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Lens-Artists Challenge #357 Into the Woods

/ Leya / 21 kommentarer

This week Egidio wants us to focus on the woods – and that suits me perfectly well. Hopefully you too! I walk in my forest every day, but maybe not every day in Madeira…

So, I will pick some lovely Madeira memories from June, that hopefully will add to the mystery of this green island.

The Laurissilva forest is a 20 million years old subtropical rainforest – a UNESCO world heritage,

covering about 20 % of the island. Most of the species here are endemic to Macronesia.

There are many interesting living beings in this forest woods – plants, mushrooms, lichen, birds and insects. Madeiran Chaffinches are spoiled with food from the hikers…

Madre de louro is a mushroom that grows on lager trees in Laurissilva. ”Madre de louro”, or ”Mother Laurel” is said to be good for the blood and work against rheumatism. It was even used as an insecticide.

There is something special about dense forests with high humidity. The scent, the quietness. And, I can hear the water as it trickles along the mossy stones. In Madeira the levadas add to this soothing sound – sometimes they are fast flowing, sometimes only a slow, hardly noticeable flow. And I know how good this is for my well being. Forest bathing in its true sense – and it’s no surprise that it’s origin is Japanese!

I have always loved hiking, and hopefully I will be able to keep it up even if it has become more difficult as I age. The best thing with hiking is the possibility of being alone in and with nature, for reflection and for restoring myself. Sometimes we meet a fellow hiker or two. We nod and say a soft ”hello” as we meet. I guess many of us feel the same about hiking, so talking is unnecessary.

We heard from someone in the city though, that since Covid, the levadas can even feel crowded in places…luckily we did not have to face that. This island is a hikers’ heaven and haven.

Thank you, Egidio for this beautiful challenge, and our guest host last week, Stupidity Hole, asked us to share quiet hours. You gave us more quiet times with your beautiful galleries. I hope you will join us again this week in forest bathing. Don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag when creating your post so we can easily find it in the Reader.

Next week, Tina will send us another challenge. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history. Stay well.

Thursday Thoughts – Levada do Norte

/ Leya / 20 kommentarer

A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the Portuguese Atlantic region of Madeira. In the 16th century the Portuguese started building levadas to carry water to the agricultural regions in the south. Over 2,170 km (1,350 mi) of levadas were built and later provided a network of walking paths.

Due to the dangerously mountainous landscape, building levadas was often tasked to criminals and convicts from continental Portugal. Today levadas supply water and also provide hydro-electric power.

These are some scenes from a lovely levada along the south coast of Madeira. We walked this city border levada first, and later in the week returned to our favourite mountain levada. They are totally different. Ready? Let’s go!

We jumped off the local bus at Estreito de Camara de Lobos. The walk starts in a vineyard. We were grateful for the shadow!

The whole walk presented splendid views over the landscapes and the ocean.

Every now and then we met a local farmer on the path.

And – curious little friends peeping out for a closer look at us.

This is a very mountainous landscape, and the levada was sometimes redirected to another path because of overhanging cliffs and stones.

Workers in the heat of the day, a singing levada, fruits and berries among the flowers. And…lizards en masse!

Paths can provide easy and relaxing walks through the countryside, while others are narrow, crumbling ledges where a slip could result in injury or death. We walked the most dangerous ones in the 1980’s – today we would not take the risk.

Children played with the water of course – this little guy had built a boat for the levada – and as we passed him, we found his shoes too.

Animals are kept in little sheds – palheiros – I feel so sorry for them. Living in the mountains means not many places for grazing, and they could also slip and fall. I was so happy to find this beautiful goat in a massive field of lush grass! But, look closely at his horns – they are tied together.

Lens-Artists Challenge #356 -Quiet Hours

/ Leya / 45 kommentarer

SH is our new guest host this week. He has chosen Quiet hours – and how we can show them in pictures. For me, I agree with Christina:

When I get up early, I appreciate the quiet time to enjoy a coffee or water my plants.

– Christina Tosi

I have picked my quiet hours from Madeira, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Ecuador, England and Japan. But, with this topic, it is hard to stop delivering pictures. I guess we all have lots of fitting photos for this challenge!

Fog and mist – and snow – make for quiet hours. I often go out for a walk, long or short, in those weather conditions.

Sunrise and sunset – I try to catch both. A lonely boat and a quiet sea…both attract me.

Iceland easily provides quiet hours – as many as you need. And not only because there are few people…

Mornings and evenings glow in the clear and fresh air and the hot springs never forget to send their messages.

Over to Norway, Lofoten. Quiet beauty – I understand why painters want to live there. Our famous water colour artist Lars Lerin was one of them. He lived there for several years.

The blue hour seems even more blue in Lofoten…

Let’s go to the Southern Hemisphere for another kind of quiet. In Ecuador and the Amazon – the quiet hours are filled with the sounds of the jungle. I loved it. I have never slept like a baby since I was… a baby…but now I did.

I love to spend some quiet hours walking in cemeteries. This one in Yorkshire, England. The Brontë’s are buried here. I could feel their stories with every step.


Japan is a busy country and the cities are as busy as ever. But, after the rain the streets were empty and there was not a sound…

In the mountains of Southern Japan – I was caught by the quiet beauty of wisteria in the misty morning hours.

With that I’ll close this week’s post with thanks to SH for joining us as Guest Host this week, using this lovely topic to give us all moments of peace. Be sure to visit his original here and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. I also want to thank all of you who responded to my looking back challenge on Creativity. So many creative (!) examples! And there will be more of looking back soon. From another Lens Artist.

Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when Egidio leads us once again on his Through Brazilian Eyes site. Until then, as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy your week.

Thursday Thoughts – More Madeira!

/ Leya / 26 kommentarer

Welcome back to Madeira, and something new to us – a rundown area had been neatly decorated by talented local artists. Rua de Santa Maria in downtown Funchal. We had walked here before, but this year we did with open eyes, savouring the varied door paintings.

They made the area shine! The street came alive with tourists visiting the galleries, the little restaurants and cafees. No tourists in my pictures though…

Colourful,

scary or fun – we found all sorts of painted doors. And sometimes we got a glimpse of the inside too –

– or what might be on the inside…

A walk to be recommended if you ever visit Funchal. There were many more doors than these, and I saw the whole menue vividly painted on one restaurant door!

Lovely Madeira to be continued next week!

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!