Just a few of my favourite things

Having got a taste of the good life by winning a recipe competition I've got the bug. This post is my entry to a giveaway at Life With the Lairds - the winner gets a free years' subscription to ClickinMoms.com. Judging by the amazingness of the Lairds photos it's a subscription worth having (although the stunning scenery and beautiful family do help).

I have to post my favorite photo that I have taken and explain what it is about the photo that makes my heart sing. Well after searching through the gazillion photos I have on my hard drive I've decided on this one. To anyone else it looks technically not very good but it captures the moment exactly how I remember it.

The photo was taken almost exactly two years ago, we were staying in a remote farm house in West Wales. Euan was 6 weeks old, it was Anya's first holiday after starting school and Tim had just got back from a trip abroad. The dog enjoyed running wild for a week, we couldn't find anyone to look after the cat so she came too. It has been known to snow there in October but we got a real Indian summer and the children went swimming in the sea most days.

This photo has all my favourite people in it (look closely to spot the baby) - when I look at it my heart feels warm, I remember how good it was knowing my family was together and complete. We're going back to Wales for our 10th wedding anniversary next week - if it's a tenth as good we will have a brilliant time!

Thanks for reminding me a good times Kimberly -AND don't forget to pop over and see her technically superior smile inducing photos

(note to self - must stop getting so sentimental - think it's because I have a relatively clean and tidy house, children are asleep and I'm on the wind down to holiday (but if any burglars are reading this everything in this house is old and broken!) will have to reread in the morning)

Tempus fugit when you're having fun

I'm writing this with a snotty nose, glass of wine, Warm Vanilla splatted hands and Muriel's Wedding on DVD. Tim's in New Orleans and has left me home alone.

So I now (having done my painting tasks) have a few minutes to catch up with the last few weeks.

Autumn is definitely here - we went conker hunting and came back with three huge bags of them. I haven't had a chance to put them onto strings yet but the children seem to be happy just carrying them around in their pockets. Lots have found their way into the washing machine, I'm wondering if it will improve their chances in conker fights (easier than baking or soaking in vinegar).

Tim is now the same age as me (the past three months, as every year, he has been taking all opportunities to mention that he is a year younger than me!). My Mum came up for the night so that we could go and see Michael McIntyre in the NIA.

We had a fab night (finished off with a curry) but while I was watching the show I was getting irrationally irritated by various things - 1. The spelling of Michael - it's a really silly name to spell and I feel very sorry for small children called Michael who have to learn to spell it! 2. He had a whistling nose - you know when you breathe in and there's a bit of a noise, this nose noise was boomed around the whole arena, to make it worse it was still there after the interval. 3. I kept laughing at the wrong bits. 4. From the photo you can see just how far back we were, there were three huge screens and a tiny man on the stage - I kept panicking about which bit I should watch - I thought I should watch the tiny man as I'd paid to watch him. 5. Throughout the whole performance I was thinking about what I could write on here and that was completely the most irritating thing!

We've had a very sunny September and so have been on loads of ice-cream eating trips. Patrick says he "loves school", Euan has had two new teeth, Anya has started keyboard lessons at school and we've had some lovely new bathroom flooring (still waiting on the playroom floor - hence the painting).

Quotes of the weeks - "Mummy, are you 63 or 36?" ~ Anya

Patrick - "I put 2 marbles in the jar today"

Me - "Excellent, what did you do?"

Patrick - "I teased Mrs teacher. She told me to put one in but I put two in".

Mmmm, I'm sure I should have made him own up but I didn't think I could have kept a straight face. A future in politics or banking await I think!

Me - "Don't pick your nose"

Patrick - "But I'm hungry"

Thought of the week - "Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas" ~ Groucho Marx

Skywatch Friday - merrily, merrily, merrily

The village I live in is on the Junction of two canals - I've just looked them up on Wikipedia and didn't realise how important the area would have been. I'm always amazed at how the canal were built by hand, the were finished during the 1770s. Over 200 years later they are still busy - although the narrow boaters today are more relaxed and more dogs walk along the tow paths than horses.

Click the button to see fab skies over the heads of people from all around the world.

Skywatch Friday - fade to gold

We are very lucky to have lots of nice walks right on our doorstep. This week I got to escape part of the bedtime routine and take the dog out. I hadn't realised how close to Winter we were getting until I saw all the Autumn colours along the canal.

Autumn always used to be my favourite season. I once told a friend this and she said "oh no - I look around and all I see is death" - this has just about spoilt the whole thing for me! (I have discussed the Autumn thing with her again since and she said she must have been having an off day!). But even with all that death hanging around - Autumn sunsets sneak up quickly and provide a great show.

Even Ruby enjoyed the view.


To see lots of other skies from around the world and may be escape winter for a bit longer click on the button below.