Tankar

Thursday Thoughts – Searching for Orchids

/ Leya / 48 kommentarer

I mentioned in my delicate colours post, that I originally went out to find the orchids –

– but they were not yet there. I guess it has been too cold a spring for them.

The yellow archangel is another favourite in May – lightening up the forest shadows. Just like angels should.

When I silently reached the wetlands the air was filled with nightingale song and…

…my heart was filled with bumble bees.

I was not alone on the hike, several elderly couples were out with backpacks of ”fika” – the best Swedish word ever…

This boardwalk leads over the orchid fields – but the only flower to be found yet, is another beauty –

– bogbean or buckbean. I find it almost as lovely as an orchid anyway. It will be my closing image before returning home again on the dirt road.  Getting hungry now!

And…it is not me who’s been running over the furrows…

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge#98 – Delicate Colours

/ Leya / 306 kommentarer

Many thanks to our lovely guest host, Sue (Mac’s Girl) of The Nature of Things  for a creative challenge where we could all be inspired to try new (and old) pastimes. Be sure to have a look if you haven’t already paid her a visit!

As many countries are opening up a bit from lock-down, and I was inspired by the soft glory of spring nature in my part of the world, I thought we would indulge in some Delicate Colours! They are everywhere in nature, but also to be found anywhere you look, in for example fashion, art and architecture.

For this challenge, I took a walk around my garden, and also a walk in one of my neighboring forests. In fact I was looking for orchids in the wetlands there, but they had not yet woken up… In the opener is the evening sky seen from my house, yesterday late.

My garden lilacs – a joy in the evenings when their delightful scent fills the air.

In the forests now, Solomon’s seal is ruling. One of my favorites, so elegant and delicate both in colour and grace.

Water avens and common dandelion are both greatly loved by insects – and by me! In Sweden we call water avens ”humleblomster” – bumblebee flower in direct translation. If you take a look inside, it looks like the bumblebee is already there…

In my garden forget-me-not grow abundantly. I love their shy little faces hiding in the shadows. Have you ever noticed them in late evenings? You will see that they almost outshine the brightest yellow flowers.

Brown shades are delicate as well, even if they maybe are a bit overlooked. This big snail was slowly sailing over the shady path, with the soft light falling down through the canopy, landing on his house. A delightful meeting – even if snails are not really my cup of tea…

Have you seen these:

At John’s Space, you will find a beautiful jigsaw puzzle

Bend Branches – Rocks! And how to decorate your garden with them

TCast – shows us a beautiful study in stillness

TiongHan’s blog – on how to handle boredom…

 

Thank you again for your fantastic support of our challenge, welcome again, and please use the tag Lens-Artists and link to my original page – not through the reader.

Also, stay safe and well, and tuned for May 30: #99  Amy of The World is a Book

Thursday Thoughts – And I do Love Cows!

/ Leya / 39 kommentarer

Hiking in spring always means meetings with cattle.

And they are always very curious…especially when dogs are around.  In the opener a gang that followed us through their meadow and almost over the fence…

Old farmsteads with apple trees and cherry trees – what could be more beautiful?

Only the cows!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97 – Pastime

/ Leya / 101 kommentarer

Thank you all for sharing your interesting photo crops for Patti’s challenge last week – so many good pieces of advice! As usual we can learn much from each other. Now we are happy to welcome our guest host this week – Sue (Mac’s Girl) of The Nature of Things.

Sue inspires us to post about our pastimes, old or new. ”Pastimes. It could be something that you are trying for the first time or a hobby or interest that you have enjoyed for many years.” Please visit her site for more inspiration!

Leaving my jigsaw puzzle for some hours, I have chosen to post my newly found (some weeks ago…) pastime, sparkled by ”Swirls and Twirls” at the World according to Dina.

These are some of my first attempts. I started with the little house (in the header) from a spring walk for Thursday Thoughts. Find the house here.

After making a couple of images, I realized that roads were good starters, leading straight into the swirl. This one is from Iceland, original photo here.

A lonely house on a hill, a cold, cold evening in Jämtland, Sweden. Windows are helpful to get the feeling of ”wind and light” running through.

The cherry blossom path. See the original photo here. As usual, click to enlarge.

Finally, this colourful library in Warsaw, where the original photo can be found here.

 

What did I learn from some hours of fun creating? Some things that felt right for me, were:

  • Colourful photos (rather vibrant) worked best – monochrome worked well too.
  • Roads and paths were good choices for a start.
  • Buildings – doors and windows were helpful to make the swirling go”live”.
  • Animals and people will need more practice…(Dina was very successful in her post!)

Another thing is how much time flies when you get absorbed in this – but that was of course part of the intention. If you want to try it, for guidelines, please go to Dina’s site (Link above), and/or to Youtube.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of the Pastime theme. Please be sure to link your response to Sues post (use the original post link, NOT the one from the WP reader) and use the Lens-Artists TAG so we can all find you.

On May 23, challenge #98, we will be back on schedule, and I (Leya) will be your host. Until then – take care and stay well.