Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.

September.

You can always tell when I go back to school.  All these photos were taken over one weekend.  The rest of the month is a blur.

When life gives you lemons, steal your grandma’s jewelry and go clubbin'

August.

Blue here is a shell for you Inside you'll hear a sigh A foggy lullaby

July.

A trip to Avebury.

July 2017. #2017

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Nov 27, 2017 at 3:06pm PST

And he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe

June.

A month dominated by outdoor swimming, reports and ballet shows #2017 #june #haircut #balletshow #outdoorswimming

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Jul 1, 2017 at 12:38am PDT

The king's stinkin' son fired me, but thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it!

May.

I've been using my big camera more recently, so not many pictures. #hattie #mmm2017 #scotlandadventure #sewingrosa #hatsinyell #audreyinunst #ginstagram #springdress #fountain

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Jun 3, 2017 at 11:07am PDT

I want to roll my eyes right now, but the doctor says that if I keep doing it, my ocular muscles might spasm and eject my eyeballs.

April.

April in pictures. Long walks, #knitting, #bluebells, #sewing, #microadventures, #selfies and #knittedsocks #april #2017 #monthinreview

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on May 1, 2017 at 12:21pm PDT

Well, I tried to start a revolution, but didn't print enough pamphlets so hardly anyone turned up. Except for my mum and her boyfriend, who I hate.

March.

March in pictures #unicorncake #spring #2017 #sewing #daffodils #hampsteadheath #march

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Apr 2, 2017 at 6:19am PDT

Time is money, money is power, power is pizza, and pizza is knowledge

February.

#halfterm Lego and Lauren Child at the South Bank; cake in South Kensington, junk modelling/inventing at the V&A; Ryde Beach; Chinese lantern festival, hit chocolate to warm us up, and Lego Batman. Can I go back to work now? I need a day off. #february #2017 #lucy #hattie #microadventure

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Feb 19, 2017 at 9:00am PST

That was half term.

February in photos. #2017

A post shared by Julia (@sljuls) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:26am PST

And that was February generally.

Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says you could have network connectivity problems.

Happy times.  There's no point in writing up the last 7 months, so I'm doing a photo round up over the next few days.

January.

 

Meitu apps, socks, oversized shawls, pussy hats and protests, Lego birds and posh Alphabetti spaghetti.

A pledge

Me-Made May.  The name still sticks in my throat a bit.

It's a fun thing to do though, and I'm going to make it a challenge this year by:

1. Not wearing the same outfit more than once

and

2. Taking a picture of me wearing my "me-made" outfit every day.  And posting it on Instagram.  And not hating the picture.

I will.  It's decided.

Well, excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don't work on

So it was the Vernal Equinox the other week, and although it is currently pissing with rain and about 5 degrees C, it is technically Spring, and what could be better than a brand new Spring dress.

It started as a dress made by Roisin aka DollyClackett, and a burning desire to have something similar.

I bought the fabric about 18 months ago.  It was one of the things that kept me going as I trudged through the SENCO course (remember those happy days?) and the godawful Nursery years (remember those? Only ever in the middle of the night, and then screaming) .  It's been in the storage unit and then the loft for ages, and I finally got brave enough to dig it out, and wash it.

As Roisin has said many times, there's no pattern for showing off a beautiful print like an Emery Dress, so an Emery Dress it became.  

There's some not quite echte pattern matching, but on a print that busy, I'm not sure it matters that much.

I wore the dress on Mothering Sunday to church and then to Spittalfields market, where I hoped that I would be able to get a few photos of it being worn, but I took it off to try a dress on in Collectif Clothing, and the bloody zip broke.  Fortunately, I was wearing a cardigan, so it didn't matter that much, but SO ANNOYING.  The zip tape got caught in the teeth, and it tore, so the zip then didn't work.  The dress is now in the naughty corner, and I'll mend it when I feel strong enough, maybe in time for the terrific weather we've been promised for the weekend.

Ah well, home sewing may be easy, but it's also frustrating and annoying.  

I once threw beer at a swan, and then it attacked my niece Rebecca

Two posts in two days? Inconceivable.

Anyway, we went to Kew yesterday, and I took the amazing DSLR and had a go at taking some photos without anyone holding my hand and reminding me that I can do this.

MORE COLLAGES.  I've made a page on the blog - it's over there on the side now, not on the top, after the radical redesign.

I will try not to be so self-indulgent in future.  The operative word here is "try". 

Leslie, I tried to make ramen in the coffee pot and I broke everything

Wait, what? 

I went on a photography workshop at the weekend, on gorgeous, gorgeous Hampstead Heath, a place I haven't been to since I was a child.  It was my Christmas present from Simon, and jolly good fun it was too.  The workshop was led by Matthew Maran, who is utterly amazing and delightful, and made the whole "learning to be the boss of the camera" process painless and enjoyable, and now I've got a much better idea how to take a really nice photograph.  I also know what an F-stop is, and I've worked out how to over and under-expose photos DELIBERATELY.

I've made three collages of my favourite photographs; I took 322, so consider yourself spared.  

I'm really pleased with all of the pictures, but these are special.  I'm going to make prints of two or three of them; I already have a print of one picture, and I'll share that another time.  It was a really great day, and I learned a huge amount.

I'm going to make a new page on the blog for some of my pictures.  Let's see if that works.

Tor would like to quit and be a florist, Gunther does interior design

Today in pictures.

The zoo today.  It was grey and unpleasant, and I concede that I might not have chosen the best shoes for today - Clarks gold shoes are brilliant and sparkly, but the cold, damp ground seeps in and my feet are still defrosting.  The reptiles were very active and running around, as were the hairy armadillos in the tropical zone, where my camera lens steamed up, making me an even worse photographer than usual.

Knitting is happening.  Lots of hats, mostly, although a Rockhopper shawl as well, in one of a kind hand dyed yarn, which is a bit nerve wracking.  Ever played yarn chicken?

Oh, Charles. I can't take that. It's clearly not cash, and I don't have time in my life to return things.

Cold today, colder than yesterday, but bright and sunny, so we went down to the seaside.

Featuring hunting for stones.

Camouflaged shoes.

People swimming.

No family arguments.

A trip onto the pier with the bright lights and the noise and the people and the horrific sensory over-stimulation.  We went on a ride too, and it was awful.

Pokemon hunting.

Seagulls.  I scared them in order to take this because I am all about the photo.

Abstract art.

Living my best life, fam.

Lovely start to the year.

Sorry it took me so long to answer, I was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.

Blimey.  2016 is over.  

Not much happened here of any note, except for a new kitchen and a new nephew, both of which are marvellous, but I just ran out of steam for blogging.  It felt like another chore on top of work and life and looking after the girls, so I just stopped.

I did lots of other things though, and now I want to start blogging again; I quite enjoy writing, and if I want to get better, I need to practice a bit more.  

My words for last year were Do It, and I did.  Learning to make trousers, 10ks, half marathon, no navel gazing about work and stop putting things off.  I didn't set making goals or plan much beyond the following week, which fell down slightly when it came to weight loss, but then my scales broke, and everything is alright with the world again.  So now I need to apply last year's words to this year, and write, and see how things go.  I'd love to say that I will write in the blog every other day, but I know that school will drain me of all energy in a few days time, so no fixed commitments.