We all need a lighthouse in our lives to lead us, whatever it is, a person, place or state of mind. This came to my mind as I saw all the news about mourning people for Prince Philip. I myself am not one to mourn for people I do not know.
I sympathise, with the person who has lost a loved one, but for me to get really emotional about some celebrity or public persons passing is unlikely to happen. That is just me.
My first flowers in my garden / backyard have bloomed. These are the only photos I have taken in many days. I have tried to stay of the computer and camera… will just post these and continue to rest my arm. There was few days between the shots with snow around the flowers and when it had melted.
It has been a while since I participated in a challenge, this one is one a Photo a week challenge theme That Face!
I have tried my best to stay away from the computer these past days. I think I have done pretty well, but just to keep the momentum going here I am again.
Easter came and went, mainly at home. We saw our sons and grandkids. I tried couple new recipes. I am getting rather good at picking them and always slightly altering them. As all the restaurants are only doing take-away food, me trying new things gives our menus some variation. Teriyaki salmon and chicken lasagne tasted so good. I am rather proud of myself as I am not into cooking all that much – I mainly make good tasty homemade food, I have not been a recipe reader, I’ve stuck what I know. That is not to say my food isn’t tasty. It is 😀 LOL. Desperate times has made me an explorer. Making it easy for myself I am posting an old photo of a chicken meal we had.
I also have been working on an art project. I have been asked to do a Triptych to be placed in a master bedroom – not a church as first comes to mind when you hear that term. A trio of contemporary art, that I do. So all three pieces are different but go well together. It is always harder to do something specific to someone’s taste and colors. Even if the origin is one of my original art.
One day spent cleaning and tidying the summer house. First floor is now ready for the next visit.
April Ist, I should be pulling some prank, but I won’t bother, I will just post few more pastel blue, misty photos. The mist was so thick, that you can touch in in these. These are photos from two years back that I looked at again and well was rather happy about and I just wanted to share them. This is the road that leads us to our summer house, it is well documented in all 26 seasons we have travelled it.
Veikka being a white cat is easy to spot in all other seasons but winter, but then again we don’t let him out at home during winter, only at our summer house as there is not so much traffic and a whole lot less neighbours. Tinka on the other hand being small and a brown cat can disappear so easily into the nature, but then again Tinka is not so brave and stays near the house and our own land.
Just because they are so cute and cuddly. Veikka and Tinka are taking a nap 😴
The nature brings out beautiful colors to fill all our senses, even the bare nature looks lovely in these colors. Mist always adds a magic touch to any photo, then again that is my opinion.
March has gone past so quickly, April is here soon. Easter. I have to mention is, because usually for many years now, we have started our summer house season then. Many times in the recent years easter has been in the middle or end of April, and that has helped regarding the weather. It has looked something like in the pictures here at that time. At the moment there is so much snow there that we won’t be able to drive to our house. So most likely we will just drive there, walk to the house and put the electricity on to warm up the house for our next visit.
In a way it is good as my right arm, shoulder is so so sore that I have trouble doing anything, even using the mouse is a strain. I ordered a roller mouse, it will help with the pain as all the movement is in the middle where the keyboard is. I have done my best to try to stay away from the computer.
Please have a look at my latest collaboration with Frank from Beach Walk Reflections . His text beautifully highlighted my art that I post at ART BY RITVA.
Special thanks to Ritva for providing images of her art. Ritva is in Finland and I encourage readers to visit her photo blog Ritva Sillanmaki …
56 – Dreams *
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I went for a walk, watched and listened to spring. Melting snow, running water. Blue sky and the slight breeze.
Pussy willow is a name given to willows and sallows when their furry catkins are young in early spring. Early Spring – Yes!!!!!
The saying; Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans, is true in many cases. And now, in this moment in time nothing happens, no plans can be made, even if you do are you able to do them in this current situation.
Plus as a fact, you cannot plan life really, it happens. I have had this happen to me so many times. You can make all the plans you want for yourself, but life probably has a completely different set of plans. Everyone has been let down at one time or another when their life hasn’t quite gone the way they would like. I know my life is far from what I had planned and I’m sure a lot of people have had that happen to them, too.
Life molds you as time goes on changing your life as it sees fit. This is not to say that I don’t have a good life, but it is totally different to what I planned when I was young.
in this moment in time, I feel sad, kind of helpless and frustrated at the same time. Depression, I have mild one. A self diagnosis for sure. I think lots of people do at this time. Lots of things contribute to it in my case.
The fact, that I am not able to get a job. I have this feeling, that I don’t know anything or a not able to do anything that is required in the jobs I have skills for. I know I have the skill, but I feel that I don’t. You apply to various positions, maybe get an interview, end up being in the best 2 – 5 people, this is no comfort. Also this relates to the main thing, where am I going to get the money to live. The feeling of being worth something, also in this context.
Covid, it has some effect on everyone I am sure, some more, some less. I have taken it mostly OK, it is what it is. Still, that you are not able to do all the things you want to is restrictive. I am in the good situation that all my family is close and we are able to be in contact. But one of the concerns is that it has caused also unemployment in the younger generation including my kids, so you worry about their income.
Also depression has hit some of my close ones hard, not mildly but severely. It is hard to see how it takes hold of the person and how it resonates to the people close to them. The helpless feeling as you do not know how to help. Action more than words are more effective.
Winter is, and never has been, the best of the seasons, and people who have read my post in the past know this. I have complained about enough. But as winter go this was not the worst by all means. And spring is on it’s way, I am so happy about that.
I’ll stop now. Work on my art and photos to put my mind out of this non productive rambling.
If you read this far, thank you 🙂
Today feels like spring, we on the plus side in temperature, the sky is blue. You can hear the snow melting.
I went to a local flower shop to make a request for a flower bouquet for my uncles funeral.
I want to it to represent a him, I do not wish it to be so traditional more personal. So I requested that it would have materials from the forest on it pine tree branches, tree cones, different greens and season appropriate flowers as he was a outdoor kind of man.
I do not know what it will look like in when done, but something like this is what I have in mind.
Well I could not coe home without buying something to take home so I had this small bouquet made for me with blues and pinks. I rather like it, something different.
Looking at these photos on the monitor they don’t look so great, but I will let that pass. I am just sharing the everyday little joys of life.
The more in harmony you are with the flow of your own existence, the more magical life becomes. ~Adyashanti
Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. ~Heraclitus
All things change, nothing is extinguished. There is nothing in the whole world which is permanent. Everything flows onward; all things are brought into being with a changing nature; the ages themselves glide by in constant movement.
My son had this Planters Pyrat XO Reserve bottle that he was about to throw away (some side information 🙂 The Pyrat gets its name from the Old English word for pirate. The stout bottle of the XO Reserve is also a tribute to this heritage.) I looked at bottle a little bit closer, I noticed that this would make a nice vase for few flowers. I washed, it took the labels of and I had a prop for my photo add three roses and lets shoot. Pretty.
A Bottle, Rose, greens and a kettle holder. Shadow and light. Color play.
The sky was blue, the shadows long and the wind was so cold. I thought nature shots could look great in monochrome as the light and shadows give the photos nice contrast. Also the trees are leafless so they are more structured and might look better in a way. I my previous post from this same location the photos are in color. The feeling is so different in these.
Few days back we had a lovely spring day, except for the cold wind that was so cold that it went straight to the bones at this lake Humaljärvi as I was taking photos there. The sky was blue, the shadows long and the wind was so cold. I did look nice and you could sense that spring was o its way.
These are such a contrast to the snow floating behind my window and this being the first day of spring. Today is the spring equinox, when day and night are about the same length all over the globe. As spring progresses, the days lengthen and the nights shorten in Finland and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. The joy of this 🙂 is enormous!
I took more still life photos of fruits to pass the time
A Granny Smith and grapes and an Orange. Shadow and light. Color play.
Practicing still life photography with Bouquet of dried flowers and garlic
My small photography studio is in my office 🙂 ( I don’t have one, but one of the things I use when trying to create one, is the light from the north facing window and a floor lamp behind the desk and this artist paper block. Veikka is so ready to be my model. And what a good model he is.
We are having a lovely sunny winter day, flags flying in the honour of Minna Canth Day (March 19th.)
Minna Canth (1844-1897) was a writer and social influencer who sought to improve the position of women and the disadvantaged through her works and work. Canth has been flagged in honor of her birthday and equality since 2003. Minna Canth became the eighth person which has got its own flag-raising day and a first woman. She was preceded by seven men.
But no more about equality, how about this news, despite the devastating events of the last 12 months and the resulting decline in mental health in a number of destinations, there’s been no change at the top spot when it comes to ranking the happiest country in the world.
For the fourth year running, Finland has come out on top in the annual list powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, with Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands following in second, third, fourth and fifth position respectively.
To celebrate that I am going to show some solemn faces from the happiest country. My grandkids, the two older ones are not so keen to smile at the camera even if they are happy kids most of the times 🙂 I caught these shots while they were watching a movie and reading comics. The youngest is full of smiles 🙂 when eating popcorn.
I was reminded that one should not to play with food 😀 , LOL, so I took the advice and instead I did arrangements with fruit.
Granny Smith and Golden Delicious plus Oranges. Shadow and light. Bright Colors
These are such a contrast to the snow floating behind my window. Enough of white already, it is lovely when it first arrives, this time of the year not so much.
I have played with my apple images.
Granny Smith and Golden Delicious. Shadow and light. Color and black and white.
Do you know the feeling when you are dreaming and find yourself thinking, I’ve seen this one before?
Well, last night I had two reruns. They seemed to go on and on…it felt like I dreamt all night and nothing new was on. Well that is my life at the moment anyways, like so many of us are experiencing. Same, same, but different. Except not 🙂 Play the blues
I should take it like Tinka, lay down and relax. Yesterday I did. I usually do not nap, hardly ever, yesterday my eyelids were so heavy I had to give in. One hour in the afternoon. This is what it has come to. Napping. I felt like Tinka below, this is what’s it’s come to.
Veikka ignored my dilemma, he just slept.
is anyone else having issues about posting comments today, I am frustrated!!!!! I have written several comments to various posts and then I they won’t go through. It does not happen to all blogs or all comments.
After several attempts I give up….I feel like these two below 🙂
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 