Photo Challenge – Page 162

Bench series #33

For the month of August I’m looking for a colourful bench

(This month I want to see photos of a bench that is painted or stained or otherwise coloured in some way. Not the plain wooden variety unless there is some colour detail)

The windmill

The Crane

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: August
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in September.

My Picks of the Week:

Violetsky has an unusual colourful bench this week and Tgeriatrix has more mosaics from Spain. Colline is all hot-pink in Toronto and staying in Canada Amy takes us on a delightful stroll with a bright blue bench at the end. Ruth finds some comfy ‘benches’ over in Tasmania that you might not want to sit in at the moment.

As always there are so many delightful benches to view, I hope you will check out the other links within the comment section.

Monthly Photo Challenge: The Changing Seasons #8

Whatever happened to the summer?

Month eight already? This year is zooming past sooo quickly. I have already noticed the night drawing in around 9 pm now. And summer is coming to an end. I no longer hear the dawn chorus and the swifts and their offspring appear to have gone back to Africa. And here in the Marches it has been unseasonally grey for weeks. The odd summer day breaks through, but I crave for more sunlight to get me through the winter.

The challenge asks you to change the time of day; perhaps have a go at night photography; play with your camera settings. I have decided to show some of my monthly location in black and white. Not just any black and white, but a grainy film mode on my new camera. I went out for a nature walk around the castle in the golden hour, just before the sun set. Fancy coming with me?

First have a look at those funny trees I showed you in January, the pollarded limes (Linden). Pollarding is a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common in Europe since medieval times and is practised today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined height. Wikipedia

The Lime (LInden) trees (August)

Pollarded Lime trees (January)

Date: August 12 2015
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: (23°C during the day, warm and calm in the evening)
Time: 19:30 – 20:30 PM

The wild flowers have grown tall and some are almost over. The Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) that dominates the castle slope are full of fluffy seed-heads. A successful coloniser this flower is known as ‘Bombweed’ in the south of England due to its increasing spread as a result of the clearing of bombed sites during both wars. Ragwort is still in flower, but the thistles are now in seed. Continue reading Monthly Photo Challenge: The Changing Seasons #8

Grey/Gray Door

Only just in time for Ailsa’s Grey theme this week, I spotted this grey door on my way home after gathering photos for the monthly seasonal challenge. Alternatively I could have simply taken a picture of the sky as it is a particularly solid pale grey lump today. Sigh…

As you can see it is very difficult to get a straight line in Ludlow. Oh, and this is my 475th post on this blog. Just thought I’d share that… 🙂

Edit: As my grey door appears to be a blue door (and I accept that it is a blue-grey, even though I know the door is more charcoal grey) I have been back to take another image with a different camera, and here it is. To be honest it is STILL not as dark a grey as it is in reality.

Bench series #32

For the month of August I’m looking for a colourful bench

(This month I want to see photos of a bench that is painted or stained or otherwise coloured in some way. Not the plain wooden variety unless there is some colour detail)

in the round — I loved the shape and colourful frame of these otherwise ordinary wooden benches in Alert Bay, Canada

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

Create your own post and title it Bench Series: August
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in September.

My Picks of the Week:

Gilly was first in with a gorgeous Gaudi bench in Barcelona. Followed quickly by another mosaic offering from Tgeriatrix and a lovely Asian carved bench from Debbie, who must be the most well-travelled person on here.
Violetsky has a very colourful arty bench and keeping with the arty theme just look at the mosaics from Pauline with a link to a fascinating sculpture garden in NZ.
Moving from arty to hearts ❤ ❤ ❤ we have Polianthus
Colourful but not comfortable from Klara whilst
Lori adds a poem to hers and finally Aletta is in the pink!

As always there are so many delightful benches to view, I hope you will check out the other links within the comment section.

Art Beneath Your Feet

A city where it is impossible not to look at what is beneath your feet is Lisbon, Portugal. The endless intricate patterns of the cream and black cobbles automatically draw your eyes down. Known as calçada (Portuguese Pavements) some, like the wave pattern above and below in Praca Dom Pedro IV Square (Rossio), can even interfere with your balance and make people look as though they are floating above the pavement.

Waves — This is where it all started, Rossio Square, given the wave patterns in 1849.

Arch to Praca do Comércio

Belem Wave pattern

Belem Astrological Sign – Gemini

In Belém coloured marble is used with the flat cobbles to create patterns and pictures including a map of the world depicting the voyages that Portuguese explorers made during the Age of Discovery.