Inspiration

Here are some of the things we like for the house:

We both adore these for the living room alcoves and will definitely be getting them as soon as we have the money:


The pale wood bookcase will be moved to the hallway and will stand where the meter cupboard is now (it will replace it) so both of the two matching bookcases will be in the same area. In the living room, where the bookcase is now, will go one of these with a runner and a lamp on it:


Fabric for our living room and dining room curtains - it is off-white, not as dark as the pic shows. The chocolate, gold and copper bands are taffeta, with white stitched edges. It's just beautiful fabric ... if we can afford it later (and if it's still available) I'm going to make our curtains.




Bedding for our bedroom:








We quite like these curtains for the bedroom (they look quite cream here but they are white or off-white):


I want a couple of these for the bathroom shelf:


I quite like these rugs for the living room, but I just know Grant won't.






Bathroom towels:

Planting

After such a hectic week and weekend (Grant was away at a police training course he'd chosen to go to) I decided to take it easy yesterday. I took Noah to playgroup in the morning, had lunch with Rebecca and then came home and planted out my new hydrangea bush (thank you, Rachel!) and the pansies that I grew from seed on the vestibule windowsills. I planted a couple of them into pots and also planted some crocus bulbs and sowed some phlox seeds (thank you, Aunt Jane!) to grow in the vestibule.

As you can see, I still need to weatherproof and install the flowerbed edging. The plants look more crowded in this pic than they do in real life.


The phlox - hopefully I'll soon have pics of them sprouting. Am feeling confident after my pansy success.

Last week's twin session

Meet Sana and Sabah. Their mom carried them without complications until 37 weeks then delivered them naturally. They were 6lb-something and 7lb-something at birth and had each gained a whole pound by the time I got to photograph them!

As part of their Muslim faith they believe that the hair the baby is born with is unclean, so the baby's head is shaved when they are a few days old, hence the crew cuts ;)

Also, apparently they aren't allowed to hang portraits on their wall, so all she bought at her ordering session last night was the session album even though she loved the images and wanted more (she'd booked me because she'd received a gift certificate from another friend / client of mine). What a lovely, sweet family to deal with - she even sent me home with some samosas that she'd made.

(My personal favourite)




"What's that you say?"
"Excellent, dude."












Gotta get some feet shots (my obsession).

Blowing bubbles

Yesterday Daniel had fun blowing bubbles for Noah, both of them laughing and chasing the bubbles. Noah was saying, "Bubble, bubble" which Daniel also thought was hilarious.

This week I have ...

... (among other things) fed my family, dusted, vacuumed, changed my linens, washed Noah's floor, done 9 loads of laundry, did a little crafting (see below), read to and cuddled my children, created a sticker chart for Daniel, sent 72 emails, had my eyes tested, dealt with the builder, had two friends and their children to lunch, gone to the Post Office to deposit a cheque, driven Daniel to and from school, driven Grant to and from work, made sure my plants were watered, helped the missionaries with some graphic design they needed done (on two occasions), watched 2 or 3 episodes of CSI on DVD, took photographs, washed my windows, prepared two meals for tomororw (one for the oven for lunch and one for the crockpot for supper) ... and still managed to fit in 15 and a quarter hours of work on my business, including editing photos, entering invoices into my accounting software, filing, backing up, sorting through orders, framing, an ordering consultation with clients, packaging products, graphic design work, price research, and updating my website, and not including the trip to Ikea for frames (which took 5 hours because I went with Laura and we stopped for dessert) and the trips to 3 framers for quotes and 2 departments at the maternity hospital. I. Am. Superwoman.

I. Am. TIRED.

I am also excited, though, at the new opportunity that I have to serve at the hospital. Well, I first went to the maternity wards to speak to the ward manager about hanging large framed pictures of newborns in their day lounges and leaving business cards out, but she wasn't in this week and will only be back on Monday. I then went upstairs to NeoNates (infant ICU) to talk to the manager there about donating my time to take photographs for the parents of critically ill, terminal or stillborn babies, as photographs are sometimes all the grieving parents are left with. I feel so strongly about serving in this way. There is no branch of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep here or I would join that charity, but I didn't want that to stop me.

The floor manager wasn't available so I spoke to someone else, who said she would have to talk to the manager. I left a letter with them detailing what I would provide (at no cost: a CD of high res images and a set of 4x6 prints) and quoting some of NILMDTS's message on their website: "For families overcome by grief and pain, the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them. Offering gentle and beautiful photography and videography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives."

I want these families to have quality images and plenty of them. I am so grateful for the talent and opportunities I have been blessed with that I really feel the need to give back with service.

She phoned me back later and said that they would be thrilled to take me up on my offer and would have a meeting with their bereavement team as I would be working through them, and then I would need to be cleared with the NHS Trust. I am so grateful ... I have been blessed with two wonderful children who might not be here today, especially considering that I had obstetric cholestasis. I am just humbled that I can in some small way be able to help others who are not as fortunate. Let's hope I get Trust clearance.

Amazing what some paint and paper can do

Before:


After:


Take one of these, paint the sides and fronts with acrylic paint, paint some of these with same acrylic paint, cut scrapbooking paper to fit drawer fronts and attach with spray adhesive, ink the edges, drill holes for the knobs and attach. Voila! It took me about half an hour. Here's how it looks on my desk (which is still unfinished, being plastic-covered kitchen worktops).

A few from the weekend

I don't have a signed photo release from the twins' mom so I can't post pics from that session (not that I've had a chance to edit them yet!) but here are some from the other session:










Here's little angel Ethan:

Life is crazy busy

What a hectic weekend!!

On Friday I had two ordering sessions and then had to come home and set up for Saturday's sessions. On Saturday I woke up, showered, had some breakfast and finished setting up for my session. Grant took the boys out. My client (my ex Health Visitor) arrived about 10:45 or so with her newborn and almost-3-year-old. Did that session, then she left at about 12:00 and I started throwing things together for my next session, which was across town at 1pm. In the meantime, Rebecca and her family arrived - I had phoned her earlier to say that if she could shoot over between sessions I'd do pics of baby Ethan with my angel wings, which I had found (they'd been lost and she'd wanted wing pics). Quickly fired off a few shots of him with the wings on, Grant and the boys arrived home, then Rebecca & co left and I had the quickest shower ever (I get sweaty on a session, and needed to freshen up before the next one). Then I jumped in the car and shot across town for my 1 o'clock session, newborn twin girls. Session went well - I'd forgotten my softbox but I just did it with natural light, it was fine. I left there at 3:20 and drove home shaking and light headed with hunger, found Noah and Grant asleep and Daniel playing computer games. I had a bite to eat, Grant woke up and I caught a 1-hour nap as I was shattered. Then it was sorting boys out, getting them into bed and getting ready as we were going out to a wedding reception. Leah came to babysit (bless her) and we left at about 7:20. Got home around 10:30, chatted with Leah for an hour and then crashed. Phew!!

This week has already been just as hectic. I had another ordering session last night, today the builders have been in replacing Noah's window - they cracked a pane of glass so the window supplier is going to drop off a new pane and a replacement pane for the bathroom window (the white streaking on the bathroom window turned out to be white streaking inside the outer pane of the double glazing, so we can't clean it off) within about 2 weeks. But Noah's window is in now and the bathroom window brickwork is done and the roof is mended. Oh, except that the builder said that there is no felt beneath the roof tiles of the kitchen extension - apparently it used to be a flat roof so they just installed a pitched tile roof over it! He said we should prioritise getting the felt put in within a year and will quote us for it. Ugh, more money.

Will post pics as soon as I get a moment.

Number of:

Times I had to help anyway: 2

Rows we had: either 1 with a pause in the middle or 2 (but don't worry, we've made up)

Window panes broken: 1 (old window, thank goodness, not the new one)
Hours it took: 3 (but it felt like 30)

Injuries: 1 (but I got the tiny sliver of glass out of my foot this morning and it doesn't hurt anymore)
Times we will attempt this again: 0 (builder has quoted £280 to finish the brickwork, do Noah's window and repair the roof. It's worth it.)
Please note the strained smile (he's standing on the kitchen roof):


No more swirly-glassed, aluminium-framed window; just a gaping hole:


New window is in (the plastic shower curtain situation is still in place until we tile) - the window isn't really bowed like that at the top, it's lens distortion:


Detail shot - white uPVC frame (yes it's dirty from putting it in, no I haven't cleaned it yet), obscure glass:


Top of window - empty space where the bricks should be:


Window from outside (don't know what the white streaks are):



[Edited later: the white streaks were a fault between the panes of glass and the company had to come out and replace the top window. Nothing is ever simple for us.]

We've had to put a shower curtain and black bin liners over the hole in the kitchen roof because it's raining: