30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 12 - Sunset

I'm grateful, firstly, that there was something to photograph. The grey skies had been rolling in fast, but I was lucky to snap this moment of colour. I am also grateful that the challenge was 'sunset' and not 'sunrise'........I am quite certain that I would have missed that!

Day 11 - Something blue.




I also remember my wonderful Uncle who died 8 years ago today. I will ALWAYS have good memories of my loving, laughing, lovely Uncle Alan.

Time waits for no man........or woman!

Although I have been absent from blogland for about a week, I have been keeping up with the 30 Day Photography Challenge. We were lucky enough to be able to have a last minute getaway to Cornwall before our summer was over! It really was a very welcome escape from work, DIY and technology. The places we visited definitely provided perfect photo opportunities for the challenges set for those days, but I must admit I did not take full advantage of them. I was still quite 'point and shoot', but I won't feel too guilty about that as we were really enjoying our time together as a family. For now I will just do a catch up on the photography challenge; Cornwall deserves a post all of its own.

Day 4 - Something green.



Arenaria balearica (Sandwort)

This photo would have been better had I got the greenery in the foreground in focus too! Well, I'll try to learn from my mistakes!

Day 5 - From a high angle.

Day 6 - From a low angle.

I admit I could have made this more interesting had I adjusted the angle somewhat. This photo was taken at the Minack Theatre, an amphitheatre on the cliff at Porthcurno in Cornwall.

Day 7 - Fruit.

Our homegrown tomatoes. These are quite rare, being red, as the majority of our tomatoes are STILL green! Looks like we'll be making green tomato chutney.

Day 8 - A bad habit.




"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date...."

 Time keeping is definitely one of my bad habits, and one that I am really trying to change!

Day 9 - Someone you love.

I simply love to see my boy smile!

Day 10 - Childhood memory.

So glad we kept a lot of my childhood books. They bring back all sorts of lovely memories, not just of the stories behind the cover, but the people who read them to me and the places where they were read; the stories that belong to me and that are good to remember.

Photography Challenge. Day 3.

Todays photo challenge is 'Clouds', and when I woke up this morning I was rather disappointed that the sky was just one big grey mass. Not a stratus, cumulus or cirrus in sight! I only needed one photo!
Thankfully I took the camera with us when we were invited to meet friends at the beach, because, for a short while, blue skies and warm sunshine appeared, turning the grey mass into the fluffy white cotton wool I had been hoping for. I happily snapped away whilst the children worked up a sweat in the playground, but it was too bright for me to see any of the detail of my efforts. Just as suddenly as the perfect photo opportunity had appeared, it disappeared, behind the big grey mass again.
On returning home I went straight for the computer and started to make a shortlist. I have ended up with two photos that I just can't choose between. I really do feel that for the challenge there should be just one, so to take the easy way out, I am going to put both up here and would welcome any opinions as to which is best.......just remember I am not claiming to be a professional at photography!

I really like this second one because the clouds were continuing the layering and the shape of the beach huts, but I also like the first for being more dramatic, and for having what looks a like either a butterfly or angel shaped cloud.....do you see it?
The children have been really interested in this photography challenge and have decided that for the rest of it they too would like to have a go, so hopefully I will also be sharing some of their work tomorrow. The 'cloud' topic has brought up some interesting questions today..........I feel a lapbook/project coming on!
It's been a lovely day. I always enjoy it when we get some fresh air and exercise, and even more so when it is shared with friends.

Clouds

by Christina Rossetti

White sheep, white sheep,
On a blue hill,
When the wind stops
You all stand still
When the wind blows
You walk away slow.
White sheep, white sheep,
Where do you go?



30 Day Photography Challenge........

Day 2: What you wore today.........

New Challenges.....

This post really should have been done yesterday, as I have decided to have a go at this 30 Day Photography Challenge. Yet another challenge for me is to try to actually be on time!! So Thursday September 1st, day one, is Self Portrait:

Let me first just tell you that I am no professional when it comes to photography. I am, however, hoping that I may learn a thing or two as I have always been a bit 'point and shoot' when it comes to photos. Self portrait was also quite difficult for me as I am always VERY critical of photos of myself, but I am quite pleased with my first effort, thanks to Phil's expert advice!

As you know, I have been spending a lot of time recently on planning ahead and clearing the cobwebs. This photo is to remind me of one of the places my true self is happy. It also signifies a part of the changes taking place in our household as a family. For some of us it will be quite hard but I know worth it in the long run. We ALL embrace the wonder of technology in our house, and the internet is, I admit, a great tool for us as home learners. BUT we also ALL get rather sucked into a kind of 'black hole' where we realise that too much time has passed us by and really great opportunities have been missed. Phil and I have decided that screen time in our house NEEDS to be limited in favour of more of the good ole fashioned fun and exploration that we all used to have: walks, books, talks, music, togetherness, space. All these things we do have right now, just not enough. Childhood and each of its many phases pass so quickly, and we are going to run and jump and swim and play in all its goodness as much as we can!

Missing in action....

It has been almost 2 weeks since I last posted, for a mixture of reasons. We have been very busy, but not with all the usual summer type fun, more the kind of things that are meant to happen in Spring...ie cleaning!
The book, Organized Simplicity, that I mentioned in an earlier post, has been what's kept me away from my blog, through sheer determination to once and for all declutter my house from top to bottom.
We have tried to follow the 10 day plan from the book, not completely successfully as I am a creature of habit, and have my own way of approaching these things, but it has been a good general guide for the process.
The first step I followed to the letter; which is to go through every room and area of your house and just scan it for items that you know to be rubbish, or not needed/wanted anymore. No sorting or sifting, just going for what is clearly visible. I was surprised how much stuff there was in this category. Some was literally rubbish. The rest was either for recycling, charity shops or to sell. I am hoping that a friends offer to help me with a boot sale still stands.........I really need to do one, and the company (and her big car) would be much appreciated!
I have had to spend a lot of time in our new craft room trying to fit many many items into their new homes. It has been quite a trial and still not finished. Despite having a chest with 19 drawers in it, I am struggling to place the last few items. I know the room needs to be fit for purpose, and I am definitely in favour of 'a place for everything and everything in its place', but I don't want the room to look cluttered. It already is much more full than the original photo's show. One great addition is our new table. I have been looking for the perfect one for ages. Originally I had been looking at beautiful old pine scrub top tables, but when we mapped them out on the floor, they seemed to take up far too much space, and we were already enjoying the roominess! We didn't want to go for too small a table either, as we have been looking forward to a good sized work area for sewing, jigsaw puzzles, art etc etc. In the end I came across a really sturdy plastic table, 5 feet long, with the added bonus of folding legs. Now we are all happy that we can have the best of both worlds!
The decluttering and organising saga will continue, it just has to fit in with my energy levels, and making sure we all have some fun times too before Phil's new term at work starts.

After all feeling quite a degree of cabin fever, we did manage to get out in the sunshine for a few hours, and caught up with a close friend that I hadn't seen for far too long.
We went to one of our favourite haunts, Cockington Country Park.

There are many different aspects to Cockington. I would happily wander through the park all day, but William & Grace always have a different agenda. So on this occasion we tried to squeeze in a little bit of what everyone fancied. After a short wander the play area was a must........

Actually, I must admit, if I weren't depriving other children, I could also happily while away a fair bit of time in one of these swings!
Ice cream was also on their agenda, so we obliged and managed to force down a treat ourselves before having a quick look around the craft studios and then wandering back through the beautiful countryside.

We have also had to find space for a very special visitor this week. Grace and Fred have become firm friends........

We have never been able to have pets as I have severe allergies to animal hair and fur. Grace absolutely loves animals and has been desperate to have a pet, so I am very grateful to our lovely friend for letting us look after a completely hairless, and very amusing Fred for a week or so! He's quite adventurous, is Fred and there really is never a dull moment. He is even fascinating when he's asleep.

Fred also has a few naughty habits......like urinating in his drinking water, and releasing wind in quite a noisy way....(trying to put it politely!) This has of course caused much amusement amongst the younger members of the household!!

He LOVES his food and wolfs it down every morning.


We will actually quite miss Fred when he goes home, and wish that we could have a tortoise of our own, but we have no garden to speak of.
Having said that, I think Fred has had quite an influence on our Daughter, especially her reading material........

Who knew poo could be SO fascinating?! Still, it cheered Grace up yesterday as William went off for a long awaited sleepover with his friend. Grace was quite upset not to be having this kind of fun, so she made a den in her room with her pretty wigwam, and we treated her to a DVD and some popcorn.

We had planned to have a proper family day out today, but the weather has not been kind so far. We are hoping for the sun to shine through later so that we can get out for some fun..... somewhere!

Give us today, our daily bread.

Every morning when I sit down for breakfast, I am thankful to my husband for his gift of our daily bread. He makes all our bread by hand and it is delicious.
“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” --Robert Browning

We are lucky to have some great foraging opportunities right on our doorstep. Close to our home, we quite by chance, a couple of years ago, found an enormous fig tree! Today Grace & Phil went to see how the figs were doing. One of the neighbours came out and said they weren't ready yet. We felt really disappointed that someone else knew about the figs, but they don't belong solely to us. They are there for the taking. Unfortunately though, we discovered someone had taken ALL the damsons from the tree outside our house, so no jam for us this year. To make up for the disappointment Grace went to pick as many blackberries as she could from our back garden.

And then made an apple & blackberry crumble, pretty much all by herself!

The second of our store cupboard recipes was spinach and ricotta cannelloni. It's a real family favourite.

We used up some frozen spinach instead of our usual fresh, but it tasted just as good and was a lot cheaper. We ALWAYS make 2 cannelloni's, with the idea of putting one in the freezer. That never happens! We always end up eating the 2nd one the following night!
Cooking is pretty much all we did today, but it made the day special and we didn't need to spend any money. It was good quality time together and a nice quiet home day.
I am thankful that we always have food on the table and that we have each other to share it with.

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6 v 35.

Simple pleasures....

I am a woman of few words tonight. Writers block. But a day full of simple pleasures doesn't really need too many words.

We even caught William hanging about!

Loving nature!

 Their smiles..................

.........are one of my greatest pleasures!

Lamb Tagine & Herb Tabouleh...........



.....The first, and probably the best, meal on our store cupboard menu.


My day ended with just a little bit of chocolate. "It's my one weakness!"



What a difference a book makes.

We did manage to get out of the house today although it wasn't exactly what I had in mind!
I was envisaging driving beneath the dappled shade of trees arching gracefully above us, the warm sunshine flickering its golden glow through the foliage as we wended our way to a picturesque destination. Alas, no!
We sat in town traffic and spent the morning in Staples and PC World. Not particularly enjoyable, but necessary for Phils work.
Things did improve. We arrived home to see the postman leaving our house, however we had missed a package, so Phil chased after him to retrieve it. It was for me! I had received two much wished for books for my birthday from my lovely friend Mirjam. And it is these two books that shaped the rest of my day.

The first is about finding simplicity in your life and your day to day living so that the things that matter can really have your time and attention. It is about decluttering your home, but also your mind, and although this sounds all rather cliched, it is not one of those kind of books. Sure it does give some useful advice and tips, but it is about finding what works for your home, your family. Having just received the book today, I have only had time to dip in and out so far, but it has already inspired some changes that I would like to, and in some cases, need to try out.
We have really started to notice the increase in our outgoings lately. The obvious being food and petrol. But when I sat down this afternoon and started to really map out our current finances, I got quite a shock. We are not in dire straits, but we do need a plan of action. Where can we save money? What can we do without? Are there any bills we could switch to cheaper tariffs? And on the decluttering front, what do we have that we really don't need or use and could sell?
Having had a new room to organise and furnish, I feel very satisfied that I have mostly re-used or re-vamped items that we already owned. There is very little that we had to buy new. But we have also rediscovered items that we are no longer in need of, so our first step will be to sell those and achieve decluttering and boosting our finances in one hit!
I also needed to plan a new menu for the next 7 days, so with money saving in mind, I wrote a list of everything in our store cupboard and freezer in an attempt to get all 7 days covered with little or no shopping. I managed to plan 5 out of the 7 meals from the food already in the house; and before you ask, no, I didn't find 5 tins of beans!
The domino effect really started to kick in, and this got me making a very strict budget for our shopping each week. We will have a set amount and when it's gone it's gone! I do so like a challenge and actually find this kind of thing very satisfying when it works. When we were young, my Dad was made redundant, and I remember going shopping with my Mum, calculator in hand, weighing a single carrot or onion or suchlike and calculating the cost to see if we could afford to add it to the trolley. It was a good lesson to learn and I hope that I too am teaching my children the value of money.
Recently I made a schedule for some of the household chores, like laundry and vacuuming. It was in an attempt to try to get each of us doing a bit so that I would not feel guilty having my rest, but also so that the jobs would get done. When I'm not feeling well, the housework suffers and then I get down and so it goes on! I made lovely little laminated lists and it started well but has not been sustained, so I am hoping to revive them......sharpish!! My lists could go on and on, but you get the idea, and I don't want to bore you. I am quite excited about the challenge; in anticipation of a new found simplicity. I shall keep you posted!

I think I will have to tell you about the second book another time. This evening has passed all too quickly, and keeping in mind what I have read about today, I simply need to sleep. Goodnight and sleep well. x

A few days at home.

The last few days have been rather housebound and not really by choice. My last physio appointment on Tuesday brought unexpected news and a mixed reaction. I was not having a good day healthwise, although the pain in my back is still a lot better. I warned my physio that subjecting me to torture today would not be welcomed! Thankfully I got to just sit and talk; I'm quite good at that!
The upshot is that they no longer think the original diagnosis is correct and want to refer me to a specialist. Of course it does seem to be good news that it may not be this incurable condition as they first thought, but I'm afraid my instant reaction was, 'Oh no, now I'm back to square one!'. I'm sure that actually going to see a specialist is the best thing and maybe I will finally know what I'm dealing with.

Anyway, we've been at home since Tuesday, as I am meant to be resting. That hasn't been difficult as I've just had no energy whatsoever. I do appreciate how boring it is for the children not to get out. Thankfully having our new room has been a great help, they are rediscovering things that have had to be put away for ages, and a few new things too.

Last night we were treated to a stunning firework display, and all from the comfort of our own home....I think you'll agree we had a pretty good view!

I spent this morning sorting through and organising some of my fabrics.

William was happily settled at his computer, headset on, playing his favourite strategy game and chatting to other gamers from around the world. He didn't want his photo taken.
Grace has spent much time learning about her baby garden snails and making sure they are fed and well cared for. They have definitely grown in the last few days.

We tried a new recipe; Mediterranean Cod. It was a recipe from an advert in a food magazine. We actually did not use the sauce that was advertised, but made our own. The cod was cooked in the chorizo and tomato sauce and parsley added after. It was a good simple dinner, however, I would be quite happy without the chorizo. I am a fan of chorizo, but in this recipe it overpowered the fish. The children liked it, but there was maybe too much sauce for them.

I am hoping that I may have a little more energy tomorrow so that we can all be relieved of our cabin fever. Lets hope the weather plays nice and we can all get some much needed fresh air!

I shall leave you with another view from our house. The sky this evening was very pleasing to the eye, but all too quickly passed. We got this picture just in time.

Goodnight all. x