DRINK UP!

 

Carmi's Challenge this week is DRINK UP!    So I prowled round the house with my camera, and came up with some green bottles (sorry, only 4 of them!) and some fruit juices waiting for the summer!

 

 

Now for a nice cup of tea………..

AUTUMN (or Fall, if you prefer!)

 

Carmi's Photographic Challenge this week is Fall – or as I know it, Autumn!   Its a wee bit early for Autumn colours here, but I went out with my camera very early, while the sun was still low, and found what I could in the Park.

I did think there were already a lot of leaves fallen – mostly brown and crispy.   I wonder if the trees have suffered from our exceedingly wet summer?

 

There was a heavy dew and the grass and leaves were soaking wet.

But it didn’t stop them looking attractive!

 

Early sun on a sycamore

 

The Horse Chestnut has dropped a large part of its leaves already

 

And the Beech is only just starting to turn colour

 

Looking up through the branches of the Chinese Rowan tree in our garden.   The leaves turn dark pink/red on top, and yellow underneath

SHINY

 

Carmi's challenge this week is SHINY – follow this link to see all things Shiny from other Photographic Bloggers!

 

My favourite ‘shiny’ is this gorgeous dog, sitting on guard outside the Cathedral in Gran Canaria.   The Canary Islands are named after the Latin word for dog, and there are four beautiful dogs in the square.   I don’t know what they are sculpted from, but it is a glorious dark green, and very shiny, stone.

 

I think my next favourite is this lovely glass bowl.    It is very heavy, and I was hoping it was Mdina glass when I found it in an antique market.   Unfortunately there is no mark, but it is so thick and heavy, with greeny-bluey colours spun in the glass that I think it might be.

 

Nice shiny pepper and tomatoes are just making me hungry!

 

These Rosehips are hanging from a big bush in our front garden.   The bush is covered with them and they look very pretty.   As do the young leaves in Spring, which are pink/red, and the flowers are traditional pale pink single roses.   Altogether a very useful bush!

I’ve added this photo of all four dogs in Gran Canaria so you can see the scale and how beautiful they are!   “My” dog is on the left.

GROUNDED

 

Carmi's Photographic Challenge this week is GROUNDED.  So I took my camera out this morning, despite the fact it was pouring with rain!  

 

We had had gales over the last couple of days (I think more are forecast!) so there was plenty of stuff grounded!

 

 

 

 

And the paths were glistening in the pouring rain

 

 

 

 

In a lovely early morning sun, however, the shadows were long and the dew heavy.

 

 

I know this isn’t strictly grounded, although there is plenty of mud underneath the water! 

Perhaps Trollied would be a better term!

 

 

 

 

And lastly, our friendly robin, who will practically sit on your feet if the ground is being dug!

ALL THINGS RETRO

Carmi's Challenge this week is all things RETRO – and a year or so ago I went to a “40’s Weekend”.   I found it very amusing that everyone wanted to dress up in what they saw as 40’s clothes, and dress up was the word.   Up to the nines, as they say!   But I can remember coupons, lack of anything useful like knitting wool, and my mother carefully unravelling old knitted jumpers to reknit them up for me and my sister.  Well, when I say my mother unravelled – she did the knitting, I did the unravelling!

However, at the 40’s weekend, I came across some wonderful HATS!

 

 

 

The “Weekend” was held at an old Railway Station (actually still used by a steam train up and down an old line) all done out as it would have been pre WWII.   I found these milk churns on the platform.   Do you remember seeing them at the end of the lane up to the farm, waiting for the milk lorry to collect?   Not nowadays, all pumped straight into the big tankers. 

 

 

And then there was this marvellous Art Deco window in Gran Canaria, Spain.

 

 

And if you really want Retro, don’t you just love me and my sister, with her pigtails, and our little puffed sleeves.   This would be about 1944 I think.   My sister is wearing a hand-me-down from me, and I am wearing either one made from my mother’s dress or a hand-me-down from someone else who had an older child than me!

 

 

Ah, happy days!

ANGLES AND ANGULAR

Carmi's Photographic Challenge this week is Angles and angular.

 

Under the famous Bridge at Lisbon.   I love the dolphins on the base!

 

You might have seen this before – that black speck at the top is my husband at the top of the Monument in Anglesey.

 

One sunbed is boring – stacked up they make a pattern

Reflections

High, High in the air!

 

Roofs in Tromso, Norway

Everyone else has put cranes in, so thought I would!   They are at Zeebrugge

Exercise time at sea!

Do comment on them, I love to read what you think!

WEATHERED AND WORN

 

Carmi’s challenge this week is for things that have been weathered and worn.   I translated this as things worn in use, preferably outside, in the weather!

To see more interpretations go to this link.

 

 

These oil cans certainly seem to have seen a lot of hard wear!

 

And this is the seat (underneath) of an old wooded folding chair we keep down the end of the garden for the benefit of those labouring there!

And that’s me lot this week!