October glimpses

Summer has said its final goodbyes and left us with wonderful orange leaves and the less wonderful clocks going back. A little snapshot of my October...

J continues enjoying the mirror. He especially enjoys the mirror baby laughing.

Can it be? Not only has a gerberra plant not died on my watch, but is positively flourishing!

Spice cupboard re-organised and purged; spice jars emptied and cleaned.

In Fishguard, disappointed with the general lack of, well anything to do, we found a funky cafe. The menu suggested Choctails, hello! The only flavours left were liquorice, pineapple or violet. I don't like liquorice, but why I suggested violet over pineapple I struggle to recall. It's probably blocked out by how very disgusting the violet choctail was! Yuk! So, back home, I decided to make some of my own...

And then, I 'made' some chocolate-covered strawberries. Not covered so well as the last batch, but still delish!

My loveliness has learnt to clap! It was such an unexpected joy! It's really hard to capture though...

I also made some almond milk - check me out!

I left the clock in J's room on BST, or J time, to help me remember what his body is telling him in the midst of the trauma of what my watch is telling me!

September glimpses

September has been and gone. What did it hold for me?

A chance to get out some paint and make a chalkboard...

I introduced J to light play (roll on hanukkah!)...

We bought some cooking apples during a visit to the National Trust, which I transformed into apple chutney. The jury's still out on its success though...

J's wooden-themed treasure basket...

A lovely week in Pembrokeshire. Warren has begun imparting essential life skills; in this case, skimming stones...

Naturally J and I went on holiday with Warren, which also means that, naturally, it was boaty...

J started on solids over the summer and has somewhat overtaken the freezer...

Learning

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here! Life has been quite busy, brim-full of learning curves. The main two have been Warren's return to shift work in June; I'm a girl who loves routine which isn't so easy with a young baby and a husband working nearly 13 hour shifts including nights. The other is that babies are quite a handful, literally. And they require quite a lot of stuff. Carrying a baby and at least one bag isn't hugely conducive to whipping out my SLR and capturing a shot of something that just captured me.

This is where my phone has come in handy. Of course we all know it's an easy and brilliant way of snapping the moment; it's about memory making and keeping, not necessarily about photography. Unlike pleasant places. I hadn't taken anything other than the occasional snapshot before I started 365 in March 2013. Its purpose was to serve as the platform for my baby steps into photography. I may only be toddling now, but this blog is about photography first. Photography as a means of capturing and communicating my seemingly small, but hopefully colourful and life-giving world. So, hopefully I'm back. Themed posts aren't practical, 365 isn't possible. But, hopefully, glimpses of my day-to-day will be.

It's good to be back.

Day 166/2

Warren planted our new fruit trees today. They aren't quite ready for the allotment yet, so they are on what was our balcony but is now our temporary orchard!

Day 155/2

Sad story - we eagerly arrived at Dyrham Park, ready to enjoy a picnic and our National Trust passes, when the half term reality hit us. The overflow car park was far too overflowing and far too far away from the house, so I took some photos of the field, Warren took a photo of me taking a photo, J kept sleeping and off we went again!

Day 165/2

Mum gave me some birthday flowers, they're still going and most fragrant.

Day 164/2

Jogging's great but my feet are sore - hot water bottle, please!

Day 163/2

Part of Warren's leaving present from work ... yum!

Day 162/5

Another walk, another field.

Day 161/2

Yesterday's weather improved as the day went on, to the point where I put the washing out on the balcony. I looked up a few minutes later to count two nappies not four ... Warren was having a little snooze, so J and I went hunting! (We were successful, by the way!)

Day 160/2

Happy birthday to me! Warren's (perfect and delightful) birthday idea was lunch at Jamie's Italian, so off we waded through the rain (on my summer birthday) and found a lovely spot in the restaurant while this precious bundle slept for two whole hours! My husband, my son. The best gifts.

Day 159/2

Warren started his new job today - I am so excited for him! His welcome-home-tell-me-all-about-your-day-let's-celebrate-meal is ready and the table, as you see, is ready too.

Day 158/2

 Just chopping up some pears, ready for freezing thence to be blitzed into a smoothie.

Day 157/2

Beautiful day, beautiful walk.

Day 154/2

J and I went to visit my gran today. I asked if I could photograph their hands, to which she responded "but they're horrible!" although she was happy to let me. I think they are beautiful. My dear friend Helen photographed Gran's and my hands on my wedding day, as our rings are quite similar; that photo is special to me. I imagine this one will be too.

Day 153/2

Oh, look - the house at Blaise! Could we be out for a walk again?!

Day 152/2

Hmm, school girl error - not taking a photo until late in the day. So, here's my evening - moisturising then elevating my feet, notes and ideas to scribble down, the cards Niki picked up for me (they just happen to be on the table!) and I imagine my phone will be used at some point!

Day 151/2

It's so delightful to be able to reach my feet again!

Day 150/2

Such a lovely day today. Family over for lunch, then we three went for a walk in Blaise to enjoy the sunshine, find some ice cream and talk dreams both big and small.

Day 149/2

 I've been jogging for a couple of weeks now... Progress is going slowly, slowly - just taking good care - and it's sometimes quite hard but it is SO good!

Day 148/2

J and I took a walk around the grounds, while we waited for Warren to finish work.

Day 147/2

Our new afternoon walk route at Blaise, up to the folly and then back again!

Day 146/2

J's new shoes arrived today.

Day 145/2

We just walked into Westbury, posting letters and buying stamps, then popped into Costa to re-fuel for the walk back up the hill. Simple, simple moments that make me happy.

Day 144/2

I'm feeling peckish while waiting for my food, so I've just polished off the pistachio nuts!

Day 143/2

J is two months old today! Clearly, he wasn't quite energised enough for some photo-taking!

Day 142/2

Sorry to show you my PJs twice in a week! (They have been washed, promise!) My back and feet are still in need of some post-pregnancy restoration, hence the hot water bottle.

Day 141/2

Uh oh... In the process of hot chocolate-making, I reached for the hot chocolate powder only to find that it's nearly run out. Will it be one mug of hot choc and one mug of milk? Or two weak hot chocs?

Day 140/2

 I popped out and came back to, as Warren described it, "a plate full of health for you"!

Day 139/2

We went for a walk and bumped into K and co... We said hi to A, but she was very focussed on her new bike-riding skills - up and down, up and down, up and down.

Day 138/2

Here we are taking a little break on our drive back from the south coast. I fed J while Warren ate; Warren fed J while I ate.

Day 137/2

We're sharing a cottage with Warren's cousin and his family for the weekend. Nevertheless, J and I had his morning bottle and went out for an early walk; at home I feel the need to get dressed, clearly I don't feel that way on holiday!

Day 136/2

Today is Warren's mum's wedding ... J is catching 40 winks with his daddy just before the reception.

Day 135/2

Epic fail - no photo!! But we did drive down to the south coast, ready for tomorrow's wedding...

Day 134/2

My husband is a man of inspiration, so when he turned to me and said "I need to go and vote, shall I get falafel in laffa on the way back?" I knew we were on to something ... and something yummy!

Day 133/2

Hmm... One of those busy days where my evening meal is some toast grabbed at 9pm swiftly followed by grabbing the camera to try and get my 365!

Day 132/2

J's getting bigger! Out with his current wardrobe and in with the next size up. I was peeking at his new shoes and vests through the basket handle.