Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2013: Capturing the tower

Hi hi hi.

 I'm one of those people who:

• likes taking photos
• and who also likes lists and
• likes crossing things off lists and
• if I'm realistic ... I work best when I have a deadline and so ...

... that's why I really enjoyed taking part in the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by Rinda at Gallo Organico last year ... and, more to the point, why I'm joining in once again this year.

It's also a fun and structured way for me to document and share various unconnected moments of my summer and - if you followed any of my Push-Up Bra Blogging tips you'll know that structure really can be a blogger's best friend! And to help keep me on track I've added the whole list to my sidebar <<< and will add links to each item as and when I blog the photo.

This year Rinda's list contains 21 items [plus two substitutes] for us all to seek out and snap before Sept 21st so all I have to do is keep my eyes open for things that fit the categories while I'm out and about [even though there's a list ... there's still plenty of room to add your own creative interpretation ... there's no right or wrong photo to take] and then drop them into a blog post ... like this ...

Item No.8: A Tower

Well ... if you're going to have to find yourself a tower ... you might as well find one belonging to a castle ...

We walked by the remains of the East Tower of Helmsley Castle on a little family trip around Helmsley [North Yorkshire] last Thursday.

There's been a castle, in one sort or another, on that site for 900 years, however this particular tower is a little less historic than that. At just 700+ years old it's almost a new-build in comparison ...

Here it is again from the other side:

And here's the view I had when I turned around after taking that photo :

I can't resist taking photos of people taking photos.  Now all I need to do is check whether Mam's photo of the tower [which I think she was taking here] also features me taking a photo of her taking a photo of it ... OK, I think I'm getting a bit dizzy thinking about that now ...

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I'll have some more Scavenger Hunt photos to tick off my list in the coming days - if you want to play along make sure to visit Rinda over at Gallo Organico for all the details.

Then this time next week it'll be time for My Month in Numbers again. [I know. I don't know how June's almost over either.]

Thank you for all your great topic suggestions for the big Month in Numbers'  'communal count' .... I'm going to make a full list and then decide which to try out first.

Wishing you a happy new week ahead.

Julie :-)

Have you seen: Jot Magazine?

Hello hello.

A new, online and free magazine for 'modern memory keepers' was launched today by Kim Archer and her team. And here it is ... meet 'Jot' :

 

When I heard about Jot and its philosophy I really wanted to be part of it ... how about you? Any of this sound familiar?:  

 

 

And so ... I responded to their call for contributions and now my article all about My Month in Numbers, [where the idea came from, how to join in, why it works for me and others] is now nestled happily in this debut issue alongside several examples from some faithful Month in Numbers bloggers too.

 

So ... may I suggest you schedule a little 'me' time along with the first issue of Jot, your drink of choice and your most comfy chair? That should ease you nicely into the weekend I reckon.

 

Enjoy ... and I'll see you soon.

 

Julie :-)

My Month in Numbers: the communal count - opinions wanted!

Hi, hi.

How's things? It's been a wonderfully sunny day here and tomorrow is tipped to be the warmest of the year ... which reminds me ...

During May's Month in Numbers post I floated the idea that occasionally we might all keep a count or record the numbers of the same sort of thing so that we can compare our vital statistics ... and temperature was one of the categories I had in mind. Not that I'm quite sure how that'd work ... but maybe it could be something like we all note down the average temperature where we live one month? Maybe!

But while I'm still not certain on the details ... I am sure that, as a general idea, it would be worth trying because, really, we've done it before. Remember? ...

Last year many of you joined in with my Height of Summer project where we blogged about how tall [or not] we were.

And, after sharing those figures we suddenly all had a clearer picture of how we'd measure up if we all got together and lined up in size order. Just those 3 little numbers somehow revealed so much more about us and made for some great blog-reading.  [OK, so many of us cheated and tried to add extra numbers-  I personally added the all important 1/4 inches to my otherwise measly 5ft 2!]

And so ... I'm hoping that this new communal [and entirely optional] addition to My Month in Numbers might give us a similar - but more regular - glimpse into how we're alike ... and where we differ!

And I'd love to hear your ideas on what we could measure and record ...

If you saw my May Month in Numbers [or the scrapbook page I made afterwards] you'll have seen the tally-chart I made while keeping count of all the hours of crime drama I watched during the month. And, in a similar vein I already document the number of books I read each ... and I thought maybe in a future month we could all count the number of films we watch.

But what else is there?

I know it's inevitable that whatever topic I choose there'll be someone who doesn't feel it applies to them [like if I asked you to count how many episodes of The Archers you listened to or how many Root Beers you drank. Or how many Root Beers you drank while listening to The Archers.]

So, I'd like to get a feel for what you think.

• What could you count up, collate, document, scribble on a notebook throughout a month?
• What is there that's specific enough to keep track of ... 
• ... but general enough that someone else could play along with?

Once you've thrown some ideas at me I'll try to pull out the common threads from your responses and come up with some categories for future My Month in Numbers posts ... and we'll see how it goes from there!

So, get thinking and get back to me - you don't need to be a My Month in Numbers blogger to lob in a suggestion. The more ideas the better. Thank you in advance.

 Right, I'm going to duck out of the way while you start throwing ...

Julie :-)

Simply a Moment [June]: Then off, off forth ...

Hi, hi.

Things have been veeeeeerrrrry quiet around here this month, I know. If you subscribe to my occasional email catch-up / update/ chatter then you'll have heard from me last week ... but other than that ...

I've been having a little healthy I'm-keeping-away-before-I-begin-to resent-blogging-blog-break or ... if you followed my Push-Up Bra Blogging series then I've been taking what we might also refer to as: 'The Kenny Rogers Approach'.  Know when to walk away ... and all that!

However ... as I also covered in that series ... it's useful to have a few regular themes and on-going types of post in your repertoire, just to keep you pottering along during the dry spells [or the times when just looking at your blogging dashboard makes you shudder]. And so ...

...  I wanted to pop in today to share my response to the 'Simply A Moment' meme created by Simply Alexa where once a month, you can stop, pause and record something which could otherwise have disappeared into the ether. [To learn more you can read Alexa's tips on how to record your own moments and  if you do join in, there's a link box there for you to add your post.]

Then off, off forth ...*

Date: Saturday 15th June2013
Time: 10:35am > onwards
Location: a walk from home to Tesco

"So, how long do you think this'll take then?" asks James of the walk we've got planned. A man more used to being a driver than a pedestrian.

"30, 35 minutes" I reply, casting my mind back to the last time I walked a similar route.

I glance down, check the time on my watch - 10.34ish - and we head off up the drive and out into the street.

"I don't think I've ever walked this far along here in this direction before" he states once we pass the post box.

"You've never lived". I reply, smiling, shaking my head at the suburban safari we're now taking, where the main road I've trodden countless times is suddenly the road less travelled.

Not even 5 minutes from home and here's the rain. Light, sporadic, but enough to make my hair unruly. So out comes my floral print shower-proof mac. Pulling the hood up I think, mmm, yes, shower proof .... maybe. But deluge proof? No way. And I scan the sky for threateningly dark clouds and fortunately find none. Anyway ... this is an adventure after all, I don't think Dr. Livingstone here will be letting rain stop play.

We both step aside to allow an elderly man on a motorised chair to pass. Moments later, as if in an act of universal balance, a young boy on a scooter whizzes by propelling himself enthusiastically with his young legs.

"We'd get there quicker if we'd come on one of those" James says as the boy accelerates away out of sight. "The only thing is ... if you hit anything ... you got straight over the top".

Probably best not to let me near one then.

As we walk parallel to the playing fields the wind - like the hand of an older, teasing sibling - holds me back. Pushes my shoulders. Ruffles my hair.

With it's bluster in my ears I hear a line from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem* repeating in my head: "the hurl and gliding rebuffed the big wind."

Do you hear that wind? I'm rebuffing you I think as we round the corner in front of the Fire Station where I come to a halt. James slows and turns to me, questioning.

"I need a 'fire truck' for the Summertime Photo Scavenger Hunt" I explain. But we look, and there are none parked outside. And I don't think they'd take kindly to me asking to be let in with my camera.

But never mind there's always ...

"Do you think this  would pass for 'a nature preserve'?" I ask, sceptically, of the area of playing field that, after flooding several years back, never dried out and now resembles a mangrove swamp and is inhabited by various ducks and moorhens:

"I don't see why not" he replies. And so I take out my camera and seek out the birds.

And for a moment I'm Hushpuppy from Beasts of the Southern Wild and this isn't a damp corner of a suburban town but a flooded bayou. Then I take the photos and we move along.

Looking down all I see is litter. Discarded correspondence bearing the letterhead from the nearby secondary school. A Pepsi Max tin. An empty bottle of '75% stronger' windscreen wash.

But, raising my eyes higher, I spot a horse in the field. And above that, the hills. My hills. Our hills.

"If you didn't know there were so many houses in between here and there" says James gesturing to the hilltops "you'd never know from here would you?" asks James.

"No." I reply, "It's glorious." Click:

"So, how long's it taken then?" asks James as we turn our backs to the scenery and wait for a break in traffic to cross the road and head into the supermarket. Our destination.

 

Looking at my watch and counting up the time elapsed I say: "25 minutes ... I can't believe it ... I was sure it usually took longer than that" I'm baffled.

 

"And we've been dawdling" I say, thinking about all that Scavenger hunting and mangrove daydreaming.  

 

"Yes, there's been dawdling" he repeats.

 

"Maybe I've got faster?" I ponder.

 

"Maybe you have". 

 

And [because this is what I'm like] I want to think there's something pithy and profound in this moment, in this reply. But I think he literally just means I walk faster.

 

Maybe I dawdle more when I'm walking on my own ... or maybe it just feels longer ... and then we cross the road. Together.   

 

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So that's my June moment - don't forget to hop over to visit Alexa where you can join in with your own too.

And, if you're a poetry lover ... and even if you're not ... you might like to read through The Windhover - the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem I referred to.

I'll see you later this week.

Julie :-)

Scrapbooking 'My Month in Numbers': May 2013

Hello, hello.

Here's a confession for you: I've worn the same dress for two days in a row now [don't worry, I'll wear a fresh one tomorrow. I promise]. And as a result of this fact, this morning, after I'd pulled the dress over my head, straightened myself up and then looked in the mirror do you know what I found stuck to my chest? Something which must have been lurking down the cleavage from the last time I wore it?

A turquoise number '6' sticker. Naturally.

Which, really, should give you a clue as to what I was doing while wearing the dress yesterday. [Come on. Surely you know me well enough by now?]. Here's a big clue [and by 'clue' I mean 'the answer']:

Since creating the 'Month in Musings' printable journaling card set this is my 2nd attempt at a Month in Numbers scrapbook page.

My last layout, which was actually my first layout ... oh,  you know what I  mean. OK, my previous Month in Numbers layout [April's] was quite minimal, linear and with a reduced colour-palette. So, this time around I wanted to showcase some of the brighter cards in the Month in Musings set. Like these:

I also wanted to have lots of layering on this one - partly to show you can use lots of cards on one page [I've used 4 here] and also to get to use quite a few patterned papers in there too [they really are my favourite crafty supply!]. 

Plus I wanted to make room on it not only for a few small photos, but for the tally-chart I made last month counting up all the hours of crime drama I'd watched. For a moment there I almost went to print off the photo I'd taken of it - which I shared here in my April Month in Numbers post. But then ...  I realised ... I could just tear it out of the notebook and stick it to my layout! Am I a genius or what? Just call me Sherlock ...

And of course, as I'm faithfully keeping track of all the books I read this year I listed them here on one of the printable cards:

[BTW: as much I loved The Silver Linings Playbook book ... I've just realised I read it in June ... and not May ... so it's going to have to come off that page now!

But at least that's one of the advantages of having a printable set of cards - I can just go and print out a new one!

And no - I didn't do it deliberately to make a savvy marketing point - I'm just an idiot!

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This month I'm keeping a tally of all the people who join in with My Month in Numbers [the majority of which I've been able to pin to the board]. If you haven't already joined in with your May facts + figures yet there's no closing date ... whenever you're ready so am I.

I'll be back later in the week when we can have that chat about what we could all count up together one month ... get your thinking caps on and I'll catch up with you soon.

Julie :-)

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p.s: I've had a substantial shop update in the last week, with more new products on the way, hence how quite things have been here. But there's lots going on over there, so if you're looking for a little crafty kit treat ... hop over and see what floats your paper boat.