Once upon a Time on Lake Maggiore .................

Once upon a time there was a scotsman called Neil McEacharn who spotted an advert in The Times for the Villa Taranto. He bought it in 1931 and spent the next 30 or so years creating a rich a varied garden with plants from around the world, the most surprising feature of which was, in my view, the dahlia maze

Dahlias have never been one of my favourite flowers but this display caused me to think twice! Alongside the Dahlias were many more exotic plants such as these giant amazonian lilies

and an amazing field of lotus blossom - one of my favourites

There were also beautiful vistas

and some other visitors

McEacharn died at the Villa Taranto in 1964 and is buried in a mausoleum in the grounds decorated with his beloved flowers

close to these spectacular views

Come walk with me to Shalfleet Quay

Sorry couldn't resist a bit of of rhyme! We were back on the Isle of Wight last weekend for the bank holiday and I have to say the weather wasn't great. On Sunday there was a sea mist which lingered all day but produced a beautiful soft light that complemented the emerging greens along the river

If I'm really honest though, I have to say I would have preferred blue skies and sunshine - still as the saying goes 'every cloud has a silver lining" and here you could also 'ride a white swan'

Further on there were hundreds of dandelion heads which when you look closely at them are amazing works of art whether viewed in colour

or black and white

As we neared the quay there was the odd splash of colour - a bright boat hull

and some coloured mooring floats reflected in the water

Then there is the little garden, virtually unchanged from when I was a child with a dilapidated shed

and some old caravans, which despite their unpromising exteriors are definitely in use in the summer

On the way back more colour was provided by this bright yellow litchen

and additional interest by a number of oyster catchers at the waters edge

“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Garden Colour

“To-day I think
Only with scents, - scents dead leaves yield,
And bracken, and wild carrot’s seed,
And the square mustard field;

Odours that rise
When the spade wounds the root of tree,
Rose, currant, raspberry, or goutweed,
Rhubarb or celery;

The smoke’s smell, too,
Flowing from where a bonfire burns
The dead, the waste, the dangerous,
And all to sweetness turns.

It is enough
To smell, to crumble the dark earth,
While the robin sings over again
Sad songs of Autumn mirth.”

— Edward Thomas

Whilst autumn has arrived around here, its not really at full stretch in the countryside yet. The native trees are still to reveal themselves in their full glory and its early to be crunching leaves underfoot. In the garden, however, things are a bit different.

There are browns and golds, seed heads and sedums

pots hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

The colours are glorious, there are rich reds

and pinks

and things that shine

Whether naturally or with the intervention of man. Almost certainly our last autumn here I will savour every moment.

In the Summertime

“Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon”

— Cecil Day Lewis

You may have noticed I have been missing from the blogging world for a couple of weeks, several reasons for this. Firstly we have had lots of visitors, secondly the weather really has been too nice to spend much time sitting indoors at the computer, and thirdly we are in the process of trying to sell out home of thirty plus years and move to the city for our retirement, which, as many you will know, is an extremely stressful and time consuming activity!

this week I did manage to get ten minutes with my camera between meetings at the beautiful Hilliers Gardens in near Romsey - the English Country Garden, what better way to celebrate summer?

There was plenty of variety to choose from, I loved the soft greens and gold here

and I loved the grandeur of this artichoke flower

There were insects aplenty

butterflies and bees

Plants with defined structure

Plants that blended and melded with each other and the 'art in the garden'

and finally my absolute favourite, the burning pink heart of summer ( no idea what it is!)

Hope you are all enjoying your summer wherever you are!

Photo Heart Connection June

This month my Photo Heart Connection comes from our recent trip to New York where one of the highlights of our stay was a Sunday morning walk along the High Line, the old elevated railway in Manhattan that has been turned into a beautiful park and public space. I will get to my photo heart connection photo in a little while as it comes at the end of our walk, but first I would like to give you a feel for the High Line.

I was particularly impressed by the landscaping and planting

and the juxtaposition of nature and industry

There was the odd view of an iconic building in the distance

some sculpture

people having lunch

or having their wedding photos taken

and pleasing views at different points

But the moment that really made my soul sing was when I spotted this beautiful butterfly right in the middle of Manhattan

It was particularly exciting as we don't get butterflies this big in England, the recent pictures I took of butterflies like this were in the zoo!

It felt such a special thing to happen on the last full day of our visit to NYC, and it even hung around for ages so that I could take lots of pictures

Thanks to Kat Sloma for starting the Photo Heart Connection - do pop over and check out this months posts

Photo Heart Connection April

My Photo Heart Connection for this month is this picture of a Pasque flower from our garden

Early in April I went into the garden and took pictures of the flowers that were out. One of the reasons for doing this is that we are about to put our house on the market and move from the country into the city. This will be a big adventure for us, we have lived here in this beautiful, quiet, spot for over thirty years and have been lucky to have a large garden that has presented many photographic opportunities.

We will almost certainly have a small courtyard garden in the city which I will like, but which will be very different, so I am savouring my garden and its flowers while I still have it.

Oo see the other Photo Heart connections for April or to join in click on the badge below

Mottisfont Mists

One Saturday near the beginning of April we decided to visit Mottisfont Abbey, a National Trust property about 25 miles away from home. This is normally a property to visit in the summer as it is the proud possessor of a beautiful walled garden which is home to a stunning collection of old fashioned roses. There was a special reason for visiting now however, in that the gallery was housing an exhibition of Patrick Litchfield photographs - I will be writing separately about the 3 photo exhibitions I have been to recently, so this post will be concentrating on Mottisfont itself.

it was a misty day with a soft light and on and off drizzle, but the trees were spectular

There were statues and magnolias

and in the distance a shepherds hut almost disappearing into the mist

Hidden away was this fabulous mosaic by Boris Anrep one of the artists who used to stay in the house regularly. It is said to be a likeness of the owner Maud Russsell with whom he had a long standing love affair after the death of her husband.

I have always associated the walled garden with the wonderful display of roses you can find there in June, and to be honest I didn't think it would be very interesting in spring. I couldn't have been more wrong.

There were wonderful vistas

stunning Colours - the lilies at the top are Crown Imperials, one of Shakespeare's flowers

blossom bursting forth

trimmed box, and pergolas waiting for summer and the Roses

In all a veritable visual feast - see you next time with the April Photo Heart Connection, then its back to Berlin!

Spring is Sprung

“De spring is sprung, de grass is riz.

I wonder where dem boidies is?

They say the boid is on the wing.

But that’s absoid. The wing is on the bird.”

— Anon

Spring has definitely sprung in my garden and yesterday I went for a walk round to see what I could capture - these are not the only flowers in the garden, but rather the one's whose pictures I liked best.

Pasque flowers are one of my favourite spring flowers. They represent such good value, looking great at every stage of their life cycle from the first feathery leaves that push through the bare earth, to the spectacular seed heads. They're even self seeding and I now have three plants instead of two.

Further on down the garden the first clematis is out, a macropelia of some kind I think; the label is long gone

Surprise flower of the day was this marigold. Self-seeded from two years ago I wouldn't expect to see it before June or possibly May at a push. It certainly makes a splash of bright colour now the daffs are over.

Next up its the japonica, a huge bush. I love the way it starts flowering on the bare stems before continuing to flower against the dark green leaves. Its in the transitional phase at present.

Finally I'm going to share with you my favourite photo from the shoot although its definitely not my favourite plant!

The humble dandelion, growing as usual somewhere it shouldn't, with those pesky long roots that are so hard to get out. Really worth clicking on this to enlarge the image and see the detail - I really hadn't expected it to look so pretty close up!

Thats all for today, hope your garden ( if you have one) has similar treasures, I'd love to know what they are!

Back to Berlin next time!

Postcards from Berlin 2 - I should (ro) Coco

Day two. The weather forecast was set fair so we seized the opportunity for a fresh air experience and set off for Potsdam and the Palace of Sanssouci. the trip involved a 45 minute journey on the S Bahn and I have to say that the Berlin public transport system is just wonderful - so easy to get around. When we arrived a Potsdam the station was modern light and airy with great florists - I particularly liked these arrangements in jars.

Next it was off on the bus to Sanssouci where we were greeted by a flautist emulating the flute playing of Fredrick the Great who built the palace.

Fredrick commissioned the palace in 1745 because he wanted a place to live outside Berlin that was 'without worries" or 'sans souci'. It was to be a refuge from government and court life where he would spend time with music, literature and friends such as Voltaire. For this reason, although architecturally grand, it is a small palace with a mere dozen or so rooms.

Time to join the guided tour or rather tour with handsets for the different languages. Unfortunately they were the sort of handsets you have to hand hold which made listening to the commentary and taking pictures a bit of a challenge - but hey, I managed after a fashion.

This is a detail from one of my favourite rooms. I'm not usually very keen on too much gold but I really liked the gold and white here especially the spider's web

It worked for me in this room too. As you might imagine from the musical theme, concerts were often held here and the whole palace was bright and light

This room had a bit of a jungle theme going on and was, I think, the room (kept missing bits of the commentary due to taking photos) that Fredrick had redecorated as an insult to Voltaire after they fell out.

The last thing you see as you exit the tour is this portrait Fredrick the Great by Andy Warhol. It is based on one displayed in one of the rooms which unfortunately I didn't especially notice.

Back out in the garden it was time to explore the park and I have to say my absolute favourite things were these little pavilions,

first glimpsed through the trees

then come upon in their full glory. It took us ages to work out what these grey boxes dotted all over the gardens were, but we eventually twigged that they are winter sculpture protectors!

Next it was off for a walk round the gardens - Sanssouci is built on a hill on what was a vineyard. The vines are still there and make an impressive picture from the bottom of the hill. I used my iPhone and the XnSketch app to take this photo

Our walk through the grounds took us past the Chinese Tea Pavillion, unfortunately not open until May but a joy to behold.

It was decorated with gilded figures that carried on the musical theme from the house

Even the ducks were mandarin!

There is much more to see and do in Potsdam than we achieved in a fairly short day ( this break was not designed to include early starts each morning!) more palaces to visit, lakes and of course the town itself - I think it's Auf Weidersehen not goodbye!

Texture Time

Extreme weather seems to be the norm almost all over the world this year. Here in the South of England our problem is constant rain and gales, causing flooding both on the coast and inland. Many people have been flooded out for weeks, and major rail and road networks have been disrupted. I am lucky in that I have not been seriously affected by the flooding, but I am oh so sick of the constant wind and rain.

One of the effects of the weather is that it has been very difficult to get out and take photographs, so I have fallen back to playing with the ones I've already got, in photoshop.

With the help of some textures from 2-lil-Owls this box of flowers was transferred into this

And by adding textures and a filter the national gallery takes on a painterly look

Which do you like best? before or after?

Because of the weather I've spent more time painting and less time taking photos, but I am really enjoying taking photos of my art work and digitally enhancing them by adding texture, effects, or combining them with other pictures.

This version just has the usual Lightroom enhancements

This has had textures added and been combined with another photos

and this one has had a severe crop! which is your favourite?

This is one I finished painting today and have been playing with ever since!

The original with Lightroom adjustments

with a combination of bought and home made textures

Using different blending modes and a filter - this is my favourite, which is yours?

Finally one of the few pictures I managed to take this week!

The original and one with added texture and a Valentine's message from me to you!

Photographic Simplicity

“Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.”

— George Sand

This month I have joined a Flickr group called 'Photographic Simplicity' It is the brainchild of Kim Manley Ort and is a public group so you can all join in!

The aim of the Group is to 'remove unnecessary and distracting elements to get to the essence of your subject'

sometimes this seems quite simple, other times you realised you have posted a picture because you just took it and you really like it but it doesn't really meet the criteria. Which I think is true of this next one.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

— Leonardo Da Vinci

Back on track with this though!

I usually fail fairly early on with an of these post a picture a day challenges so I am really proud to have reached day 14 without missing one.

I have to admit though I have cheated just a little bit! I find it really hard to take photos every day especially when I am at work and its dark most of the time when I'm not - I sometimes manage to get out at lunchtime but not always. Also I much prefer taking pictures with my DSLR that my iPhone or iPad.

though sometimes I just spot something that seems to fit the bill and capture it with what I have to hand!

So somedays I take more that one photo which I then use on subsequent days if I don't manage to take one - all photos are new though and taken within the last few days so I hope I can be forgiven.

“Simplicity is the glory of expression.”

— Walt Whitman

The garden has been a great source of inspiration with a few blossoms braving the December chill

I don't particularly plan what to take things just catch my eye like the girders at Waterloo station that I spotted yesterday when I was trying to photograph the crowds and the Christmas tree (which worked well in the end but definitely didn't pass the simplicity test though it could turn up as next years Christmas card!)

Doing this has really made me really think more about the essence of photography - I am often naturally drawn to complex subjects and bright colours so this has given me the opportunity to rethink, and appreciate the simplicity of the monochrome or muted colour.

It's also got me really thinking about light

“The spirit’s foe in man has not been simplicity, but sophistication”

— Georges Santayana

both natural and artificial

so 14 down 17 to go - my feeling is that the challenge will get more difficult as the run up to Christmas gets more hectic, so fingers crossed I manage to keep going!

The Glory of the Garden

“And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away ! ”

— Rudyard Kiplling

When I arrived back from Yoga on Thursday the sun had just begun to surface after a shower and everything in the garden was sparkling - it looked quite magical!

It was as though this fennel plant was hung with diamonds

And the seeds looked almost as spectacular, as did a late sprig of lavender with this bee on board

I suddenly found the last to lines of Kipling's poem running through my head "and the Glory of the garden shall never pass away" and went to look up the whole thing, which though a tad on the jingoistic side I do rather like, and wonder if it was inspired by his own lovely garden at Batemans in Sussex which I have visited several times. I am going to quote it in full here.

OUR England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.
For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,
You'll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks,
The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you'll see the gardeners, the men and 'prentice boys
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise ;
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.
And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing:-" Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade
While better men than we go out and start their working lives
At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.
There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick,
There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job that's crying to be done,
For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,
If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden.
Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!

And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away !

Rudyard Kipling

All of this then inspired me to do the first piece of art journaling I've done for ages

My sparking moments this week literally were sparkling - hope yours were too

Shalfleet Revisited

On Sunday I visited the house we lived in from when I was ten until when I was thirteen. We were able to do this because the current owners had opened it under the National Garden Scheme.

When we moved to the house it was a dream come true for my mother whose passion was gardening. At last a huge garden to do just as she wanted with, and what a challenge! While the back garden had been kept under some sort of cultivation by the previous owner, the bulk of the garden had been allowed to run wild so that a the point at which we moved in it it was six foot tall with nettles and grass. The first task was to clear it and keep the lawns mowed. Practically a full time job for my mother who didn't work outside the home.

It looks a little different now!

The house, a Georgian cottage, has been extended: a walled courtyard turned into an additional room and an orangery and new garage put in the place of the old sheds and pig sties. I am pleased to be able to say this has been very well done and looks very much in keeping with the original building. There have been pains to preserve original features and the sash windows on the front of the building look as if they were the ones that were there when we lived there.

The front gate appears to be the same too

The back garden has changed from the vegetable patch we had

into a series of charming garden rooms

The front garden too has been landscaped

Sadly we were only able to live in this beautiful spot for three years before work took my father back to the mainland after 30 years on the Isle of Wight. Leaving the garden nearly broke my mother's heart and I'm sure if her spirit is anywhere to be found on earth it would be here.

I wil leave you with a mix of past and present and hope that your week has had many sparkling moments.

The Last Party

This week has been all about preparing for our son's 21st party. We are very lucky in that we have a garden that is well suited to summer parties, of which we have had many over the years. When we moved to this house over thirty years ago we used to have a big party every summer and invite everyone we knew. Although we always provided food, in those days we used to rely on our guests to bring their favourite tipple with them, and often close friends would bring a salad or a pudding. In addition to that a gang of close friends used to turn up early to help set up.

We had different themes for the food every year including curries and a number of different types of BBQ. One year for example, we went with a Mediterranean theme - there always seemed to be plenty of people to do the cooking - though I do remember that one year Brian's then boss got stuck with it for ages!

As time went on and we had our son, parties grew less frequent and more formal, focussing on major events. Our 25th wedding anniversary in 1998 was the first time we went the whole hog and hired a marquee for our celebration barn dance ( you really can't rely on the english weather in october!) we choose a harvest festival theme as the church was decorated for harvest when we married and spent hours decorating the tent.

The food had a harvest theme too - I got our local catering college to make this harvest loaf

I don't think this photos have come out badly considering they were pre-digital and had to be scanned in!

After our 25th we had big parties for our 50th & 60th birthdays ( mine was a surprise party organised by my wonderful cousin as I had decided I didn't want to do one for myself) and our son had a birthday party every year until he was 13 (we got very good at making themed cakes - the pirate treasure chest was my favourite) but this week it was time for the last party, our son's 21st.

Looking for a marquee ( people were going to need to sleep somewhere!) I found this wonderful local company who supplied beautiful indian tents including furniture - I just couldn't resist!

From then on the party developed an eastern theme with curries for the food (the only time I've ever repeated myself) and lots of lamps and lanterns adorning the garden - we've collected quite a supply over the years and we bought these Chinese lanterns back from our trip to Vietnam in the spring.

The tent came with its own lantern too

i think we bought these lanterns for the barn dance, or maybe it was my husbands 50th?

So why is this the 'last party'? . A number of reasons I think. For one thing we plan to move in a couple of years after we retire, and we are unlikely to ever again have such a perfect party house. Another reason is that I have been there, done that, and got the T-shirt - several T-shirts in fact! time to do something different. I have also realised that party planning has been a major outlet for my creative energy over the years, but possibly one I don't need any more since I discovered art and photography. Also it's really tiring and we haven't got quite as much energy as we once had. So how are we celebrating our Ruby Wedding which (DV) will happen in October? We are going to a Hotel in Cornwall for the weekend, with friends who are also celebrating their Ruby Wedding - Yay!

In the meantime I will leave you with this image of the clearing up after this week's party - see you soon

Sparkles to Share

Family

This has been a very family orientated week with my niece's baby shower on Sunday and my son's graduation from the University of York on Wednesday ( if the chancellor looks familiar its Greg Dyke). Both were lovely occasions and really made me count my blessings.

Books

A book that I have been reading off and on for a while, and have just finished, is 'Steal Like an Artist' by Austin Kleon. Lots of good stuff here and I have decided to keep a log book as suggested by Austin. This is not a journal but rather 'a little book in which you list the things you do every day'. I kept a gratitude diary for over a year so am hoping to combine the log book idea with this and make sure I capture the 'sparkling moments' in my log book, or in my case log app as I hate writing!

Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told Me About the Creative Life

By Austin Kleon

Discovery

This week I signed up for anew e-course, the Renaissance Woman's Tool Box. I spotted the link on Kelly Rae Roberts sponsor page and before I knew it had signed on the dotted line. I have been majoring on art and photography courses this year so this is something a little different. Starts next week - very exciting!

Photography

I am lucky enough to either run courses or attend events at Hilliers Gardens where as well as displays of plants and shrubs, they also often have 'Art in the Garden' exhibitions. I only had about 15 minutes to nip out and take photographs on Monday but it was well worth it.

I really love delphiniums, but they are a flower you don't see a lot of so I was thrilled to see this display.

Even without the 'geraniums red' they bought this poem to mind - this is just an extract

“There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And all the day long he’d a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).”

— A A Milne

See you next week, and in the meantime do share your own sparkling moments in the comments section.

A Weekend on the Wight - A Busy Day

Last weekend was a holiday weekend in the UK and for once we were blessed with good weather. We had a fab weekend and I thought it would be nice to relive it by inviting you to join me. First up on Saturday morning we went into Freshwater to shop at the butcher, the baker, and the fishmonger. We do this every Saturday when we are down and each time I feel grateful that these fabulous local shops are still here! While we were there I noticed the Horse Chestnuts were in bloom (very late shows you what a dreadful spring we've had!) and, probably for the first time, really looked at the individual blossoms.

Back home to drop off the shopping before heading for Cowes, we noticed a lot of yachts with brightly coloured spinnakers in the distance; so we went down to the cliff to see what was going on. A race was obviously in progress and though we checked the local paper we never did find out exactly which one we were watching. Both Hurst Castle in the distance (on the mainland side of the Solent) and the much nearer Fort Victoria make a dramatic backdrop for the boats.

We visit Cowes quite frequently, I love the atmosphere, the shops and the general sense of a place dedicated to the sea. I have taken many pictures here over the years and today I decided to focus on things I hadn't noticed before. In the case of the first it's because its not always there, but today the beat lead us up the High Street. You don't often see a good old fashioned 'tea chest' skiffle group these days!

The second thing I noticed was this piece of machinery - I was planning to go into the yacht haven to look around for photographic inspiration but unusually it was locked up, so I had to make do with the quay by the ferry terminal where I don't usually linger.However I did notice this

On the way back from Cowes we stopped off at Newtown which in one of my favourite places on the Island. I lived in a nearby village but my best friend lived here and I was a frequent visitor. I always think of this house, which I have know since childhood, as the 'enchanted cottage' but in a good 'fairy godmother lives here' rather than a bad 'wicked witch lives here' sort of a way. I have however never see it look as amazing as it did last weekend with an absolute riot of clematis and wisteria virtually covering the entrance porch and front door. I know I said a couple of weeks ago that I don't like pretty - well this is the exception that proves the rule!

The outbuildings are scarcely less attractive than the house with this carefully placed boat prow just waiting for would be photographers to come by.

Then on towards the quay, glimpsed in the distance across a sea of buttercups

Walking along the edge of the marsh before crossing the footbridge, enjoying the gold of the gorse in the distance

And finally arrival at the quay with boats marooned on the mud at low tide

Back to the car and home for a cuppa next, but it was such a lovely evening we couldn't resist a final walk to the cliff, where the sea pinks looked misty and the gorse glowed in the evening light

Stay tuned for the next episode where we meet a medieval manor, a hero and a war horse.

Photography on the Hoof! or Making the Most of your Opportunities

On Tuesday I had to go to London for a meeting. The person I was meeting suggested we meet in the members area at the Royal Festival Hall which was very convenient as it is only a five minute walk form the mainline station and doesn't involve getting on a tube. I debated about taking my camera as I knew I wouldn't have much time to take photographs, but in the end decided to take it anyway - this turned out to be a good decision.

I was a little early for the meeting so took these photos on my way in to the RFH, I just loved how the colour of the pansies brightened up a grey January day!

I arrived on the 6th floor via the singing glass lift - which I wasn't expecting and rather freaked me out as it not only sang but went very fast.

This next picture was taken in the members area on the 6th floor of the RFH. Obviously lots of people choose to have business or other meetings there, or just go there and work with their laptops.

The views are absolutely stunning both over the river and over Westminster - I took the first of these photos through the window on the 6th floor, and the second from the balcony one floor down

My final picture is of Hungerford Bridge, the rail bridge between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations - if you look carefully you can see the white roof of a train going across. I love the juxtaposition of the trees and the bridge struts in this picture, they seem to come together to form a forest

taking these picture probably took about 15 minutes and in no time and all I was back on the train heading for home.

Not taking photographs in France

At last the French holiday post which as you can see I actually started when still there!

Having got to day four of our trip so far we have been to our local small town of Parthenay, the Marais, a marshland with inland waterways and picturesque villages, and La Rochelle a medieval port on the Atlantic coast. I have taken very few pictures! Only 265 Why? On a weekend on the Isle of Wight I often take several hundred, why not here?

Perhaps it is because everything is new yet familiar; pretty houses, stone walls, flowers. New because I have not been to this exact location before, familiar because I have been to many similar places. Some of the best views are panoramic, I can't do these justice without a wide angle lens. Anyway my passion is for the small view, the detail, the sacred in the ordinary.

This is the first time I have been on holiday with my new camera, the first time I have tried to make a distinction between 'holiday snaps' which perhaps can be seen as photos of record of the 'I was here' variety and something I am more emotionally engaged with.

I think this is also related to one’s phase of life and the law of diminishing returns. The first time we took a car to France was in 1976. We were living in Cornwall at the time so we landed in Roscoff and drove first to the Dordogne with its beautiful medieval villages then on via the Corniche de Cevennes to Provence where we stayed for a few days before driving home. I was a fabulous holiday everything was new and interesting. I had previously only been to Paris, Belgium and Austria all of which were very different - there were photo opportunities galore, novelty ruled.

During the nineties and noughties we visited various parts of Europe with our son, seeing familiar places and scenes afresh through his eyes, and visiting some attractions that might otherwise have passed us by. Though happily for us he was always very keen on castles and other old buildings (now reading history at university). Now when we travel in familiar parts of Europe it does feel a bit, been there, done that, still nice, but subject to the law of diminishing returns.

On son joined us for the last few days of our holiday and I realized this was the only point at which we paid to go in anywhere (this was partly because we had saved one of the key trips until he arrived). So we visited the maritime museum at La Rochelle the day of his arrival followed by Fontevraud and Chateau de Breze the following day. I like to think this was partly because we were not in an area with loads of major attractions, but rather lots of pleasant places to visit, but I think we will need to keep an eye on ourselves during our next trip abroad!

Family

Books

Discovery

Photography

Stay tuned for the next episode where we meet a medieval manor, a hero and a war horse.​

Stay tuned for the next episode where we meet a medieval manor, a hero and a war horse.