Monthly Photo Challenge: September

One thousand, nine hundred and seventy-five miles and I am finally back home in Cornwall. Not spent enough of this month at home to do a challenge post on the Cornish blog, so here is a summary of my September elsewhere in the UK.

Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle

Starting with a wedding in Colchester, Essex and then winding slowly northwards along the eastern side of the country to Edinburgh, where I met up with the delightful restless one – fellow blogger Jo who has now retreated to her home in the Algarve for a rest. Finishing with a relaxing week in the “Country of the Big Trees” – Perthshire and a brief stopover in Shrewsbury to visit the mother-in-law.

The wedding went off fine, a lovely bright and sunny day after a couple of humid and grey ones so the ceremony and the buffet were held outdoors. A beautiful cake made up of dozens of flower-iced cupcakes, unfortunately I prefer my cake to have more cake than icing and this wasn’t the case. Looked incredible though. And neither the bride nor her father managed to trip over on the uneven flooring!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Weather-wise it was a pretty good month. Began with hot and humid in Essex, a wet day in Norwich, sunshine and clear skies in Lincolnshire, back to hot and humid in Durham followed by a couple of days in the murky fog and damp, before becoming sunny and bright once more in Scotland. Rained pretty much all the way home, but you can’t have it all!

Glamis Castle, Scotland
Glamis Castle, Scotland

I will write about each of the places we visited in turn, once I have sorted through the hundreds of photos and caught up with stuff back home – not least the garden which appears to have gone wild during my absence.

[the header image is of the skyline in Edinburgh – for some reason the skyline caught my eye there more than anything else – all those spires and chimneys]

The Cardinal is continuing his photo project throughout 2016 – a blogging event, a monthly photo challenge. Read his blog for the new rules this year (he is running two versions) and to view his interpretation and those of other participants.

Monthly Photo Challenge: March Move

Not quite there yet, but light at the end of the tunnel and a visit to our new house last weekend was full of sunshine and blue skies. So nice that it seemed a shame to stay in the house and clean and plan, so we didn’t! Friday morning dawned bright and blue and we headed for the nearby Trencrom hill where you can get a view of both coasts. Mount’s Bay with the iconic St Michael’s Mount to the east and St Ives Bay with the Godrevy lighthouse to the west. And a view north along the coast as far as Padstow on a clear day.

DSCF3813
Hayle beaches and the coastline to the north

Spying a field full of daffodils in the distance made me want to go and photograph one (field that is not a single daffodil) so we clambered back down the hill and got in the car and drove to one place where I remembered seeing daffodils a couple of years ago near Rinsey Head.

A bowl of chowder for lunch in the delightful village of Porthleven was followed by a walk to the Wheal Prosper engine house. A sunny day in Cornwall and all the stress melted away…

The Cardinal is continuing his photo project throughout 2016 – a blogging event, a monthly photo challenge. Read his blog for the new rules this year (he is running two versions) and to view his interpretation and those of other participants.

 

Monthly Photo Challenge: Frantic February

Many of my blogging friends already know that I have been hoping to move to the West Country and I am at long last happy to say that it shouldn’t be much longer! So February is filled with de-cluttering, cleaning, packing and LOTS of boxes! Not much time for taking photographs I’m afraid, but I hope you will enjoy my first Cornish sunset with me from my new home.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And, yes, that is MY corkscrew hazel(?) tree 🙂

The Cardinal is continuing his photo project throughout 2016 – a blogging event, a monthly photo challenge. Read his blog for the new rules this year (he is running two versions) and to view his interpretation and those of other participants.

 

Monthly Photo Challenge: Frosty January

I was beginning to think I would never get any frost or snow photos of Ludlow. The last time I saw a really hard hoar-frost was several years ago. Then on Wednesday I awoke to a beautiful softly coloured sunrise – and frost!

DSCF3744

Not only was there a hard frost, but also fog diffusing light. An ideal time to grab the camera and wander down by the river.

Date: January 20 2016
Weather: cold, freezing fog, but sunny
Temperature: Cold (0°C)
Time: 13:20 – 14:25 PM

Excited by the thought that I might find some rime ice on leaves and trees I first went down to the river by the Mill Weir, where I hoped to get a view of the river and the trees along the Breadwalk. Because the sun was coming from my left, the trees were in darkness with just a glimmer of gold on my side of the river. Continue reading Monthly Photo Challenge: Frosty January

Monthly Photo Challenge: A year in Ludlow

(The header shows what it should look like at this time of year)

lime tree collage
A year of the lime (linden) trees

Here is a slideshow of images taken throughout the year and if you want to view each month then please follow the links at the end.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One of the most beautiful things about Britain is the changing season. From the fresh greens and soft rains in spring, the bountiful colours and long light-filled evenings of summer, the turning colours and misty mornings of autumn to the frosty clear days of winter. There is nothing quite like it and I treasure the constant shift. And thanks to this challenge I have enjoyed recording this year around my home town and sharing its beauty with you. I hope you have enjoyed it too. I have also enjoyed looking around localities at different times of the year all over the world.

The Cardinal  ran a photo project going throughout 2015 – a blogging event, a monthly photo challenge. The idea was to find a location near your home, take somewhere between 5-20 photos and post them in a gallery in your blog and to continue to do so every month. The idea was to capture all the changes: the seasons, the weather, different times of the day, some night photography perhaps? And news is that he is going to run the challenge for another year. So maybe you will join in?

january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december