February Photos part 3

Monday 19th February

My scrap area ... right now - Total chaos and full of the most lovely stuff that I have no idea that I have because it is all jumbled up!

Tuesday 20th February

Our living room - This was lucky as I had just tidied up and it looks relatively good - spacious, clean, uncluttered. Just have to deal with those terrible cables!

Wednesday 21st February

Flowers or plants - I managed to capture the white rose from my Valentine's bouquet before it lost its perfection. The story of the white rose is for another time and place (!) but I love this photo.

Thursday February 22nd

Laundry - Mmmm .... how embarrassing is this one. My HUGE pile of ironing that never gets any smaller and is only the tip of the iceberg. Much of it is hidden away with clothes not seeing the light of day for months...

Friday 23rd February

Something we display in our home - We have a few collections going on in different parts of the flat but I thought that these bottles reflected very nicely and showed just how dangerous (and expensive) a flippant comment to Ralph can be!!!

Saturday 24th February

View from our front door - I had to decide if I wanted to choose the front door of the flat or the front door of the house. Again, the idea that we live in the centre of town is so nicely captured by the view from downstairs that I decided for this - the linen shop on the one corner, the hobby shop on the other and the curtain shop directly ahead. Very representative of old-fashioned Recklinghausen!

Sunday 25th February

Mode of transportation - I needed to take this photo on another day because I had to have one of the many trains I take during the week. Some of them are double decker, some small and modern and some, like this one, old and dirty! But they do their job and I am grateful for them.

Monday 26th February

Our bedroom - Love my bedroom! This is how I want it to look all the time, although it does slip into Hausmann chaos from time to time.

Tuesday 27th February

Calendar - On my kitchen wall where I always have one of the freebies from Good Food or Woman and Home. It's Woman and Home this year because the photos are just so beautiful - look at those gorgeous tulips!

Wednesday 28th February

Me - Hey, that is what I looked like on that day! Nothing spectacular but true.

February Photos part 2

Sunday 11th February

Street sign - I was home in England this weekend, so I took a picture of my hometown sign and then another of my new home sign when I got back to Recklinghausen. I like the contrast in style of the two and how clear it is where each comes from!

Monday 12th February

Family photos - I have to confess that I cheated here because up to this point, all these photos were stuffed in a cupboard where they have been since before Christmas. But it was a good excuse to get them all out again and see how lovely they all are together.

Tuesday 13th February

The outside of our home - This one was more difficult - living in the centre of town, at the top of a four storey building it was difficult to decide how to represent the outside of the our home. In the end, I decided for the whole building and you can just see our little windows at the very top, in the roof. I thought it was important to show the shops around to represent the town environment we live in.

Wednesday 14th February

A yummy treat - Cadbury's of course - my haul from the recent trip to the UK.

Thursday 15th February

My comfy ... - I decided on my pyjamas because they are big and warm and really comfy but I think the photo is terrible and so boring!

Friday 16th February

A pile of ... whatever - Yes, this one was difficult because which pile to go for? We have so many. The pile of scrapbooking items in the middle of the living room won.

Saturday 17th February

Something colourful - Not so much colour around this place but my beautiful brooch was not such a difficult choice. I think the photo could be much better but I quite like the bit of sparkle that is coming from the stones.

Sunday 18th February

A sign or a billboard - It had to be "Potions" - I mean, who else has a neon sign in their living room dedicated just to them?

How about February photos then?

... seeing as though we are nearly at the end of March!

In February I was doing the Big Picture Scrapbooking class "28 Days" which was great fun with a different project every day - cards, layouts, journal, tags or home deco things - and also a daily photo prompt. They are not terribly exciting but are supposed to represent our life - February 2007 - so that when we look back in years to come, we have a full snapshot of how it was! Quite a fun idea I thought, so here we go:

Thursday 1st February

Our pantry/where we store our food - Actually, this was a bit weird because it made me realise that I do not really have much food in the house at any particular time!

Friday 2nd February

Our mailbox - I hate our mailbox which is stuck on the outside of the house and is always dirty and the postman always stuffs our post in there so that it is all creased or sticking out of the top and gets wet!

Saturday 3rd February

Fridge - Got lucky this time and the photo makes it look like we have food in the place and eat quite well!

Sunday 4th February

Something I use every day - Need I say more!

Monday 5th February

Somewhere I go every week - Again, nothing too unexpected for those who know me!

Tuesday 6th February

Something that makes me happy - Trees. A common and well-loved theme that often appears and will continue to do so. The day was murky and the sky was grey and overcast, but looking up at the tree made me happy!

Wednesday 7th February

Dinner - So boring, but true on this evening! Pasta leftovers - alone, in front of the TV. How sad!

Thursday 8th February

My favourite drink - Not such a difficult one as anyone who knows me will testify to. Having a major export business (!!!) for boxes of tea from the UK to here in the German Hausmann household made this an obvious choice.

Friday 9th February

Family shoes - Not much to say here. We are both not really shoe people for every day shoes. Both a bit boring and uninspired. Of course, I have dozens of other pairs of shoes that I rarely wear, but I thought that these do not represent the reality of now.

Saturday 10th February

Somewhere I would like to go but have not been yet - Hemmingway's in Recklinghausen looks such a lovely cocktail bar that I would really love to go there. But we are so anti-social that stepping outside the door in the evening and mixing with others always seems so unappealing!!!! And of course, Ralph does not want the competition! Two photos because I love it in the day and at night!

And to the end of January!

Here are the last of the January photos of the day.


I want to point out that in January, it was just me and a camera and I tried to see things in a new light, to notice stuff and to note some of the more day-to-day things that were happening to me. Some of the photos are more "artistic", while some just show where I was or what I was working on that day.


When we come to February, it will be different as I have been doing a BPS class throughout the month and it included a daily photo which was supposed to record our life NOW - so some routine things that we find around us. And March will of course, need to be different again... Ideas in the making.


Sunday 28th January

After the excitement of waiting for my AYTR package, it finally arrived on Friday but I only really got time on Sunday to explore the contents. I was very pleased with the calendar and this just shows the state of my desk on this evening!

Monday 29th January

A cold day. Enjoying a warm coffee in Starbucks as is my new Monday morning routine. I noticed the lovely pink of the scarf and decided that it would be nice to capture the folds, twists and weave.

Tuesday 30th January

Dortmund Westfallenparc underground station, on my way back to the main station. I just liked the lines and the colours. Got a few funny looks though while taking it!

Wednesday 31st January

Always a hectic day for me and I was trying to get some inspiration from things around me while I waited for my students to arrive. Working all day inside a factory complex does not make it easy for finding pictures (I am not sure they really want me wandering around the factory taking photos of the new vehicle design etc!). So I was bored and playing around - rather like the result although the quality of the picture is not really good enough as it was really close - and for the record, it is REALLY difficult to focus on something (a lens) that is just a few centimetres away from your eye!

Ongoing and trying to catch up!

I have all the best intentions, but it just does not seem to happen every day. But better late than never, here are a few more of January's photos...

Wednesday January 24th

Don't you just love paper? And the wonderful colours? Of course, one day just needed to be my cardstock pile!

Thursday 25th January

Waiting for Baby! Just waiting for the news of the safe arrival of the newest member of the Chance household in order to post my welcome gifts. Pink - don't you just love pink?

Friday 26th January

Spent the day in Düsseldorf (having my hair done!) and then it started snowing. Getting home was CHAOS but luckily we had Sir Ralph to our rescue and he drove us home safe and sound. I was aware that I wanted to capture the first settled snow of the year (and in effect our first winter weather of the season) but it was so hectic that I did not have a chance. We went out to dinner and when we came back, I took the plunge and risked a night shot of the remaining snow. I love that "snow light" that you get.

Saturday 27th January

Of course, by morning, the snow had completely disappeared and a wonderful "spring" day greeted us - here is the view from our kitchen window. The roofs of Recklinghausen and a different view from usual.

More photos of the day - Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd January

So here we are again!

And here are a few more photos to share with me! (Because, let's face it, no one else is reading this are you???)

Friday 19th January

Because we play cards very often on a Friday evening. It is fun, and loud, and colourful, and usually full of sweets and chocolates! What more could one want?
Saturday 20th January

I dragged Ralph to Kempen where I have discovered quite a cool scrapbooking shop and he very generously bought me everything I wanted and more. It was a lovely day even though it was rainy and dull. An afternoon together, just being together and nothing more - nice. And then I saw the daffodils. A real sign of this early spring.
Sunday 21st January

Rain on the window pane. 'nuff said! I love the fact that the clouds are very faintly reflected in the drops and the contrast to the blue sky is great.

Monday 22nd January

Continuing my theme of my everyday life. Trains - my life is dictated by them. But they are mostly reliable, clean and comfortable. And I get to listen to my iPod and dream a bit - better than a car!

Tuesday 23rd January

Yet further signs of spring in the city. I just love these type of shots. Leaves, berries, buds, flowers... Doing this every day has made me realise that, far too often, I wander through the streets without noticing these things. Nature is really a wonderful thing and resilient to the core. In the middle of the city, there is so much beauty.

Failing at the blogging but managing the photos!

So, I am totally rubbish at blogging every week! But I have been thinking about it a lot! And I have been really successful at the photos every day. With no further ado, here are some more of my "masterpieces" (HA HA!!! - not really)

Saturday 13th January

Just because we were at the Gehler's for dinner and I caught this adorable snap of Lucy in Ralph's arms. Really, just because...
Sunday 14th January

Sunday - what a beautiful day to be out and walking about. We had our usual late breakfast in town and then I persuaded Ralph to take a "stroll" around town - talk about REAL Germans! The only thing that was different for us was that we were not wearing our Sunday best. But the sky was blue and our town looked so lovely. This is the church (St. Peter's Provest church) in the center of town and of course - a tree. Are you getting the idea yet that I love trees and sky!
Monday 15th January

Further to my previous post regarding my change in routine for a Monday morning, I am trying to focus on the unexpected sites around Essen that might otherwise go unseen. I love this statue. There is another one located at the Bergbau Museum (Mining Museum) in Bochum and I am not sure which is the original - need to check that out... Anyway, it shows the seam of a mine where men are working with their hands and rudimentary tools. Wolfgang has told me stories of these seams which were exactly the same as the statue. I have focused on the face of one of the miners - he looks so hard-working. Life must have been pretty tough back then.

Tuesday 16th January

Scenes of my everyday life. I liked the light and dark contrast in this photo and the focus of the trains (main station) and time all being reflected in this daily routine of mine.
Wednesday 17th January

On my way to DaimlerChrysler in Düsseldorf, I often notice scenes of nature tucked amongst the traffic, factory, office buildings or houses. On this day, I not only noticed the tree (yet again!) but also the fact that the birds are building. Is this normal? Seems a bit early to me but the weather has been so weird lately, I am prone to think that the birds are all confused and just think that it is spring already. If you look closely, you can see the magpie sitting in the tree, resting for a moment after working hard on his nest.
Thursday 18th January

Thursdays are always difficult for me to find interesting things to capture. I am on the road for most of the day, and do not get back home until late - long after it is dark which is not idea either. But this day, I looked around and saw this... Light and shadow... another theme of mine

Did it!!!!

I am so chuffed! I actually did the Heidi Swapp "A Year to Remember" week 2 Art Challenge on time. I have uploaded it to two message boards - very scary - and am just thrilled that I managed to get this done within the week it should have been!
We had to set ourselves a goal for the year, describe 5 reasons why we were going to do it, state our daily inspiration & give a deadline. Then we needed to create a page around this using B&W photos, a drawn (or other) target, stacked title, handwriting and to use colours and styles that were not usual for us. I did it all! And while it is really not my usual style at all - bit too "Freestyle" for me - I am very satisfied with it. I have some firsts for me here including minimal patterned paper and some stamping (which got a bit messy but hey ho!)
Photo of the day are taken for the past few days but not uploaded - will try to do that in the next day or so!

Stay with me!

Photo of the Day - 11th & 12th January

And now here are the photos of the day from Thursday 11th and Friday 12th January.

Thursday 11th January - a really horrible, wet stormy day and I was working the whole day - 9 hours of lessons - which is what I always used to do but recently one or two of the classes were missing. So it was a bit of a shock to the system for me but I ploughed my way through. I was on the lookout for photos but somehow inspiration was not there and the light was terrible in the rain! Then I looked down and saw my life-saver iPod along with the new headphones I have treated myself to and thought that this summed up my Thursday. Without the iPod, I am not sure I could get through it. Love it!

Saturday 12th January - we woke up to picturebook skies after such a stormy day yesterday and I knew immediately that this would be my picture. Over the roofs of Recklinghausen, a winter tree is silhouetted against the beautiful sky! What a lovely day.