Rosie Scribble

Autumn through a lens

We’ve been out and about again with my camera attempting to capture nature before winter starts to take hold.

I say ‘we’ because IJ is taking a keen interest in my new hobby and has announced that she is a photographer. Mind you, last week taking to the ice for the very first time at Alexandra Palace she also announced that she is a skater.

Anyway, the last photograph in our little collection is hers. She took it after I told her there was no way she could capture a bird in flight.

I’m loving her interest in photography and the fact that she is finally taking a real interest in nature and the world around her.  Double win, I’d say.

New hobby

Frustrated with the lack of photo opportunities in our local park, I accidentally stumbled across Josie’s post about early autumn and realised there are photo opportunities everywhere, if you look hard enough.

Apologies if photography is not your thing. It’s my new hobby and I am well and truly hooked. I have blogging, the gallery and Ms Tara Cain to blame. But don’t judge too harshly, I haven’t been this excited about anything in years.

Love Your Hands Outdoors Campaign

Cuticura , the No 1 UK hand sanitiser, is asking customers to take part in an online poll to discover Britain’s top outdoor pursuit. As a reward Cuticura is giving everyone who takes part the opportunity to win a daily prize of a £100 Snow + Rock voucher every day in May.

With many families experiencing a drop in disposable income, parents will be looking for inexpensive ways to keep their families entertained this summer. Cuticura is keen to champion our renewed love of the outdoorsy lifestyle by encouraging as many as possible to take part in its Love Your Hands campaign.

So are you a lover of hiking, climbing, golfing, fishing, canoeing, horse-riding, cycling, barbecue or picnic? To cast your vote, visit Cuticura’s competition page .

You can enter as many times you like for each daily prize.

Cuticura can also be found on Facebook.

This is a sponsored post.

The Gallery: Chilled out

This week’s Gallery theme is Chilled Out, a tough one I know (@Tara_Cain).

My idea of chilling out is relaxing with a good book, watching a film, shopping, chatting with friends and enjoying a bit of me-time, ideally without a child in tow. IJ doesn’t understand the concept of chilling out and considers all the above activities boring.

But being chilled out for me also means having a happy child, and here’s an extremely happy one enjoying her first attempt at orienteering in our local forest.

It’s something I’ve always wanted to try so we thought we’d give it a go.

Tell a child they are going to spend two hours walking around a wood and they’ll tell you they’d rather sit in front of the television all day. Tell them there are control points along the way for them to find and a map for them to read and suddenly they can think of nothing better.

And after that there's plenty of time to chill.

You can also read my post about orienteering over on Ready for Ten.

Capturing life through a lens

The following random photos can mean only one thing:

I got a brand new camera for Christmas.

For my eighteen birthday I bought myself a book on photography. I sat on Brighton beach with a friend flicking through it and imagining myself travelling everywhere with my expensive camera capturing life through a lens.

For my twenty-first birthday I got that expensive camera.

I never looked at the book again and the camera was never used. Life got in the way and the opportunity to pursue my hobby never arose.

Then along came the world of blogging and with it, last year, Tara's Cain's Gallery. I quickly discovered that my passion for photography was still there.

So a decade (and a bit more) after receiving the gift of that first camera, I'm giving it another go. One of my goals for 2011 is not to give up on it this time.