I should have called this ‘iphone sky’ since nearly all of these images, taken in the past 12 months, were taken with my iphone. I so rarely take my Big Girl’s Camera out these days alas. Either it’s too heavy with all the other stuff one has to drag about as a mother, pack pony like, or I’m juggling the dog and children (and the dog barks at the Nikon, think he’s deeply suspicious of the gigantic lens on the front) or it’s too sandy etc etc. Sometimes I wonder if I should just ditch the Nikon, but then I look at images I’ve taken with it and it blows the iphone out of the water. Hmmmm. Ponders….

If you liked that, you might like this...

• Made it! Happy flower decorations
  We are poxed, well not me but the boys. Both of them and this is seriously Not Good on the basis that (a) they've had it before so in what way is that fair and (b) it means we are confined to barrac...
• Watching the watchers – clearing up your digital dirt
  I read an interesting article recently on Fresh Business Thinking called Staff and their Personal Blogs. Fresh Business Thinking is a fantastic site for small business owners, providing a wealth o...
• Happy Birthday Bertie x
  Four today and so grown up with glimpses of the attitude to match. It's still a surprise to me that we've been allowed to grow and nurture not one but TWO human beings, and thus far we've done a r...
• Blog Camps 1.5 and 2.0…here…I…come!
  Famille Spud is confined to barracks - we have swine flu. Bawl. Not badly, let's hope it stays that way. But since we are housebound I thought I'd pass the time by packing for Blog Camps 1.5 and 2.0 (...
• The Gallery…my blog
  'My blog'...interesting prompt. What does my blog mean to me? I think it's just a place where I hang out with friends and dump random stuff that it's my head and then chat about it. I don't really ...

If you liked that, you might like this...

• Wordless Weekend: The Sequel
  Flying (NB birds' feathers for 'wings') Sliding Spinning (and very, very nearly vomiting..urgh) Kicking But mostly just curly ...
• 20 365 Loose ends
  This is what happens when you leave your shot until the light of the day is on its way out and you're on a conference call...you start shooting random crap. In a change from the usual, I shot this w...
• Lemon Drizzle Cake – AKA baking for non cooks
  I'm a can't cook won't cook kind of person. I can just about manage to feed my children otherwise all cooking is the responsibility of MrSpud. He went away a few weeks ago, the neighbours ending up fe...
• Silent Sunday
  ...
• Pig in to freezer…how much goes?
  'That' time is approaching...the little piggies we have nurtured from piglets are now fully grown and ready to go to the sausage factory in the sky. Well, the slaughter house/butcher in the next t...

Tweet tweet! Birditastic here at the moment. I don’t think I will ever really ‘love’ making itty bitty little things like this, but I do enjoy how fast I can turn them out and the finished item. Here’s another Attic24 birdie decoration made for a friend and a new pattern to me, by ZoomYummy, a little owl – both made by my yarn du jour from Planet Penny.  I changed the pattern for the owl a little by adding a back and stuffing it to make it a bit more substantial. Hmmm, I like quite a few patterns of hers, might try the Owl Cushion Pattern at some point.

I’m busy plotting holiday hooky projects at the moment. I have a secret project mind using a stack of gorgeous mini-skeins from The Natural Dye Studio that I’ve collected over the past year. Quick sneaky look at some of the skeins.

And I definitely want to make a scurry of mice using Penny’s pattern. So many ideas, so little time as ever. Roll on vacation time….

If you liked that, you might like this...

• 21 365 Four letter word
  Wooden letterpress letters...my name...a super present from The Wife...arranged quirky like this to annoy her well developed sense of order. This looked like it was in focus when I checked it in ...
• Photo A Day: …and all things nice
  Hmm, well that was an anticlimax. I've been thinking about doing this shot for a while; it's the outfit I wore for my baptism about 500 years ago. Satin shoes lined with fur (and the real stuff too,...
• Hermy’s latest masterstroke
  My latest crush, EU President Herman Van Rompuy, continues to dazzle me with his general wonderfulness. Already he's on my 'freebie' list (laminated) due to his passion for blogging and haiku writ...
• Made it!
  I made these teeny tiny little baby hats... ...little pixie hats which crochet up in NO TIME at all ... for newborn twins..one pink..one blue...from this pattern here on Ravelry. I made them to ...
• The Gallery: A Novel Idea
  Week 20 of The Gallery and this week's theme is 'A Novel Idea', or images to represent a novel. As usual I can't limit myself to one, I enjoy poking around my photo archive too much to stop at one. ...

Madagascar 3? I’m so behind the times, I didn’t even know there was a Madagascar 2 so we’ve got some catching up to do. No matter, Madagascar 3 isn’t out in the UK until 19 October so I’m thinking of a Madagascar Boot Camp for the Megaboys; warm up by re-familiarising ourselves with Madagascar and then head for the sprint with Madagascar 2. Perfect, just add a rainy day (ha, like they are in short supply), a bucket of popcorn and we’re good to go.

Madagascar 3 picks up the story where Madagascar 2 left off.  And if I’d seen 2 I would have a better idea of exactly what that means. Suffice to say that our old friends are in a fix again, stuck in a travelling circus Europe whilst trying to get home to New York. They decide to launch their own acts and the inevitable chaos ensues, let’s leave it like that. If you’ve not seen the trailer you can get a taste for what’s in store below.

And if that’s not enough to satisfy any Madagascar 3 cravings you can check out its Facebook page, the website or, my personal favourite, the Wig Out app. Oh it’s good, it’s very very good. All manner of wiggish fun to be had. Roll on October.

If you liked that, you might like this...

• Silent Sunday
  ...
• Housekeeping
  In a rare moment of Blog Housekeeping I have (a) updated my blogroll (b) done something really groovy with avatars if you comment on a post and (c) added those badges to the right, up top. I'm reall...
• No Child Born to Die
  I've been tagged, it's been a while. Red Ted Art's blog got me as part of Save the Children's awareness programme for its No Child Born to Die campaign. In January, Save the Children launched ...
• Getting on my bike
  I rode a bike today for the first time in *cough* the best part of 20 years. Gosh that's such a puzzle to me since, inside, I am only about 20 years old? Puzzling... I blogged about wanting a bike ...
• Wilderness Weeks
  I've been absent. I hate those blog posts that start, all breathlessly,  "Oh I'm SO sorry I haven't blogged I've been so busy with [insert usual tedious reasons]". It seems so unnecessary. It's a bl...

It started out as a normal family trip the beach, albeit a very secluded and frankly rather ‘strange’ feeling one.

MrSpud tick Megaboys tick dog tick. All is normal, all is usual.

Stars & Stripes forever, ok?

Oh, the lesser spotted Spud! Now there’s a rarity. And a wet dog looking like a rat, less rare.

But then we found this, a very long, very deliberate line of white shells leading the long long way from the shore up to the fishermen cottages.

We followed the trail up the beach, enjoying the ’roundabouts’ around clumps of seapeas and the like and these pretty clusters of starfish.

We pondered about the trail, who had made it and how long it took. It can’t have been the work of casual holiday makers, and most (all?) of the cottages are now holiday lets. Surely it’s months and months of work?

It’s a curious kind of place. Curious kind of things happen there.

If you liked that, you might like this...

• CCC: Guest post…Amber on ‘Shooting Stars’
  I'm SO excited about this guest post [Spud does a little dance]. I know absolutely nothing about shooting stars (as in taking photos of them rather than those ones that scoot across the sky, altho...
• Eye Candy…Mollie Makes
  Oh claps hands and praise the gods of crafting! Mollie Makes has finally launched in the UK, with the slightly twee 'living and loving handmade' tagline. But we'll forgive them that. I read about...
• Wilderness Weeks
  I've been absent. I hate those blog posts that start, all breathlessly,  "Oh I'm SO sorry I haven't blogged I've been so busy with [insert usual tedious reasons]". It seems so unnecessary. It's a bl...
• Baker Days: cakes by post – review
  Payment was received for this review. However, all views, opinions and images are my own. Cake? In the post? As a present? What's not to like here? Baker Days asked me if I'd like to try one of...
• Angels & Demons
  I'm sitting on my hands. I've some news to share, really exciting news. But I can't share it for a while. Quietly screams... So here's Diggy, fast asleep this evening...perma thumb in his mouth of ...

If you liked that, you might like this...

• Secret 27… I am the world’s worst shot putter
  I've already mentioned that I can't catch or throw. Neither can I run - regardless of how fit I am, I just...can't... run, I flake out after an embarrassingly short distance and have to lie down, ...
• Moments in Time
  Heaven only knows what this post will look like. The general consensus was that Chez Spud is a bit broken for some people, not others. MrSpud worked like the little munchkin that he is and thought...
• Photo A Day: Hazy
  Miss C, planting daffodils in the later morning sunshine and looking every bit the beauty that she is. I didn't think this shot would turn out like this, but there we go.  Trial and error, it's a v...
• The Gallery: Playtime
  Tara's theme this week is 'Playtime' which is a whole lot easier than previous Gallery themes. A quick trawl through my archive unearthed a million shots of the Megaboys in the park having a ball an...
• Secret 14…I can’t say the word ‘burglar’
  Waaaah! I thought I was going to suffocate during this very hasty photoshoot today...either from laughing so much or the stocking over my head restricting my breathing. I must have a big fat head as i...

Someone hose me down…I’m on crochet FIRE here! That’s what hours and hours at home with only two megaboys for company will do to you. Day 4 of total isolation and it’s mostly definitely Pox 1 Mental Health 0.

More hooky fun with the Planet Penny cotton which I used to make Happy Flower Decorations over the weekend. It didn’t disappoint this time either, for a pair of wee birdies using the Attic24 pattern.

Not sure I’ve ‘quite’ cracked the wings, so I’m thinking they can be flightless birds. And Mr Orange Eyes has a bit of a dodgy beak so he might need to be tube fed. But other than that I’m pretty pleased, and so are the Megaboys who claimed them for themselves immediately.

The tweety twins had a brief stopover in my writing room for a photocall and a chat with a geisha girl, before nesting in the boys’ bedroom. I only hope they are not rooster birds because every hour spent asleep this week is an hour of not fending off Pox Ennui.

If you liked that, you might like this ...

• Made it! Happy flower decorations
  We are poxed, well not me but the boys. Both of them and this is seriously Not Good on the basis that (a) they've had it before so in what way is that fair and (b) it means we are confined to barrac...
• Can’t stop crocheting. Send help.
  I'm crochet obsessed at the moment. Can't stop making things, or researching the next project, or lusting over yarn and falling in to yarn shops (both bricks & mortar and clicks & mortar one...
• Made it…the sequel
  A little bit more hooky goodness to share ... a collaboration between me (crochet hats), The Wife (photography) and some fabulous mothers (babies). A few people have asked if I make hats to sell, I do...
• Made it!
  I made these teeny tiny little baby hats... ...little pixie hats which crochet up in NO TIME at all ... for newborn twins..one pink..one blue...from this pattern here on Ravelry. I made them to ...
• Silent Sunday
  ...

We are poxed, well not me but the boys. Both of them and this is seriously Not Good on the basis that (a) they’ve had it before so in what way is that fair and (b) it means we are confined to barracks all week and all kinds of jollity and fun has had to be canceled. On the upside it gives us plenty of time for tackling homework (them) and crochet projects (me). Here’s the first of a few I’ve been working on, Attic24′s Happy Flower Decoration made for two special little girls. Crochet by me, beading by the boys.

It’s a fun pattern, a little bit fiddly but worth it because they’ve turned out beautifully. I was nervous about painting the finished item with PVA glue but that’s a masterstroke, brava Lucy! It dries completely clear and turns a floppy flower in to a nice firm one.

I hooked these using my new ‘find’, gorgeous mercerised cotton bought from my new blog crush, Planet Penny. I’m not usually a huge fan of working with cotton, it feels slow and awkward through the fingers and it makes an awful kind of squeeky noise. Shudder. And trying to find a brand with a good range of true ‘brights’ in cotton is near impossible. Penny had the same problem and instead of sitting on the internet moaning about it (like me), went forth and found a supplier in Europe and is now selling it. Happy Days. It’s a joy to work with as it has a slight silky texture but gives the stitch definition of cotton. It’s a light DK weight, best worked with a 3 to 3.5 hook I think.

Thanks Penny for bringing rainbow colours in to my small appallingly large stash.

If you liked that, you might like this ...

• Made it! Wee birdies
  Someone hose me down...I'm on crochet FIRE here! That's what hours and hours at home with only two megaboys for company will do to you. Day 4 of total isolation and it's mostly definitely Pox 1 Ment...
• Can’t stop crocheting. Send help.
  I'm crochet obsessed at the moment. Can't stop making things, or researching the next project, or lusting over yarn and falling in to yarn shops (both bricks & mortar and clicks & mortar one...
• Made it…the sequel
  A little bit more hooky goodness to share ... a collaboration between me (crochet hats), The Wife (photography) and some fabulous mothers (babies). A few people have asked if I make hats to sell, I do...
• Made it!
  I made these teeny tiny little baby hats... ...little pixie hats which crochet up in NO TIME at all ... for newborn twins..one pink..one blue...from this pattern here on Ravelry. I made them to ...
• Silent Sunday
  ...

A small payment was received for this review but all views and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

For a keen photographer you’d be surprised if you knew how few photos we have on display Chez Spud. It’s not many, and most of them are years out of date …. mostly due to a combination of laziness and an inability to decide which ones to print. That’s the downside of a library of 40,000 plus images.

I hummed and harrred a bit when Photo-Canvas asked me if I’d like them to make me a canvas for me to review. I’ve never had one before, from any supplier, as I’m not madly keen on them as they nearly always look (hush) a bit cheap to me.  Having hummed and harred I decided to give it a whirl, on the basis that I would provide a totally honest review.

We had a bit of discussion about a suitable image for printing on canvas, and I was politely advised not to go with a high contrast mono image I’d initially selected, as these really don’t work brilliantly on canvas. I mention this because it’s helpful to get some insight from the design team rather than blindly assuming any image will work. Instead I plumped for the above image of the Maggi Hambling scallop on Aldeburgh beach, much snapped by me over the years but I think this one is my favourite … taken on New Year’s Day of this year.

Turnaround time was very fast (same day despatch if you order before 2pm), and my canvas was delivered the next day and very well packaged. And, much to my surprise, I love it and it’s not cheap looking at all. Hoorah!  The image is a ‘tiny’ bit desaturated from the original but it’s negligible and the image could take it. I suspect the pebbles in the foreground really lend themselves to the texture of printed canvas and perhaps that has helped. Whatever it is, it’s a lovely product and I’m very pleased.

There are few things harder to shoot than a photo of a photo, but here are a couple to give you and idea of how it looks on my writing room wall.

And a couple of close ups to show the quality of the print:

The canvas I received is 30cm x 40cm and costs £39.00 including delivery. I chose a straightforward canvas print with gallery wrap, but Photo-Canvas offer all manner of cool and unusual options. I was giddy with the choice and decided to stick with something plain and simple, and I’m certainly not disappointed. Far from it.

If you liked that, you might like this...

• Wordless Wednesday
  ...
• Tea for two
  I love tea. It's a love affair that's evolved over time and has involved occasional flirtations with coffee but me and tea are now going steady. I have standards and these are they: builder's tea (s...
• Loose Ends
  You know that thing...that saying...that you shouldn't pull at one loose end because if you do the whole lot might unravel? Yes, that. When we moved in to the Money Pit House in January we couldn...
• Channeling Daphne Du Maurier
  This is the first photo of the inside of our new house. I've had to convert it to black & white to protect the innocent. I'm not sure we're ready for the moss green carpet. Which is everywhere. ...
• Wise words
  ...

If you liked that, you might like this...

• The Week in Photos
  Monday: Meh...a day of no time and no inspiration...hence the bliming cat. Again. Tuesday: Working in London...Such a British moment...the sun came out...out came the Brits and perched on every a...
• Book review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
  I knew I was on to a winner with this book, [amazon_link id="074901072X" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet[/amazon_link] by Jamie Ford because ...
• …and the winner is…
  Dim the lights...drum roll...tense silence...the lucky winner of all the British loveliness for my 2nd Blogoversary is: Number 36 which is...more tension...more drum rolls...Stacey Brown of...
• Royal Wedding Musings
  Despite my cynicism I watched the Royal Wedding. Well of course I did, it's a moment of history and a spectacle of the sort that only comes along a couple of times in a lifetime. General musings... ...
• Silent Sunday
  ...