'Patio' by acreativemint

Patio, a photo by acreativemint on Flickr.

The weather these past two days has been ever so slightly spring-like and it's made me realise I am so bored of winter now. I hate being cold and it's so annoying having to spend ages getting ready to leave the house what with all the hats, scarves, gloves, boots and coats that need putting on. I have been trying to think of some good things about the winter and other than Christmas all I can come up with is that the snow and frost can be pretty. Oh and one good thing that was relevant to me today which is that if you haven't washed your hair you have a great excuse just to put a hat on and cover it up!

Here is a very pretty picture that reminds me of warmer and sunnier days. The light here is just beautiful and has been captured perfectly. All these lovely colours look a million miles from colours associated with cold winter days.

Hurry up spring!!

'More snowy trees' by Me

More snowy trees, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Well I've told you about my success in the decluttering resolution but how am I getting on with the others? Well I'm hardly eating as healthily as I could do but according to the scales I don't need to go on a diet so that's good. I am trying my hardest to find time to read. In fact I am half way through my second book of the year which doesn't sound a lot, especially when I used to get through about two week when I was commuting to London back in the day, but I am pleased with myself.

And finally the photography. Well I definitely did take advantage of the snow. Here is one I took last week. I think it's lovely but I wish it had happier memories attached to it. The truth is I took this just before I went in for a horrible dentist appointment. I was a little bit early so went for a walk before going in and because I always have a camera on me took a few nice snowy photos!

Hope you're getting on well with your New Year's resolutions if you made any.

'Untitled' by {eva} · www.labicicletavermella.com

Untitled, a photo by {eva} · www.labicicletavermella.com on Flickr.

It’s been three days now since the big tidy up and I must admit I am loving clutter-free living. It wasn’t like the house was a complete mess before but now it’s so much better. It’s all about getting into a clutter free state of mind and getting on top of all the jobs that need doing. I’m not just ‘leaving things until tomorrow’ anymore. As doing any kind of lengthy housework during the day is virtually impossible at the moment - my son can’t be left for a second as he’s at the learning to climb stage of his development, and also hates being strapped in anywhere - it means I’m currently spending a lot of time in the evening sorting the place out. But that’s a small price to pay for having a house that’s all pretty and lovely!

So that’s a big tick next to my de-clutter New Year’s resolution. Here’s hoping I can keep it up now! I reckon I can.

I was going to find a nice picture of some shelving to accompany this post but I just in case you’ve not as obsessed with storage as I am at the moment (seriously, it’s all I think about!) here’s a beautiful photo of a boat on a sandy beach. How perfectly relaxing. I love the colours and it makes me look forward to summer. Now the snow is out of the way perhaps I might even start pretending summer isn’t too far away.

'clutter' by eflon

clutter, a photo by eflon on Flickr.

It's been a great weekend - had lots of fun with friends on Saturday night and really enjoy chilling with my children today. But the big news is that I finally succeeded in having a really big tidy up and declutter. The house has looked a bit chaotic ever since Christmas so it's great to have it looking rather presentable again. The next job will be giving the place a proper deep clean. Scrubbing all the places that often get forgotten about - skirting boards anyone?

When I saw this photo I was tempted to keep the house all messy. I never realised clutter could be so photogentic. I love the soft and warm tone to this image. And I really rather like the cute pink laces on the trainers!

'Yellow Sailboat' by mlibrarianus

Yellow Sailboat, a photo by mlibrarianus on Flickr.

Today has been such a lovely day. Nothing particularly special just a whole day out and about with the kids but it just made me so happy and want to burst with love for my beautiful children.

Anyway, enough of my soppiness here is a photo that I immediately knew I wanted to share on here when I saw it. I am loving the colour yellow at the moment so that's a great start. Also that is the most pretty sail on a boat I have ever seen! The light on this is gorgeous and really yellowy actually so it suits the image well. And finally I love the contrast between the nice little sailboat and the huge industrial building in the background.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

'Snowy trees' by Me

Snowy trees, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

The snow seems to be finally melting and the weekend is set to be quite mild in comparison - well in my part of the country anyway. Therefore it's time for another snowy snapshot of mine! I took this while it was snowing the other day. I made it black and white because a lot of the time snowy pictures look like they're in black and white anyway so making it totally colourless makes it seem more arty.

'retreat to the quiet of english summer' by matthewheptinstall

retreat to the quiet of english summer, a photo by matthewheptinstall on Flickr.

I'm kind of bored of all the snow now. It's just at that icy and/or slushy stage - certainly no fun to play in any more. It actually melted a lot here today but then around 4pm it started snowing again. I wonder what will happen over night.

Anyway, just in case you were getting a little bored of snowy photos on here or feel the need to warm up a little I though a beautiful summery photo was in order. I love this one as it sums up a perfect summer day. It looks warm but not overly boiling hot. The girl appears to be wandering off to find a quite spot to sit and read her book. An absolutely perfect way to spend a summer's day.

'Quebec City Canada' by olivier barjolle

Quebec City Canada, a photo by olivier barjolle on Flickr.

Well I found out why my Polaroid scans were so disappointing. Apparently I had the settings wrong and didn't scan them in at a high enough resolution. Very annoying. I guess I'll scan them all in again - well at some point anyway! I've not taken any snowy Polaroid shots myself so thought I'd have a look to see how other people do it. I love the calmness of this one. I also think it was taken with expired film which would be why there are really cool colours and patterns around the edges. I'm not sure if it's meant to snow here again but if it does I'll definitely have to get my Polaroid out!

'Snowy feet' by Me

Snowy feet, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I was expecting more snow over night last night but there wasn't any. Kind of pleased but also a bit disappointed as we've not made a snowman yet! More snow is forecast for the next couple of days though so you never know tomorrow could be snowman day!

Here is a photo I took yesterday of my little girl in the snow. I had to brighten it up a little bit just to show how brilliant and pure the snow really was. I love how crisp and bright snow is and how it just makes anything else white, especially cars, look rather dirty.

Hope you're enjoying your snow days!

'West Pier in the snow' by fotobes

West Pier in the snow, a photo by fotobes on Flickr.

Well the snow came properly today and for us it didn't really cause too much chaos. In fact it actually seemed rather quiet out when I took my daughter to the park for a bit of a snowball fight. To be honest as we are forecast more snowfall over night I think I many people are just waiting to build their snowman. I reckon there'll whole new population of snow characters tomorrow and traffic jams of sledges tomorrow!

I love this photo of West Pier in the snow. I was surprised because I didn't think it would really look that different in the snow but turns out it looks even more amazing! I am now trying to not to think about the best way to get to Brighton in the snow tomorrow!

Happy weekend everyone. Keep warm!

'Tulip polaroid' by Me

Tulip polaroid, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I thought it was about time I started scanning in my polaroids and sharing some of them with you on here. I am still very much a novice when it comes to instant photography but I do love my two Polaroid cameras. I really want to carry on practising and hopefully get some good results every now and again. Here is one of the first pictures I took with my Polaroid 300. I am a bit disappointed with the scan, I think the picture looks better in real life but perhaps that's something I can work on too. What do you think? An OK first effort?

'IMG_5457' by phungirl

IMG_5457, a photo by phungirl on Flickr.

I should have known. Just a few days ago I was saying how mild it's been this winter but of course now it's freezing and many places around the country have snow. I should probably end this post here but instead I want to admit mine and my husband's totally lazy behaviour this morning. We both woke up early and typically bleary eyed for a Monday morning, wondering whether the forecast snow had fallen over night. Now instead of looking out of the window to see we decided our bed was far too warm and cozy. We therefore grabbed our phones and went on facebook and twitter to see if anyone on there was posting about snow locally. I know that's the height of laziness but it was Monday morning and cold and we really appreciated the extra ten minutes in bed!

But enough of us. How cute and extremely girly is this picture? I love the bold contrast of the bright pink against the crisp white snow. In fact I just love the skirt and the boots. I HAVE to get a tutu for my daughter before she gets too old! I doubt my little boy would fancy wearing one, even if it was blue.

'Wine Cork' by dougoo6

Wine Cork, a photo by dougoo6 on Flickr.

I'm a very lucky lady. It's hard making new friends the older you get but since having my daughter I've made so many fantastic mummy friends who I know will be friends for life. I see most of them regularly during the week but it's always really nice to see some of them at the weekend every now and again. Saturday night I was out with a group of friends I met at my antenatal classes. It's wondeful that we are still in touch and we've been able to see our children growing up together and to see siblings coming along too. And today another group of friends who I met at a music group all go together for the afternoon. We all meet up with our younger children quite a lot but as our eldest children are now all at different schools during the week they don't get to see each other as often. We think it's important for them to stay in touch as they do all get on so well.

Anyway, my choice of photograph to accompany this post has nothing to do with parenting and isn't my way of saying this is the best way to deal with motherhood. No, it's just that I think my friends and I might have ordered quite a few bottles of wine between us last night. Thankfully I managed to avoid a hangover, unfortunately a couple of my friends weren't quite so lucky!

Oh and if you liked this brilliant photo you might like to have a look at a photo that I took and posted on here way back in January 2010 just after I set up this blog. I still have all those wine corks you know. I can't bring myself to get rid of them.

'The red flower' by Me

The red flower, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I can't believe it, I totally missed my blogoversary - AGAIN! I forgot about it last year too. And I was trying so hard not to forget this time. As of 7th January I have been blogging for three whole years. I am sure I said exactly the same last year but I am really proud of myself for sticking with this. I love photography and I love blogging and even though I lose inspiration every now and again I can't imagine either not being part of my life now!

Like I did last year I guess I'd better say sorry to my blog with flowers. Here's a photo I took of some lovely flowers my husband surprised me with the other day.

Anyway, happy blogoversary to me and happy weekend to you!

'Snow Blanket' by MikeMcGowen

Snow Blanket, a photo by MikeMcGowan on Flickr.

The weather this winter has been strangely mild. I mean it's not been warm but I've realised I've hardly worn my winter coat or my gloves recently. I wonder if we'll get away with weather like this until spring. I doubt we'd be that lucky. Although saying that a little bit of snow is always a bit exciting. Just enough for my daughter to build a snowman and my son to be baffled by the whole experience!

This photograph should be called "Reasons for keeping your Christmas lights up all year". This is, in my option, really cool. It would obviously be very eye catching in real life but also makes for a fantastic photo!

'Big feet, little feet' by Me

Big feet, little feet, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I am just so proud of my little boy. In the past few days his movement has come on so much. He's gone from wriggling across the floor commando style to proper hands and knees crawling. And he's now able to pull himself up on various things around the house. I can't wait to see what new things he'll do tomorrow.

I took this picture at the playground last week. I love these little shoes, I'll be sad when he grows out of them. They're just little baby shoes to keep his feet warm but you never know his next pair of shoes might be proper cruising shoes if he follows in his sister's footsteps and becomes an early walker.

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

'6 de 52' by Paloma Moira

6 de 52, a photo by Paloma Moira on Flickr.

Tonight is twelfth night so that means all the Christmas decorations should be taken down today. We took ours down on 1st January though. I think it's lovely to have them up for New Year's Eve but after that they just look a little flat.

Twelfth Night also means an excuse to post another Christmassy photo as sadly I didn't spot this one until after Christmas. I love it though as the colours are so fresh and bright and a great alternative to the usual red and gold festive colours. Plus you know how I love a good bauble shot!

'swing with a view' by kirstenmckee

swing with a view, a photo by kirstinmckee on Flickr.

It's Friday and finally I seem to be back on real time again after not having a clue what day of the week it was for the past couple of weeks! 2013 has started quietly. My husband went back to work on Wednesday and the rest of the week has been me and the children hanging out at home or very close by. Yesterday for example we had a really nice time at the playground. My little boy sat patiently in his pushchair as my daughter and I larked about on the swings. Notice I chose a photo of a swing but also realise that this was nothing like what was going on yesterday. We were being rather more energetic on our swings!

Also being at home lots this week has meant that my baby has been working on his crawling and pulling himself up. It's amazing how much he's come on in just a few days. Who knows what he'll be doing by next weekend.

Anyway, just wanted to say I hope you all enjoy your first weekend of the new year. Now sit back and see if you can feel and relaxed as this lovely photo is making me feel.

'Good morning' by Me

Good morning, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Well the new year's resolutions are going well so far. I am very proud of myself for ignoring the big pile of Christmas chocolates that are still sitting around in the kitchen staring at me. Most importantly though I remembered to take more photographs. When I pulled the curtains back this morning the most beautiful sky greeted me so I had to take a quick snap. I love morning skies like this that look like they're on fire. I am particularly pleased with this as it was taken through the window as I didn't actually have time to open it. Perhaps my windows are cleaner than I thought they were.

'Rustic love' by **mog**

Rustic love, a photo by **mog** on Flickr.

So how has 2013 been for you so far? My year has started well - had a lie-in, got the Christmas tree and decorations put back in the loft and had a yummy meal at Wagamamas. Hopefully the rest of the year will be just as good! I am missing 2012 a little bit though. It felt like even though there were a lot of ups and downs it was an amazing year. However, I couldn't put my finger on why. I know it was the year my son was born but it felt like more than that. Then I read a post by Simone at Honey and Fizz and it all made sense. This was the year that my family became complete. We love our daughter so much and if we only had her we would still be very happy, however we knew we wanted two children so when our son came along everything just fell into place. I look forward to all the fun things we'll get up to in 2013 as a family of four.

Oh and today was also very dry and sunny which after all the rain we've been having has got to be a good thing. Therefore the blue skies in this lovely photo seem to be the best photo to start the year with.

Happy new year!