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4 candles to represent Advent and light, holly with berries for suffering and life force, Marigold’s for healing, a rose for love and a bell to welcome the return of the light
'Jac Codi Baw' is the popular name in the Welsh language for a JCB digger. Trs. Jac = Jack, Codi = to lift up, Baw = Earth . This was taken from the car window as we drove to the Lliw Valley Reservoir this morning. I had another two shots which I could have used for my PoTD but I like to vary things because the thing about 365 projects is that you run the risk of taking the same kind of photo year in, year out. The alternatives can be seen next to this in my photostream.
This is following on from yesterdays 'Organised Chaos ' shot and explanation ( in comments). I bought a bunch of red roses to put on the table - this morning when I was tidying up after yesterday, I noticed I'd plonked then in the jug without arranging them properly. I could have hung fire about today's choice of photo because I hope to get out later for some landscape shots but the jury is out on that because of the windy weather
A post and run shot because I've gone down with something similar to Huw , but in my throat. These are the antibiotics I was given yesterday as a precaution but needless to say I've had to start taking them today. Those who recognise what they are may think it odd because there are newer and more effective drugs available these days but it so happens there are very few that I can take, being severely allergic to them . Catch up when this nightmare is over .
When summer arrives, then Verdi's , Mumbles is a 'must visit'. Taken from inside and flipped in Photoshop.
I don't know how everyone else feels after the excesses of Christmas and its rich food, but I'm tired of it myself, so fancied something basic for my dessert at lunchtime.
Me and mine took ourselves out for the day very early on. As a rule we don't go far on a Bank Holiday Monday, so to avoid the traffic we had an adventure driving on unclassified roads, B roads and the like. Our first stop off was at Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber North Pembrokeshire and this was taken on our last stop at Lower Fishguard. It's part of the statue commemorating the historic importance of the herring catch to the economy of the town
This is a mounted photo ready to go on display, along with others , in an MS Cymru Event at The Future Inn, Cardiff Bay next Saturday but d'you think I can remember since I last exhibited whether to use a softer pencil to sign my name to it? I almost took one titled, 'No room to eat' LOL!! because my dining room is full of photo prints , mounts, a photo mobile with postcard sized photos to hang.
Subtitled: Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye....
This is because tomorrow I leave for Cardiff to photo the biggest event ever that I've photo'd for MS Society Cymru. It's the launch of the Stop MS Appeal in Wales at The Clubhouse , The Principality Stadium.
Re the photo itself I tried my best to get the Lego figure to stand up but she kept falling over. I'm so nervous about this that I hope its not an omen because I've been living with MS myself for all my adult life and due to it's fickle nature, I'm just so thankful that I'm (just about) still standing unlike many I meet whose lives are devastated by it.
Disclaimer: I'm not a professional photographer, never have I wished to be - if I'd the time in the past week, I'd have written a Blog Entry about why I do this.
So where else to go when you're a member of The National Botanic of Wales? From their e-newsletter
"As Wales’ national flower, it makes perfect sense for the magnificent daffodil to be so well represented at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Since opening in 2000, the Garden has shown over 50 varieties of this showy, distinctive beauty.
The Growing the Future project’s Daffodil Day will help you to understand the subtle differences between daffodil varieties and show you where to look for them.
There will be an indoor talk at 11.30am in the Paxton Room of Principality House by co-author of the Garden’s new Daffodils booklet, Dr Kevin McGinn, Growing the Future’s Science Officer, followed by an outdoor tour of the Garden’s late spring collections at 1.30pm, plus daffodil craft stalls in the iconic Great Glasshouse."
We didn't make it to the talk or the tour - a little matter of distraction on our part, meaning we took in the Birds of Prey Centre situated there , so I found it difficult to choose ( nothing new there, then) between this and the photo in comments.
Whilst father and son were watching today's rugby, I got back to my own comfort zone of photographing wildlife and flowers at Swansea Botanic Gardens, Singleton, Swansea. No chance of a bird - whisper shot because there were a number of squirrels who showed more interest in the bird food I'd taken with me.
In comments, I've put a phone shot to compare the both . This is because as my life gets busier at a time I'm getting older and stiffer, I may well upload more phone shots for my POTD rather than lug my heavier camera kit around , especially to meetings.
I'd have for once in my life happily stayed in bed this morning after yesterday's Chiro but I desperately wanted to go the second rehearsal of our aMaSing MS choir in Caerphilly this morning. After that we attended a fundraising event at Chapter Arts, Cardiff - a series of radio plays called Multiple Shorts. This overran and we left early otherwise I'd have photo'd the cast after the production. Instead I captured this above the entrance of the building....
In the mustardseed sun,
By full tilt river and switchback sea
Where the cormorants scud,
In his house on stilts high among beaks
And palavers of birds….” Dylan Thomas
These are the first few lines of the poem by Dylan Thomas “On his Birthday” and this is his writing shed in Laugharne. We spent a pleasant hour or more here today en route the Corran Spa and Hotel, 2 miles away further on from here for Afternoon Tea for Two – a wedding anniversary gift from our son. It was a voucher that could be used anytime but I thought it wiser to use it asap because we’ve eaten so much fatty, sugary food of late that I need to get back to my healthy eating regime.
A grab shot from my garden this morning. I'm sure I've uploaded similar before as my POTD but I haven't had much of a chance to take any other shots as I've spent the best part of the day looking for a new computer chair for my desk because mine broke last night. I finally found one but it's going back tomorrow as agreed with the salesman because it's not suitable for my needs.
Seen at WWT Slimbridge today . I used this caption because it reminded me of the book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which is rather a heavy tome on one aspect of philosophy and too complex to go into here, but basically it revolves around the philosophical concept of 'quality'. I couldn't help but smile when I passed this old gent. The pictures he was drawing were quite basic, almost childlike but you can tell by his smile how much joy he was getting sitting, observing and so on and so forth. It made me question the art of photography itself i.e. should we we strive for perfection or should we be satisfied with capturing a moment in time, or in my case therapy which gets me lost in the moment ?
This is Swansea's Singleton Hospital as seen from a balcony of Swansea University's Institute of Life Science. I along with many others including the Mayor of Neath/Port Talbot had been invited here on a tour of the MS Research labs, research which which is funded by MS Society UK. A fascinating insight into the current research going on in my hometown and a particularly moving talk by a PhD student whose aim in life ever since her childhood after seeing and chatting with an aunt who was affected by MS is a life dedicated to this
I also took many others photos as the official photographer for the event which are destined elsewhere, not for Flickr.
This is a Passion Flower in my garden which I've given a bit of a twirl in Photoshop because it describes my morning to a tee. Whilst Huw was at the hospital this morning (getting his 6th and hopefully last post Bowel Cancer CT Scan) I was so busy attending to requests for so many things online that the Song lyrics by Don McLean sprang to mind,
"I feel like a spinning top for a dreidel
The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle
You just slow down
Round and around this world you go
Spinning through lives of the people you know
We all slow down"
When he got home, the first thing he said , because I was so engrossed with what I was doing was , "Hello. This is Wales and you are on Planet Earth!" 😳 then half an hour later, I was still at it , "Ground Control to Major Tom..." 😬..... and breathe..............as they say.
Today we spent the day at The British Birds of Prey Centre to join in their 1st Birthday Celebrations . What a treat it was too, because they flew all their falcons , also brought in the Harris Hawk ( not a British Bird) because it was the first bird they flew when they started up as Pembrokeshire Falconry.
Here's a sneak peek into step one of the journal creation, incorporating 4 different mediums . . .
an original watercolor dragonfly (repeated, reduced and reversed for the smaller image), an acrylic background wash which I once used for business cards while selling on ebay, the circled photographs of my marine bracelet, and finally, the composite created in photoshop.
"The thing about performance, even if it's only an illusion,
is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities.”
~ Sydney Smith ~
Gardening all morning, trying to find our patio again. The rose needed dead-heading, so I kept the same bllom as I photographed the other day to go on the lightpad.
A high-key one, with wooden texture added. This is the only way I can paint!
A surreal day all round what with me watching a toddler's panto inside the Wales Millennium Centre to shelter from the rain (oh no you didn't ! Oh yes I did 😉) for an hour whilst Huw was in MS Society Cymru HQ taking off his hat of Chair of MS Cymru Council and passing it on to his successor - followed by my joining the staff for a Christmas meal including a Quiz and a little matter of both being presented with thank you gifts. I keep wondering like Alice down the rabbit hole, "How did I get to be here? " 😳
I've been working flat out over the weekend along with three of my counterparts on finalising arrangements for a Spring Charity Ball and my initial photo was something to do with that. However as the sun broke out at lunchtime, me and mine took off for WWT Llanelli. What could be more beautiful than the iridescent plumage of a drake mallard in good sunlight?
This story is this (unlike the one in the Oasis song) : we turned our dahlia patch into a wildflower patch expecting to see very much the same flowers as Swansea City Council plant throughout the city. To date, we have a number of these, a few of those poppy-like orange ones, a few tiny but tall stock - like ones and loads if willow herb weeds.... early days yet though but it does look promising..
It's my lovely friend in Hampshire's birthday today. Unbeknown to her, the family arranged a surprise lunch for her and other friends in the Cams Mill, Fareham. We too were invited but had to drive there and back in a day due to Huw's other weekend commitments. I took this before we hit the road this morning at silly o'clock . Too tired after a long day to edit and upload a DLSR pic so a 'thistle doo ' shot. Catch up with commenting tomorrow.
Following on from yesterday's shenanigans. I have no voice to speak of. Granted I'd had a bit of a head cold earlier in the week, but I wasn't expecting this, so I zapped up a fresh orange and took it with a spoonful of honey.
Once I uploaded it I realised that the compo leaves a lot to be desired - too late though because it's all gone.
A trip up to see Guildford Flames play Coventry Blaze.
The home team were 4-1 up after the first period, then allowed Coventry back in, but managed to win by 5-4.
We haven't been to any matches in the UK, but very much enjoyed the two matches we saw in Canada some years ago.
The first was Calgary Flames vs Edmonton Oilers, and the second a local Colts team at Fernie, both while on skiing holidays.
Taken from Lee on Solent.This is part of the National Grid's major new energy infrastructure project, known as IFA2 (Interconnexion France-Angleterre 2), linking the United Kingdom's electricity transmission network to France. The link will help enhance the security, affordability and sustainability of energy supply to both countries.
More here....
This is a trophy I brought home from the Celtic Manor , Well no not quite ;-) - it's a small pebble that cost £3.75 in the Shopping Mall there . The message on it speaks volumes to me .
This is what can happen when , metaphorically speaking , you're spinning so many plates that you risk going into meltdown.
The set - up here is a stack of six bone china tea plates ( no longer available ) given a twirl in Photoshop.
The reason for choosing this is that having undergone a manipulative procedure on my spine today , I need to rest and save my energy for a busy weekend ahead. Will catch up on 365 group commenting when my plates stop spinning after the weekend.
What is it about my "Curiosities of the Causeway" SCC Photowalk that attracts extreme weather?
Back in July we coped with the hottest day of the year. This time there was an amber weather warning for heavy rain.
Looking at the forecast, I was hopeful that this would have gone through early morning, and it would clear for the walk with further rain later, so I held my nerve and didn't cancel.
This was with the proviso that, if it started raining, we would go for an impromptu coffee.
At around 11am the rain started, so here we are heading for coffee in the gloomy conditions, enlivened by a red coat.
During coffee the rain cleared, and we continued, finishing in glorious sunshine!
Treasure Hunt 25: Dim
Each year on 25 January we celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day, or 'Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen' in Wales
"Dwynwen was Wales' patron saint of lovers, and this day is the Welsh equivalent to St Valentine's Day!
The story of Dwynwen dates back to the 5th century, when Dwynwen fell in love with a Prince called Maelon Dafodrill. Her father, Brychan Brycheiniog, was determined that she would marry another man.
Dwynwen was devastated that she couldn’t marry her true love. She begged God to make her forget about Maelon. An angel visited Dwynwen and gave her a potion. The potion was supposed to make her have no memory of Maelon and turned him into a block of ice.
Dwynwen was then granted three wishes. Firstly she wished for Maelon to be thawed, secondly that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers and thirdly she wished that she would never marry.
Dwynwen devoted the rest of life to God’s service, founding a convent on the island of Llandwyn Anglesey Wales. You can still see the remains of the church on the island today."
Still under par myself today but hope to catch up on commenting this evening.
This is is one we have growing in our back garden captured this morning during a brief spell of Spring sunshine. Alternative shot in comments.
My friend Jan who we're staying with coordinates a similar MS Fundraising group to ours in S. Wales with a funkier name than ours , ‘Don't MS with Us' so we popped along to support their Bank Holiday Fundraiser at the annual Stubbington Fayre , where they sold Home Made Cakes, biscuits and various other delicacies , made by the team themselves..
It was the hottest August Bank Holiday on record with very harsh sunlight , hence the phone shot.
I took shelter in the Holy of Holies lunchtime from a heavy shower of rain ( namely 'Huw's Greenhouse ')I was appalled by the mess inside it seeing as he keeps his office at home so immaculately neat and tidy 😳
Cleaned and polished my stained glass panel today, so here it is on the light pad...
Just need to get Dave to fit it now.
Looking down into the harbour at Brønnøysund with afternoon light. Flipped to make a "sky" in the reflections.
Treasure Hunt 39: Impressionism
I first saw a dandelion macro a few years ago, and was fascinated by the structural detail to be seen.
When I heard that Macro Mondays theme for today was "Eye of the Beholder" I initially thought of using yesterday's car, as it was a bit battered. However, I spotted some dandelions, and thought that this would be perfect. How can something be so lovely, yet so unwanted and unloved?
Flower 2" in diameter.
I was given this yesterday by my friend in Hampshire. I'm not allowed to open it yet though. So many January birthdays and celebrations to follow in the coming week, I'm finding it difficult to find time to comment on other 365ers - bear with me.
On the subject of so many January birthdays , it makes me wonder how much truth there is in Alfred Lord Tennyson's quote, “In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Think about it ;-)
What this really is is something I bought in a Craft Fair before Easter to give as a gift to someone but forgot where I'd put it for safety until I was tidying up at home earlier.
It's made by a former colleague of my better half in the days he worked in Education . When she retired herself she set up a business making these novelty gifts. The ones she sells which carry a daffodil emblem, she donates 5% to The Marie Curie Cancer Charity. This one contains a Cadbury's Creme Egg. Now - who can I give it to seeing that I must be the only person on the planet who doesn't like these ?
Cycling Moo Kay was part of the Surrey Cow Parade in 2016, sponsored by my brother. She now lives in his garden. Up in Guildford for a family get-together with cousins, which was very enjoyable.