Debbie Lough Millinery: Fenwick's Christmas Window 2013, and A New Project

It's been ages since I posted here, for several reasons - first, I've now graduated from my millinery course, and I'm happy to say I got a Distinction (the highest grade you can get), and I have a piece of paper to to prove i can make hats! Other reasons are that I wasn't very well over summer, and that my laptop has been declared well and truly dead (motherboard failure, so I'm surprised the laptop doctor hasn't marked it with a big skull and crossbones).

Also, I've been building a millinery website (still not finished, due to the failure of my laptop, but underway), and I've started another blog about my millinery on there (embedded into the site, at www.deborahwalton.co.uk ).

Henceforward, though, I'm going to be using this blog to document a new project (the idea shamelessly stolen from a facebook friend, Cassie). I'm going to take at least one picture every day for a year - starting from today (6th January 2014). Obviously it would have been better to start from the 1st, but I forgot, and it took me a week to remember (I know, rubbish of me). So I'll start from Jan 6th, and continue it till 5th Jan 2015. The pictures may be of anything that happens to take my fancy, either at home, or out and about. I should probably also state upfront that I'm (quite clearly) not a photographer - I just happen to like taking pictures - and I don't remotely have a professional camera - or even an SLR. In fact most of the pics will probably be taken on my (very budget end, fairly battered, and very un-smart) phone.

My plan is to try to post them once a week or so - it may be less often, depending on work schedules, or it may be more often if / when I ever get a new laptop!

But I'm going to kick it all off by sharing some pics I took on Christmas Eve - of the Fenwick's Christmas Window in Newcastle.
If you're from the North East of England, you'll understand instantly, and have probably been to see it yourself at some point over the years. If you're not, it may strike you as a little odd. Briefly, Fenwick of Newcastle (one of the oldest shops in the town, and one of the largest), annually transform their windows at Christmas time. It's a tradition that goes back to 1971, when the first moving display was based on the TV show, Camberwick Green. Every year they try to outdo the last, and there are moving figures, puppets, lighting and music, with a different theme, or story. Every one of the shops windows on Northumberland is completely taken over by the displays, and people queue halfway down the street to see them. I was taken to see my first Fenwick's Christmas Window as a baby, and I try not to miss it.

This year the theme was fairy stories, (The Enchanted Forest) and included The Seven Dwarves, Jack Frost, Hansel and Gretal (complete with witch's feet sticking out of the stove), The Snow Queen (I took lots of pics of that one, because the revolving castle was incredible), and others, and was topped off by Santa in his workshop.