A sure sign of how differently I now view photo taking when I picked up the vase of tulips to hold it against a bare wall to ensure there was nothing distracting in the background – and I’ve been thinking about re arranging things so I can have the vase in a spot with a plain background (!)
I had a quiet weekend after a busy end of the week with the younger generation.
My nephew returned from 6 months in Mexico so lots to catch up from him and his girlfriend (who was in Scotland but I haven’t seen for months).
My cousin’s daughter was in Edinburgh for an open day at the University and general checking our of the city – we all told her it is a fabulous place to live and it made me feel old describing my student days here – 30+ years ago.
Then the sad news of the devastating earthquake in Nepal had me looking through my photos from 2009 when I was there for some workshops. Disasters in places I recognise always seem that bit worse as i can imagine the place and people who I have met having to deal with it all. So strange to think that no-one can now see the old buildings in the centre of Kathmandu
Wishing you all a good week
several comments on my pairs post wanted more information on the nifty smartphone microscope that I got at the science faire at the weekend
on the top is a plastic lens
I’ve been having fun looking at various objects such as
seed beads
a gold thread tassel
patterned paper
it was a weekend that started with coffee and brioche sitting outside in the sun – and a nice memory trigger of my Saturday morning ritual when I lived in Wellington (NZ) of buying brioche from the baker and coffee from a cafe and sitting looking out over the water
it was a weekend of taking photos of colour to use in my daily pixel magic – creating a peice each day based on photos has really altered how I look through my lens – the pixel magic works on light and dark and contrast
it was a weekend of creative stimulus at the Mini Maker Faire:
now I have a nice pile of cards and fliers to sort through and websites to visit
Waving to everyone and hoping you have a good and creative week – special waves to Sian for hosting our Monday get together and to Gail
Putting my crochet hook down long enough to wave to you all – I’m addicted to this new crochet square pattern and playing with colour combos and using up lots of the bits in my ‘small ends’ bag.
it was a wet and windy weekend which lent itself to staying inside to crochet and tend to my new tomato plants – flower already!
and wait for my salad leaf seeds to grow
and clear away several accumulations of boxes and stuff that I realised, after archaeological examination of the strata, had started when I took down the Christmas decorations.
Looking forward to 3 Science Festival lectures this week and back to sign language class and the weather people promise a return of sunshine.
Hoping you all have a great week.
Thanks to Sian for marshalling our Monday waves.
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 blas̩ about them but I enjoyed sitting and taking a closer look through my camera РI must do it again.
Thanks to Sandie for her monthly prompt.
a big Easter wave to everyone
as I enjoy a first outing for my new red shoes now that we have spring weather and I might finally pack away my winter boots until autumn (my skin is not ‘luminous Scottish white’ from the lack of sun – I’m wearing white socks!).
This weekend also saw the start of the Edinburgh Science Festival with a science themed food market where I
* took part in a taste test between wild and cultivated cabbage – the wild tastes stronger
* ate primordial soup – containing all 9 amino acids (although I realised I eat 5 every lunch because I have peanut butter)
* ate a mealworm falafel (it tasted nutty)
* tried 3 textures of beetroot being demonstrated by a molecular chef (foam, caviar and jelly)
* learnt that too little sugar in cake hinders rising and too much tends to give a lava like top
Today I embarked on the 100 day project – the idea is to do the same creative thing every day for 100 days and to share the results on instagram. I decided to play with pixel magic each day, starting from a photo – I haven’t been doing this recently and I used to really enjoy both the process and results.
This is also my first foray into the world of instagram – I’m using the tag #100daysofpixelmagic if you want to follow – here is my first piece created this morning
why not join in – it started today but late starters are welcome.
March felt like a sampler book for the weather – bits of snow, hail, fog, high winds, rain and sunshine with plenty of interesting light
and of course a near total eclipse which provided these amazing colours on the river
I read 7 books on my kindle (probably related to the inclement weather). I just noticed that 6 of them have a female author.
3 were from a Swedish police series by Camilla Lackberg which combine intriguing detective mysteries with and on going stories for the main characters, and lots of descriptions of the baked goods they eat with coffee.
Two set in the past and two in imaginary worlds:
Off the Voortrekker Road (Barbara Bleiman) is set in apartheid South Africa and follows one man as he grows up and tries to make sense of racial politics around him. I was intrigued by the setting and enjoyed the layering of the stories.
The Secret River (Kate Grenville) follows a newly arrived convict in Sydney. I see this book on many reading and book group lists but I found it slow with a sudden conclusion – one of those where you get the feeling the deadline hit so the last chapter replaced several that had been planned.
The Invisible Library (Genevieve Cogman) imagines a situation where librarians are the secret service travelling between worlds to save influential books. I really enjoyed the imagined world, the characters and the story and will be looking out for more in the series
Channel Blue (Jay Martel) imagines that Earth was created for a reality TV programme. Again the imagined situation was interesting and the characters fun but I found it slow in places.
I saw a fabulous ballet version of A Streetcar Named Desire which was energetic and raw and told the story without words.
I also had fun with yarn – I’ve shared all my crochet projects (spirals, giraffe and hot air balloon). I also played with double dowel ‘god’s eye’ which I saw on the internet – instructions here. I remember making these as a child with 2 crossed sticks. Adding another 2 sticks does make it more complicated but I love the end results. I started with thicker dowel but found it hard to work so found some skewers in a kitchen drawer and they were perfect.
Looking forward to more spring colour in April – inspired by this array of pansies I spotted in the garden centre on the last day of March
