A little bit of music and some great photography

As a very proud wife, I reserve the right to be totally biased in my praise of William Adams Photography! The opportunities that are available to photographers in the UK (although very slim) are still greater than those back home, and one of the reasons we considered moving here. My husband is getting the chance to combine his passion for photography with his love of rock music. This does mean evenings alone as he attends gigs; but I must admit I enjoy the next morning when I get to look through all the photos before anyone else has seen them! It’s also really wonderful to watch him following his dreams!

He’s had the chance to photograph some really excellent bands. One of which is London based Indie rock band, The Genies. The band is made up of singer/song writer Steve Clarke, bass player Mattia Milan, lead guitarist Rob Payne, keyboard player Jimi Yates and drummer Ryan Pincott. They have been approached by a world renowned producer who has worked with some well known names, producing albums which have reached number 1 in the UK charts. They’ve got a really great sound and will be giving away a singed copy of their debut album to a very lucky person. Click HERE if you want more details. 

 

He’s also shot Don Gallardo and How Far West from Nashville Tennessee. Will described them as “…guitar driven Southern Blues with a good shot of rock thrown in for good measure. The songs are toe tappingly good and the harmonies sent shivers up my spine.” They are comprised of Don Gallardo on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, bass guitarist & BGV Travis Stoke, lead guitarist and BGV Clint Maine and Andrew Squire on drums. 

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room was a tough subject to tackle. Emma Donaghue, however, manages to do this excellently. We start the story on Jacks 5^th birthday. He was born in an 11 foot by 11 foot room, which is the only world he has ever known. He lives with his Ma and his ‘friends’ Rug, TV, Wardrobe and Plant; as his mother has given characters to each of the objects in the room. Room is the only reality that Jack has ever experienced, and the things he sees on TV like other boys and girls and the outside world are not actually real to him. Jack is unaware of the true horror of his situation. Ma protects him from their captor Old Nick, who to Jack is just the man that brings them food and Sunday treats. Jack has never seen Old Nick as he is always instructed to hide inside the wardrobe when Old Nick visits. This world is shown to us through the eyes of this 5 year old boy, and Emma decides to tell this story in his voice. The reader is fully aware of what is going on even though Jack does not grasp the tragic reality of his world. This makes it a lot easier for the reader to digest such a difficult subject.
When, through various circumstances, Jack eventually does see ‘Outside’; it is a real mind trip to discover the world for the first time through the eyes of this 5 year old boy. Donaghue takes us on a journey of discovery with Jack. I did battle at times to read the 5 year olds language, and it was not an enjoyable book to get totally lost in. But it is skillfully written and the story is told in a refreshing way.

A truly exciting journey.

My husband would probably describe me as a bit of a control freak. I like to have a plan. I like to have a plan B in case the first one doesn’t work out. I often wish that God would give me the blue print for the next 5 years or so, just so I know that everything is going to turn out ok and all my worries are unfounded. He obviously doesn’t work this way; and trusting him is sometimes the hardest thing to do. I want to sort everything out myself because He seems to be M.I.A a lot of the time. It’s only when I look back over events that I can see His hand in everything; He’s somewhere in the background, directing everything.

Lately however He has been answering our needs in very specific detail. From my job to the exact amount of money we needed for Wills new camera. We have not even been specifically praying for these things; we have only been talking to each other, discussing what would be nice to have or what we need to do eventually. It has become incredibly evident to me that He does listen to us, even to our thoughts and everyday conversations. He cares about us and every detail of our lives. I don’t know what’s coming; I don’t know what the next step in the plan is, but I do know that He is there and that this is the most exciting journey we can go on, trusting that whatever happens He will be there no matter what. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but He does.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it. . .

I had a fun evening out last night, which ended up feeling a little cloak-and-dagger. An exchange was to take place, at a certain location with an unknown contact. The ‘contact’ was to meet our friend in Wimbledon to sell him a keyboard at 8:30. As the evening progressed, and 8:30 was now a distant memory, we became more skeptical of this stranger’s intentions. He had smsed to ask if he could be met at a different location. We immediately thought this sounded a little suspicious and our friend insisted he stick to the original arrangements. By the time 10:30 rolled around, we had surmised that this man didn’t want to sell a keyboard, but might very well use Gumtree to lure his victims with the promise of shiny keyboards only to end their lives outside the Hand and Racquet in Wimbledon. When a sms finally came at 10:30 which simply read ‘I’m outside’, the boys bravely decided to go outside and investigate while the girls remained inside to keep away from the pending danger. What we were met with, to our relief, was a rather cute looking British lad with well styled hair from Southend-on-sea. And most importantly, he actually did have a keyboard to sell. He ended up staying for a drink, and telling us how he was also a little apprehensive about the meeting, expecting to be confronted by a shady character with ill intentions.
I’m glad to say that our little adventure ended quite well, with our friend totally smitten with his new toy; and no one’s lives were taken at the hands of the mysterious Gumtree killer.

I don’t wish ill on her, just a very irritating day. . . . .

It may seem that I have a vengeful nature, but as I said, I do not want some sort of tragedy to befall her, only a slightly more irritating day than usual; like missing her train, or stepping into a rather muddy puddle on her way to work.

Perhaps I should explain…..

My hubby and I have been casually browsing possible new places to live. Since we are not in a hurry to move I have allowed myself to be a little more fussy; and so we haven’t found anything that we love yet…that is until last night. Happy to house share, we went to meet a couple that were renting out a room in their home. Viewing a shared accommodation always feels like going for a job interview. You have half an hour to convince strangers that you’re a wonderful person with whom they would love to live. I was therefore feeling apprehensive before we met them, but my feelings were soon displaced as I walked into the house. The house was perfect, spacious with plenty of storage, clean, an easy commute to work; it even had a garden. We got on well with the couple and the place would be available in a month as that was when the other tenant would be moving out. It was all sounding so perfect. We left quite assured that the place would offered to us, and went for a celebratory dinner to McDonalds (or more accurately it was almost 8 o’clock at night, we were starving and McDonalds was right there).

At about 9pm we received an email from the landlady informing us that we would have been welcome to move in; however the current tenant had had a change of heart and wasn’t sure when, or if, she was going to move out. We would be the first to know if the situation changed.

Deflated from the news, we went to bed.

And that is why I wished said tenant a rather irritating day. However, I believe karma came knocking on my door as it was I who had the irritating day. Let’s just say that the transport system and I were not the best of friends.
And so our casual search is continuing. But I can’t help but wonder if all unsuccessful candidates were told the same story of the indecisive tenant as a way to soften the blow of rejection?

Nah……they loved us! We’re wonderful people.

Goodbye Summer

Autumn is sneaking up on us. I can’t say I’m too upset by this as I loved London in winter; and am hoping it will snow again this year! Might I be the only person with this wish?

However, yesterday was a positively balmy 24 degrees and most of England was taking advantage of the last days of summer. We went across the road to Clapham Common which was brimful with happy sun worshipers. There were the young families, the group of ladies doing a team building exercise with the well built ‘trainer’, the lads playing cricket with their tops off trying to impress the group of girls close by, the group of girls totally oblivious to the young men as they were caught up in girly natter, and my hubby and me with a bottle of wine and our books; secretly people watching instead of reading. It was a lovely day; although I feel we really must invest in a picnic blanket as rocking up to the park with my bright pink bath towel just looks uncool…..

Bank Holiday Bliss

One thing I do miss about back home is the amount of public holidays we get blessed with. April is practically a right off due to all the days off work….

Britain seems to be a little more frugal with its holidays. However this does result in a heightened sense of excitement when one finally does come around. August 29^th bank holiday weekend saw a huge exodus from London to relaxing country side getaways.
We decided to visit a friend in Wales. Some may remember that Wales is where we started our little adventure. It was slightly strange returning to the same house we spent those first 2 months in. The last time we were there I was stressed beyond belief; homeless, jobless and with no idea what we were going to do. It was nice to return knowing we had a home to go back to as well as my awesome new job!

We had a lovely time; we ate good food, spent time with a good friend and even visited the beach, albeit in long pants and a jersey!!!!

Here I am enjoying the lovely sea view!