Tuesday Photo Challenge: Memories

I wonder if Frank had forgotten that the theme for this week’s Tuesday Photo Challenge – Memories – is the same as one he set in March this year?

Whatever, this is perhaps the oldest photo I’ve ever posted here, it having been taken in the summer of 1978 on a family holiday in Cornwall. That’s our daughter being delighted at her first experience in a boat that we’d come across when she and I went for a walk on the beach.

I remember quite clearly that when we got back to where we were staying she went round proudly telling anyone who would listen: “I’ve been in a boat”.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Memories

Mist on the river

The Vienne river flows over the weir on a misty morning in the town of Chabanais.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Flowing water

Thursday Doors: Mezieres-sur-Issoire (Finale)

This week we have what are, to the best of my knowledge, the last few photogenic doors in the local village of Mézières-sur-Issoire

Last week’s post ended with the door at 1 Rue du Lavoir. Here are some more doors from the same little street:

In rather better condition is this shed door, to be found on the main road:

And finally, just to prove that we’re all out of doors, an impressively weatherbeaten pair of shutters (big enough to be a door)

Thursday Doors 15 November 2018

Friday Night Lights

In response to Cee’s Fun ‘Foto’ Challenge with the theme of ‘lights’, here is another night shot taken from the balcony of our apartment in Abu Dhabi, with traffic busy as usual on Hamdan Street.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Lights

Glass of wine, anyone?

Shine a light through a glass of red wine and some of the effects can be quite pleasing.

(Same goes for drinkng it.)

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Liquid Drinks

Thursday Doors: Mezieres-sur-Issoire (encore)

A couple of weeks ago saw the annual ‘Expo’ of arts and ‘passions’ in our local village. As in previous years, Madame dispalyed some of her quilts, to widespread approbation, while I stuck up a few photographs for people to walk past without noticing.

Once again, I took the opportunity after lunch to go for a wander around parts of the village that are off the beaten track and managed to find a few doors (enough for this week and next, at any rate) that I had somehow missed in previous years.

This first one is actually on the main road, but down at ground level I’d not noticed it before.

The next few doors were along a road that leads out of town into the countryside.

This one is particularly interesting – if you like that kind of thing – as it’s clear from the surrounding stonework that it’s been repurposed at least twice in its history:

Back in the centre of the village is a little lane, Rue du Lavoir (Laundry Street), that few would venture along without a specific purpose – or the need to feed the insatiable Doors monster:

Thursday Doors 8 November 2018

How to shear a sheep

Cee wants to see some images of tools this week. I spotted this in the Museum in Perigueux.

As the card states, it’s a pair of scissors for shearing sheep. They’ve been in the museum since 1914, but date from some time in the late 19th century at a guess. They are made of iron, no doubt by a village blacksmith.

Nowadays, sheep are sheared using electric clippers, which is obviously a lot quicker than this traditional method – although only a few years ago we watched our neighbour and his wife shearing one of their sheep with a pair quire similar to these.

Next year, the World Sheep-Shearing Championship (yes, there is such a thing) will be held in the nearby town of Le Dorat. I sense a major photo opportunity.

Cee’s Fun ‘Foto’ Challenge: Tools

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Comfort

Frank’s theme for his Tuesday Photo Challenge is ‘comfort’. The idea of comfort can be either physical or mental of course or – in this image from the Vallée des Singes of a baby gorilla taking a ride on its mother’s back – very probably both.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Comfort

Prelude to Prizegiving

These rows of plastic chairs were set out for the prize-giving ceremony at the Doué La Fontaine roses festival. We didn’t stay for that, but as the proceedings were scheduled to start during France’s World Cup semi-final match, I suspect that quite a few of them stayed empty.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Chairs

Thursday Doors: Chabanais Revisited

Taking a break from the treasures of Perigueux, I recently revisited the nearby (40 minute drive) town of Chabanais, which was featured here about a year ago. I managed to discover a few more interesting doors.

After last week’s diet of exclusively brown doors, here, by way of a change, are a couple of green ones:

And a white one, with some interesting metalwork:

This one’s back to brown, but also has the redeeming feature of metalwork:

While this one also has a weathered shutter to enjoy:

But here’s my favourite from this week’s selection, spotted through a broken window in a derelict house:

Thursday Doors 1 November 2018