The Christening

On 1 August 2010 Grace Caroline and Beatrice Martha were Baptised at St John the Baptist Church in Snape. It was a lovely service and a wonderful day full of family, friends and two parents overflowing with pride for their two little girls.

Here are a few of my favourite pictures from the day courtesy of www.spudballoo.com.

Fields - Part 1

I've admired the fields in Suffolk since we moved here. A strange obsession to have I know but the fields round here change so much and have so many different things growing in them throughout the year. I know that sounds obvious but to a Wiltshire lass where we have a lot more cows munching on boring old grass it does make quite a change. The prettiest crop I've seen lately has been a huge field of sunflowers - so Provence! But we've had poppies, lavendar and of course gorgeous fields of corn.

Anyway... I thought it would be a nice idea to take a photo of the same field every month for a year and see how much they change. So I roped in the lovely www.spudballoo.com and suddenly we had set ourselves a challenge. The only thing is... she is VERY good at taking photos and I am not. However, I shall try not to let this put me off and will treat it as a good reason to finally learn how to use my camera properly.

We decided that the photo should be taken from the same vantage point in the first week of each month. But there are no other rules than that. Suddenly I wanted to find the perfect field that would a) look nice b) provide monthly variety and c) be somewhere nearby so that I could easily fit it into the children/work schedule. It was like trying to find the impossible pair of winter boots - the one that's good for all occassions. It doesn't exist. So, I've cheated and chosen two fields. Both very close to each other (between Snape and Blaxhall en route to nursery and work) but one is (hopefully) quite pretty and the other will be (hopefully) quite busy. So here you have them, pretty and busy.

The Pretty Field: August 2010


The Busy Field: August 2010


Well, if nothing else it will get me blogging... at least once a month anyway!

P.s - due to the fact that www.spudballoo.com had to spend lots of her time sorting out some AMAZING christening photos for me she hasn't managed to take her photo yet, I'll let you know when she does!

Have your cake and...

I'm having a dilemma. The career woman in me is trying to get out. The mummy in me is pushing her back. What to do?

When we moved to Suffolk and started a family we knew that the balance was going to shift between James and I. We'd always been equal earners and enjoyed having a career. Now James wins the bread and I look after the family. We have a fantastic life in a gorgeous part of the country with our amazing girls and we really are very happy. And yet I would just love to sample that feeling again of achieving something not related to childcare, housework or cooking. Does that make me a bad mummy? I think not because fundamentally I choose mummy over career. As the lovely Spudbaloo said last night - do I really want anyone else to take Grace to ballet? Would I want anyone else watching her at swimming lessons? And the answer is, of course, no.

So yes, I am wanting to have my cake and eat it. And that's not possible. But I think it's time to find some kind of balance. I'm freelancing again but only one day a week which doesn't really feel like real work. Spudbaloo thinks I need a hobby, anyone know where I can find one?

(p.s the cake is Grace's 3rd birthday cake - a child-related achievement but I did enjoy it even though I needed a JD & Coke to get me through the icing phase. I did cheat slightly though and I ordered the instructions from: www.bake-my-cakes.com - very handy!!)