06 January 2010

Smiles, Encouragement and the Garden

1. Smiles  It's funny, isn't it?  For the first few weeks of your baby's life, you can't wait until they smile.  Then they get to that age when they start giving the first little smirks and you hold out for every single one.  And then your days are full of this:


2. A Special Type of Encouragement  I am messing around with my blog template, trying for a fresher, cleaner look.  And I know from when I was pregnant with Joseph that the orange-yellow-green theme can make a gestating woman terribly nauseous. 

The other night I spent hours playing around in Photoshop and then inside the HTML code of my blog and I did some exciting new things, surprising even myself!  Mr de Elba looked at it, paused for too long, and slowly said, "I would have made it this tall," indicating about a third of the height of my new header. 

Bowled over by that withering barrage of praise, I went to bed.  But I am still working on it!  ("The template or the marriage?" you ask.  Well, the template involves less negotiation, but the marriage doesn't involve HTML code.  I wonder which is easiest?  I know which is more worth the effort!)  Here's a dead fly to keep you going until I change the template for good:

3.  Gardening!  I am enjoying my little garden!  The fun of growing tomatoes...
...the promise of planted seeds (shallots here)...

...and the manic chaos of a border collie chasing a tennis ball.

It's great being outside.

14 comments:

Jodie said...

1. Awww, he's such a beautiful boy. Lovely smiles!
2. I think you're brave to attempt anything that involves looking at HTML code. Well done you!
3. I think I'm going to attempt tomatoes too. I've been inspired by my aunt who sent us home from boxing day with the most delicious homegrown Roma tomatoes. Worth getting your hands dirty for, I think!

Tracy P. said...

Is is just me, or is that smiley boy looking more like his mum all the time? I adored that age where they stay where you put them and play and goo all day. Although each sibling makes it a bit more complicated than that.

I've started playing with my header too. I should get back to that. Maybe I'll wait until you get yours done for some inspiration. I have a hard time wanting to put photos on it, but making the photos not too small but the header not too big. Work it out for me, will you?

Yes, Joy and I are from opposite borders. We had so much fun! Now I'm trying to figure out what our next frozen science experiment will be, as we're back to THAT kind of weather. Even so, I'm very happy to be home!

Joy said...

That sweet Joseph. What a gorgeous little smile. Love the big toothless grins.
I'm so impressed with your garden. We're having unusually colder temps here in Texas so all my plants have frozen over. I'll have to start over.
Glad your enjoying the outdoors.
Yes, Tracy and I got together. It was such a treat for me to meet her. She's as wonderful in person as on her blog. Wish we didn't live so far apart. She lives around the top of the U.S. and I live around the bottom. But its pretty much a straight line up and down. Just lots of states in between.
Happy New Year Kate,

Joy

Jen said...

Joseph is such a beautiful baby, well all your kids are beautiful. Love all those baby smiles.

Swift Jan said...

Well ain't your little Joe a spunk!! So cute!!!

I once thought about doing my own blog template. Then decided I couldn't be bothered. So, good on you! I am sure it will look fantabulous once it is finished :)

Femina said...

That cheeky smile is because he's wearing the obscene jumpsuit...

Yay, garden! Three days ago I would have said tomatoes are easy peasy to grow, but I've just planted some cherry tomatoes that someone gave me from their garden - fully established, healthy plants - and I don't think they're going to make it. Plants are always droopy after transplantation but these are now starting to curl up. I can't believe it. Tomato plants are like weeds... I've never seen one curl up its toes so quickly. :(

CynthiaK said...

Love those photos! Sooooo cute! Yeah, he's a keeper. Joseph, I mean. You can do what you'd like with that Mr. de Elba. ;)

I'm so envious that you have weather pleasant enough for gardening! Sigh...

CraftyMummy said...

He is soooo cute! I never remembered to capture all the smiles with the camera like you have. But we have a few...

I'm impressed you can do HTML. I can only copy and paste where required;-)

And I'm not a gardener either, so impressed all round today.

Allegro ma non troppo said...

Most people think you're the normal kid in our family, but you're the one with the dead fly logo!

Givinya De Elba said...

Ah, but your logo has one kid with mud smeared all over her face and the other holding bunches of grass ...

What makes you logo GREAT is that it's unique!

Mine just makes you want to reach for the hand sanitiser.

Marcia @ Pretty Things said...

Gorgeous photos and a great read. Thanks for making me smile tonight.

I'm in Perth, WA. Great to see someone else from this wonderful country blogging.

:) Marcia

Alison said...

Just what I needed today--pictures of a dead fly and an adorable baby!

Lindethiel said...

What a gorgeous baby!! Can't mistake him for anything other than a De Elba! He's a spitting image!

The Accidental Housewife said...

Is it wrong that the dead fly pic made me really excited about your new template?!