Lens-Artists Challenge # – Live and Learn

30 juli, 2025 / Leya / 45 kommentarer

Tina starts this week with another of her wonderful quotes – this time from Mahatma Gandhi:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Through my whole life, I have strived to take good care of and preserve the things I love. When it comes to humans, people I love, it becomes more difficult. We don’t live forever. Photos are essential of course, but to me, also living things I have received or inherited from them.

The white geranium above, was one of the flowers in my grandmothers windows. In Sweden we have a long tradition of keeping geraniums in our homes – indoors and outdoors. My grandmother taught me everything about them, and I inherited all of hers when she died in 1988. Soon I excelled in propagating them from cuttings, and outdoors they thrive the whole summer.

Our National Painter, Carl Larsson, often used his family and home as models for his pictures. The Flower Window is maybe a favourite with most Swedes.

Our summer house is a haven for the whole family – and the old sallow was the warden tree. It was believed to be at least 200 years old. Last year it didn’t make it through the heavy storms, but luckily a sapling survived at its feet. We were so happy. When we arrived early this spring though, the sapling too had fallen in new storms. And maybe, because it no longer had the support of the mother tree.

I was devastated, and so were all of us. I decided to gather some of its twigs and take them home, ”Live!” I whispered… when I planted them, and at least one of them does. I am hoping for more.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.

– Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

I often fall in love with roses, and would love to have more of those. Google is a good friend when my books are too old, and I found a good youtube clip that showed me how to take cuttings. So, nowadays, I don’t have to double expose my rose photos to see more of them! And I can give new roses away as presents too. This yellow rose for example. I now have three of them.

I just could not resist picking something I have learned over the years, ever since I was a child. It still gives me so much joy and satisfaction. It’s a celebration of life. My whole house and garden are filled with plants and flowers, and many of them are gifts from the start, or inherited. So, in fact they are great great grandchildren to the original ones.

Tina wants us to show some of the things we’ve learned about photography or any other subject. How do we learn it – by doing, from classes, or online, or through working with others? Please be sure to use the Lens-Artists Tag with your responses and to link your posts to Tinas’s original one.

Last week Egidio took us Into the Woods for some Forest Bathing. I enjoyed all of the wonderful responses I could read. Our summer house does not easily allow us an internet connection… On Saturday, August 2 at noon Eastern Time John will be hosting our next challenge. Many thanks to Tina for this challenge Lens-Artists #358 – Live and Learn

Macro Monday – Crassula, ”trollhalsband”

27 november, 202326 november, 2023 / Leya / 4 kommentarer

In Sweden we call this funny crassula ”troll’s necklace”.

Lens-Artists Challenge #188 – A Special Place

1 mars, 2022 / Leya / 76 kommentarer

Karina of Murtaghs Meadow is our lovely guest host this week, and she wants us to show something of our special place. She writes: ”Many of us have a special place; maybe it is a place you like to escape to when you need a break from the ups and downs of the everyday; or it may be just a place you enjoy spending time. Your special place may be a certain room in your house, it may be a place you like to visit, or it may be a building such as a library, museum, or church.”

Today I chose my own room – left to me when my daughter, Emma, moved out. I have all my hobby materials here, and the window is facing south, so it is always sunny and warm. A welcoming space!

More than me love this room, and last week we had Milo’s girlfriend, Esther, here. Both sweeties kept me company every day when they had got tired of playing outdoors. Reading was not easy though…as the young lady liked to sprawl her longlegged body all over my chair. I had to put a blanket there.

In this chair, I do my knitting and crocheting too, so that had to be paused for some days… I also keep my dried and pressed plants in this room , ready to be put into frames or fit into a card or a book.

The light makes it perfect for my scribbling, painting and doodling as well, as I try to find the old me again with watercolours, pencils and pens. In the yellow box to the right, new little plants find this sunny spot a nice place to start life, or restart it. I think we somehow share this feeling…

Finally, special thanks to Anne Sandler for her Water challenge. We all love water, and your variety of beautiful photographs and posts made the importance of water really shine!

We hope you will join us this week, and we look forward to seeing what makes a place special for you. Get inspired by visiting Karinas post from beautiful Ireland, and link to her original post with the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you.

Next week, Tina will lead LAPC #189, on the subject ”Odds and Ends”.

Thursday Thoughts – The Real Owners

9 april, 202012 april, 2020 / Leya / 8 kommentarer

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #71 – Creepy

9 november, 201920 februari, 2020 / Leya / 219 kommentarer

Halloween some days gone… I thought you might still have some interesting thoughts and images left for us and this challenge – things Creepy!

If you look up ”Creepy” in a dictionary, it says ” causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease”.

Here are some of my creepy nightmares… and in the header my worst scenario. Just how many spiders were at work weaving all those nets? And that – in my own garden…

When a sudden look down a side street – reveals an abandoned house – or, maybe not…?

When it is raining men…

…or they suddenly dissolve in a haze – right in front of me.

Or – I have to pass through dark tunnels …and I notice someone lurking inside.

I also avoid walking in the forest late nights…no option…when there are tree trolls towering 2×5 meters high and wide.

Seeing a giant Gunnera waking up…gives at least me the creeps…

And, Totti…? Is that you?

According to a recent study, the creepiest job was working as a Clown, and among the creepiest items mentioned, were dolls. Personally I clearly can relate to ”unpredictability” as an important component of creepiness. If you are interested in reading more of this study, On the nature of creepiness, here’s a link.

We just have to remember that being ”creeped out” is deep down a good thing for our ability to survive! So – now we are looking forward to seeing Your Creepy answers!

Thank you for the many inspirational and varied entries for Patti’s Monochrome challenge! Some of you were not much used to monochrome before, but found your own ways to answer to the challenge – clever and innovative!

Have you seen these:

Photo Robert sends us an elegant flower gallery
Jeremy of Picks of Pics lets us in on breathtaking views
An interesting study of what filters can do, we get from Laura of Poetrypix
Olga of Stuff and what if...sends almost ethereal images and verse

As always, Amy, Tina, Patti and I hope you will join us.

Wordless Wednesday

2 oktober, 201930 september, 2019 / Leya / 7 kommentarer

A Work in Progress

28 januari, 2018 / Leya / 9 kommentarer

Day two – and my plants are feeling a little bit better – a work in progress! Sometimes the plants will not let me help…then I have to force them out out of their protective shell…

When the roots are this big and there is no soil left – there is no other choice but to break the urn.

Then there are always other positive surprises – this Ficus had lost almost all his leaves during winter – but look what the returning light can do!

Today’s Indoors and Outdoors

27 januari, 2018 / Leya / 15 kommentarer

This morning the sun decided to shine from a blue sky – and I decided to start re-potting my plants. Everything is much easier and much more fun with the sun shining in.

Every year around February I take on this task, which usually lasts for three to five days including window cleaning ( so I can see my little friends better…) and the whole house.

Starting up with the first plants

Love this spotted begonia

Not much in flower now – but some orchids are…

…different phalaenopsis mostly.

This little beauty is called Chirita tamiana.

After lunch, Totti says he wants a long walk – and the weather is still lovely – so…

Two hours out, then the sun is fading, and we are heading homewards. All happy for this beautiful day – and Totti had his many rolls in the grass, and water splashing as much as he liked…