TUM - Light

Oooh this topic had some possibilities!  And I was desperate to get out my camera and some lights and create some drama!  But typically, who has time for drama these days?  Even the soaps are losing popularity as people lose patience with all that amnesia stuff and who is marrying who the blatant plotting and scheming!  Mariette very cleverly chose to make 'light' the subject, not the result of her photo:

Pretty awesome, I like the concentric circles.   And my photo is of yet ANOTHER forest walk.  I am sorry, I struggle to pull my brain out of engine mode during the rest of my day, this is where I stop to smell the flowers.  Fall really is mushroom season and I dragged my brother-in-law Chris on a walk with me recently and even he was amazed at the shapes and colors of them all!  These two caught my eye one morning, they seemed to be glowing.  Now I know I have eaten neon orange mushrooms with highlighter yellow underbellies, but I don't know enough to pick the white ones as so many of them look alike and, frankly, you are safer picking up snakes in Massachusetts than picking mushrooms!

And I didn't have to do a thing about the lighting, or haul out the big guns camera-wise.  Thank you mother nature for giving a gal a helping hand this week, and thank you Steve Jobs and team for the iPhone with which I captured the moment!

Claire, partner in crime, this is your spot:






xxx 

See, I can be a patient lady ;-)

TUM - Comfort

We seem to have lost another litter mate . . . Claire, who has a lot going on right now is with us and will be sending her images along in due time, but since life works the way it does and when she has a minute to breathe and can send through her always lovely images, I know I will be up to my eyeballs in quicksand - so!  I decided to update my blog in the meantime and add hers when I have crawled out of the quicksand and have a minute to breathe and Claire is up to her eyeballs.  We really need to find a way to synchronize our chaos - don't you think ladies?

So without further adieu, and since I chose the topic my photo is first:

Nothing whispers comfort quite like cats do.  An image of a curled up kitty is universal in the message it conveys I think - so too is the laughter we get from our entertaining felines, just type 'kitty' in the Youtube search bar and you will be entertained for hours!  This is Dudley, we got him from a shelter and he has personality in spades.  He is definitely a Garfield tabby in that he loves food, but everything is on his terms and we are all less-than-intelligent life forms he fondly tolerates.

And I said nothing whispers comfort like a cat, but it is also true that nothing drawls comfort like a dog, or is that drools?  Mariette's pic:

Meet Jessie - and she does look mighty comfortable don't you think?  Someone get her a blankie please!  

If only cats, dogs and bunnies didn't shed!  And speaking of shedding, next we get to shed some light on things . . .

TUM - Texture

Hello again!  This is my next attempt at catch up - yay!  This week was fun, I am not sure but I think we have had this challenge before, but there is SO much texture around that we could have nothing but texture for 52 weeks of the year and not struggle for content!  Claire first:

Really beautiful Claire.  That's what you call evidence of life ;-) - imagine landing on a planet somewhere for the first time and being greeted by the sight of traffic through the sand ... I think I would be a little freaked out!  Actually, I would be a lot freaked out, who am I kidding?

Next up Mariette:

Oh  my word, just beautiful.  This hobby has really changed how you see things Mariette, and your skill in capturing it has grown.  This is a beautiful Halloween photo, somewhat eerie and jagged and beautiful.  

Mine?  Here you go:

Another forest walk moment.  Aren't these mushrooms pretty?  And I loved them against the woody background.  These are called 'chicken of the woods' and they grow on deciduous trees, and they are edible.  I did some research first, of course, and then we went and picked some and I threw them in a pan and had them on toast . . .

They were quite delicious, and the reason for their name has got nothing to do with how they look, but rather how they taste.  They are a very dense mushroom, and very fleshy and taste a LOT like chicken.  They are also very easily identifiable, so if you are going to be picking wild mushrooms to eat, they are one of the safest ones to do it with - you can't confuse them with something else poisonous because there is nothing else like them ;-)

Movement - Silhouette

OMG!  I don't know how it happened that I fell SO far behind.  Time is such a brutal task master, he waits for no one, and he brings forth unpleasant things you don't want to come your way but they are in your path and Time marches you right right into the middle of them.  Time has no compassion.

So, quick catch up because I am chasing Time again this morning (I swear he steals minutes here and there - not only is time not compassionate, but I am convinced he skims like a mafia casino boss!)  Silhouette was a lovely theme, I think we should do it again.  Mariette first: 

Loved her pic, Mariette likes ducks, and I totally get the appeal, they break the surface tension of the water and our thoughts.  They move without appearing to move, a duck in a pond is always so peaceful.

Claire next:

Love it Claire, very romantic.  Are they walking towards the light or away from it?

And then mine:

So many of my photo's are of the woods around us, that's because I have to walk the dog and walking her off leash in the forest is far less stressful than having her drag me down a road, and it is the only time I can stop long enough to smell the flowers.  April and Ryan often come with me, and it I really love it when they join me and we can catch up about our day - it's special.

Right, onwards we go . . .