Thank you for all your kind words for my Mum, and she thanks you too! She's feeling more positive, and is busy clearing up the charred remains from her land. She tells me it will take a few weeks to clear everything, which is a lot of work, yet it's important to take control again. It's a horrible, worrying thing to have happened but at least she is able to move forward in some ways, even if they still don't know why they started the fire, or who is responsible.

Things are pretty chaotic here, as Bambeanies seems to have taken on a pace all of it's own and is running ahead of me. The photo shoots are proving more tricky than I had first thought... Aran is so used to wearing the Hats and having the camera pointed at him that it's lulled me into a false sense of security - other 3 year olds are not quite so relaxed about the whole thing. The 2nd little girl that we had lined up hasn't shown twice and after mild panic, am trying to find a 3rd willing model.

That said, I'm super chuffed with some of the shots I've taken so far! I look at some of them and can't quite believe that I actually took the photos. Would you like to see some of them?

 

We've got a long way to go with the photos - lots more are needed. And I've barely scratched the surface of all the editing - with these shots all I've done is quickly resize them for the web and up the contast by a fraction. Although my Sony Vaio is almost dead on it's legs, it's still new enough to have one of those horrible reflective screens (which every new laptop now seems to have - what have you started, Sony? I'm dreading the day I need to buy a new laptop) which makes images look paler than they are, or at least paler than they appear in print. So I'm saving up the main bulk of the editing to do on Tom's computer, where he has 2 matt, photo friendly screens. Right now all I'm doing is sorting out the wheat from the chaff so I can plan for the next shoots.

The pace at which things are now moving surprises me, and it isn't easy to keep up. Exhaustion is setting in so a few nights off are planned. Stress is also kicking in - if an email comes in that I'm not prepared for or throws me of track I can feel my anxiety rising and dash for the Rescue Remedy to prevent a panic attack!

BUT: I *am* coping. I am able to roll with it, so long as I make myself lists to keep things under control. And that's a really good thing. As much as my brain has seen tidier times, the grey clouds aren't getting the better of me. Twisted Woolly Toppers wouldn't have materialised if I hadn't have put myself on medication, yet this time I'm managing the illness much better. And that cheers me up almost as much as these photos.

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AuthorWoolly Wormhead