Then catch the moments as they fly, And use them as ye ought man
Believe me, hapiness is shy, And comes not aye when sought man.

A touch of Burns to welcome in the new year and an opportunity to send good wishes to everyone. We have been fortunate in the holiday period, to have seen some beautiful landscapes, as the crisp white crunchy frosts have adorned the mountains and countryside. Hope you've maneged to wrap up well and get out with the camera to take some shots.

December brought us a visit from Anne Swearman, when she joined us for supper, before sharing her pictures and her approach to picture taking with the group.

Her pictures ranged from some very traditional landscapes, to some very creative ideas, extremely inspirational and challenging for everyone.

Tony has been totting up again, and congratulated the group on achieving a total of 3281 international acceptances with 349 awards in 2008. Not sure though if we are expected to exceed this number next year!!

Other good news is that the NCPF have awarded 4 ribbons to the West Cumbria Photo Group, to award at the first Great British Print Circuit in February. The ribbons will be for the top NCPF members in each of the 4 sections (open mono, open color, nature, and travel) WCPG have agreed to award the top NCPF member who does best in all 4 salons, an award in memory of John Thorpe. Entries are coming in from all over the world, and the closing date is 26^th January.

Most of the group managed to get together between Christmas and the new year to share some festive spirit. As well as the usual business of giving out ribbons, medals and handing in pictures, we tucked into some delicious Christmas fayre. A variety of dishes, everyone brought something, was thoroughly enjoyed and it was even suggested that future meetings should begin in a similar vein! We were brought back to earth as Mike reminded us he needed new pictures for the hospital and would like them brought in at our next January meeting. How about those winter landscapes?