/   baby steps towards an old/new project .   .      .  
   

//  'draw me something to colour in mummy', she said,


///  the barefoot ballerina who'd been off school for 3 days, fluttering about in fairy 
      wings a little bored, perhaps, but still in love with the endless possibilities of home.
      so if you squint at no2 you'll see a cartoon of a little person bravely carrying 
      her childhood burdens (before a. was born i used to think this was a purely
      carefree time, i know much better now) her prickly temper on top :)


the nights have been delicious, cool and breezy, rustling palms, a faint scent of jasmine
but it's hotting up,  36C today .     .       .

a great week to you!











.

today a little paper boat
arrived and unloaded
a cargo of wonderful gifts
and friendship

dear amelie, elsa, this was so thoughtful and unexpected
thank you, we're already building houses and butterflies!

+  for those who like their landscapes mountainous and empty


.

she always looks down when she walks, like me,
in case she misses a leaf, a stone, you never know
'we don't have this one in our collection, mamma'
her trophy from our walk in the old town





+

she could not quite believe such a job existed in real life
when a friend, a heart transplant surgeon, visited the other day 
so i suggested she too might become a doctor and help people one day
she sighed hard and said 
'but there is so much else i want to be when i grow up'
'like what, my sweet'
'well, i want to be a mummy'

should i tell her a mother's job is never done
the client is rarely satisfied
the pay is - what pay?
there are no holidays or changes of career
but i wouldn't want to curb her ambition :)
so i hug her and tell her the truth
that it's the best job in the world
the greatest privilege












.

in a crisis, people will either take care
or take advantage of one another. 
our next-door neighbour, who is unemployed,
has been bringing fresh country eggs for a. every week
in that old-fashioned 'let's keep the children healthy' way
i remember from my childhood
and her gesture moves me deeply.


+


a freshly made bed and nobody at home
the bliss of a 5-minute hot-day siesta :)

have a beautiful week!








.

porcelain reminders of
a little pilgrimage to le petit atelier de paris 
i didn't take any photographs
it felt almost wrong to disturb such peace


'the most magical shop in france?'
without a doubt.














.

asako shiroki

'anonymous techniques'   

a happy discovery on the web 

+

a. brought her first ever report home yesterday:

' .    .     .  timid but determined .    .     . '

' .    .    .   her vocabulary is vast! '

' she loves story time and will happily remind others that we need to be quiet so that everyone can hear'

there is also the little volcano temper issue, but at least she is returning to her 'lovely self' a bit more quickly than before. 

it's just so hard to believe she'll soon be graduating from nursery school .   .     .

.

tagged on at the end, a few hours in belgium
so the elf could see her best nursery friend 
who moved there last december

'are you scared, mummy, that m. and i 
will get together again?'
'i'm terrified, my sweet'

the little partners plunged straight back into 
their life of crime, it was a joy to watch
but mummy also threw furtive glances around -
what if we have to move here in a year or two,
now that anything is possible .   .     .

.