Soap's Opera: Photos

Well! I am being sarcastic but it HAS been nearly 3 months since my last post. I am ashamed of myself!

So much has been happening and it's nice to be busy, but it has been a bit mental too!

Very, very sadly my dear uncle Michael passed away a couple of weeks ago, suddenly and unexpectedly. He had been in fine health and had just returned from a trip to Florence (at the age of 84, he was always globe trotting, camping rough in parts of Africa etc, signing up to all sorts of trips abroad). So it was a sudden and terrible shock when this happened and we are still trying to move on from the loss now. Michael's funeral was last Friday, the day of my birthday. Of course I bypassed all birthday thoughts because of the circumstances. It was terribly sad at the crematorium as Michael had requested 2 specific pieces of music to be played. One was a military march and the other was Moon River. Oh how I cried. I have played that song several times since and just weep!!! But Michael would say "oh for goodness sake!" at the thought of a weepy niece, so I'll move on. My cousins were just wonderful in looking after us all and for showing such courage and compassion, amidst their own grief. My cousins's wife was just fantastic cooking for us all and making us feel so at home when they must have so much on their plates.

I was really honoured to be asked to read something at the funeral. I found a lovely poem called 'The Journey Of My Life' and read some words on my mum's behalf too. You can read the poem here as I added it to Davo's blog to mark the one year anniversary since he passed on.
Floyd and I went off on hols to the USA in April and had an amazing time. Probably the best holiday we've ever had! We flew with my mum to LA and stayed with my sister Tamzin and her husband Tom up in their Hollywood hills home. I really did not expect to like LA so much but the Hollywood hills and canyons are spectacular (which if course WOULD make everything seem so nice!). It was like being in Tuscany! Hummingbirds, coyotes, all sorts of other birds etc etc all around, little quiet winding lanes, beautiful wild flowers and trees and of course the view over LA for miles and miles. Floyd and I hired a really cool convertible car and we took mum off up the Malibu coast one day and had a great time. Just miles of deserted white sands and sparkling blue sea! We met friends for lunches, shopping and drinks too. A great 5 days!!

We then drove to Las Vegas and saw the same friends there too for 2 nights partying! We saw the Cirque De Soleil show 'Love' which was set to the soundtrack of The Beatles. It was AMAZING. I cannot express how gobsmacked we were! The show was incredible from start to finish! Our friend had managed to get some of the best seats and we were really lucky. Such a great evening!!! The next night was the Def Leppard show at the Palms hotel which was brilliant....of course.

We drove on to Lake Powell after Vegas because I wanted to photograph a famous slot canyon called Antelope Canyon there. It was right up on the Utah/Arizona border and was a very long drive. Spectacular scenery though. We had to join a tour group to see the canyon though and that was a bit annoying. They are the only people authorised to drive tourists off to the canyon as it's across desert and inside a rock cluster. The other people didn't behave so well so that was frustrating but I got some great pics.

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After that, we drove down to Sedona and stayed a rather plush hotel for the rest of the week. We had a lovely little log cabin by a creek with a nice cracking fire each night, a fantastic award winning restaurant on the hotel grounds, great service etc etc. Lovely. We did a trip to the Grand Canyon by a small Cesna plane from Sedona, a helicopter ride to the bottom of the canyon, a boat ride on the Colorado River, helicopter back up, back in the plane and back to Sedona. Another day we hired a Harley and drove around. And I actually got Floyd to do a 3 hour trail ride on horses! Amazing!!

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I have just realised that I activated a setting on my Blog so that comments need to be authorised by me before being published (as have had some weird spammy ones, which I just delete anyway). So when I logged on today, I had some comments waiting to be published. Ooops. So sorry for those of you who left them!! I shall keep and eye on things more often.

Here is the latest addition to the Denny family, meet Ptolomy (pronounced 'Tolomy' - Tolly for short!!). He is a sweet, gorgeous little working cocker spaniel puppy!! We have been waiting a while now for him to come home and we were finally able to pick him on Sunday. He was so happy from the moment we picked him up and spent the rest of the galloping around the garden pouncing on golf balls, shaking dad's slipper like mad and washing us all several times over! So sweet! Mum said he was running around the garden with a flowerpot over his head yesterday! Here is Tolly:

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And my sister Tamzin has 2 new puppies in LA! One had just arrived when we were visiting! This is Cinnamon:

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Something really exciting and cool has happened, someone saw some of my photos at a friends house and is very interested in getting them 'out there'. I have been asked to put together a portfolio!!! Ooooooooooooooo!!! But am now in denial that any of the pics cut the cloth and can't get my act together in choosing the right pics for the portfolio. I have until the end of next week. I am working hard on it...but I am also my own worst critic. Will have to keep you all posted.

Floyd had his usual set of blood screening tests at the hospital yesterday and all is well! They dont want to see us for 8 months now! Yippeeee!!!!

On May 27th, it was one year since my dear friend Davo passed on. I think about him every single day and especially so at this time of year. I have little conversations with him in my head which I am sure he enjoys and he had promised to sit on the sofa with us when we watched the new series of Lost! Well, we just got to the end of the current series last night! Wonder what Davo makes of it all!!! Hmmm....!

Floyd bought himself a second hand Harley Davidson and now spends all his time either outside drooling on it and wiping away imaginary dust or on eBay buying second hand bits and bobs to customise it. Sigh.

S'all for now.

Love Soph xxxx

Bah. What Summer? Had a lovely hot week last week and now it's flash flooding again?! Boo... I don't think we are going to get a proper Summer this year which is really depressing.

Last Christmas, I bought my mother a huge energy light which simulates natural daylight and sunshine and...well...does what it says on the box, makes you feel energised. People use these to get over jetlag too. My mother gets awful Seasonal Autumnal Depression once the days get shorter in the winter and we lose our daylight.

Anyway, my dad confiscated it (men are like magpies when they see a gadget!) and it now sits in his office unused. I think I need a few sessions with it!!!

I haven't got much news to be honest. I have had my head down and have been working hard recently. Long hours as always. Floyd and I have working on our own little projects. I have years and years of my photographs to go through and archive. I am sorting through which ones I could use for calendars or nature postcards, that kind of thing. But as anyone who loves photography knows, you become your own worst critic and end up binning everything!

I have been adding a few new things to Davo's blog, beautiful poems that he wrote and left me to post after his passing. He had such a wonderful talent of putting his thoughts in to words. Lots of cancer patients or relatives of seriously ill people can instantly relate to them. His blog has so many hits each day now, from all around the world. I wish people would comment more though. It's that natural awkwardness when faced with a cancer patient or in this instant, someone who has passed.

I haven't told many people about my own blog here! Not sure why I haven't really! Maybe I am still just flexing my writing muscles a bit! Heh! Looch and Clare, I think I'll be back on MSN soon!

Floyd's band The Almighty are celebrating their 20th anniversary next year (twenty years!!!) and are likely going to be touring again. Cool!

There was some terrible news all across the British news stations and papers this week. According to the media a Hells Angel was assasinated as he left the Bulldog Bash on Sunday and had just got on to the motorway. He was riding his Harley along with 2 other bikers and and car had been following them (unknown to the bikers). Once the bikers were on the motorway, a passenger from the car shot one of them in the back of the head. He came off his bike and was dead instantly. The whole stretch of motorway had to be closed off. The car got away. Police have launced a manhunt. They are indicating that it was a pre-meditated assassination.

The Bulldog Bash is Europe's biggest biker festival and takes place annually near Stratford Upon Avon. The Almighty have headlined it a few times (last year was the last time they played there). The Hells Angels have been very, very good friends to the band over the years. I know nothing personally about the bad press they get. The guys I met last year and have met in the past through Floyd and the boys have been absolute diamonds. A great, very friendly bunch of bikers. Some of them helped me arrange a very special present for Floyd last year. I hope they get the murderer who did this and also hope that the biker who lost his life is resting in peace.

Talking of Harleys, Floyd and I are thinking of hiring one and touring Route 66 in the US. I'd love to go round the Grand Canyon too! We'll see if that happens!! Would be great I think!

Anyway, if we can't have a real Summer, here are some photos to remind us of what it's like....sniff!!

Soph xx