Ummm...Time has really flown!!

I actually cannot believe I haven't written my blog since June 2014 - although it was the best weekend ever so maybe nothing topped it for a while!

The last year has flown by, it was a mixed year with a visiting childhood friend of our daughter's, I wasn't in the best of health and we didn't get out much! I am happy to say that part of life is over now and we are enjoying 2016 for what it is!
 "What is happening so far?" I hear you cry - well we have had some rather special events so far this year - a 70th Birthday a 50th Wedding Anniversary, a 24th Birthday and a 21st Birthday all in our family....we still have a very special occasion to follow another Birthday - but that is not until July ;)

Our youngest turned 21 in  May....

Lucky me - Birthday girl :) incentive to just keep swimming right there ;)

We also welcomed a rather darling puppy dog to the family - our eldest has finally the dog of her dreams - a King Charles called Bilbo!

SO the year this year has been good so far, we have had some interesting weather - as in lots and lots of rain (so theoretically shouldn't have a hose pipe ban this year!)

We have had some lovely sunny days which meant we could finally start getting the Hut back into order as a Poplar tree fell into it making one heck of a mess during a storm in February! We were quite upset at the time as we spent a lot of time and effort on it over the last few years, however we have made some improvements including removable windows!!  And as always we have more projects to undertake very shortly :D

The best part of summer arriving is that the Bees, Butterflies and HummingBird Hawkmoths start their work!

We were also lucky enough to have a little Jenny Wren nesting in The Hut - I didn't want to disturb the babies too much but did take a couple of photos!

Wild Geraniums in the garden..................

So now here we are in June, and as of the Summer Solstice we have fallen into Summer! It's been so lovely and scorchio .... trouble is it's a case of run and hide for the shade, and where better than our Summer retreat - The Hut :)

 Beautiful Clematis enjoying the sunshine....this is the time of year that I love going around gardens - there are so many amazing flowers!

It's so easy taking photographs on the go now - what with the Samsung Mobile, a new birthday present in the form of a compact Canon (with a snazzy retro case of course!) and the big cameras are always to hand - especially since investing in (another) a 70-300mm macro lens last year but having the chance to use it - this year I can enjoy getting out and using it properly!

So that's about it from PJP - the year in a nutshell - or a short blog in this case! I am looking forward to getting out and about and particularly to our celebration next month!

Thank you for reading and don't forget you can follow me on my FaceBook Page for everything "Life through the Lens" https://www.facebook.com/PamelaJaynePhotography/

PJ

February so wet!

Well we have lived here in the South West of France for 10 years this year BUT I have never known such a wet month and yes I know we are only 10 days in but if feels like it has not stopped raining for days and days! When in fact just 2 weeks ago I was walking around our garden (soggy garden!) in the warmth of the sunshine with the dog and Lilly Kitty running here, there and everywhere!

I spotted my first Crocuses in the garden which brought a smile straight to my face - there is something about the "first flowers" isn't there?

and then of course there's the bird song accompanying me around whilst we are out there, the Blackbird seemingly has his heart set on the fact Spring is coming, and a  Bumble Bee was buzzing around, albeit he was a tad on the wet side and he was huge and quite clearly trying to move!

Cross and wet - Bumble Bee of February!

Bumble Bee of February trying to find somewhere dry!

And then the rain came back - and then that rain turned to hailstones! But not just once over the last week or so but twice - in fact it was so windy on Saturday the door blew open - scaring the life out of us whilst we were re-organising the office - ok, so were were deep cleaning! And then the biggest hailstones I have seen made an entrance through the cat flap! And it didn't end there 1am and we had thunder...!

Still it was lovely on Friday to hand over a Photo on Wood to a lovely family who are sadly (for me) relocating to the UK - their daughter is so incredible through the lens, she worked so well with me it was fantastic.

Photo on Wood "Making Memories" session

And then my own personal surprise  to start the weekend - a fabulous sale on the Redbubble http://www.redbubble.com/people/papillonbleu   I sell a lot of my images through! and have enjoyed many sales over this years, but this sale was quite possibly one of the best, they will be getting a little bit of my "Life through the Lens"! and to be honest I think my photos will travel further than I will!  I just wish I knew who the purchaser was so I could thank them :D
French Wheels and Onions is one of the Select Colour images sold.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/papillonbleu/works/2323399-french-wheels-and-onions?c=8994-select-colour

So we are into another week - and lots happening in the half term holidays when hopefully the weather improves and we can maybe just maybe take a little trip to the coast!

I do realise whilst I am talking about this awful weather that there are so many really suffering with floods and losing their homes,  at the moment the Somerset plains are in dire straights - you only have to read this to realise how lucky we are here in our little corner of France! http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Daily-Press-backs-Levels-floods-appeal/story-20561461-detail/story.html

Here is to a good week!