All You Need Is Love (and a gimbal)

I've had my head in the clouds most of this week, re-imagining my perfect wedding day.

Last weekend, I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at my friend Jackie's evening soiree near Walsall to celebrate their recent nuptials.  Jackie and Sam had the right idea and jetted off to Rome to tie the knot, but their party was also full of personal touches, including tiny scooter table decorations bearing their names and some amazingly talented Northern Soul dancers who carved up that dance floor and really got the party started.  Oh, and here's the only photo booth evidence of my attendance.  The rest I managed to wreck with motion blur.  It transpires, I don't know what to do with my hands in a photo booth and so wind milling seemed like the only option.

I have been busy of late, liaising with wedding suppliers and hair and make-up artists, all striving to create what was to be a wildly romantic elopement shoot in rural Herefordshire.  Sadly it was not to be as a family emergency forced the model couple to pull out at the last minute.  

I had previously carried out a recce of the site - here’s a sneaky peek.

I fell in love with the textural overload of this farmyard scene en route to our location...

...and thoroughly enjoyed bimbling around this beautiful county.

Not my car!

Closed!  Shame, it was a lovely day!

Pembridge's historic market place.

Gareth and I got hitched on our own terms - a civil ceremony in a country pile with the run of the house and grounds to ourselves (were the owners mad?!).

I probably shouldn’t advertise the fact, but we had no official photographer - just friends with disposable cameras.  In retrospect and judging by the photos, possibly we should have reconsidered. 

But we did get to play Lord and Lady of the Manor for 24 hours…

...had lots of outside space to run around in…

… and, when the band went home, enjoyed our own Library Disco (a sit down one it seems) with our own choice of music (yep, we took along ye olde CD player).  This was way before Sophie Ellis-Bextor made Kitchen Discos a thing. 

But things have moved on since 2001.  Elopements really do offer total freedom of choice.  You get to do all the fun stuff; dress up, exchange your vows at a location of your choosing - whether that's a field at sunset or candyfloss and a fairground ride - and immediately start celebrating. 

I compiled a few shots of what our lovely area here in Middle Earth, I mean England has to offer; both town…

....and country.

The boring legal formalities can be conducted inexpensively days or weeks beforehand by requesting a Statutory Ceremony at a Register Office (the couple and two witnesses) for around £60.00.  You don't have to have the entire family in tow.  You don't have to worry about seating arrangements and separating warring relatives.  You don't have to endure embarrassing speeches or check that Uncle Bill isn't drinking the bar dry.  That said, if you do decide to take along close family members and friends to witness your unique elopement ceremony, then that's fine too.  It's personal choice.

In the last few months, I've been snapping up any second hand dresses I think might work well for elopements.  Remember, if you're pounding the city streets in mid summer, you might want to wear a simple shift dress and plimsolls.  If you're drifting through a flower meadow, you might want something long and floaty.  I can use these items for social media content to inspire prospective clients...and I do love a flat lay.

Here's one I made earlier.  

I’ve also been practising my film making skills and have created a couple of videos using a free editing app.  Some elopement shoots also incorporate film footage of the event.  It's a very skilled art and I'm not trying to don too many hats but do like to dabble in the film making process and I'm sure no couple would reject an audio visual memento of their day.  It's also evident that much can now be achieved with an iphone, a little know how and some imagination and creativity.  Oh and I might need a gimbal for Christmas!  

My first video location would definitely tick the alternative elopement ceremony venue box, but you’ll be relieved to know that this wasn’t at the forefront of my mind when creating the following edit.  I’ve blogged about this abandoned church before and was desperate to capture a little more of it's unsettling atmosphere on film. (Please forgive the Stranger Things vibe courtesy of the music.  I'm still a little obsessed).  I've set up a little YouTube channel for ease of sharing.

Abandoned Churchyard - YouTube

Music, it turns out, is the biggest challenge in creating these reels.  I assumed that free apps, with their libraries of music clips, would be royalty free, but that didn’t stop my next video being blocked in 72 countries by Instagram!  Surprising, because the footage couldn't have been more benign - riverside scenes of rowers, wild flowers, water ripples...I would've have been surprised if Winnie the Pooh had turned up!  The UK is not one of the countries that took against me, but I can only assume that Instagram's auto generated explanation:  "The rights to the content in this video may belong to someone else" can only mean that they have an issue with the music.  This begs the question, why include music on an app if it's going to fall foul of social media site rules.  

But before we disappear into a 21st century upside down world, I'll leave you with one that did make the grade - a little visit to our beloved Severn Valley Railway.  I know at least Beate will appreciate this!  

Severn Valley Sunday - YouTube

Belfast, Birds, Booty Calls and Bargains

I finally got around to seeing a matinee performance of Belfast last weekend, the Kenneth Branagh directed film based on his childhood during the troubles in Northern Ireland.  

I can't include enough superlatives to describe this film.  It was, in my opinion, a perfect piece of cinema; big, brooding skies over Belfast cityscapes, stunning cinematography, great performances (notably from Ciaran Hinds and Jude Hill), innovative and impactful use of colour in a black and white film steeped in nostalgia and whilst the subject matter was rooted in a dark period in our history, it was treated sensitively and somehow remained largely uplifting.  

My only quibble would be the soundtrack, from Belfast's most famous son, Van Morrison.  Whilst I love many of the man's songs (having been introduced to him by my A Level English teacher, who drip fed me cassette tape compilations of his music), his reputation has been somewhat tarnished for me, given his stance during the pandemic and ill timed anti-restriction protest songs.  Still, you have to separate the art from the artist as they say.

Monday marked Valentine's Day.  We don't do enforced celebrations, so usually just exchange mildly abusive cards.  Plus, our Valentine's Day celebrations are forever reserved for the more momentous occasion of our son's birthday.  The timely arrival of a provisional driving licence through the post on Valentine's morning, could not have been better, especially as we had only applied for it a few days earlier.  

These little crocus bulbs were placed in their vases 10 weeks ago, where they remained, hidden in a darkened outside drawer, devoid of light and regularly topped up with water.  Late last week I brought them inside and into the light and the first blooms appeared on Valentine's Day.  Call it serendipity.  Two miracles of nature!

Outside, after yet another leaf raking session, I noticed that the woodland bulbs we planted are beginning to poke through.  Hopefully this will ensure we have some colour for a little longer.

As is to be expected for this time of year, the garden is displaying remnants of winter's assail and positive signs of new life.  

I always leave the lace cap hydrangea flowers alone as I think they are just as beautiful in their wintry paper form as they are in full bloom.  

The wood pigeons are a permanent fixture in the oak tree and...

...I heard them before I saw them; a group of long tailed tits visited in Wednesday morning's all too brief sunshine.  They are noisy, gregarious little birds.  I just managed to capture this one awaiting its turn on the fat ball.

In other news, Valentine's Day was not lost on this pair of frogs.  

The grapes are doing incredibly well for February!

Following last week's blog post, the Red House Glass Cone shared the post and left a lovely comment on my Twitter feed.  It's nice to feel appreciated, but I genuinely feel that our corner of the Midlands is somewhat under-appreciated.  Inspired by my visit and Lulu's comment, we dug out our inherited collection of Chance handkerchief vases, cleaned them up and here they are, altogether on top of the chest in the front room.

I've scattered them around now, finding complimentary settings for each, including this one, which works very well with the bookshelf Penguin Classics Sherlock Holmes series as a backdrop.

With a seemingly endless succession of storms and low pressure headlines and with work (and a stomach bug for me) taking over this week, we've not travelled far.  

I received a reminder from the producers of Grayson Perry's Art Club of the themes and deadlines for the forthcoming series, having entered last year.  Cue much head scratching and a decision to enter something for the category 'Inside My Head.'  That should scare the living daylights out of them!  Here's a sneaky peak of the work in progress.  I have an idea "inside my head" to transform it into something moving and tangible, but am currently struggling with how best to execute it.  I have a few weeks to figure it all out/completely change course.

I've also indulged in one or two shopping sessions recently and this might be a good week to share a few of my finds.

First up this Dents Baker Boy hat, which usually costs around £30.00.  I paid less than five.

This silky (Polyester) pale pink top by a brand I hadn't heard of (Danish brand Mos Mosh) caught my eye and cost me £4.50, which is a steal when you check out the prices on their website.     

Another lovely cotton top; this time from Parisienne brand Suncoo (£3.50).

A handmade Turkish mug, made in the traditional Ottoman style - £2.99.

Gareth picked up this cheerful vase from a local charity shop.  We love a splash of red and this little West German piece is just perfect atop the fireplace in "nature corner."

We have also added to our meagre vinyl collection.  I love Billie Holiday and after Lulu told me how amazing she sounds on vinyl (she's not wrong), we bagged a couple of albums, together with Led Zeppelin II and an old Stones album.

So, all second hand finds, the most thrilling kind.  

Mercifully, we appear to have dodged the worst of Storm Eunice and the sun has finally broken through, although I'm not sure she's here to stay.  How have you fared? 

In Between Days

Season's Greetings!  Here's a short little post to tide us over until New Year.  

The days in between Christmas and New Year have a strange, otherworldly quality I always think.  Rules and routines go out of the window - I say this with snowball in hand.  Incidentally, anyone who saw the festive edition of Gone Fishing with Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, will know that there is a correct way to drink a snowball.

There's a sense of limbo; a wrong footedness about the last days of December, a time for shedding our proverbial skin and an optimistic openness to some kind of renewal and a bigger, better and altogether brighter new year.  Whatever you're striving for, I hope 2022 comes good.

In the meantime, here's my record of the last week of 2021.

A Christmas Day greeting.  Despite having no enthusiasm for Christmas this year, we did have a really lovely, relaxing few days.  It was freeing to get together with family, safe in the knowledge that we wouldn't be passing on an unwanted viral Christmas gift.  (I have a wonderful Corkscrew Hazel moustache in this photo.  My table decoration went rogue).

Gareth and I had agreed not to buy for each other and instead plan a getaway in the New Year, but we did exchange a couple of token gifts.  Mine included books and a curious bottle of gin liqueur...more of which later.

We have enjoyed lazy, late mornings in front of old films, my particular favourite being the 1957 film Witness for the Prosecution, which had more twists and turns than a bobsleigh run.  

The rain came as predicted, but also transformed the world into a beautiful mirrored surface through which to glimpse the landscape anew.

In Comer Wood (near Bridgnorth, forming part of the National Trust's Dudmaston Estate, which dates back to the Norman Conquest), I took advantage of the dingy low light and practised some abstract and double exposure photography.

We had a leisurely walk in the dying afternoon light.  Still beautiful.  One couple stopped me and asked if there was enough light to photograph.  I said that I tend to favour dark and moody photos in any event, so they wished me a Happy Dark and Moody New Year!

We spotted honeycomb in the hollow of a fallen tree - my first sighting outside in the natural world....

....and had a meet and greet with the resident swans on one of Comer's three pools - charmingly named Wall, Seggy and Brim. 

 In fact, our encounter was so up close and personal, that I had to remain very still with my camera until the swan moved away from me, grunting its irritation at not having been fed.

So, as we bid farewell to 2021, what have we learned?  Well as if I haven't had enough Covid news this year, I've also watched the Christmas lectures by Professor Van Tam.  The good news is that Covid can't last forever.  Apparently, viruses only have so much potential to mutate and throw up surprises before they fizzle out and become entirely manageable.   Hopefully 2022 will be the year of goodbye and good riddance!

I'll leave you with a photo of the aforementioned gin liqueur.  There are a few of these illuminated gin bottles doing the rounds this year, but mine has a dance floor and people and is the closest I will get to a party this New Year's Eve.  I still haven't decided whether I am going to the lounge party this year.  I suspect it will be the same old faces.

Stay safe and see you next year!