After the latest bout of Monitor stroppyness on Friday, I trekked over to John Lewis and picked up an 21.4″ wide-screen monitor, For what was quite a reasonable price. The net effect on the study is a lot more desk space now we have got rid of the monster and massive screen real estate - we’ve gone from a fairly respectible 1280*1024 to a quite massive 1920*1080, which is a lot of desktop to fill.

While at work (and for a while at home) I have multi-monitors – having a single wide screen monitor is a different experience. for one you need a nice single picture to fill the screen. Since Saturday both Ruth and I have been looking for excuses not to use our laptops for a while and now we have both dug around and come up with our own 1920×1080 wallpapers for the superwide screen PC we hardly ever use.

Liverpool Skyline

Blossom (Ruth's Desktop)

Compton Bay

They are not quite all 1920*1080 because, well, we’re a bit lazy – but still they are very pretty on a very big screen – which means you will need a big screen to see them properly

All we do now is occasionally disappear upstairs turn the computer on and stare at the desktop. We haven’t worked out how to fill the space on the screen, websites full screen just look a bit lost, and well you need to be able to see the pretty pictures don’t you?

more piccies over here.

Last week I got an email from flickr, apparently I’ve been invited to the getty contributor program – which is as far as i can tell, a way for getty to build their catalogue using my flickr images. I think I am meant to get money, but I’m not expecting a great new income stream.

this one was to small

To be honest – I’m a bit surprised, while people say your photos are nice, you only have to look at the quality of some of the pictures on flickr to realise it’s a lot more than just a well framed shot that make them good. I’m also surprised because I don’t really push the flickr photos, I don’t tag or put photos in to groups – really i use it because it can be stuck onto the blog (although that’s bust today), so to even stumble across the pictures they must have been doing some fairly deep searching. 

Anyway against my better judgement i have signed up to the Getty thing, although the of the six pictures they asked me to include three where rejected because they where to small (i took them with my very old camera), the remaining three are in review, and then I’ve no idea what happens probably nothing, i don’t think strait photography is a way for me to make money, my only hope is through the collage photos, and even then they are a bit of an acquired taste.

It was a lovely wedding. The bride was beautiful, the guest list was full of old friends, the kids coped, and apart from a heart-stopping moment when Henry pushed his high-chair away from the table, and it tipped over backwards, it all went very well (he’s fine – Carys Groves grabbed him, and more or less saved him from cracking his head on the floor – he still hit the floor, but his fall was broken).

On Sunday, we were part of a family service at church. Our church finds family services a bit alien, but I think we pulled it off. We did a dramatic reading of the story of Zacchaeus, and a sort of obstacle race, amongst other things, and still managed to have a ministry time and Serious Meeting With God at the end. Though, the way our church is at the moment, I think that could happen at a Knobbly Knees Contest.

It was heading for 11pm before we got our kids into bed on Saturday (and even then, we left straight after the speeches!), and we couldn’t have a lie-in on Sunday morning, so we took the rest of yesterday very gently indeed!

The result is 127 superlambbananas all over the place, all different, and the one thing that everyone in Liverpool is talking about; and that’s not just the marketing “everyone” it really is. on the train, in work and when ever you see anyone they talk about the superlambbananas.

I did a little lambbanana hunt on Friday and took a load of piccies, and today after lunch we did a drive by lambbanana hunt (for daisy honest). I have yet to see a lambbanana that didn’t have at least one other person taking photos of it. Driving through town is actually quite dangerous because every other car will randomly stop so someone can take a picture.

you can see all of my LambBanana piccies on flickr

HiddenActually, considering it’s May, there still seems to be quite a lot in the way of coughs and colds flying around. Both of my kids have a slightly chesty-sounding cough, which isn’t debilitating them, but is slowing them down a little. And given that the first time Daisy got croup, we’d never heard of anyone having it, outside of Ann of Green Gables, the number of croupy babies and children in our church is starting to become ridiculous. We’re considering starting a support group. Well, not really, but it does seem a bit odd. We have six babies under a year old, and three of them are susceptible to it, which seems a bit high.

HiddenCoughs and colds aside, Daisy and Henry are doing nicely. Henry is trying to talk more, which is lovely. He’ll make attempts at Daddy, Mummy, Daisy and Cat, and he’s signing a little too – bed and drink, particularly. He’s only ten months, so he’s not doing any of it reliably, but you can see he’s starting to get the idea, which is lovely.

Daisy has very few problems communicating. I can remember when she was Henry’s age, being quite excited, and a little impatient, for the day when she could tell me what was in her head. Now, when I have to try and seriously consider questions like, “Mummy, what do you think if me and you and Daddy and Grandmum and Henry were hung on the washing line?” I’m wondering if I was happier when I didn’t know.

HiddenDaisy’s quite a sensitive little flower, in lots of ways. She worries about things. She’s recently joined Tumble Tots, but has so far refused to tolerate me waiting in the other room for her. The thing is, a different mother would put their foot down, but I really can’t see the point. There is no merit, to me, in forcing her to a level of independence that she doesn’t want. When she’s ready, she’ll do it, and in the mean time, I can wait in the corner of the room. She’s only three. It’s not as if I’m planning to make her go to school by herself!

At least one of my friends has been heard to marvel at how I cope with having Daisy all day, every day, when everyone else’s kids are in playgroup or nursery for part of the time. I don’t really see it as coping – I cope with Daisy because I HAVE Daisy. I love her, and even when that doesn’t seem to help me LIKE her very much (and you all have those days, don’t pretend you don’t), I still want her where she feels safe and secure, and capable of behaving like a little madam if she needs to!

HiddenAs it happens, my whole relationship with Daisy has improved markedly, since I realised that I was chronically dehydrated. Not acutely, but chronically, in the sense of not drinking nearly enough, for days and weeks on end. Kevin brought me a glass of cordial with my tea, one night, and I looked at it, and thought, “That’s my first drink today.” And really, that’s not good enough. No coffee, no cold drinks, nothing since I poured milk on my cornflakes at 8am. So I started making a concerted effort to drink more, and almost immediately, I found I was less tired, sluggish, bad-tempered, and overwhelmed by everything. I could get things done! And I didn’t spend my whole day snapping at my poor, innocent three-year-old.

I knew water was important, and I knew I didn’t drink enough, but I was astonished at the difference it made. I thought I just WAS that person. It’s quite a relief to discover that I’m not!

Chirk Castle is the last Edward I castle still lived in today (as you will know if you followed the link above).

[Historians look away now!] Edward I was the King who built loads of castles in North Wales – he spent £80,000 on castles in the 1280′s that’s a lot of money. The Main aim of the castles was to keep the Welsh quiet. They didn’t really think England was all tat great thanks, and much preferred the hilliness of snowdonia and the wild coast that was to become scouse-wales. Edward I (who was the fourth King to be called Edward) was recently voted 94th Greatest Briton – maybe because he conquered Wales, or maybe because he did quite a lot of law reforming.

None of that really tells you about Chirk Castle, except why it was built. As it is the only castle of that time still lived in, it doesn’t really resemble a 700 year old Castle it’s more of a stately home squeezed into a castle. It’s still very interesting and warm. unlike those ruined 700 year old castles. the Café is nice, and there where chickens in the car park.

New Camera

Really for us it was an opportunity for me to try out my new camera. The weather wasn’t great, but still we got some good shots. The zoom is cool; We have some fab shots of animals, the type you think you are going to take with your camera, only to discover you have a dot in the middle of a field of grass; well on my camera you get a full picture of the animal.

The Colours are really good to. It’s not until you get a decent camera do you realise just how over saturated some cameras can make photographs – of course this means I will have to start taking pictures of everything again. for one it’s 8 mega pixel which means good shots can be blown up real big and stuck on the wall.

And tonight I got to see them practicing the spinning people around on cranes which looked quite cool too. I think I am going to go to the opening event, after all it’s not every year that the city you live in is the European Capital of Culture

The Woods at Woolton are really nice, and the walled garden is extremely pleasant Daisy thought the tadpoles where particularly funny. The view from the top of the hill over to Wales is somewhat spectacular. Today isn’t crisp clear but still, I took some photos and as is my want I’ve stuck them together in an arty farty way.