Snap

I had a project, way back in October or November. I "set it in motion" (which is basically just a very fancy way of saying I spent a couple of hours on the Amazon.co.uk website doing research) and it finally came to "fruition" this weekend.

Gosh, that sounds impressive, right? Basically, my idea was to teach the girls how to use a camera (they've taken pictures with disposable cameras, but it's very hit-and-miss, especially as I can't see what (if anything) they're doing wrong until we get the prints back, by which time it's too late). They've taken some fairly decent pictures, but more by chance than anything else I suspect.

So, on Amazon, I did some research. I eliminated all the over-priced "licence" cameras (Hello Kitty, Barbie...) first because they're unbelievably naff, and second because they're pretty crap cameras.

I decided on a 5 Mega pixel camera (one in red, for C, and in yellow, for L) at a pretty low price. I ordered them in early November with the intention of giving them as the main Christmas present.

Unfortunately, they weren't in stock and there was no delivery estimate given, so I gave up on the idea for Christmas.

The red one arrived around the end of January, but nothing for the yellow one. Eventually, I got a mail saying they'd had stock supply problems and probably wouldn't be getting the yellow one at all. I was, understandably, pretty fucked off.

A couple of months later, I pre-ordered a pink one, but again, it had no estimated delivery date, so I wasn't hopeful.

And then, last week, I got a promotional mail from Amazon (as I do just about every day, actually) and it had a yellow camera for the same price, but a different brand. Of course I bought it - and it arrived yesterday (and I promptly cancelled the pink one - we don't need that many!).

I'm not sure when to give them to the girls, though. It's quite a big gift, and seems too much for just a "little surprise". But, at the same time, I'd like them to be able to use their cameras over the summer (and in Italy in particular). C's saint's day is coming up, as is L's (they're about 2 weeks apart, with mine in the middle), so I might use that as the pretext.

Whatever. I'm probably more excited than they're going to be, though I do hope they'll have some fun with this and get some good use from their cameras. They're not expensive things, so I won't be heartbroken or furious if they end up breaking them (though if they break them too quickly I may not be responsible for my actions, I must admit), but 5 Mega pixels is reasonable for a first camera.

I'm no great shakes as a photographer myself, but I have some pretty decent snaps, and photography is something I've always been interested in (I did a course in St Andrews on developing photos way back in my first year - it was fun, but too advanced for my complete beginner status).

If the girls take anything good (and I'm sure they will), I'll post a few pictures here. In the meanwhile, here are a couple of my favourite pictures from this spring!

Grotty but pleased

I really feel like I'm slacking off with this blog, and that's a bummer because I have so many posts floating around in my brain, but just never seem to get around to writing any...

Maybe I should go on a course on time management, or something.

Anyway. D came down with a monstruous cold the other day, so of course I now have it too and feel suitably craptastic. CANNOT. STOP. SNEEZING. FEEL. LIKE. MY. HEAD. WILL. EXPLODE. (Would actually quite like it to explode at the moment, might make me feel better.) And although I can most definitely sympathise with the "stop whining, think of all those people who have it so much worse than you" argument, I can't help but counteract with my own "yes, but think about all those who have it so much better...".

But this too shall pass, as they say.

And I'm actually feeling quite pleased: Mrs C. has tagged me, and there's nothing more likely to bring a smile to my face than having concrete proof that I'm not writing this merely for my own pleasure... I love it all - comments, being tagged, winning prizes...

So, here's the deal:

1. Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.

2. Pick the 4th picture in that folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

And here's my picture:

This is a picture of L, taken by the doing-the-rounds photographer at the clinic where she was born at the end of April 2004. She's probably about 2 days old in this, and is already well on her way to the full-blown jaundice attack that got her put in a sort of incubator thing under a whacky blue light for a day or so. And of course, I only had yellow clothes...

It's hard to imagine that she's actually pretty pale-skinned (though not aspirin-white like I am).

She was born at 36 weeks, 5 days and weighed a mighty 2.4 kg (a whole 200 g more than her big sister) for 45 cm. A shrimp, in other words. But a pretty healthy one (again, compared to her sister who had hypoglycaemia, wouldn't eat, didn't gain weight...).

True to form, she slept all day and was awake all night (her sleeping patterns have always been...how shall I put this?...erratic), didn't like milk (of any kind) and cried and vomited a lot. She's often been incredibly difficult (about eating, about sleeping, about just about anything in fact) but can also be perfectly adorable, the cutest little pumpkin you ever did see. She's now 4 and 3/4 (as of today, 27 Jan!), tall and skinny, bright as a button and feisty as hell. And I love her to bits.

Now, on to the tagging:

First off, my dear bloggy friend, Cha Cha; then, Betsy who's moving to France (welcome!); then, the Jenn (check out her recipe blog, too, it's great) and, finally, Busted, who probably needs to be tagged to help her fill in her days! Can't wait to see your photos, guys!