Mallorca

Back at the end of October we spent a week in Mallorca. Life has been busy and it has taken a while to sort out my photographs. Recently I picked my favourites to make a calendar for 2015 so thirteen photographs (12 months plus the cover) from some of my favourite places on the island

Puerto Pollensa

Torrent de Pareis, Sa Calobra

Mountains viewed from botanical garden, Soller

Pollensa

rooftops of Pollensa

twisted trees near Boquer valley

Cap de Formentor

sunrise, Puerto Pollensa

Puerto Pollensa

Campanet

Puerto Pollensa

Puerto Pollensa

The weather has turned colder now so I'm enjoying remembering the Mediterranean sun and warm temperatures.

December

Holly berries,

blue skies,

low slanting sunlight

and soft shadows.

Bright sunny days

and grey murky days

with muddy puddles.

Cold clear skies,

warm orange sunsets

and finally the holidays.

December has been a full and busy month as we deal with health problems of ageing parents and wonder how long they can remain independent, whilst at the same time watch our youngest son graduate and get a job at the other end of the country. There will be many changes in the next year.

As always, going for a walk with my camera is a good way to clear my mind and gain perspective.

Happy Christmas.

November colours

Photographs from a walk last week.

It was day which went from glorious sunshine and blue sky, to rain and then back to sunshine within an hour and the golden colours were bright in the low afternoon sun. We've since had storms and rain and this week many of the remaining leaves are falling. Lots of raking to do in the garden!

mid - October

Already mid-October, things have been busy here but I have made time to walk and notice the slow changes in the countryside as autumn approaches.

The leaves are beginning to turn

splashes of red

and yellow in the hedgerows.

There are plenty of rosehips

and it has been a particularly good year for blackberries though the flavour of the remaining ones is beginning to deteriorate. I have some in the freezer to make blackberry and apple crumble or for baked blackberry oatmeal and I've made a few pots of blackberry jelly.

Amidst all the business, and in between the rainstorms, I have been appreciating the gentle quietness of the season.

View from the Shard and the poppies

A couple of weeks ago eldest son and I took a trip to London to visit the Shard. I've been wanting to go since it opened and it was amazing, maybe even better than we expected.

It was a bright sunny day, the horizon was a little misty but we could see all the immediate sights of London.

The London Eye and the Houses of Parliament,

St Paul's Cathedral

Tower Bridge and the Thames snaking down past Canary Wharf. The red colour surrounding the Tower of London is the poppies

 - here is a closer shot. Thousands of poppies, this was two weeks ago and since more will be added right up until the eleventh of November, the area will be even greater now.

I took many many photographs in every direction, looking down at the Thames

and up at the sky. We were on floor 72 which is the highest floor open to the public but we weren't near to the top.

There was artificial grass on the floor and deck chairs, not sure if this is just for the summer or a permanent fixture.

This is one of my favourite shots, I like the way there are buildings built over centuries all tucked together between railways and roads - so interesting to look down at all the different styles of architecture.

Back down to earth we walked over Tower Bridge

pausing to look back at the Shard

and then to the Tower of London to take a closer look at the poppies.

By the eleventh of November there will be 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British or Colonial military fatality during the First World War.

A stunning and sobering display.