Spring Cleaning

Here in France, spring is gloriously peering around winter's corner even though in England spring remains lurking in a dreary disguise. With the dawn of spring's arrival comes new changes and new directions for me. It has been a busy and stressful few weeks finding the courage to take this new direction towards something I love, but I'm happy to say that I'm excited and ready to embark on a new adventure. I'm throwing myself into the world of photography and fortunately I have been given a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity which has truly made me feel that life has handed me a piece of gold, a door leading to my dream. I have a long way to go but these are those first steps and perhaps life has some great things in store. Indeed I hope so. But I do believe that to a large extent you make your own luck and so in pursuit of my dreams, I am determined to work hard and give it my all, and hopefully, fingers crossed, success will be given in return.

I have come home to France to spend some time with Samuel and my family. It's a long needed break and within the 24 hours I have been here, I feel a huge weight has been lifted; a weight of stress, worry and a mountainous workload. Perhaps an escape every once in a while is what is needed to gain some clarity, clarity that things are not always as confusing and stressful as they seem and that I need not be afraid.

When Samuel and I touched down in France we were greeted by my Mum and Dad and of course our boy Toffee (I have decided to dedicate a later post to Toffee as I truly feel that a dog so unbelievably gorgeous, odd and nutty deserves a literary dedication, even if only in blog form). Within minutes of arriving at our house I just felt a warm, cozy blanket of comfort wrap around me and I was happy to be home. Later on in the day, my family and I took our boy for a walk along the sea front and thus the inspiration for my post was born. It was an afternoon enjoying the small things; walking our dog, spending time as a family, taking photos and noticing those little things, although small, still worthy of a look in, and perhaps a quick snap with my camera.

Following our lovely afternoon stroll came the most amazing home cooked dinner courtesy of my Mum. We had roast turkey (we are probably the only family who eat this after Christmas day), Mum's famous roast potatoes (recipe is in an earlier post), roasted parsnips with honey (recipe included today), roasted cauliflower and broccoli cheese, and brussel sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts. It was amazing, nothing beats a home cooked meal, so much so I ate far too fast and left myself feeling like a heffalump. However, I am a firm believer that sometimes it is simply wonderful to just enjoy a meal to the point when all you can physically do is lie on a sofa and ask your other half to rub your belly.

So here are some photos from our lovely day. You can click on all photos to enlarge them! On an exciting note (well an exciting note for me!), all of these photos were taken on my new 85mm lens. This lens makes me so happy, the colour rendition and sharpness is just lovely!

I know it sounds somewhat corny but I really encourage you to go out with a camera, any camera, and you will be amazed at how different the world looks. You will start to see things you wouldn't normally notice, colours will pop out at you, shapes will grab you, and you will look for the most beautiful and interesting angle in everything you see. I may not be a photographer yet, but I can appreciate the wonders that come along with taking photos and seeing the world through a lens.

I knew spring had arrived when I saw these in our garden, the colour is amazing.

These kids were out playing on the rocks; I love how all of them are in motion and in a straight line!

While having our stroll we noticed lots of older couples sitting together looking out at the sea. It was nice to see people taking the time to sit together and enjoy each other's company and perhaps the smaller things in life.

I hope these two still have something to say to each other!

This just made me relish in the anticipation of summer's arrival.

Samuel noticed this love heart sand castle.

Samuel may have felt like a plonker while I took this photo, but I love it. Summer in your hands!

Our beautiful boy! I have lots of photos of him for a later post but I couldn't resist this one.

The love of my life!

Probably one of my favourites from the afternoon.

I felt a bit sad that this man was sitting all alone. I'm one of those people who will become overwhelmed with sadness when I see an old man or woman alone somewhere, without a partner. I always hope there is someone at home waiting for them...

I liked the shapes on this wall.

I wonder what he was sketching? I like to take pictures of people while they are unawares.

So I encourage you all to have some time with your family and enjoy those days when you have time to notice those little things which become lost in the midst of our hectic lives, and of course, preferably with a camera!

Here is the recipe for the honey roasted parsnips I mentioned earlier. I am a firm believer that vegetables are boring and will remain boring unless you know how to bring them to life with your culinary charm. Vegetables are a bit rough around the edges and need your love and care; in turn your taste buds will be overwhelmed with surprise and you will love them! Roasting vegetables is always much better than boiling. As parsnips are naturally sweet, adding honey or even maple syrup really brings out that sweetness and it works so well. This recipe would also work with carrots or half carrots, half parsnips. You could throw in some sprigs of thyme if you fancied.

Honey Roast Parsnips

Serves 4-6

1kg of parsnips or carrots or both

2 tbsp honey or maple syrup

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt an black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 celsius

2. Peel your parsnips and chop off the rooty tops and ends

3. If your parsnips are small, slice them in half. If somewhat bigger slice in half then half again. You want thickish fingers or chunky strips of parsnip!

4. Parboil in salted boiling water for about 3 minutes so they have lost some hardness but are still firm.

5. Place them in your roasting tray and pour over the olive oil and honey or maple syrup and season with sea salt and pepper. Then place in the oven.

6. Roast for 20 minutes or until golden and browned. Turn them every so often. Just keep cooking until they look yummy! Towards the end you could turn the oven up to 220 if you want to colour them faster.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading and wish me luck on my new adventures. I promise to keep you posted! Feel free to leave a comment, I love comments!

xxx