Friday 25 February 2011

Travelling

 Feeling a little travel weary now. The crossing wasn't rough but there was enough swell to constantly remind you that you were on a ship. Unfortunately the people in the next cabin had brought their hobby with them - carpentry - what on earth they were tapping away at all night I can't begin to imagine - best not go there!  Brittany was swathed in fog along the coast but as we moved inland it gradually disappeared though only to reveal a sort of sunless murky grey.  All is well at the house. People from the Water Company had needed access to our pipes and meter  for some reason and our neighbour had let them into the garage - no idea what they'd been doing but we now seem to have much more water pressure……. that'll test the joints! 

Shopping done the trip home was one of taking lanes never travelled before and there certainly are a lot of them.  We found Aignan, a lovely village boasting a beautiful church, an Electricity Museum, a dam, a reservoir and a canal.  Lots of photo ops there and I have no doubt that we'll be going back!  We also found  two derelict houses out in the "wilds" both very photogenic. And all that on the trip home from the supermarket……a photographers dream!

Thursday 24 February 2011

Icebergs…or not


I sat and typed out my blog for today and thought of a friend who is going through one of life's sticky patches. On impulse I sent the proposed writing to her for her comments. I' m so glad I did for back came really positive thoughts, links and ideas. Directions which I had completely missed/forgotten about. She found some positive directions to go in and I'm so pleased on two counts - one that she is seeing some "positives" and two that she chose to share them thereby redirecting my somewhat  negative stance - I'm being kind here with the use of "somewhat" - it was very negative indeed.  But here - judge for yourself………….

 Icebergs
(( I sometimes think that we are a bit like  icebergs. You start off with pretty much a full complement of everything you're going to need - unlike an iceberg it's all in a little package but stick with me a while….You're full of energy, enthusiasm, thirst for knowledge and off you sail into life. Slowly but surely all that you have dwindles and shrinks. I can hear you  "my waistline could do with shrinking a bit"  but think metaphorically.  The iceberg shrinks as it sails into warmer, uncharted territory, bits drop off it and sail off on their own, they're called calves - how appropriate, though they could be called many other things, friends, partners, lovers, colleagues, annoying shop assistants, people who get in my way when I'm driving…..but I digress - slightly! The iceberg continues sailing along getting smaller and smaller until eventually it disappears altogether.  Ever felt you're doing just that……..dropping calves and sailing on to who knows what?))

There … almost a BOGOF!

Sunday 20 February 2011

To rage or not to rage

I could be incandescent with rage……..there was a long list of swear words running through my brain - good job I can't spell most of them and they wouldn't be in spell check…….would they? ……. but somehow I've calmed myself. It's not worth the angst, it won't achieve anything and the gratification will be instant, fleeting and unsatisfactory.  I must think of myself, my decision and what I want for a change.

I will not be diverted. 

There, that's better. Like a list, written and then left behind, but its contents remembered I have exorcised the cause of my initial anger through the act of writing it down - detail is unnecessary. 

So I can now smile, relax and prepare to enjoy!  

On a different note a shopping trip to Plymouth today resulted in a lovely selection of photographs, mostly architecture and no purchases - surely a first for me!

Friday 18 February 2011

Awake

So here I am, awake at stupid o'clock with "stuff" whirling round and round in my head. Why isn't there an off switch for thinking, but then I suppose there is…the ultimate one. See this is where thoughts stray to in the wee small hours, not that these are wee nor small. A lot of people have started their work day by now. 
So here I am with coffee…perhaps not the best of ideas but hey! There are always photos to process and blogs to read so I'm not exactly idle and it keeps the thoughts at bay……maybe.

Through the Summerhouse.
I should really revisit my piece about "words I should be avoiding"  My use of "maybe" has reminded me. Well then, there's something else I can occupy myself with.  But for now it's back to the photos from Rosemoor which I took yesterday. The colour seems strange, not how I remember it, but then how we remember things isn't always how they were……sadly.

Wednesday 16 February 2011

New Toy





Today I got my new toy. A new little camera, similar to one I already have but with more "bells and whistles"
It has built in GPS so I shall always know where I am or so the theory goes !  I took some photos of a lovely sky this evening, as a bit of a trial, to see how the colour was recorded.  
It was good.  


                                                              

Pre-Op

Yesterday I had my Pre-Op Assessment and today I begin the wait for a letter which will tell me when I will be having the surgery on my knee. I am full of the little worries and niggles that accompany such an event but the pain is increasing day by day . You would think that I would have a regime of pill taking to keep it at bay but no…I'm still as haphazard as ever!  I am fortunate in that I have family and friends who nag me in the kindest possible way. Usually along the lines of - Oi! have you taken your pills??

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Flowers


 It's always good to have something which pleases you to look at. That is why we surround ourselves with beautiful things. 
Taking photographs is a certain way to capture and retain beauty in all it's forms. So though these Hyacinths are past their best as a bouquet they still look lovely through my macro lens.

Willow

The White and Grey Willows in the wild garden have grown to such a size that they were encroaching on several other trees so they have to go.
Not that cutting them back will stop them and by Spring they will have sprouted a hedgehog look of new shoots. In the meantime there remains
the job of cutting up the timber, then finding a place to store it. I couldn't resist the "pussy willows"…..so fluffy and soft.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Lost for words

Not like me I know but the injury from my previous escapade ( See "The Result of falling Down a Bank") is causing more and more pain as the days go by, making me 

less and less inclined to move. 
So in theory I should be writing more than before - the laptop is right here beside me, so what's the problem Ann ?
A mixture of too much thinking and too much sleep. Though I'm not sure that you can have too much of the latter. The former causes all sorts of
problems especially at 2am, the dreaded "gremlin time"!  
I should be in a more positive mood, my Pre-Op is next week and the registration for SoFoBoMo has opened - more of that later.
Perhaps I can get the gremlins removed during the "Op"  There's a thought, keyhole surgery to remove nighttime gremlins - the queue would be right round the block!!
Well before I 'm completely wafted away with the fairies I must move myself - places to go, photos to see………later…….

Wednesday 9 February 2011

I love…..

"I love that thing you do with your hair" "I like it when you tilt your head that way"
Simple compliments, statements really, but ones that can lift the heart, can mean a lot. At the beginning of a relationship they happen all the time. It's part of courtship. There's an old fashioned word if ever I heard one, but whatever we call it it's what we do. Sadly, with time, they disappear, unless you're in a really wonderful relationship which never slides into the mundane, the daily routine which has no space for the exchange of these little niceties. So it's lucky the lady, or the man who gets them all their life. And once they have gone, what then? Is it possible to get them back? Does anyone know?


The new start.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

No Words


2 pairs of hands at work


Jayne 


Jayne found my waves and set them free!


 

Monday 7 February 2011

A certain mood

Some days fall foul of the little gremlins which inhabit the dark side of the mind.
Best to exercise them somehow…… bring them out into the light where they will shrivel and turn to dust.










Saturday 5 February 2011

Me

My favourites.




Resting the killer heels

To the sea

I had a wonderful day on Thursday. A trip to the sea via some ancient woodland and a magnificent church. So in one journey I experienced the wonders of Devon's finest landscape, seascape and architecture, what a feast!  I came home windswept and tired but with a memory card full of just that….memories. That's the wonderful thing about photography, you get to relive a little piece of your life.




I have some work ahead sorting and posting the rest of the photos as I have only worked on the St. Nectans Church ones, so I'd better get on with it…… here are 3 of my instant favourites to be going on with.

Friday 4 February 2011

No Words

St. Nectans Parish Church, Stoke, Hartland, Devon.





Plan of the Church and Graveyard researched and drawn by Mr Martin Dowding.