What a great weekend we had. Elsie and I packed our bags and headed off in the Z to our little piece of Welsh heaven.  Whilst I never really saw myself owning a static caravan, I also never really saw myself having 3 dogs!  Once you get to this number, holidays abroad are pretty restrictive, mostly on cost. But also because I literally hate being away from my babies.  I’m not ashamed to admit, especially Elsie Baba. The older girls have always been daddy’s girls, then Elsie came along and I had a mummy’s girl.  The others LOVE me, but Elsie is my soulmate. 

So we bought a touring caravan. We thought it would be nice to travel around with the dogs and see some nice places.  What actually happened was that the dogs took a day or so to settle, rendering short trips impossible, or at least very stressful.  So we sited it on our favourite site, Erwbarfe Farm, nr Aberystwyth (my absolute favourite town, anywhere) and rather enjoyed escaping for short breaks, with the girls more familiar and settling quickly.  It helped that so many caravan owners were friendly and many had dogs, too. 

As with so many static owners who had upgraded from a tourer, it was only a matter of time before we also took that step.  And we’ve never been happier. 

But enough about that for now (believe me, I will be boring you shitless with befores and afters!), back to the weekend just gone. 

So we arrived late Friday and quickly got set up then out for a good stomp. It’s a 2.5 hour journey and Elsie isn’t a fan of car travel.  She endures it because she loves being with me. Bless.  As usual, we didn’t have a plan, we just wanted to walk and walk and chill and meet old and new human and doggie friends.  And let’s not forget the Silence of the Rams 😳

Here are a few photos for you. Hope you like x

{Just before she found some juicy sheep poop. And ate it.}

  
{The glorious view, and peace.}

  

{The Rams were not happy.}

   

{Not. Happy. At. All. }

 
{Unphased, we chilled on our patio.}

  

{Before retiring to our caravan to watch TV and practice our tricks. We need more practice.}

   

Til next time xx

OK so the title is a nod to my friend Maggie. She used to work beside me back in my corporate days and has a very dry sense of humour. She had a beautiful diamond ring on her right hand, she’d lean over, point it at me and say, wanna see my big shiny ring?  Made me die every single time. Because childish. 😂

My own rings are 12 years old (I literally have no idea where the hell that time went) and being white gold were starting to look really scruffy. I’d spotted a cute wee eternity ring (yes, of COURSE he got me it 💍) and when I tried it on my other rings looked shit. I left them there (nervously) for just over a week. Got them back today. I swear, I was like a giddy wee girly girl in the shop!!!  Most unlike me. But they’re so shiny!!!

Naturally I instagrammed them. Duh. 

I’m packing up and taking Elsie Baba to our static this evening. I’ll blog of course!  I hope you all have a fantastic bank holiday weekend too. 

  
Oh, did I mention I had all my hair cut off?  So much to tell you!!

GillyT โค๏ธ

Nothing for 2 years, then 2 come along at once. 

I’m actually just testing out the usability of the WordPress app on the iPad mini.  It’s so rare I’m in my office these days, but my iPad rarely leaves my side. 

Hopefully this will work and will encourage me to post. 

For now, here’s a photo of my new addition, Elsie-baba 😍🐶🐾 

   

Where to start.

It’s been a funny old few years.  I’ve taken some much needed time out from the business, and yes I will get onto that in upcoming posts.  I’ve added another pooch to the family.  I’ve fostered many beagles for Beagle Welfare.  We bought, used and sold a touring caravan, then bought and still have a static.  And yes, this does include old-people-fluffy slippers.  JT has just finished a long term contract and has started another one.  So, in the main, we’ve just been kinda ticking along.  Ticking along and living with depression.  More will follow on that.

I have decided that I am no longer going to shoot weddings.  TBH as much as I absolutely adore them, and get a real buzz on the day, there seemed to be a shift in client expectations over recent years, and not in a good way.  I’ve had some truly shit experiences.  Did I consider hanging up the cameras altogether?  Yes, absolutely.  But here I am.  My good friend Paul retrieved my blog from an archived server in the States, installed it in the UK and I’m back.  There are going to be changes, mostly because change is good for the soul.  The biggest shift you will see is a shift to portraits, portrait pricing, etc, with no wedding information.  I’m planning on properly resurrecting the business over the next couple of months, so I will be advertising for willing victims very soon. I will be focusing on short, on-location, shoots with families and family pets, as well as babies.

The other shift you will see is that I am going to be a proper blogger.  Rather like this post, I will be writing articles on any given subject that is relevant to me.  I’m hoping to gather some regular readers and I hope you enjoy dropping in.

That all said I think it is only fair that the lovely brides I’ve worked with deserve to have their wedding featured, so I will be sharing a small number of photos from each one on occasions.

Oh, did I mention I bought a T5 campervan?  I know, it’s ace.  And it’s called Cilla.

So for now, dear reader, I’ll head off and walk some dogs, clear the cobwebs and up my steps on my fitbit.

All images Copyright 2024 Gill Taylor Photographer ... please donโ€™t steal them, itโ€™s not nice !