68. Pudding.

It was a grey day today so Harriet and I stayed in and nothing inspired a photograph until dinner time.
This is the apple and blackberry crumble I made from crops harvested yesterday. The apples are fantastic. They go completely pulpy after just a little stewing and make the most delicious filling. I threw in a few blackberries for the hell of it. I'd have preferred a pie, but pastry takes so much longer to make than crumble mix, and I only had a few minutes spare. In fact I didn't make enough and didn't have time to measure out more ingredients and make more topping so I improvised by stirring in a couple of crushed HobNobs. Tasted bloody marvellous!

67. Harvest Picnic.

Harriet asked if we could go and pick blackberries this morning, and I was more than happy to agree to it. She's just getting over her cold now and I'm happy for her to eat as much fruit as possible!
We took our apple picker for the first time today and have eating apples for the week and enough cooking apples for two big fat pies. Mmmm. Harriet picked the blackberries and put them all in her pot, for a change. She then decided that we should stop and sample our spoils.
Delicious.

In the photo, Harriet is amused by something. She said, "What's that sound?" smiled and covered her mouth. I've no idea what it was.
Oh and Mummy dressed her this morning, seemingly in the pitch black...

66. Watching You, Watching Me.

Harriet has caught the 365 bug! She photographed all sorts today. I think she'll be disappointed when she realises that her toy camera doesn't actually take pictures.

65. Vote Bartlet.

We chose to watch the first presidential debate tonight, hoping to lose some of the fear we feel about the up-coming election. I expected to be angered and inspired, but I did not expect to find myself laughing out loud. (McCain comparing the USA to Ireland in order to make a point was the biggest laugh for me).
I don't know how the Republicans did it, but they managed to find someone to fit Bush's glass slipper perfectly. McCain is possibly an even scarier prospect.
There really is no contest between these two. One is animated, the other a puppet. One is sincere and intelligent, the other jumps from tenuous sound-bite to outright bollocks.
Obama is the president the world needs the USA to have. McCain is the president we're going to get.

64. Sugar Rush.

None of my pictures came out well today so I apologise for the poor, grainy quality of this photo. It really is the best of a bad bunch.
I plumped for this picture of Harriet and her friend, Molly, running in the library.
As a rule I don't use the flash, but just before I took this I changed the setting to make sure the motion would be caught. The camera decided at this point that it would reset the flash to its default 'On' setting.
The poor old gent who had just rounded the corner at the precise moment that the flash went off was almost sent flying backwards down the stairs. The picture came out dull and blurred too and I'm sure it wouldn't have without the damn flash.

63. Poorly Girl.

My little Harriet has been poorly for a few days, but is really looking the part today, with her snotty nose and rosy cheeks.
She insisted that she wasn't tired, but I propped her up on her pillow on the sofa, gave her a cup of milk and her Iggle Piggle blanket, and she was asleep after about 90 seconds.

62. Conkers!

Harriet needed fresh air and, when it became apparent that I desperately needed chocolate, I took immediate action.
I put her on her bike and we strolled down the road to buy some goodies. On the way back I noticed a conker and took Harriet from her bike to show her. She was unimpressed at first, but was soon bitten by the bug to find MORE CONKERS! We didn't leave until they had all been found and safely stored in the bucket on the back of Harriet's bike.

61. Dangerous Driving.

Driving back from the midwife, I decided to snap this view of the approach to my road. 
In Malvern you either have a view of the hills or a view from the hills, and we chose the latter. That worked out well for us in all the rain this year and last, as high on the hill we're well away from the floods.
It was a grey day today. The sky was threatening to dump its load all day, but didn't deliver on this until about 7pm.

60. My Shoes.

Today's photo was supposed to be the view from my bedroom window at night, but I left it so late that it looked ike a cheesy "Malvern At Night" postcard.
Luckily, I took this back-up shot of my shoes just in case the dark ones were too dark.
I could have done with playing with the birghtness of this photo as it turns out. My skin is far too pale and light-reflective and should always be viewed by candle-light. Sorry for any offence caused.
Anyway, these slip-ons are an essential piece of attire, as I can no longer bend to fasten any of my other shoes.

59. The Bottle Bank.

Partook in that virtuous, albeit double-edged, activity today down at the bottle bank.
Part of you feels proud to be out on a Sunday morning, saving the planet by recycling bottles. Yet the other part of you is shrivelling up with shame and horror at the sight of it all, as you think to yourself, "Do I really drink this much???"

The main photo is of the bottle bank but, just for Kate (because she likes the hills, and to make her feel better about her multi-photo posts), here's a photo of the view behind me.
 
It helped enormously to keep my eye on this lovely view and off the recycling. Swung the balance back towards me feeling virtuous.

(I must add that when not pregnant it's the sight of countless empty wine bottles that triggers my shame. Today it was the sight of a dozen empty hot chocolate jars.) 

58. Stealth Photography.

Harriet and I made the most of the glorious weather and went exploring in the garden. I spotted this butterfly and crept up on him, stood on tiptoe, and held the camera aloft.
Would have been a perfect shot if the bugger hadn't moved at the last second. Still, it looks quite pretty against the greenery, even if it is a bit blurred.

57. Cot.

Taken after midnight, but I'm counting it as the day's photo. 

This is Harriet's old bed, which should, all things being equal, be cradling a teeny little boy in just over twelve weeks time. As you can see, we have a few clothes for him already, courtesy of keen grandparents. I also have a huge stack of Harriet's clothes to sort through. I need to pick out the neutral stuff and give the rest away.

Harriet's new bed has been a great success, but not for the last two nights. She's been a bit poorly and so I have found myself bed-hopping throughout the night.
I'm very tired.
Hence forgetting to take a photo today. Luckily (not) I was up and about in the night again and can slip this photo in for the day.

56. Over The Rooftops.

Harriet and I attend a Salvation Army toddler group every Thursday, on the other side of town. 
This is the view that peers over the rooftops at us as we walk from the carpark to the door.
The hills are so imposing and look so different from every angle. They never fail to catch my breath.

55. Mantlepiece.

A few fellow 365ers have posted pictures of their mantlepieces so I'm following suit, as it gives quite an interesting insight (possibly not in my case).
L to R:
A sculpture from my sister for our anniversary this year. I love it.
An old photo of Harriet, which we made into a card. We can't remember why and we don't know what it's doing on the mantlepiece. 
One of my favourite nick-nacks. It's a carved foot, and unbelievably tactile. Scott has decided to adorn it with a dongle.
A CD of photographs left by Scott's dad. He brought it with him last week with the intention of showing us his holiday pictures from Cornwall, but we never got round to looking at them.
A gorgeous carved deer head that my Mum bought me from Connemara. It's absolutely stunning and very delicate (the glue on the antlers is testament to that).
Propped up against the mantlepiece is my guitar, which I seldom play these days. It's a much treasured belonging.
Hovering above the mantlepiece is the "bottom" section (chortle) of one of my paintings. I didn't know I had a thing for arses until I started painting...

54. New Threads.

Scott surprised us all with a new t-shirt from our favourite online shop, Threadless.com (every so often they have a crazy sale that Scott can't resist).
I've only photographed mine and Harriet's, as I couldn't cram another one in the shot. I love Harriet's "Why did the chicken cross Abbey Road" shirt. It looks so gorgeous on her (not so gorgeous when covered in jelly as it is in this picture). 
Scott's t-shirt says "Allow me to explain myself through the medium of expressive dance". Very cool.

(Who told him I like pirates?)

53. Play-Doh.

I decided to let Harriet loose on the Play-Doh she was given for her birthday. She's played with it a little before, but I was mean then and only let her have one pot at a time.
She had a fantastic time. She made a white elephant, which can clearly be seen sitting just in front of her. She then went on to make a "Memo". Memo is what she calls Nemo, the little fish from the film. That's what she's making in  the photo. She has opted to make him out of pink Play-Doh rather than orange and white. 
She's obviously an abstract expressionist.
We now have a large pot of marbled / grey Play-Doh.

(Check out my penguin. Oh yeah. Mummy's an artist too).

52. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby...

Not so. I mean, look at me now.
I'm not so old that my baby pictures are handpainted on ivory cameos, but they are all black and white, and dog-eared.
I was looking at them today and wondering if my boy will look like me. Harriet didn't. She looked exactly like her dad for at least 9 months. That really peed me off after all my hard work in pregnancy, labour and the early days (and nights). 
But what kind of mother would I be if I wished these looks on my child?

51. Bit Like Yesterday's...

Now this is a proper promising start! When the clouds are low and the mist clings to the hedgerows and makes them look like layers of stage scenery, it's usually a good day. A dry one at least.
Sorry today's photo is so similar to yesterday's, but I had no idea that this sight would greet me this morning. I also had no idea that I wouldn't be inspired to photograph anything else. 
I was having a "How will I cope with two when I can't cope with one?" day.

50. A Promising Start.

...that quickly turned sour.
Early morning mists, rolling over the valley and cloaking the distant hills, are very pretty. When they are joined by blue sky and sunshine, even a 6.30am start seems jolly.
It's just a shame that by 8am it was bucketing down, and stayed that way all day.

49. Blackberry Harvesting.

Harriet helped me pick blackberries for a crumble. Apparently, for every blackberry that went into the tub one had to go into Harriet's mouth. Despite this, we still managed to pick enough for pudding.
Harriet also had her first home-grown apple of the year just after stripping the hedgerow.
It made up for all the crap she ate at lunchtime.

48. Clamber Club.

Not the best picture of the place, but this is where Harriet goes once a week for "clamber club".
It's in the most beautiful setting, and the buildings are the courtyard outbuildings adjoining a fully functioning farm, which has cattle and makes delicious ice cream with their milk. Mmmm.
It was the first day of term today and the turnout was meagre. Harriet was one of only nine children there, which was rather nice actually. She grinned like a Cheshire cat from the minute she left the car to the minute we left the club.

47. Big Splash.

More rain. More puddles. More photos of Harriet.
She just loves them puddles! She got down and splashed this one with her hands too, and that's after she'd sat in another really big one. Accidentally of course.
When I took her wellies off at home I discovered that her tights were absolutely sodden from the knees to the tips of the feet.

46. What I'm Reading At The Moment.

Or more accurately, what I'm struggling to find the time to read at the moment.
Quite by chance one evening I remembered about this book, which had really struck me when I read it in school and, the following day, I woke to hear that the author had died. It felt like I was getting a double nudge to re-read it.
Chance would be a very fine thing...

45. Say Hello To My Little Friend.

Not the most photogenic thing ever...
Not only was it 11.45pm before I thought to take a photograph, but it was also well past inspiration time for me! As you can see.
I thought as hard as I could, in the little time I had, about what would be a good photoblog entry. Nothing but this came to mind, partly because it was under my nose when I was pondering, but also because it's probably worth logging for posterity that I am well and truly into the acid reflux stage of this pregnancy.
Lucky me.

(The picture behind the bottle is one of my favourites of Harriet, taken about 10 months ago when she was enjoying her first fair-ground ride).

44. Another Glorious Summer's Day.

I had a choice of three photos for today:
1. another photo of Harriet (she had been quiet for a little while and, after looking for her, I found her struggling to shut her wardrobe door while happily sitting on its shelf), 
2. a picture of my other constant companion - a big bottle of Gaviscon,
3. a photo of the weather that has typified this summer's climate.

I went for option 3 mainly because I think I've used too many of Harriet already and a bottle of Gaviscon isn't the most photogenic thing ever, but also because this summer's weather has been a major factor in our lives. It's just stiflingly crap. 

43. Cup Cakes.

Well, it's something to do on a wet day, isn't it? 
Harriet asked very nicely if we could, "Make cakes, mixy mixy?" so we did. We make a lot of cakes at the moment, as I am practicing cupcakes for a friend's wedding. I think I have the mixture right, now I just need to master the quantity and the icing...

42. Puddles.

We were let down by this summer's weather again today, but Harriet was happy enough. The minute she turned two it seemed she discovered the joy of puddles, and her love for them has grown and grown.

41. Waiting For Another Bus...

We attempted another bus trip today, as Harriet had enjoyed it so much yesterday and we needed to go to the library anyway. 
Waited 40 minutes today before losing my cool and going home to get the car.
Harriet had a great time scrabbling about in the debris at the side of the road, eating blackberries, and waving at tractors. In today's picture she is taking a moment out from playing in the mud to give me a flower and show me just how much blackberry juice she had managed to get around her mouth.

40. Bus Trip.

It was a stupid idea. The sky had been blue and cloudless for too long; it had to change for the worse. And it did. The bus was an hour late and we sheltered under a tree waiting in the downpour. Harriet was very patient.
I wasn't.

The sun came out as the bus arrived and it suddenly felt like the day would be fun again. You can see Harriet in her stripey cardy reflected in the window. She enjoyed our short bus trip very much.
The bus home didn't turn up, and we waited in the second (obligatory) downpour with no shelter this time. Luckily Harriet was covered in her buggy and snuggled under her coat. She was warm and dry.
I wasn't.

The replacement for the bus turned up after an hour's torrential rain. It was a mini coach and the steps were completely prohibitive for a pregnant lady with shopping and a toddler. I snarled at the driver to leave me behind. I must have looked a funny sight, drenched, miserable and angry.

Scott came to the rescue and the bloody sun came out.

39. To Masculinity And Way Beyond.

Even space rangers need their sleep.