Home Stuff: Sky Over Notts

In our last student house, which happened to be at the top of a hill, myself and Reen lived on the top floor and had a lovely view of much of Nottingham. One of the nights, the sky glowed a magnificent orange which led to me running to get my camera from my room to dangle it out of Reen’s bedroom window for a good shot!

I rather like the dark shadowy buildings beneath the radiant evening sky, I think it really sets it off. Anyway, just thought I’d quickly share these few photos.

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Adventures of ReenRah: Waseley Hills Walk

Though most of the photos taken on this walk were of the dogs, which you can see here, I did get a few photos of the walk itself. The Waseley Hills are quite large, and it seems that not many people in Birmingham have actually been there: the Lickey Hills nearby are far more popular.

In the Waseleys there is a play area, if you wander over to the Visitors Centre, where there is also a little cafe. But we didn’t stray over that way on our walk: we stayed among the hills, the wild flowers and the wide open space.

As we usually do on walks with the dogs, we came across some ragwort. I can’t remember if I’d already issued a warning on ragwort before, but basically don’t touch it or let your dogs/any other animals touch it: it’s poisonous!

Whilst Reen was throwing (very badly, she has appalling aim and managed to lose the ball at some point, poor Watson was frantic) balls for the boys, I decided to take a couple of (not that brilliant I have to say) photos of the view.

The fields were also looking rather pretty, and when I decided to look up with my camera, and not just down as I usually do, I managed to catch a little seagull surfing the winds above us.

We then reached some little woods, and kept on walking past them.

And we came upon rather suddenly a herd of cows! With Reen looking after the doodles, I decided to take a photo of a particular cow who had decided to have a good itch on an information sign for visitors!

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Pups at the Waseley Hills

Part 1

The Waseley Hills on the outskirts of Birmingham, England, are a great place to go for a wander, be it by yourself or with a pup (or two or three or more if you’re another crazy dog lady!).

 

By the time our car pulled up to the car park, the puppies’ whines were filling our ears and they were jumping at the windows. We let them out and Sherlock immediately went sniffing around while Watson stopped and watched us intently, waiting for a tennis ball to appear for him to chase. Luckily, we had one with us and Watson was content.

(Also note Watson’s gorgeous ginger moustache that he’s acquired as he’s grown up).

Sherlock immediately got to rolling in every foul smelling thing he could find, as per usual.

And could only be distracted from this task for two things: treats and stealing the ball off Watson. But mostly just treats. Look at how good he can be when he realises he can get food out of it:

Reen was dutifully throwing the ball for Watson meanwhile, though occasionally Sherlock decided that he wanted the ball too and joined in the play.

And Sherlock even managed to get the ball as well, and in such circumstances he gets very possessive!

But Watson is super quick and usually beats Sherlock to the ball, though that doesn’t stop Sherlock chasing Watson for the prize even after he’s lost it.

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Home Happenings: Mary Poppins

A few weeks ago at my sister’s school, they had this big event that required her year group to dress up as film characters and Ems decided to go as Mary Poppins. The event was called “House Festival” and was a battle between the school’s different housegroups (Meriden, Cartland, Stratford, Warwick, Priory and Lichfield) to get the most points in various competitions held around the school, all run and organised by Ems and her classmates. She assembled her whole outfit from charity shops and hand painted the house symbol for Meriden on her umbrella. She looked so cute and kooky I just had to take some snaps.

Adventures of ReenEmRah: Wollaton Hall and Park

The New Faces of Batman

As we were showing Em around Wollaton Hall for the first time, we told her about the place’s connection with batman; already hinted by the batman logos scattered across the park. Wollaton Hall was in fact used as the setting for Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises film in 2011. The hall itself is in reality only five miles from the village of Gotham, where Batman’s Gotham City takes its name from.

Needless to say, the hall likes to remind visitors of its famous role in this popular film and inside the hall, as well as many Batman-related merch that you can buy, to Em and Reen’s delight there was also a dress up box with batman-esque capes and a cardboard cutout of the hero himself. Of course, as mature adults we smiled at the box and moved on, learning about the unique and interesting history of Wollaton Hall.

Well, we did do that eventually… But only after Em and Reen had bounded up to the dressing up box and cloaked themselves in the batcapes!

Hurrah for immaturity!

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Adventures of ReenRah: Isle of Mann

Part 4

On our first walk around the beautiful village of Port St Mary in the Isle of Mann, just hours after we’d stumbled off the plane, already in awe from the scenery we’d spotted through the plane’s tiny windows, the island still impressed us. As I said to Reen on this first walk (and what later proved to be true our entire stay); “The reason I am not sure what to photograph is that there is too much I could, rather than too little!”. I had hoped to use the trip to improve my (rather limited, basic and amateur) photography skills, so it was a welcome revelation that we’d come to such a stunning place.

But as I was absorbed in all the tiny details of the place, Reen gently reminded me that photos of the whole would also look stunning (and though she didn’t say it, yet another thing I needed and need to improve on!).

However, I must admit, I quickly became entranced by details, especially since I’d only very recently discovered the benefits of the macro setting (I did tell you I was amateur)!

 

I also decided to play around with focus and ended up with two photos I was happy with of the same object.

The Isle of Mann is the sort of place where it doesn’t matter which direction you look: up to the sky or out across the sea or fields or down below your feet. There is always something interesting. And for myself and Reen, who hail from English cities in the Midlands, being by the sea was a welcome change of scenery.

However, I am one of the clumsiest people you will ever meet, and in my twenty years on this Earth have racked up a reputation with my family and friends for having a certain fondness for bodies of water. And sure enough, just a couple of hours after stepping off that plane, I managed to slip on a wet rock and dip my leg into a large swathe of seaweed! Bloody brilliant.

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