Celebration!

My 500th blip already and what better way to celebrate than with my blip buddy Earthdreamer. Left home at the crack of dawn with a view to getting some Christmas shopping done in Cork with Rachel and Rosie, before a rendezvous at the Quay Co-op Cafe. The intention was to have had the shopping completed by the time of ED's arrival but no surprise that with the girls in tow this was not the case. But as the weather deteriorated to a wet, murky, miserable afternoon there was really no rush. Any plans for a sensational seascape had long since disappeared.

Instead, we enjoyed a photo shoot in front of a very warming fire, keen to get a good picture of us both in a celebratory pose. This proved to be far more difficult than we could have ever have imagined. After a hundred or so frames, where always one of us was either out of focus, or in shadow, or moving, or pulling a strange face, we realised that with the amount of wine already drunk and the giggles setting in, we weren't going to get any better pictures than were already in the can. So this is the best of the bunch. I think it a provides a sense of how much fun we had doing this. You would love to see some of the out-takes. But you're not going to. Ever!

I can't quite believe myself that I've managed to post 500 consecutive blips. It's customary here to thank everyone for all their visits to my journal, and for leaving such lovely comments and stars and hearts. I could name lots of special people who have become good friends, but you know who you are. Thank you all so much.

By this stage I had expected to have run out of ideas for blips, but the opposite is actually true. The longer I have blipped the more easily the blips seem to come. I think my own photography is continuing to improve but I know there is still so much more to learn. Your journals continue to inspire me, both in terms of the quality of the photographs and also in my desire to travel and see the parts of the world for real that I'm getting know here through your journals. Beware. I may be turning up on your doorstep.

For now, please excuse me as I hear another bottle of wine being opened. This is quite something to celebrate and I'm doing it in style.