Job news!

He has a job! A temporary agency job, but a job! It's an on-going contract, starts at 4.30 (with a half hour drive first) but we're now hoping this will see us through until the DVLA know how to re-issue his HGV licence. The money isn't brilliant compared to what he used to earn - barely above the legal minimum, but it's more than he's been getting in JSA (erm, nothing!) so result. At last! Such a relief. :-D *BIG cheesy grin* In fact HUGE cheesy grin. So why am I not jumping for joy too? Relief at something does very strange things to your mind/stomach, doesn't it?
Off shopping now to get him some boots, clothes and lunches.
Speak soon.
xxxx

ETA: Except that "on-going contract" doesn't really mean on-going.... :-( What it does mean is that the agency has an on-going contract to supply drivers when the company need them; and that the need can change, not on a weekly or even daily basis, but seemingly hourly! Ah well. R did a days work. He said it was hard (after a year of not going out to work) but that he enjoyed it. The agency called about 6.45 pm to say the company wanted him back. They then called about 9.00pm to say it was cancelled! It now seems that the agency called at 4.45am - to say they wanted him after all maybe? Who knows! We didn't hear the phone. xx

I lurve Autumn

No photo's, no long rambling speeches. Just saying! :-D
xx

Playing with camera settings

I've been reading Shimelle's camera school and finally taken my camera settings out of Automatic. It's a bridge Fuji 2750 that was bought for DH but that I've "stolen" because of the scratch on my camera lens. I'm loving it...

Here's what I took over the weekend:

First is the by-wash on the canal. The moving water has always stumped me and been out of focus. The settings on this were ISO 100 and aperture set at 9.00.

And then this one. The settings were at ISO 400, aperture 4.8

I'm so pleased with this. Once I really get used to using the settings I hoping it will look even better.
And then these:

The settings here were: ISO 64 and aperture 3.1
Then this one which is too dark (there was one that I couldn't even see the flower........ ISO was 100 and aperture was 6.4.

And finally this one where the aim was to get the raindrop in focus and the background out of focus - almost achieved! :-D The closest I've ever got so I'm delighted with this - wonder how far I can enlarge this? The settings were: ISO 64 and aperture 3.1 which, as I'm sure you've noticed, are the same as the first one and I think my other problem is that my hands have a tendency to shake when I'm taking photos, if I have nothing to rest on. I don't know what the answer is. I've thought, obviously, about a tripod, but don't want to have to cart one around with me everywhere; although you can get smaller ones I don't think I'd get some of the spontaneous photos if I had to set up a tripod first. I do try to tuck my elbows in to my body and it does seem to help a little. I know I have a long way to go yet, but do feel that I am finally getting there. It's odd because when we used a film SLR camera I had no problems!
I've taken a fair number of photos this week and beginning to feel like I need to scrap some of these, so who knows! I may even have some crafting to share next week!
I've been feeling more positive the last few days. Nothing in particular has changed, so I don't know what's happened to me, but I'm trying to find something positive in every day. Even if it's something as simple as a visitor thanking me - it's positive, isn't it? It's a good thing? It's not life changing on it's own, but added together over the week it can only be good?
Thanks for dropping by. Please feel free to leave a comment?
Speak soon. Jude.x

Just sharing a couple of photographs

Morning
Really need to be upstairs getting ready for work, but wanted to share these photos with you. After months of hardly any rain, in what is supposedly the coldest summer since 1993, although I remember quite a few days where it's been so hot when I got in the car I've had to open all the windows and wait for the car to cool down before I could bear to drive home, we finally had rain. This is memorable because the canal was getting very short of water; not helped by kids opening the paddles on the lock gates and emptying both the Tapton pound and the following week, doing the same at the Bluebank pound! We have them on CCTV, the EA told police they committed some offence or other, but we still don't hold out any hope of them ever being caught! :-(

Anyway! Here's a photo from the day after a whole night of heavy rain. There had been nothing over this by-wash for about three weeks, so we were almost jumping for joy at this sight!

And then on Tuesday night DS2 came down wanting the camera.. He went outside and took this photo. I was almost expecting Will Smith to come walking down the road dragging an alien in a parachute! Look at that cloud. Doesn't it remind you of "Independence Day" just before the alien space ship appears from the cloud? LOL Wishful thinking maybe? :-D Unfortunately yesterdays weather didn't bear out the old saying "Red sky at night....." Yesterday was very dull and overcast!
Anyway. Must go and get ready for work. Thanks for looking. Speak soon
Jude.x