Wink

It's harder than it looks when you're four, and one eye is invariably easier than the other.

Big sister at a party down at Dynamic Earth so me and my youngest were left to roam for a couple of hours. My planned walk around the crags was curtailed (by myself) quite quickly, absolutely freezing, headed back down to ground level and found a wall to sit on for a quick packed lunch before heading to the warmth of The Queens Gallery Cafe for coffee and cake. It's not that often these days that it's just me and M having some quality indoor cafe time but we really should do it more often. Had a lovely time chatting and sketching each other on napkins.

Anyone reading this journal will know that I've had a project on the go the last two or three weeks to save up for a DSLR. I actually had the money to buy one all along, but I reckoned I should really earn it rather than just spending a decent chunk of cash on myself. Maybe it's my Northern upbringing and my roots betraying me, and at times it felt like saving up pocket money when I was a kid, but it's all been strangely satisfying counting those fivers here and tenners there and seeing them mount up to the target amount. Made a purchase last night of a used Nikon D80 body and, whilst I'm not going to significantly change the style of photographs or subject matter or expect them suddenly to become masterpieces, I am expecting to have a lot of fun and satisfaction with it. Here's hoping. Tuesday, Wednesday, we'll see...

Quick bit of music to finish with. I claimed in this journal recently that my favourite track of last year was a particular James Blake effort (this one actually , and I still stand by that choice), but if I had a second favourite it would be something that is very unsubtle, loud, overblown and vaguely preposterous with thunderous bass. I love it all the same. It's like a punch to the gut. With added heavenly host.