Castles and Churches and Really Cool Buildings

Well, February is the month of love, they say, and what's more fairy-tale like than a good old-fashioned castle?

Like St. Andrew's Castle, situated at the edge of the sea.

...or Castle Kennedy, down in South Ayrshire.

Airth Castle (shown to best advantage with a bride and groom in front of it!)

I like going onto the isles, still part of Scotland and yet their own little world. Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran...

...Lochranza Castle, once a hunting lodge for Scottish kings, back into the 14th century. I found a different king claiming ownership when I visited...


And there's more, moving down south to England, with the famous 'Harry Potter Castle' (Alnwick Castle, used in the first two Harry Potter films).


And once I got started finding castle pictures, I couldn't stop there. Because some buildings in the world are fairy-tale romantic even if they aren't castles.

Like Bath Abbey...

...and Westminster Abbey...


...and St Paul's Cathedral in spring.


From London, it's only a short flight to the European mainland. I have a soft spot for the Tour Eiffel in Paris...

...the Trevi Fountain in Rome...

...and, my personal favourite, the Colosseum. Which is best viewed not only from the outside...

...but also the inside.


There's never enough room to tell all the stories in each of these buildings. Some beautiful, some not so much. But I hope you enjoyed at least one or two 'aww' or 'aaaah' moments in these old and beautiful buildings.

Portraits In The Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but taking photos is so delightful...

...so since it's so beautiful...
...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

These last few weeks we've had more snow than we usually get at Christmas, so a few people have taken advantage of it by requesting some photo shoots! I had a brilliant time, and here are the results of our labours.



This is a family photo shoot that became very festive! We had santa hats, Christmas stockings...


...and a rogue elf.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas...okay, new year then! It still feels like Christmas to me!

Mary Zalesny Mulligan, 1914-2009

Today is the 7th of December. That means it's Pearl Harbour Day, and 18 days to Christmas Day, and my grandmother's birthday.

Recently, Grams went to be with her Saviour (and mine! - so I rejoice that I will see her again soon). I was in the States to attend her memorial service, and I'd like to honour her by sharing a few photographs with you of this amazing woman.

(Naturally, I didn't take any of these, except the last one!)

She was an airline stewardess...


...a beautiful airline stewardess!!...(this is the photo she sent my grandfather while they were writing letters. Needless to say, he sent back a wedding ring.)


She was a nurse...
...the wife of another amazing person, the irrepressible Bill Mulligan...

...and an example and encouragement to me.


I am missing her today.

Mary Zalesny Mulligan - 7 December 1914 to 2 October 2009

Sunshine On My Shoulders

Here's the second of the family shoots I did recently. This one was in Phoenix, Arizona (USA!) - where the only challenge weather-wise is, which spot of shade should we choose?

Because in a place where the sun comes out every day, you just can't go wrong with a little bit of laughter...

...some silliness...
...a precious moment or two...
...and just plain cuteness.


...It all adds up to one happy family!

Thanks, guys, for a great day in the sun!

Best Days Of Our Lives

This month I had the privilege of doing several family photo shoots in the good ol' US of A! This first shoot was done in Sedona, Arizona.

Sometimes everything just works out perfectly - the lighting...

...the grins on the little faces...


...the relaxed atmosphere...

...and the love.


Now that's a beautiful family!

(I'm sure glad I'm related to them!)

KISS wedding albums

My supplier for wedding albums, KISS (because they Keep It Simple,...) recently delivered some mini-albums for me. I immediately rang up my clients and they came rushing over to pick them up, and here is Carol and Mark's response to their little mini-album! (They were so excited we had to prepare an impromptu video.)



Carol and Mark are now excitedly awaiting their large 10x10 album and a few other mini albums for family and friends!

Dead Good Chocolate Cake

Now, lest you think I'm trying to create a parody on 'death by chocolate', let me educate you.

The use of the word 'dead' in Scotland may be a little different than you are used to. It's not a verb, it's an adjective. You can be dead right, or dead wrong, or something can be dead on, or dead awful, or dead good. When they completely re-did the Glasgow Prestwick airport, the phrase they splashed all over the front of the buildings was 'Pure Dead Brilliant'. (We still think they should have left off the 'brilliant' bit and that would have been about right, but that's another blog post.)

So when I say this chocolate cake is dead good, I mean it in the best sense of the word.

Yes, you will probably add to your daily calorie limit simply by starting the cooking process - as I found, you don't want to leave a mess at the edge of the cooking bowl.

...But don't worry, you'll practically complete a workout stirring everything up...

...checking the chocolate again (you've added a few items at this stage, so you will want to confirm that the dead goodness has not become a dead disaster)...

...and for a few moments you will have no temptation at all, as you'll be dead busy layering the cakes,

....pouring the chocolate onto the cakes...

...and surveying your finished work.

Then there's the difficult task of serving up a piece...

...but from this point on I can't help you.

Because as this shot will show you, it was dead hard to make sure I had a clear picture - this little bite kept moving towards my mouth.

But I can assure you, it lived up to its name. For the dead good recipe, click here.