We are moving!


It's been a quiet time online for me lately, because something big has been going on offline. And now it's time to announce it! After 10 years in Scotland, we are moving to Italy, Palermo will be our new hometown. 

Saying goodbye to Scotland is bittersweet. The people, our favourite places, trips to Highlands, the school, strawberries - so many memories and ties, photos and emotions. It's not a goodbye, we will be back!

Like what I do? Get in touch, let's chat about photos of your family!

Get in touch!

Piú letti

First weeks with baby Mara

Immagine
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...
Leggi l'articolo »

Photo a day - September and October

Immagine
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 ...
Leggi l'articolo »

Photo a day - March

Immagine
Published on 11th of April 2023   Smell of hyacinths, rain drops on the window, slow lazy mornings basking in spring sunshine outside on the terrace - me with coffee, Mara with watering can which she often turns into a puddle on the floor. Tiny purple bursts of crocuses I planted as bulbs in the pot with an olive tree. Blankets, seasonal bugs, messy curls I am still learning how to tame. Picking last oranges in grandma's garden, finishing her sweater - she was very good with tangling the yarn, multiple times. Rare week-end trips - because, the weather, or the bugs - and missing it dearly, cabin fever is the thing here. These are snippets of March. One place we did manage to visit during these rare week-end outdoor moments, is Bosco dell'amicizia on Monte Pellegrino. We discovered it by accident, it's just a turn from the regular path up to the sanctuary. It's an easy trip as Monte Pellegrinno is close to our home, so in just 15 minutes you have fresh air and nature arou...
Leggi l'articolo »

A week of rain and fog

Immagine
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.
Leggi l'articolo »

Christmas Family Photo Hunt

Immagine
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!  
Leggi l'articolo »

Photo a day with baby Mara - April

Immagine
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 ...
Leggi l'articolo »

Summer on the beach

Immagine
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...
Leggi l'articolo »

One

Immagine
Our baby has turned one! There is something about girls and their jewellery. Diamonds are the best friends, this we remember. In the absence of latter, also some nice bright wooden beads would do. They are friendlier on the tooth, of which we still have just two so far. Tutu - check. Lipstick - check. Jewellery - check. Got to go, smash the cake!
Leggi l'articolo »

3 reasons to have your family photos in Villa Giulia park

Immagine
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...
Leggi l'articolo »

Photo a day - January

Immagine
Published on 13th of February 2024 This January has been... different. It should've been great, we had a trip planned for New Year, my brother was expected to visit with his family, Mara and Matteo have their birthdays in January too. It turned out not quite what we planned and expected. The trip to Sila had to be cut short because everyone got ill, which turned out to be Covid, which as a consequence affected also Mara's birthday and made the time with my brother and his family a bit less fun too. On the other hand, it felt like my body and my mind needed this slow time after busy and stressful December, there was a lot to reflect about, a lot of rest and quiet. It's ironic that Covid became the answer to this, oh well. The January photos reflect this slow time too - we stayed at home or visited grandma's garden to collect oranges and to play, we baked and built pillow forts, planted bulbs for spring, read books and baked some more. Cookies and muffins are usually what...
Leggi l'articolo »