Not A Pretty Sight

N IS FOR?

                                                                                                                                
'NEW DAWN' ~ a most nifty climbing rose which was introduced in 1930. Here she is in flower in the garden at the end of June, whilst her foliage still looked rather natty. Sadly as the year progressed her leaves began to look rather nasty and they reached a nadir as the nuisance of blackspot took its nefarious hold. Nip over to ABC Wednesday for more news on the letter N.

Monochrome Waterfall - The "magic" of black and white film.

I may have posted this one in the past, but when looking through my photos this morning I was struck by how wonderful real black and white film looks and how, try as I might, I just don't quite seem to be able to replicate that look by converting from digital. Can anybody explain to me what the magic of black and white film is? And have you had any success getting your digital to get that same look? If so, please let me know how, I am sure there must be others out there wanting the same answers!

Nikon F801s, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D, Ilford XP2 Super, polarising filter to get rid of reflections, 5 second exposure on a tripod, developed in C41 by my local lab, scanned on a CanoScan 5600F, edited in the GIMP.

Birthday Fun

Last year my sister took me for a surprise makeover as my birthday present so this year we decided to do something similar.  After attending Girl's Night Out at the Alliance Francaise and meeting a makeup artist from Laura Mercier, I thought it would be fun to make an appointment for a session with her.  So my sister and I spent an afternoon (and I do mean an afternoon) at Saks last Sunday. 

It just so happened to be beauty week and what this means is you get gifts - all sorts!!!!  We both got one of these really cute totes that were filled with samples of all sorts of products - fragrances, shampoos, skin care creams and lotions.

We spent a few hours going through the skin care line and getting our faces made over.  The artist spent lots of time sharing application techniques and thankfully gave me an instruction card so that I could follow the instructions when trying to apply makeup at home.

The next couple of weeks at work are going to be hectic with a couple of trips thrown in the mix.  It really helps to throw in some fun during the weekends.  And speaking of fun, I'm looking forward to the Country Living Fair next weekend!  Are you planning to go?

'On Tip -Toe For A Flight'

"Here are sweet peas, on tip- toe for a flight:

With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white

And taper fingers catching at all things

To bind them all about with tiny rings"

~ John Keats,1795-1821 

Earlier this week I sowed some sweet peas in the greenhouse. I have once again decided to grow the highly scented 'Matucana' which I have grown ever since I got my allotment plot. They give me as much pleasure as any edible crop and their arrival always signifies the sure arrival of summer. A wigwam of seven plants is more than enough to keep me supplied with bunches to pick for vases from early June to mid September. This year I decided on another introduction ~ 'Albutt Blue' which you can pick out in the photos below ~ 

In the sniff stakes these were not a patch on 'Matucana' and although attractive I do not think I will grow them again. I would still like to try another variety preferably a pastel mix. I have been stopped in my tracks a couple of times at the allotment this year by shows of sweet peas, including a display of mixed pastel shades interwoven with scarlet runner beans. Any suggestions of good and preferably highly scented mixes would be most welcome from any other sweet pea fans out there. Earlier today there were some comprehensive instructions for sowing sweet peas in the autumn as well as advice on their aftercare on BBC's 'Gardener's Question Time', which is now available on BBC IPlayer.

I found a true artist!

As I mentioned here: Am I an artist now? I have heard that you are not a real artist until you have photographed a toilet, so using that criteria I have deduced that my friend Chun Chung Lee over at Light Frame Photography is a true artist in the very real sense of the word! Check out this beautiful photo right here: Time For Reflection

A hearty round of applause is in order!

Welcome to the Free State!

Miles and miles of flatness:

But the people are great! Just love them!

Featured Photographer - John Sevigny

Love him or hate him, the guy certainly stirs up emotions and makes you sit up and take notice!

This is my favourite John Sevigny photograph, something in this pic just speaks to me:

A whole lot more John Sevigny here: www.johnsevigny.com and here: http://gonecity.blogspot.com/