I have been using FotoSketcher on these two from Köge, and I wonder what you think about them? I want to thank Lynne Ayers at Beyond the Brush for inspiring, and giving facts about the program. I enjoy using this immensely. There is much to experiment with.
Lastly – two orchids I got from a young man who graduated in June this year. They still stand here in my home, in the same place. The big phalaenopsis hasn’t lost a single flower!
Textures – many interpretations possible, but I found some that I really like. I guess you all have seen and felt these ones before? From harsh to smooth and delicate, from warm to cold…
Let us start with my last day in Scotland for this time. Our flight home was moved to the afternoon, so, we went west from Edinburgh to visit The Falkirk Wheel, which is the world’s first rotating boatlift. The lift links the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, connecting Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Detta hjul är den första roterande båtliften i världen och ingår i Skottlands ambitiösa kanalprogram. Union and the Forth och Clyde är nu en oavbruten länk mellan Glasgow och Edinburgh. Hjulet svingar båtarna mellan de två vattenvägarna!
If you want to try the wheel you can take a trip on these boats. Unfortunately they were not available when we visited. Vanillarock shows great shots of the wheel at work here!
Om du ville pröva hjulet fanns möjligheten med dessa turistbåtar. De hade ännu inte öppnat när vi var där. Vanillarock visar den i arbete här!
More fantastic engineering – or rather spectacular, beautiful art – are The Kelpies by sculptor Andy Scott. ”The original concept of mythical water horses was a valid starting point for the artistic development of the structures.“”I took that concept and moved with it towards a more equine and contemporary response, shifting from any mythological references towards a socio-historical monument intended to celebrate the horse’s role in industry and agriculture as well as the obvious association with the canals as tow horses.”
Som en tribut till de hästar som troget arbetat för människan, bland annat vid kanalerna, står dessa 30 meter höga jättar vid varsin sida av the Forth & Clyde Canal och bildar en portal till dess ingång.
The Kelpies stand 30 metres tall in the 350 hectares Helix recreational space in Falkirk. They are the world’s largest equine sculptures and towering over the Forth & Clyde Canal they form a gateway to the canal entrance. These sculptures are meant to pay tribute to central Scotland’s working horse heritage on the canals from years gone by.
Hästarna är konstruerade av skulptören Andy Scott. Skulpturerna påbörjades i juni 2013 och stod klara i oktober samma år. Invigningen var dock i april 2014. De är världens största hästskulpturer.
Built of structural steel with a stainless steel cladding, The Kelpies weigh 300 tonnes each.
Vi uppskattade stålplåtens tjocklek till ca en halv centimeter – och hästarna väger imponerande 300 ton vardera.
Construction began in June 2013, and was complete by October 2013. The Kelpies are positioned either side of a specially constructed lock and basin, part of the redeveloped Kelpies Hub.
Please click the photos to enlarge!
Läs mer om arbetshästarnas historia här. Read more of the working horses history here.
Aberdeen was not very welcoming, in fact the most unfriendly place we visited in Scotland – at least concerning weather and traffic. The people as friendly as all Scots we met of course. There is a gem carefully hidden though, in that city. Hard to find – not even signposted – but a couple of young men in a van volunteered to take us there. We just had to follow them…not easily done in that traffic, but we finally got there. Duthie Park and The David Welch Winter Gardens.
On 5 July 1880 Miss Duthie, a local benefactor, stated that she wanted to create a public park to the memory of her uncles and brothers. And so, in August 1881, she and the Earl of Aberdeen cut the first turf and two years later the park was opened by Princess Beatrice.
According to what I had read about it, we were supposed to find, among many other flower beds, the famous rose mountain of 120.000 roses. Unfortunately these roses were no longer there, and the park seemed a bit neglected. Some parts of it was still well kept though.
Single specimens and flowers where lovely, especially the different thistles. The blue and purple colours are favourites of mine.
Their proper names where unfortunately not to be found anywhere.
Ordinary plume thistle? I guess this one is specially grown for gardens.
Very well kept gardens, and well planned, were The David Welch Winter Gardens, situated inside the Duthie Park. Originally erected in 1899 and designed by the city architect, Mr Rust, it was restored and rebuilt in 1970 after a heavy storm. The Gardens cover two acres and contains plants from all around the world. Today they are the third most visited gardens in Scotland.
The different areas are: Tropical House, Arid House, Victorian Corridor, Courtyards and Japanese Garden, Temperate House, Corridor of Perfumes, Fern House. Here’s a small taste of them!
Some of my absolute favourites belong to the Fern House, and of course the Victorian Corridors and the Arid House were impressive as well.
Victorian Corridors of hanging baskets
Arid House
The steamy Tropical House
An absolute dream, the Fern House
I choose wood this time, for Cee. This very old cupboard of wooden lockers I found at the long bowling club in Galashiels, Scotland. I just adore it. Still very much in use!
I don’t know if this qualifies as a ”twist”, but I was playing around with photosketcher – and this is the result. Find more twists here.
This challenge made me think about how many of these squares, triangles and angles we find in an ordinary house – in this case an old cottage, a ”Blekingestuga”. For more on this theme – click here.
In the tiny rooms of this particular cottage, everything from ceiling to floor seems to be made up of these angles…
Miss Jenny Samuelsson from Kuggeboda, Blekinge, gave this cottage to the museum – now to be visited by everyone coming to their garden.
From the outside you can see the tinyness of this cottage – a remembrance of how poor people used to live in the old days.
Turning my lens to the modern buildings just some 50 metres from this cottage – the houses still have these angles and squares …and colours. A brilliant merge of old and new architecture.
Contrasts – impossible…couldn’t stop myself here…There are so many possibilities so it had to be a gallery. Some of them I have used before, but they work together as well! For more contrasts, click here.
Every year we go for a short walk among the old wooden houses and the roses in Bergslagen, Ronneby. https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/9685/
As you can see from last year, compared to now, the roses are here already. Everything in nature is early this year, and we all wonder what flowers will remain for us to see in July? I hope you enjoy the old houses and their sometimes equally old roses.
Straight between Sweden and Denmark! Lines are important, and sometimes they just have to be straight…these ones are for Cee’s challenge – why don’t you join in?
Leya 
Du måste vara inloggad för att kunna skicka en kommentar.