Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Finally - I'm Back!


Well it's been a long hiatus I will admit.  Not intentionally mind you - I have acquired a new phone (did you know you can use a phone now that can access the internet?) and that meant I was offline telecommunications-wise for a little while because we changed providers over a weekend (which I wouldn't advise).   I then needed to find a quiet time to set-up my voicemail and since that took about ten days, I haven't been able to access voicemail messages until about an hour ago.

I also had the Photoshop/Bridge uploader issue of 2014 (otherwise known as The Month My Visual Life Broke) and then, in the last week of my break before uni starts I have had an unprecedented number of contacts regarding shoots before my photography business has a break.  It turns out that when you say you're on a hiatus, it's absolutely the best marketing tool.  Who would have known?  Well, I guess the ubiquitous, perpetually closing down carpet stores have known that trade secret for a while.

So - life has been busy but also sort of rambling, slow and relatively easy.  A lovely combination, to be honest.

On the weekend just gone we decided to get out and about in nature.  It had been a little while between long green drinks to fulfill the soul and we were all feeling it.



























The children insisted on bringing their swords and we insisted on not carrying them.  The children were fine with that since, as it turned out, there was much exploring and clearing of forests to be done during this expedition.

Harriet brought along her 'explorer' bag and what has since become her 'explorer's outfit' - a bag stuffed with a notebook and pen, magnifying glass, torch on a long rope, scavenger's notebook (from Keri Smith) and I'm sure a few other items I am not privy to.

As Ted ran ahead with the whoops and cries of a Medieval frontline, Harriet ambled, observed and noted.

And let's just pause a moment to consider how these disparate approaches may impact on a family group, shall we?  Ok, let's move on.



We had been to this location before, maybe about eighteen months ago.  We had made it about halfway around one circuit last time we arrived - this time we managed to complete the other three-quarters of the 4km trail,  The children enjoyed scrounging around in the scrub, climbing, observing owls in trees, being horrified by spiders about the size of a frying pan and triggering potential cardiac issues by refusing to adhere to the 'stay on the left' rule when sharing the trail with enthusiastic mountain cyclists.


Looking at this photo, I really want to pop some big googly eyes on that rock, to complement what looks like a huge smile near its base.  What a happy rock!
  

We stopped for some lunch at around 4pm, where the clearing we surprisingly found ourselves in presented the ideal environs for a spot of jousting (minus the horses, of course).

 

Of course all that this means was the children had a focus to their running around. That focus being they held a sword aloft as they ran.  The remainder seemed to be as per usual.

We started to make moves back towards the walking track and we stumbled into Tirade Harriet.  We really didn't mean to bring her along with us, given the enchanting environment we found ourselves in, but it turns out she popped along inside that explorer's bag we think.  





















The exploring fun of Saturday left the children at a slightly loose end on Sunday.  They were too tired to enjoy their own company and Harriet was particularly fractious.  Turns out that the real problem was that she had too much hair.  So we got rid of it.  See, that's the offending pile on the floor, there.


























It came from here. 


And this was the result.  Harriet was most adamant that she wanted to look like a boy.  She was thrilled.  I received many stomps and tears when I inadvertently mentioned she also carried off the chic Parisian look with hair this short.  Note to self: don't compliment daughter.

And there has been a birthday!  Teddy turned five!  I will be back to write about that magnificent milestone very shortly.

2 comments:

Hannah said...

Your blog is just great! I always laugh when I come here. Also my 14 year old sister is called Harriet so that is neat. AND The picture at the start of this post is beautiful

casso said...

Oh thanks! Aren't you lovely?! Sounds like your mum has great taste in names. Thanks for stopping by. :)