
Whew! I’m just catching up with myself and the week’s nearly through! It’s been an ‘out of the ordinary’ few days. I shall start with the weather (after all, I am British!): Monday into Tuesday, June decided to be March – very heavy rain, mighty strong winds and chilly enough for the central heating to click on! Tuesday morning, I discovered my little greenhouse had been blown over during the night’s storm 🙁 A quick rescue operation ensued and amazingly enough I found the brittle courgette plants had survived their tumble. Some seedlings were lost but others were scooped up and have survived. And now, just two days later, they are all drying out rapidly under blue skies and soaring temperatures!
Tuesday also held the excitement of being my birthday. It was a busy day and I enjoyed having friends and family celebrating with me. Lots of lovely cards, messages and gifts and a peaceful evening enjoying a glass of wine, watching an episode of Sherlock and then having a giggle with #2 son as we wrestled with one of my more unusual gifts! On my Amazon wishlist I’d added a photographic light tent. Well, I obviously didn’t pay enough attention to the product details because this:

Popped up into this:

I’d imagined a cube I could put on a table top, ideal for taking close-ups of fat quarters and the like… 😀 Hum! I know I need to improve the quality of photos I post but I’m not sure this large cube will be the answer, although it may come in handy as a reflector…
We managed to fold the cube back into the little bag after looking for a demonstration on YouTube. If you ever find yourself in a similar fix I’d definitely recommend Gavin Hoey’s video!
Other quilty blog and quilt related gifts included books and a tablet. The intention is to have the tablet by my side so I can quickly take and upload photos as I’m sewing and also keep up to date with blogs I follow without being stuck in front of the family computer. I’m imagining the tablet will become my modern version of a magazine – something to search through and read while I take a break from sewing or household duties…

Have you ever received a gift, like my light cube, that proved to be a bit more than you bargained for?
Allison
I think that light tent is a fab idea. I wonder if they make them any smaller. Happy belated birthday.
Thank you! And I’m sure you can purchase smaller light tents – great for giving even light and reducing shadows etc.
I hadn’t even thought of a light tent! Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been trying to think how to create better pictures without spending a bunch of money!
Just remember to read the product details more carefully than I did!
Happy Birthday! Glad to hear you had a nice day.
Happy ( belated ) Birthday Greetings ! Looks like you received some great quilty loot as well ! That light cube does look fab ! Did it come with lights ? I bought one years ago from Walmart to take photos of my pottery and it would probably be more to your liking as it was smaller. It works well for cutting down the glare on the shinny surfaces of pottery but bigger would have been better. Too bad we couldn’t trade ! At first glance your green house blowing over looked like a disaster. Glad you were able to rescue all of them and get them back where they belong.
I think it’s called a ‘light’ cube because of the way it diffuses light, so no lighting included. I’m just about to go in the garden and get those poor plants in the ground before any other disasters come their way! Have you had any rain?
nope, no rain and I don’t see any in the 5 day forecast 🙁 hope your garden fairs better !