The Happy List | Friends, puppies, light & chocolate

 

Friends

 

Spreading some sunshine!

The same day I bumped into Milli who blogs at  Arts and Graces. We always end up passing like ships in the night when we’re out and about, so I made sure I actually said hello this time around. That night I was in a cab back to my hotel when I got an email from Rafflecopter to say that my birthday giveaway had closed so I drew the winner there and then. Who should pop up but Milli?! I was so excited at sending her the ‘congratulations’ message the next day and seeing her lovely reaction. 🙂

DIY Photography Lightbox

My friend Marcus had recommended using a photography light box after I mentioned to him that I find it really hard to take pictures indoors without shadows or reflections. Over the Bank Holiday N decided to make me a DIY one from a cardboard box, masking tape and an old fitted sheet. It was all done in an hour. (Work stopped temporarily when Mr Darcy claimed squatter’s rights and curled up for a nap.)

Verdict: What a difference! I’ve not had a lot of time on my hands but every spare minute has been spent playing around with this thing – hallelulah let there be light!

Switching to manual 

With my super handy lightbox in place, I decided to switch my camera settings to full on manual controls for the first time. 

Oh. My. God.

Why have I not tried this before? A couple of little tweaks to my ISO and aperture settings and what a difference – here’s a completely unedited shot that I took the other day using my light box and manual settings. I took this at 8.30 in the evening! Obviously it’s not perfect and I’m still learning but it’s so much fun experimenting.

Puppies

Last time I did a happy list I mentioned in the post that some sad things had happened that month. One of these things was the passing of my parent’s beloved dog Archie, who had been a part of our family for 14 years. He left behind a big empty hole and we have been missing him terribly. 

This is why when I went to visit my parents the other week I nearly burst into tears when two very excitable puppies came running to greet me! My parents had kept it quiet to surprise me. The two little terrors terriers were climbing all over each other to get cuddles from me and had a good go at trying to eat my hair and nibble my toes. 

You can never replace a loved one, but welcoming in some new family members to share all that love you still have is no bad thing.

Chocolate and Cats

I’m attending Betty’s first ever Tea Party today which I’m super excited about. They sent me a little treat in the post to whet my appetite and I’m not sure what I was more excited about, the chocolates or the packaging. I mean it’s got a cat on it, of course I was going to love it! The chocolate is deliciously light and melty so I decided to treat it like advent calendar chocolate and have one as a treat each day.

…that lasted a day, then I scoffed the rest. No regrets.