Jack Frost visits France

We woke up to a lovely winter wonderland one morning whilst we were out in France.
I ran outside to take some photographs in my dressing gown but soon realised it was bloody cold out there, so ran back in double quick.

Chocolate Father Christmas

These are the Christmas stockings that Grandma Bonjour made for the girls, and as you can see they are stuffed to the top with presents from Father Christmas.
Can you see the chocolate father christmas' poking out the top?



I think i can safely say that Iris' favourite present for most of the morning was her chocolate father christmas, she loved it, and ate a fair bit of his head and neck, when i asked her if she wanted to open another present, she simply asked "Is it chocolate?"


By the way Grandma, we left the chocolate father christmas' behind somewhere in your house by accident, boo hoo.
Thankfully Iris has forgotten all about it, well that is until she see's this blog.

The Ferry Crossing to France

I'm going to slot all the good shots from over Christmas into this little window on the 30th December.
Starting off with these few pics from the Ferry

The girls posing outside our cabin.

The girls watching the sea.

Marc battling against the winds.

My best christmas present

The girls' Christmas presents are highly predictable, and i will give you a brief run down tomorrow, but it basically consists of pink things and dolls and hot water bottles etc...

My best Christmas present is this, a clothes drying rack thingy that is at the very top of our very breezy stairs.
This is the first lot of washing we've tried, so we have no idea how it will fair, but i'll keep your posted if you're in anyway interested.

It is obviously a time for old pics

My dad (Grandad by-the-sea) sent me through this photograph of Daisy playing with the wheel from a boat called the Sola Gratia apparently, the wheel is up in Nana & Grandad by-the-sea's hallway.

This pic must have been taken during October half term.

Those girls in warmer times.

Marc took these photographs of the girls back in warmer times, but they never went up onto the blog, so here they are now.
If you haven't guessed at what that is, then it is an upside down washing basket of which the bottom fell out

That Sloe bloody Gin

This is mostly a note to myself to get going on the Sloe Gin making.

I have had Sloe's in the freezer since the Visiting The Hamiltons post at the beginning of October, but have yet to make the bloody stuff.

My dad has sent me this recipe which i think is to go into an empty (clean and freshly washed out) 4 pint milk container.
Dad is that correct?
Which makes sense because 1lb of sloes to 4 pints would be similar to the below recipe of 400g of Sloes to 1 litre bottle. (1 litre would be about 2 pints.)
My dads recipe doesn't use so much sugar though.

Recipe taken from this website.
For one empty 1 litre bottle:
1) add approx 400g/14oz sloes (to occupy about half the bottle). Remember to cut or prick the sloes before bottling.
2) add approx 150g/5oz ordinary white sugar (this is about a wine goblet in volume).
3) top-up with gin (about 500ml/1 pint).

Must start some Sloe Gin Mon or Tues.

My beautiful big girl Daisy

Daisy is getting so tall.
When i go in and peep at her whilst she's asleep in her Ikea kid sized bed, she nearly touches the bottom, well she doesn't but it won't be long before her feet dangle over the edge.

I needed somebody to sit in whilst i did a test before one of the shoots i've recently done and Daisy willingly sat in, like a brilliant little model.

Here she is in her joke shop Red Indian Girl precious Princess Tiger Lily dress from Peter Pan.

Blog Headers

Yes i know this header is a bit naff, but i wanted to do something a bit christmassy and i don't have the time to do anything better, so count yourself lucky that it has changed at all.

I will come back i promise

I'm just a wee bit busy.
A wee bit busy working.

I have been busily shooting photographs of people, and then tweaking them, and then taking orders and then delivering them.
Which is fab.

And i've also been working part time for Wells Town Hall, which is amusing, not such fun or anywhere near as profitable as photography but, it's work, and we really need the money.

But i will return with pictures and news very soon.

Daisy's Christmas List

This is Daisy's Christmas List, in her own fair hand.



And Marc has kindly transposed it into something slightly more understandable.

IDIY frthe crims
(Dear father Christmas)
I wont a dol theat walcs and
(I want a doll that walks and)
Torc has a gag theat has her
(talks and that has a bag that has her)
cLothes In
(clothes in)
I WonT hugr hIPOs game
(I want the ‘Hungry Hippos’ game)
I WonT a geL gaggay
(I want a “Belle’ Barbie)
namd Bel
(named Belle)
PS: I WIL BeIn france
(PS: I will be in France)
and can I have a prinses comic
(and can I have a Princess comic)


The doll that walks and talks and has a bag with all her clothes in comes from the Enid Blighton classic The Enchanted Wood. When the land of birthdays comes along and it just happens to be Bessie's birthday, all the folk from the faraway tree get to go and have a party. Bessie or Fanny (i forget which one) wishes for a doll that walks and talks all on it's own, and she gets this darling little doll that carries her own bag with a change of clothes in it.

Girls posing

I had to take a new passport photo for Daisy.
What with her being 5 now, and child passports only lasting for 5 years, it was necessary for our up and coming christmas trip to France.


After Daisy's passport, the girls posed as they like to do, though mostly Iris just seems to be trying bite Daisy's nose.

Devon in half term

Even though we were sick, we did make it to Devon, i thought in true Jane Austin style the sea air would do me good, and it did.

These are photographs from a walk along Broadsands Beach which is very near to Brixham.

Auntie Vicky and the girls kind of recreating The Beatles Help album, kind of.
Our sand face.
Daisy collecting stones for our sand face.
Waves
More waves
Some kind of baywatch re-enactment, involving Daisy the lifeguard.

He is saved.
Tilly the rock dog.
Tilly and Barney
Tilly jumping in the air for the ring (she's old as well)
Tilly recovering.
Looking out to sea.

We don't like our hamster anymore

I am very sorry to say that we don't like our hamster anymore.
It has bitten Daisy a couple of times, me at least once, and i think Marc too.
I wore woolly gloves last time i got it out and it tried to bite the gloves.

It is not so much a pet, but a caged animal, as it won't sit in your hands, it just wants to get away, bloody vermin.

I feel the hamster has to go.

He was free, so i shall try to give him away on freecycle.

Trouble is the girls will want another pet, do you think we could get away with a fish?

Some half term

We have mostly been ill.
yuk.

Iris' two favourite toys

Iris loves Russian Dollies, she currently has two sets, and Iris loves the wooden dolls house.
She will play for hours on her own (well sometimes it feels like hours) with these two toys.

Recently, Polly Pocket and Playmobile have been getting in on the action too.





Iris did not approve of the way i was positioning these Russian dollies for these shots, as soon as i was finished she changed it all.

The Harvest Festival

Daisy's school and Iris' nursery walked down the to local church (which happens to be opposite our house) to be part of the Harvest Festival.

It was very sweet.
The reception class sang a song about a big red tractor.
Daisy's class told the story of the Enormous Turnip.
and older children told poems.

A few songs were song too but i have forgotten what they were now, something Harvesty related i'm sure.

This is Iris arriving at the church with her nursery.
And this is Daisy right in the middle (in case you can't spot her) amongst all her classmates telling a very animated story about a very stubborn turnip.