Seeing what is there. . .

"You cannot find peace by avoiding life." - Virginia Woolf

When I am lost in my writing, the time seems to pass so quickly. Before I know it, another week has passed and I am here again, sharing my observations with you.

Writing has been easier this week and I am almost at my 50,000 word target. Though the story is far from complete I can begin to ease up a bit on my pace, though I am so engrossed I may not be able to!

I still made time this week to take photographs. It helps to take a step away from what I am doing, it gives perspective. So, this is what stood out for me this week. . .

HOME
It is my space, the setting in which the majority of my life takes place. A house is made a home by the souls that live within it, and the stuff of everyday life. It is easy to take for granted the things we see daily, so it pays to keep a fresh eye and to make an effort to appreciate the things that surround us.

"It is the function of art to renew our perception.
What we are familiar with we cease to see. " - Anais Nin

This week I was made happy by the purr of sleepy cats, the touch of warm soft fur, the sight of tails held high with a slight flicker of the tip, and that gentle beep they make when they greet me in the morning.

(Sammy sleeping above and Bina and Mitz below)

Camera still in hand after rushing to capture the shot above,
I snapped a few more photos as I wandered back to my computer. . .

"If you carry a camera, it helps the 'background' to become foreground - it helps you to 'see'"

Splashes of sunlight! - on my wall above and on the fruit below.

GARDEN
The garden has become busy with birds. I've started putting out food again now, as it is getting colder. The feeders outside my window are a real hive of activity. This week, beside the usual visitors, we had a woodpecker. His strong beak made short work of the fat balls! No photos I'm afraid.

(Blackbird and Sparrow taking a drink)

TOWN

It was a damp grey day in Banbury mid week, but I was cheered by the colours of the flowers and the delights on offer at the old sweet shop in the photo below. - I didn't indulge ;-) .

OBSERVATION
"Engine running. Warm air at my feet keeps the grey day and its chill at bay.
Insulated by this travelling box on wheels, I am removed. And insider looking out."

AUTUMN

I have noticed that lots of leaves are still on the trees. Maybe it is because we haven't had such high winds this year? In previous years the winds have taken the leaves, rather than waiting for them to fall. . .

Down by the canal, I was struck by this scene. (below) I loved the trail of yellow.
From the tree, to the bikeframe, to the scattered leaves on the pavement below.

Thank you for sharing my week. I hope all well with you all. x

Thought of the week

"Peace in ourselves, peace in the world." - Thich Nhat Hanh

I am linking this post to week 63 of I Saw Sunday

Images and words - Susannah Bec

Falling Leaves and Sparkling Water. . .

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring." - George Santayana

Well the year has reached its balance point, days and nights of equal length at autumn equinox marks the slide into the darker time of year. This week I really noticed the colours of autumn starting to creep along the trees and hedgerows and the ground is littered with beautiful jewel coloured leaves.

"The leaves begin their slow journey from summer green to autumn's fiery jewels.
Glimpses of saffron yellow and burnt orange amidst the sea of green, picked out and
set aglow by the sinking sun. Day and night, balanced again at this equinox point.
The year is turning and autumn is returning to the land." - my name is zing

Mid week it was a lovely day and we decided to take a drive out to the reservoir.
It is always such a pleasure to drive the roads around here, and the journey is
always just as nice as the destination.

When we arrived we were shocked to see that the water was so low.
All of the green bits are usually well under the water.

But as we walked and saw the sunlight sparkling on the water, that was soon forgotten.

Autumn had been doing its work here too, leaving a still life of fallen leaves floating on the water.

It was breezy and quite hypnotic watching the changing patterns of the wind on the water, and the blowing of the clouds and the willows.

"My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions,
but in the fewness of my wants. " - J. Brotherton

Back to the car and on our way home. . .

Now I wonder if any of you kind people can help me identify this bush/shrub in my garden.
(In Spring it has tiny pinkish red flowers.)

And in the autumn (now) it has these fruits? at its base. Any ideas?

I hope that your week has been a good one. :-)

Thought of the week
"It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out,
it's the grain of sand in your shoe. "
- Author Unknown

I am linking this post to week 54 of I Saw Sunday

Images and words - Susannah Bec

And today I fell in love with the sky . . .

"If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face

and the warm sun on your hand."
- Eido Tai Shimano Roshi

These photo's are my attempt to capture the magnificence of the sky today as we were driving out of the village. It was changing by the second and held me awestruck. . .

Spreading in all directions as far as my eye could see, I was almost overcome by the sheer enormity and majesty of it. So when I got back into the car, I scribbled down my impressions trying to capture the feeling and how it had affected me. . .

". . . and the sky was full of mountains,
snow white and edged with light.

Billowing turrets set against the brightest blue.
They made me catch my breath in awe.

What a privilege to be alive and to be conscious of it
. . . and of the splendour of skies such as these."

- My name is Zing

These tiny pictures don't do justice to the sight that I witnessed today, but they and my words are all I have to share of it. I hope from this that you can appreciate some of the beauty too. :-)

I hope that your week has been a good one. :-)

Thought of the week
"Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle
another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature,
but every end is a beginning, and under every deep
a lower deep opens." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am linking this post to week 53 of I Saw Sunday
Images and words - Susannah Bec

Stalking Beauty on a Friday Afternoon. . .

"The ego tells you to fill space. Your spirit tells you to let space fill you." - Alan Cohen

When you look for them there are little glimpses of beauty everywhere. You turn your head and something interesting shouts, look at me, look at me. Camera in hand, I stalk those magic moments of line or colour, reflection or shape. And as with all things, the more you look for them, the more you see.

Focus is like a beam, it is as though your subconscious mind knows that you want to see the startling little gems hidden in the everyday sprawl. So it becomes your seeker and turns your head just in time to see something glitter.

I have been running around like a child this week, oohing and aahing as I captured these glimpses and moments.

But then came the daunting task of distilling the 250 photos I ended up with! (thank goodness for digital cameras) down to just a few to include here.

So I thought to myself, shall I share the golden fields, tractors and corn bales? Or maybe the lovely and very picturesque visit around an historic house and grounds?

Or shall I pick those little moments that caught my eye and sent me scurrying around a park as though I were chasing a butterfly? - Ah yes. They will do nicely! :-)

So here are just some of the things that I noticed on Friday afternoon . . .

"Nothing is too wonderful to be true." - Michael Faraday

"The delights of self-discovery are always available." - Gail Sheehy

The colour of those leaves floating in the water was gorgeous.
The sign works for the above picture too. :-)

Beautiful reflections in the water. . .

And here, the blue sky has taken up residence in the river.

Sky back in its correct place, (normal contrast too this week!) :-)

I hope that your week has been a good one.

Thought of the week
"Learn to pause...or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you." - Doug King

I am linking this post to week 52 of I Saw Sunday

A Time for Harvest and Messing with the Contrast. . .

"The air is still as feathers and the yellow sun nowhere to be seen.
From the top of the old ash tree, a crow shouts. . . his voice
resounding like a claxon, sending sound waves
shimmering through the static air. "

- My Name is ZING

This week has been a tapestry, multi layered and woven with those rich hues that give line and shape; adding shadow and definition and bringing stories into sharp focus. People close to me, people I care about, have lost loved ones and one stitch in our family story has passed on as all things must do. Another bright skein of silk to be woven into our memories.

Meanwhile in the air is the nip of autumn and the sounds of the machinery bringing in this years harvest. The fields are busy with combine harvesters kicking up dust into the evening air as the corn is baled. Leaving the horizon decorated with golden circles as the low sun sets; Streaking the landscape with its long shadows, criss crossed by country roads and slow lumbering trailers hauling home the harvest and sprinkling the air with gold.

I haven't been feeling too well these last few days, full of some sort of lurgy! leaving me with that strange feeling of being insulated inside my own head. Spacey and muffled, with the outside world viewed as through a fish-eye lens - food has been tasteless, my senses dulled and I crave the colour and taste that is temporarily banished. So in sorting through my lacklustre photos taken earlier this week for some to accompany this post. I did what I thought was appropriate, I turned down the brightness and turned up the contrast. It has been that kind of week. . .

I hope that your week has been a good one.
Normal contrast will be resumed here next week. :-)

Thought of the week
"Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy." - The Eagles

I am linking this post to week 51 of I Saw Sunday

Same Place, Different Me . . .

"My future starts when I wake up every morning." - Miles Davis

I think that for those of us who moved away from the stomping grounds of our youth. Those local towns that formed the backdrop of our early years, are remembered in various ways. Some remember them with nostalgia, some with a relief at being away from them, and others with indifference.

Over the years I have felt all three. My family still live in the surrounding areas of what was once my local town, and although I visit often to see them, it has been years since I walked around the town centre. In fact the route I took last time I did, just reinforced my preconceptions of it being a little run down and somewhere I was glad I was away from.

Not so this week, when we needed to visit the old town.

In keeping with our new 'tourist days out' ethos, we took a walk around the scenic parts of the town centre and I can honestly say, I was totally wowed. Places I knew, but hadn't looked at for many years suddenly became clear in their splendour! - Especially the Guildhall . . .

It is an amazing building and these few photos don't do it full justice. Many years ago I actually worked in an office there and had the privilege to explore the place from the inside. I've searched for files in the basement and explored the corridors, but strangely it took me until now to truly appreciate and experience the magnificence of the place.

On with our walk. I was pleased to see that they had kept the old phone boxes. So many places have got rid of them these days. I think they are wonderful. They bought back memories of all of the times I stood in them ringing for a taxi.

On to the market square and the new water feature, something I hadn't seen before.

If it had been there in my day, I am sure my lunch breaks would have been spent sitting on the benches watching the water sparkle and listening to it splash!

Do you see the animal profile beginning to appear in this water jet?

Then something I had glimpsed from a distance, but really wanted to see close up. . .

The steel sculpture called Discovery commemorates the life of Francis Crick, (a local man and one of the scientists who discovered the double helix structure of DNA.)

I loved it! Seeing those figures soaring up into the blue sky was wonderful.

So, I came away feeling so glad that I had seen the old place with new eyes, and that like me the place had evolved. Keeping hold of the good old things that gave it structure - but adding a little sparkling water and those joyous figures playing up there in the clouds!


A question for you. - Do you still live in the place you grew up? Do you visit it now? How do you feel about your home town? Nostalgic? or are you glad to be away?

Thought of the week
"Until we can understand the assumptions in which we are drenched
we cannot know ourselves." - Adrienne Rich

So, what did you see this week? Please come and join us and leave a link to one of your blog posts at I Saw Sunday! Click HERE to visit - We will make you very welcome, I promise. :-)

I am linking this post to week 50 of I Saw Sunday

The place is Northampton and all images are by me - Susannah Bec.