Art, Creativity, Photography, Travel, Writing

Archive for the ‘gardens’ Category

Travel theme: seeds

I’ve always been fascinated with seeds and seed heads – they make such interesting silhouettes.

Here are some of my seed photos:

20170303_4663-sausage-tree-seedpod

This is a huge seedpod – you can see its size up against the lens cap from my camera. It’s from the sausage tree, found in Botswana. You definitely wouldn’t want to be standing under the tree when one of these drops off!

201003060257

freshly picked lotus seed heads – the seeds are considered a great delicacy and taste a bit like hazel nuts or almonds

20120129_3017_annato-tree-seeds
seeds and pods from the Annato tree (this is where henna comes from)

20170603_4507-nigella-seedheads
Nigella aka Love-in-the-mist seedpods – they produce flowers varying in colour from white through pink to deep blue and self-seed easily

20170603_4510-poppy-heads
how could I not include an image of poppies and their distinctive seed pods

20170610_4649-giant-thistle-head
these giant thistleheads can often be found nailed to the front doors of houses in Southern France as protection against the evil eye

20170611_4687-thistle-heads
more thistles

20170611_4696-thistle-head

and finally, two pieces of artwork created using seeds and seedpods by Marie Noelle Fontan

20140806_0536-Marie-Noelle-Fontan-exhibition

20140806_0545-Marie-Noelle-Fontan-exhibition

View more seeds by following the links on Ailsa’s post

WPC: state of mind

Weekly photo challenge

Sometimes, this is how I feel in the morning
20150502_5993-dovecote_resize

ready to take on the world
20140408_3169-pirate-mouse

all set for a journey
20140408_3161-Arlington-mouse

ready for mischief
200608100001_Mondorf-cat-sculpture_resize

hungry
201108040014_4-hungry-cats

a little light music in the garden
200710070051_Laquenexy-fete-des-jardins-musical-garden_resize

or quiet contemplation
20120830_6379_Wells-cathedral

blinded by the light
20140828_1132-Losium-interior

at the end of the day, a bit ragged around the edges
201504280380-hogweed_resize

ready for bed
201007090126_Van-Gogh-bedroom_resize
although I don’t think I would choose to sleep in Vincent Van Gogh’s bed …..

travels in 2015

Just in case you thought I’d dropped off the planet, I’ve been busy traveling but had time to put together this short collection of some of my photos from this year

http://www.albelli.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/f8a07785-492a-40af-a973-a30397a4b5b7

Daily Post: from every angle

lace cap hydrangeas photographed in the sub-tropical gardens at Abbotsbury, UK

20150807_0376-lacecap-hydrangea_resize

20150807_0377-lacecap-hydrangea_resize

20150807_0380-lacecap-hydrangea_resize

sharing with the Daily Post

Travel Photo Mondays: Nek Chand and the rock garden

I don’t usually read The Economist but yesterday I happened to be leafing through a recent copy and came across an obituary of Nek Chand, who died on June 12th, aged 90. Now unless you are Indian or have been to India you probably don’t know who Nek Chand was.
Nek Chand, originally from Pakistan, was responsible for the creation of a rock garden in Chandigarh, which city is more famous for having been designed by Le Corbusier. Initially, in 1958, he started creating his ‘kingdom of gods and goddesses’ in a forest clearing but this was closed down as illegal. However, city officials decided to encourage him and in 1975 the project was given official blessing and took off from there. Today it draws many visitors, apparently it’s second only in India to the Taj Mahal.
“The earliest constructions in his garden in the forest were modelled on both the village life he remembered and the divine haunts he imagined: winding paths, walls and rivers, terraces and waterfalls, temples and alleyways and fairground formations of dancers, musicians, water-carriers, snake-charmers, revellers, horses, buffaloes and birds”. They were constructed from blocks of stone, concrete, and cement to which he added bits of crockery, broken tiles, electrical fittings, glass beads and bracelets, etc.
We visited his wonderful garden a few years ago (more posts of our Indian trip to follow) and it was indeed a magical place.

20130210_9325-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9333-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-garden

20130210_9336-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

IMG_9347-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-garden

20130210_9360-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9366-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9388-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9396-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9405-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9409-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9413-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9416-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

20130210_9417-Chandigarh-Nek-Chand-rock-garden_resize

sharing with Travel Photo Mondays

One word photo challenge: mauve

200809070070_Sissinghurst-purple-border
sage in full flower at Sissinghurst

200908300526_purple-passionflower
passion flower

Jennifer’s colour choice for this week is Mauve

Texture Tuesday: spider lily

TT-20150310-spider-lilies-w
textured with Kim’s Waterfront

ttbutton_kimklassen

a word a week photo challenge: frame

20110805_IMG_1554_cloister-arch

20110805_IMG_1510_gothic-arch

20110805_IMG_1496_saxon-arch

all photos taken in the Abbey Gardens, Malmsbury, UK for Sue’s word challenge.

Daily Post weekly photo challenge: rule of thirds

Using the ‘rule of thirds’ is the best way to compose a great shot, where the focal point is not in the dead centre of the photo.

20140819_0821-pink-poppies

Daily Post weekly photo challenge

Daily Post: achievement in Sri Lanka

One of the sites that I really wanted to visit when we went to Sri Lanka was Sigiyria, home of the famous cloud maiden frescoes.

Appropriately enough, this is the home of the Cloud Maidens

IMG_6644-Sigiriya-1st-view

The approach is innocent enough
IMG_6652-Sigiriya-steps

but then you have to climb the cliff
IMG_6653-Sigiriya-metal-staircase

don’t look down
IMG_6654-Sigiriya-on-the-way-up

better still, don’t look up either because this is what you are climbing up
IMG_6655-Sigiriya-staircase

so far so good, here are the cloud maidens but you haven’t reached the summit yet
IMG_6656_Sigiriya-Cloud-maidens

IMG_6659-Sigiriya-Cloud-Maiden

IMG_6658-Sigiriya-Cloud-Maiden

20130111_6673-C-and-P
a rare photo of the two of us

you have to go down a section of rickety-looking staircase to get to the next section
IMG_6674-Sigiriya-staircases

past the mirror wall
IMG_6676-Sigiriya-mirror-wall

with the rock face towering above you
IMG_6680-Sigiriya-rockface

then out on to the plateau of the lions paws
20130111_6696-lions-paws

before the final ascent
IMG_6681-Sigiriya-staircase

with spectacular views, albeit a bit misty, from the top
IMG_6685-Sigiriya-view-from-top

it’s hard to imagine that people actually lived at the top and had to carry all their supplies up
IMG_6686-Sigiriya-at-the-top

I have to say that the climb was daunting – not for the faint-hearted or the infirm and my husband declined to accompany me all the way to the top. However, I’m glad I made it.

What form did your achievement take?