Green fingers #motivationalmonday #spring carnival.

We have a small town garden, we live in the middle of a large city and don’t have the 500,000 you need to buy a house with a field size patch of grass behind our house so we have what we have..which is enough i might add…i aint moanin’

The OH and I are not exactly blessed with a love of gardening…neither of us naturally gravitate to tinkering with plants and flowers and there is often a little grave yard of potted plants along our windowsills and dotted around the garden. In fact during the winter we largely ignore the garden and lets face it the winter has gone on a LONG time this year.

This year the garden has been made even more barren by the loss of our adopted pink blossom tree which you can read about here. I still miss it, which is silly really but it has made me really nostaligic whenever i see a lovely cherry blossom in bloom.

Last week we had some sun, it suddenly started to feel like spring, heck i even went outside the house without socks on! *gasp* We spend more time outside when its warmer and so i start to notice our poor neglected garden. Which to be honest wasn’t looking as bad as i thought. It amazing what will just grow regardless. It would seem, rather happily, that despite our best efforts, nature still gets her best frock on even when the dress makers would rather be doing something else instead….bravo nature!

It was nice seeing the sun for a while. Feeling inspired to do more with our garden. Of course its rained and been cold for the past nearly a week so we are a bit on the back foot!! 😉

It was a taking some shade under the tree kind of day for the little sub-woofer.

This week continuing on the gardening theme my giveaway is a book for those of you who are green fingered…its a book by Gardener’s world Toby Buckland called Flowers.

all you have to do is fill in the rafflcopter as per and away you go. The winner of the LEGO dictionary was Sally Poole. PLease get in touch to claim your prize!

and dont forget to go and link up with the spring carnival and check out the mondayclub 


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Composition #dadarazzi #photography101

This week instead of covering another technical aspect of your camera I though i would focus on a more artistic look at how we can make our pictures look desirable to the human eye.

Just before i start actually though, thanks so much for all your lovely feedback about these posts. The biggest thrill i get is that people say they are going to go and have a go with their camera. That is my aim. Not to come across as a big know it all camera person. Because I am so not. But just to encourage parents to get out there and capture life as it happens in their families. Like the Fool did last week, experimenting with shutter. This week im re-naming my mamarazzi as dadrazzi in his honour 🙂

Anyway..so this week its all about composition. What is it that makes you look at an image and go WOW.

As photographer we can control what the viewer sees in our image. That can be by using things like shutter/aperture and manipulating the light..but also how we present the image is important. Where is the eye drawn to in an image? How is it all coming together.

Here are a few basic ‘rules’ you can follow.

Leading Lines

This principle is based on leading your viewers eye to what you want them to focus on by the use of lines in an image. They don’t need to be straight, just needs to be something that ‘lures’ the eye to the object of interest.

Here are some examples..

you can use so many different things as leading lines..here are some train tracks…

or something simple like a path

doesnt have to be just for kids either..you can use leading lines for anything you want to draw attention to.

fences are really good for leading lines, especially for portraits. get your subject to lean in to wall and then you do the same and shoot 😉

can even be something like a shadow

Frame it up

Im not talking about putting your picture in a frame on your mantel. Although we ALL probably need to do more of that and give our crippled hard drives a break from storing all those images that never get seen! But no what im talking about is using an element in your scence to provide a natural border that draws attention where you want it. You can use anything from the outline of a door or window to a row of trees of cluster of bushes. Basically anything that surrounds your subject will pack a punch.

Look for negative

Not as in, think negatively, but as in think about the power of negative space in your image…nothingness. It really can pack a huge punch. It means an area of your image that has no visual content in it. Intentionally leaving some empty space around your subject can make a huge impact. Works well when following the rule of thirds…

and lastly – for now…

Get off Kilter

So you think that you always have to have your subjects standing up straight and all your horizons level. Well sometimes its good to mix it up a bit and shoot on an angle. A tilted photo can add visual interest to your scene. The thing is to make your slant obviously intentional and not so awkward that your subject seems to be sliding out of the frame. Similarly, incorporating diagonal lines to your photo can aid the eye in moving across the image, giving your image energy.

Here are some examples..

So there are a few pointers, see what you think and if you fancy giving it a go, do let me know how you get on.

 

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The mobility of sleep #motivationalmonday #themondayclub

We have, in our family, five little people. That may be somewhat obvious by the the title of my blog. 😉

So it stands to reason that we have had five newborns, had to go through many many months of dodgy sleep patterns, some no sleep patterns and who the heck cares i just want to lie down sleep patterns.

We went for the pic’n mix approach to sleep. Broadly that meant going with whatever works, results in the greatest amount of sleep and once there was more than one little person in the house, resulted in the fewest amount of awakees.  Over the years we have probably dabbled in all the various ‘theories’ but ultimately it comes back to…a default. Go with what gives us the most sleep. Whether thats having a newborn like the princess and the pea inbetween us on our bed or having a 10 year old who has had a bad dream sleep top to toe with us for the night. It all just works out.

I know there are people who get s-t-r-u-n-g out by the thought of a disruptive night, we are a bit different, well i am anyway. Our four year old has been coming into our bed for about 18 months now, every night, without fail. Got to the point when I was almost saying ‘well done’ to her when she managed to get into our bed without waking anyone up!! I never thought i would be one of those people who could sleep inter-linked with someone else. But its amazing what you adapt to 😉

She has pretty much stopped doing it now, i knew she would eventually. There has been points recently where i have had moments where i kind of miss it just a little bit. Maybe a sign that they are growing up and cuddles in bed are becoming far too babyish. *sniff*

I think over the years i have grown less fond of sleep. I find it a bit of a drag. Like there is something else i could be doing…don’t get me wrong those few minutes before you get up are agony, clinging to the mist of dreams, beaten by forthcoming consciousness normally with the help of a baby shaped alarm clock. But there are times when although really i know that i should be asleep that im busy doing something else, robbing my body of its down time as each extra hour of being ‘up’ without the kids means i can just get one.more.thing done.

In our house at least sleep patterns have been fluid..changing with the times, the ages of the kids and the stages they are at. The ultimate goal is everyone in their own bed for the entire night. When that does happen there is a little ‘holy grail’ feeling about it.

But when it doesn’t it isnt the end of the world either.

What about you, how mobile is your sleep?

On this beautiful bank holiday monday I have yet another beautiful box of sunshine from the awesomeness that is LUSH to giveaway. Please follow the instructions on the rafflecopter and don’t forget to check out my lovely friend Pinkoddy and co-host of motivational monday as she has some giveaways going on too.

The winner of the Lego dictionary is Sally Poole. Congratulations and please contact me to claim your prize!!

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He likes to play. #motivationalmonday #springcarnival


We have a piano. Its an upright one, oldish and probably past its best but we got it from ebay for a little under one hundred pounds with the delivery included. We got one because like all parents we have that ‘idea’ that the kids need…no really need to learn how to play an instrument. 😉

I have to say that watching someone play the piano well, for me, is totally mesmerising. There is something calming and trance like about it. I so wish it was an instrument i knew how to play.

Anyway so two out of our five kids have piano lessons and initially it started as plonking on the keys without any real care you know the way that young kids do *smile in a fake manner, clap hands and go YAAAY*

BUT we have taken it all on the chin, moments when you feel like screaming SHUTTUP then you remind yourself that they have to learn, its for the best and so you get on and stuff a bit more cotton wool in your ears and pop another St.johns wort in with your Pinot. 😉

My eldest daughter has been learning since she was 5 and is now almost at grade 1 and the difference in what she can do now is quite amazing..but sometimes the getting there has been a bit fraught with tears and tantrums.

Its hard for me as i am unable to help her most of the time. I never stuck with an instrument and so my knowledge is so lacking that all of them are now beyond my abilites. Fortunately their father didnt have the same slack attitude to childhood music lessons as me and he can now help them out.

As we have gone past the single finger banging out the notes stage and progressed to playing actual songs..it can be a little bit easier on the ears. But the downside to that has been that once they have ‘got’ a tune and they can play it well, without music, they become fuelled with a passion to drill the song into the unconscious mind of the people who inhabit this house and probably the ones either side.

Often at the most stressy moments of the day, like the school run for example. I will be frantically checking for shoes, hats, bags, last minute calls for that ‘oh so important thing that I really must take to school today’ when suddenly adding to the melee like the crazy soundtrack to my life is a double fast version of the latest ‘play-a-lot’ song.

You know sometimes i resist the urge i mentioned earlier and maybe even marvel again at the incredible talent pounding the ivories and other times i fail…

miserably….

and feel like dragging our battered piano into the street, smashing it with a hammer and cursing the day we ever ‘won’ that bid on ebay. 😉

Lately my son has been teaching himself how to play this song…

Please don’t ever sing this near me anytime soon….. *stares*

This weeks giveaway is a fabulous LEGO dictionary full of super heros. For that Lego fan in your life and lets face it we all have one of them!! All you have to do is follow the rafflecopter and then check back in a few weeks to see if you are the winner..simples.

The winner of the LORAX on dvd is Angela Glynn. Please get in touch to claim your prize!

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A time for every season…#motivationalmonday #themondayclub

A couple of weeks ago I went out for afternoon tea with a lovely lady who featured in my silent sunday for that week. It was a big birthday, you know one of those that can suddenly make you look back at where you have been. Maybe looking back a little and evaluating. This lovely friend of mine has a pretty flawless positive outlook, she is all about grabbing life and running with it.

It was a delightful afternoon, we got frocked up and headed off into town. Most of the ladies who went had been students in this city we all live in and heading into town used to mean a very different thing to all of us thats for sure. It was a lovely time of laughter and connections. Remembering stories and celebrating those to come.

I am a great believer in the seasons of life. That we have times that are fit for a certain purpose and there comes a time to move on from one stage of life without clinging to whats behind. Not always the easiest thing to do it has to be said. But we have seasons in our life and its no use trying to slow them down or stop them. Just have to get in it and embrace it while you are there then bid it adieu with fondness when its your time to move on.

One season in my life i had to very much consciously move on from was baby bearing days. After my 4th baby who at the time we thought was our last baby (oops !). Alongside trying to really enjoy those little newborn days i was pretty aware that they were my last go on the merrygo round of new babyhood. Being honest i was a little sad and had a few moments when i really felt like i was loosing part of my life. But then i gave myself a little talking to.

My turn on the back of this season was over, in the same way that my student days where no more and id rather stick pins in my eyes than go and stand and stick to the sweaty floor of Rock City, listening to a band and drinking lager out of plastic pint cups!

I worked out that its okay to be nostalgic about it, you have earned the right for that in the middle of those long sleepless nights and vomit covered days staring blankly at cbeebies. Sure go ahead get out the pictures, roll down memory lane, get the bunting out and have a good old coo and ahh at your memories…but dont get sad. Its life and its a constant flow. You are never meant to stay there, like the boys from take that said ‘one day this will be someone else’s dream’ 😉

Whilst im moving into the school years and loosing years of my life to being a taxi service…there are others who are choosing Universities and trying to teach their teenagers to cook macaroni cheese!…and others who are on the first steps of parenthood discovering those two blue lines.

I loved being a mama to a new baby. Those moments, those tiny teeny moments…guarded and locked into my heart forever. But we are excitedly looking into a different season and yes crossing into a different decade, for me, may have marked that a little bit too.

Its going to be a good decade!

 

My giveaway this week is a another fabulous box from LUSH! Yay more sunshine in a box 🙂 All you have to do is follow the rafflecopter and pop back next week to see if you got lucky! Angela Glynn you were the winner of THE LORAX dvd. Please get in touch to claim your prize!

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    Motivational Monday Spring Carnival themondayclub 


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