sharleenstuartShare Six: April 2023: Macro
Posted on April 6, 2023
How did April get here so quickly. One more month and I will be back in the sky again and on my way to Australia. Hard to believe how quickly time has gone since we made the decision to plan to travel.
Share Six has chosen a theme for this month that goes away from the big wide world of happenings to the teeny tiny world of {Macro}. Thank you Lynne Grant Photography for choosing one of my favorite themes. For the longest time I did not have a macro lens. More about that at the end of the post. Finally I bought a 100mm Canon macro lens, and I have to say it is one of my favorite lens.
I will confess to this being a long post. I love playing with Macro and I also want to share some images taken years ago using the reverse lens method.
I played around with different themes. First I started out in the garden.
Then I happened to be babysitting Luka for the weekend and Amy had some interesting dried flowers that appealed to me.
Then I played around with a pair of jeans.
I’ve also played with feathers and reflections in the past as well.
As I said in the beginning, for the longest time I never had a macro lens. But I wanted to shoot macro. I was doing some research on macro options and there was an article on reverse ring macro photography. For the cost of about 11 dollars, this opened up a whole new world for me. Simply put, the ring screws into the fitting of your camera and then you screw your reversed lens into the ring. Word of caution. Do not screw anything in to tight. I had a panic attack the first time I tried to take the ring out. Looser is better. Obviously the camera is free focus. You have to create your distance where the image is sharp. Below are a some images that I took using the reverse lens method prior to having a macro lens.
Here is a link on the reverse lens method. Sometimes I feel like I may have got better detail using the reverse lens method.
What I love about macro is the details. There is so much we do not see with our natural eye. There is a world of hairs on plants and growth down inside grass and weeds that are as beautiful and as detailed as flowers. Macro is fun and if you have not done it before, I promise you, you will love it.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Lynne of Lynne Grant Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_macro23
30 Minutes in the Life: March 2023
Posted on March 27, 2023
Walking in the wetlands is always one of my happy moments and today is no different from any of the other time. I love the peace and tranquility of my walk, despite the speed walkers and the camera groups and sometimes the crowds. I tend to switch off and focus on why I am there.
Getting out clears the cobwebs, opens my eyes, helps me to appreciate that there is more to life than me. There is beauty that surrounds me and it is a joy to see.
The simplicity of a leaf on a railing makes me smile. This is one of go to styles of photography. I love the creaminess of the image. Today I did not get to see too many brightly colored leaves, given that we are coming out of winter, but sometimes that is okay because it is real.
A Little Blue Heron who was confident enough to allow me to get closer to it than it may have liked. I love the feather action in the wind.
Fir fronds lying on the railing still give a very winterish feeling.
I may be wrong but this bird does not look like a Grackle, rather it looks distinctly like an Indian Myna. How do I know that, I grew up with Indian Myna by the boatloads. Grackles are common in Florida. Indian Myna are common in South Africa.
Sometimes its the random things that catch my attention. This case it is a random spider web of leaves and bits and pieces hanging by a thread attached to something my eye does not capture.
A Yellow Rumped Warbler flittered around my view. I don’t capture these little birds too often so I was grateful to see it settle for a few minutes before taking off again. It was long enough for me to capture the pose.
One of my favorite birds is this Little Green Heron. Green you may ask? Absolutely that is it’s name but I am with you because I have yet to see green in it’s coloring. That said, this little bird is a wader and can hold this pose for the longest time as it watches for it’s food.
I was doing my best to get down and low with this little Palm Warbler when someone, something not sure which triggered flight mode. I caught it just as it was about to take off.
The Palm Warbler above is the same one in this picture. It flew into the trees and hopped from branch to branch and it took me a good deal of patience to be able to capture this image. I love the image but I am not crazy about the big yellow blob which is a leaf.
Further around on my walk I came across this colorful leaf. I could not resist taking it’s picture. I always laugh when people see me taking a photograph and then remark “Oh it’s a leaf”. Come on, this is not just a leaf. This is beauty in creation and they just don’t see it.
As I have mentioned Iguana are my friends. I love them. I love their make up. I love their coloring. I love their attitude when you get to close and it flaps it’s neck skin to let you know that it is not happy. They are prehistoric looking and so darn cool. But that is me. Iguana are not popular in Florida. Iguana do not do well over the winter season. On cold days their body temperature can go to frozen mode and they go stiff and fall out of trees. Some to the ground and unfortunately some into water, where they will drown. Those on the ground tend to thaw out as the temperature warms up and then they carry on with life.
The Grebe is super sensitive to people around. For me, getting a photo of this little bird is an achievement. They are super fast, and spend a fair bit of time underwater and will come up so far away from where you expect them to be. This little one had been bathing and so I was able to snap it before it ducked away again.
I happened to find another Palm Warbler in one of the random trees along the walk way.
As I arrived at a water hole, I was surprised to see a host of Glossy Ibis and a couple of Great Egret. The day was cool and this Great Egret looked like it was cold to be honest.
Glossy Ibis are either boring looking or look stunning. When the sun shines on their wings it changes the whole look of the bird completely. They go from a boring looking brown to the pearly colored wing that changes color dependent on the angle it catches the wings.
Talking wings, doesn’t that wing span and it’s intricate formation just amaze you. I am always in awe of nature and it’s creation. Each feather is exactly in the right place so that when they come to fly there is no question that they are going to take off.
Nature is a great place to get out and appreciate the beauty of this world. When the day is tough and the troubles are huge, find somewhere where you can just walk and appreciate the beauty around you. That is what I like to do.
30 Minutes in the Life is a small group of bloggers who get together once a month to put thought to paper and share on the happenings of their lives. Take some time to follow the link to see what my friend and very talented photographer Lupji of Lupji Photography has to share.
Share Six: March 2023: Double Exposure 2023
Posted on March 6, 2023
This month Katherine Cobert of Cobert Photography chose the theme {Double Exposure}. We did this theme a number of years ago in 2017, but it was great to revisit it again. I certainly experimented a bit more and learned some new methods of doing things
I will confess that by Monday evening a week before we were due to go live, I had nothing. The little guy in the picture below is our heart, and he was really sick last week. I had had him the Thursday night and he cried sobbing pitiful crying most of the night until he eventually fell asleep on my chest. Saturday night he was rushed to the ER where his parents were told that his ears and throat were blood red. That’s resulted in a lot of shots and doctors and specialist visits. It’s Saturday today and while he is a lot more cheerful. You can help though to want to watch him closely.
For my first Double Exposure I picked two images to combine. The first of Luka and the second of his mom. I had to rotate her so that she fitted into the image better. The image of Amy was taking during her pregnancy and so the words that I added really speak to the pregnancy. ” No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all you are the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside”. I can tell you now, not only does she love him, but he really loves her. That’s who he wants every time there is a choice. Below are the two images I used to create this double exposure.
Back in 2019, when Amy came back from Macedonia, I did a number of “business” type photo’s of her. Recently in January I visited the Butterfly World. I wanted to combine the two images without going outside of her body. I learned how to rotate images using the R key and using a mask to keep the pictures inside her body.
Below are the two images I used to create this double exposure.
Last year we traveled to Macedonia for the second wedding reception for Amy and Daniel and especially for Daniel’s family. What I tried to do with this double exposure was create a photo mosaic. During this challenge I discovered Blue Lightning TV Photoshop and he really does a step by step tutorial on how to do this. He made the images a lot smaller, but I chose to make them bigger so that you could see the different places we visited. The mosaic is made up of 100 images and then combined with their wedding image
Below are the two images I used for the image above. One learning curve if you try this, make sure all your image face the same direction. Only use vertical or only use horizontal. I had to go back and change out the images.
During our time in Vinica, Amy, Richard, Luka (in his stroller) and I did a walk (although it felt like a hike) up to the fort ruins above the city named Vinikco Kale. These ruins apparently stretch right through to a neighboring town and more and more of it is being excavated. We only did the area directly above the city. For this image I combined a photo of Amy on the fort walls and an image looking out to the next city Kochani.
Below are the two images I used. The countryside is beautiful and you can see the new town over in the middle of the image. I was reminded of the country I grew up in. Florida is so flat that when you see mountains you truly appreciate them.
For this image I combined another image of Amy taken in 2019, along with a photo I took in Kochani, Macedonia. I saw the words in one of the clothing store windows and really loved it. For this image I reduced the saturation and then combined it with the word image.
Below are the two images I used.
While in Macedonia, we visited a town called Struga. It was very much a holiday town, with lots of hotels and restaurants on the lake and along a city waterway. They also had a great umbrella walk. We noticed a couple of young men kayaking in the waterway. The river flows through this water way to the lake so the current moves fairly fast. Also they have a new bridge called the New Drim Bridge and the current flows through there and creates a weir of sorts. I combined three images in what I understand is called stacking.
Below are the three images I used. I did some cropping and rotating to get some of the wave action. Another interesting tale. People were diving off bridges and swimming in this waterway. It was a great little town and eventually I will get to the blogs on the city.
Another city that we stayed in was the Capital. I always think of the Hunger Games when I say the capital. Skopje is a very interesting city. The capital it is the largest city in Macedonia, with a population of around 640,000 people. The majority of the population are ethnic Macedonians, however 25 % of the population is made up of Albanian, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities. It’s an interesting city of new and old culture. The new side of Skopje houses the hotels, businesses more modern living. The older side of Skopje, the Old Bazaar, is where you find interesting passageways, places to eat and drink and of course there is always Turkish coffee if you are someone who loves coffee. Another thing of interest is that Skopje has about 100 statues scattered around this area.
I chose these three images to combine in a stacking format. The first image is the family walking from the Old Bazaar over the stone bridge back into the newer part of the city. This is a great big square with a great big statue of Alexander the Great. At the base of the statue are various lions and fountains. One of the first images I have of Amy in Macedonia, when she was with the Peace Corp, was of her running across the square with water fountains rising up from the ground. Moving on down the river from where the stone bridge crosses were three boats one of them was actually a hotel. When I was originally researching accommodation, I looked at the boat as a potential place to stay. However, now that we have been there I am glad that we did not choose to stay on a boat. I did enjoy the comforts of the Marriot Hotel after the road trip we did.
This image was taken in the countryside of Macedonia. While researching things to do and see in Macedonia (because I always like to be prepared), I came across a article on a place called the Sunken Church on the Mavrovo Lake. From what I had read the church was built at the bottom end of the lake. At some point they decided to create a larger lake and flooded the area with water, and the church became a casualty of that exercise. From what I read, dependent on the water level at the time, the church could be totally under water, halfway under water for as it was for us, completely out of the water. In fact, they actually looked like they were working on the church.
I used these three images below in a stacking format. The image of the outside of the church shows that they are doing something to the church but I am not sure what. When you walk inside the church the roof is totally destroyed and the inside pillars are either broken or lying at odd angles. It was a super interesting building and I am very grateful that we stopped there to see what we could see. The last image I stacked was taken in the grasses just above the church. One day I will get to blog this visit as well.
Shifting away from Macedonia, I wanted to try another form of double exposure. Again using a tutorial from Blue Lightening TV Photoshop, I did my best to transform the photo into a brick wall portrait. Actually I attempted this image with 3 different walls. I will say that the clean smooth wall worked the best. For this image I used a photo taken at the gum wall in Seattle and combined it with a photo I had taken of Luka in December.
As you will see from the image below I first had to remove the heart and b&b from the gum wall as well as the name Liz. I thought people may think Luka’s name was Liz and that he was a girl 🙂 . I also relocated one of the pieces of gum as well. This was an interesting experiment with a lot of work, and replaying the tutorial over and over again.
Another image from the Seattle trip with this one of Bruce Lee. Again I used the stacking concept for this image. Chinatown in Seattle was so interesting and I loved combining all three images to show case the fascinating history that it has. If you grew up in my era, you will know who Bruce Lee is.
Finally this was an interesting concept to attempt. Using Blue Lightning TV Photoshop tutorial I attempted to use smoke brush keys to change up the photo of Amy. His tutorial had smoke going off the head of his model but honestly, every time I tried to do that it just looked weird. So I decided that I would use the smoke brushes to create a different type of texture to her hair.
Below is the image I used to create the smoke textured hair. Obviously I created a background a different shape to her original photo. I selected and moved her onto the back ground and then using the transform tool I resized her to fit what the canvas that I had. I also used the Rotate tool a lot in this image. The brushes were interesting shapes and it definitely was fun but it was an image that I re-did 3 times.
Double exposure if fun. I loved playing and I really enjoyed all the different techniques that I tried, even if I had to do them over and over again. It was definitely a learning curve.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Lupji Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what he has to share. You can see more of his work by clicking on his Instagram page. Definitely check out his incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_doubleexposure23
Share Six: February 2023: ICM
Posted on February 6, 2023
This year our group of bloggers has decided to challenge themselves to doing something different each month. Something were we can learn from each other. This month Janet chose the theme ICM or Intentional Camera Movement.
It sounds easy. Well not so much. It’s one thing to move the camera while you are taking the photo, it’s another to get the light right and the shutter speed right and not have a blown out picture.
My first attempt left a lot to be desired. The images were totally blown out and it was only with some post editing that I managed to salvage these 3 images. These 3 appealed to me although I am not sure how much intentional camera movement these show.
I tried using my lensbaby to get a movement effect but it was more bokeh than it was movement.
While the image below is not ICM, the effect the lensbaby gives is one of movement and I love the portal effect.
I then decided I would swing my my favorite sunset spot and see if I could get a few images late evening. I wasn’t very successful there either. I did like the first one but then next two were not what I was looking for.
I am back to the drawing board, watched a few more videos, asked my team for feedback and then went back out again. This time I chose to go to a walk I know that is kind of dark and not one that I am crazy about walking on my own. However, I knew that the direct light would not be as bright as the other places I had tried. What I do like about these images is the very wintery effect that they have. This particular walk has a lot of tall trees with Spanish Moss growing on them.
I finally feel like I found my groove. I set my camera in the upper range of the F-stop, with the ISO at 100 and the shutter speed varying around 1/8 sec. This seems to be what worked for me.
I have to be honest, this was hard. I tend to try to get crisp nature images so the blur, not unlike the lensbaby, kind of challenges me visually. However, it was fun attempting this style and hopefully I got some images that will work with what Janet was aiming for when she chose this theme.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Katherine of Cobert Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_icm
30 Minutes in the LIfe: January 2023
Posted on January 30, 2023
I have confessed many times over the last 3 years that I have struggled to find my groove and to get back into the passion of photography. With covid slowing and in many cases shutting places down, along with Richard’s melanoma journey, and Mr Luka taking all my time, there seems little time to get out and do photography. However, the end of this past year and into January, my son-in-law’s mother has been visiting from Macedonia. Ljubica and I have done a whole lot of getting around and it involved me taking photo’s while she pushed Luka. Of course, he had to go with. I feel like I may have got the kick start I need for 2023.
Earlier this month I had time to myself and I decided to pick up my 100-600mm lens and go for a walk at Green Cay Wetlands. I have missed getting out with the lens but it is too heavy to carry and push a pram and try and keep Luka happy.
Today is all about getting back into nature, to re-orienting my head and taking deep breaths knowing that there are things I can change and things I cannot.
Nature is an interesting source of photography. Some shots you have control over and you can set it up as you want it, and other shots are on the fly.
This Little Blue Heron while wild, seemed quite comfortable with people getting up close to it. Sadly in the wetlands you have those people who are there to walk, without consideration of what is around them. I don’t mind people walking, I wish I did it better, however, when you see a bird sitting on the railing and folks trying to take photo’s, slow down and enjoy this incredible bird, as you go past. That way you do not scare the bird away. This bird allowed me to get fairly close but it does help to have a bigger lens so that there is no need to be on top of it.
I love birds feet and I especially love this kind of photo where the object is in focus and the rest is a soft blur.
While it is still winter we are starting to see signs of spring (which of course means the hot summer is not far behind. Although I am not going to complain too much as I will get two winters this year, as we head to Australia in May). What I love the the beginning of new life, while we are still seeing signs of old life hanging out. The lens also creates some awesome bokeh for the background.
I loved this particular image because of the contrast of the leaves. The brown underside stands out fairly starkly against the mottled green of the upper side of the leaves. What also fascinated me when editing was the background kind of reflected the contrast of the fern.
I don’t typically catch small birds but for some reason today I was lucky enough to do so. This little bird is called a Palm Warbler. These tiny birds are fast and move around so quickly that I was lucky to catch as many as I did today.
This Yellow Rumped Warbler is slightly different to the Palm Warbler in coloring. I happened to spot it in the tree eating some kind of berry. Fortunately it stayed on the branch long enough for me to capture it’s image. The differences I see seem to be the stripped effect on the wings and body and the yellow on the wings.
Of course, we have the controversial Iguana. I personally love them. They are so prehistoric and so incredible in design. Most people don’t like them because they are an invasive species to Florida. I see them eating the grass in the back garden. I am good with that. As spring arrives so does mating season, and along with that some interesting colors in the Iguana. They can go from muted greens and browns to bright orange, which is pretty cool to look at.
Along with changes in color, the birds start displaying changes as well. The Anhinga get this really cool color around their eyes. Both male and female (above and below) show this distinct marking during breeding time.
Nature includes leaves, new and old, and I love to find leaves and photograph them with this narrow sliver of focus. I just love the blur around it.
This cute little bird is ironically called the Little Green Heron. To date I am still trying to find the Green part but it is a beautiful bird all the same. It can stand still for the longest time and just when you about to give up it will dive for it’s food.
Another sign that spring is on the way. I love the unfurling ferns. The beginning of new life. So symbolic of new beginnings and so many new opportunities.
Today there were about 50 Glossy Ibis that had descended into this watery area. The Glossy Ibis is known as such due to their pearlescent feathers. Dependent on which way the sun is shining on the feathers you either get a plain brown bird or you get this pearl effect of colors. When the sun catches the feathers at the right angle they are stunning.
Last but not least on this walk about, is a critter that I really do not like. In fact I would go as far as to say they creep me out. Spiders are just not my thing. It may go back to being traumatized by a friend chasing me with a giant spider on the end of the stick, or the bamboo spiders we used to get in South Africa. Or it may even be the fact that I know a couple of people, my son included, who have been bitten by spiders and it has taken months of doctors visits, removing dead skin, packing the bite with antibiotics before the wound actually healed up. However, I am in awe of the incredible architecture spiders create. Who builds an amazing home on 4 twigs. Spiders are good when it comes to that, and I respect that, so long as they stay away from me.
30 Minutes in the Life is a small group of bloggers who get together once a month to put thought to paper and share on the happenings of their lives. Hopefully soon I will get back to rest of the Macedonia images, but in the meantime, take some time to follow the link to see what my friend and very talented photographer Kristina of Hello Olivia Photography has to share this month.
Share Six: January 2023: New Beginnings
Posted on January 6, 2023
Happy New Year! Lets hope that 2023 continues to improve on the previous years. What a pleasure it is to be blogging another year with this fantastic group of bloggers. We have now been blogging at Share Six for 8 years.
The month crept up on us very quickly and it was my turn to pick the theme, so what was more appropriate than {New Beginnings}. I love the beginning of the year. It is a reset. I can look at what I see happening and evaluate what I need to do.
Each year I start out enthusiastically trying to loose weight. This year is no different. I lost some before we went to Macedonia, and then gained it when I came back. My work situation created a fair bit of stress and I, without doubt, am a stress eater. I am also a bored eater. However this year, most certainly for the first half of the year I am going to be eating a lot of lettuce. The reason for that is that we have potential plans to travel to Australia in May and I would like to be a lot thinner by then.
I have also decided that I am going to chill. I am going to work hard not to stress out. 2021 and 2022 were spent worrying about Richard and his health and then worrying about figuring out what I needed to learn for the additions to my job and making sure that I fully understood all of the intricacies of the multiple different tasks I was taking on. This year I am hoping that I can relax a bit more.
I am going to slow down, and cruise as much as I can. Richard is a go, go, go person and I just want to be much slower.
I am going to do my best to keep my head above water and take deep breathes when I need to.
I am going to do my best to not get my feathers ruffled. It takes a bit to get me ruffled but I really do not like it, so the goal is to avoid any form of ruffling.
I want to dance as though no one is looking…
And if I look foolish, oh well…
I am going to hang out with my loved ones, especially my baby boy, Luka. I hope to continue to show kindness and love wherever I can.
I am going to relax and take in the vitamin C. (Carefully though, as we all know Richard story of melanoma. Too much sun is not good for the skin).
I am going to attempt to get more sleep. Being a night owl that is really tough for me. I am awake at 1am and dragging at 8am. There is a up side to sleeping more and it has a lot to do with diet.
I am going to look to others for wisdom and guidance when I do not have the answers myself. But I am not going to be pulling my feathers out over things I cannot control. And if I see, someone struggling, I hope that I will always reach out with kindness.
I hope that I will be curious, but not where it affects others. I want to see as much as I can. Mr Lukie is now going to be going for more walks and outings. I am super excited about the plans for the trip to Australia. This is the homeland of my great grandparents and so I am eager to visit it.
I want to smile a lot more, enjoy the laughter and feel so much lighter in spirit. I hope that we lose some of the heaviness that we have been under the past two years
And when I can, I am going to do my best to have a flipping good time.
And maybe make a splash.
I am not one for resolutions. I know that I can never keep them, but I feel like I can manage these thoughts. New Beginnings are awesome. It means we can let go of the past mistakes, or sorrows or hardships. We can carry forward with us the goodness of life where we choose to.
New beginnings give us opportunities to learn something new that we may not have done before. One of the things I discovered I love is artwork with wood. For the last two years we have gone to an art studio for our work retreat and I hope we get to go again this year. I love the creative aspect of it.
At the end of each year I pull out a new puzzle and start to work on it. It helps to reset my mind, and to dig a little deeper to find those missing pieces. It makes me think again more logically. It helps me to get my mind off everything. When I have finished blogging now, I am heading back to my challenging puzzle.
I encourage you to look at what {New Beginnings} you can put into place in your life. Just make sure that they do not become a burden to you. Enjoy everything you can about 2023, and if life does get tough, try to find the positives within the negatives, those are what will get you through the challenging times. That, and family and really good friends.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Elizabeth of It’s Still Life by Elizabeth Willson is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_newbeginnings.
Share Six: December 2022: Color
Posted on December 6, 2022
Color is our theme for Share Six this month and I grateful for all ability to see Color around me. The world is a beautiful place. Color comes in so many diverse areas of our lives, from sunrises and sunsets, to flora and fauna, to places we visit. There is so many opportunities to experience color in our lives.
Wherever you are in the world and whatever you celebrate, I wish you a blessed time. For me it is about Christmas, and celebrating the birth of Christ. It’s about family time. It’s about little Luka tearing into his presents. It’s about quality over quantity. It’s about sitting at the table over a meal and enjoying the celebration. This year we will get to celebrate with Daniel’s mom as well. She will be flying in to the US in 2 weeks and I am so excited for her.
Stay safe, stay well, enjoy the festivities. We look forward to seeing you in 2023.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Kathrine of Cobert Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_color
Share Six: November 2022: Nature
Posted on November 6, 2022
Nature for me is the wetlands. I haven’t been a lot lately because Friday has become my Luka day and it’s been too hot to take him in the wetlands until recently. However, it is our get out time, before sleep time. I cannot carry my big lens and push the stroller, so I have had to stick with the 70-300mm. Maybe next time I will give it a try. In addition, every time I stop, he grumbles. Our last walk we had to stop halfway around to have breakfast, and then a bit later for his bottle of water. Overall he is so good. Walking past someone I got the comment “he sure looks chilled”. There is Luka resting his feed up on the food tray. Gotta love this boy!
Nature is everything that has life around us. It is getting away from the bricks and mortar and breathing in life. It’s the smells, the fresh air, the wildlife, the scenery that always captures my attention. Working on this blog makes me want to get out and go for another walk.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet of @wiredtothemoon_ is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images to Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_nature
Share Six: October 2022: Moody
Posted on October 6, 2022
{Moody} is the theme for this month and when I picked my images I have to be honest moody was kind of where I was at.
That morning I had attended the funeral of a colleagues husband who had passed away of cancer. I felt sad, down and frustrated. But this funeral also felt very close to home. You see Richard, in February 2021, was diagnosed with melanoma, and for a while we did not know which way things would go. It’s such a lot to process and it is hard to know what to say to the person who has been diagnosed. Then things seemed to turn for the better for Richard, and we hope and pray that it continues that way. In the September 2021, my colleagues husband was diagnosed and the following September 2022, he was dead. Sitting there, reminded me that life is so fragile, it could have been me sitting in that position.
I went home that day and posted the following on Facebook “Life is short. I was feeling philosophical last night. I am sure the wine helped. I had spent time with a friend whose husband had passed away. He was so young. Today I attended his celebration of life. It’s these moments that remind me of how grateful I am for my family and friends. It is also a reminder to tell those I love, how much I love them. Give them the hugs they may not want because I don’t know whether I will be able to hug them again. Don’t let those moments slip away. Life is short and time waits for no one.”
Life is precious and the unexpected can happen at the drop of a hat.
My mood remained moody and reflective. We have recently had a lot of bad weather. Wet, overcast, depressing, rainy weather. I am fortunate that I work from home but sometimes I still end up driving in the rain. That kind of weather makes me stressed and somewhat moody. Tuesday’s pre-hurricane Ian weather was a fine example. We knew there was a hurricane coming in. Wednesday the office was going to be closed, as were the clinics. So Tuesday I decided after my morning zoom meeting to head across to the clinic. Mmm, here comes the rain again. It was so dark, and moody, and heavy that you could barely see in front of you. Even driving home it was not great. Already we were feeling the effects of the incoming hurricane’s outer bands.
You sit waiting for the path to become clear, then you sit and watch to see whether the path will change. Hurricane Ian did not change it’s direct path but it did wobble to the south. Had it gone a little further south, I think we would have felt a bigger impact.
From 8:30pm Tuesday evening the emergency sirens on the east coast of Florida kept going off. It went off 4 times between 8:30pm and 5am. I have to confess, hurricanes we have been through, tornado’s not so much. We have a couple of safe spots in our house – our laundry, our downstairs guest bathroom. and under our staircase. None have space for more than 1 person. I have to confess – I went downstairs for the first siren, stayed downstairs until after the second siren, and then I went upstairs to bed, only to be rudely awakened by the next two sirens. I could not see myself spending the entire night down in the bathroom or laundry.
It’s 5am and your mind is foggy. You walk to the bathroom and switch on the light and it is a huge relief that you actually have power. The wind, rain, lightning and thunder through the night was hectic, and it was only the outer bands of the north east quadrant of the storm that we were experiencing. Then you turn on the TV and discover that the tornado touched down 20 minutes away from where you live. In fact, halfway between where we live and where both kids now live. The touchdown was actually on the main road they turn off of but a little way away from them. The first thing you see is the damage to the communities where the tornado came down. It hit a big retirement community, possibly the one next door and the Home Depot. It hits home that it could have been you while you were sleeping. And while the emergency notice said “go to your basement of safe room” the reality is that no one in South Florida has as basement in their home.
This was a first hurricane for Daniel, and he said it was loud and scary. Little does he know what it is like when it actually hits you. 2005 we were hit by Hurricane Wilma, and it was bad. That was our first and last hurricane season without shutters. I watched Richard stand, with a towel wrapped around his head, a thick jacket on and jeans, pushing the bowing glass doors outwards against the wind. The eye hit us on both sides of our property.
That said you walk around in a fog. 5am is way to early for me. Luka was coming down. I was worried about what the weather would be like. Turned out that other than light showers, the day was okay. And then we waited and watch the storm go in on the West Coast of Florida and said a prayer of gratitude that it was not coming in to us. I have a photographer friend who lives in that area and she said this was the scariest thing she has ever been through and hopes never to go through it again.
The rose amongst all of these moody moments is Luka. We had him Wednesday to Friday afternoon. Amy was in Spain on business and Daniel is a teacher and so once the storm was passed, school theoretically would start, but the day care was closed. So he came to Granda and Nuala which turned out perfect in that our offices were closed Wednesday and Thursday and I don’t work Fridays. Each day we thought school would start again. Daniel did end up going in on Friday but they had no air conditioning or electrical power, so he came back home. Luka being in our home brings joy. His laughter and giggles are a blessing. Even those whiney moments are blessings. And when you try to put him to sleep and he is not tired (or even overtired) he is up and down on the bed like a crazy child. Just when you think he is about to go to sleep the cat jumps up on the bed and off he goes again. Eventually he will go to sleep with me almost asleep next to him on the bed. I shift him to the crib and then 1am his is awake and wanting comfort. So into the bed he comes. Richard did that one night and then complained that Luka sleeps like a starfish and he moved to the spare room. But to watch Luka wake up and see the smile on his face chases away the cobwebs, the moody feelings and brings a smile to my face.
And while we smile, our heart breaks. Our heart breaks for those who were severely impacted by Hurricane Ian. For those who have lost everything, – their businesses, their homes, their vehicles, and some, even their lives. Hurricane Ian has left devastation on the West Coast of Florida. One of the best ways to help is to find a reputable organization to donate to. We cannot go in there but we can financially help those who can. This is not a quick fix, this is going to take a long time to repair, rebuild or replace that which has been lost.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet of @wiredtothemoon_ is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
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Kocani, Macedonia
Posted on September 13, 2022
We had climbed Vinicko Kale, and now it was time for us to head to Kocani for the afternoon. Kocani is about 15 or so minutes from Vinica and we had the most interesting ride. When we got to the house, the car was already decorated in wedding finery in preparation for Saturdays event, and the main reason we were in Vinica. While everyone was working on wedding plans, Amy, Richard, Luka and I were playing tourist.
Kocani, on first impression, is much larger than Vinica. Reading about Kocani that impression was confirmed The population is almost 3 x more than Vinica, the number of people living there is around 28 000. The population is made up of about 90% of Macedonians, 5% Roma, 3% Turks, 0.5% Vlachs (I added a link because I have not heard this terminology before), 0.2% Serbian, and 0.1% other.
I noticed a lot more apartment complexes around the town.
The Kocani River runs through the center of town and creates a beautiful river walk. One block of buildings back from the river is a peaceful outdoor entertainment area, coffee bars, restaurants, shops, and a children’s play area.
I loved this – Life is too short to wear boring clothes. I also think life is to short to not be exploring everything around us. There is a whole world out there.
Below, the story of our vacation. Carrying the stroller up and down stairs, hills, walkways etc. Luka did not complain at all. I let them do the carrying and I took photo’s lol.
I loved this image below of Marilyn Munroe on the walls of what appears to be a restaurant in Gadsby style.
We were heading to an Irish Pub that Amy had been to a couple of times. The look was somewhat Irish but the beers and menu were not. We had the standard Macedonian beer Skopsko IPL. One of my favorite finds was the beggars in Macedonia. They came with four legs and were all feline. There is a huge population of what I assume are feral cats and they are the restaurant beggars. I loved them.
I got to chat with the waitress at the restaurant. She was an English teacher but she said there were no jobs so she was working as a waitress.
When we were leaving the Irish Pub I spotted this church in the distance and asked if we could make our way to it. Little did I know we were going up and down hills again.
Below is one of the views of the housing in Kocani. We walked the streets to the church because the sidewalks have cars on them.
I was fascinated by this tree growing up the wall of this shop. Turning around to take a fuller image I realized that this was a grape vine that had grown up the side of the building and the leaves and grapes formed the awning.
Back up hill and making our way to the church I had spotted. Like Vinica, I saw piles of wood stacked against walls and houses. This wall is the external wall to the church.
Church St George, is situated just outside of the main riverwalk area, slightly up on the hill. I could find little information on this church but from what I did find it was apparently built in 1915 on original foundations.
Church St George, is an orthodox Macedonian church. I loved the design of the building with stone and plaster and traditional red style tiles on the roof. The grounds were immaculate, and we were able to walk around without anyone stopping us. We did not, however, go inside.
One of my favorite things that I saw in Macedonia with the churches was that quite often there were miniature replicas in the gardens.
Lastly we stopped in at Restaurant Kaj Pace for a late afternoon meal. We were all hungry. This was a great restaurant, some of it undercover and some areas had a more garden feel. My favorite part, I have to confess, was that the wait staff moved a giant fan over to us. Phew, with 104F temps we were dying. That fan was a blessing.
Of course, it was back to beer again. For food we ordered shopska salad which is made of cucumbers, tomatoes, mixed in olive oil and covered with a salty cheese, not unlike feta but looked very different. This appears to be a staple salad in Macedonia and we would eat it many times in the days to come.
Amy also wanted cheesy chips, which sounded great. The first taste of the chips was a bit of a shock as the cheese was salty. Amy tells me there is two types of cheese in Macedonia, a gouda type cheese which they call white cheese, and salty cheese. In addition we shared ribs as well which were excellent. What I loved about eating in Macedonia was that we could order a number of plates of food, and all share that food.
We headed back home in the wedding car, to a wonderful evening of meeting new family members, Daniels brother, sister in law and niece. It was a great day, busy with the climb and then the tour of Kocani. It felt good to stop and chat and learn a bit more of our new extended family.
Heading back to the hotel and the air conditioning, we took a little bundle of love along with us. Luka was dealing with a heat rash and Amy thought it would be good for him to sleep in the cooler temps. I made him a bed on the couch and placed chairs along the edge so that he could not roll out. He slept like a log, through the whole evening.
Saturday is going to be a busy day. Rich and I took Luka for a walk in the lower side of Vinica, then we got to celebrate for 3 hours at the house, before heading to the wedding venue. If I thought Friday was a long day, Saturday was going to be even longer.
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