Turf joy

You may remember, dear reader, that when I went to Raglan for the weekend the husband spent that time digging holes, building walls and dealing with concrete in our back garden. When we bought the house the garden was a fairly steep slope. Excellent for hurtling down on toy trucks but not much use for anything else. As I write this we are waiting for the delivery of turf to roll over our newly flattened garden. The excitement is palpable in our household. The boy has been in his element, making 'chocolate cake' out of the mud, sitting on the trampoline with his cousin and watching a digger shifted sand and soil into the big space below them. I am fantastizing about playing swing ball, badminton, camping in the garden. Hanging the washing out on it is probably a bit closer to reality though.

Our lovely friend Quinn (www.facebook.com/qophotography) took some photos of the our children and their cousins on Sunday. There were eight of them, aged 7, 5, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1 and 9 months. Can you imagine trying to get them all looking at the camera and staying relatively still? I don't know how he did it but he managed to get quite a few beautiful shots. Having an artistic eye is something I greatly admire in people. If I see something which looks worthy of having its photo taken I point the camera at it and press the button. It's so frustrating when you look at the result and realise that you have torn all beauty or interest out of the situation by taking a bland photo. A good photo can pick out the most subtle moods evoked in a scene and can make you feel something deep inside. Looking at the photos Quinn took of the children I could see all sorts of things which had previously escaped my notice, like similarities between some of the children or expressions I hadn't seen before and relationships between them. A clever, clever man you are Quinn. I love this one he took of my three from behind them. All absorbed in their own worlds but very much together as a little clan. The very definition of being in a family.