At least I took some photos

Wow.  This last couple of weeks just seems to have been hectic.  But the weird thing is that we haven't really done anything out of the ordinary.  No big events, no grand outings, just the usual day to day really.  But for some reason it seems to have been more full on than usual.  I feel like I have been running non-stop for two weeks and would really just like to stop and put my feet up for a day. 

There is no doubt that having four little ones (well, three little and one medium - at 8, David feels a bit more grown up these days) at home all day, every day calls for a lot of energy and input.  And since their Tata (Dad) is not around most of the time it means I am pretty much on double duty. 

The only way I can really get a grip on what we have been doing is to look back over the photos.  They tell the story better than my scatter-brain memory at the moment.  So this is what has been happening at our place.....

David spotted the last of the seasons' dragonflies on the fernery wall and we managed to get this picture.  There were so many flitting around in the garden over Autumn.

Winter has set in.  The changing colours in the garden have been beautiful to watch although I am always sad to see the bounty of Autumn fade to the bare and baron winter branches.  Thankfully the apple trees are holding on to their leaves a little longer than the other fruit trees so we still have some lingering colour.

And how could you not love pomegranates, hiding their treasure of ruby red seeds.

The giant sunflowers are (very obviously) finished but I just love the sculptural lines of their dried remains and am lobbying to keep them in the garden for as long as possible.  David is champing at the bit to pull them out to add to the bonfire pile.

There have been plenty of rainy days when the children have had to occupy themselves inside.  They rearranged the furniture so there was a table long enough for all of them to have some workspace - even baby Marta had a place...

and of course there has been plenty of Lego building and photographing going on.  David and Ari are both becoming quite expert set designers and photographers thanks to the instant, not to mention erasable, attributes of the digital camera.

The solstice has been and gone, and with it the first anniversary of my fathers' death.  We lit a candle for Dad when we woke in the morning and blew it out when we went to bed.  Amazingly the children were able to restrain themselves from blowing it out a dozen times during the day.  The temptation must have been immense.  Perhaps they were distracted by their own candle making activities which saw them each with three candles to light as the sun set.  They lit our dinner table enough that we could turn off the electric lights and enjoy a candlelit dinner. 


Dads' candle


And then there was the writing to add to an updated family tree.  My great aunty Isobel (who is 100 years old this year) has been collaborating with her neice, my aunty Isobel, to update the family history books she wrote many years ago.  Amazingly, a lot of this collaboration has taken place online.  Great Aunty Isobel is a wizz on the computer - some of the funniest emails in my inbox come from her.  So I had to put together a brief piece about my twig of the family tree and what we are up to.  It took way longer than it should have to write.  I can only imagine the work that the two of them are putting in to get everything together.  I hope I have so much energy when my time comes to update the family history in years to come. 

With the writing done, I had to find a photo to add.  But I am usually the one behind the camera so no photos of me with all of the children.  A call was put in to my big sister and a few hours later she arrived, camera in hand and we had a little photo shoot.  The children decided it would be fun to try on Janies' glasses first...



Mr David



Mr Aristo



Madam Jovanka

 Unfortunately by the time we got everyone organised outside the light was getting too dim so we relocated to the bed.  Another couple of costume changes - Jovanka wanted to wear Aris' Batman outfit for a couple of shots and then she didn't want to but Ari did and then .........well, eventually we got a couple of pics to choose from.  By which time Marta was ready for a nap.  I wouldn't have been sorry to join her.

Oh, and I finally bought a card reader so now I can load my photos straight on to the computer which makes all of this so much easier.
So that is what we have been up to.  And not even a stitch of knitting to show for all the time passed.