Hawthorne in Full Bloom

8th may

16th may

23rd may

for Wordless Wednesday

Step Into a Cloud

Dramatic sunsets continue to catch my attention...

the intensity of the colours, the shapes of clouds...

the burning orb that is our sun, 

casting light that is both constant & ever changing.

Only a week ago the the sunset was to the left of those trees. 

Don't you feel that you could step right into this cloud... 

on the way to some other dimension?

Expand you mind and step inside...

feel the wonder of creation...

Is that an arm that curls round to keep us safe as we ride the air?

Or is it a path to slide down, then jump to the cloud next door?

Like the curl of an ocean wave... but more dreamy...

safe in our arms, we bring you calm

exhale those troubles & tensions,

 breathe in a sense of freedom...

be blessed by the breath of a fiery sky,

that gently soothes your burdens...

How inviting does that look? (especially if you click & enlarge it)

A portal... a dreamscape... a view through your mind's eye...

or simply beautiful pattern & colour?

No wonder that man is continually fascinated by the skies & beyond

For more wondrous skies take a trip in the clouds to

Thank you to all who take part & share their views

ps... skywatchers may like the next post too!

Sunset... Moonset...

Monday had a fiery sunset... reds & oranges &  a copper sun...

Small wonder then, that we had a copper moon...

monday 17th, 22:06

I saw the first sliver of the new moon, low in the sky on saturday; absolutely gorgeous, a slight haze of cloud, her full shape just visible behind her tiny crescent... but by the time I'd dashed in for my camera, it was too late. I was prepared on sunday though....

sun 16th, 21:35

If you click to enlarge.... that tiny dot in the lower right is Venus... at this time of year, in the northern hemisphere she is "The Evening Star", shining bright in the west...

sun, 23:15

An hour later the moon was deliciously copper as it sank lower in the sky in the west... but I was quite taken aback at the speed of it disappearing... how the sun's light visibly faded & shrank... Have you ever watched a moon-set? I've watched the low morning full moon's disappear before, still lit by the rising sun when I've been lucky to be out at the right time... 

The moon's path has followed the sun over the horizon the last few days, and I burnt the midnight oil to follow Monday's moon-set, determined to get a decent photo... until you are behind a camera, you don't realise how the light changes in 15minutes, never mind an hour... every time i went out i had to adjust, even though to the naked eye the moon looked the same...

monday 23:42

tues 00:19

The last one wasn't as successful, even sharpened up... there were some wisps of cloud & the reflected light had nearly faded altogether... vanishing just a few moments later...

I know, if you search for photos of the moon there's nearly a couple of million results, but these are special to me... my first successful new-moon shots with a fair amount of detail, without having to do a load of editing... and a coppery red moon too...

'Seashells' Calligraphy Rubber Stamp

For those who enjoy rubber stamping... skip over to Suzi's Scribbles to see a 'give away' featuring a bit of my lettering... if you want to that is, lol!

At Home in The Willow

This tiny tiny stream, reflecting willows, leads to a secret grove...

overlooked by this tree...

It is h-u-g-e.... with twin trunks each twice as wide as me
(and i'm not thin!)I sat quite a while on a fallen tree,
just listening to birdsong, watching the early morning sunlight &
 shadows shadows playing through the leaves....

As I sat, enjoying the beauty 

& energy of this place with its statuesque willows, 

I felt drawn to move closer to this particular tree...

I noticed the shadows cast by this wild rose...
oh, how I love the briar rose,

but look closer... it is actually growing from this tree...

And growing nearby on this gracious trunk, fungi...

looking like some cyclops eye (except there were several of them!)

... and all the time the shadows played...

 I gazed the height of this willow tree, allowing my spirit soar,
I felt the breeze and the sun in my hair
and swayed with her outstretched arms.
I felt the stream tickle my toes
through her roots in the dark, moist earth.
I felt the life that this tree supports
in the rhythm of her heart-song.

Then I became aware of hunters... flitting to & fro,
circling her branches... seeking out food...

A pair of treecreepers...
back & forth with beak-fulls of insects for their brood...
It took ages to get a clear shot...
they were so fast, constantly on the move!

http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com

http://heyharriet.blogspot.com

The Secret of Kells... coming to the UK

In an earlier post I gave a link to 'The Secret of Kells' website.... there is also a 'Blog of Kells' if you are interested....

The Secret of Kells is an animated film, which intertwines historical facts with celtic mythology, a fictional tale woven around real events. Reading the blog gives a fascinating account of both the history & the mystery of this story, as well as an insight into animation & film production, the people who made it & the characters, the effort to get it into circulation etc etc, and there are some great videos on there too. The Blog of Kells charts the process from when production started back in 2005... they'd already been working on it intermittently for six years prior to that!



The film has already been released in America (lucky you!) and a distribution deal has finally been struck for the UK. I just love what I have seen of this... from the artwork, to the music... it is all full of symbology & like any good story, there are lessons to be gleaned from it. Here is something to wet your appetite, and there are more clips on youtube... It's not hard to see why it has been nominated for Oscars & Acadamy awards, as well as a win at the British Animation Awards... enjoy...

Desert Sunset?

One of the reasons I wanted a 'proper' camera was that my compact didn't always capture 'true' colours in sky shots... now, my new one may be capable, but the operator has much to learn! After the success of my last sunset, perhaps I was a little trigger happy... in my defence dinner was about to burn! However, it was one of those 'happy accidents' and I ended up with a gorgeous desert sunset in the north of England... except the trees might give me away!

It was nowhere near this dark.... but perhaps if I hadn't confessed, you wouldn't have known. I do love the dramatic effect though. It set me off thinking about perception again... the way we see things, or don't... comparing the camera & image to our minds & thoughts.

There is an infinite stream of information out there, both in the physical world and beyond that can flood our minds, as light floods into a camera... the aperture & shutter regulate the amount, which we can take control of manually, or leave on the automatic programme. When we are born we come with automatic settings that regulate the amount of information (light) and how we process it which gives us the picture we have of the world. Of course, none of us have exactly the same programme, and our settings are altered by the  upbringing & experiences that we have. But at some point we have the choice of switching to manual.... of taking control of our attitudes & action... of changing the way we see things or react.

We can open our own apertures & be more open to information or energy. We can adjust our own shutter speeds of judgement & analysis... etc etc. But it is the combination of settings that gives the picture, and sometimes it appears better or worse than, or at least different from what is really there... maybe that is why some people see no reason to change, others are never happy, some always are.

So, I'll keep tweaking those settings until it becomes instinctive & see the beauty in every scene....

Thank you to Skywatch Friday

go visit for some wonderous sights!

Larch

Well, our move to Gloucestershire didn't happen. It seems that change was in the offing though... Steve changed jobs, I'd already given my notice & trained my replacement... then we hitched up our caravan and re-sited our home the weekend before last. Still in North Yorkshire, only 10 minutes down the road but the surroundings are much different... flatter, more open... bigger skies somehow... a river not far away and a wider variety of trees.

Already more than content with what was around me, I found these....

Larch flowers! I didn't know... I can't believe I've not seen them before, there are plenty of larch in the woodlands i have walked. Maybe I've not been there at this time of year, or maybe it's a case of not seeing the wood for the trees!

The larch is a pine, but is deciduous... it would have been good to watch the needles grow, but never mind, there are still some tiny tufts just sprouting to keep an eye on! Hopefully we will be here long enough to watch these gorgeous female flowers mature into cones....

This one looks like one of last years, but they can stay on the tree for a few years, getting greyer as they age (sounds familiar, i guess they mature into crones!)

I love the way the branches fall & there is something about the silhouette of these trees...

I keep going back to look at these photographs and find myself sinking into meditation as I do... if you haven't already, click on this last picture to enlarge, then just gaze at the flower.... it is tenderness unfurling... have you done it yet? did you feel your heart chakra expand? did you feel an all- encompassing tenderness? did you stay and let that tenderness spread throughout your body? did you connect to the heartbeat of the earth?

You might feel like trying the same thing with the first picture... I notice a distinct difference, maybe because of the sky in the background which has an ethereal quality, but the feeling is more expansive, it naturally spreads out beyond me... from my crown as well as my heart.... follow the heartbeat... let tenderness spread throughout the world... wave upon wave... emanating from the spiral of the larch flower... connected to the spiral of life... to the heartbeat of the world... 

Watery Wednesday: Green Eyes

Green eyes gaze,

restful, see...

eternal memories

drifting by....

peaceful gaze,

green eyes see,

hold my gaze 

as I pass by....

I feel green eyes 

absorbing me,

peaceful gaze

of empathy.

green eyes gaze

green eyes see

has more watery images

Hawthorne

I've been out looking for May Blossom, or Hawthorn flowers this weekend... unfortunately none made it out for May Day in my neck of the woods... but I found this goddess tree...

8th april

The new hawthorne buds are also known as 'bread and cheese' in some areas... have you ever tried them? You can eat the buds straight from the tree... quite tasty!

 20th april

The leaves and buds have developed quickly throughout April, rapidly filling the hedges with green....

24th April

The flowers have certainly been racing to appear, and the boughs are so full, they will be spectacular...

28th april

But although there are glimpses of white beginning to show in the odd bud, the blossom is yet to unfurl... 

1st may

This is what we have to look forward to though, and it won't be long....  The Queen of May!