rambo's

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 January 2022].}

At first glance, this is a pretty simple photograph and perhaps a bit dull to most.

But there's so much in this photograph to make me laugh and so many layers to the scene.

And the splashes of bold primary colours thrown in adds to it.

I was going to use a phrase from one of the many signs in the image as a title, but there were too many to choose from, and I thought it was more fun to let you discover them yourself.

Bonus points to the signwriter/s for the spelling mistakes and inappropriate apostrophe use.

eye on london

Today is my eleventh Londonversary!

To celebrate, here's a selection of photographs I took from the London Eye back in 2012 that I finally edited over the weekend.

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charing cross station

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untitled #19 [london, england, 2012]

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hungerford bridge

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untitled #42 [london, england, 2012]

cracked and blue

A quick post to say happy birthday to my good friend Phil. And happy 21-year friendversary!

I took this photo during our trip to Chichester in September last year. It reminds me of a lot of his urban texture photography.

you've made your bed...

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 January 2022].}

the setting sun

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 8 January 2022].}

Apologies for the radio silence the past week.

In the wee hours of this morning, I caught myself writing, "It's been a long week but a good one."

I can't honestly say I remember the last time I said that.

A long week, yes. But a good week? Nope. No idea when I last said that.

And looking back today, I feel like the last year of "no drama" in my life was 2017 or 2018.

I have some temporary work starting next week, which appears positive. Especially since my mentioning photographing roadkill didn't scare my new colleagues off in my interview. It explained why I can manage the imagery I might have to deal with in this role.

I've had refreshingly honest conversations the past couple of weeks with new and old friends. And while I'm accustomed to that with old friends, it's a good feeling to have that with new/ish friends (and maybe more-than-friends).

After the past few years, I'm optimistic about 2022. But cautiously so. My mantra has become "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst". But, so far, 2022 is treating me well.

I hope it's treating you well too, and I will be back with more new work very soon.

a bed of roses

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 January 2022].}

new lighthouse [dungeness]

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 December 2021].}

untitled #193

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 December 2021].}

a low ebb

2020 had its challenges, but I’m not going to lie. For me, personally, 2021 was a bitch.

I’m not going to expend more energy expanding upon that topic in this post.

I’ve tried to stop giving oxygen to elements in my life that proved to be unhealthy this year. Possibly for the first time in my whole life, that involved cutting ties with an ex-partner.

While this year has been a hard one for many reasons, there have been definite highlights.

And, especially when I was sick with Covid-19 back in July, I was overwhelmingly reminded of the brilliant global support network I have. I’m still gobsmacked by that. To those of you part of that network, both family and friends (and I’m sure you know who you are), I send you my love, and I’m forever grateful for you.

Before things went a bit more than pear-shaped this year, I managed to complete another 100 Day Project starting on 31 January 2021. I had a proper go at sketching every day. And, while I don’t profess to be a master illustrator, even after those 100 days, I created some not so terrible drawings.

The 100 Day Project for the coming year will start on 13 February 2022. I’ve had a few ideas of what I’d like to do, but we’ll see which one I settle upon.

Through my Patreon, I shared writings from my attempts at NaNoWriMo in 2009 and 2016. These are still rough second drafts and are currently only available to patrons.

I shared curated series from my sepulchre work, mushroom photographs, and travel photography.

I started my series of love letters to london, which I’d hoped to complete in 2021, but I will continue into 2022.

This year I took self-portraits for the first time since mid-2018 and have shared some that continue my interior/exterior series or fall into my new wallflowers series. I already have images from the latter to share in the new year.

I won’t bore you with my plant progress this year but suffice to say, my indoor plants fared better than the garden.

And I wrote actual handwritten letters for the first time in decades, inspired (or guilted?) by my friend Phil.

The things I let fall by the wayside this year were reading (beyond news articles of varying lengths) and language studies. Both I want to get back into in 2022.

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untitled #169

In May, I unexpectedly found myself confronted by what is believed to be the oldest tree in London. A beautiful yew, she may be 2,000 years old.

She was more impressive up close than from a distance. I’ll share more close-ups of her beautiful contours in the new year, though I shared one previously.

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In May, there was also a pleasant day out in Hertford. Exploring the source of the New River and wandering along the River Lea. Though there was also a bull charging me for photographing him!

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untitled #58

In October, Scott and I explored the section of the New River (not new, not a river) between Hornsey and Finsbury Park.

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chichester cathedral

At the end of 2020, I wasn’t overly hopeful for much travel this year. I would have settled for a weekend away somewhere within the UK.

Thanks to one of my longest-suffering friends, Phil, I visited Chichester and Bosham (first image in this post),

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untitled #163

Itchenor

arundel cathedral

and Arundel.

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And thanks to a cat-sitting gig for Jo and Becky, I was able to visit Minera,

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Coedpoeth

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untitled #18

and Wrexham.

However, the most unexpected and surprisingly fulfilling element of 2021 for me was becoming a cat-sitter.

Growing up and into my 20s and beyond, I was always a dog person. I couldn’t fathom cats. I would have said honestly at one point that I hated cats. So cat-sitting was not even close to being on my bingo card for 2021.

But really, in retrospect, I think it was more that I didn’t understand cats.

A chance pub quiz with friends led to me becoming a cat-sitter for the first time this year, and it’s something I hope to continue into 2022 and beyond.

There are side bonuses, like exploring new areas of London and beyond and locations for shooting self-portraits. And going “on holiday” but being paid for it.

But I’m not going to lie that the kitteh snuggles are lovely, and winning over an anxious or difficult kitteh brings a particular buzz with it. (Though I would be all good with less claw-to-skin action in demonstrations of affection…)

So, in order of appearance, here are the cool cats I’ve met this year (apologies for the photo quality with some. I hope to get better photos of them in future!)

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shiloh

Shiloh

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susie

Susie

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bao

Bao

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paczi

Paczi

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meg

Meg

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mog

Mog

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sammy

Sammy

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lily

Lily

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poppy

Poppy

I’m not going to chance my hand predicting what 2022 will hold. But I have credit for travel that will hopefully take me back to Wales and Scotland, so that’s a positive start.

Anything else is a bonus.

I hope your 2022 is better than 2021.

untitled #246

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 December 2021].}

someone to pour myself into

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 November 2021].}

in the room we will find each other

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 November 2021].}

a good mixture of nothing and everything is eating up my head alive

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 29 November 2021].}

living on bridlington time

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 December 2021].}

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bridlington time [bridlington, east riding of yorkshire, england, 2017]

gone fishin'

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 December 2021].}

untitled #15

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 December 2021].}

And here's the final season's grievings image for 2021!

I hope you've enjoyed these again this year.

Let me know in the comments if you think I should continue sharing these in December 2022, or if you've had enough of this curated series!

pilgrimage

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 December 2021].}

a collection of dismantled almosts

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 November 2021].}

untitled #27

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 December 2021].}

This image is the 'before' picture of sister.

A good deed was done between captures by my companion in righting the Christmas tree that had fallen during the previous night's heavy rain.

And this is the penultimate season's grievings image for 2021!

a spineless woman in a cage of bones

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 November 2021].}

The first image from a new series of self-portraits I started creating in September.

The series is titled wallflowers.