Wrapped Around Her Little Finger

The 29th December is fast becoming a tradition of sorts;  A Rendez-Vouz with the Carters and the Godparents of Princess to meet and have our Christmas catch up. It is also a chance to have some quality play time with Princess.  Particularly for me, the schedule is very busy and play time is rare.

I'm always marvelling at how much can change in a couple of months.  Princess is a sponge.  She's gone from being tentative with her steps to fully toddling along; to being limited with the words she knows to a full on vocabulary list, although some of it is what I like to call Baby Tourettes.  Innocent words like drink come out as 'dik' because she hasn't quite grasped the word yet.

Play time is different too.  There's a Noah's Arc, there are Bricks, there's a Mini, there are musical instruments and there's "baby"; with bottle and full medical kit.  It always surprises me how a little girl nurtures a baby doll.  Is it taught?  Do they learn it from seeing what others do?  Do we encourage it because she is a girl and get her to give baby a cuddle and to give it some milk?

Princess is also very quick to know what she can get people to do, specifically with me.  Our first game was a classic; Pick Up 52 - except we did this with colouring crayons instead of cards.  Another was to sit her on a chair so that she could then get off.  I lost count how often I had to do this, but who can resist those big blue eyes and the little voice that says "Ta" as she pats the chair that she wants to sit on?  I'm officially wrapped around that little finger of hers.

Gingerbread Men

Today I got up and thought, right I'm going to make my Gingerbread House today.  It is now 5.30pm and I have  managed to talk myself out of it.  Instead I've opted for making Gingerbread Men.

The reasoning is that I am more likely to eat the Men that take a few minutes to make than a House that takes a good few hours to construct.  And of course with it being Christmas, it is much easier to share the Men than the House.

It is now 6.30pm, my men are out of the oven and are iced and decorated with silver balls.  I have made 23, but even as we speak the number is reducing.  Fresh gingerbread is amazingly tasty.

I have taken pictures as evidence that I made them, in case I eat the lot.

Happy Christmas Eve.

Volcanic Nappies

Mini Burkhalter was born early November, just in time for Christmas.  And today was the first day I got to meet her.  A beautiful mini image of her mum, with fluffy red cheeks and blue eyes.

I forget how tiny they can be at only a few weeks old.  I'm so used to 6 month + year olds that to cuddle something so young reminds me how fragile they are at that age.

The Burkhalter's are new parents and to see them with the Mini Burkhalter is quite surreal, yet very fun to watch how they cope with the whole new world of parental responsibility.

The topic of conversation around the dinner table is no longer about fencing competitions, work or friends.  But more to do with feeds, dirty nappies and number 2's.  The main topic of today was the latter and the lack of over the past 2 days.

Well today was the day.  And I think she made up for it.  It was definitely a stinker.  It took both parents to clean her up.  A good job too, because she hadn't quite finished and Mama Burkhalter just managed to catch the remains in the nappy.  An experience that was described as "hot lava" coming out of the rear end.  Hmm, lovely image I know.  Let's hope that for their sake the number of Volcanic Nappies will be kept to a minimum.

Happy parenting and congratulations to the new parents on the lovely bundle.

x

Inspiration?

Inspired.   This is what I felt as I viewed the pictures at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 exhibition, at the Natural History Museum.   Nature is an amazing thing and to be able to capture it on camera is an art.   It is often sheer luck and a case of being in the right place at the right time, but some photographs have such great composition that it cannot be purely down to luck.   Take a look at the sneaky snap below that I took of the turtle.  Stunning.

There are many talented photographers out there.  Some old hands and some budding new between the ages of 7-17.  And just walking around and looking at the pictures just made me want to whip my camera out and get wrapped up into a photo snapping frenzy.

As I was in London, I decided to take advantage and be a tourist for the day.  So I made my way to Buckingham Palace.  I haven't seen this building in years and I'm always surprised at how simple the building is from the outside.

The only indication that it is a royal building is the flag flapping at the top, the ornate gate surrounding it and the royal guard  protecting it.  And aside from the fact that it could probably house 100 people quite comfortably, the exterior doesn't look anything out of the extraordinary.  Although I am positive that the interior is quite the opposite.

For some reason today the paparazzi were stood by the gate entrance.  Or perhaps it is an every day occurrence and I'm just not used to it.  I asked a nearby police officer if there was anything special going on and he looked at me with my nice Cannon 600D with Zoom lens and asked in a dead pan face "who are you affiliated with?"  I had to laugh and I don't think he believed my response when I told him I was just an amateur, but I guess the paparazzi can be quite relentless for any bits of information they can find.

In the end I got told that if I stood around then I might get to see some royalty.  As nice as that would be, standing in the drizzling rain for hours waiting for something to happen didn't sound very appealing.

But it got me thinking, the paparazzi are photographers too, only their subjects are usually the rich and famous.  If you look at their work in any detail, they take great portrait shots, but does their work inspire?  

For me the answer is no and with the rain slowly drenching my coat, it was quickly dampening any inspiration I had when I came out of the museum.

In the end I only came out with a handful of photographs.  I think another trip to London is in order.  Hopefully the next time I go, there will be less rain and I think I will focus on architecture to revitalise my inspiration.

The Proverbial Christmas Party

Every year there is the work Christmas Do.  This is the 2nd year I've been involved.  Each time it is a headache trying to work around the politics, policies and payments to make sure that the event is a great night for around 150 people.  Despite the last minute issues, the team always seems to pull through and people always look to be having a great time.

This year the Christmas Do was held at Fazeley Studios.  A quaint little venue a stones throw away from Birmingham City Centre and around the corner from the famous Custard Factory.

We had mulled wine on entry and a sit down 3 course meal and the usual DJ that got people on their feet and busting out a move.  The point of difference was the Photo Booth, which was a great hit.  Any opportunity for us scientist types to use different props and to pose for silly shots in front of the camera.

As per usual the do ended just as we were getting into the swing of things and so whisperings of an after party came shortly after.  We ended up in a bar called Indiebar, which is in the heart of the Chinese Quarter.

One of the manager's paid for a bottle of Vodka and so we had a few drinks on the house, plus a private area where we could get our boogie on.

The Christmas festivities have officially begun.

Merry Christmas.

Capitale de Noel

There are several things that mark the start of the Christmas season, building Christmas festive spirit; the coca-cola advert "holidays are coming, holidays are coming" is a classic filling the ad breaks in-between your favourite shows; Mariah Carey singing "All I want for Christmas is you" over the radio; the  christmas lights adorning the streets like glittering jewels and for those that live in cities, the German Christmas markets.

There is something about crowded streets with bustling shoppers in need of a tasty Gluhwein/Vin Chaude/Mulled Wine, the festive smells of cinnamon, spices and bratwurst that fill the air that just seems to build christmas spirit and remind us that Christmas is not that far away.

This year Berliner's are a big thing of the market.  They are filled doughnuts if you don't know what they are.  And it is taking every ounce of strength not to succumb to the craving every time I see one covered in icing and sprinkles.  They are massive too, no doubt full of a days worth of calories!

Every city seems to claim that they are the best German Christmas market.  Strasbourg is famous for having the best German market in Europe and boasts having 12 christmas markets around its prestigious cathedral.

With the massive christmas tree in Place Kleber, it is a sight to be seen.  It is the tallest natural christmas tree in Europe at 30m in height.  And it does stand quite majestically in the city centre.  It is definitely a welcome sight after a hard days work, uplifting spirits.

Happy Holidays.