Sweet little lambs!
Yesterday I had a preweddingshoot with a couple that is getting married in august. For some reason my navigation system send me to this tiny backroad instead of via the normal highway and I noticed it too late, but instead I got to see a lovely part of the country that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Plus…. as a bonus I saw my first real young lamb of this spring! I always find it a real sign that spring is coming when the lamb are outside. They keep them indoors untill it is warm enough as they are still quite fragile and frost is not good for those tiny babies… Unfortunately… I was on my way to the preweddingshoot when I spotted them but since I was already running late I couldn’t stop and had to move on.
I did go back since I wanted to take a photo of little lambs jumping but by the time I got back it was the middle of the day and animals always tend to sleep around noon. Sensible animals… but not very photogenic. I waited and waited but the little babies just kept sleeping and this one here was the most awake of the bunch. I might try again this week if I have time and if I have my longer tele with me. The photo above is really a tiny part of the original as I couldn’t get close enough, but aren’t they adorable? They were still a bit wobbly on their legs.. sooooo sweet!
Cherry blossom
And the weather has been great too, although I was forced to stay indoors today. That is really hard if you work from home and the sun is shining. My office looks out over our garden and the backdoor was open, so I could see Gizmo sitting in the garden with her nose in the wind enjoying the sunshine and I was sitting in my stuffy office (really, it is an incredible mess here… I’m ashamed to admit) looking longingly out of the window, but I had too much photos to edit and finish of. Can’t have customers waiting now can I?
So while the sun was happily shining outside I was stuck inside. Boehoe…. I did have to finish though since tonight I had another appointment with a wedding customer and tomorrow it is my parents 50th anniversary! Party….!
We’re gonna have a high tea in Lage Vuursche and then we go on for dinner with just my parents, sisters, brother, the in-laws and grandchildren. Still quite a group now that I think about it… that would be 14 people in total. Well… nice little group I would say.
Anyway, today is also the day that I have decided that I am gonna lose weight again, so I started the morning with a spinning class. I haven’t done any exercise for two weeks so it was tough getting back into the routine, but also good. And for lunch I made myself a lovely feta cucumber salad.
Which brings me to my next complaint; why are salads sooooo difficult to style?? I keep messing it up and I think this looks particularly terrible. Ofcourse the colors of the salad don’t help as they are all very bland, but it was tasty nonetheless. I did wanted to add some more color to it, but the purpose of the salad was to eat it and not for it to look very pretty, so I ended up shooting it as it was. I do understand why there was no picture of this salad in the salad book!!! They’re so sneaky in that way. You can tell when it’s not a photogenic dish, by the fact that they skipped it!
Cucumber feta salad
Cucumber feta salad
(serves 2)
1 cucumber
Fresh dille
Feta
Lemon mayonaise
Red onion
Remove the seeds from the cucumber and make cubes out of it. Slice the onion into small rings. Add about the amount of onion that you like. I used about a quarter of a small red onion, as I am not too fond of raw onions in my salads. Crumble some feta in a bowl. I think I used about 50 gr and add the onion, cucumber and finely diced dille and toss together.
I had some leftover homemade mayonaise that I made yesterday so I made a lemon dressing out of it by adding lots of lemon untill the taste was just right. The original recipe calls for lemon, dried mint and olive oil combined together, but I skipped that part. It’s very fresh and would also do great as a sidesalad at a BBQ perhaps.
Anyway; in terms of styling…. how would you have styled it?
Last but not least I want to share a photo of Gizmo who is lying in het catbasket. She had been outside for a while and just loves this basket. Her eyes were closed and it took some convincing to have her look in my direction. You can almost see her thinking; “What do you want woman?? I am sleeping. Go away with the horrible flash-thing!!”
Go away! I'm having my beautysleep!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great job on committing to lose weight, I am in the same mode as well, so far, so good!
I think your salad picture looks great! I am not much of a food stylist, but I got a new camera for my birthday and I LOVE it!
And the pictures of the tiny lambs was so cute!
What a lovely spring post and those lambs are SO cute!! Your cucumber feta salad looks wonderful and your photos are just beautiful.
Rosie x
Oh Gizmo! How cute is she! I guess that look of “go away” is pretty universal in cat language because Coco is a master. There is so much expression in cat’s eyes, maybe that’s why I love them so much! And the lambs… so very adorable. They look like they are wearing big oversized winter jackets and the breeze could push them over.
The pic of the flowers looks just like something I would paint, do you mind if I save the picture for reference? I don’t paint that often anymore but the sight of bunches of flowers makes me want to get out the oil paints and brushes.
I love your salad, even if you don’t. I think you are too hard on yourself. Everytime I see you take an amazing shot there is some blurb about how you didn’t like it… live life, you are amazing at what you do!! By the way, thanks for the comments on Ian’s photography, he was beaming today about how grateful he was that someone finally told him what he was doing wrong. A man that loves constructive critisism…. he’s a keeper!
Ok, that was a long comment, so have a great day!
I totally agree on cats and their expressions! Gizmo is a master at it. I swear she has a morning temper as well… She has so many faces, much more so then the other two actually. Ofcourse you can save the picture for future reference. If you want the larger version just say so and I can send it to you via mail, if that is more convenient.
Glad to hear that Ian liked the comments…:) Styling the food AND taking a good photo of it, is just not very easy! I keep wanting things to be different (so I complain about my own photos…lol) either in styling or lighting but then I also tend to be hungry and want to eat it! Haha… that’s what you get when eating your own subject! As I am sure Ian has found a problem as well (and you, since you have to wait with eating untill he is finished, I guess!!)
I love your long comments…:) Have a great day too!
MMMMM…I love spring saladsa as yummie & easy as this! Great salad!! Lovely with a good glas of wine like a Sauvignon Blanc!!
Simone, you certainly covered a fair bit in this post! The lambs do look cute, but not for long hey? The salad looks incredibly fresh and very appetising! Don’t be so hard on yourself…I personally think it’s beautiful. As for your cat, she looks adorable! They certainly have their own personalities!
I too thought your salad looked just fine. But then I happen to love cukes. I’ve got a number of recipes in my box, following a summer with a bumper crop of the cucumbers. Somehow cucumber and feta is a perfect pairing.
Oh look at the baby lamb! They look so delicious, yummy! LOL
And your cat is adorable! I know what you mean about trying to take a pic of a cat. They just hate it and it takes so much convincing to make them even look at you. Hehe. Lovely salad! So spring-like. I am so ready for warmer weather
Great photos and post! Good luck with the weight loss too, I know how that can be. I know that salad must’ve been really good too! Thanks for sharing.
I’m not sure who is more adorable: Gizmo or the lambies. Your cherry blossom photo is so pretty, and the salad looks refreshing. I think it’s beautiful just the way you have it!
Good job with the spinning!
Thanks Sophie! A glass of wine would certainly be really nice with this!
Thanks Peter. Yes, it’s a bit of a lenthy post isn’t it?
Just couldn’t help myself! I always struggle with the cuteness of the lambs and the o, so lovely meat… I’m a softie when it comes to baby animals!
Thanks Ben… Typical really that both men are referring to the lamb meat rather then the cute little babies..lol..
Thanks Desmone!
Thanks Nicole! I’m off to another spinning class now!
Oh, so much cuteness and deliciousness all in one post!
Oooo those lambs are adorable. My dad was a cow boss when I was growing up so in the spring I always loved to watch the calves. It does make it feel so much more like spring… the way they frolic mimics the way you feel inside.
I think the salad looks marvelous. The composition and depth are great. The only thing that I can think of is that the background colors are a little conflicting with the salad itself and therefore are a little distracting. And, perhaps you could have brightened it up a bit more in post and brought out the greens a little more so that the salad really popped. But, that is only if I am really looking for something to critic. 
It really is a great photo. Good luck with your spinning classes!
Thanks Hannah
Cheri, yes, I so agree with you on that spring feeling! I love watching young animals in spring. Makes me all happy inside! On the saladphoto; I also don’t like the way the tablecloth is cut of at the top. It was too short!