Spring, thank you.

Is it me or has spring been really rather spectacular this year? It feels like everything is growing and blooming; the blossom seems to be everywhere, extra-colourful and lasting longer than usual. The skies have been gloriously blue, the sun has shone. Maybe it's just that we were all so ground down by that long, wet winter with endless grey skies (and we didn't even have floods to worry about up here) and I was just so ready for spring and some vitamin D. I've just been looking back through my photos from the last two weeks and I've noticed that most of them were taken outside; on the beach, in the park, in the garden. I do love it when the weather is good in the school holidays, the difference it makes - to the quality our days, to my mood, to our health - is not to be underestimated, I think.

The children and I spent the first week on the south coast, staying with my parents. John stayed behind as he had to work, and we missed him of course, but I did enjoy all that time with my sisters and parents, and with my nieces and my nephew too. Honestly, those little people are all delicious. That's Eleanor you can see above, looking out to sea. At just turned four, she is the baby of the group of six cousins, Bella being the oldest at seven. Eleanor used to be very shy with me, warming up to me just at the end of my visits, but this time she was delightful, non-stop chatter and kisses, wanting to hold my hand and sit next to me. No-one prepared me for how much I'd love them - even when they are little monkeys and hitting each other - and I love seeing them grow bigger and watching their confidence increase.

We all visited Arundel to see the Wetland Centre, or Wildlife Park as it was called when I last visited about twenty five years ago. Angus called it a "bird zoo". Wetland Centre means nothing to a four year old. There were a few comical moments in the bird hides, watching Angus try to look through the telescopes....

...bless him, he just wasn't getting it. He found a stick and spent the rest of his time in the hides pointing it at the birds and making shooting noises, much to my mortification...This is West Sussex, Angus, I hissed, these Boden-clad children do not pretend to shoot the birds!

Spring is the time to go though, I think, as chicks and ducklings were everywhere.

This lot sneaked out of their fenced area and were waddling around the path, cute as you like. It was all I could do not to squeal - they were about two feet away from me - and put one in my pocket and take it home. We had a dreamy boat ride around the wetland, where the motion of the boat and views of the surrounding area made me veeery relaxed indeed.

I'll take that over a theme park any day.

We met up with my friend Abigail (my BFF as Bella would say) in Chichester and spent an idyllic morning in a beautiful park right in the city center.

Since moving away I've come to appreciate how rich in history Chichester is, how attractive I find the low-lying Georgian architecture, what a pleasant buzz the whole place has, while also feeling very peacful. I like how you can see the minster spire from almost everywhere within the city walls.

This week has been all about gardening and Easter preparations. I've done about fifteen loads of washing. I decided to wash every single hat, scarf, glove and woolen jumper this week, before packing them away. I like to do this, I feel like it sort of marks the end of winter. Of course I am never without a scarf (and have worn my cowl constantly this holiday) but I have winter scarves, spring scarves and summer ones. Don't mock me. I also have these pretty new tea towels, from Asda of all places. I'd thought about using the fabric for cushions but decided I just like them as they are, hung over the oven handle or pegged on the line. There's nothing like pegging out washing to dry in the sun to make me really, truly, deep down happy.

We made our usual fayre, Easter nests and egg-shaped biscuits. That's about as traditional as we get round here - I'm still scarred from my hot cross bun escapades two years ago when I spent about eight hours in the kitchen, pampering and nursing a very needy batch of dough.

Easter baking tends to involve children, sugar and pastel shades round here. Damn tasty, they were, and pretty too.

I made an Easter wreath the other evening. It took as long as two episodes of House of Cards* and it was fairly low-level crochet, no real concentrating. I needed to focus on the television!

I like how it came out though, and the yellow looks nice against our grey front door.

I finally cracked and bought a copy of the latest edition of Kinfolk Magazine, mainly to see what the fuss was all about. It's expensive, true, but that's because it contains no adverts, which I didn't realise. It's just page after page of very good writing and photography. Sometimes I found it a little bit precious, but overall I liked it. The current issue is all about the home, which particularly appealed to me, and I think of it more as a book than a magazine. It's my current bedtime reading, that and Donna Leon.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, I hope you have a wonderful, joyful day, whatever you are doing. We'll be making the most of these last few days of what has been a truly glorious two week break. 

Spring, I think you may be overtaking autumn as my favourite season.

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*Is anyone else watching House Of Cards? We're on the second series now. Oh, it's good, so good, I feel like I need to talk to everyone about it! The Underwoods - I am both captivated by them and terrified of them. Great writing, great acting. What did we do before box sets of US dramas, I wonder?

Easter Mantels and Rabbit Garlands

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my photography post! It did take a while to put together but I enjoyed writing it so much. Part two is almost ready and I hope to post it soon.

Anyway, Easter. I didn't intend to post today but I spent such a time faffing around with Easter decorations this afternoon, and made such a cute garland that took about two minutes (no, really!) that I knew that I wanted to share it with you lot because you would all totally get why a rabbit garland over my mantel made me so very happy. I realised with mild panic today that I was not at all Easter Ready, not one bit, and so I dug out the boxes of decorations from under the bed and got to work. Don't you think that opening boxes of decorations is one of the nicest things to do in the world? Christmas or Easter, it's so fun to see what is hiding amongst the tissue paper. I mean, I packed that box, so in theory I know what it contains, but there is still a pleasant feeling of surprise and recognition when I pick up and look at each item.

Like, oh hello Easter Egg garland, I forgot how much I like you!

I made this garland three or four years ago by cutting acrylic crafting felt into egg shapes (I used a cookie cutter), then I drew on a pattern with fading ink pen and stitched over the design with embroidery thread. I then attached both halves together with blanket stitch and stuffed them and threaded them onto a length of ribbon. This did not take two minutes, this took about two weeks. But I think I appreciate this garland all the more because it's only on display for a fortnight each year.

My Danish egg cup family are filled with wooden eggs, borrowed from the Bella's shop. The eggs are a bit small, giving them a funny cone-head look.

We never have an Easter tree as such, but I do keep some pussy willow in a vase in the living room and I like to decorate this each spring. 

The leaves are from a pattern in an old edition of Mollie Makes and you can read about when and how I made them here, if you wish. Again, I like them all the more because they only come out annually.

But the decoration which made me most happy today was my little rabbit garland. I just love the white against the grey with the repeating pattern and the shadows it makes. Mostly I love it's simplicity.

I bought this big box of foam stickers in Hobbycraft at the weekend. We've already made cards so heavy with stickers that a first class stamp probably wont be sufficient.

 I simply left the stickers unpeeled - so that they are not sticky - and attached them to a length of string with mini pegs, also from Hobbycraft I think. It was one of those crafting-with-the-kids activities where we all pretend it's done by them but really we know that I am going to re-do it afterwards, making sure the rabbits are evenly spaced.

You could make a really colourful one with the glittery egg stickers, or peg your own fabric or cardboard creations onto string or ribbon. Anything really. And then we can save the garland until next year of just dismantle it, putting the stickers back in the tub and re-using the pegs. I can see this is something I'm going to have a lot of fun with in future!

Edited to add: The little bird boxes are from a pattern here.

Photography Tips For Bloggers: Part One

I love to take photos and think that one of the many wonderful things about blogging is the way it encourages us to use our cameras, to challenge ourselves to create visual records of our lives and interests and, speaking personally, it's become an absolute delight. I didn't expect to love photography as much as I do. Some of you are kind enough to compliment me on the images you see here and mentioned you might like some tips for taking photos, so I have put together twelve points. Some are tips, some are more ideas or suggestions. It turned into the longest post ever so I've halved it - one to six are here below, seven to twelve will follow shortly.

But first, a few things.

1. This post assumes that you are not a professional photographer and you know that I am not either. It doesn't matter what kind of camera you have, whether it's a point-and-shoot, a DSLR or the one on your phone, it's about me trying to share simple tricks and ideas, not technical information.
2. There will be no talk of settings, apertures or shutter releases here. I do often use my camera on manual, but I simply don't feel well enough equipped with information to advise you on how to do the same. 
3. My camera is Canon DSLR EOS 1000D. I bought it on sale three years ago and I don't know if they still make that model, but I do think it's a very good camera indeed. (I treat is terribly, banging it around, covering it in greasy fingerprints, and losing the lens cap constantly. I keep having to mend the memory card flap with superglue.)
4. I wont be talking about how to photograph people very much. It's always been an enjoyable challenge for me to try and share the ebb and flow of our family life with you without bombarding you with photos of our children. If you do want some inspiration on photographing children, I'd really recommend looking at Jodi's 52 Project, which I'm sure you've seen around a lot, it's hugely popular.

 Ok, now that's out of the way, here are we go.

1. Good light

Nothing matters more than this, particularly if you are trying to take a good "still life" style shot of something you've made, or a ball of yarn, say. Ideally this should be daylight, but do try to avoid direct sunlight which will give you too much contrast and shadow. Under a window may not actually be the best place to take a photo.

This photo below was taken in full sunlight. See how the colours are slightly bleached and there is too much shadow?

Just moving the yarn six inches into the shade made a big difference to the clarity of the image. This shot was taken on automatic so the camera automatically re-adjusted it's settings.

As I've said before, on days that are very sunny, I draw the curtains in our living room, which are quite thin and unlined as you can see. The room is south facing with a large window so it has a lot of natural light, but drawing the curtains helps to give a softer, more diffused light.

If your home does not have good natural light - perhaps it has lots of trees around it - try taking the photos in an upstairs room, if that's possible. Rooms on the first floor or higher will more than likely have better light. This isn't always practical (like if you're baking) but if the thing you want to photograph is small and portable, take yourself and your camera higher.

For inspiration, have a look at Yvonne's blog Yvestown to see some beautifully light interiors photography.

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2. Get to know your home

Work out where in your house is a good spot for a photo. I've mentioned before my square foot of kitchen worktop under the window, somewhere convenient and reasonably well lit.

I often use my mantel for photos; it has a sturdy ledge, a plain background and good light.

My new favourite place is the desk in the office, as the white background and good light make it very useful indeed.

Work out where those areas in your home are - they will vary depending on the time of day - and use them to their best advantage. 

Laura at Circle of Pine Trees often uses her kitchen table, with it's textured background, convenient location and good light, to photograph beautifully arranged images and her monthly On The Table series of vignettes is a really lovely idea.

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3. Background

I've already mentioned my love of a white tea towel, old sheet or mantelpiece for a good, neutral backdrop. Plain is my preference and even a sheet of A4 white printer paper works well. But sometimes you need to play around with the background colours, like below. I wanted to photograph this yarn and thought the turquoise-blue might work well against the brown, but my camera just couldn't pick up the colour accurately. 

So I tried moving the yarn on top of a book covered in a pattern with similar colours and it totally changed the photo. Same light, same camera, different background. And this colour below is the true colour. So if you're having trouble capturing the colour of a ball of yarn or piece of fabric, try a different background.

Jen at Little Birdie has a great skill for using backgrounds to control and highlight certain things in her images. Sometimes it's something as plain as a white wall, other times the backdrop is dramatic or busy, like a rug, piece of wrapping paper or a deep blue wall. Have a look at her gorgeous home here.

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4. Composition

I have to confess that I don't think a great deal about composition when I am out and about snapping away, I tend to trust my eye and think about the feeling of what I am trying to capture rather than how technically correct an image it is. What I am talking about here is closely controlled composition, like when you want to show a collection of things, to group them in a way that is pleasing to the eye. If I want to show a list of ingredients, or a selection of different items, and I have ten minutes to faff around, then this way is both fun to put together and very effective.

Visit Caroline's blog, Scraps Of Us, for some beautiful examples of creative and colourful composition. In fact, just visit it for some downright talented photography full stop.

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5. Staging and Styling

For ages I thought that staging a photo was dishonest and misleading, or somehow inauthentic. Don't worry, I've changed my mind. Every blogger who made the decision to photograph a cake on a pretty plate rather than a chipped, ugly one - well, that's styling. So style away and have fun. For this photo, yes, I ate that toast and, yes, I drank that tea but I also put it on a pretty tea towel and left the jar of marmalade open just so, just for fun. It's fine to want to create a lovely image and use it on your blog. 

The same goes with this sandwich. Unstyled:

Styled:

Visit Kate's blog Kate's Creative Space for some wonderful examples of styling, especially for seasonal displays and really imaginative ideas for table settings.

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6. Be Playful

Experiment with unusual angles, zoom and focus. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's huge fun and when it's successful it's very rewarding.

I took this photo below by focusing in on the surface of the wood...

...and this one by focusing on the beach huts in the distance through one of the holes in the wood, still standing in exactly the same position.

With this photo of Bella, below, I crouched right down on the sand so that she looks as though she is jumping much higher than she really is.

Nina at Tabiboo is a very talented photographer and I especially love the way she plays with focus and light in her images in a way that is imaginative and highlights the beauty of her local area.

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Ok, that's all for now! I hope you have found some of this useful. I have been busy snapping away all this week as the chuildren and I have been staying at my parent's on the south coast. We've been blessed with the most beautiful weather and have been outside almost all the time. We're back in Leeds soon, when I will have a big catch up with all your blogs.

Big Skies

As soon as I parked the car the first thing I saw was the sea, shimmering in the distance between the sand dunes and beach huts in the foreground. I just sat in the car smiling for a few minutes. Some places give you that kind of feeling, that emotional connection, like you've come home. The weather was all bright sun, blue sky and gentle breezes, with enough warmth in the air to make sitting outside enjoyable rather than bearable. We walked down to the water's edge and I let the waves wash over my wellies, watched the light dance on the surf and pebbles. The children paddled, jumped, threw stones and collected shells. I wish I could bottle that smell, that damp, marine, gently salty smell of sea spray, the scent that says The Sea to me like nothing else. I stood and listened; I could hear water and waves, the crunch of people walking on shingle, seagulls, children shrieking, the wind, the occasional dog barking, sometimes shouts and music from the fairground further up the beach. We bought take-away coffees and lemon cake from the kiosk and sat outside the beach hut on deckchairs. The kids played football, bat and ball, and attempted sandcastles in the slippery, too-dry sand. I savoured every moment.