He can't walk yet, but he LOVES climbing, swinging and sliding. Anything with a bit of an adrenaline rush. This side of his character should balance out the sensitive-emotional-crying-at-the-sunset part. Not that he cries at the sunset, this is just something we imagine when we talk about the Elmer of the future. Soft on the inside, tough on the outside.

You might be thinking "what a boring thing to feature on a girly photo blog". But you'd be wrong. I have been lusting after a ride on lawn mower like this for about a year, ever since the grass on our property started making it look like the place is derelict, and this mower is going to make the most beautiful green lawns!!!

I almost squealed with delight when Steven pressed the 'buy it now' button on Trademe, but I contained myself because Elmer was asleep upstairs. The advert called it 'Masport Busy Person's Mower', and I like the sound of that...

I know I went home to the UK last year for a while, but I feel like I haven't had a proper holiday for ages. The relaxing/beach/ice-cream/reading-a-whole-novel-in-one-day kind of holiday.

It was so lovely to hang out in Wanaka for a very short amount of time with my sister and Elmer. I can't wait to do more of this soon.

****NOTE - After I wrote this blog post, Steven did some further enquiries in the chicken pen. It seems a terrible mistake has been made (of the type you might find in a Victorian body switching tradgedy) - HUSSEIN IS NOT DEAD!!! His son, a lesser gent, is actually the victim. Steven thinks some kind of family drama may have taken place whereby Hussein felt it necessary to knock off one of his younger sons. Those roosters are little brutes, so we imagine it would have all been entirely necessary. They are (as Steven puts it) "pretenders to the throne". *****

Steven found him this morning lying in the grass. He thinks a stoat got him. I'm quite sad - I liked Hussein and his gentlemanly ways. He's certainly had his moments....

We got him just over 2 years ago, and kept him in a cage until we made him a chicken coop. He made a grand attempt at escape, and had Steven chasing him over fences, under bushes, across paddocks. One of the funniest sights I've ever seen I think. We named him Hussein (mistakenly at the time) after Usain Bolt, the 100m champion.

He used to stand with Donna and Mavis, staring in at me (when we lived in a tent!!!) for long periods of time...

He made suspicious footprints in our new barn, rampaged through the tent stealing my salmon dinner, and enjoyed spending time roaming around with his laydees for company.

Writing a blog has been a real evolution for me. Mainly I suppose because the blog is multpurpose:

1) It is a way for clients and prospective clients to get a glimpse of the type of person I am (as well as for past clients to keep in touch).
2) It's the main way in which I showcase my recent photographic work
3) It serves as a way for me to show family and friends back home what I'm up to in New Zealand.
4) It's become a bit of a diary for me - I quite like the fact that I can look back at my old work, and life!

To that extent, it's taken me a while to become comfortable with what I will share on the blog, and how honest I can be with my voice and opinions. When I started off I felt like I ought to sound like an "Fun, fresh professional photographer", whatever one of those is. It didn't sound like me. Some of the best blog advice I've received is to be YOURSELF. I love blogs where people share the nitty gritty of their existence.

Over the years I've slowly become more honest, but it's still a struggle to post certain things. When Elmer was born I worried that people might not want to book me if they thought I was too caught up in my new baby (silly hormones!). As he grew, I worried that if I blogged about Elmer hardly EVER sleeping well, they might think I was too tired to do my job properly.

I worry that my life isn't glamourous enough, that our living conditions are very basic, that photographs of me taken before midday are way too scary to post (that's probably never going to happen)..... Basically that I wouldn't match the idea people have in their heads of the type of photographer they'd like to book.

Recently I've received a few lovely emails from people about my blog, my work and my working mother status (!) Kind words and comments that have really put my mind at ease and make me feel good about sharing my work and life in all it's glory on the blog.

Here is Elmer, today... shortly after he had a major crisis moment over a box of cotton buds that wouldn't shut properly..