Travel theme – Wood

25 januari, 201425 januari, 2014 / Leya / 37 kommentarer

Träd, trä och skog – vi människor kan inte överleva på Jorden utan dem. Vi har alltid tagit tillvara och använt vår skog och det material vi får av den på ett klokt sätt, men nu är det också hög tid att sluta massförstöra denna fantastiska levande organism vi alla är beroende av – växter, djur och människor.

Mitt bidrag den här gången är ett galleri, en livscykel från liten planta till fullvuxen skog, till…ja, kanske ska den ses baklänges. Förhoppningsvis kommer denna cirkel att fortsätta som den alltid har gjort. Det är vårt ansvar.

Wood – a living organism sharing our lives. We have always made use of it, and it has always been a great source of life, and of well being for mankind and our fellow travellers on this Planet Earth.

My contribution is a little gallery, a circle of life with wood. Start at the end…Let’s hope we will preserve this valuable source of life, our forests and woods – because without them, mankind will be wiped out – and with us, every living being on this planet.

Thank you, Ailsa, for another great theme!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Juxtaposition

25 januari, 201425 januari, 2014 / Leya / 32 kommentarer

Juxtaposition är ett roligt ord, nästan onomatopoetiskt eller ljudhärmande, om du upprepar det några gånger…I Madrid hittade jag ett flertal exempel på sådana kombinationer av levande eller döda ting som befinner sig intill varandra och medvetet eller omedvetet bildar kontraster. Några fler, och bättre, finns i ett tidigare inlägg, här i the green wall.

Idag har jag valt fyra andra exempel. Det första sida vid sida, det andra ovanpå varandra, det tredje omringande varandra och i det sista exemplet klänger de sig fast vid varandra…

Juxtaposition is a funny word, and it sounds almost onomatopoetic when you pronounce it a couple of times…In Madrid I caught some of them…the juxtapositions. I know I used the green wall in an older post with (more and better than these…I won a competition with that one) juxtapositions, but this time I have picked another four examples. They do stand in contrast, the first one side by side, the second one on top of the other, then almost surrounding each other, and in the last picture they are clinging to one another.

Somehow it’s easy to find buildings and architecture showing this, but of course you find it everywhere if you just take a look around…Find more of juxtapositioning here!

Side by side

On top of each other

Side by side and surrounding

Clinging to…

Weekly Travel Theme: Silver

18 januari, 201418 januari, 2014 / Leya / 17 kommentarer

NZ – Silver fern!

For more of Silver, go to Ailsa on Where’s My Backpack? – just click the link above – or why not join in yourself!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows

10 januari, 201413 januari, 2014 / Leya / 29 kommentarer

Fönster har alltid varit viktiga för oss – inte minst i länder där ljuset behöver komma in under de mörka vintermånaderna. När jag var barn hade man dubbla fönster med bomull/ull emellan och ibland eterneller därpå.

Inga fönster är mig kärare än de enkla fönster vi har i sommarstugan. De är mycket gamla, med flagnande färg och gistet trä som gör dem svåra att öppna och stänga. Men de är – Sommar. Det andra fotot visar S’t Mary’s Church i Scarborough, som har sällsynt vackra fönsterbågar.

Windows have always been important to us, and I think maybe especially in countries where they are much needed for the light during the dark winter months. When I was a child many windows were double and had a string of cotton or wool in between the two window glasses. Sometimes people decorated with flowers or herbs there as well.

To me, no windows are more beautiful than the simple old windows of our summer house. Their colouring is fading and their wooden frames so worn that they are no longer easy to open and close…but they are – Summer. The second photo shows St Mary’s church in Scarborough – where I simply fell in love with both the windows and their frames.

Travel theme: Illuminated

10 januari, 201410 januari, 2014 / Leya / 33 kommentarer

Ailsa’s theme this week is Illuminated

– and that is what you could say about Cervantes and his heroes Don Quijote and Sancho Panza in Madrid. Walking home a soft night, we lingered here for at least an hour. Peaceful. He lives on into the future, standing illuminated against a modernistic building.

Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge: Music

5 januari, 2014 / Leya / 24 kommentarer

Music is an important part of our lives – and Music is also Ese’s challenge this week. Young people today have music plugged in their ears all day it seems…which would be a bit too much for me… I love silence.

I do love silence, but I also love almost all kinds of music, from bird song to heavy metal. I have a sweet tooth for music coming up spontaneously among people, for big voices like Freddie Mercury’s and tenors as Andrea Bocelli’s, for clear and soaring ones like Mireille Mathieu’s and Sara Brightman’s – and also for odd instruments.

Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.

John Lennon

London – and it Is really good…

Madrid market – skilled!

Folk songs by spontaneous folk singers

Madrid market – happy!

Daughter waiting for her part in the concert

Covent garden – opera marvellously sung in a white tee and blue jeans

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning

3 januari, 20143 januari, 2014 / Leya / 37 kommentarer

Last year we saw the beginning of a new building further down our street. A rather dilapidated old house was torn down and a magnificent old garden with a giant apple tree had to go. I still miss that apple tree…There used to lie tons of apples under it in Autumn – for anyone to pick and use.

This company sets up a new house in a couple of days only – now there are people living in all of its apartments. Lights in every window this grey winter.

Find more beginnings here.