The Bloggler

Last Tuesday was ‘National Reflection Day’.  It was chosen by the Marie Curie charity (who supports people with terminal illnesses and their families) as a day to reflect on the loss of a loved one and to remember those who've lost their lives. We were encouraged to join a minute’s silence at 12 noon and to shine a light at 8pm.  With no disrespect to this worthy organisation, I don’t see why I have to be told how and when to reflect on lives of our lost friends and relatives. I have many moments of reflection (thinking about their lives and their families). I say prayers, light a candle, visit a memorial tree etc. and not just on anniversaries and birthdays. So, forgive me if I don’t play along on a random day because a charity says I should.  Make us aware of what the charity's cause is and what it does by all means but don’t do this. Last week it was International Day of Happiness 2021.   Clive, in his blog ‘ Take it Easy ’ published a great  post on this.   In it, he com

This week I'm off to Hyeres on the 'original' French Riviera.   Thursday Doors is a weekly blogging photographic challenge allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world.  It is hosted by Dan, see his Blog ' No Facilities '.  To get to the Thursday Door entries click  here . The town of Hyeres is situated between Marseille and Nice and gained repute as a health and winter tourism resort in the 18th century.  It's a wonderful town in a stunning setting and has an interesting history.  It has a castle, a medieval centre, beaches, a peninsula (Giens) jutting into the Mediterranean and picturesque islands just off the coast (the main one is Porquerolles).  We went there some years ago on holiday and I recommend it as a good base for pottering along the Riviera.  We would like to go again if we get chance and can afford to. I didn't take many photos of doors then as my door fixation hadn't started

The Green Man heralds Spring and beckons new Spring growth. My Green Man and guardian of the garden This week's photography challenge (hosted by Terri Webster Schrandt at her site, Second Wind Leisure Perspective ) is on the theme, 'Spring Green'.  In the Ga rden .......   Round the corner and down the lane .......

Here is my entry for this week's Thursday Doors  Photo Challenge  hosted by Dan at 'No Facilities'. This week I feature doors I photographed in nearby Saddleworth, Oldham. Saddleworth is a pretty cluster of stone-built villages on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border nestled in the Pennine foothills.  The villages are Diggle, Dobcross, Delph, Denshaw, Greenfield and Uppermill (just when you were thinking they all had to begin with D) and they are all steeped in history and have a rich textile heritage. Many homes were also textile workplaces and there are many examples of weavers' cottages.  Workrooms were generally on the top floor, skylighted by long mullioned windows to let in as much light as possible. Some houses still have steps known as ‘takin-in’ steps up to the first floor.  These were used to take the raw materials straight into the workroom. The buildings are of simple, functional design and construction although there are larger, grander residences built for the

This week's photography challenge ( hosted by Terri Webster Schrandt at her site,  Second Wind Leisure Perspective ) is  'Your best black and white photos'.  I take very few black and white photos although I did resolve to take more after I watched an inspiring tv film documentary, 'Don McCullin: Looking for England'.  (The film is an fascinating and entertaining a  photographic journey which McCullin took in search of his own nation.)  You are bound to have seen some of the 83 year old photojournalist's work - either his war photography or his powerful photographs of urban life.   I was also inspired after looking through some of my Dad's old black and white photos.  Photography was his hobby back in the 50s. and I am always impressed by the detail which the analogue camera and his patient processing produced.  They are all in albums and boxes. Whilst I have experimented using black and white mode on my camera or using photoshop to convert colour to black a

Here is my entry for this week's Thursday Doors  Photo Challenge  hosted by Dan at 'No Facilities'. This week my doors are in Portovenere, a pretty fishing village and Riviera gem overlooking the Gulf of La Spezia in Italy (visited by celebrities as Steven Spielberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Patti Smith and Andrea Bocelli).  There are colourful houses lining the harbour as in many other Italian seaside towns, but here they also form part of a historical structure called the Palazzata. These connected dwellings built into the rocky shoreline were part of the town’s fortified walls designed to protect residents, along with the ancient gate, Porta del Borgo (once locked in the evening), from seafaring invaders. To start here is a photo of Portovenere from the sea. The door photos are taken at the rear of those buildings fronting the waterfront.

Irrelevant photo of the Lotus Seven S II used in 'The Prisoner' TV series  At first I thought it was just me. But many people I have spoken to have agreed that since lockdown, drivers have gone feral.  People are speeding more often, switching lanes recklessly darting between traffic and behaving like idiots. This view is also borne out by a  study by motoring organisation the AA.     The survey questioned almost 20,000 motorists, asking them how they felt about different road users’ behaviour during the coronavirus lockdown. It shows that one in four motorists thinks the standard of driving in the UK has worsened while the country has been in lockdown. The Police have confirmed this and, allegedly, are taking it seriously. Is it because there’s something in the Kung Flu that has numbed people’s brains, or is it the effects of lockdown?   Is lockdown making people angry about being cooped up, or making them feel they are being over-controlled so they want to rebel by drivin

This week's photography challenge ( hosted by Terri Webster Schrandt at her site,  Second Wind Leisure Perspective ) is 'Rain'. I hesitate to enter these photographs, because they are not technically or artistically that good. In fact it seems these are the only photographs featuring rain that I can find without trawling through  my back-up discs. This reminds me that I avoid rain as much as possible (not easy living in the north west of England),  and that I have not been inspired  by rain as a photographic subject. However, Terri's challenge proves that rain is a great subject and  with a bit of creativity and lateral thinking, shooting in the rain can be a great chance to take very distinctive shots.  Having seen the entries, I can see how rain can be used to create photographic art, to show the beauty and power of nature, and to set the mood for a scene. I have been inspired to try harder! I think the beauty of rain as a subject is that not all rain is the same.  Ra

Here is my entry for this week's Thursday Doors  Photo Challenge  hosted by Dan at 'No Facilities'. Saint-Martin-de-Ré is is a port town and the historical and commercial centre of the Île de Ré, a little lobster shaped island off the west coast of France, now joined to La Rochelle by an iconic bridge.  The island has been described as the Parisian equivalent of the Hamptons or the thinking man's Cote d'Azur.  I don't know about that but to me it seems the epitome of understated French chic.  Saint Martin is ringed by star-shaped, 17th-century ramparts, with a huge, preserved citadel on the eastern side. Cafes and restaurants with outdoor terraces surround the busy harbour.  As you can see from my photograph taken from the citadel, the town owes much of its character to its white or pastel coloured rendered buildings with red tiled rooves and coloured shutters.  What you can't see from this photograph are the many winding lanes, small squares, quaint terrace