The wonder of babies

Had a wonderful few days last week visiting and photographing babies. I met my great nephew Beanie (no official name yet) for the first time and caught up with Myrtle again, who is six months old and has tripled in size since I last saw her. Baby Beanie is a very welcome addition to the family - his grandfather, Ralph, sadly passed away last year and it's great for everyone to celebrate a new life. Beanie was just 5 days old when we visited and caused much awe in us all, especially the children who I've never seen be so delicate and attentive to anyone or anything. We spent a very peaceful afternoon sitting in the kitchen in the warm spring sunshine, with Beanie content and fast asleep for much of the time. We tried in vain to remember top new baby tips for Lucy and Alan but it's funny how your memory fades. My best piece of advice was to "just go with the flow" for the first few weeks - not that I followed my own advice but I wish I had! Lucy is a graphic designer and has painted the most amazing mural on Beanie's wall - see pics above.

Myrtle is our friends' Gael and Max's baby daughter. I spent a lovely afternoon in their back garden playing with her. She's sitting up now and it's such a lovely interactive stage. She was happy sitting there taking everything in, whether it was next door's cat strolling tantalisingly close by or pulling at blades of grass (and trying to eat them!). Seeing the two babies within such a short period of time really brought it home to me how quickly they grow and change. In just 6 short months Beanie will be sitting up, exploring his surroundings and engaging with people. I can't wait to see them both again to see how they've changed and to photograph them again of course!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Nunsmere Hall Hotel

I first became acquainted with Nunsmere Hall Hotel when my husband booked a surprise overnight stay for our wedding anniversary in 2004. We enjoyed a delicious meal in an intimate dining room and loved our slightly quirky room with its own little staircase and very comfy and luxurious bed. The next morning it was very cold, clear and frosty and after breakfast we strolled around the gardens, taking photographs of the white coated lawns raked with long shadows from the line of trees in front of the lake. Little did I realise at that time that my career would take such a different direction that I would end up photographing the hotel in a professional capacity a few years later. Through my portrait work I met the manager of the hotel, Mark, and his family last year and have photographed them several times now, with the hotel making a spectacular location for the shoots. When we had the so called “snow events” in February Mark invited me to photograph the hotel and grounds and will be featuring the above shot on the cover of the 2009 winter brochure. Other shots have made it into Cheshire Life, one as an advertisement and another (see left) accompanying a feature on top Cheshire restaurants. Mark and his team at Nunsmere Hall are highly professional, but also very friendly and informal and I always enjoy my visits there, whether for business or for pleasure!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

The meaning of Easter

What Easter means to me... usually the first opportunity since Christmas to really stop, relax and spend some quality time with Nic and the kids - without the hectic schedule and stress that inevitably accompanies the build up to Christmas. And this Easter break has been particularly welcome following a period of relentless business travel for Nic and the usual non-stop family and work routine for me. We opted for a caravan site in the Lakes and it's proved to be a real haven - a large site but sprawled over acres of woodland, with lots of tucked away little dells and copses, so it actually feels quite intimate. We are pitched next to a babbling brook, surrounded by wild garlic. Our little campervan and awning look a little like the poor relation to the luxurious caravans and motorhome around us, but we're not short of any home luxuries (if you ignore the fact that we don't have running water because the pump has decided to stop working). The kids are aghast that we only have 4 TV channels, but then they do have a CD player, laptop with mobile broadband and their Nintendo DSs should they need a fix of technology. Whatever happened to playing cards and ludo!? They've been happy to go off on their own, exploring, making dens and playing pooh sticks, although Abigail gets lost without Sam to lead her back again.

With warm, sunny weather this is truely camping at its absolute best - lazing around the campsite, reading and taking the dog for the occasional exploration through the woodland. At the bottom of the site there's a river that's perfect for a spot of paddling - for feet and paws. It's proven to be such an idyllic spot that we haven't ventured off out anywhere else, preferring to stay in our little slice of heaven.

Talking about Heaven, with a capital "H", I eavesdropped on a hilarious conversation between Sam and Abigail at bathtime a few days ago. They have been learning about the real meaning of Easter, but haven't accepted it unquestionningly. Abigail was firmly extolling the truth of the Big Bang theory and the dinosaurs but got confused about where Adam and Eve and Heaven fit in to this, whereas Sam was arguing that he believed that a greater being created the earth and all life on it. He even managed to weave the dinosaurs into a religious framework, having watched an episode of Primeval in which a dinosaur like reptile was worshipped as a god! Nic and I have tried not to influence their beliefs as we would like them to make up their own minds. I suppose it is inevitable that they will be sceptical about the existence of God and Jesus, being brought up in a mainly non-religious environment, other than what they are taught in school. We fall into the agnostic, sitting on the fence classification. Abigail came up with her own terminology for this position, declaring to Sam that she was "comme ci, comme ca" about whether she believed or not! But Jessie the cat, Ursula the next door neighbour and Uncle Ralph are all definitely in Heaven!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Dressing up

Kids just love dressing up, whether it's in a uniform or fancy dress & we love admiring them. I wonder what age they'll grow out of this - I guess just before they go to high school when the majority become more image conscious and more aware of the need to fit in with their peers - although both have already kicked in with Abigail sometime ago. She's got quite an individual streak but occasionally feels under pressure to be like everyone else. Case in point is her hair, which is short, suits her so well and makes her look gorgeous (in our biased opinion), but occasionally she suddenly feels singled out because of it and wants to be like all her friends. (Please note that decision to go for drastic short hair style was all her own!)

This week saw Sam enrolled at Beavers and proudly wearing his full uniform. I wish I could freeze moments like this, when he is so chuffed to bits with himself. Later, at home, we went from beavers to bunny ears and also conjured up an Easter bonnet for the practise Easter assembly the next day. I had to persuade both of them not to wear them in bed and then had a giggle watching them walk to school wearing them the next morning. It had seemed like a lot of hassle making emergency Easter head gear at 8pm in time for the next day (either I had not read the school note as usual, or the kids hadn't relayed the message to me on time - both very typical of our hectic school week), but looking at the pictures and their faces it was very worthwhile. Whether tissue paper ears and flowers will survive until the actual event is a different matter altogether.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!