Terrariums!

I remember Mum & Dad's lounge back in the 70's (it's just a hazy memory of course!).  Through the dusky purple hues & pine furniture, I can see the yucca plant, the Fleetwood Mac - Rumours album cover on top of the record player, and there, in all its glory, the oversized glass bottle in pride of place. (I learnt this week that these vessels are called carboys). Take  a closer look, and inside it revealed a miniature woodland world, ferns, moss and vibrant green spiky plants. Wherever we moved, and we did this quite a lot when I was younger, this terrarium would always take up its new designated place before other essentials!

Now, I've never been particularly green fingered.  Suzi is not much better. In fact, if I'm really truthful, we've probably managed to kill a few plants.  Quickly by over-watering, or slowly through neglect.  But we want to be better!  And one of our projects this year is to make our yard look a little more green and planty.  Last week we had a rare Saturday off. We'd seen a terrarium workshop advertised at the amazing Egg Factory (more of this space later).  We signed up, and our friends Sarah & Jimi came along too.  Sally from Kingfisher Flowers was leading us through the world of terrariums, and gave us loads of advice and tips.  She is a wonderful local flower grower and floral artist too.  Sally had brought along an array of succulents, ferns, and moss for us to use.  And also tiny creatures and people if we wanted to create worlds for them!

Some of us brought along our own glassware, and I started with a flour/sugar shaker that used to be my Grandma's.  I absolutely love the design.  Being a Christmas fan, it does remind me of ice and snow flakes, so I decided to go with this theme.

First, we added a layer of pebbles and a bit of moss, this collects the water drainage.

And then a layer of soil, all ready for planting.  We made a little space for whatever we wanted to plant, and so started the process!  Some had an idea of what the finished world should look like, and some went with how their inspiration took them.  Jimi was busy creating  'Rabbit Wood' and Suzi was inspired to craft 'Wonderland'.

Our friend Sarah was terraring (an official term) along!  First she created an amazing cabbage patch with succulents, and then moved onto her masterpiece, 'Tea Time in the Amazon'.

I was just loving being in such a creative space, being inspired, having good chats, and being served half time toast and tea, perfection! My 'Last Christmas' came along slowly but surely, and I airdropped the deer family in with a pair of tweezers, and started to surround them with icy rocks and moss.

The workshop was coming to an end, and we all brought our terrariums up to a viewing table where lots of oooohs and ahhhs were to be heard!  There were some great titles - Land of the Giant Sheep, Apple of my Eye, Thing in a Bottle, and Elvis Lost in Paradise.

When me and Suzi got home, we were talking about how we crave these creative days.  We always leave feeling fired up and inspired.  And the Egg Factory is the perfect space to do this kind of thing! They have created a wonderful space, where you don't feel out of place if you just want to try your hand at something, or if you're already on your journey and want to use the fab facilities, it's the perfect hub.  We've used it a couple of times now for shoots, and we love it, the thinking behind the space, and the folk who are there.  It's great they're just round the corner.

So now, we are planning a new shelf to house our newly created worlds! I feel we've redeemed ourselves a little in the world of gardening and plants, and maybe we do have green fingers after all.

New Friends, Cuckoos, and the Perfect Lunch.

We've been trying really hard to keep Mondays free.  It hasn't always worked, and a few shoots have been booked, and editing has happened, but I'm so glad we kept to it yesterday.  I woke up feeling a bit groggy, tired from a bad night's sleep and a smorgasbord of strange dreams.  I felt quite anxious about all the editing we have, and the preps for this week's shoots.  The thought crossed my mind that I didn't have time for a walk.  But thankfully another voice kicked in and kicked me out of bed!

Me and Suze went to call for Hannah and her daughter Ffion, and we popped over the road to knock for Abha (proper playing out going to call for people!).  We first met Abha at a street party a couple of weeks ago, and we had talked about having a walk all together.  Abha had made the most amazing dal (more of that later), so we topped up our flasks and started out on our adventure.  We walked up to Jumble Hole Clough.  We've been here a couple of times, and it really is one of the special places.  Apart from the occasional plane overhead, it felt like we were miles from anywhere.

There was a lot of pointing as we spotted beautiful plants and creatures, and there were good conversations as we walked, finding our way through the ferns and overgrown foliage by the side of the path.

We picked the perfect spot for our lunch and we tucked into the scrummiest dal.  Just as we'd finished eating, Hannah & Ffion had a little sing song, accompanied by a cuckoo echoing through the valley.  Such a beautiful sound!

We walked further up the valley.  Waterfalls, mills, lots of caterpillars, curlews, and a couple of walkers with a map who assured us we were on the right path when we decided to take a different route!

Who wants to be in the band?

A few hours later, and we walked back into Hebden Bridge.  I'm so glad I got myself out and about, and now I feel inspired for the week ahead.  Being in the trees and in good company, the best start to the week!

We're Getting Married!

So, this is it, the final countdown.... On Saturday, we'll be kicking off our shoes and dancing the night away.  This weekend we're getting married!!   My lovely Sarah and I have been together quite a while now, but we wanted to wait until we were able to get married, in the same way as other couples, the majority of couples we take photographs of.  

And now we're able to do that, which is just amazing (and we're very pleased to hear about the yes vote in Ireland just the other day!).  We're quite private folk, so maybe you don't already know we're together, but we wanted to be open and honest and to be able to share some of our plans with you.  We're lucky enough to have been to (as guests and as photographers), many gorgeous, fabulous weddings and we've seen many different and wonderful ideas.  We've witnessed amazing new beginnings and shared in those beautiful moments. 

But now we're getting married and the day is nearly upon us; we're doing it our way.  I proposed to Sarah when we were at the End of the Road Festival, which was an absolutely magical place.  It's such a fantastic gathering - tunnels of fairy lights in the trees, 70's flashing dance floor in the woods, peacocks flitting around, the best food, and of course the music.  So we wanted to bring a festival feel to our wedding day.  I'm sure some people may raise their eyebrows at some of our plans or our invitation with 'survival tips' suggesting guests bring midge repellent, sensible shoes and a sense of adventure, but the day is a reflection of what we love and our journey so far as a couple.  I know it's just going to be the most amazing day, surrounded by people we love and people who love us.  It may not have always been an easy road, telling family and friends we had fallen in love.  Were me and Sarah worried about people's reactions?  Truthfully, maybe sometimes.  I know we shouldn't.  But our families and friends have been very supportive, and we both feel very lucky for this.  And then, moving to Hebden Bridge was the icing on the cake - it's just the perfect place to live and to have our business and we couldn't wish to be anywhere better (although in the future I wouldn't say no to a small house in France to spend our winters!). 

So, the final days are counting down.  There are anxious moments, but this is outweighed by the ones where we have rushes of excitement, belly flips and happy tears. 

So, it's our turn to be on the other side of the camera, and when our lovely photographer has shared the photos with us, we'll share them with you too.