Rainy November Days #CapturingColour

I have never needed colour more in my life. Every day for the past, what seems like endless weeks, I have woken up and dreaded pulling up the blinds. Not just because they are a temporary measure, the cheapest blinds you can buy, and yes you do get what you pay for, they never seem to go up straight, but because underneath the crooked fabric horizon is a grey sky. The clouds are like chubby cheeks puffed out with raindrops, just waiting to wildly exhale and shower the garden in a blanket of dampness.

It's too dark. At 9am. 

These last couple of weeks seem to be getting the better of me, I am fighting the miserable weather outside, fighting against that feeling of being weighed down by the lack of sunshine that this November has been so unkind with. I've come to rely on those sunbeams for work and pleasure. Photo shoots are being delayed, every night I toy with whether I should invest in a studio with lighting next year, but then I realise how different that would make everything.

Leaving the house I adore to an unfamiliar space, that's seen so many stories before mine. I feel so lucky to have patient clients, who want those magical lifestyle shots that feel real, with real light not products blasted by light boxes and umbrellas indoors. But I just wish we had a teeny bit more sun in every day, even just an hour for the sun to show it's face through the thick fog of white cloud.

I raided the garden today for twigs for a craft project I am making for a lovely client, that I am finishing tomorrow, and took a few extra moments under that heavy cotton wool sky to take in the little bubbles of dew on the leaves, the cherries that are making a vibrant entrance and the lush green grass that is more thankful than I am for all the rainy days.

These little moments can make a big difference. I love how these talented Instagrammers have found the light, even on the darkest of days. To capture a flash to share. To post them for both their pleasure and ours. 

Each one let's you delve into their lives for just a moment, to see the way they capture what's important to them. The colours around them, the textures, the people. The things that are important to them. Their favourite vase, the corner of their home that makes them feel safe and contented. 

I share my grid of favourites that have jumped out at me on my Instagram feed so go find and follow them for daily inspiration and galleries you will get lost in.

It's amazing that in 10 seconds I can scroll through the dark days of almost winter in the UK to balmy shores and tropical climes. I LOVE this gallery and I love you for joining in.

We all need little things to get us through each day. Things we can find hope in. When the world is as turbulent as the stormy heavens above, it's important to appreciate the privilege we have. The safety and security.

We live in a rural village, where the occasional curtain twitching over someone's planning application for new windows sets tongues racing. There's old village traditions, villagers who have lived here all their lives. The lady who lives in the house behind us grew up in our house, she slept in the same room as the boys! The cows in the fields that envelope the centre produce some of the finest cheese, that you will probably have bought in your nearest supermarket. It's middle England and I adore it. And I don't think there is anything wrong with being grateful for it keeping my babies in a bubble, two country boys, with filthy wellies by the back door that more often than not get discarded in the middle of the garden in favour of bare feet, even in November. 

Instagram and sharing my daily #capturingcolour images has become part of my escape. A release from routine. You know those days when you can't seem to get on top of the washing, you've missed the deadline for the Christmas card order form at school and you've scraped together an eclectic dinner from what's left in the fridge? Well what does it really matter?!

Quite frankly sharing images and stories on our blogs and Facebook is a way to immerse ourself with an online world that can be anything we want it to be. It is so important to our well being! To lift our self confidence, to get appreciation for the things we love, that inspire us, in the hope that someone else feels the same. 

And SLPHoneymoons transport me to paradise on a daily basis! Their feed is bursting with cheerful imagery - just beautiful!

I have friends on Facebook who use it as a lifeline to their friends and family. Who take great joy in sharing the daily changes and achievements of their children and who feel happier when their friends press that like button. Every morning I wake up and check 4 websites before I've even cleaned my teeth. Tell me I'm not alone! Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the Daily Mail online. I know I know I shouldn't I still look at it!

And isn't that just a wonderful thing? That for all the bad press Facebook and social media gets, that actually it can bring so much daily cheer to so many. The boys school shows videos to a Youtube channel, and it's amazing to see a glimpse of what they do for all those hours away from us.

I picked them up from after school club tonight, where they go twice a week, and got silence on the way home. It was like their little minds needed a rest, need calm, an escape of their own. Then just as we turned the corner up the hill to our house they burst into song. A full dress rehearsal (minus the costumes) of their Christmas nativity show.

They fought to sing the loudest who could scream "Welcome to our stable" louder than the other! There's so much they are learning, practising and performing that we don't get to see. They bomb into the house leaving me carrying the bags like a pack horse, kick each school shoe off into the four corners of the room, like the ceiling is the top corner of a goal post. 

It's a whirlwind from the moment the back gates swings open to the moment their heads hit the pillows. And then the clear up operation starts. When you both work from home you realise just how much mess you can make in a day. How many cups you use for tea and how all my work takes over the house. I had a Christmas scene set up in the conservatory today, cards and holly set up on a shelf outside the boys room against a picture perfect large white wall and an array of miniature Shaun the Sheep figures are lined up on my desk ready for their photo call tomorrow!

One day working in the world of photography and social media is never the same. And that's what I love.

Share what capturing colour means to you, next week I have a rather lovely giveaway from Talking Tables for a lucky member of the gallery. More on that over the weekend! 

#capturingcolour is a weekly theme on Instagram. Tag your photos to show what colours inspire you this week.