Apologies for those of you, if any, who are wondering where my March update has been. It’s been a bit of a hectic month to say the least.
The wedding season has swiftly descended and the weekends are rapidly disappearing in a swirl of c
onfetti.
March has been a month of ups and 
downs. Spring is in the air and things are changing. We are moving house, which is well overdue as our spare room is currently full of lights, stands, prints and all the other photographic paraphernalia required to keep a self employed photographer ticking over. So needless to say, we hav
en’t had many guests to stay overnight.
The new place has much more room and potential for a studio, so Kristin’s patience will have been well worthwhile.
The house has other very attractive qualities. There is a dairy farm on one side, a hall on the other and miles of lush Cheshire countryside as far as the eye can see.......perfect! What better place to live and work. So expect more landscape photography.
So what else? Nelson, one of our dogs, has passed his test to become a therapy pet. I have begun my beekeeping course and am expecting to pick up my first swarm towards the end of May. So expect some bee photos.
I am playing possibly my last game of rugby on Thursday the 15th April. Back at my old club, Wilmslow RUFC, they are organising a charity game in aid of the brother in law of one of my old playing chums who suffers from Motor Neurone Disease. The game is against the Greater Manchester Police and there has been a great deal of support so far, with as much effort being put into raising money for this extremely worthwhile cause. Families are welcome and there will be a raffle and the police panda mascot for the kids at the game, which is an evening kick off, probably around 7.00pm.
On a sadder note, and the reason for my delayed post, I lost a good friend of mine in March. Tommy Blake was tragically killed in a car accident on Sunday 28th March. To add to his family’s heartache, Tommy was only 20 years old and had unbelievably lost his brother and also very close friend of mine, Scott, in a car accident in 2003. Tommy had completed the Wilmslow half marathon that day and had been running for another worthy cause. He was raising money in aid of Friends of PICU, who helped Ella Jayne Murray through the short and testing few months she had with us before she sadly passed in January 2009.
We are all dealt cruel blows by life and what makes us who we are is how we deal with these events. Every loss is met with stories of perseverance and courage and spurs those surrounding to ensure that the memories live on and that others may not have to endure the same anguish.
In memory of Tommy, Scott and little EJ, a few of us will be running the Wilmslow half marathon next year to raise money for the Southampton Paediatric Care Unit. I’m not built for distance running by any stretch of the imagination, but what better excuse to shake off those unwanted pounds? Agreed, it’s hardly mount Everest, but we can’t think of a better or more fitting way to remember Tommy and his endeavours to raise money for a few poorly young children and their families?
So this month’s post shows a little of what I’ve been up to, plus a couple of pictures of Tommy.
