Looking Up and Down

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…on the dog walk

Today I took my long lens with me when Pepsi & I went on our walk, big mistake. The lens is too long (banging about on my midriff!) and too heavy to use, even with a very fast shutter speed, with an excited, very bouncy greyhound on the end of a lead…

Look up sparrrow

Look down daisy

I liked the yellows in this pair. The yellow of the pollution against the fresh yellow of the daisy appealed to me.
I went out with the intention of looking for some up & down pictures, I love how this meme does that. Thank you Helena.

Hello Ragamuffin Friends

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No, not you. This little gang

Rag Friends

And a big Hello Donkey!
Donkey

At last I pinned him down or hung him up actually. In Carla Sonheim’s Rags to Stitches class we were supposed to make a pony but I made a donkey.

On hearing the name of the town I live in people (generally from the UK) say “The donkeys!” or “Oh! you have donkeys!” or “Are the donkeys still there?” as if they roam the streets! Then there are the folks that have visited our town and have seen the donkeys (not roaming the streets) “Are the donkeys still on the beach?” Yes to all of them (and we love them) and now I have one hanging around from my chandelier(!)

I struggled with the donkey. Not because I couldn’t make him but unknown to me I was coming down with a sickness bug. Try as I might, one afternoon last week I was stitching away but had not heart for it. I had to give in and went to bed complaining that “even my donkey is miserable looking”
And then, stop reading if you are of a queasy disposition, all hell broke out of me! for two days!! anyway both me and the donkey are well and happy now.
I am ready to complete the class with the making of an elephant!

Hope you have a happy, and well week. Isn’t it glorious to have sunshine? and on a Bank Holiday here in the UK.

Story Telling Sunday

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May 2013 Picture the Precious

With thanks to Sian over at High in the Sky there will be wonderful stories to share right here today.
What a great way to spend the UK Bank Holiday weekend; a cup of tea and a piece of cake? or maybe a cream tea? curled up with a few cosy stories. Much better than being stuck in the traffic or trying to get into my town…impossible on a Bank Holiday.

Here’s mine.

My Camera

It is the first thing that I have called my precious. Other things have had memories attached to them, and it is the memory that is precious to me. My camera is a precious thing that would be around my neck if ‘the place caught fire’
I have always loved looking at photographs.
My father was an aerial photographer in the RAF; I grew up seeing the beautiful black & white portraits that he took of me as a very young child.
I don’t remember him holding a camera although he must have done as we have many pictures he will have taken. Actually, as I type I do remember the dreadful feeling of embarrassment at having my picture taken and of him being annoyed with me for ‘not smiling’ Oh this practice of writing sure brings back some memories, and at the strangest times.
Dad also loved to travel and everywhere he went he bought postcards that he put into an album… the first scrapbook I ever saw.
Strangely enough though I don’t remember a camera at home. My brothers don’t either so I have no old camera equipment but I do have a couple of those early scrapbooks.
My precious then is my Canon EOS 500D (digital) SLR.
I take it everywhere, it used to live on top of my handbag but with growing confidence I hang it around my neck. The soft and stretchy strap is comfortable on my skin.
I love the feel of the camera in my hands; it fits perfectly and feels solid and safe. I never feel as though I will drop it.
The sound of the shutter is so very satisfying, it almost clunks…which is strange as the camera is digital, which I think of as silent…
I have a few lenses now but my favourite is my 50mm, it lives on the camera because it is short, light and very portable.
My camera enables me to pursue a hobby that I love, recording what I see, where we go and what we do. The good times and the not so good times, which are harder to record.
It is here on my desk downloading the picture that I hope will be here…

P1040614.

Whatever you do this weekend I hope it makes you happy.

Photo-Heart Connection

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At the beginning of the month Kat Sloma invites us to look through our photos from the previous month and choose one that stands out and speaks to the heart.

I had a couple of ‘dates with my camera’ in April, we have had some beautiful sunny days, the dog is getting the hang of me saying “hang on I need to make a picture”, I have been practicing using my macro lens and I have had a lesson on making some better pictures with my phone. All this activity resulted in 728 pictures in my April folder!
And the one that speaks the loudest?
This one.

Quince

I took it with my iPhone. It is out of focus, due to camera shake (hence the lessons).
But I think it is beautiful.
The evening I took it was fun, full of love & laughter and a gorgeous meal.
On the way back to the car, I noticed this Quince in the half-light, which amused my family. They wanted to know how someone with such poor eyesight could see anything let alone recognise a plant in the dark?

My grandmother had a quince out side her front door when I was a child. She made quince jelly with the fruits but I loved the flower in the spring.
The Owl and the Pussycat ate slices of quince didn’t they? At my (primary) school, in our English class, we learnt Edward Lears rhyme for a spoken poetry and prose competition.

How could I not choose this picture? I am smiling at the memories as I type.

I took the picture and put some digital magic over it.
I saw the possibility of beauty within the blur.
Look longer. Look harder. Look deeper.
You might just find what you’re looking for…
Or something better?

I enjoy participating in Kat’s monthly practice and there are always beautiful Photo Heart Connections there.