The boys - and their father - were all beginning to look rather scruffy so it was time to get out the clippers and sheer the sheep! Evan’s hair in particular had grown very long so, in a bittersweet moment, it was time to give him his first ever haircut.
Before:
After - distinctly unimpressed:
After - looking less mopey and suddenly more grown-up:
I treated myself to a DSLR last week. I had had my eye on the Nikon D40 for some time and Amazon had a sale with a 40% reduction in price so I went for it. It has taken me a week to have the time to even open the box and charge the battery but finally, on Sunday, I had the opportunity to experiment with my new camera.
I remember when I first got my digital compact in February 2006 it took me ages to get used to using the screen to frame the composition because I was so used to using my SLR’s viewfinder; now I am having to get used to using a viewfinder instead of a screen. It is an amazingly responsive camera but that also means I have to predict things more in advance than I am used to so as to get the composition and focus just right before snapping. Of course, it being digital it does not matter how many duffers I snap so long as some turn out to be keepers.
So these are my best shots from the day.
We took the boys for a stroll around Moine Mhor (Great Moss). This is a close-up of lichen to test the macro lens capability:
Orin looking huffy:
Evan looking grubby but cute:
Mushrooms:
Orin holding an oak leaf. The colours in the trees were stunning, though I am not sure I captured it:
Heather growing in the peat bog:
A view of the Great Moss. It turned out too dark so I need to watch my landscape photography for that problem:
Chris:
Chris’ first time using the camera was to snap this photo of me:
Evan running on the boardwalk:
I love this photo of Aidan but unfortunately there is a twig intersecting his face:
Evan sitting on a tree branch:
Aidan with a slug:
Evan and Orin were loving it when Chris shoogled the trees so as to make rain water shower down on them:
After that, we headed out to the beach at Carsaig. Evan was asleep so he does not feature in the photographs and Aidan was moody and cold and returned to the car fairly promptly so this really became a bit of a photoshoot with Orin, who thankfully loves to pose for the camera.
Moody Aidan:
Orin posing:
A daisy:
I like the composition of this portrait of Chris:
Orin playing on the sand:
Me and my camera:
This is what happens when you allow a totsy toddler to feed himself yoghurt:
Aidan found a pebble at the beach that he decided to bring home with him and turn into a tribute for Tottie. He drew a picture of him, Orin and Evan on it and thought bubbles coming out of their heads with a wee baby inside each bubble to symbolise that Tottie is in their thoughts and then he had me write Tottie’s name and date of birth on it.
My wee deep thinker.
He wanted to put it in the garden but I am worried about either Orin or Evan throwing it somewhere and it getting lost so for now it is on the window ledge in the kitchen overlooking the garden.
Thursday night was Aidan’s first ever disco. It was organised and run by his school and ran from 6.30 to 7.50pm. Chris decided to stay and supervise from the sidelines just to make sure he was OK - which he was. Aidan bought some glow sticks to play with in the darkened hall and then he and some other boys just ran around, high on sugary snacks and hyper from excitement, and did the occasional bit of movement in time to the music. Aidan had a really great time and is eager for the next school disco.
Here are the photos I took of him before he headed out for the evening:
On Tuesday afternoon, the boys and I met up with my friend, Maisie, and her two boys, Dan and Bob, to have a picnic at Crinan.
I don’t know why we thought it would be a good idea to gather five energetic and mischievous wee boys together there because it was a nightmare of parental control and organisation. Open sea on one side, a car park on the other and a canal full of deep water cutting through the middle. Combine that with five wee boys who find water and boats fascinating, who move at high speed and, when moving at pace, split up in different directions and what you get is utter chaos.
This photo was taken during the only lull in proceedings, when Maisie and I plied the kids with cakes and cheesy biscuits to make them sit still for all of - ooh - three minutes. Indeed, you can see that Evan is already hoisting his leg over the bench in an escape bid.
And then they were off again, running all over the place. Maisie and I were like two lionesses chasing after a herd of scattering wildebeest - only much less successful. Orin and Bob in particular were fascinated by the water and kept peering over the edge of the canal or the harbour wall.
I was high on chocolate cake and adrenalin by the time we left an hour and a half later.
Maisie and I have decreed never to make the ludicrous decision to have a playdate involving multiple hazards ever again.
The boys, meanwhile, had a fantastic time.
Last Sunday we decided to take a jaunt down the peninsula to have a mess about on the beach.
Here’s Orin looking cheeky:
Aidan exploring rock pools:
Orin clambering on rocks:
Chris, Evan and Orin wandering down a wee stream in the sand:
I liked the mixture of textures in these images of limpets on rocks:
Aidan found an anenome in a rock pool and loved its jelly-like squidginess:
Aidan playing with some seaweed:
Chris and Evan watching the waves breaking against the shore:
Orin and Aidan running in and out of the waves:
All the boys looking out to sea:
Orin playing on - and with - the sand:
Aidan and Orin burying themselves in sand:
Climbing up the sand dunes:
Evan among the dunes:
Evan studying a cricket:
The traditional family sport of dune jumping:
Orin and Aidan watching their Daddy jump like a bullfrog:
Evan scooting down a sand dune:
The obligatory token photo of me:
Chris:
Evan having fun:
Aidan sliding down a dune:
Orin rolling around on the sand:
Aidan marching up a dune:
Orin guddling in water:
A snail on a fence post:
Eating sweeties in the car:
There have been so many bouquets of flowers in the house this past few weeks that I just cannot help stop myself taking lots of photos of them and then editing them using Photoshop. These are some of the results of my latest footling:
Bored in the car the other day, I decided to take photos of mine and the boys’ eyeballs to experiment with the macro lens some more. This is the resulting collage:
A fortnight ago, the photographer from the local newspaper went to Aidan’s school to take a photo of all the new Primary One pupils. Although Aidan is enjoying school and is now quite enthusiastic about it, he was clearly not amused at having to have his photo taken. He has a face like a melted wellie!
He is in the second row from the back, the wee brown-haired boy among some blonde children.
Thankfully it is not his official school photo, which will be taken later in the year, but I think it is safe to say that I will not be ordering a copy of this photo from the newspaper.
Our wee misery guts!
I took some photos of lilies from a bouquet I had been given and played around with them on Photoshop. These are the results:
