The Ghaf Tree
Posted on September 16, 2016
In the desert outside Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, this single, isolated, ghaf tree somehow manages to flourish.
Thursday Doors: St-Germain-de-Confolens
Posted on September 15, 2016
St-Germain-de-Confolens is yet another pretty little village that’s only a twenty minute drive from here at Tranquility Base (we’re surrounded by them, but who’s complaining?), although it’s in a different département – Charente as opposed to Haute-Vienne.
Effectively, it’s just one street that runs parallel to the Charente river. However, the doors are interesting and there are enough of them to need two instalments to dispay here.
You need to be careful stepping out of this one:
These two are actually next to each other in real life, as it were:
In this one, I like that the gateway echoes the shape of the door behind it:
The door’s okay in this one, but I was particularly drawn to the tatty shutter on the window at top left:
And finally for this week, you can’t help wondering if there’s a secret garden behind this little door:
Thursday Doors 15 September 2106
Tuesdays of Texture: Octopus
Posted on September 13, 2016
This week, a bit of the yuck factor. It’s not to everybody’s taste – certainly not mine (and I’ve tried it) – but there’s no doubt that octopus does have a distinctive texture, even if it’s not one you would go out of your way to feel. Or eat.
This example was photographed on a stall in the Fish Market near the Rialto Bridge in Venice, so at least you can assume it was fresh.
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 6 – Red
Posted on September 12, 2016
Red features prominently in this image of a vintage car – although the red on the left side of the bodywork is actually a reflection of the car parked next to it, which was all red – but not very photogenic.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Edge
Posted on September 12, 2016
In the centre of the town of Thiers, in the Auvergne region of France, the perspective of this image of the upper story of a medieval house provides plenty of edges – appropriately enough, as Thiers is famously the centre of French knife (and, more broadly, cutlery) production.
Thursday Doors: Thiers – Even(s) More
Posted on September 8, 2016
This, I promise, is the final instalment of the myriad interesting doors of Thiers, this time featuring the even numbers. The first is notable for its very elaborate stone surround:
I’ve put these next two side by side as they are like mirror images:
And these two because of their similar shapes. Note the ironwork above the door on the left:
Finally, judging by the debris in front of this door, something of a renovation project is going on behind it.
Next week we’re off somewhere closer to home that, on a recent visit, proved to be just as fascinating in the door department.
Thursday Doors 8 September 2016
Tuesdays of Texture: Frost
Posted on September 6, 2016
One of the few things that have thrived through this summer’s drought has been the grass known as Queen Anne’s Lace. Late last year, however, I took this photograph of frost on one of the characteristic seedheads. I like the contrast between the detail on the nearer stem and the out-of-focus blur of the one behind it.
Share Your World – 2016 Week 36
Posted on September 6, 2016
Once again I find myself at the proverbial loose end and am drawn to participate in Cee’s Share Your World
If you were given a boat or yacht today, what would you name it? (You can always sell the yacht later)
Well, since the British Antarctic Survey rode roughshod over the democratically-expressed will of the people and decided to call their new research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough (new readers start here), I’ll step into the breach and go for Boaty McBoatface.
I’d definitely be selling it, though. I’m mindful of the well-known description of yachting as ‘standing under a cold shower tearing up £20 notes’. And apart from all other considerations, I live about 120 miles from the sea.
Which of Snow White’s 7 dwarfs describes you best? (Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey) Plus what would the 8th dwarf’s name be?
Grumpy, obviously. Ask anyone.
As for the eighth dwarf, take your pick: how about Boozy? Slapdash? Sloppy? Or perhaps one of these guys would shake it up a bit:
Name a song or two which are included on the soundtrack to your life?
Asked and answered on numerous occasions elsewhere, including here. To keep it simple though, a couple of Grateful Dead masterpieces with telling lines:
Eyes Of The World – “Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own”:
Franklin’s Tower – “If you get confused, listen to the music play”:
Complete this sentence: I like watching…
Full stop. Like Peter Sellers’ character in Being There, ‘I like to watch’.
If I must be more specific, then the Six Nations Rugby tournament: there is nothing like it. Only another five months to wait.
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 5 – Sunset
Posted on September 5, 2016
Looking through my photo library, I seem to have rather more pictures of sunsets than of sunrises. No surprise there: sunrises tend to involve having to get up early.
Nothing wrong with sunsets though, and this one, featuring the silhouetted line of trees that forms the boundary between our two fields, is a good example.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror
Posted on September 3, 2016
A pretty straightforward response to this week’s challenge subject of ‘Mirror’, but I like the way that (fortuitously) the reflected clouds blend with the actual clouds beyond, while the blue sky between the clouds in the mirror itself reflects the curve of the road.
This mirror is at a particularly awkward junction in the nearby town of Le Dorat, although the road was clear when I took the photograph: just as well, because I was probably standing in the middle of it at the time.
And here’s another mirror image, also from Le Dorat and already published in another post, with clouds reflected in one of the metal discs that demarcate parking spaces in the main square:
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