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2008 finished quietly with a meal and drinks at mine but the year flew by. I remember my granddad telling me that time goes faster as you get older but I just thought he was wasting my time with these comments. However, and I will announce it here for the first time ever, the statement is true!!

The year saw lots of interesting developments. Most importantly the survival of living with a pregnant woman. It's hard not to be the only thing driving Hadda mad and making her life difficult. I sometimes got a bit jealous that the princess growing inside her belly took 98% of her energy leaving 1% for her to sleep and 1% for me to get on her nerves. But I survived! Oh and so did Hadda...

At the peak of the pregnancy we decided to drive to Barcelona and back. This wasn't too clever but there were moments of fun there. Noi decided he didn't want to live somewhere hot and I had a moment of enlightenment when I went to a Synagogue from the 3rd century in Barcelona. I decided to become a dedicated Jew and find out more about my heritage. A few Chorizos and Ham Panini later and this was forgotten.

For Hadda's 30th we went to New York for a few days. Noi stayed with my mom so we could get drunk and party like it was 1999 (which is probably the last time I got drunk and partied). During the trip however Hadda discovered she was pregnant so no drinking.

2008 was the year I discovered I need glasses. A friendly trip to my Uncle's optician turned into a revelation that the I couldn't read the subtitles on films because my eyes are shit. Not because the quality of the DVD or TV isn't good which was the belief I held until then.

The year has been good to my son. He has moved from reception to year one. Or as he thinks from “year nothing” to year one. Reading and writing fine, socialising like a little legend and pissing the bed whenever he decides we need to add something to the wash load. He has recently upgraded from Ceebeebies to CBBC and his lip balm addiction had now moved on to pure Vaseline in a tin.

After visiting St Mary's hospital's Birth unit Hadda decided she neither wanted to catch the MRSA superbug or have a midwife that couldn't speak English. So we decided to have our second child in her native Iceland. Hadda had to leave a month before Noi and me. Our flat got taken over by a nasty gang of dirty clothes, junk mail by the door and washing up in the kitchen. The place was so bad in fact that when we got burgled the guys had very little mess to make to look for things. The burglary was initially a very bad part of 2008 but by the time the insurance money arrived it became known as 'the big blessing'. Upgraded equipment for work and a better price for some stuff that I was going to sell anyway so whoever you were, thank you very much!

Work-wise things were a bit slow but somehow I manged to keep all bills and mortgage payments under control with enough money left to feed the beasts! Aside from some shoots my biggest achievement was completing a two year book project on the Lomo LC-A camera. I also teamed up with a couple of friends and now have my own studio in central London and will try to be more active in 2009!

Clearly though the most important part of 2008 was the birth of Una Barbara Adamsdottir on the 22nd of October at 14:59. As I mentioned we decided to be in Iceland as there is more space, cleanliness and midwives that Hadda knows almost personally. Noi and me flew out over a week before the due date and then Una decided to be a couple of weeks late. By the time she was born I almost forgot why I was in Iceland! Being present at the birth was the most amazing experience of my life. Impossible to put into words. Seeing Hadda give birth to our child cemented the love and respect I feel towards her into eternity. It was a tough birth and beyond painful for her but within minutes after Hadda was in great spirits and looking like nothing had happened! Una was born and is healthy, alert and beautiful. Noi is a loving brother and 2008 was lit up with her arrival.

I hope everyone enjoyed MMVIII and I wish you all a fantastic MMIX!!!

I took this shot ages ago now on my old Fuji S5700, that was a great little camera and brought me out of the darkroom into the digital age - it also went a long way to meeting some great people here on flickr too! (Hiya former 5700 guys and gals.)

Why post an old picture up? Well I'd never posted it before and don't rightly know why as I quite like it. I made the pot hanger from an old curtain rail and bent those hooks by hand after cutting them from an old oven rack. The lid and utensil holder at the bottom was made from a couple of planks from the children's old bunk beds and after much sanding and waxing fixed to the kitchen wall. Teresa, my wife, absolutely loves it because it's practical, made from old stuff, (she loves direct recycling as much as I do), and because I made it for her. Plus she loves the quirkiness of different pans that don't quite match but look like they do.

It was fun playing around with the 5700 and I remember when I first got it the thrill of seeing a picture instantly every time you pressed that shutter, (well apart from waving around old polaroids). Sort of took the fun out of developing negs and printing but meant that I should've been able to concentrate on making pictures.....and I emphasise the "should've" part as that turned out not to be so true.

Yep, just like most of you I started lusting for more stuff, a DLSR, some flashes, faster lenses and the other rubbish you think you really need to take great shots(!) So I concentrated on that and pretty much forgot about just taking pictures. Hence the "if ifs and ands" quote.

But, I did learn a lot on the way.

So it was good to dig out an old shot like this. B&W because I'm a colour blind old bugger and I like B&W for a multitude of other reasons, like the way these 'stainless steel' pans are covered in stains....isn't 'stainless' a funny word to use when it's obviously not true?

Back to taking shots, any shot, any subject, anything that takes my fancy and no cursing at how I could do it 'so much better' if only I had such and such a piece of equipment......