16. the story thingy

so – last week I forgot to mention the next challenge…..it was to ‘tell a story from a different perspective’…..so without further ado…..
toni: am here in brussels, editing photos taken in a leuven bar yesterday. used my vintage ricoh gr compact and have twiddled with pix on the BF's ancient lap-top and cutting-edge tv screen... all is streeeeeetched beyond comprehension, so am hopeful they look ok in 'real life'... the stories the pictures tell... i don't know... but they felt like stories to me...


meanwhile…..
had I followed advice given by mon fils (yes, it seems we are in the UK as you are in Belgium.....ironic, non?) I should have been lurking in toasty-warm bookshops; and on reflection it might have saved my trigger-finger from going completely numb…..
however, cccold frosty early morning walks by the river in Abingdon have their moments, especially when a very cute squirrel pokes his nose through the railings on the bridge…..

to watch (as I like to think) jealously as the ducks on the bank below are being fed.
 
and then, on the way back from Waitrose (have been having far too much fun there!)…..a man in red walks past a charity shop window…..

after which a late afternoon ray of sunshine beams through one of St Helen’s windows.

toni: cloudy churchy heavens are beautiful... as is hand-knit nativity... am sliding into sunday eve in a haze of red wine and neuhaus chocs... not quite waitrose [but did a festive shop at hema yesterday, which is a low-rent equivalent]...
jenny: found the knitted nativity in the Salvation Army charity shop window - it's open Monday - am SERIOUSLY considering asking if it's for sale.....even though it would surely mean d.i.v.o.r.c.e.
toni: Buy! Buy! Buy!
i don't have iporn book here, so choose number 12 for next week ... hope all is good - belgium v festive and snowy and twinkle-y...
jenny: no i-porn book here either but we will be back 'home' on Tuesday evening (although we leave again on Thursday at the crack of before dawn for the looong drive to.....Girona.....and lunch again at El Celler de Can Roca…..hoping v much that number 12 lends itself to arty farty restaurant pics.....)

15. pastures new

toni: helloooooooooooooo... here is the picture taken at my 'unknown place'... the visit was triggered by a text from a friend, who had gone to buy an xmas garland base, from a barn that sells locally grown flowers and trees... on the banks of a reservoir near where i live... perfect! i trotted along yesterday to buy my crimbo tree, in the excitement forgetting both camera and cheque book. the owners were unperturbed, and told me to simply go back some time soon and settle up... 

sooo... went back today...and mentioned our blog... and they told me to wander wherever... and take pictures wherever too... she had 'stuff' everywhere... so here is a pic of that stuff, lovely, old, vintage-y, heirloom-y stuff...

jenny: helloooo to you toooo!

haven't quite got to your pic yet.....but wanted to reply right away

earlier in the week we had gone for a walk (somewhere we often go - just down the hill from here - and over the border in Switzerland) with a view to stepping off our usual path; ended up tramping alongside a building site.....the light was fab and I got some half-decent pics.....

then, on Saturday we went off to lunch (again somewhere we often go) - and I snapped a couple of views out of the car window of places we have passed before but not actually been to = more pics!

but - but - but

the lovely waiter, on seeing my camera plonked on the table in amongst the salt and pepper and the wine glasses (and remembering how the anglaise is a bit weird always seems to be pointing her camera at things) told us about a fête d'hiver that afternoon in a nearby town.....so after swilling down the last of the wine, off we went; managed to park and waddled (big lunch!) towards the town centre - and WOW!  he came up trumps!  to cut a LONG story short, I came home with 785 photos (yup!) on my mem card.....spent the entire evening faffing about as well as lots of this morning.  I still have more than 200 - all of somewhere new!!!

but now I have the IMPOSSIBLE task of choosing.....and I am trying not to peek at your photo before I do!  tum-tee-tum Swiss building site?  misty mountains? French winter festival?

OK - now I HAVE to peep at yours.....

and sigh.....I love the soft, warm colours of the flowerpots; the fact
that they are scratched and faded and worn.....they remind me of a record (ha -
remember those?) we had when I was small; ‘twas the
Tale of Peter Rabbit; when Mr McGregor (sp?) took a flowerpot which he attempted 'to pop upon the top of Peter' (and I
quote!) and there was the hollow grating noise of pots being turned over - this
photo so evokes the memory of that!

toni: ah... just the 200 to edit down then.?.!!!!!!!!!!!!!...sounds bliss... i had a choice of precisely seven drizzly shots... i look forward to seeing a collage of collages of your light-filled hiver [our roolz! remember?]

jenny: (don’t need to be told twice!)

1) a little taste of 'hiver', Oyonnax style!

(toni: oh wow! bubblicious!!! my face expressed, 'wow' at these pix...)

2) peering through the fence towards a Swiss building site.....

(toni: oooooooh... oooooooh... ooooooooooooooooooooooh!)

3) on the way to lunch.....finally the rain stopped

(toni: and 'ahhhhhhhhhh' at this one...)

14. creeping about

J: I meant to get up early this morning and go creeping off somewhere - but it was a crap morning.  So I made porridge (with golden syrup AND cream) instead.  I crept up on a leaf yesterday.  It didn't notice me.

T: I'm 'oop north' with no internet, waiting to embark on a 'vintage sewing' workshop all day tomorrow. Hoping to make appliquéed blanket. We'll see. So, am planning to creep up on some running stitch there (would be a nice juxtaposition, non?!). I tried to creep up on the sunlit river near my house this morning... but that ran off too...

J: struggling to think of something to creep up unsuspected upon.....and so feeling rather relieved we abandoned the idea of Sunday posting.....CRAP (so, even worse than before) outside (wind howling between gaps in blinds - which mostly remain firmly down) so very disinclined to venture out to do my creeping; what about you – hope running stitch not too fast for you!

T: i managed to creep up on a stationary bundle of vintage fabric yesterday... caught it in the act of being still... no running stitch to escape under the guise of. not sure at all how close to fitting brief it is, but will have to do - took camera out this morning on looooooooooooooong dog walk... but nothing, nadir, worth creeping up on. all drizzle and grey northern skies [no hint of desolate beauty, even].

J: and this is Christmas doing the creeping.....this could be it unless I get a strong grip of myself and GO OUT

(T: ok... you are now in possession of my [really not very close at all] contribution to this week's blog...meanwhile, am in love with your 7177... could actually be a card in its own right... i like the 'hint' of 'chris' [deep breath, take it slowly... as the full word approaches...]... mas)

T: this week's challenge is 24 - go somewhere you've never been... d'you reckon we can do this? [i'm thinking never been, but not at all far away..!]

13. memoirs of a geisha

so this week’s remit was to ‘experience a scene through a screen or faded glass’ - and this is how it happened…..

it’s Saturday (what do you mean, last minute?) and we're just off out for lunch, hoping for murky distorting windows.....or muslin drapes.....not to mention a hefty verre de vin.  thinks; do wine glasses (faded or otherwise) count?

and on Sunday: lunch delivered full tummy but not much else, although there was a bamboo blind in the garden with which I amused myself for a while

however, am currently trying to find a way of weaving concept of 'screen' into dewy grassy pics I just took…..

and of toni’s offering…..

I love it - the crop is perfect - and it has your trademark murky grey.....

in response: so pleased you noticed the crop - this, tis true, took longer to 'sort' than taking the picture itself... always knew i could count on my crapola south-facing, single-glazed windows to provide a suitably smeary look...

my automatic number-generator has gorn orf for a week, so off the top of my head let’s go for number 55, and it’s creep in close

(PS am rather liking the idea of uploading a collage; it makes choosing so much less stressful!)

12. smiles all round?

not the best of weeks, this…..

(it began for me on wednesday with): oh dear - have 'stolen' photo of sobbing child - but my conscience (yup; I have one!) will not let me use it seeing as I poked my camera in her face at her most vulnerable.....

(then toni on thursday): i was thinking less 'tears' as opposite of smile and more 'belligerent, frowning, stroppy, teen' - MUCH more photo opportunity if i pursue this tack...ok! snap! snap! BF 'sorted' lightroom for me at weekend, which means i can now locate NONE of my pictures  (and on sunday): I have a picture…..but simply can not get it from camera to computer... Bah. Am hoping to get usb cable from chum tomorrow, and will try this way. So sorry. I lured youngest daughter into looking brooding for me... and caught her like that... only to leave the room and hear her SCREAM on account of a painted, ornamental horse-shoe falling off the shelf and flat on her head. As with you, it felt too merciless, shoving my camera into her tear-strewn, distressed, mascara-smeared face (but only just... I <did> try to start to piece a request for a photo together in my head...) so I guess this makes me very much NOT a proper photographer... and capa et al, need not worry...
Hope you have A Shot

(and in reply): phew?  have definitely abandoned idea of sobbing student; she looked so very distraught poor thing - and very accusing - as did her friend (of whom I have a great pic!) - therefore have had to resort to a glum looking dog not being taken for a walk - unless  unless  unless.....I try and do something in the classroom tomorrow - maybe we can look at different emotions.....(this methinks would fit in rather neatly with current unit of inquiry which is on conflict resolution); am therefore VERY happy to postpone upload and blog post until tomorrow evening; have a GOOD evening - unlucky horseshoes notwithstanding.  ouch!!

(toni): I also had Baleful Dog Shot! Great unexploitative minds work alike! And thanks for the extension, miss. X

(jenny): well - a whole extra day made NO difference, in spite of a classroom full of children (it was me with the opposite of a smile on my face for most of the day.....) so I guess it's back to glum mutts for me.....

Oh and PS

(toni): paris was fab - and day after i submitted 'minimal' horizon, took utterly lovely minimally horizony shot, at the estuary near le crotoy, in the somme. will forward when uploaded. [is an image  i had already formed in my head, but couldn't locate pre-deadline; like when i go shopping and declare, 'i need a cropped, fitted lilac cardi with real pearl buttons.. and my friend begins to weep, knowing the relentless futility of the pursuit...] 

11. peering into a fog

moi: visibility here is, well at least better than it was yesterday!  still cold and FOGGY so horizon v close and indistinct; am therefore in consultation with conscience over a more creative interpretation of brief!  with fingers crossed for a glimpse of sun tomorrow maybe…..or the next day…..

as for you - am envious of your Parisian skylines.....

elle: well paris did not deliver at all on horizon front - though did manage to shoot 'known landmark in interesting way', in that top two thirds of eiffel tower non-existent due to lack of visibility in blasted fog!

had just the loveliest break, and am back in etaples now for today and tomorrow; so we hot-footed it down to the beach earlier today...was beautiful light

 

moi: was VERY beautiful light!  *sigh*

next week (and I am smiling as I write this!) we have to capture the opposite of a smile! 

bonne chance à tous!

10. up close - and interesting

well, it’s been a bit of a week, one way and another; so nothing short of a miracle that there are photos to post…..

this from toni…..

which is ‘allium giganteum - gone to seed on my mum's bathroom window sill. complete with time-serving cobwebs. amen...’

and me?  am I allowed more than one?  (again?) I am having SUCH a hard time choosing; this…..

(which is not my car!)

this?

or this?

what the heck…..they are there now!

and for next week we are about minimising the horizon…..whatever that might mean!  I guess we are in for lots of sky

9. similarly-shaped but unrelated objects

this gem just arrived in the dropbox

accompanied by these words…..

am not <entirely> sure how closely my pic adheres to brief... but i definitely felt a 'connection' between specs + cruets... think it was recollection of myopic childhood + taunts about 'looking through milk-bottles', etc, etc... anyway, photo is a memory of lovely day at rye harbour, walking, bird-spotting, eating scampi and chips in nicotine-stained pub... and coming home having purchased v beautiful vintage, snuggly, grey'n'white, swedish blanket... before trashing all through guilty pleasure of an evening watching x-factor. SO not the same without Kelly.

this, the reply…..

a spanish evening beachside walk led to this (rather unpleasant – and rarely emptied – garish blue rubbish bin echoed by ancient tumbledown martello tower); seems kind of sad, somehow…..

and this (alicante tower blocks echo the shapes of the glistening rocks)

and (sorry; was on a bit of a roll that evening shape-wise!) even this (spikes of vicious keep-out fence echoed by spikes of <spiky> palm tree)

and (oh dear) this, taken yesterday afternoon in nimes (was almost worth getting up at 4.30am – nimes is a long way from alicante!)

next week he who is already in bed grunted sleepily (did I mention our LONG drive?) ‘100’ to my request for a number; which means a week of getting up close and personal…..

8. thirteen hundred kilometres later…..

well for me at least the ‘road trip’ is taken and all ‘people and objects in the vehicle’ arrived safe and sound

much of the driving was done pre- sun-up but the glint of gold that flashed across the old man’s shoulders at precisely 08:19:45…..

places him squarely at the wheel

meanwhile…..

ok... so the Bloody Dog - whose life's work in the car is usually to escape his crate, and sit with both paws on the dashboard, looking [cute and disney like] out the front windscreen - decided today that all he wanted to do was Lie Down. no treat. no throwing a tennis ball window-wards [oooh BAD idea that one!] could tempt him... so that's why the shot is documenting the placement of Mostly Window and Not Much Dog.

[and now i've read the small print, i realise he isn't even a 'people'. yikes! [our roolz... blah... etc...].

meanwhile lethargic teen son, when asked to choose a number between 1 and 50 barked, '36... is that ok?'. which is the most concern he's shown about anything of late...

anyhooooooo... just in case you've not got your book with you, is thus, 'find two unrelated objects with similar shapes...' fun! fun! fun! xxx

7. clutching at straws maybe but three out of four’s not bad!

it seems there were 4 key words for this week’s challenge – submerge; tall; glass; water

and so to Thursday, and lunch out (not an especially nice one which was disappointing) with friend in pretty Swiss village near the Rhone (just upstream from here - or maybe downstream.....); excited on finding river-submerged branch.....click!

ticks submerge; tall; water; but sadly Rhone on a rather different scale than mere glass of water, so will probably have to make do with a few stems chucked into a vase

meanwhile - toni is ‘not entirely certain I am in possession of a tall, transparent vessel...am planning to go on Sloe Berry Picking walk tomorrow... so am contemplating a seasonal slant...

in response – ‘do you have gin for your sloes?  or have you glugged it in desperation?  (Gosh I Hope Not!)  I haven't yet picked any this year - and last year's bottle went to son’s for Christmas.  Me?  Am dropping hints about long-stemmed roses (ha - some bloody hope!) but may have to resort to sipping cider through a straw!  Although of course we have no straws.....nor yet any cider!’

toni: ‘glorious day here - but freezing! have bag for sloes - and secateurs for snipping branches ... but shhhhhhh!’

and some time later:  ‘I now have bountiful collection of sloes…but there's not really an ounce of beauty between them... shrivelled past their best and crunchy brown leaves ... so I'm currently pursuing the lichen route...’

jenny: ‘mind working overtime to work out how lichen fits.....’

toni: ‘Lichen? Ah-ah! Er, gulp... am not <entirely> sure where it fits in myself either... yet... so do stems <against> water, shot  through  um, <glass> of mobile phone screen, er, count?’

jenny: ‘well, it ticks tall; water; possibly glass but it is so very lovely that we might just have to put it in the blog anyway…..

‘it’s definitely clutching at straws though!  talking of which.....went out to lunch again yesterday (last minute Saturday morning decision) and husband obligingly opted for a post-prandial Irish coffee - with a straw.....see where this is heading?  it could very well be my 'tall thing submerged in a glass of (something-other-than) water' pic.....’  click!

‘this ticks submerge; tall; glass - but (from that swirl of sugary alcohol in the bottom of the glass, not [most definitely not] water) - three out of four? not bad I say!

although…..

toni: ‘it's toooooooooooooooo hard... smears... water-drops... reflections [gah! i hate reflections] have run out of bed sheets to block sunlit windows... but STILL there are reflections... not to mention floaty bits of chipped off bark + other crapola in the water ... out of 18 clicks this <one>’

which ticks all 4 submerge; water; tall; glass – three (no, four) cheers for toni!

next week – (exceedingly grumpy old git chose) number 73 which, fortuitously is to ‘take a road trip’ and ‘document the placement of people and objects in the vehicle’; personally I will have thirteen hundred kilometres to come up with something…..

6. hand it over!

seems it has been a crazy week for us both…..

toni: sunday 11.51 ‘am away in belgium, helping the BF move into his new home... the pic is a snap of him passing me the key to his new place [only it's not the real key, because it wasn't photogenic enough, so this is me getting the key to the garden shed]’

jenny: sunday 11.59 ‘have one snap of a child's hands taken in school garden on tuesday; have barely picked up camera since – may just have time to snap my mum's gnarled gnuckles before we head to airport…..’

toni: sunday 12.21 ‘SO pleased yours a rush too... i've been 'oh! 'f***, f***, f***, quick hon - pass me something... anything...'’

jenny: sunday 16.55 ‘gnarled gnuckles dismal failure so it's back to small child waiting for a handful of seeds to scatter.....’

as for next week – we are going with number 33 which is to 'submerge something tall in a glass half full of water’; meanwhile I am pondering how this tall thing, whatever it is, might be submerged in a mere half-glass of water…..

5. finding god in the slightest gleam of light

the email from toni arrived midweek, just a simple line: this week: no concepts (in head), no photos (in camera), no screw (for tripod base)…

jenny: might this count?  just caught by chance in today's art lesson.....

requires slight stretch of imagination to fit the task as it was only 'dark' because of strong sunlight behind her; plus it was an easy peasy pic - so p’raps 'good for soul' to have a go with a night-time tripod..…am crossing fingers for decent sunset sometime (v) soon - but may have to resort to being driven through m'way tunnel (lots round here - all those mountains!) with camera on dashboard.....

toni: i tried shooting through aperture of bird hide today - looked like i'd only taken half a frame... just a huge slab of black down one side of pic... correct exposure eluded me completely [well... that and wayward pooch bouncing over all other very quiet birdwatchers...] so am home alone tonight. think it is going to be a 'camera on chest of drawers shooting bedside lamp' number. hmmm. v imaginative. and if this doesn't work, am scuppered...

toni: Too angsty about taking pic, so have forsaken 'escape to the country'. Tripod? Nope! Sturdy chest of drawers? Yes! Self-timer? Yes! Bed-side lamp illuminated? Yes! Click. Wait. click. Click. Wait. click. Hmmmm Well... there's a <truth> about the shot!

jenny: .....I think I might just have found some light in a dark place.....

toni: what’s your light; is it clever? mine is dull. [cue: sulky pout]

jenny: nah - not clever; just hopefully not downright cheating.....(cue: innocent look of 'hopefully-I-am-not-being-a-cheat') is sparkle of sun on stream in dark dark wood.....does that count, do you think? otherwise it's a tripod in the garden tonight (yes, I have screws with mine, even though it is ancient and the legs are a BUGGER to undo) in vain hope of catching the moon setting or at the very least, the last Easyjet flight of the evening

toni: have been thinking about this week's challenge a lot - how, metaphorically, 'seeking out light in the dark' is the job of every photograph.  think this is why i have struggled so much - for instance, my daughter coming home from school grinning, after my own crappy day - this was light in the dark, etc, etc.. but more so really, wanted to write to you about a photography exhibition i saw a few years ago in den haag

i kept finding inadvertently, that all the photographic pictures that moved me seemed to be taken by hungarian photographers - and this exhibition featured them all. there seemed to be an eye for composition [andré kertesz once said, i think, 'all you need to take photographs is a beating heart and an understanding of pythagoras'] and a tender beauty and emotion in so many of the shots. i bought the book of the show, and read the following, which just struck me so strongly:

the curator spoke of the shocking horrors and losses [of people and land] of the great war which were inflicted on all hungarian people. and he talked of how many of the photographers turned disenchantment into creative energy... and despair and melancholy into social criticism. then he wrote this:

’to be a hungarian photographer, you must stare into the greatest darkness. it's not enough that you distinguish between light and dark, you have to tell the black from the black. if there is a god, then you will find him in the slightest gleam of light, and in the barest principle of composition.'

so... i don't know... every time i read this, it moves me so much. seems to say so much about life's struggle generally - and the importance of picture taking in that. and it is this too, which makes this week's brief feel a little-overawing to me - how does one, symbolically, demonstrate the light in the dark? i think a stream in the woods probably does it just perfectly…

meanwhile, this morning i found the missing 'plate' for my tripod - though am beginning to feel affection for straight-forward simplicity of Bed Side Lamp

 

as for next week; we must ‘hand someone something’…..just ponder the possibilities of that!

4. half an hour in the psychiatrist’s chair - or ‘revealing what’s hidden’

it went something like this…..

toni: how is revealing what’s hidden, going? I have many concepts (in my head) and no photos (in my camera)

jenny: I have a few potential pics - was just outside with camera in fact.....

toni: even knowing <you> have something has inspired me! am on train to London, to meet BF post BM (business meet) - we are lunching at blueprint cafe and get free design museum ticket thrown in; am hopeful something hidden will reveal itself somewhere in process!

jenny: was initially thrown by the ‘revealing what’s hidden’ photo in i-porn book - which, to me at least, appeared to keep that which was hidden - well – hidden (although perhaps idea was that small child in photo felt because head was hidden, bare bum also was)…..had had an idea to do with walnuts.....but there are so few left on trees after high winds and crazy storm last weekend that I have pretty much abandoned that; went for head-clearing walk round grounds of 'chateau' near place of work on Tues - looong day with presentation (to present) at 6.30 so had to get out in order to breathe - switched walnuts idea for beech mast (crap photos though); at same time, got murky shot of tennis player through gauze netting.....fab idea (well I thought so!) but light let me down (or maybe I let it down); had also snuck outside during morning lull and had jolly fun with puddles and shadows - but no stretch of imagination can turn any resulting pics into solution to the week's challenge; however - had foggy start to this morning (which is why I was outside earlier).....police car stopped on road beside me as I was poking camera through fence to take pics of neighbour's dusky roses; le gendarme rolled down his window and asked me what I was doing - I looked at camera.....and said I was taking photos (duh!)  he then asked me where I lived (thinks - should have pointed to someone else's house!) - and then on they went; surely I didn't look as though I was casing neighbour's place for potential break-in! must have looked a tad odd I suppose in PJs and husband's shoes)…..

jenny: um - is there a name for people who enjoy hanging out in cemeteries?

toni: dunno - but if there is, is it the same word as is used to describe 'people who hang with dwindling hope around misty woodlands'?!  am not sure if is…’revealing what is hidden’…

but it’s what was revealed on misty walk to lake, friday morning... and all other photos a 'pile of pants' as we say oop north [ie beach revealed by receding tide, yawning dog, cake coming out of oven, child looking through binoculars - and even the embraced moron of 'walking man shot through movement of water in fountain...'

as for me – the half hour in the psychiatrist’s chair worked its wonders – although the incredible stress of choosing (even now I am procrastinating…..) means I should almost certainly hop straight back in; or at the very least sign up for another session…..

(talking of which: just wondering - do we have a next week's challenge? 

toni: ooops! that's <me> isn't it..?!  one moment - will get dog to put paw on page or some such…..no 7 'seek out light in the dark'...hmmmmmm... that'll be the dog's hi-viz collar on his pre-bed pee walk...)

sorted!

3. so – not ‘study’ rubbish after all…..nor yet studying it

for some obscure reason, I had in my head that the week’s challenge had to do with rubbish; NO idea where that came from (other perhaps than a run of ‘rubbish’ photos…..)

helpful suggestions from my chief-picker-of-the-next-week’s-challenge even had me wondering whether I should actually be on my elbows and knees by the waste paper basket in the study than spotting discarded Marlboro’ ‘fag’ packets left in less than artsy disarray by the roadside

fortunately, a last-minute flick through the i-porn ‘bible’ had me doing a panicked rethink; I should not have been studying rubbish after all – instead the challenge read – and I quote – ‘study (I got that bit right at any rate!) a collection of discarded objects on a table…..’

which has led to a dilemma; 'discarded' objects on a table top would by this time have to be casually ‘discarded’ by me.....you certainly don't want to witness the disaster-zone that is supposed to be the place where we eat; as well as my laptop, it now has a week’s worth of laundry ‘discarded’ there too, plus a duster, some tea bags, an empty coffee cup, my uneaten breakfast empty breakfast bowl (the latter two almost bona-fide dining table items)....and He (my chief-picker-of-the-next-week’s-challenge himself a very practised ‘discarder’) has thoughtfully tidied the desk in the study (and probably also emptied the waste paper basket) – and gone and left the country…..presumably to ‘discard’ oh-so-casually his detritus all over some other table

BUT – this timely reply to an email “I would say that the photos you say you <could> use were ones you were <unconsciously drawn to in the light of the challenge>, and hence - ha! - absolutely bona fido (as dog owners like to say!)” gave a glimmer of last-minute hope

the photos in question being the ones I was obviously ‘unconsciously’ drawn to taking at lunch on Wednesday…..(thinks; maybe it was the glass of wine that added to the lack of consciousness)

whatever…..

(PS artful leaf casually ‘discarded’ by a thoughtful sycamore tree…..)

and now to my i-porn buddy, who bemoans, “my heart-tug photo…

is not nearly so beautiful without the effects of the vin rouge.”

I beg to differ – but am all for a glass of wine anyway

and so to next week’s challenge – which – and I took the precaution of reading it at least three times – is to ‘reveal what’s hidden’; sounds like half an hour in the psychiatrist’s chair to me (not a bad idea in view of the week I’ve had)

2. embracing ‘moron’

toni, on embracing ‘moron’…..

5 september; I think my bath has brought me inspiration…I have a teeny, tiny, germ of an idea...just need sunshine and a biddable assistant...

(sometime later on) 5 september; the sunshine I ordered has come packaged as wind and grey clouds... ho hum... time to think on toes, girls, think on toes

9 september; BF has proved to be most biddable of models [not <before> lunch, only <post> un demi de vin rouge...]. and i have now captured motion...

although at one point he retreated to 'ministry of silly walks' so have also captured 'moron' too...

  

and as for me…..in spite of an unexpected cycle race whooshing through the village yesterday afternoon (tempted here to bewail, ‘if only I’d known early enough’ – but actually I would still probably not have had wit enough to ‘pan’ – thinks; do I even know how???) no blurry (bronzed, sweaty, muscled) cyclists made it here; instead you’ll have to make do with rather amateurish attempts at long exposure of the mighty Rhone thundering (yes, it did thunder, although the photo makes it look more like the sea of tranquillity) by…..

a small child chose a number between 1 and 50 for next week, and they chose '28'; apparently, it is a cinch compared to embracing ‘morons’...

time will be the judge of that!