze my eyes tight shut, and take deep calming breathes without anyone else seeing (or hearing my mutterings when my pod got stuck right at the top for what seemed like an eternity).

This was one of the photos I managed to take when I let go of the sides of the pod for a wee moment:

Big Dipper (didn't go on that one- not THAT brave):

Nor did your blogger go on this little number:

nor this one:

This is the lovely Rachel (below) from America who kindly struck some poses for me on the ice along with her equally gorgeous friend Christanna. Both are studying communications at university and are hoping to move into the fashion industry once they have finished their studies. I will post more photos of Rachel and Christanna later next week- one of which will be going in my "100 Strangers Project".

P.s. No sign of Rudolph- although I did see 4 very hairy legs and a bright red shiny nose flash past on the Giant Toboggan Snow Slide as I wandered past...lets hope Santa finds him before Christmas Eve otherwise the Sleigh might be in a wee bit of trouble this year ;-)

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Baby, It's Cold Outside

Oh baby, its cold outside....

I am sitting typing at the computer with the heating on full blast, the fire crackling (well, it's gas so I guess it doesn't really crackle- it kind of "pops"!), a water bottle on my lap, a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, thick bed socks on my tootsies and STILL I am cold! Brrrrr, it seems that winter has definitely arrived in ye olde London town. A hearty slice of steak and portobello mushroom pie (courtesy of M&S) and a glass of Egg Nog (hic!) should help to keep Jack Frost from nipping off my nose (and toes!)

Thought I would share with you our wee trip out to Richmond Park on Saturday morning with friends. The weather was absolutely smashing- blue skies, crisp and clear- perfect for huntin' some deer! Just joking!! The only shooting I do is banging off a few rounds with my camera :)




Richmond Park was originally a deer hunting park established by Charles 1 in 1637 and still has about 300 Red Deer (which are the ones I photographed) and 350 fallow deer (which look more like Bambi). It is the largest Royal Park in London, covering some 2,500 acres (it felt like we covered every damn one of those acres on Saturday trying to find the way out!) and is popular with horse riders, dog walkers, cyclists and those that just need a break from the hurly burly of city life (like us!)

I will definitely be going back next Autumn to photograph the rutting deer (when the stags and bucks compete for the females) as I am dying to hear the clashing of antlers and the primal roar of the male deer. Might need some camo gear (can you imagine me in camo gear?!!) and a nice big zoom lens for that one, I think!

This old chap (above) was one of a couple of people who bid us a good morning- so very polite and something that never happens in the middle of London.

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A Whole Lot of Busy

Most Excellent Blog Readers, please forgive my extreme tardiness in updating this here blog (is there anything worse than a blog that doesn't get updated regularly? Well, yes, but for blog stalkers like myself it can be frightfully annoying!)

I have been super busy finalising Blurb photo books for my clients as Christmas gifts....Oh, and battling a hideous allergic reaction to my eyes that had me looking like Pinky Ponk from In The Night Garden!

The good news is that my eyes are now back to normal (phew), the books are looking great and on their way to the printers, and will be ready for Santa and his Elves to deliver on Christmas Eve. Let's just hope that he doesn't get stuck down the chimney with them from eating too many fruit mince pies (oh, ummm, actually that would be ME who has eaten too many fruit mince pies!)

Must share the delightful time I had yesterday when Eleanor (she of beetle hunting fame!) and her mum, Jane, came over to proof her photo books. Miss Eleanor had just been to see Father Christmas (I naughtily keep referring to him as Santa) and she kept patting her teeny toddler tummy and going "Ho Ho Ho!!" LOVE IT! We had lots of fun playing with WWW, Tilly and a few other "toys" I have picked up on my travels. Miss Eleanor has to keep "secret squirrel" about the photos until Christmas as the books are a surprise for her Dad and grandparents. So far the secret is safe!

Anyway darlinks, it is almost dark outside and I need to do a caffeine run before I hit the digital studio once more. Ah, a photographer's work is never done :)

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