Last Friday we lost our sweet Totti. Only some few days from his 13th birthday. Today should have been His Day. This is his birthday. Extra good food, a cake with meatballs, potatoes and sausages. Lots of Love, hugs and – see you again!
Have a strong mind and a soft heart. – Anthony J. D’Angelo
In fact I consider being soft a virtue and an asset. Maybe not always…but almost always!
Now, after all the incredibly creative S’s from you for Patti’s alphabet challenge… we’ll continue with another S – Soft. (Hopefully you haven’t run out of images on Soft for Patti…) So many things are Soft…to look at, to touch, to listen to… we even have software for our technical devices. This challenge is all about how you want to interpret Soft – we are looking forward to seeing your choices! Please link to my post and add the Lens-Artists tag.
I just have to start with Snow – as we have had so much of it this year. Snow envelops you in a soft and silent world. It was many years since I did some serious skiing, but I am not afraid of falling in the soft and fluffy snow.
I also have a spring ”softie” on my table every year – acacia, or mimosa, as we call it. Its yellow flower balls always make me smile and walk into that room as often as possible… I wonder if acacia will be possible to grow in my glass house? I certainly will give it a try!
Finally – thank you again for inspiring us every week! Next week, March 6, Amy will be hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #138 and as promised, we reveal the theme already: Natural Light. Be sure to pay her a visit and hopefully join in. In the meantime, have a lovely, creative week! And… please stay safe.
Can you feel it?
The need for crisp air and eyelifting skies? Totti enjoying a frosty morning some years ago – so fresh in the air…so easy to walk.
Today was announced on the news, that November and December were the darkest ever in Sweden since they started measuring hundreds of years ago. So little sun and so little light. Stockholm didn’t have a single sunny hour in these last 7 weeks.
Grey can be beautiful – but not every day for two months – and there are three more to go before early Spring.
But in less than two weeks The Winter Solstice will be here. I can’t tell you how much we need it!
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:
As always, Amy, Tina, Patti and I hope you will join us.
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Contact
From Dutch Goes the Photo – an agility dog! Which made me remember how my two Lagottos, Mille and Totti, were experts on how to overcome obstacles. They still managed to keep up their close contact…
…despite certain difficulties…
Come with us for a morning walk – an autumn forest shower!
The crisp, cold mornings are the best ones…
And you know, Totti shares all his secret treasures with me…his best paths and digging holes for example…
Mostly I am ahead of him, because he is getting a bit slow – turning 11 next time – but still going strong. I always wait for him to catch up of course.
And we are the best friends – now and forever. I hope you have a best friend too!
We have had some quality time, just Totti and me – and the camera.
Away from the energetic Milo and away from home
Heading for the forest in the early morning
A day of promise
A day of joy and happiness for the two of us
And the little things…
that really matters
Everyday moments – maybe it is easy to forget how important they are, because (I) we seldom succeed in living as mindful as we should… Thank you, Amy, for the opportunity of highlighting some of those precious moments.
Everyday I have to care for my best friends, Totti and Milo. Following their lives is a gift.
Even if I see to their daily needs, sometimes a professional grooming is necessary – especially if you want to win next competition!
Not yet….are they best friends, but it is coming. Milo is slowly learning what he can do… or not…Totti has an angel’s patience – he is really too kind and considerate for his own good.
So, I try to walk Totti alone, just him and me, once a day. Picking berries, finding wild animals – and apple trees – in the forest and meadows.
Some days we go to our summer house, or just to the sea, to relax, and only – exist…
…which is so important…Life is short – someone will soon grow out of those sandals.
Taking a boat to one of the small islands in the archipelago is always a treat.
Driving home to our ordinary house again, the farmers are usually busy in the fields, but this year there is not much left to harvest. The drought has taken its toll.
Every month – not every day – we usually visit some interesting exhibitions. It could be about almost anything. Here a fashion and theater theme by designer Camilla Thulin.
This summer there was no rain – but all the other summers there usually are everyday moments with umbrellas!
During summer, spring or autumn – or all of them – we sometimes get a bit tired of everyday life, and decide to hop on the train/ferry to our neighbor country, Denmark.
Somehow I love train stations…
…and ferries. Some guys are very, very tired of the everyday thing…but there is always room for a ferry feet stretching!
Strolling the streets of Copenhagen is always a treat. To us, Denmark means good food, fantastic exhibitions, lovely people and yellow houses with cosy corners!
To see how others interpreted the challenge, visit our Lens-Artists reader section, or click on Amy’s challenge here.
An early dog walk…in Autumn fogs, cool and soft.
There are occasional glimpses of sun – I brought my little point and shoot camera only…
It is difficult to walk two dogs and try to shoot with a heavy camera.
Resting after breakfast – Totti and Milo both love our summer house.
Mornings are the best time to enjoy the stillness – no summer guests anymore. Paths are empty, and the fields belong to geese and horses only. Milo found that dwarfed opening gate in the hedge…I always wonder who once lived there – given that Milo is about 30 cm high now…
Forest walk in the evening – some birds chirping low and softly muted. There is no wind so the flies are on the hunt.
This area, Lindö, is a nature reserve, so you have to be kind to those flies and mosquitoes as well…
Have you ever had a puppy? Sometimes my toes wish they hadn’t…
I know Milo is a good guy, and that Totti is slowly adjusting. But I can read Totti’s thoughts by the look of his eyes – just when is that ”thing” going home again...
Leya 