Category: Family life
Photo Shoot x
Many, many , many years ago (when I was seventeen: Long time) we were staying at my Grandparent’s house on the Greek island of Spetses when there was a terrible forest fire. The sun was blocked out by the smoke and falling ash and our only escape was to be evacuated by boat from the beach to the safety of the mainland where we sat and watched the island burn.
Our biggest regret was that we hadn’t thought to rescue the family photographs…my Grandmother had died in the Easter and my Grandfather had been killed in a car crash when I was two so these were some of the only photos we had, virtually everything else was replaceable..
As it happened, soon after we left, the wind blew back on itself and our enclave was saved. The fire started up again at dawn but by that time the sea planes had light enough to see and could put out the flames with sea water, although it took another 10 days for the fire to really stop burning – Spetses is a pine island and the sap in the trees keeps on burning.
But what it taught me was the value of photos – that moment caught in time? – utterly priceless.
Which is why, each year since Bella was eighteen months (the months before passed in a haze..) my Mother’s day present has been a family photo session with the highly talented photographer, Alexandra Joseph. We even did a session of me pregnant with Charlie – and then him at just 5 days old, all curled up and pink. How precious?
Charlie looking at our previous books – this one when Bella was a toddler..in a world of digital everything to be able to hold something tangible has it’s place.
Him as a baby..
These are from this years session..the books they’re turned into rank amongst my most prized possessions..
Alex has this utterly natural, spontaneous way of not only taking beautiful photographs, but of capturing moments.
This is how Charlie will look when he’s a bored teenager telling me I’m wrong again!
She works without lights or any paraphenalia with simple honesty and incredible skill.
She’s so peacefull and relaxed, you have no idea what you’ve got..
Till she sends you her tantalising previews..
I’ve learnt my lesson – once lives our safe, the next thing to save would be my photo books – and I can’t wait to hold my next one.
Laters, Kate x
My Right Charlie..
Inevitably, in Edinburgh we went shopping – not so much for me mind you, but for the kids..and in particular Charlie..
Our first stop was Zara – Eagle-eyed Bella spotted a dress there..and given she’s a girl that never wears dresses it was nothing short of a miracle and a slam dunk purchase; Grandma said she’s buy it for her birthday in October but she was allowed to wear it to the party. Then she spotted a sky blue cardigan and matching hat..I succumbed in a hazy cloud of steam train nostalgia……she looked like something straight out of the Railway Children..
Then Charlie piped up…’But I want a fluffy cardigan too’ ‘Do you really?’ I asked, ‘Shall we check out the boys department?’..’But I want that one’ he said, pointing to a girl’s navy blue version…so I thought, why not?
And he looked so fab! It’s not like he’s effeminate – I couldn’t care if he was – but the truth is he makes these choices (necklaces, rings..and neon pink toe nails this summer complete with gems!) and is still masculine which is part of what really makes me smile..it’s his ability to happily go beyond societies invisible boundaries and just not care.
We walked into another shop – and Charlie made a bee-line for a pink faux fur coat with grey leopard print…there are many times in life where you really have to think about what you want for your kids. My golden rules is I want them to have the confidence, freedom – composure even, to be themselves and follow their own path no matter what..
So I told him to try it on…and hand on heart – he looked edible (I have no picture – I had no batterie left. It’s a regret) – but more men need/should wear faux fur – yet I knew there was an invisible line that would be crossed if we purchased it, and I had to make sure he was up for it – the last thing you want is for your child to be ridiculed, particularly for being such a sparkling treasure….I pointed out the coat had a hood – and the hood had bears ears..was he happy with that? He seriously considered the matter and then said he felt the ears were a bit childish…
Was I relieved? No – because he did look inherently cool – I would’ve bought the coat for him; his little sips of rebellion are like a glowing light. My only real worry is that I have to celebrate this flamboyance now. I’m realistic: Peer pressure and life will do it’s best to temper and conform his eccentricities. My wide-eyed five year old may proudly wear a fluffy girl’s cardigan or a fur coat that my worldly-wise ten year old son might not..
So for now, I’ll revel in the confidence he has to be himself – I’ll treasure his energy: smart and unique with a chameleon mind and no pigeon-holed attitude that I just wish I could bottle forever.
The truth is I can only hope with all my heart he continues to have fun: I can’t care if he sings like a bird of paradise or becomes defiantly average because ultimately it’ll all be his choice…but I’ll always have the memories of the day in Edinburgh when he tried on a girls pink faux fur coat with grey leopard print..and we both clapped with glee…
It makes you think: Just imagine what the world would be like if we weren’t all so afraid…
Laters, Kate x
Stamptastic…
As the seconds, minutes, days..even years tick past there’s one never-changing truth that remains a constant….for every good thing, there’s a shadow and for every bad event, somewhere, there’s a pearl..
Joy: The kids go back to school TOMORROW!!!
Horror: All uniforms, shoes, bags, pencil cases blah blah blah have to be ready…and labelled..
Sewing on labels is my idea of purgatory – I dare anyone to disagree..(And I’ve done ironing them on…and melted Bella’s coat..my normal cheat is a permanent marker – tres slummy mummy – but why are the nibs always so thick and the tabs so small??)
Happiness: The discovery of the website Stamptastic – Set up by three SW London mums (A local company – yay!) with 8 children under 11 between them they sat around their witches cauldron kitchen table and agreed that labelling stunk. So they came up with a genius solution: A simple stamp in just the right size with a special ink pad that can be used on all types of surfaces from clothes to stationary equipment..I’ve ordered mine with just our surname on it so it’ll do the whole family – nothing that moves will escape: Shoes, coats, gym stuff, goggles, swim hats..the husband..
Horror: I only ordered mine yesterday….so until it comes, I’m just going to duct tape everything, everything to the kids…
It’ll be a conversation starter if nothing else…
Laters, Kate x
Elegant Edinburgh..
For the last four days we’ve been visiting the glorious City of Edinburgh, oozing with life and culture and it’s row upon row of gorgeous Georgian architecture…we stayed in a flat on the top floor of this row..complete with 64 steps up..
But worth it for the view right out to the Firth of Forth. Situated in a little road at the end of Princes Street, it’s hard to believe this is the middle of a capital city..another of Edinburgh’s many charms..
We were up there for family celebrations which took place in Edinburgh Zoo….
My Uncle Jake (now based in California..the shirt is the give away) was celebrating his 75 birthday, along with his 25 wedding anniversary and the fiftieth wedding anniversary of his best friend..
My father, our Scottish connection and proud of it.
It gave a chance for Bella and Charlie to meet the scottish cousins (I doubt Charlie will ever live this photo down..forever immortalised..)
Who got on like a house on fire..
And danced the night away!
After the party we had a chance to explore the City..
And Charlie was thrilled that he got a chance to finally try zorbing..
And talk to a stormtrooper in a kilt..
A beautiful, beautiful city..we’ll be back..
Laters, Kate x
Crystal Palace x
One of the best children’s day outs in South London is a trip to Crystal Palace..the train comes straight into the park, there are full sized dinosaurs (promise) a farm (open 12-4, closed wednesdays (made that mistake before..)) a playground..and a maze..and what’s more, it’s all free. There’s even a greasy spoon cafe for lunch…we went there with friends yesterday to find, much to our surprise, there was even more…the council had set up an adventure playground including zorbing..and that was free too!..happy days!
There was hula-hooping…
Hoppers..
Giant garden games..
Stilts..
Animals the kid were allowed to stroke and hold..
Including some pretty exotic ones!
Charlie on the wrecking ball..
And to finish off, glitter tattoos and badge making..
It really was a perfect day!
Laters, Kate x
Part 2: Lefkada x
We left Spetses and started our epic journey to Lefkada..it’s almost impossible to capture the sense of height from photos, but this was the gorgeous spot half-way to Korinth that we stopped at for lunch.
We then drove through all manner of road works to Patras and the new (for me) and incredibly beautiful bridge that now spans across the sea in place of the Rio Antirrio (always remind me of something out of Narnia) ferry. It was after that we hit the real problems – we were a bit too reliant on our sat-nav who we’d inadvertently set to ‘Poros – Cephalonia’ instead of ‘Poros-Lefkada’..it kept trying to take us back to Patras to catch the ferry….Not good. After purchasing a paper map we got stuck behind all the lorries offloading from Patras…and Charlie made us pull over for his epic wee..and we had to watch as all the juggernauts we’d painstakingly overtaken noisily pass us again…it still pains me..
But it was worth it. Even if, according to Bella, there were 42 bends down to our resort! Lefkada is mountainous!
The view from where we had breakfast every morning.
We’d buy freshly baked pain au chocolat’s, croissants, cheese pies, apple pies or (my weakness) doughnuts from the attached supermarket, then bring them through to the taverna where they would provide plates and hot coffee. Poros Beach Camping, where we stayed, is a family run affair – one sister running the accommodation, another the supermarket, brother the taverna and mama the cook. Pretty perfect..
It was a beautiful beach – very different from Spetses..the stones were much whiter and there was dramatic, flowing purple seaweed to snorkel round, but always the crystal clear water.
Hiring a boat – just out from the main town of Nidri there are 6 islands to visit..
This is Scorpios..the infamous private island of the late Aristotle Onassis..now it belongs to a Russian Oligarch. We were checked out by bodyguards on a speedboat..we gave them a wave and blew them a kiss..amazing place, but what a price to pay..
The island that caught my attention was Megalonissi..sleepy, off the beaten track..we stopped for lunch.
This part of Greece is definitely cooler..there’s even grass!
(The only picture of me in the whole holiday!)(and taken by accident)
(That, and a hand..)
The pool..we’d spend the morning here before having lunch with Costa at his taverna on the site.
Part of the huge success of this holiday was the fact it was the first one where both children could swim…as a parent it meant we could finally relax.
Bella was even good enough to take sea urchin diving on the rocks..a huge joy for me.
And the towels? They were a huge success!
In the evening, after siesta we’d head to the beach for my favourite time of the day..the 5-8 pink light slot..
Skimming stones..
Jumping on Daddy..
Bliss. Then we’d find another taverna for supper.. my favourite had tables with little oil lamps on the beach. Why don’t we use oil lamps any more?!
The morning we left a huge storm moved in..
Making it the coolest, best incentive to leave on another epic drive to Athens airport..
But it will remain a holiday that will live long in the memory…
Laters, Kate x
Oh The Joys of the Summer Hols… x
- You’re watching a film, OK it’s Disney..but actually you’re involved in the story (sad but true)..at the crucial scene (long-lost Anastasia being re-introduced to her frail Grandmother..a real tear jerker. Promise)…there’s always a ‘Mum, mum, I need to tell you something RIGHT NOW.’ Without fail. Truth be told, happens in all programmes..sport – just as they come to the finishing line, the news..the weather! They announce the weather you’ve waited 30 minutes to hear so you can plan the next day – picnic? no picnic?….’Mum, MUM!…’
- This also relates to map-reading or any activity that requires your immediate attention…..major road junction and need to hear the sat nav? or need to talk to husband because not trusting the stat nav?… ‘Mum, MUM, MUUUUM!’…
- The phone..Mum talking on phone means I must talk to her extra loudly SO SHE CAN HEAR ME.
- ‘Please guys I need 30 minutes undisturbed’ equals at least six interruptions. Because each one was only a small one…because they didn’t want to interrupt you…
- The call of ‘Mum, MUM!’ from another floor followed by silence…that chick-like cry translates to ‘Drop-everything-you’re-doing-even-if-it’s-saving-the-world-because-I-need-you-to-do-something-really-insignificant-because-if-it-was-important-I- would-actually-bother-to-come-and-find-you’.
- The other much heard cry: ‘Mum-MUM-I-need-a-wee NOW!’…guaranteed on a motorway but the worst time so far…Eight hours into a drive on Greek roads at 37 degrees of heat, crawling along on single track, snaking, moutainous road with a stream of lorries which we’d slowly and painfully over-taken without being killed. We pulled over and had to watch as each and everyone passed us again..I cried. And Charlie was given an empty bottle for the rest of the journey..
- The ground-hog-day morning call of ‘Please can everyone have their shoes on and teeth brushed and everything ready so we can go as soon as I’ve finished this’. You finish tidying the house, sorting the washing, putting the washing machine on, cleaning the fridge (delete/add as appropriate)..and nothing’s happened. And now you’ll be late…
- You’re always late.
- The ground-hog-moment of reminding them to say please and thank you on loop throughout the day. Like hitting you’re head against a permanent wall. You can remember the date of your birthdays but this is too hard?? It’s the mum equivalent of chinese water torture. Results in No.15.
- I say ‘Please can you turn your ipod down’ and I get ‘Well that’s it..I’m just going to throw it in the bin and then you’ll be sorry’. Like doh? Results in no.15.
- The more bored they get, the less I want to do with them, the less they are capable of doing except whining at me for being bored…and then I spout all the cliches: ‘In my day…’
- Then you book them on a camp or tennis club..and it’s ‘We don’t want to go because we want to stay with you..’ Why???
- The longer you take to cook their breakfast/lunch/supper the less it will be appreciated. And cooking three meals a day stinks. Results in no.15…for me..
- So you have a picnic and where ever you are, whatever you’re doing, you’ll be handed all the rubbish as if you’re one giant dustbin. Even if you’re driving. Or getting ready to pilot a rocket to the moon..silently, the used lolly wrapper/empty drink carton, sandwich foil are passed over to you… Do I have ‘I am really a bin’ written in permanent ink on my forehead? Results in no.15..
- I tell them a certain behaviour will result in a consequence. They never believe I’ll carry it through. But I do every time..and they’re still shocked. Like??
- Because of no.15 the consequence usually means we don’t do something nice that gets us out of the house….which means no.11 kicks in…and I’m bored too.
- Asking something to be done requires the order in triplicate. And then no.15 kicks in, followed by no.16. And then no.18
- The longer the school holidays last, the more I find my brain shrinks (see no.1)
- And then they’ll disappear and play beautifully together..
- Except the more fun they have…. the greater the mess…
- Till it reaches a tipping point of hysterical proportions and you say ‘This will all end in tears’. And it does…
5 weeks down, three more to go….
Laters, Kate x
Ultrasun, Ultra Fab x
There are some things that summer cannot survive without..and a brilliant sun screen must top the list. Ultrasun in my book is the gold medal winner. It doesn’t look much..the packaging is awful, but how many ways can I sing it’s praises?
1. It’s a ‘once a day’ formula so it goes on first thing..and then you don’t need to think about it again.
2. There’s no smell – I’ve tried other ‘once a day’ products and the chemicals have made my eyes water. This doesn’t.
3. You put it on before you put on your swimwear..which means if that bikini bum rides up, there’s no chance of an angry red smile, for you or the kids. (Or the husband if budgie smugglers are his thong thing..)
4. Anyone who has ever put sun screen on children will know..once a day to chase down those slippery suckers is a blessing from the heavens.
5. Ever suffered from the horror of heat rash? I do…but not when I use this.
6. I even use it in winter..sits brilliantly under foundation..even makes the foundation easier to apply…
7. Means I can take a red head to the Mediterranean…Bella has never, ever burnt.
8. You still go brown…Charlie was native coloured by the time he came home. Bella was a golden brown..we were that lovely brown that means you’ve been away..but the bath’s not left with a tidal mark after every wash..
It’s just easy, effortless…safe. It’s not the cheapest…but sometimes, just sometimes it’s worth buying the best.
Laters, Kate
Special Spetses x
My connection to the island of Spetses goes back two generations when my grandparents were first offered land there to build a holiday home away from the pollution of Athens. They’d travelled to Greece from the highlands of Scotland following the depression – the story goes that my Grandfather, Robert Mackenzie, a Classics Scholar, was offered a job sweeping the floor of the EMI factory. Something went wrong with one of the machines and he fixed it..and then rose quickly through the ranks to become managing Director of EMI in Greece at a very special time: it was the cheapest place in Europe to record and make records and consequently drew talent talent from across the board from the Beatles to Maria Callas. My father was born there, although he was sent back to boarding school in the Lake District at aged five..it used to take him two days of travel by plane with a pit stop in Rome to get home, all in a converted Lancaster Bomber.
In my grandparents time, this house was the inspiration for John Fowles’s book, The Magus – he taught English at the once famous school (now a conference centre) on the island, said to be the Greek equivalent of Eton, he would walk all over the island in the quiet of the winter months in search of solitude and ideas. The house was owned by an eccentric millionaire and was then (before the great fire: another story) hidden from view by layers of huge pine trees. As a child, I went there for tea with my Grandmother to be shown faberge eggs and ancient seals. I don’t remember it, but I do remember the millionaire ended up in jail for forging an ancient land deed..with a biro.
Just down the valley is the bay where my parent’s house is…virtually unchanged. This picture is taken from the balcony of my sister’s parents-in-law’s house….Greece lies deep within the family blood and it’s special to have a proper Greek family that has linked the time and generations together.
My sister’s In-law’s house is next door to Madame Pourri’s on the hill – she’ll be ninety this year and is still going strong with a swim every day…….she was evacuated on the same boat with my grandmother and my father as a small child when the Germans invaded in the Second World War…first to Egypt, then eventually to South Africa.
They spoilt us with a treat normally reserved for Easter…roast lamb..my absolute favourite!
Bella and Charlie are now the third generation to enjoy this special place and it’s unique atmosphere, where even walking on water is possible…
Spetses is famous for it’s pine tress, crystal clear waters and the coloured stones on the beaches: yellow, green, pink..each one a gem.
It’s very much an Athenian resort island with a siren call to all the big yachts of the Mediterranean and a play ground for the super rich….but always over seen by Laskarina Bouboulina…an incredible lady with seven children from Spetses who became an General of the Greek fleet and an Admiral of Russia and led the Greek navy in the battle of independence against the Turks….Greece will always be a land of beauty, mystery and contradictions where anything..absolutely anything is possible…
Leaving, as we arrived on a speed boat – we were all sad to go, but we had another adventure ahead of us..to the island of Lefkada…and we’ll be back….it’s only au revoir..
Laters, Kate x
Love it!.. x
A great picture on so many levels, courtesy of Instagram: Drew Barrymore with her 2 daughters Olive and Frankie, posted to raise awareness for the Charity Foster LA which helps foster kids in LA with employment opportunities. Click here for more details.
So..for me? Or my mother??!
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 