Having received the day’s schedule earlier that week, I have to say that I was a little nervous. The day was due to start with a photocall on the steps of Paisley Town Hall - something which I hadn’t taken part in before. I had visions of a media scrum with all the photographers jostling for a prime position. My nerves weren’t unfounded - around 10 photographers were there to capture Paolo Nutini and Jo Whiley and, being rather short and not accustomed to this sort of thing, I was rather bewildered by the 10 second scramble for photos before Paolo and Jo were whisked away.

Foreseeing that this was due to happen, I had instead hung back and got a few shots of Paolo arriving - after all, I was there to document a behind-the-scenes perspective rather than grab that perfect press shot for the newspapers - absolutely fine by me!

I also knew that I was likely to have many more unique photo opportunities through the day as the BBC were whisking Paolo off for a tour around Paisley….and I was tagging along! First of all, we headed off to Apollo Music Store where Paolo used to buy his music (and, in fact, still does!).

We then had a very brief stop at Carlito’s…

…before heading off to the “Car Park in the Sky”!

It was great fun rushing from place to place with the film crew and hearing Paolo talk about growing up in Paisley. You can watch the whistle-stop tour of Paisley on the Radio 2 website. There’s a chance that you might catch a glimpse of me, althouh I’m pretty sure I managed to stay out of shot!

Following the trip around Paisley, we headed back to the Town Hall where Paolo was due to take part in a Q&A session hosted by Jo Whiley. Much to my delight, I found out that he was also going to perform some acoustic songs with his 7-piece band!

I then assumed that I would be required to take shome shots of the soundcheck. But, no! I was required for something a lot more exciting! First, we headed off to Paolo’s parents fish and chip shop to grab a short interview with his Dad.

It took us forever to drag Paolo away as there were hoards of people asking for autographs and photos! But when he did reappear, we then headed back to Paolo’s house! Apparently he was rather worried about me taking photos there as he didn’t want the location disclosed. However, he didn’t show any reservations to me - but perhaps that was because I kept my camera firmly tucked away. It wasn’t until we’d had a tour of the house and been provided with drinks that I decided to pull the camera out. He was so relaxed during the whole day and didn’t bat an eyelid when I started taking photos of him and Jo going through his record collection! It was so much fun!

It had been such a long, tiring but amazing day already and yet there was still so much to come! We left Paolo at home to relax before the concert and headed back to the Town Hall where we all managed to grab some fish and chips which had been sent over from Paolo’s parents chippy! There was then just enough time to grab a couple of short interviews with the support acts - Aerials Up and Admiral Fallow - before the concert started.

I spent the rest of the evening running around the venue trying to take as many photos from as many different locations as possible. In between times I somehow managed to squeeze in a visit to the dressing room to take a photo of Jo, Paolo and his band which, apparently, the band were rather excited about!

All in all it was an utterly amazing day which I am still amazed that I was a part of! You can listen to the concert on the BBC iplayer until next Thursday and also watch a video of the entire concert here! If you look closely you can see me loitering in the press pit during the first song!

Next up, Maroon 5! I can’t wait!

However, I do still have photographs of the odd Lion lurking on the hard drive! This one is of Wordsworth. I took a few shots of him when he was first released into the wild a couple of weeks ago. I had always intended to go back and re-photograph him but, alas, I haven’t had the time!

So here he is - how many words can you spot? I’m sure you could find hundreds if you went to have a look at him properly. He can be found outside of WHSmith on the main shopping street.

He was created by Wild and Wolf Design and is sponsored by Wild and Wolf.

As an aside, it seems my Lion photographs have become pretty popular on Flickr and I have no idea why! View counts on my photographs have shot through the roof today - perhaps some kind person has put up a link to them! If you have found your way here via Flickr and can shed some light on this mystery then I would love to hear from you!

However, this morning I allowed myself the luxury of processing a few of those shots and I particularly liked this one.

This one arrived outside the Podium a few days ago. “The Lion, The Watch And The Wardrobe” is beautiful and very intricate.

He was created by Natasha Rampley and is sponsored by Mallory.

You can find him guarding the entrance of Duke’s Hotel on Great Pulteney Street. He was created by Jane Skuse and is sponsored by Duke’s Hotel.

I definitely need to find a slightly more interesting location to try taking some more shots like this - maybe Avebury!

Undeterred, I decided to be very adventurous and try and put together a recipe myself… and here it is.

For this recipe, you will need:

275g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
240ml milk
90g butter
1 egg
5-6 large strawberries
100ml Pimm’s (No.1)
3 tbsp orange juice
Zest of one orange

Firstly, wash and chop the strawberries into 1cm cubes and soak them in Pimm’s overnight - be sure to cover and refrigerate. Make sure the strawberries are entirely submerged so use more Pimm’s if you need it!

When ready to make the muffins, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Melt the butter and combine it with the milk and egg. Once the wet ingredients have been combined, add them slowly to the flour and sugar, stirring to create a smooth batter. If you are intending to use a lot of Pimm’s then be sure to hold back on the milk as you don’t want the mixture to get too runny!

Add the soaked strawberries and Pimm’s to the batter and stir in. You should also add the orange juice and zest at this point. This is really just to bring out a slightly fruitier flavour and smell so you can easily dispense with the orange juice completely or replace with a different type of fruit juice.

To make the muffins even more Pimm’s-like, why not add half a teaspoon of pink or red food colouring - just for a bit of fun!

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the muffins have risen and have turned golden brown.

Turn out the muffins onto a wire rack to cool…. or alternatively, enjoy hot with a side serving of fresh strawberries! I haven’t tried it myself, but you could also add a couple of tablespoons of Pimm’s to some single cream and drizzle it over the top!

And there you have it, Pimm’s Strawberry Muffins - let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for improvements to this recipe, please let me know.

Does he look a little familiar? That’s because he was modelled on Lord Bath who is the sponsor of the Lions of Bath event. The Bath Lion was created by Jo Hawthorn and is sponsored by Longleat.

Photo taken from the Lions of Bath website

Lion #28 is known as Earth Lion and he was created by Julia Trickey.

Lion #29 is known as Bloom and he was created by Sarah Grace.

Both Lions are sponsored by Deloitte.

Firstly, this is Bullion (Lion #25), created by Catherine Beale and sponsored by Principal Investment Management.

This is Dandelion (Lion #26), created by Louise Rushford and sponsored by ID Homes.

This is Auroara Sulis (Lion #27), create by Jo Russell and sponsored by BBWA.

Finally, remember “The Mane Bank“? He has found his way across to Queens Square since returning from the Den following repairs.