All my pretty dresses


Summer can come, we have all the pretty dresses ready. We've also asked the mirror about being the fairest of them all, no doubts here.

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Photo a day - September and October

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Published on 17th of October 2022     This one is a bit strange mix of photos. As I opted to make separate posts about the sea and our travels in Scotland, this is what remained, mostly from home, a lot about food - water melon, plums, grapes, apples, figs, pears, yoghurt, pasta. Ice-cream is missing, I should work on that. I have quite a collection of her eating, probably deserves a separate post at this point. Mara is all about food, tasting new things, asking to share, trying to eat on her own. Fork is easy for her, spoon less so, and depending on food. Both easily result in lots of mess - part of the story though. These past weeks have been slow - settling into the new routine of back to school and weekends after long summer break is always a challenge. Waiting for the change of season, for autumn that forgot it's already October and we are still in t-shirts and flipflops here with occasional dip in the sea. This lack of seasons is probably one of the harder things to get ...
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Christmas Family Photo Hunt

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Christmas family photo hunt! I've prepared a little game that you can play with your kids and the whole family over Christmas break, and share results with friends and family who you cannot see in person. You can take photos together, your kids can take some of the photos too. No camera or special equipment needed - you can do it all with your phone camera. The list of ideas included in the photo hunt is also open to your interpretation - for instance cookies you can make or eat, can be just cookies or your child dipping them in milk! Have fun and let me know how it goes! Merry Christmas!  
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First weeks with baby Mara

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It's been quiet here since our newest arrival, I did not have much time for working on photos and posting updates. One would think, with baby #4 things should be easy and everything should be known and familiar. Nope, wrong. This one came with a whole bag of surprises, so we are slowly rediscovering all the baby tricks, and getting to know this little person. The easy bit - she sleeps. The difficult bit - she sleeps and falls asleep easily, and does not have the energy to nurse. Combined with her small size and weight, it is an issue. We had to start using the bottle and even formula every now and then, to be sure she is not hungry and is growing well. She does. So I'm pumping her milk and she's bottle fed for now. I hope as she gets a bit stronger we can switch to breastfeeding, pumping milk in the middle of the night is not a favourite activity. I am not going to pretend, I am tired, and worried. I want to make breastfeeding work, and be sure she's doing well and grow...
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Colours of summer - blooms and nature details

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These photos were taken during several walks in St Andrews and Craigtoun park, something I do as a treat for myself when kids are busy with other things, when I feel like I need some quiet time to just be creative and make something beautiful. I love finding little details, like water droplets or patterns and textures in foliage - little things that make beautiful even more beautiful. It's almost like they call me and draw the eye, and my camera. There are so many colours and textures in late spring and beginning of summer, so many treats for the eye after long and brown winter. Tips for photographing nature and nature details. Pay attention to light and shadow if photographing on a sunny day. We often have very bright sunshine with strong shadows in the summer - you can get beautiful results if you play with it and use shadows for your advantage. Or take photos on a cloudy day - most of the ones below were. Some I also took when it was raining - just be careful that you...
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Autumn in St Andrews - family photos

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 Autumn is solidly settling in, with its gorgeous colours, cosy blankets and sweaters, rains, and this special something in the air. At home, we watch more movies, bake more pies, walk on the leaves and listen to their crunchy-crunch under our boots, and I want to soak in all these colours around us - I love autumn! It can be risky to have a photo session this time of the year, the weather becomes so unpredictable. But it's well worth the risk, because the light in autumn is often golden and magical, and you have all these gorgeous colours around you. I can be more flexible with my schedule so we can work around the sunshine. Favourite spots around St Andrews for autumn family photos. Of course Lade Braes and Botanic Gardens - if you want all these gorgeous colours and nature details! Outdoor walks in autumn are so much fin, kids up to their knees in the leaves, or hunting for autumn treasures together, making piles of leaves for jumping, weaving crowns, hide and seek - you name it...
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A week of rain and fog

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We had a week of rain and fog. So a walk through our urban forest, Lade Braes, was a must. It was also the week of Bonfire night, which ended up being a week of Bonfire nights :-) As 5th of November fell on a Thursday, it was a good excuse to continue on Friday and Saturday too. So we heard lots of fireworks, but did ours just once. On the beach. Under the rain. And it was nice :-) The week of fog and rain continued to a rainy week-end. And slowly moved into another week of rain. Oh well :-) We planned to take some pictures with the kids outside on Sunday, but the rain-free morning finished too soon and chased us inside. This is the only one we managed to get, and I love it.
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Photo a day with baby Mara - April

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Published on 15th of May 2021     Here's next update and next portion of photos from my 'a photo a day' project. Mara is doing well and we are slowly switching back to nursing, so midnight pumping sessions are almost over and I won't miss them. We've mastered tummy time and she loves when her older siblings talk to her or read her stories. She tries to talk back too - we hear lots of oooo and aaaa, and she is very generous with her toothless smiles. Grabbing everything is another skill she is mastering - fingers, noses and hair, or anything else she finds close around her. Outdoor walks are also much easier now as we only need to plan feeding time, without pumping and carrying all sorts of equipment it involves. Mara is mostly travelling around in a baby bag, something we've done with her siblings and continued using with her. With the baby bag we can easily go to the beach or coastal path, or any other walk we feel like doing without having concerns about the ...
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Summer on the beach

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Published on 6th of October 2023 When I thought about the title for this blog post, summer on the beach was a firm winner. This is where we spent a large chunk of our summer, so it fits well. There was a lot of bathing, splashing, swimming, jumping from the rocks. There was barely any snorkelling this year, and not many waves, Matteo was disappointed. We found the canoe of my husband, that was believed to be gone, and it was a great addition to our sea activities. Although paddling with Mara is tricky, as she wants to hold the paddle too with her little hands. We spent a lot of evenings swimming till the sunset, or watering the rocks and the sand in case of Mara, and even made a night swim once. Apart of our usual beach, we tried several new spots like cala Bianca near Scopello, Monte Cofano (I loved that one, and the nature reserve too, hope we'll visit again in winter to climb the mountain) and Guidaloca. The last one we knew and visited several times before, but it was a nic...
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Beach fun photo session in St Andrews

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Beach Fun Mini sessions - for all the lovers of dancing on the beach and jumping in the waves, flying kites and climbing rocks and playing with sand! Let's have some beach fun and create beautiful unposed photos of your family or your little ones! Maximum 5 slots available in the evenings between 3-6 of July. St Andrews, East Sands or West Sands. 30 min shot, min 15 photos to choose from, 3 digital images with print rights or 10 printed photos. Photo-session cost - £100, option to upgrade. Please get in touch for more details, and to book.
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