TUM - Repitition

This, I have to say, was not one of my favorite themes.  And I chose it.  Usually, I would have so much fun with it, because I am constantly marveling at how many circles are within a circle - a second within a minute within an hour within a day . . . life is full of cycles, and repetition.  Nothing stands on its own in this world of ours.  Fingerprints may be unique, but they are made up of lines repeating a pattern.  However, this notion was far, far from being captured by me, and I think it is just because I was so busy, still, here is my photo:

 It is of a blind in our house.  Rows and rows of grass and stitching.  I checked, and it was made in China, and I had to wonder if there was a machine that stitched it or if it was done by hand, and if it was done by hand, how many hours did it take?  There are some anomalies in the pattern which makes me think it was done by hand, but then I didn't pay nearly enough for them, certainly no where near what should have translated into a living wage which makes me feel so guilty I want to take them down.  But I do love them, and then all that hard work would have been for nothing, so I have consoled myself with the fact that I should just appreciate them and admire them very often - which I do.  And be more careful next time I buy something!

Mariette's photo:

This is beautiful, and instantly made me think of home, even though it wasn't taken anywhere near South Africa.  What a lovely and out of the box take Mariette - well done!

And Claire (who is finally back - YAY!!!):

Claire has promised to explain the link of this chair to repetition, I am guessing that it has to do with the number of frames she took - Claire?

TUM - Leaves

Okay - I am going to be very American right now and say omg! OMG!  OMG!!  What the heck happened to October and November?  This year as flown by and I don't know how we got to Christmas carols and twinkly lights so fast.  I also don't know how I fell so, so far behind.  So here we go, quick catch up this morning . . . and we begin with Mariette:

Love it, I can just picture lying on a blanket under the tree, a light breeze blowing and the shade dappling and dancing across my face.  Ahh - if only us big people in our busy worlds took time to lie on blankets under trees.  My pic:

This was on one of our many walks.  Kira LOVES her walks, she gets excited if we drive down a road with lots of trees because she thinks we are going to stop and get out.  I love our walks too, always so pleasant and as evidenced by my many 'outdoorsy' photos, the scenery is always changing and there is always something to look at.  And I found this:

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.
~ Rachel Carson

I have no idea who Rachel Carson is, but I think I might like her.

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 . . .

TUM - Movement

Great theme!  I was convinced one of us would come up with a guy on a bicycle, not sure why, maybe it is because my friend Jacque took a photography course years back and for one of her projects she made her hubby cycle up and down the street like a hundred times until she got 'the shot', and I seem to remember her theme being motion.

None of us photographed bicycles.  Here is Claire's:

Isn't it sweet?  Lovely photo!  My dog comes in the car with me everywhere, she sits on the front seat and loves to look out the window.  Whenever I get shoes on, or grab my keys she meets me at the door and then trots on over to the passenger door and patiently waits for me to open it so she can get in.  She's a riot!

And here is Mariette's photo - lovely moving water and bubbles, good take my dear!

 

For this theme, I wanted to do a loooonnnngg exposure of the stars, but we have had cloudy, humid, rainy weather and no stars in sight.  Oh, and we had a full moon, an extra full moon, the 13th full moon of this year.  Did you know that August had 2 full moons?  And that they call it a blue moon when a month has two moons?  That's where the saying 'once in a blue moon' comes from I guess.  Anyway, with a brightly lit full moon sky, a few clouds and no stars, I had to go to Plan-B, and here it is:

It is a swing at the barn where we ride, and it wasn't moving at all this particular perfectly still morning.  Plan-A came with a lovely story about stars and universes and gravity and things moving and rotating around other things and how so much of our life and relationships unfold in cycles.  But I am no longer in the mood for that story without my star photo, just so that you know I am resourceful though, here was Plan-C:

This is what it looks like when you take a photo from horseback in low light on a rainy day with your iPhone!  That's movement right there!

Our next theme is all about drama, and it should yield some beautiful pics ;-)