Clouds

 
Clouds are wonderful things. Amazing creations of nature. They look so soft and fluffy but as anyone who has flown through them will know, often they're anything but.

I've been looking at clouds this week for a photo challenge. I think this one looks like an eagle. Kind of. If you squint and turn your head on one side. Maybe. But to be honest I often look at clouds. Not just because I live in Scotland and we have lots of them. But because they're genuinely interesting.

Making shapes out of clouds is a great game. Anyone remember that great scene from Truly, Madly, Deeply? Watching them gather or melt away is fascinating too. Seeing them race by on a windy day is awesome.

You're never bored with a cloud. We really should appreciate them more. Especially when we have so many of them! So here's to sore necks from cloud gazing. Or perhaps what we really need is some Cloudbusting ?

Making the most of it

So, what did I do with the rest of my long weekend? Did I mope and stress about being on my own or did I get out there and enjoy myself? Truth be told it was a bit of both - plenty to do and distract myself with, interspersed with spells of stopping to think (always dangerous I find) and starting to feel sorry for myself. But I am pleased to say, those spells were few and far between, and certainly didn't take over what has otherwise been a truly lovely day.

After a long lie and a few more pages of Beevor (check the link, guys, before you snigger knowingly!), and a light breakfast of toast and homemade marmelade (thanks Mum), I headed out into Stirling armed with my camera. I was looking for Signs and Symbols - for my entry to A Million Little Photographs - and find them I did. Perhaps not what the mind might automatically jump to, but signs and symbols all the same. And all the better for being found in and around Stirling. You'll have to wait until I've finished the challenge and had the photographs developed (yes, it's print not digital!!) before you get to see them. Hopefully there will be a few acceptable ones in there.

After that, feeling a tad on the thirsty side, I opted for my next favourite pursuit - drinking coffee. A short - ok, fairly long - stop at the Burgh coffeeshop did the trick - and also stimulated my creative juices as well. Leading to a new chapter (at last) for the collaborative book writing challenge - hopefully that will be a spur to my fellow contributors to get writing again too.

And now, I'm ending the day multi-tasking with cooking, blogging and checking out Facebook. A fairly productive day all round really!

Oh, there was some sitting around in the sun as well - but no running. I'm saving that for tomorrow morning (ahem!).

Momentous occasions

It was such a momentous day today that we all got the day off work. Why? Probably not because it was my friend's Mum's 64th birthday (Happy Birthday, Barbara) or because it was the Friday after Easter Monday. Seems there was some young couple's wedding on in London or somewhere. So we all had an extra day's holiday - jolly decent of them if you ask me. Probably the shock of getting an Earldom rather than a toaster as a wedding gift was too much to bear on their own.

Anyway, not one to look a gift horse (even one from the Royal Cavalry) in the mouth, what use did I make of my extra day off? Me, I sprung cleaned (again). While the rest of the nation rejoiced, I did too - but only because now I have somewhere to put up guests - roll on the summer when my sister and nephew, and the awesome Just Frances come to stay.

And then I went out to celebrate with a M&S picnic in the park - just in time to chase the sun away. But still a few more photos for the April Photo Scavenger Hunt secured. And a good excuse for playing on a see saw, and keeping my eyes open for men in uniform - not that I usually need an excuse for that!

And now I'm warming back up again in one of my favourite Stirling coffee shops, the Burgh Coffeehouse, start of the small screen and maker of fabulous coffees and teas close to the main shopping drag of this fair city. 

The Scavenger Hunt has been a good spur for me to get my camera back out again, and also to do some stuff that I probably wouldn't have thought of doing otherwise - drinking Irn Bru (yuk, sacrilege I know, but it really does taste disgusting), eating ice lollies and having above said picnic. I was also brave enough to take (and publish) a photo of me completely naked...

Ok, my hair and face are naked. The rest of me is fully clothed - sorry to disappoint my more red blooded readers!

So all that's left is to complete this loyal (ahem) subject's post with a fitting poem:

The nation rejoices, or mourns

As this happy, or sombre, day dawns

Our eyes will be wet

As we sit round the set
Neglecting our flower beds and lawns

As Her Majesty rides past the crowd
They'll be silent or cheer very loud
But whatever they do
It's undoubtedly true
That they'll feel patriotic and proud

In Dundee and Penzance and Ealing
We're imbued with appropriate feeling
We're British and loyal
And love every royal
And tonight we shall drink till we're reeling

                                                               Wendy Cope

Once more...

...unto the breach, dear reader. Or to put it another way, I've got a new challenge to complete.

Fresh from finishing my 30 day photo challenge, and 6 weeks into my 52 week project , through the post this week I received the equipment for my latest project - a disposable camera and a return envelope.

The challenge? 27 non digital photos on a theme. The theme? Signs and symbols. The reward? At least one of my pictures will end up in a book and a touring exhibition. The instigator? Who else but Just Frances, my newly acquired partner in crime!

That should keep me busy for a while.

Challenges

I'm currently participating in the 30 Day Photo Challenge, freely stolen from my friend Frances (who is currently not feeling too good. Get well soon, Frances, you have a fanny to freeze next week!) and subsequently borrowed by my happiest of friends, Kitty.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the challenge is to post a photo a day for 30 days on a particular daily theme. So far I've had to think about who I am, who I'm close to, what my favourite memory is, what I watch on TV, what I do of an evening, what makes me laugh and what my most treasured possession is (hence the passport pic, but you'll have to check out the 30 day challenge album to understand why).

It's good fun and it's also making me think. Some of these are questions that I don't really ask myself. I find that I glide (or often, stumble) through life without really stopping to think about it. Having to decide what is my favourite memory, most treasured possession or even just most liked TV show is not something I do normally. And I think it's good practice for me as I gear up to answer my number 1 question for this year - what do I want to be or do when I eventually grow up?

No answers yet, but just getting the brain in gear is a help!

Oh, and I'm also doing the 52 week Photo Project and have signed up for A Million Little Pictures too. 2011 is visually stimulating so far!

Amazing discoveries

I was wandering through to my hairdressers in Edinburgh when I came across this amazing open air photography exhibition in St Andrew's Square. It's part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival and features simply stunning photographs by Steve Bloom. There were so many amazing shots to choose from, but this is the one that I just loved.

Well worth a visit if you're in Edinburgh before next Saturday.If you can't get there, there's an online slide show that's well worth a look. But seeing them in real life is by far better.