Para... Para... Paradise

I mentioned yesterday that cunning boyfriend and I went to Paradise Wildlife Park with his kids at the weekend.

I took lots of pictures, many of which were hampered massively by glare on windows and the fact that the sun was so bright it was hard to see the screen on my phone *laughs*

Starting with my favourite pic - the Zebras (side note, boyfriend and I once had dinner at a restaurant specialising in exotic meat - Zebra was the tastiest one we tried - of course I didn't mention that to the Zebras we saw at the park!)

These otters were so cute - they would line up together and all stare at a person taking a picture - it was as though they were posing *laughs* I got a shot as they were rearranging their formation.

This Tiger went from chilling out and enjoying the sun to having a bit of a staring contest with kid the elder. I was laughing too much to get a picture of that part ;)

I was particularly taken with the squished face little marmosets, I still can't believe how many varieties there are. These 2 were my favourite - they look like grumpy little old men *laughs*

 Kid the younger was absolutely fascinated by the giant Sulcata Tortoise.

Do you know the O RLY owl meme? This one:

We saw him in the flesh *laughs* Check it out:

Weird looking guy, huh?

And I can actually bring this post right back to knitting - when we saw the rabbits I told the kids about angora , and then we saw the alpacas, so I told them that yarn could be made from them too (honestly, I don't think they were that impressed *laughs*)

And then there were sheep...

Very interested in the approaching bag of food:

Suddenly more interested in the camera:

3KCBWDAY2 - Photography Day

Uh oh…

My photography isn’t the best, I must be honest! I don’t havemuch space in my little flat, so most photography takes place on top of myantique travelling trunk. The light is probably better in my bedroom, but thenI’d have to use my bed for pictures, which involves all sorts ofunpleasantness, like ironing sheets *yikes face*

Ok, so with that disclaimer out of the way *laughs*...

I'm a big fan of texture, something that can be difficult to convey in a photo when it comes to knitted items! I love this photo I took, of some twisted ribbing in squishy yarn:

With some knit pictures, they need a little tweaking to show the texture. So, although this one had just the right light to show what I wanted, I decided to see what would happen with some tweaking anyway...

Just changing the brightness, contrast and saturation really changes the way the texture appears. I love it :)

What's in your wallet?

[Does anyone remember that really annoying Capital One Credit Card advert? When I was trying to think up a title for this post, it got stuck in my head and I couldn't come up with anything else!]

Yesterday, while having a look through everyone's WIPs (thanks for all the comments on mine *grins*), I saw a post on Sarah's lovely blog, Crafts from the Cwtch that caught my eye... A "what's in your handbag" photo.

I decided (despite my handbag's need for a bit of a clearout) that I would join in and take a picture of my stuff too. A little bit of pruning later...

It actually wasn't that bad, but I did need to throw away a lot of receipts and old bus tickets *laughs*

So, what do we have in there...

• Magazine, to keep me entertained on the bus or when waiting for anything (often replaced with a book)
• Beauty implements including Radley handbag mirror, lip stain, mini hairbrush, tinted lipbalm... Not that I ever use any of them (I'm pretty low maintenance) but I like having them there just in case ;)
• Sunglasses and umbrella - the weather has been so interchangeable lately that it seems sensible to keep both on hand!
• Phone and purse, as standard. Plus current bus ticket. And a pen, mum always taught me to keep a pen in my bag. 
• A piece of jewellery (black flower shaped ring) that I obviously took off and threw in my bag because it was annoying me ;)
• Packet of sweets (I believe I have mentioned before that I have a terrible sweet tooth!)
• Painkillers thanks to my propensity for killer headaches and migraines. 
• The blue string is the lanyard and fob to get me into the office for work. 
• The calculator-looking device is the chip & pin identifier thingy (technical I know!) so I can log in to my online banking
• And my house keys. That I check obsessively before leaving the house. Usually 4 or 5 times *laughs*

So, that's my handbag. I haven't submitted it to the main link, being that it is for people who have children, but it was kinda fun anyway.

When I was uploading the photo, I also decided to upload this second one that I took last night. On my way home, I noticed something strange at the very edge of the pavement (or sidewalk for any American readers *smiles*)...

Ignoring the very strange looks I got from people, I crouched down to take a picture. All of those little white blobs are miniature snails. There were hundreds of them, over quite a distance. I walked very carefully from then on, to avoid any accidental crushing! No idea where they came from, and they were gone this morning, but it was quite something to see ;)