13/52

o-o - can i eat the jam mum?

wee baby j - almost mobile 

last week i liked this cute playmobile hairdo and this hive of industry.

squeegee love

yesterday, while o-o and m enjoyed some chilly beachcombing and wee baby j had his cosy lunchtime nap, i got cracking on the new print i mentioned the other day.

i think the first separation, drying on the improvised drying rack (the stairs) looks a bit like sinister footprints... can you guess what it is yet? 

walking the dog

lines, textures and pattern on a recent (slow) walk to the post office.

true that...

yesterday. super windy, perfect al fresco laundry drying conditions. saw gruffalo on the big screen at the dukes in the morning. made a batch of jam tarts in the afternoon (didn't drop 'em!). o-o, you are right. more conversations with the kiddo here.

sketchbook monday

12/52

o-o - making viking cars and then drowning a giraffe. playdough fun*. 

wee baby j - endless dribble. 

i like this green boogler! and note-to-self; 'wee baby j is not yet one, don't even be thinking about it...'

*made with jelly as per this recipe found via cup of jo's pinterest. not sure whether it was an improvement on our usual dough but it did result in a some tense scenes, o-o could not believe i was insisting on wasting good jelly in this way. 'let's just eat it mum!'

two for joy

up and on this morning with wee baby j. singing along to the smiths (me not the baby). poor the smiths, the have experienced every artist's worst nightmare. i'm tinkering around with the imagery for a new print, here's a sneak preview...

i'm in a grump after a very poor shopping experience, of which more later... have a lovely day, may all your magpies be in pairs.

this morning's earworm...

meanwhile, m is continuously whistling the tune made by wee baby j's new monkey rattle.

sketchbook monday

mum tip #5

googly eyes, they're the future! they make any drawing, no matter how hastily executed, look aces. from abstract expressionism to recognisable image in moments! o-o would really much rather be doing something else (reading aloud, pretending to be a (very bossy, wonder who he inherited that trait from?) teacher, wielding a wooden sword dangerously close to wee baby j, imprisoning a plastic cockerel in the dungeon of his new castle, hiding my phone behind the sofa etc) but he'll sit down for a couple of minutes of art activity just to keep mama quiet. here's his rather gory picture of a t-rex eating a diplodocus. a card for one of m's aunties, nothing says 'thank you for the lovely gift' like a dinosaur blood-bath!

11/52

wee baby j - one bear

o-o - three bears. woe betide the grown up who unknowingly stirs the bee juice into this boy's morning porridge, a mini meltdown will ensue. 'we're like the three bears mum, you're the daddy because you are big, i'm the mummy bear because i'm middle sized and j is the baby bear'.

just getting around looking through everyone else's 10/52 images now. i love this big/small bird's eye view. this photo of someone else living in endless northern hemisphere winter (and making the most of it by the looks, good to see some cosy layers amongst all the photos of sand dusted antipodean beach kiddos). and a pink tongue!

me and m had a splendidly unpunk friday night last evening. sat side by side on the sofa, he making an epic spotify playlist, me drawing rabbits, listening to the occasional brouhaha of passing revelers, so content.

domestic greenery

the little bird who seemed to be heralding the beginnings of spring has gone very quiet. it's freezing cold here with icy gales and intermittent snow, enough already. it's good to have some green in your life when it feels like you're in a perpetual winter. maybe i'm grown up enough to have house plants now i've earned my nurturing stripes caring for the kiddos? 

mama's day present bean seedling that o-o planted at nursery, makes us both happy to see it shooting up.

triffid that we found in the street and dragged home to live in our bathroom. lots of more domestic greenery here.

beautiful seasonal giveaway...

...over at che and fidel. while a gentle, balmy autumn slowly unfurls itself down under, up here in the frozen north we are in the middle of a blizzard. it took poor old m EIGHT hours to get home from work last night. rubbish.

sketchbook monday

i realise it's been a while. here's a recent spread from my sketchbook. i collaborated with o-o to make the drawing of a very hot sun. he's very interested in the mice, especially the dead one...
o-o - 'why has that mouse got crosses for eyes?'
me - 'because he is dead.'
o-o - 'why is the mouse dead mummy?'
me - 'he has eaten a bad cheese.'

happy mother's day comrades!

you're doing a great job, everyone's been saying so.

here are some rare photos of me with wriggly (and food covered) wee baby j and uncharacteristically subdued o-o (he'd been swimming with m, all the poor lad was good for afterwards was staring into the middle distance while clutching the gruffalo DVD). ma, if by some miracle you're reading this, isn't j the spitting image of baby tk in the top photo?

10/52

o-o - a poisonous wart at the end of his nose; being the gruffalo for world book day celebrations at nursery. see how we made the purple prickles here

wee baby j - fast a-snooze with teds. so peaceful, i love. 

i'm a bit out of sync with my links! this bathtime portrait is super.

how to make gruffalo prickles

we made some purple prickles so o-o could be the gruffalo for world book day at nursery. i left him at the painting stage whilst i shushed wee baby j to sleep and returned to find he'd painted his arm purple (could've been worse...). see some of our favourite books on my bookworming for kids pinboard.

tired yet super

mother's day is coming up. how's about buying the tired yet super mama in your life one or both of these?

dawn chorus

spring? is that you?

handmade living magazine

very excited that my shipping forecast and cuppa print is featured in the march issue of handmade living magazine.

9/52

o-o and wee baby j - wooden spoon and a cardboard box, simple pleasures. then, suddenly sick of mama's camera, wee j places a hand on big bro's shoulder for reassurance. 

we're joining in with jodi's 52 project. last week i especially liked this shadow and these eyes. also, not part of that project but stumbled on this via jodi's links, so beautiful, makes me regret the fact that i didn't properly document the bump during either pregnancy, just a few photobooth (on the mac, i wouldn't have been able to fit into an actual photobooth!) and in-the-bathroom-mirror shots. i've inherited some of welsh grandma's superstitious ideas, it always felt a bit like tempting fate to take lots of photos, silly i know...

new shoes

determined not to spend my birthday money on groceries or similar dullness, i rushed out yesterday and bought these brogues. i love them, mr noisy meets alexa chung. HA!

dydd gwyl dewi hapus! happy saint david's day!

dydd gwyl dewi hapus! happy saint david's day! and happy birthday to me. see my celebratory treasury here.