365 Project Week #8 – ‘Birds’

MONDAY:

Today was the beginning of my birthday week of fun so before taking the Smalls on the bus to Daddy’s house we went out for lunch together and I had a very tasty Club sandwich which I have often fancied but never actually ordered before (which contained chicken, which is a bird…)

Once the Smalls were safely with their Dad I jumped on a train and moseyed on up to Leeds for a divine posh dinner out with Caius and James. I will take any excuse to spend time with my favourite people, especially when there is amazingly good food involved too.

TUESDAY:

Part of my birthday present from Caius was an Owl Experience at the Talon Falconry in Ripon. We got to hold Spud the Little Owl, Sweep the Tawny Owl and Jaye the Eagle Owl (she was a cross-breed eagle owl, I can’t remember what between though) and we also got to fly Cosmos the Barn Owl between us. It was amazing.

Then Caius took me on a drive through the Yorkshire Dales where we went and visited a few old family haunts such as my old house in Richmond and the church in Gunnerside. We jumped out and ‘enjoyed’ the typical Dales weather of rolling mist and drizzle and wind and were lucky enough to see a pair of Skylarks at close quarters along with some lapwings and heard some Curlews in the distance. It was beautiful being able to hear nothing but the wind and the birds and feel the cool wind blowing away all the cobwebs.

Then I was whisked off to a lovely little pub/B&B for the night – the food here was also amazing. Birthday dinner #2!

WEDNESDAY:

BIRTHDAY TIME! After a gorgeous full English breakfast Caius and I set off on a mystery outing. Well, it was a mystery for me – Caius knew where we were headed (which was lucky, as he was driving). It turned out we were destined for The Trafford Centre – someone had been reading my Day Zero list and was trying to help me cross some off for my birthday. I got even more spoilt there and came home with a variety of purchases including this rather lovely bird print dress.

Then we headed back to Shropshire (with all the extra excitement of a wheel change on the M6 no less) to pick up the kids and drop round at my parents’ for cake and some fun in the sunshine. Then home for a Chinese takeaway (Birthday dinner #3!) and a big sleep after such a busy few days!!

THURSDAY:

Today was both my brother-in-law Nad‘s birthday and QWERTY Mum‘s little boy’s birthday – this is a very good week for birthdays and I approve of the cake content very much.

In the afternoon the Smalls, Caius & I headed over to QWERTY Mum’s house to party with Liberty, The Boyfriend, Ivy,  Taylor, Mr Taylor, Charlie, Paula, Addy and Birthday Boy Dyl. It was great fun to see everyone and the Smalls certainly enjoyed the garden, their friends and all the excitement it had to offer whilst the rest of us enjoyed pizza, wedges, cake and a chat. Arthur was rather taken with this tiny little feather that he found (or ‘Flevver’ as Tori says). It was good spending time with everyone and we staggered home in the end, tired and happy, to fall into bed.

FRIDAY:

Today was mental. Unplanned and unexpected we went and collected all of my furniture and the last of my belongings from the Ex’s flat. It was terrifying and I took ages to stop shaking afterwards but it is done. My flat is now a big heap of furniture and boxes and ornaments wrapped in towels and it’s very weird seeing my whole life in a big heap. But I have it all now and can get sorted and work out what I still need to get and really, properly move on and get on. It feels good.

After all that I headed out for ANOTHER birthday dinner out (what’s that now? #4?) with Caius, Liberty and The Boyfriend in town followed by a few drinks in the pub (the Smalls were with my parents).

I totally forgot to take a photo all day so when Caius and I eventually rolled home to his mother’s house in the evening I was pleased to spot an old faithful book on the shelf that I recognised from my own childhood and knew perfectly well there was a bird on every page spread. Off you go – spot the Usborne Duck!!

SATURDAY:

Today was very long. It was an early start to go catch a train headed for The Big Smoke (where I got on with reading my latest book – which conveniently has a bird on the cover) to meet up with Nad & Chrystal and their friends. We spent the morning mooching round the shops before Chrystal and I headed off to pick up our GamesMaker uniforms ready for the Olympics – it’s very bright…! Then it was off the St Katherine Docks to meet up with Caius for a quick dinner (Birthday meal #5!) before I had to run away and catch my train home.

SUNDAY:

As I stayed at my parents’ last night, I went back to church in Wem this morning to say hello to everyone as it has been a while since I was there after moving. It was lovely to have a catch up and there was even Birthday cake there for me and another girl at JC who had her birthday this week – I may be gone but I’m not forgotten by my extended family! The fluffed up crow on the steeple when we came out of church made me smile – I used to watch them perching there from my old flat when I was washing up, it was a nice little flash of memory to kick off the morning.

365 Project Week #2 – ‘Blue’

The theme for this week was ‘blue’. It was a bit harder than I expected it to be – every picture features something blue but sometimes it’s more of a hint than a feature!

MONDAY:

Sat on the sofa with my little boy looking trendy in his blue jumper I suddenly realised how grown up he looked. He’s not my baby any more – he’s definitely more of a toggler!

TUESDAY:

Today I hit the flat hard with my funky new blue duster (along with various other cleaning products and assisted by Caius) to start getting it shipshape to move in to. There is a bit to do but nothing major – and yes, the whole room really is *that* orange….somebody else chose the colour scheme. I may change it. By ‘may’ I mean ‘will’.

WEDNESDAY:

Another day spent in the flat cleaning up and it made me smile to see an old favourite mug sat beside a new mug, my new cafetiere and housewarming card. Old meets new just as my now and my future are blending with my past. I am excited about moving into this new flat with the Smalls – I can’t wait until we can finally get ourselves in!

THURSDAY:

Today the Smalls also came along to the flat and caused chaos whilst my Dad tried to get started on some of the ‘real’ DIY that I don’t have the faintest clue where to begin with. We also did a Homebase trip and bought paint (varying shades of cream…) and curtain track and roller blinds and all sorts of other stuff that made me feel like a real grown-up all of a sudden! By the end of the day though the Smalls had cabin fever from being shut mostly in one room all day whilst loud things happened in other rooms and I was edging to the frantic side of stressed with them so once Dad had gone home and we had finished up a few jobs in the flat, Caius lead the way on a walk along the canal to let off some steam and relax. Then we invaded Liberty & The Boyfriend‘s house for a bit and all went out for dinner to round off the day. Tori was so exhausted she didn’t wake up when I took her out of the car and put her in her bed upstairs!

FRIDAY:

Today was not fun. Today I was tired, hormonal and let things get on top of me. I stressed out and I worried, I cried and I got angry. I had a dress fitting for my bridesmaid dress for my brother’s upcoming wedding and I really wasn’t in the mood, but it helped me relax in an odd kind of way. Then we talked flat a bit and Mum went on a hunt for old curtains hiding in cupboards for me to take over and put up and hey presto! Blue curtains for me

SATURDAY:

Despite fighting car seats regularly when they are in the car my two seem to find them irresistible when they are sat in a room somewhere non-car like.

SUNDAY:

When doing my hair this morning I was a bit disheartened by how badly I needed it re-dying and neatening up. I had promised myself I would keep up with it when I got it done before but clearly I have let it go again. Luckily I have an appointment to have it sorted next week so all will be well again and I will no longer feel miserable when I spot my reflection.

365 Project, Week #1 – Hands

For my first week of 365 Take Two I set myself the theme of hands.

I confess I did it because I thought it would be a nice easy one to ease myself in with and indeed I ended up with about 12 pictures on Monday because I got carried away and had to choose a favourite!

MONDAY:

Monday involved a very ‘grown-up’ evening of port & cheese and burning of much wood with Caius, Liberty & her boyfriend. It was hilariously good fun even if the weather did try to quite literally flush us out of the garden – we were under a shelter with umbrellas and still getting wet but the fire didn’t go out so we stayed put stubbornly….whilst laughing ourselves to tears at the same time. Nothing quite beats good quality time with people you love – not even monsoons can dampen friendship even when they launch surprise strike attacks.

TUESDAY:

In a break from tradition I played snooker on Tuesday this week instead of Monday. I’m sure this change of day was nothing to do with it but I did better than usual, managing to beat Caius not once but TWICE in a row. That is probably all my Girl-Snooker-Skillz for the year used up now though…

WEDNESDAY:

I cooked a new recipe today for my parents and I to try – Baked pasta with mushrooms and home-made Italian sausage. Mixing the sausage meat mix was very therapeutic.

THURSDAY:

Artie has found his feet. Suddenly he isn’t my baby any more but a bold and bubbly toddler but, luckily, still a boy happy to snuggle up with Mummy and hold hands.

FRIDAY:

Today was EXCITING! I signed on the dotted line and got the keys to a new flat for me and the Smalls to move into. New town, new start. Very excited about what is to come but also very nervous.

SATURDAY:

Today was just made of amazing. I jumped on an early train to Leeds to help set up for possibly the most adorably epic surprise engagement party ever. It involved Phantom of the Opera, the most romantic video in history, a bouncy castle, pick n mix, plenty of drinks and a liberal amount of Jungle Speed (I am still nursing the wounds and bruises from the latter and the bouncy castle). Obviously she said yes and the ring is just beautiful!

Massive congratulations again Heather & Dom – I’m so very happy for you both xxxxxxxx

SUNDAY:

On our way home from yesterday we dropped in to go out for lunch with James and I made friends with Ginny his very adorable WoofWoof. If she had fitted in my pocket I possibly would have smuggled her home with me. Maybe next time….

My 365 Project. Take Two.

Yesterday I posted picture 365/365 - The end of a very topsy-turvy year, documented in photographs of varying quality.

I can’t give it up, I’m addicted. But to make things different I have decided that this time around I am going to set myself theme challenges. 52 of them.

In this post I am going to list my 52 themes, one a week for the next year. Then, on Sundays (as much as I can), I will post my 7 pictures for the week and a few words on how I found my theme. I suspect some weeks will be harder than others but hopefully this new take on 365 will make this year even more fun than last.

Wish me luck!!

My Themes (and date commencing):

1. Hands (7th May)

2. Blue (14th May)

3. Clouds (21st May)

4. Books (28th May)

5. Happiness (4th June)

6. Eyes (11th June)

7. Liquid (18th June)

8. Birds (25th June)

9. Trees (2nd July)

10. Pink (9th July)

11. Vehicles (16th July)

12. Smiles (23rd July)

13. Water (30th July)

14. The Ground  (6th August)

15. Music (13th August)

16. Time (20th August)

17. Green (27th August)

18. Flowers (3rd September)

19. Light (10th September)

20. Writing (17th September)

21. Cars (24th September)

22. Leaves (1st October)

23. Love (8th October)

24. Feet (15th October)

25. Weather (22nd October)

26. Orange (29th October)

27. Colours (5th November)

28. Animals (12th November)

29. Clothes (19th November)

30. Food (26th November)

31. Paper (3rd December)

32. Wood (10th December)

33. Red (17th December)

34. Family (24th December)

35. New (31st December)

36. Silver and Grey (7th January)

37. Technology (14th January)

38. Home (21st January)

39. Outside (28th January)

40. Movement (4th February)

41. Together (11th February)

42. Circles (18th February)

43. Laughter (25th February)

44. Black and White (4th March)

45. Childhood (11th March)

46. Up (18th March)

47. Broken (25th March)

48. Drinks (1st April)

49. Sparkles and Glitter (8th April)

50. Shadows (15th April)

51. Yellow (22nd April)

52. Endings (29th April)

First Frost

This morning was the first frost of 2012. It was also the first frost that Arthur has ever seen.

He won’t remember it but I made a point of taking him outside before the sun melted it all so that he could see it and touch it. It’s just frost, but it’s his first.

Tori came outside too, leapt on to the lawn as normal then froze in horror, wide eyed and shocked as the grass crunched beneath her feet – ‘Oh no! Tori broked it!’ After laughing at her for a bit I convinced her that she wasn’t breaking it and she then proceeded to gleefully run around shouting ‘Grass is crunchy!’

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Sunset 252/365

When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.
Mohandas Gandhi

Model Material?

I’ve had  few people tell me Tori should be a child model.

Whenever this is said I look at her and see a beautiful ruffian not an angelic model. Her hair is untamable AND looks like a mullet (she just hasn’t grown any at the top/front…), she usually has food on her face and dirt under her fingernails.

And anyway – I think she’d go nutty if she had to sit still and look pretty all day…

I think she’s stunning but I can’t quite see her as a model – a little rough round the edges for that.

The Gallery: Expressions

I’m a bit slow on The Gallery front this week despite knowing exactly what I was going to do. Today just ran away from me and I’ve not managed to sit down until now!! Tara’s theme is ‘Expressions’ and Tori has just started getting *really* expressive so there are lots of photos to choose from in my collection.

Now, I know that you’re only meant to post one photo for this but the following series of photos sum up the prompt so beautifully – Tori loves bananas and the myriad of expressions she displayed when faced with a whole bunch on Sunday was hilariously varied. I will just put small pics up for most of them and one main large one – but they link to the big pictures if you click on them.

So here I give you: The Banana Chronicles

Awe...

 

 

Concentration

Concern - This is for me, right?

Excitement

 

Pure Glee!

 

OH NO!!! It ran out!

 

 

The Things Kids Do

Smalls do the silliest of things and QWERTY Mum has set up an adorable little linky so that we can share some of the fun together. Just click on the button when you’re done here and have a hop around – there are plenty of giggles to be had!

Tori loves boxes. Tori loves Duplo. Tori particularly loves boxes of Duplo.

Ahem...Mummy quite likes Duplo too...

Mostly Tori likes to stand in them, try and sit in them and wear them on her head. The only issue being that she doesn’t always take the Duplo *out* of the box before she does any of the above. This has resulted on Duplo block shaped bruises on the soles of her feet/head/arms/legs on more than one occasion. And before you ask me why I don’t empty the box for her – I used to try. She just put the stuff back in, scowling at me the entire time, and then continued as before. I don’t bother now. If she wants to put Duplo on her head. Fine.

Tori standing in a shoebox full of Duplo at my Aunty's house. She remained there for almost an hour. Cue the first set of bruises...

She did eventually take the Duplo out but then continued to stand in the box...

This *did* have Duplo in it before she emptied it over her own head...

I have a daft child. I know. But hey, she’s cute

The Gallery: Just An Ordinary Day

This week Tara’s theme for The Gallery is 24 hours so here is a day in the life of the Tweenster, Daddy, Bump and I…(not quite 24 hours but I don’t tend to take photos when I’m asleep…)

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Daddy heads off to work at silly o’clock leaving just me, Bump and Tori for breakfast.

After we’ve munched, Tori has some chill out time in her playpen whilst I do the washing up (and bath Bump by accident) and put the washing machine and dryer on. I know where I’d rather be…

Daddy comes home for his half hour lunch break. Time for a quick lunch and a play before he has to go back.

Then Tori helps tend to all the furries and we head off to the shop to buy some bread and tissues (Daddy’s got a cold and we’ve run out – uh oh!) and, of course, say hello to Daddy again whilst we’re there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nap time for tired Tori, baking time for Mummy – need lots of biscuits and a cake for Saturday. Liberty is coming round (and I promised cake) and it’s a celebratory concert at my church for my Mum and her friend’s 60th Birthdays (which aren’t til next month but it was the best time for the concert).

Daddy comes home and it’s play time, tea time then bed time for Tori followed by a bit of ‘me’ time for Mummy and Daddy – Twitter, blogging, Facebook and crap TV for Mummy, PC games and geeky stuff for Daddy followed by a bit of geek time together on the PS2 before bed