Depth of field no.1

Depth of field no.2

Watching football practice

Painting at the mother and child group

Wednesday and Thursday,  we've been watching the middle child playing football down at our temporary football pitch (I'm emphasising temporary because this year after I do not know how many years the government has  allocated the funds to build a new football ground  YEAH!!  I have been trying out again the Depth of Field technique and for the first time I think I'm on the right track.  Lastly yesterday for the first time I took my little girl to the local mother and child group.  At first she sat on my lap and observed the other children and the new surroundings then slowly slowly she started playing , ate a banana, painted a red fish and to end the session we sang together as a group.  It was fun and I've also met some new mums :) 

quiet time ....

This photo was taken a while ago with my phone, however this is becoming a frequent scene here and I just love watching them :))

weekend cooking........

Cinnamon buns are by far my most favourite food indulgence.  However this is not something I bake often but when I do I really enjoy the process,  from dough making to the smell in the house and finally to the enjoyment of eating them. 

Today we woke up to thunder storm and lots of rain.

On another note, I've also managed to took a couple of photos with the depth of field technique which is not as easy as I thought.

I wish you all an enjoyable week.

This is part of the back garden of our home to be.  At the moment it's a big mess but once we clear all the stones etc...we will turn this into our personal relaxing outdoor space.  In the meantime we go there and kids play with the soil, they build, they cook and of course they get very dirty!! Happy Sunday to you all :)

Me and my girl and our daily walks.....

After walking my daughter and son to school I like to go for a walk with my little girl. This off course does not happen every day, there are days when other matters take priority, but this week we managed twice.......

once to this lovely gated  garden in a nearby village

and this morning down our local promenade, where the sun was shining ...... a little too much ;) for my liking.

Hot chocolate and cake day.............

yesterday my eldest daughter came home from school excited about her teacher's plans for today.  'Mum tomorrow we're having a hot chocolate day!!'    Two minutes after she comes next to me twinkling her eyes and all that   ''could you mum please, pretty please with a cherry on the top, bake a cake so I can take it to school and we can have a hot chocolate and cake day'.  I couldn't say no of course :))

On an autumn weekend this little family went out for walks, baked and watched one of the many games played by the older generation down at the local 'bocci club'.  I should really do a post about this game but first I have to get some significant information and take some more shots.  My middle child loves to watch these men play. Sometimes they argue , sometimes they joke and make fun of one another , it can be pretty amusing watching them.

In the last photo you can see my littlest chef trying to pull the cake tin full of cake mixture away from her sister because she wanted to play with the mixture.  She thought that the cake mixture should be thrown out of the tin and onto the table!!!

Introduction to photography..... 

as many of you might know I love taking photos and lately my friend and I decided to attend a course in introduction to photography.  So far we've attended two lessons and it has been very interesting.  I have started to experiment with what I've learnt so far and I think the results would be better if my camera had more functions.  My camera's apertures and shutter speed are limited so for now I will have to make do with what I have or maybe get photoshop !

The MV Logos Hope [1] is operated by the German charitable organisation GBA Ships e.V. As the fourth ship operated by the organisation, she follows in the line of MV Logos, the wrecked hulk of which now sits on a rock shelf on the Chilean coast, MV Logos II which was retired in the fall of 2008 and which Logos Hope was designed to replace, and MV Doulos which was sold to a Singaporean interest in 2009.

Twice as big as any previous ship operated by the organisation, the ship was completely refitted over a period of 5 years. Logos Hope provides a better quality of life for crew as well as a wider range of activities for visitors and guests. The newly created Logos Hope Experience (which is situated on a deck that was installed into the original ferry’s car area) holds up to 800 visitors at any time, with capacity to host an additional 700 in the Hope Theatre and Logos Lounge. This publicly accessible deck offers visitors an introduction to the vessel and the organisation, a book fair featuring around 7,000 different titles, a visual presentation called the Journey of Life and the International Cafe.
The all volunteer crew and staff of 400 people, represent around 50 different countries. Unlike the crew during her original use as a car ferry, crew and staff normally join the organisation to live on board for two years.

Logos Hope generally visits ports for two weeks and is continually sailing from port to port year round. Since the launch into active service in February 2009, she has been in three regions: Northern Europe, the Caribbean and most recently West Africa.

the life raft was my son's highlight of the day!

This Old town house was built around the 1930's and is found in the centre of a typical Maltese Village.  When we bought the house it had 7 rooms in all and all situated on ground level plus a small garden and a shed at the back of the garden.  Here's what we are doing in order to turn this old town house into our new home.

 the 'kitchen'

 sitting area/ dining

 the kitchen sink :)

 the garden and the shed

 the entrance

kitchen window overlooking the staircase

It's all dusty and dirty at the moment, however I've decided to blog the process .  It's not really exciting for now but as they say things have to get ugly before getting pretty ...something like that anyway!!

The Walnut Cake

this cake is a wonderful cake, especially for those of you who like walnuts.

the recipe can be found here Walnut Cake by Rachel Allen