Summing up October

Joining Julie again for a numerical summary of the month and an insert for my Project Life album.

panda spotting take 2

On Saturday I went to the zoo with my sister for a second look at the pandas.  They arrived in Scotland almost a year ago and are still a big attraction so you have to book a slot to see them and get about 15 minutes.  Which means there is no guarantee on if you will see any of either of them.  When we went in May we were pleased to catch a glimpse of each sleeping form.

With cooler weather we were hopeful of seeing a bit more this time.  As we queued we were told the female was in her inner enclosure but the male was not.  Then as we went in we heard the male was now out eating. 

He was sitting in his feeding basket with his back resolutely towards the crowds. He sat like that for 5 mins, occasionally eating some bamboo – I have several nearly identical photos.  Then, when most people were over watching the female, he climbed down and over to his platform to snuffle up the remaining crumbs of his panda cake.  

Lovely to see him moving around.  I think he is a fabulous looking bear.

The female was laying still but posing beautifully so I have these two lovely portraits of her

and him

We did see many other animals in the zoo but these were the stars.

these ones I thought were good

for PhotArt Friday this week Bonnie suggested we all use her latest fabulous texture.  I enjoy this type of challenge as it removes a decision and I can play with various images and blending modes until I find some images I like.  I often think it is the deciding when an image is ‘good’ that is the key – the editing tools are just, well tools.

Anyway here are the images I decided to keep from my session of playing.  In all cases I flipped the texture upside down.

Here the blending mode is overlay – I think it has a 70s feel

Here the blending mode is darker and I love how it looks like a pink fog and frost on the wood at the front

And for this photo taken out of my window of the heavy rain on the road the blending mode is colour burn.  I love the rich colours.

stack them up

Mix a walk on the beach, a sunny day, a playful mood, some recent posts by Rinda on cairns, some spontaneity and this is what I got

Have you done anything spontaneous recently?

wet wet wet

NO, I’m not talking about our weather again.  Today all the liquid is digital magic in response to Bonnie’s prompt for PhotoArt Friday this week – liquid.

I decided to play with a filter in the distort set called liquify and liked the effect on a variety of images from flowers to the Olympic rings in flame

On all of them I also added Bonnie’s texture old velum to each

 

I enjoyed playing with this distortion and look forward to see how others have interpreted the prompt.

Currently

Outside my window it is definitely autumn – yellow and fallen leaves; dark until nearly 7am

Around the garden there is plenty I need to do after being away for a month – weeding, trimming the hedge, cutting back the buddleia

I am thinking about ways to ensure that I keep up my daily walk as the hours of daylight decrease and the chances of cold and wet increase

I am thankful for a smooth journey home from Bangladesh, which included lunch with my nephew as I transited through his home city.

I am wearing green cords, a purple top and purple cardigan.  Packed away all my summer tops yesterday but haven’t unpacked the woollen jumpers yet

I am hoping for a good week for my blogfriends who are facing various adversities at the moment.  If you were close by I’d be round with home baked cake and offers of help and support

I am reading on my Kindle the second novel by Kate Morton ‘The Forgotten Garden’ having just finished her first novel

I am hearing the morning news.  I love that I can play the radio on my computer and listen to the news program every morning as I check emails and blogs

I am creating lists of things that I need to do to over the next few days as I transition back into ‘home’

And a favourite recent photo – I was given this fabulous box by project team when I left Bangladesh.  The decoration is a combination on embroidery and beads. I appreciate how well they chose a gift that I love.

learning to count again

I've learnt a new way to count with my fingers in Bangaldesh.  I could see the women in our office doing it when they were preparing materials for our workshop and I asked them about it.  They were amazed that it was new to me as they all learn as young children.  I've been using it ever since and am suprised that we don't use it in the UK as it allows you to count to 20 on one hand and up to 400 on 2 hands.

Basically you use the 3 joints on each finger, plus the pad to count to 4 on each finger

 

so we start with

then on to the next fingers

and finally the thumg to finish on 20

the left hand is used to count the number of times that you reach 20.  It really changes the idea of 'you can count them on the fingers of one hand'.

Is anyone else familliar with this method?  or anything simillar?

 

 

 

A day in Dhaka

Last week (27th) I tried to take pictures of the full day so that I could have a 'day in my life' collection.  While I'm in Dhaka I'm staying with some Australian friends who are posted here - makes a nice change from a month in a hotel. 

 

 

The frames are derived from Ali Edwards handrawn frames - I really like how they look for this series and will be using the idea again.

I've printed each out as a photo and put them in my Project Life album as one of the components for the month in Bangladesh.  I decided not to follow the weekly format for the visit and instead have a page for the workshop and a page for 'home life' and now this day in life

September adds up

I'm still in Bangladesh and having internet problems which means I have not been able to access blogland since 17th of September.  Looking forward to catching up on what everyone has been up to when I finally get good access and some time to browse.

Popping in now to post my numerical summary of September - both the week at home and the 3 weeks in Bangladesh

 

Thanks as ever to Julie for starting and hosting this monthly meme.