Stranger from Paradise

Talking to my neighbour yesterday, I discovered that I went away for one day only to miss the most exciting occurrence for weeks. A peacock was strolling down the road right outside my house!

Fearing that it may cause an accident, he ushered it into the front garden where apparently it stayed quite happily for half an hour or so. He called both the RSPCA and the police, but neither knew what to do - not having had an enquiry of this sort before. Eventually the peacock decided it was time to move on and ducked through the hedge before he could be stopped. He continued on down the middle of the road.........so keep your peeps open.....who knows where he may be by now!

Thankfully he was able to get me this pic whilst it was still in the garden. Nice one Tony!

Photo shoots are hot!!

We are having a mini heat wave in England - a rare event, so I was a little dissappointed yesterday to have to shut all the windows, leave my garden, where I love to spend sunny days and travel to St. Ives near Cambridge to do the photo shoot for my next Magmaker project. I set off early with the car filled to the brim with boxes and totes and every conceivable prop that I might need.
I hadn't done one of these before. I usually just post everything to them and it all magically gets done, but this time they wanted hands and tools in the shots. I don't know what I expected - probably, considering the weather, I had hoped it would be a spacious air conditioned room with a water dispenser close by. Not quite! It was a tiny room in a warehouse! And boy was it hot! And that's before I was sitting next to lights. The previous author's shoots had taken much longer than expected and this was Friday and Brett the cameraman didn't want to spend a sunny weekend working so we went at the fastest pace we knew how. Fortunately I was really organised and had every stage of the projects mocked up, labelled and ready to go, but after a few hours, even my quite obsessive organisational skills seemed to dissappear. Labels seemed to come unstuck in the heat, things got lost under piles of stuff I hadn't pack away properly and we sank into utter chaos.
Brett walked off to get something occasionally and came back with bright quips like " its a fantastic day out there" - just what I needed! Heaven knows how, but we actually managed to finish about 5.45pm. he was able to go home to a BBQ and I could start off on the long journey home, tired and grubby but relieved that we had managed to finish in the one day. I don't think I have ever worked so fast, under such hot conditions, without moaning (too much!!) before.
It was great to get home, let some air into the house and walk around my garden, admiring the plants and veggies and grateful that they had withstood the heat of the day. I couldn't face unpacking the car and restoring order to all the chaos. The one thing I have learned is that photo shoots are HOT!!!

It's been a long day

Most people are enjoying a sunny holiday weekend. I am shut in my study working on a new project for Magmaker. I must keep working - we have to photograph it all on Thursday. I must keep working.....I must keep working......I must keep working. At least I can look at the sunshine. Trouble is I'm looking at the veggie seedlings that want planting out, the tomatoes that need putting in Gro bags and the lawn that need mowing too. I am going to really enjoy being back in the garden as soon as all this work is finished - but for now - it's back to it!!