Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Chilled
Cee wants a real chill this week – so my choice is Iceland. A chilled greenhouse(!) and tough winds with drifting snow.
Landscape
CFFC: Letter Z
Letter Z – In the header haze, Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand.
Somewhere in Switzerland
Then, my little boy, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzleeping on the – table…
WPC: Tour Guide
Tour Guide – What do I love about where I live? Well – The beautiful nature and countryside! Including:
My garden and flowers
The animals I meet every day
The old fairy tale villas
Even our ugliest old building looks beautiful in the low sun…
And I love our Castles, Hovdala and Wanås, always hosting spectacular art and exhibitions. Here josting and below Wanås with ants (from a South American artist) crawling over the faςade. They also have great areas for hiking and outdoor activities.
I do love this area, and I guess I would not want to live permanently anywhere else.
Bridges and Paths
More from Åsum and the softly winding path. To get to the church, there is an old stone bridge, but traffic was no longer allowed there. Maybe due to the heavy rains we have had. Trees can no longer find solid ground for their roots, and consequently they fall to the ground. Some fall into the river and become natural bridges.
Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Outdoor – Walks or Roads
Outdoor – Walks or Roads for Cee’s challenge. Please join in the fun!
Driving a (to me) new road, I tried the GPS we got from a friend this Christmas – I am old fashioned…never had one before – and it lead me to a dead end street. The road was closed. At first I was disappointed…but, looking out of the window on my left hand side, I saw an iron fence, and behind that, a path twisting and winding through a beautiful landscape. Of course I had to walk that path – and Totti did not say no.
Having accidentally found this lovely hiking path, I plan to return in spring (if I can find my way back to this spot…) – would love to see the beeches green and the water merrily sing along with the birds.
Only the big ones left…
So – I have finished re-potting most of my plants. Only the big ones left…
I even tried putting some of my succulents in glass jars – seems that is going to be popular again. Photographing through the glass gives me a tiny – world – feeling. A bit distorted, but I guess all our worlds are.
It is already dark, but I sit in my chair and feel good about having done this much in three days. Now to the cleaning up…not my favorite thing, but that has to be done.
Good night to you all – with a photo from the lovely walk yesterday. Cheers!
Today’s Indoors and Outdoors
This morning the sun decided to shine from a blue sky – and I decided to start re-potting my plants. Everything is much easier and much more fun with the sun shining in.
Every year around February I take on this task, which usually lasts for three to five days including window cleaning ( so I can see my little friends better…) and the whole house.
Starting up with the first plants
Love this spotted begonia
Not much in flower now – but some orchids are…
…different phalaenopsis mostly.
This little beauty is called Chirita tamiana.
After lunch, Totti says he wants a long walk – and the weather is still lovely – so…
Two hours out, then the sun is fading, and we are heading homewards. All happy for this beautiful day – and Totti had his many rolls in the grass, and water splashing as much as he liked…
Two stomachs hungry for dinner now!
Thursday Thoughts – Memories From Last January
Most photos this month were from the Galapagos Islands and our beautiful ship – Cachalote – Here are some of my favorites. In the header, me and my lovely mockingbird!
Our lovely crew…
…and our brilliant guide, Juan – planning the next day for us – excellent mapping!
Cachalote
Red-billed Tropicbird – a true beauty in its gracefulness
On our way exploring
Volcanic Islands all of them – and here at Sullivan Bay – strikingly beautiful.
The sealions were so adorable…
My absolute favorites on this trip were the iguanas – especially the land iguanas. We were so lucky to find an iguana up in the cacti – they love eating them, but rarely have any success in climbing them.
I would not mind going back one day – to see the other islands as well. Each island has its own specific flora and fauna. Mostly untouched by humans – and therefore, animal kingdoms.
Most well-known are these giants, of course
Snowy Mist
Snow arrived during the night, and then the temperature rose above zero C. I had a lovely forest walk with Totti – light shifting and no wind.
The first half hour, there was not much mist, but …tangible silence.
Have you ever noticed how the colours – the few colours there are during winter –
seem to stand out in the mist?
With the fading light, you feel like walking inside a movie landscape. And you keep looking for a glimpse of the sky – just to stay real.
And for well known landmarks…
…to keep track of where you are.
In the open landscape, the sight is even worse – luckily the snow reveals my path.
As a farewell of this beautiful day- the light returns for my last 10 minutes of hiking.
Enhancing, Destroying – or Just For Fun?
I have been playing around with Photoshop, and Nik filters. I wanted to show this little island, Tylö, in three different interpretations. In the first picture – in the header – it lies hidden in a haze, seen from the attic window of the hotel building.
In the second one, you see it in a B&W conversion, a bit old style, with only the sea in front and behind …
…and in the last picture, you see the island the way I did through my camera lens.
It is not the same picture, but the same island photographed. I would love to hear your thoughts and reflections: Which interpretation do you prefer? Why? What feeling/mood comes up when you look at one of these pictures?
Do you like to enhance/change your own pictures much before posting, or should they go as true and ”natural” as possible?
Wish you a great weekend!
Leya 
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