Lil reader


We made it. The book-eating stage is gone, and all the gorgeous printed products are now safe from the person with just two teeth, still able to wreck lots of havoc. Well, almost safe :-)

Books are for knowledge, for fun, to understand more, to see better. Further maybe. Like what's behind the chair maybe?


Piú letti

3 reasons to have your family photos in Villa Giulia park

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Villa Giulia is a park in historic center of Palermo. It has its origins in 18th century and is remarkable for its perfect square shape with diagonal alleys dividing the park in different sections. Marble statues and fountains, a sundial, shady alleys and open spaces, and wide variety of trees and shrubbery make it a popular spot both with locals and tourists.  If you'd like your family photos to have lush green background with a touch of special Sicilian atmosphere, this park definitely should be considered. It ticks all the boxes - plenty of space, nice surroundings, easy access, lots of options for things to do during your photo shoot to get natural and emotional images (anyway we don't do posed photos on the benches or next to flowering shrubs!).  Here are my top 3 reasons why villa Giulia is a great location for family photo sessions. Reason 1  Lots of space and diversity. The park has an alley with Ficus trees, a little bamboo forest, a hill with cacti and succulen...
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Fife Coastal Path

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Our first walk of the year. Stomping through the mud, and lots of it. Some of us did even manage a bit of mud sliding. The sea had this surreal turquoise color, along with grey moody sky it was beautiful. Lots of dry grass, sticks and bushes, thorns. We did not go down to the beaches, it was too muddy and slippery for it. Next time.
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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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Family photo session - walk on Fife Coastal Path, St Andrews

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This one did not feel like photo-session at all - we did take photos, it was just barely noticeable. It was like going for a walk with friends and enjoying beautiful spring day. We talked so much. About politics, knitting projects, shells and bluebells, botanic garden, teaching maths at school and photographing older kids, challenges and tricks how to do better with these last tricky bits.  We explored small beaches along the Coastal Path, starting from East Sands beach, and then circled back to the harbor. Sun was shining, sky was blue and bluebells were in their full glory. Tide was out, leaving lots of treasures between the rocks to spot. The photos - they did happen too. In natural and unposed way, without tense feelings and expressions, with honest smiles and connection and fun.  Like what I do? Get in touch, let's chat about photos of your family! ...
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Autumn family photoshoot, St Andrews

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October is here, my favourite time of the year. Autumn has been giving us subtle signs of its arrival for a while already - with bright spots of colour appearing here and there, dew on the grass, apples and rowan berries. And the light - it almost feels different in autumn! This session was partly at home and partly outside, and the key thing was to avoid posing and anything artificial. So we went for a walk together in the woods surrounding their home and made sure everything happens naturally. Little Luna was the main guiding force here. I love photographing toddlers and young children, how expressive they are, how they show their personalities and little quirks, just doing their thing and being themselves - it's wonderful to capture it all and to get unique, unposed and natural photos! Parents just have to keep up - and this was not a problem either :-) Luna picked some pine cones with her dad, gave hugs and kisses to mom, took a ride on daddy's shoulders and played ...
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Garden project

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This project has been planned, postponed, amended - and finally implemented. Lots of serious work - weeding, cleaning some winter leftover mess, planting new flowers, as well as rake dancing and broom-guitar playing.
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Photo a day - September

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  Published on 24th of October 2023 These past weeks I've been reflecting a lot about my photo a day project, that I am doing for almost 3 years already, I started a few months before Mara was born. There are days when it feels too much and I have no inspiration and energy to pick up the camera. And then there are moments when I see my kids playing, a new trick or game or mess they are up to, a spot with beautiful light, an interesting combination of colours, and I want to take a photo. I've decided to go easy with this, with myself in the first place, because there's no creativity when you are exhausted and feel forced, and the photos show it. But I try to make time and space for this creativity, it's something my soul craves. And when I look back, all the things I've discovered and mastered, tried and experimented with, all the energy and ideas and feedback, it's amazing. The results are amazing, and not just for me personally (this project is my hobby and doc...
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