Pages

Thursday 30 April 2015

Little Helper.


Look who wanted to help unload the dishwasher this morning!

Tuesday 28 April 2015

Sweet Emma


Playing around with my new camera and who better to model for me than my sweet Emma. She is normally rather camera shy these days, but was quite excited to have her picture taken with Mummy's new camera. Love her!
.

Monday 27 April 2015

In which I have a birthday


I celebrated my birthday on Sunday. We had a rather quiet day as Mark had a flight to catch later in the day and needed to leave the house just after lunch. We had my little birthday party at lunchtime so Mark could join us, which necessitated some rapid cake baking and decorating. The girls were still decorating my cake whilst they were eating their party food, so they could sing happy birthday and make sure Daddy got a slice before he left!



I had some lovely cards and gifts, but Mark completely surprised me with his gift for me this year. He gave me my dream camera! I have been developing an interest in photography (pardon the pun!) for a few years now and I have been yearning for a DSLR camera to replace my little point and shoot. Having done some research, I was hoping that in a couple of years I might have been able to get the Nikon D3300. Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened my present containing that very camera on the morning of my birthday. I was completely blown away! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to be in possession of such a wonderful camera. I have a great deal to learn, but I am very keen to get started. I'm a very happy lady!

Image result for nikon d3300
My fifth baby!
.

Saturday 25 April 2015

Mediaeval Fun at Beeston Castle


In honour of St George's Day, Beeston Castle were holding a day of Mediaeval themed events. We had wanted to get there earlier in the day, but due to various commitments we weren't able to get there until late afternoon. Lily and Emma got into the spirit of things by dressing up as a knight (Lily) and a princess (Emma), but Emma soon abandoned her too big princess hat.

It was a bitterly cold day, feeling rather more like winter than spring, which rather spoiled the fun for some of the Podlings I think. Only Lily doesn't really feel the cold (she takes after her grandad there!), and I think it is obvious from the photos that she enjoyed herself the most. Emma spent most of the time playing the mediaeval games with her Nanna, Tom just bounced his ball around as usual and Alex wanted Mark to walk him around until the cold got too much for him.

Lily and Emma did take part in the children's battle, which involved children fighting adults with foam swords. They obviously both really enjoyed this and both did a rather good job of playing dead at the end of the battle. We warmed up afterwards with tea and biscuits back at the car before heading home for fish and chips for tea. Hopefully they will do something similar next year and we will be able to get there a bit earlier in the day. Hopefully it will also be warmer!



One of the re-enactors let Lily try on his helmet. 

Lily with a replica helmet and sword

The mediaevel encampment

Emma playing quoits with Nanna

Lily and Emma getting ready to battle

Lily in mid-battle

"Walk me, Daddy, walk me!"

"Where's my tea?"

Friday 24 April 2015

My Outdoor Boy

Alex relaxing in the garden

Alex has reached a very busy stage in his development. He is very mobile now and when he is in the house he wants someone to help him walk around pretty much all the time. He can cruise the furniture, but he would much rather you took both his hands and walked him around the house. Poor Mark is the baby walker of choice. If Mark is home, Alex has no interest in me and just wants his Daddy to walk him around! No peace for Daddy these days!

For a while his main interest was getting to the stairs, but he has since discovered the doors to the outside. It is now his mission in life to get outside! He will break his heart if you walk him to the front door, but won't let him out of it! Once he is outside he becomes a completely different baby. He calms right down and becomes very chilled out! He is the same when we are out and about. In short he is my outdoor baby, far happier outside than in. Consequently, when the weather is nice we are spending a lot of time together in the garden these days. The housework is rather going to pot, but I am getting to spend some wonderful times with my littlest Podling. The housework will always need doing, but Alex won't always be this little. I can't really get anything done when he is awake at the moment, so we might as well go outside and enjoy our time together. Love him!

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Fairy Gardening


The Podlings received an indoor fairy garden kit from the fairies behind the fireplace last Christmas. We pulled it out at the weekend and the girls had a lovely time putting it together. The kit contains everything you need to make the garden, except the soil. We also added in some pine cones and the girls put in lots and lots of extra glitter from our craft cupboard. It is very sparkly now!

Lily is checking daily to see if the grass has grown yet. The girls are rather hoping to attract some fairies once the grass has grown. The great thing about the garden is that it is never finished. We have already added in a twig that looks like a small tree. We should also be able to reuse the garden in future too. Let's hope the fairies enjoy it as much as we do!





.

Monday 20 April 2015

Alderley Edge Again


We love it here so much!


The Devil's Grave

Little posers!

What does Mark do in the woods...?

...He makes the tea!

Sometimes Emma is so camera shy she refuses to be in a photo. Sometimes she isn't!

Not camera shy today!


Something about this photo makes me think of the Psammead from 'Five Children and It'


Tom's wobbly tooth finally came out at Stormy Point

Sunday 19 April 2015

My Little Piece of Devon


When we moved into our home almost eight years ago, my Dad brought me some primroses from his garden to plant in ours. I consider them a little piece of Devon and I look forward to seeing them flower every spring. I have never split them, so they bloom in the most glorious profusion now and I get such joy from seeing them from my kitchen window. They always remind me of home and make me pine for Dartmoor, where I spent many happy hours growing up. I am so glad I took these photos as two days later my largest clump of primroses had their petals devoured by some nasty garden pest. 



Monday 13 April 2015

Beeston Castle


On Saturday we took a trip out to Beeston Castle in Cheshire. The impressive ruins of the 13th century castle stand 350 feet above the Cheshire plains, affording fabulous views over the countryside. The Podlings had fun exploring and we brought our obligatory Thermos and some homemade cookies, which we enjoyed in the ruins. It was something of a flying visit this time, but we all had a lovely time. We plan to come back again soon.








Alex enjoying a homemade cookie. This boy loves to eat!