The Chase is On

An interesting day on the Gregory front... First of all we had a postcard from Noadswood School sent by his Maths teacher, congratulating him on his performance in a Maths Test - what a pleasant surprise!

Then later in the day he came home from school having taken part in the New Forest School Cross Country Championship at Gang Warily. Greg finished in a highly commendable tenth place, so he's now going to start training regularly to see if he can improve this.

Lewis was also chosen to take part in this event and he finished in sixteenth place.

Well done boys

Trojan Horse

Picture from the final game in the New Forest training season with the RFU, that Lewis has enjoyed enormously. He's been playing with school friend Harry in the New Forest Squad and they have competed against various different teams, last night it was Trojans Under 16's

He's playing at an alltogether higher level now, and the competition is tough but Lewi loves the game and the team spirit, and I've been really impressed by the level of professionalism the RFU Coaches show on the pitch.

Lewis was up early this morning as he was training with Fawley RFC, so he was gone having made us tea in bed and his own porridge by the time Miranda and I set off for a bike ride in the forest. Lovely colours all around, just the tonic.

Miranda managed to find a fab den in Dibden Enclosure whilst I was taking photos of the trees, so we were both happy!

Picked Lewi up en route to the sailing with Gregory and raced at Calshot til dark. The boys had great fun helping Gill to get the spinnaker rigging on her Mirror sorted, and as the sun went down they flew up and down the beach in her boat - much to her delight.

Miranda looks a little mad here, and poor old teddie looks like he's fallen asleep on the job. We nearly managed to get Lewis in the shot, but his head was stuck in the clouds...

Bit of a Tea Party

Hey Mippy!

She's so grown up on occasion that you forget she's just a child, until you see her playing with her toys! Just had time to get a quick photo in the half light, and then it was bath time.

Miranda has had a nasty bump on her head at school this week, and now she is sporting a big repair job and grazed forehead. They used steri-strips and superglue to put her back together again at the a+e in Lymington, and we are now on first name terms with the staff there after Greg's visit - must be getting something of a reputation there I think.

Superb colour in the forest this week, the perfect time of year. Damn cold though atm.

Photographs and Memories

A photo from a recent family history session; my dad recounting his memories of his father whilst holding a photo of him and his sister Mary with their Dad. He's also holding an old letter that sits in his collection of memorabilia, I think it relates tales of his mother who was something of an awkward person.

This would have been not long before leaving his home in Swansea and being taken in by Grampy and Maud in Cadoxton I think.

Autumn shades in the forest

I couldnt be bothered to ride my bike yesterday, the rain was beating down and I stayed in bed with Miranda reading a book. Today was another story, superb sunny weather with clear blue skies so a few pictures ov the vibe.

Managed to get the rest of the clan out for a walk this afternoon as I suspect this may have been the best day of the year so far for outdoors...

Check out this move Greg!

Miranda makes a move on Gregory, but he's a tough cookie to beat!

Sfanding tall

Miranda appeared this morning wearing the poppy that she'd made for herself - I commented on how nice it was to see young people wearing the badge of reminder, and she told me that she'd been planning making lots and taking them to school to raise money! You just dont want to dampen her enthusiasm....

Greg as it turns out has been on a sponsored run to raise money for Leprosy sufferers this week.

Mipp looks a bit different to the previous photo, she lost another front tooth testerday, so she's a bit gappy at the front again!

Windblown Miranda

There was a time when it seemes that I could only take decent photos of Gregory, he just had to look at the camera and we would gel, and nothing it seems last forever. He can be obliging when he wants but it's not the same story nowadays.

Miranda is a different story, you never knows whether the chemistry is going to work, or you're going to be walking away cursing.

Just so happens we were on a roll and I had my classic combination to hand 35mm f2 Nikkor lens and my sharp shooter in hand. Suspect this one will be a fave for a while yet, just the right sense of flyaway hair, cheeky smile and critical focus. When you get it right it reaffirm why you do it...

Very sparkly

A certain amount of wand waving was done in the garden this evening which was something of a test for failing eyesight in the dark, one day I shall bite the bullet and get an autofocus lens.

Walkies

On Sunday afternoon Mipp revisited one of her favourite activities, taking Domino for a walk. He's rather slow when Miranda rides him so now she leads him along which he doesn't mind too much. We timed it just right as it was almost time to put him and the other animals to bed... All good fun, but I wouldn't want to do it every day, twice a day! Kids are bad enough, but if I had to squelch around that field....

Five get Wet in the Forest

A bright and sunny start to the day so we figured a family bike ride in the autumn leaves was the order of the day. All was going well but I could see huge black storm clouds gathering. The heavens opened and closed and opened again, coinciding with our search for a vendor of lunch. We were disappointed on both fronts; no lunch and cold wet and windy all afternoon. Still we are made of tough stuff and even managed a race to the finish line. Lewis and Miranda won!