Happy Birthday

Today is a great day! Happy Birthday beautiful Ivy Robin Smith. Born this morning at 1.40. I hope she likes the birthday present that’s on its way to her in the post.

Long Exposure

This week we learnt about the types of photographs you can take with a long exposure. A long exposure means the camera basically keeps taking the photograph (absorbing what it sees) for a longer period of time. This means moving objects blur as they travel through the photograph.

With a little help from a tripod I managed to take these photos of traffic in Bath city centre. The first photograph is of a moving double decker bus, shot with a 1 second exposure. The second is of 2 buses facing each other at a zebra crossing, shot over 4 seconds.

Sunday morning

On Sunday morning I took Jon to Colonna & Smalls. It’s undoubtedly the coolest coffee shop in Bath and brews coffee in ways you could never have imagined. The atmosphere is friendly, laid back and subtly sociable; the type of place you could envisage yourself sitting all day, sipping coffee whilst engrossed in a novel. I’m not really a novel type of person but sometimes I like to imagine otherwise!

Very High Tea

Yesterday afternoon my mum, sister and I met up with some close friends for afternoon tea at The Old Parsonage in Oxford. The expense was justified as a ‘baby shower’ to celebrate the impending arrival of my sister’s first child. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Now the countdown truly begins – less than 4 weeks to go.

Cosy morning

Lazy morning in Oxford with my mum and sister. Tea in bed, good home mags, maison blanc almond croissants and a leisurely trip to the garden centre.

Smile

I am mad for hot chocolate at the moment; so much so I am becoming quite an expert on where to go for the best hot chocolate on the high street. I had one the other day and, although it didn’t taste as good as others, it gets top marks for presentation.

Great yoghurt

I am currently enjoying one of the tastiest yoghurts I have ever eaten and felt obliged to share this. Available in Waitrose, there are 4 flavours. Today I opted for apple and spice – it’s so creamy and delicious and different to any other yoghurt I’ve ever tasted. Love their website too.

Joy of winter no.1

Some people go mad for shoes, some obsess over bags, and some (like me) can’t stop buying scarves. As if I wasn’t excited enough about the thought of uncovering my mulberry scarves for another wonderful winter together, I’ve just purchased a gorgeous scarf from French Connection. One wrap around my neck in the store mirror and I was sold. It’s so long and thick and more to the point , navy! I swear I will never be cold again as long as I wear this scarf.

Bath blackberry crumb cake

The first round of Sunday baking with our recently foraged blackberries. Yesterday I stumbled across just the recipe I was looking for on Martha Stewart’s website. I’ve never followed one of her recipes before and am always a little uneasy following recipes which list measurements by ‘cups’. With a little adaptation and a spot of trial and error I am happy to say these blackberry crumb cakes are a huge success. A wonderful mixture of tart blackberries, sweet spongey cake and crunchy crumble topping.

Showery Saturday

Boy at rugby and flat to myself. Curled up in patchwork, mug of earl grey and a stack of cookery books to inspire me as I write next weeks shopping list.