Memories

Lens-Artists Challenge #413 – Bridges

/ Leya / 19 kommentarer

This week, Beth is leading us through, over and under bridges. Any kind of bridge is allowed, and it should be our favourites!

I find it difficult to separate places and experiences from the actual views of the bridges, and of course you don’t have to be beautiful to be loved…memories and feelings show up to colour your eyes…

Peace Bridge in Tblisi, Georgia.


– or ”Always Ultra”, beacause of its likeness to a sanitary towel…see above.

Porto in Portugal sends great memories from the city as well as its bridges. There were many of them!

Glorious Tessin in Italy and Roman Ponte dei Salti on the Verzasca river.

Two bridges near my home, one in Autumn and the other in Winter. I love the light giving away the season.

And talking about memories…I have hundreds of photos from these two, and there will be room for more.

Thank you, Beth, for a lovely prompt! Thank you John, for last week’s beautiful challenge and all participants for glorious posts! I will not be able to see them all now and comment, as I go for a cruize in the Mediterranean from tomorrow morning until September 21. On September 20. I, Leya, will be your host – so please stay tuned.

Lens-Artists Challenge #412 – Places Shaped by Water

/ Leya / 46 kommentarer

John leads this week, with a different kind of theme. Interesting, but it really had me thinking… Places shaped by water – in any form. The Challenge: Share up to six waterscapes—images where water shapes the scene. Choose your favorite places, your favorite photos, or a single location that inspires you. Natural or man‑made, peaceful or wild—if water helps tell the story, it’s fair game.

In the header, the Zambesi river forms the Victoria Falls as it cuts through a massive plateau of volcanic basalt. One of the most impressive sights I have ever seen. And the sound! Incredible. Now, let’s go!

Taking the train over to Norway, we reach coastal settlements shaped by the water into silent canals. But the fishermen are now mostly replaced by summer guests…

Even further north, we arrive by plane in Iceland. Iceland’s landscape is shaped by water and its volcanic geology. Basalt and Tholeiite are the most common rock types, forming lava fields, black sand beaches and hexagonal basalt columns. In short, a magical landscape.

Now let’s go south on another route – to beautiful Croatia. Plitvice is shaped by its many waterfalls through the karst. Limestone and dolomite – and gorgeously green water.

In Switzerland we find this enchanting place in Verzasca Valley, with ice cold water and spectacular views.


Finally we will go to the southernmost part in this world I have ever been – New Zealand. Hot springs have shaped these smooth stones. And, they have geisers too, but smaller than the Icelandic giants.

The northernmost part of this world then, Greenland, where my latest trip was, with calving glaciers making the most spectacular shapes. This iceberg, in midnight sun, was among many others lying at the mouth of a glacier river. The birds flying, will give you a hint of the size.

Huge thanks to Sofia for her innovative “What Is It?” challenge, where we sometimes guessed right as well… Next week, Beth will be ready with a new theme. Please follow her here so you don’t miss her challenge on Saturday, September 12, at noon Eastern Time. We look forward to seeing your responses. Be sure to link to John’s original post in the comments section and tag your entry with “Lens-Artists” so we can find it.

Lens-Artists Challenge #406 – Summer Daze

/ Leya / 19 kommentarer

First of all – huge thanks for sharing your many interesting adventures last week! I finally found about 15 of them in the spam folder…but I did find them! Loved the variety and that you shared adventures from long ago too. I could recall the feeling of adventure from my own youth – that original feeling doesn’t come easy nowadays… Age and life experience has taken away part of it. We have to take that.

This week Anne has got some really good tips on how to enjoy, or cope with, the summer heat…please visit her lovely site for more daze inspiration!

To me, summer means late nights and early mornings, the only time when it’s not too warm. My absolutely best temperature is 23 degrees C – unbelievable to some, but that’s when my body works the best. When we stay for a longer time at warm places, the body gets gradually used to it after a while.

When evening comes I might go biking in the soft air…

Or walking by the sea to watch the youngsters fishing or swimming.

Early mornings we can take the canoe down to the lake, watching the great herons lift from both sides of the canal.

In the middle of the day, we all stay in the shadow, reading or playing games – or just relaxing with our dog. Except for my husband, who always has loved the sun and can sit in a chair just letting it wash all over him.

The best thing is a short, cooling swim. The water temperature seldom rises above 20 at our summerhouse. This year, I haven’t jumped in the water more than once – 11 degrees is far too cold for me!

A warm thank you to Anne for letting us soak up the summer daze this week – next week it is Patti’s turn to lead – see you then!

Thursday Thoughts – Brothers

/ Leya / 26 kommentarer

I have no siblings, but as a child and young woman, this didn’t bother me. I loved being on my own – whether it was reading, sketching, painting, writing, collecting stones or walking in the forest or in my grandmother’s garden. But as a grown up, and now aging – I would have loved to have a sister or brother to share memories with and consult about our old parents.

So, where am I going with this? Well…in South Africa we met two beautiful brothers, cheetas, where the first photo is from our first meeting, the day we arrived.

The second meeting was three days later, and luckily we found them resting in the same place again.

Our ranger, Charles, told us their story, how they had lost two partners and also their cubs, to lion attacks.

This led to them being monitored – and the pack of lions as well, in an attempt to protect them. I read that 90% of all newborn cheetas are killed by other predators, such as lions. If they survive the first critical months, they can reach 15 years of age.

I wondered if the reserve was going to find new mates for these two and give breeding another try. Charles had no answer to that, and stated that nature works things in its own way.

In my opinion these cats are one of the most beautiful creations in nature – their agility, their speed, their beauty. They hunt daytime and cheetas are the fastest, now living land mammals, with a short distance record of 104.4km/h in 200m.

Charles clearly spoke with affection when he told us their story, because he had been following them since their first day. And, it was not only Charles who had tears in his eyes when we left them resting in the evening sun. Their story touched my heart, and I felt some comfort in knowing they at least had each other. I wish them good luck in the future – may they be lucky in hunting and may they find new mates and be blessed with little ones.

But, Nature decides.

Lens-Artists Challenge #393 – Lucky Shot

/ Leya / 33 kommentarer

Sophia has a fun challenge in store for us – lucky shots we have saved, either while photographing or while editing. Please go to her lovely site for great inspiration!

When flying in to Victoria Falls, we saw the pillar of water drops rising from the river and falls up in the sky. And, I did not have a window seat… that’s why this photo is such a lucky shot!

Arriving at the gates, we were welcomed by Pumba himself.

I loved the kudus with their big ears and beautiful faces. Back home, at the computer, I found a bird sitting between the ears of this female, naturally there were some sitting on her back too.

Home again, a summer some 7-8 years ago, we had planned ”fika” at this table. But when we got there, it was already taken…

Ten years ago, in our garden, I was lucky enough to catch a series of our neighbour’s cat raiding two magpies’ nests. I could hardly believe my eyes – or my luck! 6 photos show it all.

Finally, an old, well used photo of my favourite dogs. Sweet memories.

Mille and Totti always had fun together – this quick shot, (on the computer) showed young Totti giving a full head blow to his old friend Mille.

With children and animals, you can always get lucky and surprising pictures!

Thank you, Sofia, for a great challenge! And thank you to Patti for enlightening us on the three layers! A good teacher and many excellent answers!

Thursday Thoughts – A Day of Memories

/ Leya / 54 kommentarer

My grandfather…wrote songs and verses, in two books when he was at sea, and they have been lost for 37 years. My uncle took care of them when my grandmother died, and promised to return them after copying them.

I often reminded him about those books, but he didn’t know where they were. My uncle died some years ago without ever returning the books. Today we attended the funeral for his wife. a wonderfully strong woman who had a life worthy of a novel. It was a beautiful funeral with many friends, music and flowers.

And – the two books were found among their things in the apartment. They are finally returned to us! They were written in 1924-1925, so almost precisely a hundred years old. As a child I was enchanted by the beautiful handwritten pages in ink, and the many colourful sketches he made on almost every page.

Here’s a couple of quick shots with my phone:

Life is indeed using mysterious ways to connect us. I am immensely grateful to her nieces who finally found the books and returned them to me. I am the only relative left who have seen them before and remembers them. I feel so rich and blessed today.

Gratefully,

Ann-Christine

Thursday Thoughts – Dear Jane,

/ Leya / 30 kommentarer

I was thinking of how easily our safe world is shaken. We, who live in a ”safe” part of the world cannot understand the horrors of those in unstable countries with war, devastation, starvation. Where people, nature and wild animals pay a high price every day. But we can imagine. We see it every day in the media. It is not easy to turn it off, to fend it off, to ignore it.

In my blog, as in my life, I try to focus on beauty and harmony. It makes me feel better, and I believe it makes others feel better too. Our children and grandchildren need us to be strong and calm. Here are only a couple of great quotes of yours that I often use:

“Here we are, the most clever species ever to have lived. So how is it we can destroy the only planet we have?”
― Jane Goodall

You urge us not to lose hope. ”If you lose hope, you become apathetic and do nothing. And if you want to save what is still beautiful in this world – if you want to save the planet for the future generations, your grandchildren, their grandchildren – then think about the actions you take each day.”

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

So, remember –

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Dear Jane, with you, one of our brightest lights is gone. Thank you for everything you have given to us. Your kind eyes, soft voice and clear wisdom will stay with us – a legacy that will last forever. I am grateful to have lived in a time when you were here too. On planet Earth.

Love, Ann-Christine. Emma and David

Thursday Thoughts – Along the Roads of Funchal, Madeira

/ Leya / 25 kommentarer

I am dreaming myself back to Madeira again… We’ve had a wonderful summer here in Sweden, but now Autumn is in full swing with wind, rain, and much cooler temperatures.

So, I allow myself to contemplate for a while, just like this lady among flowers and lush greenery.

But, I love wandering in cactus and succulent gardens too. These are from the cacti collection in the Botanical Garden of Madeira.

I have some cacti in my home, but mostly epiphyllums – no spikes! My biggest cactus (with huge spikes…)has fallen and hit me hard a couple of times – it is taller than me.

Begonias in splendid show at Monte Gardens.

I just had to have one of these, so, I brought one home, now sitting in my window waiting to come outside next summer.

I love Madeira for many reasons – one of them is their exquisite stone layered streets. Here together with exquisite Bougainvillea too. Grey colours and the vibrance of this flower/tree go so well together.

There are some forgotten gardens as well…and houses. But even those ones are lush and quite beautiful. This one was carefully guarded by fiercely barking dogs.

Ferns have a special place in my heart. Big or small – any size.

And one of my favourite ferns grow abundantly in Madeira. Back home in June, I promptly bought two Dicksonia Antarctica. A friend of mine has successfully brought up one of this species, but they have to stay in an orangerie to manage our winters. I will give it a try too. At least the summer went well for both of them!