Snap the river

one of the things I love about walking by the river regularly is watching the changes as the volume of water changes and bids move around and the light provides sparkle or reflection.  So I made a point of taking photos while standing in the same spot over several weeks to create a set that show some differences.  And the reflection one was taken in December so another for the winter scavenger hunt

looking forward to what has caught your eye this week

Snap in flight

I've been collecting these for several months - I regularly try to capture birds in flight but only occasionally manage a photo that has the birds in the frame and is in focus. 

The birds are - from top down - seagulls, swans, geese, oyster catchers

I'm interested in their different flying formations (or total lack of  in the case of the gulls)

Looking forward to seeing what collections you have to share this week

6 word turn

joining Miriam's lovely meme

Snap under the bridge

I was inspired by Maggie's snap set of images under bridges and thought I should make use of the 3 bridges that I pass on my regular walk along the river

The first two are through different arches on the road bridge (also know as the 'new bridge' built in 1806)
in the top one you can see the 'Roman Bridge' which is on the site of the original river crossing built by the Romans - rebuilt in 1597

the second looks along the path - that little gate leads to a community vegetable garden created on a triangle of unused land

the third is under the pedestrian only bridge and mostly shows the reflection of the bridge rather than its arch

the fourth is under the 'electric bridge' so called because it was built int eh 1960s to allow access for the large vehicles used to build the electric power station along the coast (there is a tight bend after the road bridge) - pictures of a river in town seem incomplete without an abandoned shopping trolley!

Looking forward to seeing what inspired you all this week

Memorandum Monday Riding the Marches

Waving to you all on a sunny Monday.  This weekend I watched several events that only happen every 21 years - local riding of the marches to mark out the boundaries.  The ceremonies are first mentioned in historic records in 1682 but are thought to be much older.

In the main event on Friday evening the turfcutter goes to 12 boundary points, cuts a piece of turn and shouts "it's a' oor ain!" - this is all ours.  The turfcutter is accompanied by a champion and various assistants - all in historic costume

and followed by other local dignitaries - using carriages for those not comfortable on horseback

Then on Saturday there is a big civic procession - again led by the principals in historic costume

followed by many of the Honest Lads and Lassies - in the years in between these big ridings there is an annual week of celebration led by the Honest Lad and the Honest Lass - the oldest I spotted was from 1965 and all of the recent ones were in attendance - all looking smart in riding whites

then other riders, including some children keen to take part in this local tradition as early as possible to build up credentials that help in being elected Honest Lad or Lass when they are old enough

and of course after all those horses, some road sweeping is needed

then come lots of other local groups - I was pleased to see this boat because some of the jellyfish that I made for the yarn bombing were being used in the decorations

The final event was a production beside the river with songs depicting local history and the highlight a giant lit lantern depicting the champion which walked down the middle of the river (very little water in it this time of year)

and of course fireworks to end

now the town returns to normal until 2037 when it will all happen again - the idea was to mark out the boundaries once in each generation to ensure that the knowledge of their position would be maintained.  With urbanisation most of the turf cutting stations are beside a pavement or shop carpark but the council maintains them all with plaques and provides a box of grass to be cut by the turf cutter.

Wishing you all a good week

Monday Memorandum chicks

A big sunny wave to you all on a nice spring morning

Plenty of new life on the river this week

goose, swan, duck, gooseander

These would have made a good snap set but I already have a Budapest set ready and these are too cute to not share. 

I spent an interesting afternoon on Saturday at another new activity - Forum Theatre.  The idea is to use theatre to examine an issue - both for the people creating the piece and the audience.  At the performance there is a play about 10 minutes long which shows the main character trying to reach a goal but being thwarted along the way.  Then the audience is asked to think of things the main character could do differently and the play is run again but the audience is invited to stop the action and try a different approach or choice for the main character.  It results in some very ineresting discussions. 

Wishing you all a good week.

6 word spring

joining Miriam for her 6 word story and photo meme

Snap in flight

I always have my camera with me when I walk by the river but recently I've been walking with it in my hand rather than my pocket because the swans seem to be flying a lot recently and I want to capture them.  Due to their size they make quite a noise when flying which provides a good trigger to get the camera ready and then try to focus on the correct bit of sky.  They also make quite  a splashing noise as the walk on water as they gather speed to take off.

Last week there were several swans who seemed to be flying up and down the river - perhaps they are youngsters practicing.  It did mean that I had several opportunities to capture lift off, flight and the clumsy landing skid.  In amongst the many out of focus / empty bit of sky / obscured photos I did find a set of 4 to share

Big thank you to everyone who is joining in with snap - I do enjoy looking at all your visual sets each week

6 words SUN

joining Miriam for her fun meme challenge to tell a story with a photo and 6 words

Memorandum Monday in the fog

Waving to you all but you might not be able to see because it is so foggy - I had to head out with my camera for some photos and honestly, I could not always see the other side of the river while walking along

  

the swans looked like apparitions appearing out of the blanket of fog

 

and to fully appreciate this next one you need to imagine the sound of lots of crows cawing - they nest in these trees and their noise added an extra eerie sound to the already strange atmosphere

 

In contrast the weekend provided some lovely clear weather to admire all the flowers that are now in bloom - I love all the spring bulbs that appear and was pleased to spot the first small grape hyacinths popping up in my garden

my other new experience of the weekend was to watch (on TV) Scotland beat France in rugby - the first time in 10 years !!

wishing you all a good week and hoping the fog does not settle in for several days

6 words DAY

joining Miriam in her 6 word photo and story challenge

6 word story

joining with Miriam

6 words BREAK

joining Miriam in her Friday photo and 6 words story

pair in flight

Two fortuitous captures of the local birds in flight and I realised they go together nicely as a pair

they really are such different creatures in all their habits, even though they live together on the river.

Thank you for all the nice comments on my new haircut last week.  Looking forward to all the pairs you have to share this week.

pair of fishers

Some weeks I have a pairs subject in mind or an event where I'm sure I will find a pair.  Other weeks I keep my eyes open for a good pair on my Monday walk.  It was the latter this week and as I was walking along I saw a man fishing in the river - not a common sight - and thought that if there was a cormorant at the river mouth then that would make a pair.  Luckily there were 2 cormorants sunning themselves so I give you a pair of fishers

looking forward to seeing your pairs - planned and serendipitous

the goslings are here

 

big enough to be eating grass and already used to having people close by – the parents are used to people too so no hissing

two groups of 6, with one group a bit older than the other

I love how both adult and chick are pecking at the grass in this one

and for the third year the mixed couple of one Canada and one Grey Laggard Goose have a chick – the resulting birds do look different but are part of the large group of geese (of both types) who live along the river)

I might not see any cygnets yet as I saw the swan nest abandoned with 5 eggs in it but no sign of the adults – it might have got wet when the river rose after the rain.

Pairs by the river

Some lovely sunshine in between rain showers giving blue skies and lovely reflections on the river

and a nostalgic return to look up, look down as I did for all of 2013.

My 20th pair and I'm still enjoying playing with the different pairs and being inspired by all of your pairs too.

5 in 5 focus on the swans

In a recent TV programme a photographer advised focussing on capturing part or the animal for an interesting close-up.  So I took advantage of a bit of sun to sit by the river and play with different compositions using the swans as models – they mostly stay in one place which makes it easier. 

Following Sandie’s 5 in 5 meme, I then chose my 5 favourites

some good head and neck detail

and some great reflections – the light on the water was just right

and the aftermath of a male swan flapping this wings to clear ‘his territory’

and a near abstract image of a large reflection with just a smidgen of legs at the top

I see the swans every time I walk along the river and can get blasé about them but I enjoyed sitting and taking a closer look through my camera – I must do it again.

Thanks to Sandie for her monthly prompt.

Pair in the sunshine

Outisde on my river walk for my pairs, to prove I do have tiem away from my crochet hook!

I've been managing to time my walks for the sunny breaks rather than the rain and enjoying the patterns made by the tree shadows and thought that would be a good candidate for a pair

I walked around the tree in the 2 shots which is why they don't line up - I'll try to remember about that aspect next time but it didn't occur to me until I was back at my computer looking at the images next to each other.

Hope you are all getting some sunshine this week and looking forward to another week of wide ranging subject matter for the pairs.

Pairs on the tide

Another pair from my river walk and a game of 'spot the difference'

My walk is along the last stretch of the river before it joins the sea and so is affected by the tides.  Most of the time the tidal rise does not reach this little island but we have just had the highest tides of the year - the spring tides and the river was almost to the top of the restraining walls and most of the island had disappeared.

As I put the two photos beside each other I was also interested in all the little differences in colour and detail due to the change in weather and light.

Thank you to everyone who is joining in, I'm enjoying the variety of interpretations