Snap #27 | Bank Holiday Weather

Helena has a new photographic theme for 2016:

Snap, a visually linked group of 2 to 4 images.

***

We spent the Bank Holiday weekend back in the area where I grew up.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

You can see more Snap images here.

Less Stuff | More Life

{Project Life type card from Ali Edwards} 

For a while now, I've thought that we, as a family of three, have too much stuff.

And by that, I mean in the physical sense.

Books, cushions, framed photos, scrapbook stash {ahem}, clothes, etc.

My mum, who lived alone for the last 20 years of her life, had too much stuff.

A three-bedroom house of stuff.

And what happens to it all when you're gone?  It's given away to family and friends, 

thereby increasing how much stuff they themselves have, or it goes to the charity shop.

I read Marie Kondo's book with interest last year.

I even marked the pages where I thought she made perfect sense.

 My goal for the rest of this year is make a dent in the amount of stuff we have ...

before we are buried under it.

{A slight exaggeration, but you get my meaning}  

I don't want our home to be a minimalist home,

 nor do I want it to be stuffed to the gunnels.  

I'd like it to be somewhere in between, 

where everything is used and has a purpose.

Currently Reading

My reading this Summer has been sporadic.

The daily paper, a flick through a magazine and that's about it.

Waiting to be finished is the children's classic Swallows and Amazons

and waited to be started is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

I've never read Swallows and Amazons before and had hoped to read it

aloud to The Boy Child before we saw the film.

Didn't happen.  I'm about a quarter of the way through, 

but have read enough to know that the

 film's scriptwriters have taken a few liberties. 

As for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it was on offer at half-price.

I've read all the Harry Potter books and even though we have the

box set of the films, I've only seen the first one.  

The Boy Child currently shows no interest in discovering Harry for himself.

What's on your reading list this Summer?

What Caught Her Eye #25

Continuing my new series for Fridays: 

the contents of that Smythson notebook,

one page at a time.

"Everyday starts with

a sunrise but it's what

we do before it sets

that matters."

~ Unknown

In The 'Burbs

Some days, if you time it right,

our bit of the London suburbs

can look and feel like the countryside.

As long as you ignore the ever present sounds 

of the elevated section of the motorway,

the Piccadilly line and aircraft on approach to Heathrow.

Snap #26 | Trevi Fountain, Rome

Helena has a new photographic theme for 2016:

Snap, a visually linked group of 2 to 4 images.

***

The film La Dolce Vita has a lot to answer for.

 Doesn't matter what time of day you go, the Trevi is packed with tourists.

 But if you are patient, 

you can almost always manage to get a clear shot.

 I am not a tacky tourist, however, 

I am a tasteful traveller ...

You can see more Snap images here.

It's A Scrap

Two weeks left of the Summer holidays, 

and I have time to scrapbook during the day ...

because The Boy Child is at Football Camp.

It's true, I could have scrapbooked in the evenings

over the last few weeks, but I chose to become an armchair expert

on all-things Olympic. 

It was all so thrilling, I'm not complaining.

If only I could get the London 2012 album actually finished ...

Keeping Track of Summer

While I try to not be too regimented about routine

for The Boy Child during the long Summer holidays,

I do try to give him some sort of structure to the days.

And what works best for me is to see the days 

written out on paper.  I see friends using their smart 'phones 

to record and plan their movements and realise that I must 

look like a Luddite by comparison.

But I can live with that.

What Caught Her Eye #24

Continuing my new series for Fridays: 

the contents of that Smythson notebook,

one page at a time.

"Knowledge comes

but wisdom lingers."

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

London Theatre | Bugsy Malone

Yesterday, The Boy Child and I attended a matinee perforamnce

of Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone.

Given that the majority of the cast is made up of children

and young adults, I was expecting it to be rather mediocre.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Ninety minutes flashed by,

watching great acting, laughing at fantastic comedy 

and on my feet, dancing and applauding until my hands hurt.

My favourites parts of musical theatre 

are the whole-cast ensemble pieces;

singing and dancing as one.

A truly stellar production.

And I now have the show's final lines stuck in my head ...

"you know you're gonna be remembered for

the things you say and do."

  

How very true.

Snap #25 | St Peter's, Vatican City

Helena has a new photographic theme for 2016:

Snap, a visually linked group of 2 to 4 images.

***

No visit to Rome is complete without a visit to Vatican City

and the magnificence of St. Peter's Basilica.  

 Go early to avoid the worst of the crowds. 

Be brave and climb 202 stairs to the gallery inside the cupola. 

 And then brave 300 more to the very top of the basilica.

 You can see more Snap images here.

Things He Says | The Fashion Edition

"I don't think much of that top, Mum ...

but it's better than nothing!" 

Photography Scavenger Hunt 2016 | The Definitive List, Numbers 15-21 {and that elusive #13}

This is the fourth year I've participated in Rinda's Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt.

You can see this year's list here.

#15: A team logo.

The logo of Liverpool Football Club on the arms of The Boy Child's glasses.

#16: A map showing a trip taken during the time period.

The bus route map of Bermuda; it was consulted a lot.

#17: Twins.

 Conjoined strawberries fit the bill nicely.

#18: A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries.

The basket of groceries purchased the afternoon of our return from Bermuda.

#19: A seasonal cocktail or beverage.

Bermuda's Dark 'n' Stormy qualifies for this one.

#20: Someone laughing.

The Boy Child and his wee pal more than fit the bill.

#21: A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period.

The story everyone seemed to have an opinion on.

#13: The moon.

This was the one that eluded me ...

until The Boy Child spotted it on the ceiling of the Apollo Theatre 

in London's West End.

 Some of these images have already appeared in my Instagram feed.

Search under #rindas2016photohunt.

How are you getting on?

You can link up with Rinda here.

 

What Caught Her Eye #23

Continuing my new series for Fridays: 

the contents of that Smythson notebook,

one page at a time.

"To save your world you asked

this man to die:

Would this man, could he see

you now, ask why?"

Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier,

W. H. Auden

Six Months | What I've Learned {or re-learned}

Grief is different for everyone.

There is no right way or wrong way to grieve.

End of.

***

Arranging a funeral and subsequent internment of ashes requires courage,

 practicality and a black sense of humour.  

***

Friends and family move on differently.  And at different speeds.

***

It's easy to allow communication with others who loved the deceased

to become sporadic.  It's harder to bridge the gap.

***

Love doesn't die.  Grief doesn't end.

You never 'get over it', you merely get better at coping with the loss.

***

Snap #24 | The Colosseum, Rome

Helena has a new photographic theme for 2016:

Snap, a visually linked group of 2 to 4 images.

 The Colosseum is Rome's most popular tourist destination,

and it's not hard to see why.

 You can feel the scale of history coming through the stone.

{Was that a wee bit fanciful?}

 The Boy Child said that wearing his

 Italia football shirt made him Italian.

Listening to Mum's advice about composition

of a photo can pay off. 

 You can see more Snap images here.

One Photo | Twenty Words

BGF Dream Jars aren't as easy to find

as Paddington Bear.

Over five days, we've only found 19 of 46. 

Six Months

On Saturday, it was six months to the day since Mum passed away.

I can't begin to comprehend how that is even possible.

Grief is peculiar.

Grief moves at its own pace.  It won't be dictated to.  

Six months has passed quickly.

Six months has passed slowly.

There are days when I can't remember the sound of her voice.

There are days, almost every day, where I look for her handwriting in amongst the post.

There are days, almost every day, where I expect that ping of a text message to be her. 

There are days where I can feel a physical pain in my heart.

There are days where I've survived a first: a birthday, a holiday postcard not written,

 an end-of-year school report not shared.

There are days where the unexpected stops me in my tracks.

There are days where I know that without The Brainy One and The Boy Child, 

I would have gone under.

There are days where I know that "this too shall pass".

There are days.    

What Caught Her Eye #22

Continuing my new series for Fridays: 

the contents of that Smythson notebook,

one page at a time.

"... the only people who still

have all the answers are those

who have never been faced

with the questions."

Frances in "The Ship of Brides"

by Jojo Moyes

Photography Scavenger Hunt 2016 | The Definitive List, Numbers 8 - 14 {Minus #13}

This is the fourth year I've participated in Rinda's Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt.

You can see this year's list here.

#8: A drawing, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.

I'm working on the closing page for our Bermuda album.

#9: Someone playing in, or around water.

The Boy Child on Horseshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda.

#10: A bicycle.

I spotted this delivery bike outside a wine merchant in Belgravia.

#11: Fresh produce.

The market in Campo de' Fiori in Rome.

#12: A window.

Our hotel room window in Rome.

#13: The Moon.

*** the only one of 21 left items to capture ***

#14: A buffet of food.

The mini buffet on offer when purchasing drinks in a wine bar in Rome.

We purchased a lot of drinks.

Some of these images have already appeared in my Instagram feed.
Search under #rindas2016photohunt.

How are you getting on?

You can link up with Rinda here.

Rome Snapshot | Snap #23

We all loved our recent visit to the beautiful city of Rome.

 ~ Piazza Navona at dusk ~

 ~ looking across the Tiber to St. Peter's ~

 ~ Trevi Fountain ~

~ detail of the cupola inside St. Peter's ~

***

Helena has a new photographic theme for 2016:

Snap, a visually linked group of 2 to 4 images.

 You can see more Snap images here.