Clare Davis Etheridge

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Weekly Photos 36/52.

At last the weather has cooled off a little and the mornings are almost chilly and damp. This means that we are seeing lots of turtles in the woods and lots and lots of mushrooms! I am still pulling a handful of cherry tomatoes off the vines every day and my chili plants have started to flower, but I am not sure I will have the pleasure of any chilies now that it has turned a bit more, chilly (!).

1. Some rather lovely clouds, look how the lower ones have flat bottoms, like they are resting on some invisible shelf.

2. Little mushrooms with dewy stalks.

3. Street outlets.

4. A gaggle of mushrooms.

5. Sunset and party lights.

6. The gaggle the next day.

7. A local furniture store.

I hope you had a lovely week and that the week ahead is going well.

Through The Lens Thursday 36. Golden.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

For Through The Lens Thursday we had to find ‘Golden’. So I found the golden sun which is cooking us up nicely today. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

I took a few to get the one I liked mainly because I wasn’t looking through the viewfinder directly at the sun, so there was a bit of pointing and clicking and hoping for the best.

Happy Thursday x

August 2014 Photo a Day

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

August was a month of hot days, school holidays, day trips and returning to school. I used the prompts from Fat Mum Slim’s Photo a Day challenge and here are my photos from last month.

1. Landscape

2. Lunch

3. S is for…. Soccer ball, abandonded in the park.

4. In the Middle.

5. Three.

6. Grateful for… My little spot on the interwebs!

7. Spot.

8. Pet Peeve. Crazy crisp/chip flavours. These were yukky, in case you are interested!

9. Mix. Silver fabric and sewing machine mixed to make a bag.

10. Art. The art of finding treasure in the creek. The watch is one of our favourite finds so far.

11. Mirror. In the grass reflecting the clouds.

12. Gather.

13. Inside. Wanting to look inside this lot!

14. Give. Thanks Grandma for giving us some Dandelion and Burdock sweets.

15. Clouds.

16. Clean. This old dinosaur needs a clean.

17. Dinner.

18. Arrow.

19. To-Do. Get a film in this vintage camera and get snapping the ole fashioned way.

20. Before Bedtime. We read. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher is a good one.

21. Decorate. I love old tins.

22. Words. A wobbly focus shopping list!

23. Style. A fish finger sandwich is my lunch style.

24. Fragrant.

25. Mail. Some cards I made.

26. Breakfast.

27. Dull.

28. Travel. Luna travel!

29. Dessert.

30. Nearby.

31. 10am.

What did you get up to in August? I hope it was a good month. September is here and I am looking forward to all things Autumnal, even though the weather is still pretty hot. I can still roast squash and drink yummy pumpkin spice coffee!

August Break 25-31 and Weekly photos 35/52.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Last week saw the end of The August Break for 2014, Susannah always comes up with interesting prompts and tips and techniques which is a great bonus. So here are the grand finale photos, until next year.

25. Little.

26. Morning.

27. Lines.

28. Something New. A batch of new beads to play with!

29. Nature.

The August Break. Soft.

30. Soft.

Another hot week here in St Louis, hopefully now that we have entered September the weather will start to cool off a little. I am ready for all things Autumn – pumpkins, apples, cinnamon and everything they can be put in!

Here are a few snaps from last week.

1. My mushroom obsession continues!

2. The local library had a tie craft event, it was a big success and the kids all made cool shirts. I had a go at Japanese Shibori dyeing, and I want to do more and when I do, I will be sure to share.

3. & 4. Vintage doll carry boxes in an antique mall.

Have a lovely week! I will share my August Photo a Day pictures on Wednesday, so see you then!

Through The Lens Thursday 35. Texture.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

This week in the world of Through The Lens Thursday, the prompt is texture. I was all set to head into the woods ready to throw myself onto the damp leafy path to catch a photo of a newly grown mushroom or get a shot of some interesting tree bark. Then I opened my back door to check on the tomatoes and there was our only surviving sunflower gently turning to seed to feed the pretty yellow bird which likes to sit on the flower and have a snack.

What beautiful texture right here, the flowers in the middle of the flower, the drying petals and the forming seeds. We will harvest some seeds when they are ready and hopefully have a lovely yellow sunflower crop next summer.

Have you been growing this summer or are you planning to grow (depending on which season you are heading into)? I have kale and beetroot seedlings peeking through for a lovely Fall crop.

15 reasons I am a good Mum.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

I read this post over at Writing Wishing via Miss Elaine-ous Life and decided to take Alison and Elaine up on the offer to write about why I am a good Mum, in my humble opinion.

We are often so self doubting in the parenting department, each book and advice filled blog telling us something we should or absolutely should not be doing. Are we doing too much or too little? Pushing the kids too much or not enough? Phew, it is exhausting to think about. So, let’s have a little think about all the fab things we do and how well we do them.

Are you a Mum? I bet there are a million reasons why you are a good Mum, want to share? Leave a comment or write a post and leave me a link in the comments. Don’t be modest, go for it!

Here are 15 of my Good Mum moments.

1. My 13 year old still talks to me and walks with me and sometimes even listens to me. We went to Warped tour 2014 this summer and had a great time!

2. I go into the creek in my wellies in all weather (except flooding weather..) with my 9 year old to hunt for cool stuff like rocks, crayfish and marbles (we find quite a few marbles down there!).

3. I trawl the library online system for books I think my boys will like. At the minute it is graphic novels and stamp and coin collecting books.

4. I take them to giant candy stores and let them choose (within reason….)

5. I read to my 9 year old every night and I will be super sad when he no longer wants me to. I am not yet over the loss of reading picture books.

6. I will help build any Playmobil/army base when and where it is needed! Outside in the mud or inside on the carpet, bases will be built.

7. All birthday cakes are home made and ‘designed’ by me.

8. I sort through the Lego drawers in search of the very specific pieces needed to build the latest masterpiece.

9. I will help build Lego or Mega Bloks following the instructions with minimal swearing.

10. I take cookie or cake requests and make them. Double chocolate muffins are the current favourite along with Snickerdoodles.

11. Every time I make coffee, I make enough for my teen and me!

12. We walk to school every day rain, shine, snow or ice! Keeping up starts my day with a little jog! Yes, I know this photo is completely out of focus, but I love that it captures the racing bike through the woods with so much action.

13. I bravely vacuum spider webs from under the bunk beds.

14. I remind them of upcoming tests and deadlines for school.

15. I go on school field trips and take way too many photos. In fact there is a field trip this week and they don’t need parents and I am gutted! I wonder if I beg them, I can go?!

Your turn. Why are you an amazing Mum or Dad? So many reasons, tell me all of them!

The August Break 18-24 and Weekly Photos 34/52.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Last week was hot hot and more hot with a lot of humidity. That thick, custardy air which hits you in the face like a hair dryer when you open the door. Lovely. We have been sweating out all of our toxins, so we will have beautiful skin by the time Autumn arrives. In the meantime, lots of sweaty laundry.

On the morning walks to school we have been spotting snakes and turtles of various sizes and the mushrooms are abundant which always makes me happy!

The August Break continues, we are almost at the end of August, can you believe it! Here are photos 18 through 24.

18. Jump. Self timer on the camera and tripod and boing boing boing!

19. Black and White. One of the lovely mushrooms we spotted this week.

20. Peaceful. A new mag and sketchbook and lavender looking for a peaceful moment.

21. Treasures. Rocks from the beach, I always look for unusual shapes and rocks with holes. Marbles from the creek and acorns from the woods.

22. Shadow.

23. Adornment. My most favourite adornment is lots of bracelets!

24. Memory. Lots of great games to create good memories. I hope real life games don’t become a memory in the wake of computer games…

I also managed a few general photos this week.

I saw this lovely petal in the shape of a heart on the pavement this week.

The Hibiscus buds were taken as part of the ‘Green’ prompt for Through the Lens Thursday.

We went exploring in the woods and found this striking lichen on a dead tree trunk as we climbed over it in search of treasures!

Walking home from school, best time of the day.

It is supposed to rain this week and I can’t wait! Have a wonderful week.

Through The Lens Thursday 34. Green.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

For Through the Lens Thursday this week, the prompt is ‘Green’, so a nice easy one to find. I wandered into the rain drenched garden (big big storms last night) and snapped a few green items. The green tomatoes are turning red very kindly as they are ripening just slowly enough that we haven’t had to make tomato based food for a week straight, then no more. These are cherry tomato plants and I pick 3 or 4 a day which usually get eaten right off the plant or popped in a salad or onto a pizza. I still have plants full of tomatoes which the squirrels and groundhogs are sharing nicely, so we can look forward to homegrown tomatoes for the rest of the summer!

I like the little droplet on this photo as the plants are just drying from all the rain.

Thanks as always to Greta at Gfunkified and Alison at Writing Wishing for devising Through the Lens Thursday and helping us all improve our photo skills.

Next week is Texture, so that will be a good one too.

What are you seeing through your lens this Thursday? Lots of lovely things I hope.

The August Break 11-17 and Weekly Photos 33/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

11. Handwriting. Chalk board on the door.

12. On the Table.

13. My Guilty Pleasure. I was supposed to be running…

14. Hands.

15. Blue. Truck and flag.

16. Look Down. Vintage ‘Life’ magazines in a box in a junk shop.

17. Bookshelf. Polaroid camera and car amid my book pile.

The August Break prompts are getting my creativity flowing. I like to be sure I take photos and make something or draw something every day even if what I make is a sandwich!

This week I roasted corn on the fire pit after we had hot dogs and s’mores for lunch. The corn is destined for chowder and in the freezer at the minute.

I listed a few new necklaces on my Etsy shop and the dog demanded I take his handsome photo!

Have a lovely week!