The Gallery: My Back Garden

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The past few weeks have been dull and dreary, following an early burst of summertime. I'm desperately hoping that we will have more Summer, especially for The Boy's birthday in a fortnight. I am panicking about the weather, it makes a change from panicking about the patio furniture and tableware. However, we're lucky because generally the weather in June is good and we have a lovely back-garden in which we can have many a party. No fuss and nonsense in soft-play centres for us, not until I discover the reason why everyone goes there (I suspect that it's because hosting a party is expensive and messy, I'm yet to find this out).

Tara is also obviously feeling the need to celebrate our own little patches of turf or bark, patio or railway sleepers.

I thought it was time we give our Gallery a bit of colour. A bit of oomph. I thought it was time we got out into the fresh air and enjoyed the spring sunshine (well, certainly here in the UK) and take in lungfuls of fresh air. And I thought it was time we showed the world just how beautiful the simplest of things can be. Who needs lots of fancy when you can step into your back garden and discover ladybirds, the most gorgeous blooms, vibrant trees and all manner of adventures?

So, this week's theme is: My Backyard.

I love my garden, it is my own little patch of heaven and one of the reasons that we bought this house. It's an ex-council house and, by and large, they are known for having decent sized, rectangular gardens. Which it is.

70 foot long  by 30 foot wide.

When we bought the house, the garden was much the same as every other garden in the neighbourhood; a concrete path to a concrete washing-line post, grass and a hedge. Now, it is the only garden on either side for 5 or 6 gardens (that's as far as I can see out of the back bedroom window) that is anything but that.

This is the before and preparation.

I'm a little OCD about things, especially in my garden and so I planned the decoration of my new blank canvas and this is what the result was. Yes, if I remember correctly, it is drawn to scale.

Everything  panned out almost as I wanted it to, although we've made a few adjustments to it over the last year in order to create more play space for The Boy. Also having been to The Getty Centre in Los Angeles and been inspired by the beautiful gardens there, my water feature changed somewhat.

This is the picture that I posted last week in my 365 to show what my garden looks like now.

And these are some of the reasons why I love my backyard.

— Now pop over and see the other entries using this nifty little gizmo.

Chilled Out

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Our themes have been a little taxing of late and it's time we all just relaxed. Therefore this week, Tara wants:

So photos of chilling out: Your kids sleeping, relaxing (is that even possible with kids?), your bottle of wine/beer/cocktail, sunbathing in the park, reading a good book with the sun on your face: What does chilling out mean to you?

I took a couple of photos about a month ago during a very relaxed hour or two in the garden and the photo I've chosen is one of them. This is chilled to me; in more ways than one!

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Now pop over and check out the other linkies using the nifty little widget above.

April

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In order to show a retrospective look at the past month, Tara has set us this challenge:

This week's theme is: April.
Can you capture this month in a photograph? Be it bunting, street parties, holidays, hot weather or none of the above.

Now, there I was busy assembling a nice little montage of the best photos of April when I thought I'd double-check the brief. Ah, a photograph. That tends to mean one doesn't it? Right start again and check the many snaps that I've taken.

This epitomises the past month. We've had amazing fun playing in the garden in the most beautiful weather, and The Boy has learnt a whole range of new skills learning through his play. We've planted seeds, watered the seeds, got "soaky wet" whilst playing with the hose. It's been so enjoyable and I can't wait for the rest of the summer, and to see The Boy exploring and learning about the world around him.

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Now pop over to The Gallery and look at the other entries into this week's Gallery.

Green

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Tara has been kinder this week than she has been for the past few themes she's set us.

The theme is: Green.
The UK has been quite simply stunning this month. The sun has shone, the fauna is flourishing and it looks and feels like summer. Everywhere is so lush and lovely and, well, green! So go find me green. Of course it absolutely doesn't have to be the outdoors; anything, as long as it's green.

Having been criticised by my own husband for having such a wordy entry a few weeks ago, I shall let the photo speak for itself this week.


My Blog

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Talking about last week's theme, Tara said:

I promised I'd follow (it) up with a nice easy one; give you a week off; ease off with the brain power required.
Well I lied.

This week's theme is: My Blog.
A photograph which sums up your blog. Simple as that (bwaha ha ha ha ha).

Oh that woman is a demon with the themes!

And so I bring you a photograph of The Boy and, well,  Me! I did try and tell him about my antennae but he didn't listen!

(You very, very almost had a real photo of me with The Boy. In actual fact, I published it for all of two minutes until I freaked out and took it down!)

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Now pop over to The Gallery and check out the other entries using the little gadget over on the left.

Tomorrow's Promise

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That Sticky Fingered Tara has really set me in a flap this week. I somehow missed my e-mail notification on Friday and have therefore spent the entire day completely flummoxed as to what on Earth I could do for The Gallery this week!

And so this week you are indeed going to have to do some head-scratching, for the theme is: Tomorrow.
Nope. I've no idea what photo to use either, but I'm going to have great fun thinking of one.

What?!

I don't have a camera that takes photos of the future. I could try and morph The Boy to create an image of what he might look like but I don't want to find out. I want to be surprised.

However, having already declared on twitter that I wasn't taking part this week (yeah right!), I had a think back through my day. We've had great fun together today and as I was kissing him good night listening to him jabbering away, I was amazed to see how much he has altered lately. My little baby is developing and changing and soon he won't be a baby at all anymore. This is especially poignant as he is 22 months old today.

My angel at 6 hrs old and 22 months old.

So I think about tomorrow and the day after and I wonder what will happen. My baby is growing up, he is becoming more independent in what he wants to do but still needs me to do so much for him. While he does, I will continue to savour every moment; every baddy finger that needs kissing, every 'up-py' cuddle that he wants, every zip that needs tugging up, every hand hold, every second of every moment with him.

What do I want for my son?

I want him to be happy. I want him to be independent yet not shun the help and assistance of others. I want him to help and assist. I want him to explore the world he lives in safely and with care and consideration to his own well-being and those of others. I want him to be kind and thoughtful. To be polite and respectful. To realise that every living thing on this planet has a purpose, and to never knowingly patronise or belittle other human beings. I want him to love his family and friends, to understand who he is and where he comes from. I want him to fulfill his potential in whatever field that is. If he doesn't want to go to University then he doesn't have to; I will support his carefully considered decisions with the love and affection that I will always give him.

I want him to grow into a strong, loving and happy boy; an independent yet dependable man.

That is his tomorrow, and my promise.

—

This post has been hanging around in my head for months since I read this one.

The Next Generation

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I'm killing two birds with one stone here, I hope no-one minds?

On Friday, Tara set her theme for The Gallery:

Mother Love. Interpret it any way you choose; You as a mum, your mum, someone who you look on as a mother. Let's not restrict appreciating mothers to one day; let's make a whole week of it!

I'll admit to being a little stumped for an idea: I'd already written a post about being a mum, I was intending to do a photograph of The Boy with whatever he gave me for Mothers' Day on the day, and I have a rule of no photos of me on my blog for various reasons. Eeek! What's a mummy to do?

Then on Sunday, I was tagged in a lovely meme by Alli from Mum2Four. She had posted a photograph (for Silent Sunday) of her daughter holding a photograph of her and her mum. Alli asked me, along with a few others to do the same for her first ever meme. Bingo! There's my Gallery entry as well!

So, without further ado, here is The Boy:

 

If you've got a second, can you pop over and have a look at Alli's beautiful post too please?

Hair

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That Tara switches all over the place with her themes!

This week:

Hair.

"So show us your hairstyles. Baby hair, 70s hair, 80s hair, teen hair, hair disasters, hair highs. Your children's gorgeous hair. Or you could always share the time your 3 year old scalped herself and made you WEEP (no, just me then?)."

Oh heck, that probably means showing a photo of myself doesn't it? The only other photo I've got of hair that I'd like to show is one that I've already used in the Body Parts Gallery.

So this is my hair, and it's one of the few photos that you'll see of me on this blog so appreciate it while it lasts!

2002

I'd been growing my hair out from a jaw-length bob, which I'd had since the age of 12, for my wedding which was four months prior to this photo. I then got to the point where I didn't want to cut it because it had taken so long to grow! When the weight of it was so heavy it became impossible to wear it in a ponytail, I had it cut to just below shoulder-length which is where it has lived ever since.

Now pop over and see the other entries into The Gallery using the linky on the left sidebar.

'Education'

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Being a teacher you'd think that I'd find The Gallery theme set by Tara this week easy, correct?

No, wrong.

I suppose because I blog about the way the The Boy learns and how I find this fascinating, I didn't want to go for the obvious solution. So I decided to think a little outside the box. I did ask him for suggestions but he just looked at me, handed me the remote control and said "Tubbies?"

I hung my head in despair, which is when I noticed one of his play-sets.

And so I bring you our take on education, because we like to be a little bit different.

'Trees'

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The brief that was delivered to my inbox on Friday evening informed us that Tara has a mild obsession with a certain element of nature:

Anyway, to indulge me and my obsession, this week's theme is: Trees.

Simple as that. Trees near your home, from a holiday, new trees, ancient trees. Trees you used to climb as a child, trees you picnic under. Trees.

My first thought was of a very special tree to me, and to The Boy.

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His room is quite small and therefore needed something special doing to it. I had always wanted a room for my child that would be a place that was individual. Somewhere to spark their imagination and provide them with play opportunities. Somewhere to send them off on that soft white cloud to the land of nod with pleasant dreams.

We decorated his room on the Easter Bank Holiday 2009 and each single leaf that I painted was detailed with overwhelming love and attention for my unborn child.

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