Over the August Bank Holiday we spent a peaceful week in Normandy, in the sleepy seaside town of St Aubin Sur Mer. It was a beautiful area, fascinating for anybody interested in the historical events of the 2nd world war, and generally a lovely relaxing place to be.

We are lucky to live fairly close to several National Trust properties, and we recently joined up again so we could make the most of this at the weekends.  Our first trip out was to Quarrybank Mill in Cheshire on a cold September afternoon and we went straight for tour of the Apprentice House.

The apprentice house was where the children who worked in the mill were housed and schooled. It provided a fascinating insight into the lives that these children led.

Unfortunately it wasn’t all smiles, we had a few tears and the little guys took a bit of time out  after theirnaptime to just chill out with Mummy and Daddy….but I coudln’t resist getting a few shots of them anyway!

I don’t think anybody could believe that the school hall could be made to look so glamourous and inviting, with fancy tables laid out, disco stars, lights and music, it looked every bit the venue for a night at the Oscars.

The whole class were there, and everyone had their picture taken with a film star, before enjoying an evening of pink fizz, pizza, chocolate fountains, dancing and games.   I have to thank the staff, parents and helpers who modelled for me while we were getting the lights set up before the children arrived. Here is the wonderfully talented singer, musician and DJ Penny Mac who provided a brilliant disco for the children.

I felt very privileged to have been invited to share such a lovely (and emotional) event. I hope everyone likes their photos!

Every child will get a framed photo of themselves, but anyone wishing to order extra prints or a photobook containing all of the photos can do so via photobox.  Just go to http://www.photoboxgallery.com/kajophoto and look for the collection called 2011_07 Elmridge Y6 Leavers Photos

The gallery is password protected, so either email me on KajoPhotography@gmail.com or speak to Julie or Lucie to get the password.   Any prints and books ordered via photoboxgallery are done directly with the lovely people at Photobox, who handle the order, printing, billing and delivery with you.

The family each wanted some individual photos, as well as some group shots to be able to send to their friends and family around the world, and we decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and lovely greenery in the garden for most of the pictures.  And, of course, we couldn’t forget beautiful and cute little Coco, who wanted to join in!

First up was the lovely little Miss I, who was a little shy and wasn’t keen on posing to start with, but soon got into the swing of it, especially with a bit of help from Mum.

And soon enough, Coco wanted to be in on the action, although to start with she was more interested in playing, jumping and licking everyone’s faces than looking at the camera! But with a bit of persuasion, we managed to encourage Coco to sit still for a few seconds and grab a few pics with her.

We went on to take a few family shots (with Coco included, of  course!), and were able to make use of the lovely garden and summer house.

To finish off, a few more individual portraits, which I hope will be perfect for those facebook, skype and twitterprofile pics.

All in all, we were blessed with great weather, a lovely location, and got lots of great photos (and even managed to get Coco to look at the camera once or twice too!).

A couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough to attend a wine tasting of Bollinger wines and champagnes, organised by Portland Wine, and tutored by Will Oatley,  head of the Sales team at Mentzendorff.

I was asked to photograph the evening, not least because it would involve Sabrage – the technique of opening bottles of champagne with a sabre! This was apparently used my Napolean and his armies when opening bottles by unwrapping adn popping the cork was too fiddly – they simply used their swords while riding off on horseback.

The key to successful sabrage is to locate the ‘seam’ running the length of the bottle, and to slide the sabre quickly and solidly up the seam, hitting the rim of the bottle neck just where it joins the seam. This is a weak spot in the glass, and as it is under great pressure from the champagne inside will fracture relatively easily.  The sabre doesn’t need to be sharp (indeed, the back of the blade be used), but does need to be fairly heavy and sturdy.

Lots of the guests had a try at wielding the sabre, and successfully opened their bottles of champagne (outside the restaurant of course – the glass top of the bottle and the cork fly 3 or 4 metres away!). It was all rather exhilarating and certainly added even more excitement to the wine tasting.

The tasting was hosted at Earle restaurant in Hale, who also provided delicious canapes to accompany the wines.

As the weather was so good, we couldn’t resist setting up outside,and everyone was very excited watching the animals being brought through and seeing Andrew setting up.

First off, we met the cute and cuddly Bubble and Squeak, a rabbit and guinea pig, and Ant & Dec the white rats, all of whom enjoyed lots of petting and cuddles. We were also introducted to Andrew’s tortoise Jackpot, who enjoyed tucking in to the dandelions!  They were a gentle introduction to handling animals.

After that, the children met Sand Swimmers, the lovely Pinball, a little albino hedgehog, a crested gecko,  Charlotte the giant chilean rose tarantula, and Mr Tickle the royal python.  Even the smallest children were  brave enough to stroke and hold these fantastic animals, and the older ones showed how sensible and gentle they were handing such precious beasts.

Andrew filled the morning with interesting information about the animals, where they live and how to care for them, so that even the adults went away having learnt something.  Many thanks go to Andrew at http://www.animalsintuition.co.uk/ – it was a fantastic morning.

This weekend I was asked to take some team photos for the Alderley Edge based cycling club Cyclesport International, with whom my husband regularly rides.  They were a really friendly bunch of guys and were keen to show off their new cycling kit, and get some team photos to use on the Cyclesport International website.

We met up at the Wizard Tea Rooms just outside of Alderley Edge town after their Sunday morning training ride and club run.

We took a mixture of posed team shots, some informal (cake eating) photos, and some shots of them riding together too, although this was somewhat hampered by the overtaking cars!

It was a lovely afternoon out at the Wizard, and we were blessed with fantastic sunny weather – the cyclists had had an enjoyable ride out through Cheshire in the morning.  I was struck by what a friendly and welcoming group they are; it’s not surprising that this newly reformed club is fast building up a good membership.

From time to time I have the pleasure of taking photos for children’s birthday parties. This is always loads of fun, high energy, pure joy type stuff. It’s fast moving and fun, with a few quiet moments to be captured too. I love being invited to photograph these events, and being able to look back on the fun moments of the special day.

Here are a few images from some of the children’s parties I have been asked to photograph recently.

It’s great to see the guests engrossed in having fun at the party, and all dressed up.