My birthday!

It's my birthday today. I am now 48. That sounds awfully near to 50 for my liking! I had a fab new camera from DH. A Nikon D70s, a fabby dabby Digi SLR. Here are some photos I have taken today. A couple of Merlin in the garden. Our old film camera couldn't cope with the black fur, but digital shows every single hair! And the grass is such a natural colour.




















Hellebore foetidus (I think!) in the garden, taken on the macro setting













Here' the box!!! Full of goodies, and I have a fab camera bag too!











Here's the man himself, reading the quick guide. Mum and Dad came round this afternoon, so we have sat in the lounge for ages today. After they went I surfed the photography forum on Uks, and found some really helpful things, such as photoblogs, and challenges. I am going to try and spend some time this week to find a good one or two to stick with. What I'd like is a photoblog with perhaps a weekly challenge, with tips.

A long shot of the garden from the back door of the conservatory. It looks good from here doesn't it?

Quite a restful day, doing different things, just what a birthday should be. Other presents: from Lucy some special oil and vinegar, from Nicholas a Richard Ashcroft CD (which is really fab), from Mum and Dad a crop a dile (cuts through chipboard like butter, but I haven't mastered eyelet setting yet!) From Angela, some lovely body lotion, from Sarah, 2 storage boxes, hand soap and exfoliating gloves! From Pam, coriander seeds, from Lorraine 3 polyanthus plants. And I had a whole load of birthday ATCs and cards from the Tandites (Tanda stamps forum), they are gorgeous. I'll photograph them tomorrow and upload.