Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: the domesticated edition

Morning [unless it's not morning when you read this, in which case, insert your own time of day here].

As I type, I've got a load of washing going around the machine [that's what you can hear in the background] and I hope to get it pegged out on the line once it's done [despite those grubby looking grey clouds that are drifting in!].

And all this domestic goddess behaviour has reminded me to share a few more of my scavenger hunt photos [for more details on the hunt ... check out this post by its organiser Rinda] ... starting with this one ...

2. A clothesline:

My clothesline to be precise.

As the photo probably shows, our garden is pretty petite. And when the clothesline is full ... so is the garden.

But there was no way I was going to forgo one.

Ironing, cleaning, dusting, hoovering ... I can [and very often do] do without. But yet there's something about 'pegging out' clean laundry on a dry day that I find ridiculously satisfying and so we boughta retractable line which only gets strung across when it's needed.

This has meant that:

• our washing gets that lovely line-dried smell ...
• meanwhile when it's not in use, it's safely tucked away and we don't get garroted by a line stretched across the garden.

I think that's what you call a win win situation.

5. A train: 

Part of me wanted to find some romantic old train to photograph, but hey, instead I got a modern passenger train, a railway crossing barrier that wouldn't re-open and policeman in shorts and fluorescent vest re-directing traffic.

Overall I think that sums up British summer holidays quite well.

10. A horse:

Now, as we've talking 'domesticated' this morning ... it seemed appropriate to fit in these photos too. When I first saw several horses in a field, far off in the distance, I took out my camera and had to zoom in to get a nice shot.

But this chap - with his amazing platinum blonde mane with brunette fringe -  was clearly used to seeing people ... and he began to wander over to greet us:

Then James gave him an apple we had with us ... and when he'd finished, he wouldn't take our word for it that we didn't have more:

This is James, on a bike, speaking to someone who rang him for work-related advice on the phone wedged between his chin and shoulder ... while simultaneously trying to convince a horse that he has no more food in his hands.

Who said men can't multi-task? ;-)

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So, there's 3 more to cross of the list ... only 6 to go ...

Right, I'm off to peg-out!

Julie :-)

Did You Ever See ... A Book for Free?

Hello, hello.

I like old books. You knew that already.

And, seeing as how I [for bibliophiles of a nervous disposition ... you may want to look away now ...] yes, seeing as how I cut up so many of them to create my Plundered Pages vintage paper packs, I need a constant new supply of interesting pages to plunder.

And, in my frequent searches for such papery treasure - in shops, sales, markets etc wherever I find myself at any given moment -  I've found: beautiful books; familiar books; battered books; overpriced books; even under priced books, but rarely if ever[outside of my own loft] have I found ... FREE BOOKS.

Until a fortnight ago ...

We were walking along a high street when I spotted the 'Books For Free' shop. A shop I actually  remembered seeing before but which I'd never really taken notice of because really ... as your Grandmother would tell you ... you get nothing for nothing in this life.

Except in this case, it turns out that you do! 

The cover of one of the lovely illustrated books I chose - for free - from the Books for Free shop!

So, I wanted to 'pay it forward' and share this fortunate phenomenon with you here.

Here's how they describe themselves in the 'Books for Free' section of the Healthy Planet website [they're who set up the shops]

So yes they rescue books from landfill and then allow you take 3 home with you per visit. For free.

Yes, free.

'Free' free. For nothing. Nought. Gratis. Free!

Simple as that!

In fact, the hardest parts of the experience for me were:

•  trying to decide which 3 to salvage and scurry home with [I still don't think I believed they could really be for free until I walked out the door with them.]
• trying to nonchalantly scour the childrens' book shelf while hoping the little girl doing the same didn't reach for the titles I wanted. [I'm guessing it would've be frowned upon for me to wrestle her to the ground and yank it from her tiny grip.]
• watching the staff stamp the company logo / website details into the front of each book I took. I winced when I saw the green inky mark defiling the illustrated pages!!! I know I cut up books - but I do so purely so someone else gets to enjoy the images later. Seeing them stamped pained me!
• And finally ... it was incredibly hard to leave behind so many interesting books! They weren't the usual charity shop fodder ... there were many ex-library books in odd and fascinating categories. Lots of wonderful pages you just don't find very often. So much so I considered paying any passing child to go in and get me 3 more ... [which I didn't do btw!].

Now ... please don't shoot the messenger ... but it seems - from their shop location list + map - that, other than one in Wales, there aren't any Books for Free centres outside England.

Sorry about that! But they do seem to be expanding ... so you never know.

If you manage to find your nearest centre, and come home with a haul of your own I'd love to hear about it!  Or maybe you've already been to one - in which case ... wow ... you kept that to yourself didn't you? ;-) 

Call me an altruistic soul, call me a vintage-book evangelist, call me a hopeless business woman but ...

I know it may seem poor business sense for me to sell vintage paper packs ... then go and tell you all about where to get some for free ... but the thing is I really, really, believe in rescuing old books from long-abandoned dusty shelves and giving them a new lease of life - whatever form that takes.

And, by sharing this with you: I'm happy, the landfills are happy, the old books are happy ... and hopefully you're happy too! And what better reasons do I need?!

Julie :-)

The Height of Summer: I *might* have grown

Hi, hi.

Stop everything. I might have grown.

Either that or I haven't measured myself for a while and had completely forgotten my own true height.

Or else my shampoo has done a really good job at boosting volume!

Because, while - in preparation for this ... my Height of Summer series - I've been telling you all that I'm 5ft 2in ... after getting James to measure me [with a pencil line on the garden gate] it turns out I'm not 5ft 2in.

I'm 5ft 2 ... AND A QUARTER inches!

Now that I've had this growth spurt ... surely this means I'm going to need to buy some new clothes? Surely?

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Now that I've shown you mine ... are you going to show me yours?

For one month only, I'm encouraging you all to step out from behind the computer and in front of the camera and share with me + your own blog readers how tall you are.

I'm still mulling over the bast way to line us all up ... maybe just a linked list ... maybe with photos??? Not sure yet [suggestions welcome].

But ... if you don't fancy that - fear not ... there are lots of other ways to share a tall tale or a short story* or two - check out this post for many more ideas on how to get involved with The Height of Summer with or without photos of you.

I'll be pinning any posts [who link back to the series] here in The Height of Summer Pinterest board ... I hope to see you there in some shape or form!

Julie :-)

* Thank you Sian for that brilliantly simple yet perfect phrase! Am kicking myself I didn't think of it! x]

Storytelling Sunday: The upside of being low down

Hello hello.

As it's the first Sunday of a shiny new month, Sian of From High in the Sky is hosting her monthly international 'Storytelling Sunday' - so, when you're finished here, make sure to swing by Sian's where you can find links to many more tales from story-sharers around the world.

As for mine ... it's not a tall tale. In fact, it's quite the opposite ...

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The Upside of Being Low Down [a story for my Height of Summer series]

At around 5'2" I'm not the tallest of folk. And, bar an unexpected [and medically miraculous] growth spurt, I think that's the height I'm going to stay.

And, let's face it:

• I'm never going to be able to reach the top shelf of my kitchen cupboards let alone become a much sought after super-model;
• I'm always going to find myself in a changing room pulling up a dress by its shoulders about 5" until the fitted bust section actually vaguely resembles the location of my own ... then wondering if anyone would notice if I wore 5" deep shoulder pads ... and ...
• There's always going to be someone who underestimates me because they think small = cute and sweet. And while I'm that too. [Obvs. ;-)] I'm also more than that.

But, actually, I'm pretty sanguine about my height these days. But I haven't always been.

Oh no.

If you think I take being called 'little' as a slur on my character now ...  woweeee you should have met me when I really was little.

Yes, I blurred out everyone's face. No, they're not about to shape-shift / teleport.

I hated it. I had a giant, proud, ego trapped inside a minute body.

If, like a teacher I had, you had once called me 'Little Julie Kirk' ... I'd still be holding a grudge against you all these years later ... trust me.

And, as for the school photographer who joked that he had a cat bigger than me ... well ... quite frankly he was lucky he lived to say 'cheeeeeese' another day.

Now, let's leap forward 20 or so years to when I had a job as a Learning Mentor in a primary school and when all of these 'little' experiences put me in the perfect position to empathise with a similarly petite ten year old ...

I was walking around the playground with Courtney, a funny, fiesty... but admittedly small girl. She must have recognised me as a kindred spirit and, from nowhere, began telling me about the height-related teasing she'd experienced from her brothers and friends:

"They tease me Miss" she stated, "because I'm little. They think it's funny."

I wasn't too concerned about this as I could tell she wasn't either ... and then, what she said next convinced me she'd get through this particular stage [and indeed, the rest of her life]  just fine ...

Because ... she didn't just repeat the words a comforting adult might have said to her, something well meaning but pretty useless, something like: "You've got plenty of time left to grow" or "Good things come in small packages" etc ...

No.

What Courtney told me, about how she handled being teased about her size.... went like this:


"I just say to them Miss ... that if we were all in a car crash ... I'd be small enough to escape through the car window ...

... and they wouldn't."

!!

Now there's a girl who, no matter where she measures on a height chart, certainly has her glass half full!


Julie :-)

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If [during August] you want to share a height/size related tale of your own then click the image below for more details:

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: The Case of the Missing Fountains

Hi, hi.

I had an entirely different post planned for today ... but then I saw that Rinda was hosting a Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt Link-up party on her blog and I couldn't resist joining in.

She even suggested we blog a funny experience from our scavenger hunt ... and really, it's not like I even need that kind of encouragement is it? So, while I can't promise a laugh a minute ... I can certainly bring you a touch of mystery ...

The Case of the Missing Fountains or maybe even ... The Curious Incident of the Water in the Fountains.

Even if I do say so myself, I'm doing pretty [and surprisingly] well in my photo-hunting. So far I've blogged 10 out of the necessary 21 images on the list ... and I've ticked off lots of those in the last week including finding number 9. A Fountain on a day trip last weekend.

But the thing was ... it wasn't switched on. It didn't look truly fountain-y. And I wondered if I ought to keep looking until I found a 'proper' one.

But I took a photo anyway. As a spare to fall back on. Just in case.

Exhibit A:

Date: 28 July 2012
Location: Kirkleatham Museum grounds
Fountain status: Off. Not on. Zero fountainy business here.

But I didn't give up hope, especially as this weekend we'd made plans to visit the town centre art gallery. A gallery which is located, handily, near a large open fountain. A spot which always makes for a good photo opportunity even when I'm not trying to cross things off a list!

I was convinced today would be my chance to finally capture a fountain doing that thing all good fountains should.

And yet this is what I found ...

Exhibit B:

Date: 04 August 2012
Location: Centre Square
Fountain status: Off. Not on. Once again zero fountainy business here.

You could speculate that this phenomena is like something from a Dr.Who episode. Or the X-Files. Stop All the Fountains. The Day the Fountains Stood Still. One of our Water Fountains is Missing.

Or else you could run with  the explanation James came up with for today's most mysterious water-vanishing act: that the council had probably switched off the fountain so the people watching Olympic coverage on the giant screen in the square could hear the live commentary undisturbed by the usual wooshy water jets spraying up from the ground:

But, who knows. Maybe he's in on the Great Quiet Fountains Conspiracy of 2012 and that kind of practical explanation is what they want us to believe ...

Out of interest, and not wishing to scaremonger in the slightest ... , tell me my friends ... are the fountains near you working right now?

Are they?

Are you sure?

Julie :-)