A beauty indeed – Merlin’s Laboratory!
Art
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97 – Pastime
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.
CFFC Week 1: Pick a Topic from this Photo
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87 – Reflections
We welcome another guest blogger this week, Miriam of The Showers of Blessings. She suggests we find reflections to share.
Believe it or not, but I found myself in some of mine…even though I never do selfies.
Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
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Today, International Women’s Day, we might just change his quote a bit…and put in woman and women too.
Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?
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Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you’re just a reflection of him?
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Bewilderment increases in the presence of the mirrors.
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When do I see a photograph, when a reflection?
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A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
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These images were made in Iceland, Stettin, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Norway and Switzerland. As usual, click to enlarge.
For the rest of March, we will follow the usual schedule – and stay tuned for next Saturday when the host is me, Leya!
- March 14 – Ann-Christine of Leya
- March 21 – Amy of The World is A Book
- March 28– Tina of Travels and Trifles
CFFC: Glasses, Cups or Saucers
CFFC: Letter ”K”
For Cee this Tuesday – ”K”
Yayoi Kusama and her polka dots. Black. From a Louisiana exhibition in Denmark.
Thursday Thoughts – Taking a Bath
In the header, the Orbeliani bathhouse, Tbilisi.
According to the legend, the king of ancient Iberia, Vakhtang I Gorgasali, (5th C) once hunted in the forests near the first capital of Georgia – Mtskheta. After some time, he saw a pheasant, then shot and killed the bird. The king sent his falcon to find the prey, but the falcon flew away, and the king lost sight of him. In search of the two birds, the king and his hunters finally found them – in a hot water spring. Amazed with this find of sulphuric hot springs, Vakhtang decided to build his city here.
Thus, according to legend, the city of Tbilisi was founded. The word «Tbilisi» is translated from Georgian as a city of ”warm location”.
Since then, the baths have been of great value to Tbilisi – also depending upon the city’s proximity to the lucrative Silk Road. In the 13th century there were 60 baths here, but today they are reduced to less than 10.
Famous people who took baths here are Alexander Dumas and the poet Alexander Pushkin. A plaque on the entrance to the Orbeliani Baths shows a quote from Pushkin, where he describes the baths as ‘luxurious’. The bathhouse also has got a Pushkin Suite.
Today the baths are still used by many locals, particularly the elderly, who come to benefit from the healing properties of the sulphur. It is said to help in the treatment of eczema, arthritic pain and digestive problems.
We rented a room with a bath, shower and toilet for one hour, but, the heat made us leave after 30 minutes. On leaving, we asked in the reception how hot the water really was – 45 degrees C! Icelandic baths hold 38-42 degrees, no wonder we had to give in…
You are not allowed to walk on the domes… but many children did. And grown-ups taking selfies, of course setting good examples…
If you ever visit Tbilisi, I recommend you try the baths – for the feeling and for the beauty of the interior! If you ask, you might be allowed inside just for a look.
Thursday Thoughts – Pur Pur
This is Pur Pur, another magical restaurant In Tbilisi, Georgia.
A bit hard to find though – in the middle of this big construction site called – Tbilisi. Luckily there were some signs on the way…
…so, finally we found Pur Pur, in the old town area. Resting close to a peaceful park –
– leaning against another house, it was one of the last houses still standing. Just open the door, walk slowly up the stairs, enter the room, and you will be enveloped in its warm, rich and creative atmosphere!
Their food is delicious, and so is the Georgian wine. We got the blue table by the window, where we had our farewell dinner, saying goodbye to a very special country, a very special city and a very special people.
If you ever find Pur Pur while roaming the world – (it might not be found in the same house by then…) I do recommend you to drop in – and not only for the food and the wine. You will leave a richer person than you first arrived here.
Lens – Artists Photo Challenge #75 – Nostalgic
I prefer the mystic clouds of nostalgia to the real thing, to be honest. – Robert Wyatt
Tina is hosting this week, and she wants us to be Nostalgic. This is a feeling that easily comes to me, touches me, just like tears do. Nostalgia is such a unique phenomenon because it fuses both positive and negative experiences and emotions.
The word nostalgia is a Greek compound, meaning ”homecoming”, a Homeric word, and ”pain” or ”ache”, and was coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home. Today its meaning is a bit different. So, my Nostalgic will be entirely about my own life.
I don’t have any digital photos of my grandmother, but my childhood was so much about her. My nostalgic memories always take me to her garden and the flowering apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, plum trees and …her sweet voice and contagious laughter.
I always make a distinction between nostalgia and sentimentality. Nostalgia is genuine – you mourn things that actually happened. – Pete Hamill
After my grandmother, my first Lagotto, Mille, evokes my nostalgic memories. He was such an impressive dog who hit all your senses already in the first blow. You did not stand a chance. He will be forever remembered by everyone who met him.
Tropical Pointer
Can you feel nostalgic about one single flower? I can! Many years ago I had a fantastic favorite orchid – a Cattleya hybrid, ”Tropical Pointer”. I had it for several years and it came back again and again with a multitude of flowers. I think of it as a He – don’t know why. He just flowered himself to death (if you can say it that way…). And like everything else in this world, you can never get the same thing twice. I kept searching for a new Tropical Pointer, in every garden center, in every country I visited, but new hybrids come every year – and the old ones are forgotten…
Nostalgia is a very human trait. – Stephanie Coontz
My beloved apple tree – a bit of a warden tree for this house (about 100 years old). Nostalgia hits me when looking at it in its former glory. You who follow my blog know it is the same tree (but lying down, 2019) in the Creepy post.
Finally, we had some foreign guests in town when the children played in different orchestras, some 15 years ago. A big meeting with other European countries brought a couple of young guys our way. They stayed at our house for some nights while the festivities lasted. This young man was an avid accordion player – every time I look at the photo, I can feel his love for music and for his instrument warming my heart.
In the header, one of the very few photos of my whole family together. Nostalgia over all those years we still traveled together, and how excited we were over reaching our dream – Tibet.
Thank you, Tina, for hosting this week instead of me! And, as always, Amy, Tina, Patti and I thank you for your continued support of our photo challenge.
Thursday Thoughts – Hot Spot Fabrika
Fabrika, Tbilisi, ”Once a soviet sewing factory, has been revived and transformed into a multi-functional urban space bringing together enthusiastic individuals ready to stretch their minds with new exhilarating experiences.” This is how this urban hot spot describes itself to potential visitors – let’s have a look!
”With its striking “old-meets-new” attitude, Fabrika oozes genuinely cool soviet vibes blended with funky industrial elements.
It has become the symbol of renovation, recreation and reinvention.”
I loved the graffitti…
The spacious yard – not many there in the middle of the day, but, I could easily imagine the crowds on a hot summer’s night!
Why not step inside? Everything so airy and colourful. Youngsters working or relaxing, playing games or just sleeping. Rather quiet at this time of the day…and no heavy music. – Which was much appreciated by me – generally there is too much music, all the time and everywhere in society. Sometimes I find it difficult to hear my own thoughts…
The hostel seemed popular, and the food was tasty. People dropping in and out every minute. Fabrika prides itself of being the creative center of Tbilisi –
…and I do believe it is. Maybe next time we will drop in a late evening for the joy of the creative process. The Georgians we met were very good at English, and I would not say no to a night of fruitful discussions on Life – over a cool drink. Before it is over.
We walked back through the streets, with the ”old-meets-new” feeling lingering all the way home. I wonder for how long Old Tbilisi will keep its ”Old” part.
Leya 
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