Thank you!

I am writing to to apologize for not having responded to all your comments, I have read them and I appreciate your time that you have taken to write them and look through the photos I have posted. I thank you! Below is my excuse 🙂

Finnish summer is usually mild and warm with temperatures ranging from 15°C to 25°C. The days are long and the nights are short. In fact, during midsummer, the sun never sets in some parts of Finland.

That is a fact and due to that, I like many others, feel quilt if I spend a sunny summer day inside. Weather is topic well discussed here as it can change so quickly, from sunny to cloudy to rain and back again to sunny. As the days are long I spend most of my summer days outdoors.

On a warm sunny morning I start the day by having my breakfast on the patio, the sun is shining bright and the sky is blue. The birds are chirping and the flowers are in full bloom. I love soaking up the sun and enjoying the warm weather, enjoying the peace and quiet of nature. when the time comes to have lunch, we shall enjoy it outside. And well rest of the day is mostly spent outside. We enjoy going to the beach, swimming in lakes, hiking in the forest and having barbecues with friends and family or just sitting and reading, laying in the hammock. Summer, bliss. Basically I am outside from 9 am to 9 pm. Then I am too tired to do anything much.

I tell you all above, because I am outdoors all the time, weather has been OK, not hot, not cold. Comfortable- and I have been outside otherwise I feel like I am committing a crime. We have a long, and cold winter when we get to spend most of our time inside so you HAVE to be out in the summer.

Here are some of our summer joys to accompany this post. Nature is giving us some lovely berries from our own yard. Bilberries from the forest and we have few redcurrants shrubs , strawberries are from the marketplace.

Lens Artists Challenge#258: Fences

this week’s Lens Artists Challenge with a theme is FENCES. This week Dawn Miller of The Day After challenges us to show fencing as leading lines or as an element to showcase a subject. please check her post for inspiration.

Definition of a fence; A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting.A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.

One of my favorite views with a fence

Whenever you remove any fence, always pause long enough to ask why it was put there in the first place.

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Brick fences from Cyprus

I have to have one black and white image 🙂

Remember to link to your post and use the Lens-Artists tag in the reader section. Thanks Dawn from The Day After for hosting

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

Nature- black in nature

Black is a color that lacks hue and brightness and absorbs light without reflecting any of the rays composing it. It is characterized by the absence of light, enveloped in darkness

I found these as I went through my archive for Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge #20 BLACK

He is looking for photographs of Black in nature. Guidance: The only criterion is that I would like you to photograph things in nature that are totally or mostly (so let’s say more than two-thirds) black.

Soil is the first thing I thought of, but at the moment everything is mostly green. I was not going to dig for it. Lets start with this pretty bird with a white beak. There is an another one too with a white beak 🙂 and one more. These are few things in nature that I have photographs of that are black.

The Black Phoebe is a dapper flycatcher of the western U.S. with a sooty black body and crisp white belly.

One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel.

European Male Coot

Always seen on or near water, this wetland bird is a great example of a black bird with a white beak. As seen in the picture above it has a white beak with a white patch on its forehead, also known as a frontal shield, they also have red eyes. The males and females are very similar, however in breeding season the male’s frontal shield will be noticeably wider than the female’s.

Black squirrel, black cows and a dog. Alligator – Black?

Australian magpie  below

Lens Artists Challenge#257: Simplicity

this week’s Lens Artists Challenge with a theme is SIMPLICITY. Host is Philo of Philosophy Through Photography please check his post for inspiration. He has great ideas and how to approach this challenge. He wrote: I considered selecting simplicity since the modern world is so stressful and chaotic that we are losing the fundamental clarity and simplicity that allow us to concentrate on what is really important. I agree.

Simplicity in photography is the idea of creating images that are easy to understand, clear in their message, and free from unnecessary or distracting elements. Simplicity can enhance the beauty, impact, and mood of a photograph. I kept these techniques in mind when trying to capture simplicity in photography:

  • Choosing simple scenes that have only a few compositional shapes and colors
  • Excluding anything that does not add to the story or emotion of the image, such as cluttered backgrounds, unwanted objects, or competing subjects
  • Using a shallow depth of field to blur out the background and isolate your subject
  • Using a minimalistic color palette or converting your image to black and white to emphasize contrast, shape, and texture

A simple photograph of a lone tree on a hill with negative space

A black and white street scene with strong contrast and lines

Jewelry, and simple shapes… that’s is were we can find -simple beauty. Monochrome enhance the images.

A single flowers or plant against blurred green background

Often simplicity is achieved by the composition, with negative space.

I love taking photos of old tools and machines with rough look, but there is simplicity in them.

Thank you all for participating in my kitchen inspire challenge 🙂 I was surprised that so many of you came along.

Remember to link to your post and use the Lens-Artists tag in the reader section. Philo of Philosophy Through Photography is this weeks host.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

After the rain

Last night after a rainy day the sunset came and it looked like this. Orange and green go together well 😊


Nature- Fern

One of the evergreens in my garden and also the ferns growing in nature appeal to me. Obviously I have taken many photos of it. Here are few of my favorite ones.

unraveling fern
Fern

I found these as I went through my archive for Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge #19: Ferns

These i took few days ago…

Rain, rain and rainbow

We drove back to our summer house and as I was sitting by the fireplace it started raining and I went from window to window trying to capture it. These are the unedited photos 😊

End of the rainbow 🌈
Dark clouds over the field

Reflections

I came across these images from our visit to Las Vegas, these are taken from our hotel window reflections. I find the rather impressive and artistic.



Lens Artists Challenge#256: Inspiration Found in the Kitchen

I am hosting this week’s Lens Artists Challenge with a theme of Inspiration found in the kitchen. That is often a place I find something to photograph in an hour of need. It can be a view from the kitchen window or an interior shot of the kitchen. As we know, kitchens may vary from an alley kitchen to an open plan or kitchen-diner. More importantly, the kitchen hides a huge number of small details. Here are some ideas: cultery, glasses, pots and pans. I have done my share of these shots. Food photography, recipe ingredients, as well as a cooked meal can also be found in your kitchen. The possibilities for all kinds of variations are an endless source of inspiration. Let your creativity flow.

I am lucky to have two kitchens. The following items have found their way to my summer house. As you can see from some dust and spiderwebs, these are not in use, but make for nice photos.

Now I have one request and hope you play along. Please share a photo of your favorite cup. No explanations are necessary but hoped for. My cup is old and used to belong to my husband’s grandmother. It is pretty and vintage. I like it. Most importantly, you can have a nice cup of coffee in it.

I cannot make a post about kitchen inspiration without a shot of food. Pizza, with air dried ham, mozzarella and rucola. So good.

I hope you found inspiration and share your kitchen discoveries with us.

Remember to link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag in the reader section. Next week Philo of Philosophy Through Photography will be presenting a wonderful challenge so look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

Nature- Cacti

Not the typical plant to Finland, so obviously these are not from here, the locations were i took these are Red Rock area in Nevada and Nice in France. The last set is from Crete with yellow flowers.

Cacti, the so important part of nature in the desert. I found these as I went through my archive for this challenge Cacti

I found these as I went through my archive for Denzil’s NPC #18 Cacti

Friends

My grandson made a new friend and is so proud that he can walk without adults back and forth between the two houses here at the country house.

Friends


watching the clouds go by

Would you like to come cloud watching with me?
We can while away the afternoon
Just to step out of time is all we need
Looking out for the other rule

Cos there’s no place
I’d rather be
There’s no one
I’d rather see

Would you like to come cloud watching with me?
We can watch the world roll on by
Dreaming up all the endless possibilities
Staring into the open sky

Song by Abigail Dobson



Happy bee , be Happy

Summer holiday and at the summer house, so I am a bit slow in replies as the days are filled with three active grandchildren screaming and playing around. I had forgotten how much food boys consume…. 🙂 But this is a post about bees 🐝 and butterflies 🦋

Midnight

Midnight at my house in the countryside, love the summer light and yesterday we had some rain so the mist created a lovely atmosphere


The trees framed the scene beautifully



Lens Artists Challenge #255: Telling a story

This week, Patti is encouraging us to show one to five photographs that tell a story.

I am going to be bold and leave the story untold in words, well the photos are supposed to tell the story. What story’s do you see in these photos, if any. Do this work as a Narrative photography ?

Story one

Below story two – the two photos below

welcoming the sunset
Sunset at pebble Beach
Story 3
story 4

SO Sorry, I could not resist, Still five photos and a header … yikes, I’m bad 🙂

For inspiration check out the other participants in this challenge you can find them with the Lens-Artists tag.  lens-artist tag

summer 2023 – 8

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure. Midsummer is here and we are enjoying the light.

Bees, the so important part of nature. I found these as I went through my archive for this challenge Bees

Bees

I found these as I went through my archive for Denzil’s NPC #17 Bees

Sequoia – 1

Huge mountains, rugged foothills. Gorgeous views in my opinion. Worth taking a photo in my mind.

I looked at my old photos and noticed many that I have not given too much thought to, these are two of them. In these photos from Sequoia- ( more to come)I am returning to my past style. Let the photos speak for themselves. As it what I am better at than writing 🙂

Stunning views

Lens Artists Challenge #254: Spiritual Sites

This week the Lens-Artists challenge is focused on Spiritual Sites. While many associate spirituality with religion, the Oxford dictionary defines it as “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”, a much wider interpretation. Visit her site for inspiration  Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge

Nature is the very heart of our spirituality, “Nature is my god.” This beautiful Planet Earth is our mother and our home.

When I am in nature I feel whole and connected and larger than life, but also insignificant & part of something bigger than myself. Isn’t that the sense of religion at its core?

Historically, nature, mountains, rivers, trees, the sun, the moon have always been honored in ancient cultures.

Ancient wisdom describes human beings as having five layers of experience: the environment, the physical body, the mind, the intuition and our self or spirit.

Spiritual life in Churches, Temples, Cathedrals, around the world

For inspiration check out the other participants in this challenge you can find them with the Lens-Artists tag.  lens-artist tag

summer 2023 – 5

This morning when I saw the title of Leanne Cole’s blog post  Losing a blogging friend and remembering Bren. Leanne wrote: When you look at Bren’s blog you can see a lot of flowers, she loved them too. I have put together some of my flowers in memory of her and hope you can do the same.

I got to know Bren for a short time, but she came across as caring, and encouraging person. Flowers for her memory.

I am also posting this For Cee´s Flower of the Day.

Lens Artists Challenge #253: Fragments

Brian of Bushboy’s World is our guest host this week with the challenge: Fragments:

He wrote: We always have been made up of pieces. What I would like to see is some of your fragments.

Life is made of fragments, memories are just that. A fragment from here and there. Having had the same experience, my husband and I, often remember different things and oftentimes slightly differently.

I have three boys, all adult’s, but I have fragments of the everyday life memories, remembered when looking at old photos.

Time a fragment history – old newspaper from 1914. Ink bottle discovered from the ground. Well walked boots, so many kilometers. Memories written down. Old chairs

Art – the creations I do, they are fragments of my mind and imagination.

I found this actually a challenge to find photos for this, then I improvised, driftwood, broken branches, it is stretching it a little. My husband told me we are not going to break anything for this… 😀

For inspiration check out the other participants in this challenge you can find them with the Lens-Artists tag.  lens-artist tag

summer 2023 -4

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

One of my favorite flowers. White lilac

The scent is so lovely

Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day

summer 2023 – 3

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

One of my favorite flowers. Peony.

For Cee´s Flower of the Day.