Do you know the Muppet Man

We all know he's a bit of a Fruit Cake, but he's top of the pile when it comes to entertaining Miranda. She's either going to grow up twice as mad as him, or be as dull as a row of tents - make your own mind up!

After School and the vibes are good..

This one taken after the kids have had tea and the ball is getting a good workout. A nice sunny evening and the spirit is high, but where's the ball? Has someone stolen my cheese?

What a difference an hour makes...

Now the clocks have gone forward it's light enough to hold a camera at the kids after I pack up work for the day. This captures Greg in plucky mood, he's so good at playing to the camera you just can't go wrong...although it does help when the light is great and you are in the right frame of mind.

Sounds appealing

Lewis practicing his guitar, ....just a little picture to remind us all of the effort that he does put in, but which sometimes goes unnoticed!

Confident swagger

Now who'd have thought that mid January Mrs Mippy had barely got the hang of walking? Our neighbour Audrey has been away for a few weeks and commented how much change she could observe, and it made me think .... and that's someone who sees her most days!

Her latest trick is drinking from a cup, but she doesn't want to be helped, and has a blind tantrum if you have your hands anywhere near the cup - that's my girl!

Sunny Jim

Greg basking in the sunshine with that cheeky grin of his. He has a very inquisitive mind, and is very self confident when I'm taking photos of him. I was looking at some photo sequences last night and it's very difficult to delete the "alternate takes" as they make such an interesting story. But what to do with the thousands and thousands of images, that is the question!

The reluctant tourists

Had this little picture arrive in my email - it's my Mum and Dad having a gay time in Egypt. Not sure who would have been the grumpiest, but I'm sure the camels would have given them a run for their money!! On their last holiday they went trekking in the Atlas Mountains on Donkeys, so the mind boggles at the thought of what they will do next.

Paint the town blue

Miranda was evidently having great fun today in one of her Picasso moods! It would appear that I've been missing a trick with this artform, as it's never occurred to me to eat the paint, ....it seemed to give her a fair bit of pleasure and she certainly ate more blue than she did Weetabix for breakfast!

Countessa Dracula!

This evening Miranda was so unhappy she went to bed straight after tea, she's been plagued by her teeth and she's been a bit feverish too so we thought it best... But this was what she was like lunchtime, a right bag of beans!

You'll notice the fangs coming through (if you enlarge the view) at the rear which are part of the cause of distress - a full six to eight coming through at top and a mere two at bottom

Homework

Remember that struggle called homework... here's Greg labouring away, wishing he was outside playing ball instead! It seems like you spend half your life chasing them to do things, but then you suddenly realise that you've not been chasing them hard enough...

From the Cutting Room floor...

Continuing the theme from yesterday I found this little gem from September's archive taken on the beach at Lepe with what looks like Golden Princess in the background. So here's Greg reprocessed as a reminder of how lucky we are to live by the seaside!

Reflection

I did take some photos today, both lunchtime and this evening when we went to the beach. But for some reason there wasn't a single one I'd want to put to my name, so I've thrown one in out of synch. It's only four months old, but Lewis looks so different here. It's when you you see this sort of detail you realise how important photography is.

Slice of Life.

Continuing the theme of close ups of daily life, this one showing Miranda grazing delicately, and pondering something as she gazes through the window. One of the advantages of taking pictures regularly is that they soon forget that you are there doing "what you're doing"

Here she comes....

I was playing peekaboo again lunchtime, and as I popped my head up to see where she was, this is what I saw. Quite an arty slice of life, if I say so myself!

In the Garden

There's a photo on my Flickr stream today that I took at the same time as this one. I was doing some close-ups of the Magnolia tree and I looked down to see Miranda playing with the petals that had fallen on the shrubs below - so this picture came as a direct follow on. One of the many joys of manual focus lenses.... The magnolia is here http://flickr.com/photos/jonbrown/419962214/

Strollin'

Lunchtime with Mrs Mippy, although I'm keeping a safe distance in case anyone reports me walking down the road with a young woman...

Those funny little stubby legs as she trots along, a bit like a penguin with stripy legs

Bad hair Day

Bathtime as it's Sunday, and the boys are in clowning mood! It's not very bright in our bathroom (when it's dark outside), and I'm amazed how well my camera manages to capture some of the action in the half light. Every one is tired tonight as we've all been for a bike ride in the forest today on a pasty pilgrimage to Brockenhurst - there were people everywhere... Yuk! It's much nicer when we have the place to ourselves....

Jon and Caroline at the Register Office...

Ha! ...made you look didn't it!

We went to Chris and Nadine's wedding in Basingstoke during the week, and we were recorded on the day by Peter Bryan, whose picture I have pinched for today's post.

Welcome to the weekend

Running off some energy on Friday night at Lepe, with the aid of a football! It was a fab evening with the light very low in the sky - it's great when it's light past about 5pm and now we've got the whole summer to look forward to.....

Top of the Class!

Lewis has been on top form recently with his guitar playing and today his teacher told Mummy that he was being put in a higher group, and that he'd made great progress with his sight reading of music. So Mummy got him a special present from the Bookshop, and tonight he's read the first four chapters of Journey to the Centre of the Earth...

twas a corker...!

Eating lunch can be such fun when you are able to get Miranda to consume what's on offer. The yoghurt obviously was going down, and then came the joke about the monkey, the australian and the glass of cider...

I love the green of the painting above Miranda's head, it looks very vibrant in the sunshine

From Bad to Worse

We move from a picture of Caroline to one taken by Caroline.... whatever next? The picture though a fair reflection of how I've been feeling today - tired! After a late night last night we had a few wake up calls during the night and a relatively early start, I was tempted to say I was having a lay in but no the show must go on...zzzzz!

The Dragon...!

I don't normally do dewy eyed shots, but this one of the dragon, ....I mean taken on the Dragon's head in Denny Wood.... is a beaut

Pistols at Dusk

It was raining we'd been walking a while, and were sheltering under a holly tree. Greg however was in a world of his own dueling with an imaginary foe, oblivious of the rain! There are photo opportunities all around us, we only have to be prepared...

after posting this I photographed the lunar eclipse ....now there's an opportunity land in lap at bedtime! http://flickr.com/photos/jonbrown/409183515/

Lucky Lewis loves Bendy Wendy

Lewis' homework last night required him to compile a list with as many birds, animals, reptiles or insects for each of the letters in the alphabet. He was the winner of this gorgeous bendy woman, who looks a bit like Miranda - don't you think!

He managed 25 different letters, with only X missing, so if you can think of any creature beginning with X he'd like to know...

I'm puzzled by Miffi

I had a call earlier from Joanna who was on her way to Bethnell Green to see the Dick Bruna exhibition. Quite a long way for a small child to go on a train on her own to meet her nemesis!

So tonight we had a visit of our own to the website where it tells us that Dick's first illustration of the white rabbit was made on holiday in Egmond aan Zee - it was accompanied by the words "the bunny pair were overjoyed, quite soon the baby came, with ears so long and fur so white, and Miffy was her name"

Well we've read those words more times than I care to remember now, and of course we've changed it to Mippy, but why don't you have a go at the puzzles and see what the rabbit has to say to you! miffy.com