Ten on the Tenth

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I am linking up with Shimelle again with another list! Ooooh how I love lists.

My Desert Island Discs

Plus 2 (thanks Shimelle) because you can only really take 8 records to the Island.
Desert Island Discs is an extremely popular radio programme over here in the UK, which began in 1942. The current presenter is Kirsty Young, very simply, she invites her guest to choose 8 records that they would take to a desert Island. They tell the story of their life and the music and Kirsty plays the piece. On to the Island you can also take a book (The Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare are already there) and you can take a luxury item.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr

I started to put this list together a few years ago but I found it impossible to finish. I would find it impossible to choose 10 CD’s. How can you choose just 10 pieces of music or 10 songs?

Here are 5 pieces of Classical and 5 tracks that I really love, and have loved for a very long time. I am not saying it’s my definitive list mind!

LO Chrissy W Two Peas and the paper is Katie Pertiet


Mahler Symphony No.5, 4th Mvt “Adagietto”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFQQsu6VBYA
“Wouldn’t you just die without Mahler?” from the film Educating Rita. Yes I think might.

Beethoven – Symphony No. 6 Mov. 2 (Scene by the Brook) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXm1OgOISv4
Quite simply, it reminds me of my mother. Her favourite piece of music was Elizabethan Serenade which I think it sounds like this Beethoven piece.

Sibelius Karelia Suite Op.11; Intermezzo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtIw5AkUEsE
This stirs my soul, I love the way it rises and rises to a wonderful crescendo and just seems to take my breath away until it is over. I turn the radio right up when I hear the opening notes.

E.Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 – II.Adagio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CJDZTUnhPA&feature=related
Just the most beautiful, romantic, quiet, silky soft and gentle piece..

The Balcony Scene by Craig Ogden
This is from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je3KyWWW8pA
I listen to this every night at the moment to help send me off to sleep.

So, some classical pieces that are food for my soul. The following five take me to a time, a place or a person or all three!

Van Morrison Into the Mystic from Astral weeks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVAnlke_xUY
I first heard Van Morison in the mid seventies, quite late for a Van Fan and this track is from one of the first LP’S I had of his. I have a huge collection of his music now and really found it impossible to choose just one so I went for this earlier track, his voice is quite young and of course so was I. It takes me right back to the cottage where I lived in 1970 something.

Christie Moore So do I from Live at the Point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u50h9thpJSE
This CD takes me to my friend’s kitchen and a pair of kittens Oh so many years ago. I am sure I must have told this story before? Another time perhaps.
I cannot choose between Christy and Van, they are entwined in my heart. I chose this track because it reminds me of my dearest friend who lost her battle with cancer a few years ago now. No doubt I could tell that story too!

Bob Dylan A Simple Twist of Fate from Budokan
A very long time ago Bob Dylan played in Birmingham. The box office opened early one morning at the theatre in Oxford. As we lived quite near we decided to go along and get tickets. Oh if only it had been that easy. We queued for 14 hours before we got to the front of the queue! Yes of course it was worth it, I have loved Bob’s music forever. And this was the first concert (I think they are called gigs now) that I went to. This is also my favourite album, I like the atmosphere of it, and as I can only have one track this is it.

Dire Straits You’re so far away from Sultans of Swing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hVKG9wFelk&feature=related
Another story waiting to be told. This is from the tape that we took into hospital when I went for my egg recovery at the IVF clinic in 1988. It takes me right back to the day, the room, the hour. We listened to Dire Straits music a lot around that very special time in our lives.


The Mavericks Dance the night away from Trampoline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M81ph3BslqQ

In June 1999 we went out to Montreal for Paul’s work. We had hoped to stay there but life had other plans. Anyway before we left the UK, our friends had a wonderful party for us. This was one of the tracks that takes me back to Elaine’s garden, dancing on the lawn in the early hours of the morning.
Two nights before the party we went to see The Mavericks in Birmingham.

OK, what book to take?
A book of blank pages so that I could write down all my thoughts, hopes and dreams? with the pencil that would never run out of course.

My luxury item would be my camera with a never ending supply of batteries and memory.
Would I really like to go? Would you like to go?
Another post perhaps…

Shimelles blog is here, but the link isn’t working yet, perhaps later?

Texture Tuesday

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The Number Three Edition

kimklassencafe

This week Kim Klassen has challenged us to work with the number three…and one of her lovely textures of course.
I had lots of fun with this as I remembered a long time ago I did a project called ‘Looking for three’ It might have been with Shimelle, I can’t remember. Apart from number 3 that I made with the wheat husks that were laying all over my floor because the wind blew everything off the window sil!! the pictures were taken at Bristol Zoo in July 2010.

This has the original layer set to screen mode and then a layer of Bent Edges texture set at normal with the opacity set to 50%.

Tapir has Apple Butter Texture set at soft light.

The penguins have Not Too Shabby texture, not quite to the edges to leave a frame, and set to soft light.

The bees have Canvasback texture set at soft light.

More fabulous texture work and interpretations of Three are here.

Ooops! My lizards nearly got away!

Perhaps they didn’t like Kim’s magic texture on them!

Project 64

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At Project 64 we are looking for red this week.

What a great colour and it is everywhere I look, from milk bottle tops, to toy busses from Gazania to Geranium and from my new nail colour to my shoulders from sitting in the sun too long!
Here are my finds, at least the ones I think are suitable for publication!
My favourite and the one I am entering for week 26 is this tomato because that’s what everyone said I looked like after the hottest weekend we have had since I can’t remember when..

My entry for Project 64 week 26


And some other beautiful reds around me this week.
Gazania still looking fabulous in the sun.

Raspberries so sweet and luscious this year, and in my favourite blue bowl.

And a red rose for my boy because he thinks that red is the only colour a rose should be.

Have a look at some stunning finds for red over here at Project 64

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

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Another Savenger Hunt is on and this week were are looking for;

Pop of Colour
Crossing Thresholds
X-Ray
Toy
Hidden or Farm

These are what I found

Pop of Colour
I had lots of ideas for this but I like this one because the poppy reminds me of my friend and as the background was dark to begin with I played with making the background black and putting the flower in an oval frame. Both a first for me.


Crossing Thresholds
I was really interested in the tutorial suggested for this prompt and went to our local park and took loads of pictures of pergolas, arches, gaps in walls etc and was very pleased with the interpretations and my understanding of ‘crossing thresholds’ then yesterday, I went along to a charity abseil which was in a local disused quarry and took loads more pictures of rocks and wild flowers and interesting ‘things’ and suddenly realised that these brave folk were actually (and some of them) metaphorically, crossing a threshold!
Not perfect but I like it…

X-Ray
This got me stumped. I looked for some tutorials, they all started out by suggesting I wear something flimsy and floaty! Oh dear, that would be too scary for a Sunday. I had something I thought would be ‘OK’ and then I looked at Ashley’s blog post and followed the link to a sensible tutorial! The penny dropped. Invert black & white.
I put a picture into photoshop, changed it to black and white and remembered my shortcut ‘CMD I’ and wow! a kind of x-ray.
I had such fun, faces or hands were the best but as the picture looks so strange I thought I had better use my own face! How brave is that?

A little red double decker bus, once much loved, now discarded, but I know where the box of cars are!

Hidden or Farm
I have two for this because my indecisive nature has taken hold this afternoon.
These bunnies had the biggest barn you ever did see, on the farm I went to visit and there they were hiding in this little shelter!

On a walk yesterday I saw this! how I saw it I have no idea. Those of you that know me will be astonished because you know that I am as blind as a bat! That’s how Scavenger Hunt has gotten hold of me!

Have a look over here for some fabulous finds this week.
And to think I wasn’t going to play this week!