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- Life Lately: January 2026
  
  3rd August 2025
- 2025: Wrapped
  
  3rd August 2025
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- Autumn 2025: The Moments In Between
  
  3rd August 2025
- Summer 2025: The Moments In Between
  
  3rd August 2025
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- A Mini Break In North Wales {Part Two}
  
  3rd August 2025
- A Long Weekend In North Wales {Part One}
  
  3rd August 2025
Ella’s Corner
- Book Review #8 : Undercover Thief
  
  3rd August 2025
- Book Review #7 Part 1 : The Mortal Instruments Series
  
  3rd August 2025
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About This Blog

A family blog capturing our daily life and adventures as a family of six - the calm, the chaos and the moments in between.

picturetakermemorymaker

🌼 Daffodils for my Dad 🌼 . 11 years gone and I sti

🌼 Daffodils for my Dad 🌼
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11 years gone and I still think about him every single day. He'd be celebrating his 75th birthday in a couple of weeks time if he was still here. I'm pretty sure there would have been a party. I wonder all the time about what he'd be like now, what he'd think about me, what he'd think about my girls. He'd be damn proud of them, I know that much.
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Grief (whether it's the loss of a person, a pet, a job, a relationship, a version of yourself that you once were, or even a version of yourself that you thought you were going to be) doesn't get any easier, or any softer, over time. At least, not in my experience.
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You simply make space inside of you to accommodate it, and you carry it with you as you move: living your life; loving your people; doing your best to make the most of every single moment because you know exactly how much those moments all matter.
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I read somewhere (I think it was @liveforlines who shared these wise words a while ago) that "small joy is how we survive big grief" and that made a lot of sense to me. I felt it too, deep in my bones, which is why I wrote it down. I've made space for that too. They live side by side inside me, joy and grief. You can't have one without the other.
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“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” ~ Elliott Erwitt
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We are a group of photographers who love #faceless photography and have come together to share our faceless images. Follow along to see our work or visit #facelessloop
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Next up is the amazing @r_wardphotography

One second a day, every day (all 1,842 of them 🥴),

One second a day, every day (all 1,842 of them 🥴), in January.
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❤️💚🥳🎈🎁🍕❄️☃️🛷✨️🐈‍⬛🌅🍝🎥🃏😂💚❤️
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@1secondeveryday #onesecondeveryday #1secondeveryday #1SEme #januarymoments #makingmemories

I set up a Substack called 'We're All Made Of Stor

I set up a Substack called 'We're All Made Of Stories' over two years ago, wrote twenty draft posts and then promptly published precisely none of them 🙈.
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At the start of this year, I made a quiet little promise to myself to publish one post a month. Today is the very last day of January and I kept that promise 🙌 It's only a little intro post, but it's there.
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I've really missed writing deep, personal, thoughtful pieces in recent years and now it feels like it's time to reconnect with it. If you fancy reading (and subscribing 🥰) the link is in my bio.
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It'll be an eclectic mix of stories covering anything and everything from motherhood and love and travel, and joy and grief and therapy, and all the inevitable messiness and infinite magic of being human and existing in this world.
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See you there?
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“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” ~ Elliott Erwitt
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We are a group of photographers who love #faceless photography and have come together to share our faceless images. Follow along to see our work or visit #facelessloop
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Next up is @agnesszlapkaphotos
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#substack #mirrorphotography #tellmeyourstories

I am so, so proud of this one. She had minor surge

I am so, so proud of this one. She had minor surgery this morning and had to confront two of her biggest fears/hates - needles and feet - at the same time. She was super brave and handled it all with incredible resilience alongside her trademark, unique, quirky sense of humour.
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She's now sporting a comically large, cartoon-like bandage on her big toe and she gets to stay home from school for the next few days 🙌
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I also really love these two photos of her - it's rare that she lets me capture her on camera any more and these were technically test shots but they make me smile every time I look at them.
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“Failure is part of the process itself." ~ Lily Hevesh
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Our community of @clickprophotographers have come together to amplify our voice as women photographers. Next up is @aptubinisphotography
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To see more work from our amazing Click Pro Elites, check out @clickproeliteloop and navigate to the tagged tab to scroll all posted images.
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#clickproloop012026
#januarymoments
#thisisseventeen
#teenagelife
#mumofteens

Reaching for the light... ✨️ . . . We’re comfortab

Reaching for the light... ✨️
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We’re comfortable on the side of the lens no one sees but we struggle to include ourselves in the frame. Follow the loop to see our efforts in making sure we are on #bothsidesofthelens26
Next up is @mpatel_diaries
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“A black and white photo speaks louder and bolder; it is timeless and enduring; it speaks to the soul” ~ Unknown
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Welcome to our #bnwphotoloop
Next up: @brandimarkham
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#findingmyselfinportraits #january #bluemonday

I'm not a 'fun' Mum. I'm good at lots of things in

I'm not a 'fun' Mum. I'm good at lots of things in motherhood (I think/hope!): hugs; encouragement; emotional support; helping with homework; doing all the logistical stuff... but playing is generally not my forte. It never has been.
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During the snow days last week, the girls begged to go sledding. It's not something we've ever done before and I very nearly said no. But something made me change my mind and say yes, despite absolutely hating the snow, the cold and everything to do with winter. So we trudged to the only shop in town that had any left in stock, bought one and headed for the hill behind our house. They had an absolute blast zooming from the top to the bottom over and over again, and I was happy capturing them on camera.
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Then they suggested I have a go. I said "no thank you", immediately and vehemently. And then that same little voice from earlier said "f*** it, why not?!" 🤷‍♀️ So I climbed on, Lola gave me a push, and Mimi filmed me as I shrieked my way down the slope. And you know what? It was fun! And the girls were delighted that I said yes!
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Saying yes more, playing more, doing more things outside of my comfort zone...there were so many lessons that morning. All of them were worth it.
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“Don’t give up. Keep your head high!” ~ Liina Heikkinen
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Our community of @clickprophotographers have come together to amplify our voice as women photographers. Next up is @saranyas_silhouettes
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To see more work from our amazing Click Pro Elites, check out @clickproeliteloop and navigate to the tagged tab to scroll all posted images.
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#clickproloop011326
#snowday
#sayyesmore

Note to self: when there is an unexpected bonus da

Note to self: when there is an unexpected bonus day off from school, and they beg you for sunrise snowball fights, always say yes. Always. Even if it's -7⁰C 🥶❄️
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Always.
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“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” ~ Elliott Erwitt
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We are a group of photographers who love #faceless photography and have come together to share our faceless images. Follow along to see our work or visit #facelessloop
⁣.
Next up is the endlessly inspiring @jomartindale
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#snowday #januarymoments #sayyesmore

✨️ S I X T E E N ✨️ . She turned sixteen just afte

✨️ S I X T E E N ✨️
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She turned sixteen just after we shifted into the new year and the celebrations stretched over a few days with sunshine, a visit from her grandparents, bowling with friends, takeaway pizza and then two bonus days off school thanks to snow! Everyone has made such a fuss of her and it's felt really special. One for the memory books for sure 🥳
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I can't believe my littlest baby is 16! 😭
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@lols.ridgway123 you have amazed me over the last year with how well you've handled the challenges that have come your way - changes at home, your first part-time job, studying for your upcoming GCSEs and so much more. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know, and your kindness and generosity knows no bounds. You light up every single room you walk into and that is a very rare and beautiful thing. Keep on being you - you're magic and we all love you more than you will ever know ✨️
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“Change your mindset from "it’s not possible" to "how can we make this possible?" ” ~ Maartje Murphy
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Our community of @clickprophotographers have come together to amplify our voice as women photographers. Next up is @mariehelenefoto
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To see more work from our amazing Click Pro Elites, check out @clickproeliteloop and navigate to the tagged tab to scroll all posted images.
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#clickproloop010626

2025: Wrapped... . What a year. It's been a wild r

2025: Wrapped...
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What a year. It's been a wild rollercoaster of changes and emotions and heartache and joy, and even though it's felt really hard at times, I honestly am grateful for it all.
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1 cool new country; 1 new city; 29 day trips; 4 amazing gigs; 4 incredible theatre shows; 307 client therapy sessions; 214 sunrises and sunsets witnessed in awe; 29 books read; 3,540 photos captured (camera, not phone) - 41 of which were self portraits; and 46 new experiences that have challenged me, surprised me, taught me and delighted me over and over again. Whew.
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No one really knows what this new year will bring - a lot can happen (and a lot can change) in twelve months. I'm still working on figuring out my intention/word for the year, so for now my hope is that 2026 is full of peace & contentment, and play & adventure in equal measure, for all of us.
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We’re comfortable on the side of the lens no one sees but we struggle to include ourselves in the frame. Follow the loop to see our efforts in making sure we are on #bothsidesofthelens26
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Next up is the always inspiring @dorenehookey
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“A black and white photo speaks louder and bolder; it is timeless and enduring; it speaks to the soul” ~ Unknown
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Welcome to our #bnwphotoloop
Next up: @brandimarkham

One second a day, every day, in December. A quietl

One second a day, every day, in December. A quietly busy month to end the year.
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✨️❤️🌅🐈‍⬛🎈🥳🫶🎄🎅🎁🎭😂💙✨️
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@1secondeveryday #1secondeveryday #1SEme #onesecondeveryday

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