Life update

Life is busy, exams are happening and time not spent in exams is spent flopping on the sofa, cup of tea in hand. 

I am not going to be hosting time for tea this month, much as I would love to! I feel my company isn't the best at the moment. Not stressed really, just very bored of lots of work. 

Thank you for checking in on me and reading. I am popping by your blogs frequently but commenting too has fallen by the wayside along with coherent sentences! I finish next wednesday by which point I hope to be back in the blogging saddle! 

See you on the other side! 

P.S if you were stopping for tea with me what piece of news would you share? Do pop it in the comments so I can be thinking about you! 

Simply a moment

The air is starting to get cool around me as the sky turns from palest blue to deep lilac.

I curl my toes up under the quilt, glad of the extra jumper and the blankets stashed away in the rucksack. 

The hill stretches downwards towards the city. sparkling lights are just starting to appear at the base of the cathedral. It's still and quiet up here. 

The peace only broken by the occasional shout as someone misses the frisbee that is soaring through the air. 

I am sitting on soft blanket with the heavy camera on my knee. I am enjoying the challenge of capturing the dusky light. Twizzling the dial to get the correct settings. playing with focus to capture the scene just so. 

My friend comes over and starts to thread the buttercups through her long plait. I try and capture the beauty of her and the flowers and all of it. 

They are calling to me now, asking me to join in the game. I rise to my feet, intent on capturing it all. I snap a few candid shots. I like the laughter, the details, the knee high flowers. 

It's time to put the camera down, get those numb feet moving. 

This hill. what a beautiful place to be 

Today I am joining in with Alexa and her final 'simply a moment'. Thank you Alexa for such a beautiful meme. It has been wonderful to take part and read so many glorious moments. 

On photographing a week in the life. Project Life week 19

Last Monday I saw the hashtag, 'week in the life' on one of my friends photos on instagram. It was a total whim but I decided to join in with capturing my week and am so glad I did. I kept it simple and tried to take on average three photos a day with a brief description.  Here is what I learnt...

Everything is worth recording.
Because I was following the meme for the week I thought about the photos I could take rather than the photo worthy moments.
I live in such a beautiful city and there are so many things to capture on a regular basis. This little challenge forced me to see the ordinary little details, every single day.

Thinking outside the box.
Whilst there are lots of fun details in my day there is a lot of repetitiveness too. I wanted to record a normal week but that meant thinking up new ways to frame a photo. I loved the challenge of this and definitely got more inventive as the week progressed. There are only so many ways you can photograph porridge for breakfast!

It was the best cure for a week that was dull and ordinary.
I am so glad I did this challenge at this point in term. The days are so dull at the moment because everyone is doing the same thing; sitting in the library and revising! Following the meme made me realise that there is a lot more to my days than just sitting with my books. It was also the perfect cure for mid year blues with project life. Nothing like a ton of photos to get fresh looking pages!

Do you follow any photo challenges? I know some people have done 'day in the life' which I think sounds fun. How do you like to challenge yourself with photography?

Notes on PL:
I had so many photos I kept it simple this week. I just made a simple stamp in photoshop with the day and the time and added it to each photo. On some photos I added a bit of journalling if a story needed to be told.

Life update: 
It is dreaded exam season around here so I am busy writing notes with coloured pens rather than writing/visiting and commenting on your blogs. You can imagine which I would rather be doing! Nevertheless the blog posts on here will keep coming however will be slightly less regular until exam season is over. If you pray, I would love your prayers for what can be a pressured time. Thank you! 

One Photo & Twenty words

Even when he isn't around we find the same things funny. I text him silly book titles. We both laugh.

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My challenge for you today. Find one photo and choose up to twenty words to tell its story. Jot it down and link back here. The link will stay open for a week so you have plenty of time to join in! 

A few words and one photo equal a little bit of magic.

It's challenge time again. Tomorrow is the 9th and once again I am inviting you to join in with three things: 

It doesn't get more simple than that. You really can't go wrong and I promise you the results are always magic. There will be a linky open here for a week so you will have plenty of time to join in.

See you then!

Here right now

And just like that the new term has begun. Second year, term three. Exam season.
I like this term, I like that I can structure my days, write notes with coloured pens and make rad packed lunches.
I dislike the pressure, the repetitiveness of revision and the lack of stories to tell.

This post is a culmination of all of that. A collection of thoughts on a sunny sunday afternoon, that don't have rhyme or reason but need to be documented.

These are eight things that are happening here...

1. Lists. Lists everywhere. Food planning, packed lunch planning, revision timetables, exam timetables, things to do, things not to do. It goes on. I make a list and I feel productive. Oh the irony!

2. Creative ideas. I am never more creative than when I need to work. I decided that this week would be improved with clay. It was a very happy and very messy hour. More to come on that!

3. Layers. We have had 'see your breath' kind of cold, and 'hot enough not to wear a jumper' weather all in one week. I am tackling this with several cardigans and jumpers stashed in bags.

4. On the subject of weather, we have had some crazy downpours this week. I am so glad I stopped to take this photo. Streetlights in the puddles are one of my favourites.

5. Late night talks again. Nothing better than grabbing a cup of tea and snuggling up in my little attic room for a chat.

6. Finding the right work space. I am not very good at working at home so I find different places around the city. All have pros and cons and it's good to try and work in a few different spaces to keep from getting bored.

7. Project life. I need to get a few posts up on the blog but I am really enjoying the creative freedom with this project this year. I feel like I have found my style for now.

8. Feeling very lucky to live in this city. My daily walk looks like this.

This is what has been happening here, what does your 'right now' look like?

Living below the line

I'm doing something tough this week.
My three housemates and I are trying to live below the poverty line. From Monday to Friday we have just £1 each to spend on food each day. For the four of us that is just £20 for three meals a day. 
It's day three and it is hard. This is what i've learnt.

I take food for granted. 
"i''m feeling peckish, oh i'll just grab a chocolate bar/cup of tea/biscuit/packet of crisps."
I don't even really think about it. Obviously I am a student so the budget isn't large but I am still lucky enough to know that if i'm hungry I can go and buy something without too much concern.
This week I can't just do that. I have a set amount of food each day and once it's gone, well it's gone.

Lack of food has consequences. 
I knew I would be hungry this week but I didn't expect to feel tired, have not much energy and be snappy. £1 only gets you so much food so we have lots of carbs and starch but there is a lack of vegetables and fruit. Not having much to spend on food means I am not very healthy too.
Below is our food for four of us for the week...

I am so very blessed
For me this is five days. It is five days of feeling hungry. For 1.2 billion people in the world this is a day to day reality. I have had a very very small taste of what that must be like. It's not fun. I am so grateful I have had the opportunity to get an education, study for a job and a family who can support me.

I don't like asking for things on this blog but part of why I am trying to live below the line is to raise awareness that extreme poverty isn't right. If you would like to find out more about live below the line click here. As part of my week I am raising money for Tearfund, a charity who go to the areas of greatest need helping the people there build a livelihood for themselves, see their own potential and overcome poverty. You can find out more about Tearfund here. 

If you feel able, please think today about what you eat, where it comes from and others who don't have enough to get by. If you would like you can sponsor me here. Thank you.

Thank you to several of you who have sponsored me already. I am so very grateful.