Housework and Photography

With Mike working from home for the early part of the morning today, housework seems to be the obvious choice for first thing. When he’s working at the end of the table, cutting out fabric is out of the question, and if I try to get any admin work done I’ll just end up chatting to him- not very beneficial to either of us from a work point of view!

So I get on and sort some washing, the same way that most of my days begin, and then get the vacuum out for a run around downstairs. There are still bits left over from the Christmas decorations that are waiting for sorting and putting away into boxes, but that job will have to wait until I have a bit of spare time. We haven’t actually got storage boxes for most of the new decorations yet anyway, as the old boxes all got either destroyed in, or are on their last legs as a result of, our fire. The last of the children's Christmas presents are still around in the living room too as they haven’t found homes for all the new bits and bobs in their rooms yet either. I don’t mind for a while, but it’s beginning to annoy me now, and it means I have to be extra careful with the vacuum- I don’t really want to be rummaging around in the rubbish for tiny Playmobil essentials.

Vacuuming done, I settle down for a bit of blog drafting by which time Mike is on his way back to work from home after a quicker than expected meeting. Over lunch I try once again to sort the keywords for my blog ad- a task which I don’t seem to be able to get on top of. The ad for my new range of seasonal dresses is also bugging me, as I just don’t seem to be able to aim it right and pick the right keywords. As long as I make sure my website homepage advertises the new items clearly I should be ok, as my general advert works well, but it would have been nice to have the extra help a specialised advert gives.

Having finished the new Valentine’s dress yesterday, my next task is to get it photographed and put the photos onto the website- another job that’s easier said than done. Having originally only taken photos indoors, last summer I experimented with outdoor photos taken in the garden whenever I had a new outfit to add to the site. There was a much bigger interest in outfits that had the new, brighter photos and I tried to change as many items over to the ‘new style’ as time would allow. However, it being the middle of Winter, and with it being extremely wet outside, outdoor photos aren’t really an option at the moment. The alternative background that I now use for bedding and pyjamas etc. is a very bright pink fur throw- possibly not the best backdrop for a bright red dress! Once Spring, or at the very least a dry cold spell hits, I can retake the photos ready for next year but I’m struggling to find an alternative to use in the meantime.

I used to have a plain white blanket that I used as a backdrop, but unfortunately that too was lost at the house, so sitting Annabell on the settee is out of the question. Walking around the house, I realise that the stairs although carpeted in dark brown are at least a plain setting, and I can sit the doll neatly on the edge of them. With the landing window in a convenient place I can also get a limited amount of natural light onto her, to work alongside the flash for a brighter image.

They’re not the best shots I have ever taken, but they’re certainly not the worst and they work for now, and at least I have an alternative photography setting for my next few outfits! As the day outside goes from heavy rain to blizzards and back to heavy rain, I sit and add the photos to the dress description on the website, and also one to the homepage with a link through to the item page. With our eldest daughter arriving home early again I now have two other volunteers in the house to do the school ‘run’ for me, so I settle down to a bit more blog drafting before beginning on dinner.