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Thursday Thoughts – Madeira Magic

/ Leya / 36 kommentarer

Mmm… Madeira once more! My husband bought us tickets for one more trip to Madeira – the hiking paradise of our youth. There are endless hiking possibilities along the levadas carrying water to the city. The scent, the sound, the solitude. Unforgettable.

This is only a short Thursday entry, because there will be more posts from this charming island.

The last time I was there was with my children and my mother. We walked several levadas, not the most difficult ones, because my mother was 75 – but even if she was agile, I wanted us to be safe. And she loved it. Our forest walks at home used to be frequent and long. But, in Madeira the added sound of water swirling in the levadas is very soothing.

As in Portugal in general, the Azulejos are beautiful history tellers.

A must was always the Botanical Garden – and other gardens of course. Madeira is a flower Paradise – so there are many reasons for loving this island. Every time we visited, there was a new pattern in this open space. This summer it was geometrical.

A visit to the museum of their greatest son, Cristiano Ronaldo, was of course a must for my husband. But I rather enjoyed it too. The statue of CR was much debated when it was set up. I must say I didn’t like it then, but the one we saw here couldn’t have been the same – it looked much more like him now. Maybe they had to make a new one because of all the criticism??

Finally, the promenade we have walked so many times. It was good to see it again. Walk it again. Even if the city had changed very much in later years, this part felt warm and familiar.

Thank you for walking with me, there will be more of levadas, gardens and city walks in a couple of Thursday posts. Looking back sometimes is good for the overall perspective of your life.

Happy July 4 to you who celebrate, and hope you all are having a beautiful week!

Lens-Artists Challenge #355 – Looking Back to #42 – Creativity

/ Leya / 127 kommentarer

This week we are starting to look back… each month or maybe every 6 weeks, one of us in the LAPC – team will repeat a PREVIOUSLY USED subject for the week. We will share a link to the old post, and then create a new post on the same subject. This will also give us all a chance to address challenges we may not have done before.

In 2019 we had a challenge on Creativity – I have picked that one as a starter for this series. Much because we need to be creative in life’s ups and downs, and I guess most of us also love being creative. Blogging is one creative thing we have in common!

Here’s what I wrote on Creativity in the first post, #42: ”… is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new or somehow valuable – inventiveness. The created item may be an idea, a scientific theory, or even a joke; or a physical object, maybe a new invention, a literary work – or a painting.”

Last Sunday I met one of the most creative souls I have ever met – Susanne Demåne. We went with some friends to see her studio and garden – she calls it ”The World of Demåne.” In 1998 she bought this old schoolhouse – rather dilapidated and no garden worthy of the name. Over the years she has created a fantastic place filled with creativity and fantasy, which also involves animals like beautiful black horses of the breeds Frieser, Knabstrupper, Arab and Shetland pony. Horses she trains with nothing but her voice and the bond she makes with them.

In these photos here, of Susanne’s own, I hope you can feel some of the magic …

How much they love and respect each other…

How much her horses trust her…

And how much she trusts them…

Susanne works in various materials, living, clay, metal, enamel, wood etc. Maybe her most famous works are in wood – made with a chainsaw…

And while we were admiring her studio – Susanne herself suddenly appeared in the doorway. Silently waiting, graceful and humble. So beautiful – a creative witch, a troll from the deepest forest. When she walked into the room – she filled every inch of it – her energy was tangible.

Susanne is a hard working woman who made her life the way she dreamed and wanted it to be. I read about her son, Kim Demåne (also a brilliant artist), how he stated that she was the most hard working woman he knew – and how much he admired her.

Many questions whirled through the air, and she was happy to answer them all. She was so natural, so down to earth, and so humourous. She laughed and told us she had worn out several men – because she was not that easy to live with… I can imagine not. Creativity was written all over her. A passionate woman!

The final gallery shows her work at Bredåkra cemetary. She was asked if she could make something out of the many dead elm trees there – and she did. She made magic. In these photos you see: ”We are all someone’s child”, ”Madonna and child”, ”The Elm Angel” .

Someday, early morning and late evening, I will be back for the perfect light…

Hope you will enjoy this concept of looking back! We are looking forward to seeing your new take on (or first take on, if you never did ”Creativity” in 2019)! please use the Lens-Artists tag and link your post to my original post.

A big thank you to Anne for her wonderful Reflection challenge. You found reflections we never even had thought of! Next week it is holiday time, so we hope to see you July 12, when our guest host SH will be your guide. Please visit his site for inspiration.

Have a great holiday you who celebrate!

Lens-Artists Challenge #354 Reflections

/ Leya / 46 kommentarer

Anne is making us reflect…and our different reflections will be remarkable, I am sure! This is a much loved theme for photographers. There are so many ways to show reflections, and these are only some of my own favourites. Looking forward to seeing Yours!

My number one favourite was captured in Switzerland – the Fluela Pass. I have told the story many times…but here it is again: We drove out to a tiny little village, knowing we would pass this beautiful pass (!). We could not find the view along the road though, even if we had seen it in the guide books. Finally, on our way home, the sun stood in the right position and we stopped, overwhelmed, to take it all in. I can still feel it every time I look at this photo.

Water turning into ice is also a possibility for reflections. This is Totti walking on thin ice at Vedema. I still don’t know how he dared to…being just as afraid of water as a cat! Luckily he didn’t walk through the ice.

Buildings – I love those opportunities for reflections and possible fun distortions. This is in London, and I even got a red double decker in the picture.

Canoeing a silent morning at our summerhouse – the river doesn’t stop over there…it turns right beyond the trees. Herons usually fly up along the growing reed.

An old reflection of our first lagotto, Mille. He was patiently waiting indoors when we returned late from the sea.

A Yayoi Kusama exhibition in Copenhagen with multiple mirrors and holes to peep in through. My camera in the upper right corner!

A standing mirror in a dark room in a Danish castle.

At Vanås architecture park, you can walk on mirrors in one of the barns. Exhilarating – but some people just cannot do it…even I had to brace myself.

An installation of mirrors in Copenhagen. (Really, one of me is quite enough…)

Another old favourite of mine, taken in Beijing many years ago. I photographed a lantern in the street – and the result turned out like this.

In the opener is a whole block of houses covered in fragments of glass. Tough to look at in sunlight, but very special. Finally a favourite from a botanical garden with giant waterlily pads.

Many thanks to Anne for giving us an opportunity to enjoy the most lovely reflections. Be sure to visit her original challenge post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag in your response to help us find you. Thanks also to Beth for her first challenge as a Lens-Artists team member, and to all those who responded with amazing, stormy scenes. Finally, I hope you’ll join us next week when I, Leya/Ann-Christine, will lead – this time with a new Lens-Artists ”look-back” which we’ll be using again from time to time. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the good things in life!

Interested in joining our challenge? Click here .

Thursday Thoughts – Friday, Midsummer in Sweden

/ Leya / 28 kommentarer

We are in our summerhouse with guests – as usual during Midsummer. Wishing you all a wonderful day from us having the longest day of the year. A day to live and love, to feast with good friends and bathe in the sea. ♥

Sending Midsummer love from my garden!

Lens-Artists Challenge #353 – Stormy

/ Leya / 48 kommentarer

We welcome Beth to her first Stormy session with Lens-Artists!

What does stormy look like to you? For stormy weather, Beth wants us to think about rain, blizzards, sleet, snow, hail, wind, dark clouds, angry seas, lightening, a storm rolling in, or people out in the weather. Another option would be to show stormy feelings or stormy situations. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to her original post. We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

This is a tricky challenge for me – living in the southernmost part of Sweden we seldom see really stormy weather. So, here’s my take:

Seeing storms from afar, slowly sailing up, that is the closest I can come to this challenge. In heavy rain I seldom go out, only watch from my window. And I like watching it – Mother Nature rules.

I can also watch storms unfolding from my house or my car – and still stay dry.

Alaska cruising – in really unhappy conditions – but dry and happy on the boat!

Iceland is much more weather beaten than Sweden, being an island and situated further north.

Iceland again – I don’t remember the year, but I do remember that fast disappearing road. Icy, windy and cold. It took us some time to drive through to the other side of the island.

Last week I really enjoyed your beautiful responses to Sofia’s Mellow challenge. I learned that the the word could be used in so many ways I had never heard of before.

Hope to see you – and be sure to look for Anne’s challenge next Saturday, June 21 at noon Eastern Time.