May 2013
12 posts
2 tags
20/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Louis - at the William Scott / Peter Fraser exhibition at Tate St Ives
Xavi - on his way to the Roman villa remains near our home
I like how these two portraits have worked out this week - both boys with their backs to the camera, absorbed in their own thoughts and wonderings. Their independence is growing and they stray farther...
2 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (32 & 33/52)
I missed last week’s happy post (having too much fun on holiday) so this week is a bumper two-week special…
My happies for week 32/52:
∆ Returning to Porthmeor Cafe for several breakfasts with the boys and savouring the views (and the food - excellent as always).
∆ Watching Xavi’s excited little ritual each morning as he stood on a chair in the kitchen to grab his sign...
2 tags
Chasing the light
Before we had children, Spence and I took a l-o-n-g trip out to Long Island. We headed out of New York in a rental car, Billy Idol on the stereo, past Coney Island and on until the city was far behind us. We were headed out in search of the light.
We didn’t stay long, but the light we found there truly is amazing. It’s difficult to describe but you know it when you see it....
1 tag
Post-holiday after-school cake
The week following a break away is always a bit of a downer in our house so on Monday I set aside all thoughts of work and instead made the boys a cake.
Louis had requested a blueberry cake and having seen Laura’s delectable lemon-blueberry yoghurt loaf over at Circle of Pine Trees, I knew just where to go for the recipe. The recipe uses cup measurements rather than grams but this...
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series...
The pickings are quite rich in our garden at the moment. Many moons ago, our cottage was the home of the head gardener at Blenheim Palace and we have inherited a beautiful, natural (and at times rather unkempt) front garden full of self-seeding poppies, bluebells, geraniums, hyacinths and all manner of beautiful plants.
For a few glorious weeks in late spring and early summer, it looks...
2 tags
1 tag
4 tags
19/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Xavi - in his element having found exactly the right consistency of sand to make castles.
Louis - proud parent doesn’t come close, I was jumping up and down like a mad woman as he surfed his way to the beach. Go Surfer Lou!
As ever, I’m joining in with Jodi and everyone else taking part in the weekly portrait...
1 tag
3 tags
18/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Xavi - digging holes, throwing shovel-loads of sand into the waves, humming happily to himself and getting frecklier by the hour.
Louis - climbing rocks like a mini mountain goat and rocking his new green trousers.
Joining in with Jodi and everyone else taking part in the weekly portrait series. Apologies for the quality of...
1 tag
52 Weeks of Happy (31/52)
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
A lot to put a smile on my face this week. But equally, just as much to induce a quizzical / frustrated / ‘oh bugger’ expression as well.
These were the happies:
∆ Flow Magazine. A celebration of paper and print. It’s simply beautiful.
∆ Packing for our annual pilgrimage...
1 tag
Nature in the home - for May morning
Please accept my little posy of grape hyacinths and forget-me-nots (I think!) picked from the garden this morning for today’s Nature in the Home post.
They are sitting on my desk next to me as I write, keeping me company as I furiously try to sign off multiple proofs in advance of a little break away with my boys on Friday. I love going on holiday, but boy, the frantic weeks before and...
April 2013
16 posts
2 tags
Decluttering. Gradually...
This weekend has been a typical April one - bright sunshine one minute, rain and even hail the next. It’s been a weekend for chores, homework and tackling ‘those’ jobs around the house - the ones I’ve put off for so long but which really need doing.
So, having been inspired by Claire at Just a Little Less who is constantly striving and managing to live with fewer...
3 tags
17/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Xavi - favourite toy: a blue foam-filled fabric triangle with velcro on two sides. Takes ‘him’ everywhere.
Louis - favourite band: AC/DC and Black Sabbath. Oh. My. Ears.
Joining in with Jodi and everyone else taking part in the weekly portrait series.
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series (foraging)
I missed yesterday’s Nature in the Home group post as I was suffering from a horrible migraine - the kind that when it finally lifted late last night made me realise how completely out of it I had been for 18 hours or so. I don’t get them very often, but when I do, I lose at least a day and feel groggy for another 24 hours after that.
But today - perhaps it’s the sunny...
1 tag
52 Weeks of Happy (30/52)
Stuff that has been making me happy this week. As always, keeping in mind the quote that “the happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
∆ Booty from Record Store Day. A limited edition gig poster, signed by the artist and featuring MY HUSBAND’S BAND no less. Being a supportive musician’s wife is so much easier when the graphic design...
3 tags
16/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Goodness, we’re four months in already. With this and the 52 Weeks of Happy project, I am really noticing how time is flying by.
Louis - a portrait.
Xavi - an anti-portrait. Captured just before I jettisoned the camera to stop him falling down the steps. Playing ‘worms’ apparently…
As ever, I’m...
3 tags
Calling all music lovers : Record Store Day
Tomorrow is Record Store Day 2013. It’s a day to visit your local independent record store and remember why it’s so great.
It’s a day to see loads of bands play live at your favourite store and watch as some - my husband’s band included - hot foot it from one indie store to the next on a whirlwind Phil Collins in Live Aid-type tour. Oh how surprised and excited we were...
2 tags
1 tag
52 Weeks of Happy (29/52)
It was our last few days of the Easter holidays last week, so we made sure we had a lot of fun. Most of it was homemade, but we had a few trips out in Dennis the campervan to blow away the cobwebs here and there.
As ever, I’m joining in with Jen at Little Birdie and a whole host of other good people to celebrate the simple things that bring us pleasure during each week. It’s a great...
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series...
These lines from Robert Herrick, the 17th century English poet seem quite apt for the short-lived pale daffodils I’ve had at home this week. They barely bloomed before they browned and curled and drooped.
This little one didn’t even make it to the big boys’ vase. Droopy and broken-stemmed in the brown paper they came in, it had a quick trim and spent the week in a shot glass...
3 tags
15/52
* A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 *
Oh so late with this week’s portraits. Tsk. I blame the school holidays, my fractured working schedule, a weekend sleepover and trips out in the campervan. In short, we’ve been a bit busy.
Xavi - or as he likes to be known, the Great Xavendo.
Louis - doing his best ‘album cover’ pose.
As ever,...
3 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (28/52)
Joining in with Jen at Little Birdie and a whole lot of other nice people, inspired by the quote below.
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
∆ Xavi went to a pottery painting party (ten 5-6-year old boys - madness) which Louis totally derided until he spotted the decopatching kits. One very peaceful afternoon...
2 tags
Nature in the home - a series...
This week, two plants for the price of one! Well, four actually if you count each clump of surprisingly hot cress growing away in those little peat pots.
Do you have set spots in your house where you site your indoor plants and flowers? I tend to always have a pot or vase of something or other on the kitchen table, then a rotating display on the kitchen windowsill (at the moment, it’s...
3 tags
2 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (27/52)
As ever, I’m joining in with Jen at Little Birdie and lots of other seekers of happiness in the every day, inspired by the quote that “the happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
My happies for week 27/52:
∆ Can you see their feet? The school holidays make us happy, a chance to unwind, have leisurely breakfasts...
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series...
Oh I am glad the clocks went forwards this weekend. The normal Monday morning shock was absorbed by the fortuitous timing of the Easter Bank Holiday and the evenings have gradually started to draw out.
I can feel our house and garden waking up from the l-o-n-g winter. A little blackbird and his mate are visiting the garden each day, delighting in the little feast of nuts and seeds I put...
3 tags
Screen printing with Mabel and Bird
On Easter Saturday, I re-ignited my love of screen printing at a course held in my local yarn shop by Emma Pearson, of Mabel and Bird.
I did a crochet course there a few months ago and was itching to give screen printing another try after doing it at college many years ago.
Emma makes and sells the most gorgeous hand screen printed designs. She features in the latest Selina Lake book, is...
March 2013
23 posts
3 tags
13/52
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013.
Xavi - aged five years, nine months and twenty four days. Body mass approximately 30% chocolate.
Louis - aged eight years, one month and thirty days. Body mass approximately 42% chocolate.
As ever, joining in with Jodi and all the other lovely people participating in the weekly portrait series.
3 tags
Easter branches
This year, we experimented with dyeing our own blown eggs to create a homemade tree for Easter.
Having seen lots of lovely results on various blogs last year, we tried out three types of dye - two natural (red onion skins and red cabbage) and one with lilac food colouring.
Blowing the eggs was good fun. We made holes in either end of the eggs with a needle, then fashioned a wider hole in the top...
2 tags
In my bag
I always like to see what other people hulk around with them in their bags. I’m amazed by those women who manage to fit all they need for every eventuality into a small clutch bag. They clearly have more stuff stashed in their pants right?
Well not for me the tiny purse approach. I am of the bag school of thought that bigger is definitely better and am always on the search for the perfect...
2 tags
Nature in the home - a series...
Oh my, when will this cold weather give way to spring? As I type, a flurry of snowflakes falls outside my window.
These fressias are sitting on the mantelpiece in our bedroom wafting their gorgeous scent around the room. I love having fresh cut flowers where I sleep. When we go camping, I often pick a little posy for the campervan. My husband and boys think I am mad but in a houseful of men,...
3 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (26/52)
Halfway! A whole half-year of posting a weekly set of pictures to honour the maxim that “the happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
In a six-month round-up type-of-thing, you can see all my previous posts for this project here. And you can see more happies over with Jen from Little Birdie, who we have to thank for this lovely...
2 tags
2 tags
12/52
*A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013*
Xavi - growing up a little more each day. More independent, more confident, more trouble (sometimes). His first big tooth has pushed through his gum, much to his delight. Brushing his teeth has never been such fun.
Louis - strumming on his guitar, bashing a rhythm out on his drum kit. He has a real ear for music this one. This...
1 tag
1 tag
Happy weekend people
Happy weekend! Just checking in with an extra Nature in the Home post as the little posy of ranunculus and the single pink rose I plopped into a shot glass in our bedroom looked so pretty this morning.
Whatever you’re up to this weekend, have a great one.
2 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (25/52)
The palindromic week that is week 25/52! Joining in with Jen at Little Birdie.
∆ This smiley face appeared on my hyacinth pot overnight :-)
∆ Catkins, can’t get enough of their furry feel-goodness (that’s a word, right?) and this skeleton - is it from an abutilon maybe - blew onto my back doorstep just begging to be included in the gang
∆ An impromptu play date on Monday...
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series...
Today is the vernal equinox. Spring is officially here. From today, the days will start getting longer, new shoots will pop through the warming earth and we honour the new season by bringing into our homes budding branches, catkins, hyacinths and daffodils. I quite like that today’s Nature in the Home post falls on the vernal equinox. A perfect balance of blogging and nature. This orchid...
2 tags
Three cubic metres...
I thought I’d show you where I work. My little desk space is a corner of my youngest son’s bedroom, so it is both compact and bijou and free from the sort of things that he would have a field day with at bedtime (cameras, lenses, indelible markers, proofs, the ‘good’ stationery).
Those things are squirrelled away in the drawer units beneath the desk. He hasn’t...
3 tags
2 tags
11/52
A weekly set of portraits of my boys, joining in with Jodi over at Che and Fidel. This is such an ace project. I can’t believe there are over 300 bloggers taking part. Amazing. And a bit special.
I have had a very jolly time whizzing around the various corners of the interweb looking at everyone else’s photographs this week - my word you’re a talented bunch! I’ve listed a...
2 tags
Finding time for stillness
This morning has not been a classic. Harsh and unexpected words from another mum first thing. Ongoing delicate work issues. Getting my car bogged down in inches of oozing mud in the middle of a forest in Oxfordshire. All before midday.
Coming back to a calm, quiet and still house was a relief. Sometimes I think we forget to make time for stillness. I know I needed to this afternoon. Not to...
1 tag
Red Nose madness...
This is what happens when your son sneaks ALL of his pocket money (and most of his brother’s too) into school during Red Nose Week.
He’s a benevolent young soul. Not sure how he’s going to wear all those noses though. Perhaps some sort of necklace arrangement? Apparently he bought 17 in total (yes, I know…) and gave three to his best mates!
1 tag
Nature in the home - a series...
Lou at Little Green Shed has a series on her blog called Nature in the Home which I often admire. I’m not a big houseplant fan, but fresh flowers and succulents find their way into our home and Lou manages to photograph or find the loveliest examples. I can’t decide what I like most - the plants and flowers or the often-gorgeous homes they sit in.
Anyway, as Lou has invited people to join the...
2 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (24/52)
Firstly, thanks for all your comments recently. I’m still on a bit of catch-up after our weekend away but I have read each one I promise!
This week has been one of routine and chores. The weather has taken on a distinctly chilly air so my happies are all home-based, nothing glamorous or exciting to see here I’m afraid…
∆ We went on a little seed buying expedition...
2 tags
10/52 (and 9/52)
I’m playing catch-up with a double set of pictures for Jodi’s portrait a week project this weekend. I missed last week’s post because we were away so here is a bumper package of life in the weeks of two small(ish) boys.
*A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013*
Xavi - turned 5 3/4 this week. A big milestone for one who measures his weeks in distance...
2 tags
Roman Holiday (Part 2)
No trip to Rome would be complete without spending a considerable time at Il Foro Romano, once the political heart of the empire and now a jaw-dropping mix of ruins and perfectly-preserved civic buildings that completely blow your mind.
Trying to make sense of it all is a bit of a challenge, unless you know your Roman historical onions but even without a complete understanding of what is...
2 tags
Roman Holiday (Part 1)
I thought I’d share with you a few pictures from our little trip to Rome last weekend.
We left the boys in the care of my parents and flew to Rome early doors on Thursday morning, for three nights and four days in the city we spent part of our honeymoon in ten years ago.
I love Rome. It is so casually breathtaking. Everything is extraordinary yet totally part of the everyday. Tourists...
2 tags
52 Weeks of Happy (23/52)
Joining in as ever with Jen at Little Birdie, although I’m a bit late with my happies this week - I’m still catching up after our trip to Rome (more on that later in the week).
I am amazed we are almost reaching the midway point in this project - so many happy things to look back on already. Anyway, here are my happies for week 23. Apologies if you follow me on instagram as you will...
