Keep Calm It's Only Christmas

How many days to Christmas? There is probably an app I could download to tell me the answer to that question. It must be less than 100 because Christmas cards are in the shops already and I spotted mince pies in the supermarket (can you freeze mince pies?).

I could start to get myself organised and think about those must-have presents the kids are going to want, the 'that is so them' presents I spot whilst window shopping, make a Christmas cake and start feeding it a bottle of whiskey, start crocheting tea cosies for my tea drinking friends, knock out a few personalised hand crafted and printed Christmas cards, take some photos of the children to make into calendars for relatives, scavenge hunt for stocking fillers, actually make some new Christmas stockings, start buying store cupboard treats to stash away (and then eat over the weekend), repaint the dining table in time for a pre-Christmas dinner party, lose 2 stone so I could feel glamorous in my Christmas apron and party hat on Christmas morning, crochet some Christmas tree angels to sell at the school Christmas fair, but I'm pretty sure that I should have started in June and it is all too late.

So I'll continue to to watch the days pass by, the afternoons get darker and the nights colder, I'll admire the store decorations going up, and be impressed by the wrapping paper designs. I'll praise everyone who is planning their Christmas menu already and has picked their bird. I'll carry on pinning decorating and baking ideas for Christmas day and then panic on Christmas Eve.

It would be stupid to break with tradition.

Are you planning already? Have you already started your Christmas shopping? Go on. Make me feel even more inadequate.

8pm

On a school night I aspire to be sat downstairs, eating my dinner, with a glass of wine in hand at 8pm.
The reality varies between being sat on the landing, guarding the bedroom door to prevent the Wee One escaping or lying on my bed with the Big One negotiating 'just another 5 minutes'.

But this photo was taken during the school holidays when bedtime slipped about an hour for everyone and fortunately our mornings did too.

The children were playing on my bed, throwing themselves backwards and then hyper-ventiliating because of the hilarity of it all. This went on for some time and I got bored of taking photos of them, switching my attention to the cracks in the ceiling or was it last Sunday's paper abandoned in the loo? I forget. I probably had time to go downstairs, get my proper camera and take a much better photo, but thinking time was of the essence, I grabbed my mobile and quickly snapped this.

I love the expressions on their faces (which you can decipher if you squint a bit).

Any guesses what time they finally wound down and went to bed? Let me just say dinner was very late for me that night.


Joining in with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers.

Silver Quill Award

*opens trophy cupboard*
*clears a space*
*Places Silver Quill Award center front*
*beams with pride*

Thank you very much BlueBirdSunShine (who has a fabulous blog which you should visit) (and a fabulous blog name) who has bestowed upon me this rather splendid award.

In time honoured fashion I have a little speech prepared, cunningly disguised as the answers to the qualifying questions thus:

1. Do you prefer rhyming or non rhyming poetry?
I love the ping of my inbox.
It means that my readers care.
A lovely comment on my blog.
a comment compelled to share.


2. Favourite Shakespeare play?
"To be or not to be" he said,
but beyond that I forget.
Shakespeare's not my bag baby.
Should have read more I regret.

3. Favourite author?
Matilda, Charlie and James or
Tales of the Unexpected.
Can't get enough of Dahl's BFG.
Was Mrs Twit a detective?

4. What is your favourite music album?
The music round on any quiz
leaves me staring blankly.
But put Take That on a loop,
best clear the dance floor frankly.


5. Which colour do you most dislike?
Beige, greige, taupe or nude
leave me feeling meh.
Fading in doesn't cut it baby.
Be as bold as you dare.

 
6. Name a poem or song which makes you feel emotional.
It's wrong to get emotional
over a Snail and a Whale.
But Julia Donaldson
sure can tell a tale.

One is now obliged to nominate a bloggle of bloggers who are also worthy recipients of this award.
I nominate:

@Older_Mum
@mumoldersingle
@FromFunToMum

Have fun with it x

365Project Week 38

It's been all about the instancy of my mobile this week. Quick snaps and experimenting on BeFunky and Instagram. My real camera is missing me. It is pinning in the corner. We haven't had a row, there's no kissing and making up to be done. It's just cumbersome and, well, it's a pain to carry around even though I know I take better pictures with it, much better quality, focus and resolution.

So I promise, my lovely camera, that we will go out and play this week.

Unless it rains.

The sun was with me and my mobile all this week, shining onto tired faces, casting shadows of the veins from a fallen leaf, spotlighting the swan family, highlighting lovely toys in the catalogue, glinting through the supermarket skylight onto the toy bus, streaming through sunflower petals and bouncing off my coffee cup.

Please can we have a few more days of sun before we have to face the inevitable gloom of Autumn rain?


Joining in with The Boy and Me.

If you would like to see any of this weeks photos in more detail, head over to my 365project.

Silent Sunday

Saturday is Caption Day

So picture the scene.

You're hanging out your bathroom window, with your zoom lens set to the max, pointing in the general direction of a particularly colourful cloud formation over your neighbours garden, when you realise your neighbours are actually sitting in their garden, speculating why you might be (seemingly) taking photos of their hedge?

Not to be outdone, your neighbour goes and retrieves his zoom lens and rather nice camera attached, and takes photos back in your direction. Meanwhile, your children, eager to catch a glimpse of the colourful cloud formation for themselves, are hanging out of the bedroom window just to your right.

Thank you neighbour for forwarding on this particularly (un)flattering photo of the Big One.

Can you think of a caption? Sure you can!
Don't forget to head over to Mammasaurus for more captioning antics.

Morning

Breakfast is THE most important meal of the day. Fact.

Some say this is because it provides the vital vitamins, nutrients and nourishment your body needs after fasting for 8 hours or more. I say it is because I am a moody old grump before I've had my earl grey and cereal, and you don't want a moody old grump in the house any longer than absolutely necessary.

You would imagine that this would be incentive enough for the Mr or any (and I include the Wee one in this) of my children to leap out of bed in the morning and get breakfast on the table before my grumpy feet find my slippers. But no. It is normally my grumpy self that provides the fuel to kick the grumps into touch.

This photo is my post-breakfast self, kicking my pre-breakfast self, for forgetting to take a breakfast photo for The Gallery. After fuel, I felt a little playful with my cheerios ;-)


Joining in with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers.