Winter Scavenger HUnt - Number 15 Bunting

OK so technically it's not really bunting but it could have been, once.

I suppose this would also qualify for a ZiZo. The second picture shows how far away he was when we spotted him and then did the usual find a place to turn around, drive back down the road and then turn around again just for a picture.
Shows what a kind man Mr M can be. He also slows down to 40mph when I say I am trying to get a picture.

Winter photographic scavenger hunt - I'm in!

Eileen T who has her blog here has organised a winter scavenger hunt. This list is on her blog and I have put it here so I can find it. It looks hard, and it looks fun so I am going to give it a go. Why don't you?

1. Reflection in water
2. Someone wearing a funny hat
3. Ornate door knocker
4. Breakfast
5. Something that is over 100 years old
6. Winter weather
7. Someone dressed for the season
8. A fish
9. Festive lights
10. A letter shape in nature or in an object
11. Polka dots
12. Silhouette
13. Stained glass window
14. Partly built new building
15. Bunting
16. A collection (of anything)
17. Texture
18. Shadow
19. Street musicians
20. Nativity scene - compulsory and can't be substituted

 If you find any of the above hard to get you may substitute one or both of the subjects below, except No. 20 which is compulsory.  Bearing in mind that you may be living in the southern hemisphere, you may also substitute summer weather for winter weather.

Alternative A - new life
Alternative B -  a decorated tree

Summertime Scavenger Hunt - finished

My previous "Birds on a wire" had just two birds on it. I did find another on holiday that had about ten birds but the other day, well, you can see what I saw - camera speed around 40mph as usual.

I didn't get the Horn, The Mascot or the Parade. Mr M has a walking stick with a horn handle, I have a very special mascot from when I was a Girl Guide Leader and we went to camp and I intended to find the street in our town called Mill Parade. I was a little busy in the last few weeks organising a games convention... oh, not on my own, no, but it was a little time consuming. Take a look here

Once again I have really enjoyed our summertime scavenger hunt. Mr M has enjoyed finding the items for me and sometimes even slowing down for me to take a picture. I will be making an album with the pictures and this will go into the guest room with the others so that my visitors can have something to read before they go to sleep. I might even photograph it just to show everyone.

My thanks to Rinda for organising the hunt. I hope you will want to do it next year too. I cannot express how much I enjoyed this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

It was something she said

We were having a conversation while searching for the perfect rubber stamp. We intend making some invitations for a family reunion. We have a bag full of stamps that my cousin left with us, she said she never uses them now. Miss Boo loves to stamp so she was head down in the bag searching for the perfect one.

She made a pile of the ones she had shortlisted and began holding them up for me to look at

"Do we want these roses, Grandma?" she asked. I looked at the stamp and shook my head. "I don't think so, do you?" I replied

She examined the stamp, glanced up at me and as she put it back into the box she said

"No, they are more of a Sorry-I-Broke-your-legs sort of card aren't they?"
She might have said more but my shout of laughter stopped her short.

Sometimes she shows us exactly what her mother was like at that age and it is scarey!

Photo Scavenger Hunt - five

Here I am sitting in a caravan in Cornwall and blogging! Well the wifi is FREE and we love free. I realised that just before we came away we had been out for the day and Mr M pointed out a waterfall. I photographed it and promptly forgot I had done it until yesterday when I downloaded the pictures of idiots - a whole other story - and realised that I had a public garden as well as last weeks waterfall so here they are.

 The waterfall is obviously man-made. it is at the festival park in Ebbw Vale.

The public garden is on the promenade in Penzance. Yes we saw pirates, no they did not sing. We were at the beginning of a Treasure Trail, take a look at www.treasuretrails.co.uk to find out more. We didn't complete it because walking up hill is ok but coming back down is really too much for Mr Ms knees and at one point I was considering going to the carpark and driving the car back to him even though I can barely reach the pedals and I totally disappear from view when releasing the handbrake.

I still have a few items to capture for the hunt and the parade might have to be a substitute but we still have a few weeks yet so who knows

Scavenger Hunt - Four

 Yesterday - Saturday we went out for the day with the Bluefunnels. It was our turn to drive so They had a bit of a magical mystery tour.
Because it was so exciting to be going out with them I couldn't sleep so at 4,30am I gave up trying and came downstairs. I peered out of the window at the brightening sky and realised that I could "get" my sunrise. I stood in my backyard and took this - still in my pyjamas!.

Mr M got up soon after this but he went back to bed for another try at about 5am. I hung out some washing and then had a shower and began to cook breakfast. We called in at the supermarket to get fuel and There was a sign in another language - the welsh first on the sign because we are in Wales and as the car was stationary I could get a clear picture.
I thought to myself "perhaps today will be a good day for scavenger hunt pictures."
It was.
We had decided to take the Bluefunnels to Laycock Abbey. A National Trust property in Wiltshire. It was one of the Abbeys that HenryVIII got his hands on when he ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was, apparently, the richest Convent in the country.
He grabbed all the assets then sold it to someone when he needed more money. We had only got as far as the reception desk and there was the rack of postcards
Excellent.

So much to see in the Fox-Talbot Photography Museum - oh yes we owe what we have today as photographers to William Henry Fox Talbot. For all the details you should google him. He took the first ever negative photograph of one of the bay windows in Laycock Abbey. We spent ages examining portraits and chatting to the room stewards and eventually came out into the heat of the day. This meant a stop at the tearooms for a refreshing icecream and a cool drink.
Here is a picture of a group of exhausted tourists at the tearooms. OK so it's Mr M and the Bluefunnels but we were tourists!

 Next we took a quick drive around the village of Laycock. If it seems familiar it's because film and TV companies love it. There are no TV ariels or sattelite dishes visible in the village because the whole thing belongs to the National Trust. They filmed "Cranford" with Judi Dench here and they also filmed two different Harry potter films in the Abbey
What they had for me was this sweet little bakery

Yhen it was time for lunch so we went to Trowbridge where there is a Hungry Horse - A pub that is part of the Hungry Horse franchise thingy... anyway, one of the waiters had a tattooed arm. "Ask him if you can take a picture of his arm" said Lady BF and when I hesitated she waved at him and asked if he would let me take a picture. I explained why and he said yes.

Then he said "The one on my chest is much nicer" so I asked him to unbutton!!!
He did.
This caused a great deal of hilarity in the kitchen when he told them - we were sitting opposite as you can see in the first tattoo picture - they even stopped singing for a moment.

The ladnlady did ask us if the singing was annoying us. We said no it was fine because if the chef was happy in his work the food would be good.
It was.
Lady BF then read the list of pictures needed so that she could cross off what I had managed to get and she said "A juggler? where can we find one of those?" Admiral Lord BF showed us how he could juggle with invisible balls.
The rest is history. Enough to say that I laughed 'til I cried

The next place we went to was Kevin's in Westbury. They are a men's clothiers and do clothes for Big men, tall men that sort of thing. It means that when Mr M asks for trousers in his size they don't pull a face but ask him what colour and style he would like.
They were having a street market and something so the main street was closed to traffic and the carpark was heaving. We found a corner and Mr M was soon in the changing room trying on some long shorts, He now has three pairs.
There was an icecream seller and Admiral Lord BF handed me his icecream and took my camera so that he could picture me with something that represents summer. I was very hot, very red, very sticky and actually very tired by that point, but I still remembered to do the Pat Duckham pose for the photograph - Lift the chins so they don't all show, one foot forward and lean slightly into the camera. Smoothes out the wrinkles.
As we turned off the main road to drive through the lanes and up the hill to the Bluefunnels Erie, Mr M and the Admiral both said "Camera!" and pointed. There were two pigeons sitting on the wire. What a marvellous haul of pictures for one day out. My ribs ached gently from so much laughing while my feet and legs ached from walking over four miles. I did another few hundred yards when we got home and I had to go up and down the steps to see my girls and get the washing in.

I am linking to the scavenger hunt linky thing over at Rinda's page She started this marvellous challenge several years ago and we link up to people all over the world. Take a look

Scavenger Hunt - 3

"Let's go for a little ride," said Mr M, "just us, no interruptions, then we can go straight to the Bluefunnels in time for dinner." we had been invited, I hasten to add, so we weren't just going to rock up and expect food.
We had breakfast in Morrisons and then headed across the county and up to Abergavenny then onto the Hereford Road, still not really knowing where we were going.
"Rural Landscape", said Mr M, breaking the spell I was under just breathing outdoor air. It took a moment until I realised that he was thinking Scavenger Hunt so I switched on the camera and clicked a few times.

7. A rural landscape: This is a picture of several things that have a story. A field with those large round bales requires the occupants of the vehicle to say, in a loud voice, "Big Bales" (the origin of this ritual is forgotten). The tractor is driven by an expert - "A man out standing in his field". "Expert" also has to be said loudly (origin of this ritual also forgotten). The cows are not foreign, they are Holsteins so are technically foreign but they have been a part of the British rural scene for so long they have become native if not indigenous. I am looking for foreign cows so that I can make a page that says "All these foreign cows, coming over here, eating our grass .;.."  daft I know but when Mr M suggested it I laughed out loud and he earned a point.

6. An Urban Street Scene. I thought this was a pretty street, sorry Road. We were going through Ledbury on our way to... oh who knows where we were heading, we didn't at that point, we were looking for the lovely sign that welcomes you to Ledbury but it was on "The Other Road".

 2. A Garden Gnome. I have to say that he is more like a Pixie than a gnome and has the same expression on his face as I imagine would be on the faces of the Pixies that hide behind my fridge and sit on the wires, swinging their legs, waiting to make things in the fridge grow hairs and shrivel up. This is how I imagine a Karma Pixie would look ... oh what a handsome Pixie.

We stopped in a garden centre in a village called Staunton & Corse. It seems that everywhere we went to get a cuppa the apprentice was the one that served us. This has a different effect on Mr M than on me. I make sure I am clear about what I want and I am prepared to let them take their time and learn. This way the next time I go they will be efficient and up to speed. Mr M huffs, he leans on his walking stick and sighs, deep and meaningful sighs. The sort of sigh you don't want to hear when everything your boss said about the till has gone out of your head. I give him a look, no, I give him The Look and he raises his eyebrows and says "What?" as though he doesn't know why I am doing it. He knows. That was why I made him walk around the place to look for gnomes, as a penance for being a grump. He then took me to a place where they have a Gruffalo trail and I photographed him with a Gruffalo

Scavenger Hunt 2014 -2

We went out for the day with Admiral and Mrs Bluefunnel................................sorry, since his acquisition of land in Scotland they must now be known as Admiral Lord Bluefunnel and Lady Bluefunnel.

As usual we left home early and stopped for breakfast, this time in a lovely little eatery in Bristol called The Boston Tea Party. We ordered our breakfasts, the Bluefunnels led the way up the stairs. I collected the tray with our tea and coffee and followed them up. I was fine all the way up to the top step, which has an extra inch added to its height by a thick metal strip designed to make it more visible.
I have short fat legs
My toes did not clear the edge of the step and I pitched forward throwing the tray of near boiling tea and coffee onto the floor and then lying in it after landing loudly on my knees
I didn't cry
I even allowed the Lord Admiral to take my picture so I could show you what a red hot coffee stain looks like. You see how I am thinking of my blog friends all the time? It even splashed on my glasses and onto my beloved tweed baseball cap!
We changed the order of the day and went to the Clark's Shopping Village in Street, Somerset where they have lots of outlet shops and I was able to purchase a new top. We had to stop for a cuppa before we really got down to serious browsing through the shops. I bought another top and a fabulous pair of trainers. The Kind people allowed me to use their changing room and gave me a carrier bag to the coffee filled top to keep it from my lovely new top.

Then we decided to go to Shepton Mallet for lunch and I managed a quick snap at the town sign. For those who are new to my style of photography please remember that while I am usually in the passenger seat and travelling around 40mph this time I was in the back of the car. Still travelling at the same speed though
After lunch we went to Wells where we intended to have a look around the cathederal, watch the fabulous clock and then come home.
The Cathederal was shut. Today was the day for installing the new Bishop of Bath and Wells. We watched a man in a yellow shirt and matching tie for a while. He made us realise just why we love this country and then we came home.
On the way I managed to get a picture of the signs for the tolls on the Second Severn Crossing - in English and Welsh. I would like the pictures to be clearer but as a start I am pretty darned pleased. My knees hardly hurt at all and I hope the coffee stains come out of what was my favourite top

2014 Photographic Scavenger Hunt

And so it begins...

Yesterday the list was published, today I took my first photograph. Mr M reminded me that we have our own lamp post so I took a picture of it as it is seen when climbing up the stairs.

 Then I went up onto the landing and took a view of it as seen when coming out of our bedroom

And when I looked at the result I realised that I technically have two pictures already because my lamp picture has been photo-bombed by Miss Boo.