Smile, you're on camera!

My name is John Denton McKenna and I am an addict. 

I freely admit it. 

I am obsessed. 

I have a new love in my life and it's name is Instagram. 

For those of you with an iPhone/iPad/iPod, you will no doubt be aware of this photographic application. You can apply various filters to photographs, giving them either a modern twist or a retro feel. It's truly rather good fun and I am constantly 'pointing and clicking'. There have been numerous 'victims' of my new found addiction, but mostly it's been either the garden or the dogs.

The Instagram App

Maximillian is a natural muse and quite happy to have his picture taken, I swear on occasion he has actually posed! Millie is not so accommodating, preferring to shy away, turn her head and point blank refuse to be 'shot'. Never fear, I am a patient artiste and grab my chances either when she's asleep or there's food around....she's easy to bribe is our Millie! Needless to say, there are far and away more shots of Max than there are of Millie....

My Muse...

Along with Instagram, I have also found two other apps that you can use to give your pictures an alternative look. One is Percolator and the other is Toonpaint. Percolator enables you to transform your photographs into multicolour mosaics, it's an amazing tool, very clever indeed and I really, really like it. As an example., the picture above of Max has been 'percolated' below:

Percolator App

Toonpaint does what it says on the tin. It enables you to turn your pictures into 'cartoon paintings' and very effective it is too! It doesn't have as much 'wow factor' for me as the Percolator app, but it still produces nice results, however from using it I would say that the sharper and simpler the original picture is, the better otherwise it just looks 'messy'. Again, as an example you can see the difference from the original picture above to the picture below:

Toon Max

Taking pictures of the garden/dogs (as well as writing this blog) has helped me enormously recently from going abso-frigging-lutely bonkers. They're a welcome escape from the stress that is work and all the fuckery that goes with it. I'm honestly not enjoying it at the moment and I am, on a daily basis, experiencing butterflies, headaches, anxiety attacks and all that jazz. And the nightmares, oh the nightmares. Couple this with not sleeping and you have me, a man on the edge of a stress related incident! My head constantly feels like it's going to explode and I am struggling to keep it bottled up. Powder keg and match spring to mind.....

Insomnia

On a much nicer note, my handsome, wonderful Husband has gone and got himself a new tattoo. We've been discussing getting more tattoos for some time (my new one is still in the planning stages) and he's only gone and done it. It's a work in progress, requiring at least another 2 or 3 hours of 'filling in'. It is inspired by tree ferns in a maori/polynesian/tribal kind-a-way. Anyway, I absolutely love it and believe you me, his 'loving quota' has just shot through the roof *grin*

Work in progress

Due to the warmth and wet that we have been experiencing lately, the garden has been growing and growing and growing. The dahlias have put on a particularly good show this year - we have one that is chocolate-scented, very delicate but coupled with it's deep red, almost black petals, it is just gorgeous. The gingers are all about to pop into flower and I cannot wait...I'm at the ready with my Instagram app for the moment to arrive...!

Me and my Boy in the garden

The hens continue to live a life of Chicken Luxury in SE23. The time of year has arrived where they can now enjoy a free range ramble through the garden, enjoying any tasty treats they may come across.....snails are a particular favourite for our Girls. They climb into the borders, scratching here, there and everywhere, fertilising as they go. Sometimes, with them all out and deep undercover in the borders, you can walk around the garden and not know that there are chickens living here. They are truly Happy Hens......and you can read more about them here - http://hensinthecity.blogspot.com 

The Girls

In other, dog-related news, my lovely friend and colleague Barbara aka Sparkles and her husband John have had a new arrival recently. They already have a little Bichon Frise called Honey who is a darling of a dog. However, they have, in the last couple of weeks, homed a new puppy, called Poppy........she be very cute and we cannot wait to meet her!!!!

Little Poppy and Honey

This chapter's music, in my opinion, captures my current obsession perfectly......