We opted instead to go to the beach. In February. We went to Hunstanton in December and it hailed on us but we decided to give it another go. We stayed at a lovely little hotel called Caley Hall Hotel. Probably one of the nicest, most relaxed places I’ve ever stayed at.

Hunstanton is definitely growing on me. We had a chance to look around the seafront as well as plenty of walks on the beach. I took a ton of pictures:

Someone had made a snow angel on the golf course!

Visibility was minimal on the first day.

Lots of frozen fog!

The missus in her beach attire!

The sea was quite a way out but you couldn’t hear a thing. The fog muffled everything. It was really quite spooky.

Ripples on the beach were frozen.

This is a nice little rise right before you finally get to see the sea. I imagined myself being about five and struggling through the snow and sand to get to the top!

This is the back of the hotel. Been there a long time apparently.

All in all it was a great holiday. Even with the snow and ice and cold. We left the restaurant after dinner and it was -10!!! I made sure I had a beer coat!

We’re going to go again in the summer. Apparently it doesn’t get very busy. I love being by the sea. I grew up going to the caravan in Bridlington every weekend for years. Not being by the sea stinks! The problem I have with beachside places is that they’re usually heaving! I went to Brighton for years and then it just got too hectic. Tried Whitstable and nearly got killed by some chavvy motherfucker in a 4×4 because we nicked his parking space. In our Fiesta. He called us cretins, which was probably accurate but it was a bit pot kettle black.

Anyway, the point is, I miss the sea and I think in Hunstanton I’ve found somewhere pretty, with plenty of infrastructure to make a good holiday. Finally! Let’s hope it pans out well in July.

So first up, my news. I can haz a driving license!!! Yes indeed. After about 100 hours of lessons over a period of 13 years with two driving tests, I finally passed and am legally allowed to drive. Makes you feel confident as another driver huh?! Cue obligatory happy picture:

Once the missus got home I took the car out on my own. I didn’t believe people when they said this but it was actually quite liberating. I feel freeeeee!

So, this weekend, I drove us to Coton/Madingley. We parked at the garden centre, walked to the American Military Cemetary and then back through Coton village. It was really nice.

So now for the pictures:

While buying Christmas presents I ended up on the Lakeland website. A very dangerous place for a kitchen gadget loving freak like me! I was looking for things to buy to top up my order so I could get free delivery. It’s a false economy, I know!! Anyway, I came across something quite fun. Shaped ice cube bags. I bought hearts and stars. I figured it would be a great experiment to shoot a mix of these, maybe with the heart frozen using red food colouring.

Today I finally got around to it. It was late in the afternoon so the light is a bit glum. I’m definitely going to retry this in better light, but for now, enjoy. I hope to be doing more fun projects this year and filling up these pages.

Autumn has fully taken hold in the space of a fortnight and the colours are just amazing. In a previous life when I was emo, sad and pretentious I used to proclaim that Autumn was my favourite month because everything was dying and there was “so much beauty in death”. Lame!

That said, it is still an incredible season and I hope you enjoy these pictures. And hey, in case you weren’t aware, this is happening all around you. Just look up from the glowing box in your palm once in a while

This is my last catch up post from the last couple of months. I have finally caught up! After this I will be doing a digital sort. Re-structuring all my folders, backing up externally, setting up a Flickr account for all the really good stuff. Once that’s done I think it’ll be time to take things up a notch. I’ve not been out taking pictures anywhere near as much as I would’ve liked so this needs to improve. We get our car delivered in a couple of weeks and I should pass my driving test in October *fingers crossed* so actually being mobile should give me more scope to get out to more remote locations at odd times of day.

A couple of weeks ago, the missus’ folks took us out to The Raptor Foundation out in Woodhurst. It was a fantastic day out. They have over 200 different species of raptors. The definition of a raptor over other birds is that they catch their food with their feet rather than their beaks.

We walked around the complex, which is impressively large, and when we got to the end we saw that they were doing a flying display and we were bang on time. Camera at the ready!

I’ve been posting some of these on Facebook and Twitter but without further ado, here is the full collection. If you want prints of these in any format (postcard, greetings card, poster, canvas etc) let me know and I’ll arrange it. All proceeds will go directly to The Raptor Foundation as they rely solely on donations.

My two favourite shots are the little owl who looks like he is singing (he’s actually nomming on a grub) and the falcon catching the bait. The falcons are lightning fast and it was incredibly difficult to track them in flight. However, thanks to the amazing lens I got for my birthday (the Nikon 55-200mm) I got those two cracking shots.

As people venture into photography, they pretty quickly realise what subject they enjoy the most and for me it’s definitely wild life and probably mainly birds. I enjoy watching them, filming them and capturing them in still frame. They really are an absolute wonder. This probably means my future is likely to involve the purchase of a ridiculously expensive zoom lens and many hours spent huddled up in a hide! Oh joy!

Until next time…

The summer is great for getting out and about. Especially in this country where you’re guaranteed a good spot of rain to really ruin your day!

Cambridge is particularly crap. I was promised lowest rainfall in the UK. Nobody bothered to tell me how it’s usually always overcast, grey, muggy and well, just a bit crap really. Sunny days are rare here! Fo sho!

However, I came from West Yorkshire so I know how to make the best of a bad situation. Ho ho! Next to the gym is a little paddock which has some “lovely” horses. The missus reckons they’re lovely but personally I’m terrified of them. Remember that scene in the Ring (2?) where the horse charges at the woman on the boat and leaps over the edge? How about The Godfather (1? 2? 3?) with the horse head in the bed? Yeah, not good with horses!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the evil beasts followed by a rare shot of the missus and then a couple more of Fleur taken in Epping Forest right before it rained! She is mental!

What a catchphrase, good old Bob!

I have updated my site to PHP5 and WordPress 3.2.1. You won’t notice anything but for me, my life just got a whole load easier.

What’s new?

Well, in conjunction with getting old/turning 30, the missus decided it would be fun to interview me and asked me to come up with a list of 5 things I have learned in my 30 years of living. Discussed over a lovely bottle of Italian white wine and recorded on my super awesome Samsung Galaxy S2, we had a blast!

Check it out here: SuburbanYogini.com

I may have already told you this but I recently took up driving lessons again. I had 60 when I was 17 and 5 when I was 25. I used to suck! I decided enough was enough and am taking it seriously. I’m driving purely automatic now and it’s a lot easier. Yesterday, I took my Theory and Hazard Perception test. Nailed it! Got my driving test booked in October.

Finally, we have adopted a new cat or rather he has adopted us. We’ve called him Dave. It’s such an everyman’s name. He’s a stray that we’ve noticed hanging around a lot for the last 12 months but lately he’s been looking really unwell and very skinny. Presume he has been manipulating us. The other day I decided to feed him and now he keeps coming back, he loiters on our lawn and on the garden bench and just yesterday he gave me a welcoming meow! Awwwww! The other two cats are pissed!

So, meet Dave:

He looks like Aurora. She’s all uppity about it and keeps braying on the glass whenever he comes around. Mr Park can’t understand why there are two black and white cats and is having an identity crisis and skulking about the place.

Ah cats!

Hope you’re enjoying the summer, I’m off to BBQ some steaks!

Now, if you’ve been around a while, you will remember this post. My bucket list of Fings To Do Before I’m Firty! So, how did I get on?

Well, firstly, and this isn’t an excuse, well it is, but y’know, in the last year my career took a rather unexpected but pleasant turn. I became a Senior Consultant at my firm. The Most Senior Consultant in fact, if you listen to my boss. Essentially I’ve been incredibly busy and therefore incredibly lame at completing this list. That said, in the last year I’ve felt an incredible sense of personal growth. Certainly more than in the last five years I reckon.

1) Australia. Yup, we did that. It was amazing! I can’t wait to go again.

2) Skydiving. Fail! Just haven’t got round to it and didn’t see an opportunity for it in Aus. I did contemplate hot air ballooning over the MCG but we didn’t have time. Went on the Neighbours tour instead!!

3) Get a tattoo. Fail! I got as far as deciding what I want. I was supposed to go yesterday but the studio couldn’t get their shit together via email so I will have to go in and see them. They’re in London so it’s not like I can just walk in and I refuse to go anywhere else. They really are the best.

4) Give blood. Fail! But oh dear Lord have I tried! First time I booked I ended up with flu on the day so had to cancel. Second time they came I was in Aus and then had to wait 2 months after getting back. I went on Tuesday thinking I’d make it just in time. But then it went horribly wrong. I got through the assessment and sat in the chair. The nurse did all the prep, in goes the needle and suddenly “Oh dear, I need some help over here!” and cue two other nurses rushing over. Not really sure what actually happened but I left with a big bandage:

and now I have some crazy bruising!

This has not put me off trying, I’ll go when this has healed.

5) Buy a digital SLR. Score! I’d actually already done this but I’ve definitely kept up to this as a hobby and even launched my first exhibition.

6) Take a picture of myself every day. Score! I’m also creating an art piece from it as I found it became a really interesting project. As I mentioned, it has been useful to track my mood swings. You can tell when I’m normal, genuinely happy, faking the happy and even whe I’m down. It’s all the eyes. For that reason, I think it’s worthy of the Saatchi gallery!!

7) Go on a photography course. Score! Well, I went but it didn’t pan out. The college was useless so I quit and got my money back.

8 ) Ride a motorbike. I used the money from the photo course and rather spontaneously booked my CBT. That was a fun day!

So not a bad end to my twenties. On the final day, I had bacon butties for brekkie on the BBQ, bacon fajitas for lunch and pigs in blankets for tea. Score!