Photographer, creative-type, marketer and mother just about covers it. I'm based in the rolling countryside of West Oxfordshire and living the rural dream baby!
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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 then hung it on our front door as we headed out for the day.
∆ Saltwaters and sand. Made for each other.
∆ Having Dennis, our campervan, lowered at the same time as his annual service. Soooo much easier to drive now!
And here are my happies for week 33/52:
∆ Precious ‘memory stones’ carefully carried back from the beach and home in the boys’ overflowing buckets. Each one is special and has a name. So too do the crabs’ legs they insisted on hauling up the A30. Those are currently stinking out the carport…
∆ Beating the rain on Saturday morning and walking with my mum, dad, Spence and the boys down to the remains of a Roman Villa from 4AD near our home.
∆ Commander Chris Hadfield’s amazing, awe-inspiring and jaw-droppingly beautiful Space Oddity from on-board the ISS. Watching Louis glued to the screen and knowing THAT moment, right there will influence the career choices he makes in his future.
∆ I know this project isn’t about material happies but the arrival of my Kelly Moore 2 Sues pro camera bag had me dancing a jig like no-one was watching in my kitchen. I’m still as excited as a five-year old about it now!
I can’t wait to see what’s been making you all happy these last couple of weeks, I have a lot of catch-up blog reading to do!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 here tomorrow. I say that. I haven’t actually done any packing yet, but I have been thinking about it and it will happen. Honest. My mum and dad are coming to house-sit and I know they will do a few little jobs too - bonus!
∆ The disco ball at Birmingham’s Glee Club where we saw World Party on Tuesday night. Us and about 200 others. A most intimate and brilliant affair.
∆ Dennis up on the ramp, being lowered, serviced and MOT’d. Love the guys that built him, love visiting their garage - it’s a vintage memorabilia collector’s nirvana.
And working on the whole ‘problem shared’ principle, these were the frustrations:
∆ Finding mice in our garage and realising they have chomped their way through most of the stuff in there, including the special box of precious baby clothes I kept back from when the boys were little. They’ve shredded, eaten or weed on it all.
∆ Having to put up with the radio blaring away for 7 hours a day from the painters across the road. Full volume Radio 2 ALL DAY, only silenced when one painter decides to speak very loudly on his mobile in the garden. I am ready to throttle them.
Still, it could be worse. We can rid ourselves of the mice and the painters and their damned radio will soon be gone.
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 is so pleasing on the eye.
∆ The obligatory photo of the bluest of blue skies round our way on Saturday. Plus a shot of the forsythia I am going to forage from for tomorrow’s Nature in the Home post.
∆ Oh Saltwaters, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways (and colours….).
∆ This Sunday, for the first time in EIGHT YEARS, we managed to watch the F1 coverage ‘live’ or rather as it was being broadcast on the BBC. No recording it to watch it later. No fast-forwarding or pausing to see to a child. Properly watching with no interruptions. As a fan of F1 since childhood, this was a surprisingly big deal for me.
Have a happy week y’all. You can find the lovely lady who kicked off this whole project here x
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 project and it’s never too late to join in you know!
∆ A stash of reading. I return time and again to The Wonderful Weekend Book and have been planning a few Cool Camping weekends away with these trusty, well-thumbed tomes. And my mum lent me the top two books which I’m very much looking forward to reading.
∆ Jumping Clay. Oh my word, the boys LOVE it. Until last week we didn’t know what it was but they went to a holiday club where they were introduced to the stuff and they haven’t looked back. Small, brightly coloured bouncy people are popping up all over the place now.
∆ Louis had a pal for a sleepover at the weekend and they had a great time. So much so that there was plenty of time for me to actually sit down with a warm cup of coffee and relax with an interiors book for AGES! The three of them played so well together and had such fun. I love it when our home is full of other people’s kids making it their home too.
∆ Said sleepover pal brought water bombs. Much fun ensued in the sunshine on Sunday morning. Xav’s attire did make me chuckle. I wish I could get away with that look…
Have a happy week y’all.
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 of craft ensued. We discovered if we can get past the gaudy colours, decopatching is quite cool.
∆ Xavi is taking such care watering his little pumpkin seeds.
∆ We spent a beautiful day at the weekend in the company of our very good friends in the town where we used to live. Lovely food, excellent company and a trip to our once local park where Xavi (a previous non rider) got on his little pal’s bike and just pedalled away. No stabilisers, no wobbling, just proper balancing and pedalling. Proud! Also at said park, we bumped into A Crafty Chai who I knew lived locally but had never met. We fell in love with Poppydog and had a good old chat in the late afternoon sun.
∆ Our little pop-up art project is gathering pace! We have the beginnings of website, we’ve been on the radio and we’re starting to put a programme of events together for our first pop-up. Watch this space!
So, now over to you - what has made you happy this week?
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 and stay in pyjamas all day if we want to.
∆ I bought a new crochet book this week and some creamy-natural yarn. I’m going to master doubles and slip stitches. At the moment, I think I am sort of making it up so it’s time to do some proper research. That granny square blanket to keep us warm in the camper van won’t make itself you know…
∆ Having a bit of precious solo time with Louis whilst Xav was at a party this week. He’s growing so much now. None of his trousers fit him and he has an appetite like a horse. It only seems like yesterday he was a little gurgling bundle in blue.
∆ Sometimes all you need to do when it is snowing (yes, snowing in April) is curl up on the sofa and watch a DVD.
So those are mine, what are your happies for this week?
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 project.
And so, on to this week’s happies…
∆ This little boy. He’s had us worried in the last few weeks, causing us more than a few sleepless nights and a tear or two but he seems to have turned a corner. He’s an amazing ‘human bean’ and has been a great source of happy this week (along with his brother of course!).
∆ His homework. So neat. So funny. So legible. He’s coming on in leaps and bounds and it’s great to see.
∆ There might be snow on the ground but I’m forcing it to feel like spring in our kitchen. It’s nearly Easter for heaven’s sake.
∆ For the first time in ages, we had a really relaxing Saturday and Sunday. Sports clubs were cancelled, there was only one party to go to and five out of six of our weekend meals were eaten all together as a family, around our kitchen table. We had proper down time and it did us all good. No DVDs, no screens, the boys listened to their Horrible History CDs and played together whilst we did the housework (I KNOW!) on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon we even experimented with natural dyeing eggs for our Easter branches - I will share the results soon.
Not pictured but also cause for much excitement this week - booking tickets to see The Who play Quadrophenia in my home town in June and Spence’s band possibly playing at the same festival as one of my most favourite bands this summer - woo hoo!
So those are mine, what were your happies this week?
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 afternoon coincided with a rare example of domestication (ie. me cooking roast chicken for dinner) which impressed the school mums no end, ho yes…
∆ The calm before the storm. I took this photograph just before going to pick up the boys from school on Friday afternoon. It made me smile as someone mentioned on twitter that it looked like it contained the ingredients for the perfect after-school storm. Check!
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 at the weekend. The boys are keen to grow more of their own vegetables this year after our adventure in bean growing last year so we’ve chosen carrots, runner beans, tomatoes, garlic, potatoes and pumpkins. And the obligatory sunflowers of course.
∆ The farmers market was back in town on Saturday so Xav and I went shopping. He loves ‘doing the money’ and went round each stall, asking for the things he wanted and handing over his cash. Under my supervision he bought several pots of tete-a-tete, organic bread, fudge, sushi (I know, mad right?) and sausages from our local farm shop stall. On the way home he requested toad in the hole for supper so that’s what we did.
∆ Our tete-a-tetes on the windowsill. I was going to keep this shot back for Lou’s Nature in the Home series which I’m going to be joining in with from this Wednesday, but it made me smile so I have stuck it here. With the muddy football print on the window behind the pot, it sums up our weekend perfectly!
∆ Coffee on Saturday morning. And Saturday evening. And Sunday morning too come to think of it. In a favourite mug.
So those are my happies for this week, although I should probably also mention Mothers’ Day on Sunday which also made me happy. The boys’ handmade cards and their excitement in the morning put a real smile on my face. As did the bottle of perfume, pot of roses and Xavi’s clay face self-portrait. And the banana in bed (not quite a full breakfast but probably the best option given the chaos that could have ensued with a full-on breakfast creation).
Looking forward to seeing all your happy things for this week!
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 have seen some of these already.
∆ Signs of spring are gradually creeping into our home. I’ve been playing around with Snapseed and like how this photo almost looks like a painting.
∆ Flying over the snow-covered Alps on Thursday morning. A sudden break in the cloud revealed this view below and it fair took my breath away.
∆ Stopping for a gran caffe at Sant’ Eustachio in Rome. It really is as good as they say it is.
∆ Marking our ten years of marriage. We took this picture overlooking Il Foro on Friday morning then spent most of the day remarking how much older and knackered we both look compared to the fresh-faced newlyweds who arrived in Rome ten years previously!
I hope you have had a good week. I am going to spend this evening catching up with everyone’s blogs - I have missed you all!
ETCETERA theme by Hrrrthrrr
