It’s the end of one of the most defining months of my whole life. A year ago, I would have not even dared to hope that I would be sitting here now, in Cornwall and not to have to face the prospect of going ‘home’ to the South East again.

There are still some tough times ahead but there are also good times ahead.

This photo has been on my mind for months – it’s of an old piece of decorative ironwork that got dug up from our garden when it was fenced in before Christmas. It was hung over an ancient (and certainly not able to fill its function anymore) washing line post by Erica, our lovely neighbour and she of the carrots!

Ever since, I’ve been looking at it thinking it’d make a good subject for a pic but have not got round to it for one reason or another. Today though, as it’s Friday and I get to finish work early on a Friday (for the moment at least), it was still light (for the moment at least) and I had some energy (for the first time in ages), I decided to try for an outdoor shot because I’m fed up of scouting round the house trying to find something I can make interesting in tungsten light and with no backgrounds/props.

The camera was slotted onto its mount on the tripod and we (dogs, me, camera and tripod) took a trip up the garden to find a subject. To tell the truth, I didn’t think it’d work out as well as this but it got taken because the light was poor, I was having to push the ISO high and shoot wide open but I still couldn’t get a decent shot of anything organic or animate. I looked up, there was the iron and ‘bob’s your uncle’ there’s my shot.

So, I set the camera back to ISO100, let the camera take its time and got this.

I’m not at all sure if there is something about having a really gloomy mood or if I’m finding my feet in B&W but I’m surprising myself at the moment by posting in B&W more often in the last month than I have ever before!

Last year, I was trying to help mend the broken heart of my friend from across the world in my own small way and the year before, I was relishing the start of autumn and the hope that our property deal would go through - it did and it heralded the start of this journey we are now on.