It's what I do . . .

Last Weekend

We had so much boring stuff to do this weekend - so we went to the beach instead.
The evening caught up with us as we walked - but it looked so pretty that I didn't mind at all. The lights on the pier made me feel really Christmassy. I'm obviously all out of sync.

This is cool.
Thank you Camilla.

Monday again :: Week Two

5pm

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
Albert Einstein

For desk read kitchen table.
Happy Monday friends.

The ones that got away

When we got married we hired a photographer. This wasn't an easy thing to do because . . .
a) It's hard to pay for someone to do what you could do yourself.
b) They try to take you away from your friends and family to pose stupidly together when all you want to do is have a drink and feel elated.
c) When it comes to editing, Photoshop is most wedding photographer's God (I don't want to offend wedding photographers - there are some great ones out there - we just couldn't afford their superior editing!!) and only the hideous misty filter button seems to work. That and the 'let's make everything black and white except for the pink roses' option.
However, we didn't feel like we could prevail upon any of our friends to do the job so we picked the company as carefully as we could and were very strict about not posing and the lack of editing we required. Needless to say, they did get us to pose a bit and we were too dizzy with the day to say no, but we got a nice  album out of it with a few gems amongst them. Then, last week, they wrote to ask if we would like to buy the copyright to our images for a special cut down price. Of course, we jumped up and down (or I did, Simon said that's good then - he's not very excitable in that way) and thanked our lucky stars that we'd never ordered reprints at a horrifically inflated price - because now we can print as many as we want! Hooray!! AND - there are some really beautiful and natural photos amongst the ones we never saw.
Like these (edited by me, taken by Memories Photography)

For any friends and family that are interested I'll bung a few more of these up on Flickr over the next week and will happily print you any that you'd like.

Now - time for me to stop daydreaming about one day, three years ago. There's a baby to bath and and a meal to have with my husband.(I remember when I thought I'd never get used to that word!)

Have a lovely weekend.

 

Thursday

C is at nursery and I am in the middle of the chaos I call tidying - but I had to post this quickly because the deadline is tomorrow!!
Elsie is organising a mobile swap - how great is that?

It's not that I don't like Mondays, but I'm just not mad about them.

A lot of fellow bloggers have started 2008 with photo projects. Amanda,  Jessie , Shannon  &  Meet me at Mikes  are doing  30 days and  there's the 365 days  group on Flickr that a lot of people are taking part in. Oh, and the very beautiful photoblog 3191 has started A year of evenings.

Last year I intended to start an AM/PM blog with a photo from each end of the day, but I cannot see myself currently having the discipline  - so  I thought - how about one photo, once a week ?

Monday is the start of five days when it's just C and I, 9 to 6 . It's not that I don't enjoy our time together, for the most part I love it, but naturally it's more fun when our little family is together. So, I have chosen Monday as my day where I will take a photo that says something about our day and our life.

Here is the first  . . .

And yes, I do know that today is Tuesday!!!!

 

Swing Out Sister . . .

I'm scouring the net for a baby swing to hang from the roof of our barn. I've always wanted a swing in the barn for myself, but I've never got round to putting one up. As the barn is next to my studio, I now think that I need a swing for C  first. She can swing and  I will push her whilst dreaming up new and stunning work. Then, when she's old enough, we will swing together.
I will of course make sure they are both very secure, so avoiding the fate of my namesake Katy. If you haven't read What Katy Did then you will not know (shame upon you) that she disobeys her aunt and swings on a broken swing, has some non-specific back injury and loses all her feistiness and becomes wise, good and, well, a bit prissy.

Anyway, back to my search. It seems that lovely swings are few and far between compared to all the other great baby stuff out there.
So far we have this from Johannes Mohr:

Also made in grey  at Enfant Terrible. . .

Which, although it's very chic, minimalist and everything, seems somehow inadequate. I'm imagining that if you pushed too zealously you'd flip 'em right over. Also, it's pricey.

Then we have something more traditional, and cheaper, from our local toy shop, Tickety Boo.

and this . . .

I have to say I'm liking the look of the deckchair striped one.

If anyone else has any great ideas, please do let me know.

And, have a good Sunday.

Thursday

So - here is my portfolio. 2 years out of date, but still special to me.
When I made this I wanted something portable,versatile and stylish. Most importantly stylish. The idea was that the book and stack of images would change and grow over time, that I'd be able to adapt it for different situations.
The difficulty now is that I look on it as a piece of work from a certain time in my life. Maybe I don't want to use it at all. Maybe I need to start again.


Louise's blog is full of loveliness that she finds on the web . . . saving me time and energy. Thanks sort-of cousin!

Love this and this.

New Year. New Blog. Sort Of

I haven't been here for a few days now. There was a lot of post-holiday clearing to do - of my house and my head. Needless to say, neither is completely clear yet - although you can now walk safely through our kitchen, living room, bathroom and hallway without risking a laundry-pile related injury.

This little space has been fun, but has increasingly been roaming into 'cute photos of my baby' territory which wasn't the original intention at all. Henceforth I will try to wind down that side of it a little and crank up the creative side. C is nearly 9 months old and has started to be cared for, away from me, for one WHOLE DAY a week. This means more time for creating and more time for playing with new materials. I am taking part in an exhibition in May so it's time to get back on the horse. Metaphorically of course . . . I'm scared of horses.

So -  I thought I'd start as I do not intend to go on - with a picture of babies. And three babies at that! I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist. Rosa Pym joined the gang just before Christmas and just as the three of us grew up together - so will they.
What great timing we have.

It's Tuesday. . .

Happy New Year to you all, old friends and new ones.
And, of course, to my darlings who made 2007 my happiest year yet.

Tyred Bunny . . . (sorry!!!!!)

There has been a terrible accident involving Mr Bunny, a slightly careless Papa (but we have forgiven him) and a Land Rover.
If fear that he really needs to spend some time in a super hot wash, but I'm worried he won't come out of that unscathed either.

Any tips for a good pre-soaker that gets oil and toxic Norfolk mud off velour would be gratefully received (especially by Celeste and Mr Bun).

On that cheery note ! . . .I hope everyone has a fun and/or peaceful time over the next few days.
Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
K x