picking our own at roundstone farm

the other day we went to roundstone farm for a retro family day out fruit picking. we harvested punnets of blackcurrants, redcurrants and tayberries (the sweet love-child of a blackberry and a raspberry - yum). o-o snaffled fair few fruits on the way round (they should deffo introduce a weigh in, weigh out system for the kids), wee baby j was disappointed to not be allowed to crawl in the mud and i thanked my lucky stars that i am not required to toil in the beating sun with a baby strapped to my back on a regular basis.

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wee baby j - hat on, hat off and really starting to enjoy books particularly each peach pear plum and ten little fingers. 
o-o - hot and sticky in a heatwave. this boy is made for cooler climes, just like daddy. 
last week i liked bubbles and stickle-brick icecreams. i'm taking part in the 52 project, you can see all my 52 posts here and my three/52 selection here

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wee baby j - trapped in the tripp-trapp after houdini escape antics were attempted when seated in the other chair. 
o-o - close supervision of mum during washing machine repair (photo by m)
last week i liked art and art. i'm taking part in the 52 project, you can see all my 52 posts here and my three/52 selection here

freewheeling - new prints in the shops now

the tricycle prints have trundled into the shops! a sweet little trike skids to a halt leaving a swirl of track marks in its wake. limited edition, hand pulled screenprints in three colourways; black trike with either neon pink, sunny yellow or blue-green tracks. my friends commissioned me to design and make a print to mark their third wedding anniversary (they choose a different artist every year, cool huh?). they generously gave me permission to sell the prints, thanks guys! i made the tracks using an actual mini trike and based the trike on the tricycles i remember from my own childhood. each print was then handpulled in my teeny tiny home studio in the middle of a heatwave while wee baby j took a nap.

framed in a simple white frame (this one is the 'ribba' from ikea) they are a blast of retro nostalgia for your home, i think they'd be especially lovely in a nursery or kid's room. 

here's o-o trespassing in the studio 'everything in your studio is so beautiful mum, i'm tempted to go in'

you can purchase the prints from my etsy and folksy shops. thanks for supporting my cottage industry, i really appreciate it.

sweetness

a most excellent weekend. school's out for lovely m, he has completed his annual trial-by-tedious-exam-board-marking and he has time for baking once more (see above). yesterday i printed the second separation of a new print, commissioned by all round good eggs pete and jess to mark their third wedding anniversary. heatwave temperatures meant i got a complete bead on working in the teeny-tiny home studio, this is bikram printmaking my friends. extremely limited space and inquisitive o-o mean i have to dry the prints in the bedrooms, which necessitates running up and down the 14 stairs which lead from my studio to the top floor, multiple times. and people ask me how i stay so slim...

in the afternoon we went to patchfest, a mini festival held at one of our local green spaces, the william clarke park. it was throng on. we met with friends and i had cause to use my teacher voice (still got it!) to resolve a bouncy castle based 'situation'. o-o did not have candy floss, he must never have candy floss, it would end in tears, mine.

today we've pootled about. drinking tea, eating brownies (see above), sitting in the sunshine in the back yard and keeping an eye on the avian goings on in our neighbourhood. the sparrows are delighted with the new perching spot provided by the gangly bamboo shoots that have grown, seemingly overnight, in response to the heat. the roofs are inhabited by teenage seagulls with terrible posture and questionable flying skills. they look on in envy at the aerial acrobatics of the swallows/swifts (my ornithological knowledge is somewhat lacking here) who dart about in the skies above their heads. wee j, who finds all this very interesting, points his chubby finger and says BAH!

and the kitchen is full of the scent of sweetpeas. all is well.

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wee baby j - up to mischief
o-o - mermaid hairwash technique
last week i liked arm/tum  and toothypegs. i'm taking part in the 52 project, you can see all my 52 posts here and my three/52 selection here

sketchbook monday

foot measuring memory, clock winder and pigeon fancier.

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wee baby j - a game of two halves. while o-o played an intricate game with his animals, wee j looked on longingly from behind glass and entertained himself by nibbling jumbo chalks. 
o-o - with his rock-pooling net on littlehampton beach. he wore a spectacular outfit. we caught one crab. 
last week i liked this caterpillar and this super heroi'm taking part in the 52 project, you can see all my 52 posts here and my three/52 selection here

mother's day bean update

the mother's day bean was going crazy living in our bathroom, clawing at the windows and regularly tearing down my colourful garland thingumy with its great weight, so i replanted into a bigger pot and put it outside, now it's twisting itself hither and thither and growing lovely red flowers. o-o's still holding out hope that it will grow up-up-up into the clouds so he can climb it and go to the giant's castle and steal a goose that lays golden eggs.

three/52

our life is here, when i am an old lady, and they are men, i'll look back at these photos, these everyday days and be glad. 
o-o 
02/52 - still in pyjamas, journeying to oz before breakfast. 
15/52 - spinning on the roundabout at longford park. the scene of centrifugal adventures for generations of kids. 
17/52 - lines and shapes, a stick and a stone and a secret message on a trip to the patch. 
wee baby j
04/52 - sitting in his highchair, surveying the kitchen and throwing food on the floor, his feet are so fidgety, and plump. 
10/52 - asleep in his cot, warm, peaceful, perfect. 
25/52 - clothes drying in the sunshine, o-o playing, j watching. 

i'm taking part in the 52 project, we're halfway through! you can see all my 52 posts here. 

sketchbook monday

queens wearing chocolate foil crowns, abusive screw and a burrow.