Anachcronistic

It's not every day I open my email and find such a lovely picture waiting for me, but tonight this arrived from my sister Juliet. I have precious few pictures with myself in, and this one is a gem, so thank you Toots! Me and Mrs Mippy, plus assorted members of my clan

My Helper

Lewis has been wearing his toolbelt today, as we've been repairing fences after the winds of the last few days. It's great when you get some help with all the odd jobs, but it'll be even better when I can get the two of them to go out and do them without my involvement! Oh happy days...

Nearly there!

She stands and wobbles momentarily, and has the confidence to think about doing other things - but then it's BUMP! and she's back on the floor again. Progress is so noticable at the moment though that we're all saying "any minute now....this weekend maybe....!"

Tempestuous

It has been very stormy here today, with very high winds and heavy rain passing over. It was quite scary when we woke at dawn with howling winds banging the trees into the weatherboarding on the house - and now we've got a few fence panels to repair into the bargain....

No new pictiures today, but I took this one on the weekend on our walk, so here's Mr Tem"pest"ous himself ....Gregory!

Son rise, Sunset!

It's Lewis' turn on the blog tonight, as he's been a very good boy! We needed to get a new homework regime in place and things happened gracefully tonight - despite Miranda having fairly acute teething anxiety!

Basking in the sunset at Calshot is one of my favourite themes...

Eat up!

She's supposed to be eating her cake, but has taken to feeding the organ grinder instead, which naturally she thinks is very funny!

Smile

One of those "butter wouldn't melt......" moments as little Miranda starts to get excited about the prospect of a little playtime after lunch. She's getting quite good with her buggy now, we managed about 10 complete circuits of the living room before she fell down today! She'll be out on the street soon....!

In the bleak midwinter...

The middle of January, and who'd have thought we would have weather like this? It was a glorious morning so we walked from Beaulieu Road Station over to Denny Wood, played on "the Dragon" for a while and then headed back to the Beaulieu Road Inn for lunch. Simple peasant fare washed down with beer, who could ask for more...

Greg strikes

This shot was taken by Gregory at teatime, and shows the scribe in unusually humorous mood! What's not showing in the frame of course the Rum Punch, the elixir of life (depleted)

Mucky Miranda...

Finger food in our kitchen tonight, with Miranda wearing an off the shoulder Broccoli number with matching Bib! If you're wondering how her hair has so much body, now you'll know the answer...

That looks like good fun!

There was much squealing and wailing after tea time tonight as Miranda pushed Greg around in the Lunar Buggy. It needed to have Greg's weight inside it, otherwise she would have fallen over.... Now she knows what to do, and we can't seem to stop her toddling along!

Going for it!

It's considerably easier to show things being done, than not being done! Here's Mrs Mippy trying to walk away from the kitchen sink duties, and then remembering that she can't quite make it to the other side of the room.....without crawling!

Still waiting for liftoff!

We are very close to those first few steps, but despite lots of effort and encouragement from the boys, she's quite determined to keep us guessing. Lewis reckoned he saw a wobbled balance and step, and we have lots of scooting around perimeters, but as yet nothing that needs outdoor shoes.

Books are something she's very keen on, and none of those babbyish ones with thick pages - what she like is small regular books, and she sits turning the pages delicately. It seems to matter not whether it's a Spanish English dictionary or Fireman Sam, it gets the same attention.

He's Warped...

A slightly unusual take on Gregory at Calshot with those lovely beach huts behind...! Half the fun of photography takes place in the darkroom, or the Lightroom as it's now called!

Write that's your lot!

Greg is making very good progress with his reading and writing at the moment. Fortunately coinciding with Mrs Mippy being a little more independent, as it's surprising how much time it takes to sit down next to him and get those words and letters formed in an orderly manner! Not only is he enjoying writing but he's doing alright with his Flash cards and reading from some of Miranda's books too. Now we have to fed the fire!

Dreamer Boy!

This photomontage of Gregory reflects the madcap monkey that he is, part dreamer and part clown. His expressions range the full gamut of human emotion, and I don't think I have ever felt the need to make an image that wasn't already there for him. However this one, created in a moment of idleness (before yesterday's picture) is a winner.

Riding the wave!

Lewis and I have been having a bit of bit fun with Photoshop, and this is one of our portraits. Don't worry there wasn't a tornado over the Solent!

I feel a bit of a new theme coming on.... watch this space!

Random Abstract

Continuing the "names" theme a while, this picture was created via the images online at Flickr http://flickr.com/photos/jonbrown/ and courtesy of http://metaatem.net/words

Check it out - it's a fun tool!

Spooky

This one from our recent visit to the Science Museum as I've been stuck in my office all day long, trying to get back into work mode... I love the multi layering in this picture, the combination of mysteriousness and those mice and the greeny tint to the picture gives it a spooky edge!

What's in a name?

Lewis "I Maxwell" Brown on the left taken at the Science Museum a few days ago, contrasted with Gregory "Sea More" Brown at the Aquarium in Bournemouth over Chrsitmas.

We are still looking for Jane....

Roll in the New

First shot of the year, and start as we mean to go on..... It's Calshot and we're on the beach again in the glorious sunshine. We had a nice walk all the way along the beach and up to the Power Station, where it was blissfully quiet. The boys threw stones to make patterns in the water and even tried to make a pair of water skies!

Science on the blog

We round the year off with a visit to the Science Museum in London as it was Sunday, and it seemed like a fun thing to do! We also had a walk down Oxford Street and Regent Street to see the lights, and supper at the Pizza on the Park in Knightsbridge.

Happy New Year!

Lego time (again)!

Trying to think of something interesting to say about this with Miranda sitting on my lap wriggling like a little piggy, is quite a challenge! So I'm afraid you'll have to improvise...

Fun and Games

It's been wet and windy here today so we've entertained ourselves with some games, ...some old, some new!. This one I think came from Miffi and involves spotty dogs and counting, but we also played old favourites like Scrabble.

To be complimented!

After eating our lunch yesterday we were approached by two old dears from the Bournemouth Blue Rinse Brigade who complimented us on our children for their impeccable table manners! It was nice they said to see a "proper family" who still ate with a knife and a fork...

Crikey, the Browns upholding the values of the Moral Majority - whatever next...?

Surf duder!

We had a visit to Bournemouth today to take the strain off Christmas. On the seafront we found this surfboard which was great fun!

It's a cracker!

Lewis and Gregory made our Christmas crackers this year and the hats were very fetching! Lewis' joke in mine was "What did the sheep with a sweet tooth say when he woke up at Christmas....... Baaaah Humbug!

......I wrote that one just for you!"

Three boys on the beach at Lepe...

We blew the cobwebs away with a bracing walk on the beach at Lepe, the boys as usual managed to find some debris to play with. This buoy doesn't look very heavy, but Lewis was pushed to his limits lifting it - but once it was in the water it floated beautifully!

Peekaboo!

All loaded up in the car, and we're off for a walk in the forest! There's just enough time for a peekaboo session with Mippy, whose wearing her Miffi hat!

It's Christmas Eve, the kids have just got their stockings ready by the fire and Father Christmas' nibbles plate has been prepared.

Soon we can go to bed...

Nonchalant

She floats like a bumble bee, something in each hand, and still not quite sure if she can make those first few steps.

Bump, not quite...

Miranda the minx is nearly there, any day now!

The excitement is building!

Work is history, and the festive season begins. The cake has just been decorated and we are savouring an appetite to eat it now!

It's amusing to hear all the stories of bedlam on the roads, and flights going nowhere fast, mainly because we'll be staying close to home and having a quiet Christmas....

Merry Christmas!!!

I've got my eye on you!

Miranda's got lovely bluey eyes, and here they look like a pair of matching jewels. She's just gone to bed without any fuss, and it's amazing how much more positive one feels when things go easily!

Art Club

Today the clan went down to the Library for an Art Club session. So here's Gregory showing us proudly the xmas tree decoration that he made...

Deep Sea Diver

Always game for a bit of fancy dress, and incapable of not posing for the camera, this is Greg moments before disappearing into the coral reef that is our study floor. I also managed to get a great shot of him swimming on his belly, but it means more to me as I know what he was doing!

This portrait has that wonderfully narcisistic quality of a familiar face peering out sheepishly from behind the mask, and I love it!

Christmas Decorations

Our Christmas tree was rather wet when we got it home on Sunday, so we thought it was safer to leave the electrocution until today!

Naturally everyone wanted to join in, but fortunately many hands makes light work...!

Christmas is coming the nut roast is getting flat.

Lewis the Master Baker

Gingerbread men baked yesterday, and today they were decorated, and come to think of it, eaten by the boys (with a little help from Olivia and Archie).

Beaming Tiger

When I see a picture like this I tell myself that I really should work harder at more formal portraits! In general I prefer the more candid approach, but when you have real engagement there's nothing to beat the emotional value of the image .....

Little Miss Moppet....

Miranda having eaten her curds and whey, in happy bunny mode. Today we went to Waterside School Xmas Show and although sadly I did not take my camera, Miranda had fun heckling Lewis and Gregory as they did their best to be willing participants in Jack and The Beanstalk!

Smiler!

Greg on my lap, camera in one hand tickling with the other!

Lewis reading

This is another picture in my ongoing set of people parts. Just small fragments of life that reflect the individual, I love the intimacy between the reader and the book that comes over in this picture.

Feel the energy

Greg gets very animated sometimes, and he's always acting the clown. This photo captures some of that raw energy that drives him forward, sometimes perilously into our bad books!

You simply can't tell him to "sit down quietly and read a book" when he's fired up. He bounces around like a jack rabbit - a man on a mission...

Cornwall revisited

A few nights ago Lewis and I were doing some picture editing, and this was one that we thought worked well in black and white. I took it earlier in the year at Portholland near Mevagissey, and brings back all those memories of scampering around in the rockpools - a nice change to some of the stormy days we've had of late!

Count your lucky stars

Miranda doing some mental arithmatic - two bowls of pasta, one sticky pudding, one mince pie ... how many does that make Gregory?

THE CAT IS BACK!

Lewis and I have been having some fun with Photoshop, and I'm not sure what Greg is going to say when he sees this!

Whilst the cat is away...

Miranda will play...!

Normally the boys would be interfering when they catch Miranda playing with their pickup trucks and cargo. Normally they would remember that the bits ".....are too small for you Miranda...!" or some such excuse.

However today they left some things out on the study floor, and Miranda simply could not resist. Just wait until Lewis sees this picture.

I'm having one of those days

One of the best hair conditioners money can buy is egg sandwiches, but the application can be a bit tricky!

When her teeth are hurting Miranda massages her poor little head, and it's funny how often the dark side passes and it becomes a moment of light...

Like father, like son!

It's usually me urging the boys to complete a task, but this afternoon Lewis encouraged and helped Greg to produce a lovely Greeting Card, with a Quad Bike on the outside and a lovely hand written message on the inside... all before I had left my workroom.

I was so proud of them both!

In the Wild West

This is one of Lewis' drawings from Thursday or Friday morning before we came downstairs. There was no book out and it's unlike one of his drawings, so I asked him what his inspiration was...

In school the day before they'd had a talk about the Wild West, and the cowboys and all that stuff - and this is what flowed from Lewis at 7am.

The Bread Maker

Whilst many would argue that getting their kids to eat Brown Bread was a challenge, we can be proud of our Lewis who not only made Bread in school today with his choice of ingredients; sundried tomatoes and assorted herbs - but also ate half a loaf with his tea!

What's left we are shortly going to have ourselves.

I commend it to the nation!