TIGERS!!!!!

On Tuesday we all went to South Lakes Wild Animal Park. I'm going to let Cassius tell you all about his experience as a Junior Keeper, in a blog post to follow at the weekend. For me, though this visit was all about photographing the Tigers.

Last time Cassius and I visited, I didn't have my camera, or the skills I have now. So this time I was adamant I was going to get some photos of the beautiful Amur Tigers that they have.

I got a little giddy editing these, so forgive me for how many there are. ;)

This is Nina. She was sleepy but restless, and provided me with a variety of poses, for which I am incredibly grateful! ;)

This next shot is just adorable! She looks so cuddly....

So, the park have this novel way of feeding their big cats. They put pieces of meat at the top of 20 foot poles. This helps keep the animals in shape and also provides enrichment. I set up early and thanks to Nina  (who did NOT want to go inside so the keepers could feed her) had to wait 45 minutes for these shots, but I think it was worth it....

This reminded me Tigers are NOT cuddly. They come flying out into the enclosure, and are up those poles in two leaps! The whole thing is over in seconds.

If any of you are considering a trip to the zoo this summer, I cannot recommend South Lakes enough. The park is nice, the animals are healthy, and there is lots of opportunity to get up close with them. And the prices are reasonable. Also, they have such great links with conservation projects! Just go check it out!

C
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The beautiful North-West

I grew up here, so I sometimes take for granted how accessible beautiful countryside is. My grandparents house (where I spent my childhood weekends) is literally on the edge of the West Pennine moors. In the summer, I used to walk with my Grandad, usually in the golden hour before sunset. We'd take the dog and wander onto the moors, and watch the sun set. So for me, the countryside, the rolling hills, the greenery it's "normal". I sometimes forget how lucky I am to live here, in the North West of England, were "the countryside" is literally minutes away.

However, every now and then, I remember.....usually when we drive for 5 minutes and I'm confronted with views like this:

Happy Tuesday!

C
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Adventure weekend

Well, we've been busy this weekend. It started on Friday when I got home from work and demanded that we go for a walk in the sunshine. I mean look how beautiful Entwhistle is.....

Then on Saturday we went fishing. The original plan was that I was going to read for my PhD, but I picked up the wrong pile of articles and ended up just lazing in the sunshine instead. It was such a hardship!

Apparently fish enjoy sunbathing too, because they were all swimming close to the surface. Which meant it was a tough day for the boys, Cassius caught the only fish of the day..

This morning we loaded up the car and headed to Fell foot park, on Windemere. It was gorgeous again, and we decided to take a boat out on the water. I took the risky decision to bring my camera, so glad I did.....

Gary being all manly.

And Spider-Cas!!! ;)

And one last picture, because it shows how handsome my son is...

Hope everyone had as good a weekend as we did!

C

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A New Addition

Today we had a party at my Gran's house for Cassius's birthday. It was also the first time I had met the newest addition to the family - baby Frankie.......so obviously we took our cameras.

Meet Frankie

He was so good whilst his Auntie Claire mauled with him taking his picture.

And of course I couldn't resist a picture of those teeny tiny baby feet.

We had a fun day, Cassius enjoyed his party. And I enjoyed my first newborn shoot. ;-)

C

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Spring!!

Gary and I had a lovely day out today in the sunshine, and I just had to share these few shots. Spring is most certainly here!! 

Happy weekend!

C

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Fun in the Snow!! ;)

As you probably already know, it snowed quite a lot on Friday night. When we got up on Saturday there was a fair few inches on the ground, perfect snow for sledging and snowball fights. It wasn't long before Cassius was out in it with his friends. And of course I followed with my camera......

I got this shot in a quiet moment, when they were, briefly, all in the same spot.

 

Obviously though, the stillness did not last long!

Little B had wandered off, and when I spotted him hiding in the bushes, with that light...

             

Snowball fights are fun, but sledging is where it's really at.....

             

 

Of course, sledges don't come with brakes... ;)

T proved to be much better at controlling a sledge, perhaps the added responsibility of having her little brother on board helped....

Never wanting to be outdone by the kids, the parents got in on the sledging action...

And then, obviously they had to have a snowball fight too...

It was a fun break from my marking, and thanks to the whole "don't get the camera" excuse, I managed to avoid all of the snowballs. ;)

Have a great Christmas!

C

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The Haunted Manor House

OK, so some of you may know that I (Claire) have been temporarily working in an admin job. After just two weeks, I remembered why I gave up work and went to uni. Office work SUCKS!! I mean no offence by that statement, it's just I seem to no longer be able to fit into an office situation. I've had far too much freedom, for way too long, to be able to go back to that. Anyway, that's not the point of this post.... So the other day was a Halloween theme day in the office, and we were asked to decorate a cake or biscuit and bring it to work for a competition. After first ranting that this was silly and I'm not a six year old child, I remembered that in fact I AM a six year old at times, and decided that I wanted to do the BESTEST CAKE EVER!!!!!!!

Of course at this point it was 8pm the night before and I had absolutely NO CLUE what to do, and was standing in the baking isle of the supermarket, about to go into full six year old meltdown, with screaming and stamping feet and everything!!

At this point the wonderful, amazing and even more childish Gary took over, the result was the Haunted Manor House - what do you think?

I didn't win the competition, but we enjoyed the decorating, and it gave a few of the people I was working with a laugh. So in my opinion it was a success. ;)

Enjoy your weekend

C
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