Me and Mine [June 2017] – Bembridge Windmill NT, IoW

The Isle of Wight holds such a special place in my heart.  Not least because we get to stay with dear friends in Ryde but because visiting tickles all sorts of nostalgic memories of childhood holidays by the sea in Weymouth. Our June trip to Ryde was our third with Euan and our first with Luca and I loved overwriting memories of previous trips with one boy with two boy versions. This beachside picnic at Bembridge was a lunchtime stop off after visiting the National Trust windmill nearby. The tide was out and Euan and I took a walk together to explore the tide pools while Luca pored over pebbles and shells with George.

When I took this photo of the boys popping seaweed together I was gathering ideas for a picture I’d commissioned my friend Lucy to make.  She uses applique fabrics to recreate landscape pictures and is particularly talented at incorporating monuments or buildings.  I’d sent Lucy some pictures of Appley Tower and described the sketch forming in my head of the boys playing on the sand in the foreground. As it was we decided to forego the complication of stitching little boy silhouettes in to the picture! Instead I have this beautiful picture from Lucy to hang alongside a print of my seaweed searchers.

After visiting Bembridge Windmill we sat in the field alongside it soaking up the gentle hum of insects in the grass as clouds rolled by in the blue sky and Euan asked wonderfully curious ”Why do …?” questions.


I’m already looking forward to next year when we’ll return to this beautiful island. And I’m glad that taking part in the Me and Mine project again coincided with our trip so that I’m not absent from our family snapshots!

What family time memories did you make this month?
Perhaps you’ll come and share yours on the Me and Mine project wall here?