Days 272 – 278 of Project 365
272. You & Me, Buster! (We went pumpkin picking at a local PYO, and The Boy loved choosing his best pumpkin for carving. This one was definitely 'calling' to him, and he spent a good few minutes debating it before choosing it.)
273. Flip! (We did some 'loose parts' play today with our conker collection and playdough, and one pesky conker gave The Boy quite a bit of grief when he tried to get it out of its casing.)
274. Revenge! (I have no idea if that conker getting the drilling was indeed the one who was awkward the day before, but The Boy certainly showed them who was boss when we drilled them for threading and 'conkering'.)
275. Fiddly (We made a swing out of construction strips, and The Boy found it quite tricky to get the wheel to stay on the rope.)
276. Shiny (I discovered a street in our town which is mostly inhabited by residents aged 55+, but it has seven horse chestnut trees ladened with conkers on it! We had the pick of hundreds just lying on the floor, begging to be shined up on trousers and taken home to be played with!)
277. Midnight Jog (I love this photo for several reasons. Yes it's slightly grainy and I've got the white balance wrong so the lamps are too bright. And yes my husband's face is a blur. However, The Boy makes me chuckle because he was screaming with glee, shrieking with laughter and running like Phoebe from Friends.)
278. Dapper (The bargain, second-hand suit I bought for my sister-in-law's wedding arrived today and I couldn't wait to get The Boy trying it on. He looks like a mini-daddy going to a business meeting!)
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Days 258 – 264 of Project 365
258. Water (The Boy has only just started being able to cope with water on his face in the bath or shower, today he asked if he could lay back in it and found it hilarious. I just hope this isn't the start of his constant ear infections and glue ear in Winter!)
259. Pennies (The Boy asked if he could count money when he came in from school, so we got down the large Whisky jar and he sorted 1p, 2p and 5p coins into piles before counting the pennies into piles of ten.)
260. Mirror (I set up an invitation to play for The Boy when he came home from school, which he found really therapeutic. The mirror on the table gave a wonderful light for playing in, really illuminating his face. He only once noticed himself in it, and the delight on his face was brilliant.)
261. Sparko (It's Wednesday. That means a sleeping Boy photo. I can never have enough of these so it's ok by me!)
262. Splash (An after-school trip to the local nature reserve to feed the swans, and splash in puddles in new wellies. Only the wellies were too big and then soon fell off when The Boy tried kicking water from the puddle!)
263. A Drop In The Ocean (Rather than go to the MADs in London, I chose to stay at home with my family, for various reasons. I didn't want to sit at home and while away the evening on twitter, so we went for a chippy dinner down the beach before nan babysat The Boy, and I went out to the cinema with my husband. This photo of my thoughtful little boy was taken on the steps down to the beach with the rapidly rising tide approaching. The awards are just one night and a minor moment, when compared with the rest of our lives and The Boy's happiness.)
264. Bare (I've felt groggy all day, like the morning after but without the night before. I didn't sleep well because I was beating myself having not won the MADs again, which I now realise is completely ridiculous; it's just a lump of glass! However, after hanging around all morning for a new class-mate's birthday party, we then went to practise bike-riding in the park. As we cycled around, we found an enormous horse chestnut tree ladened with conkers, which were dropping from it rapidly. When I say the conkers were dropping, I don't mean the cases with conkers in; I actually mean the conkers. There was a squirrel sat at the top, having a feast in the canopy as he ripped open the cases and threw them down, stripped the conkers and dropped the remnants too. Luckily The Boy still had his cycle helmet on as he had a few drop on his head!)
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Why We're Happy It's Autumn
As the wonderfully warm Summer draws to a close in the most spectacularly dreary fashion, I have found myself contemplating which is my favourite season. Surely the blue skies and kaleidoscope of Summer is more of an attraction than the drabness of the colder months?
But with September comes the wonder of the natural world:
Finding the first conker of the year.
Prising it open it to discover that the much longed for and anticipated conker is still white, with just a smidgen of chestnut brown.
But then spotting another one floating in the dammed stream in the gutter.
And there it is, the first shiny conker. The one that no-one in the world has ever seen before.
And then, there's the water.
All the water.
So you can let it beat you, stay in and moan about the incessant rain running in rivulets down the windowpanes. Or you can put on wellies and a mac and go and enjoy all the water.
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