Photo Hunt - Old fashioned

The subject for this week's entry for Photo Hunt is old fashioned. Last summer I took a trip to Tilbury Fort, a 17th century fort on the Thames about 22 miles east of London. While there I spent some time watching boats go by, including this Thames sail barge. Barges used to be a very common sight on the river in the days when London was one of the world's major ports. Times change: containerisation and the closure of the London docks meant that these boats were no longer needed. A few have been preserved and are now used as pleasure boats. I quite fancy taking a trip on one in the Summer.

Photo Hunt - Skinny

The subject for this week's entry for Photo Hunt is skinny. The photo is of course Cleopatra's Needle... A needle is thin; thin is much the same as skinny so a needle will be skinny.... And so we have another photo hunt post with a tenous link to the subject of the week!

Photo Hunt - Light

Ingatestone Windmill

Ingatestone Hall grounds

The subject for this week's entry for Photo Hunt is light. Perhaps I am just light on inspiration but these two photos taken in August please me. On the other hand the play of light... oh anything I will say will be a tenuous link to the theme! This will be the last photo hunt of 2008, err 2007, for me. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year

Photo Hunt - Small

The subject for this week's entry for Photo Hunt is small. Here is a Morning Glory from the height of (a rather wet) summer. It blooms in the morning and is usually dead by the afternoon. It may have a small life (well okay it should be short, strictly speaking) but it is large in terms of pleasure

Photo hunt and Friday cat blogging

This is my usual entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats. Also this week's entry for
PhotoHunt. The subject for this week is long. So here goes....

I've done long for you enough times before so clear off!

Yes I've got long hair but get lost, I've got some urgent washing to do

I may be a titch but I can do long

Told you so!

Photo Hunt - Red

The theme of this week's PhotoHunt is red. There's not much left in the garden but it's good to see the first berries on the holly

I Love........

Mimi

Robyn

Ted

and Bebe

Npt to forget the not-wife if I wish to avoid being flensed! The portrait was a birthday present. It is one done from photos by artist Suzy Ripley. The not-wife is portrayed as Waterhouse's Ophelia. Let's say I was in her good books on her 37th birthday!

This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats. It is also my entry for this week's



The PhotoHunt theme this week is I love....

Photo Hunt - Classic

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is classic. What could be more classic than Ted's pose?

Photo Hunt - Beauty and the Beast

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is pink. What could be more beautiful thatn aa fragant pink Ferdinand Pichard rose? For a while in spring the rose bush was home to a crab spider. The crab spider (Misumena vatia) does not weave webs, rather it waits to ambush ussuspecting insects as they fly in for pollen. She may look rather fearsome but she is tiny (10mm or less than hald an inch).

Photo Hunt Or all your balusters are belong to us

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is practical. For us a baluster is an excellent way of keeping a balustrade at the correct height. For Robyn it is a very practical way of removing that itch and leaving the scent that remids our other three cats that he is still the Alpha male

Photo Hunt - Original

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is original. This one had me stumped so I thought why not publish a photo where I haven't done any retoucing. I don't usually do a lot of work on my photos except to crop and play around with brightness and contrast levels, but this one of a sleeping Mimi is as taken except to compress the image.

Photo Hunt - Paper

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is Paper. Again I had to think about this but decided to re-post a painting (on paper) given to me two years ago by the extremely talented Iranian artist Elahe heidari.


Ever since I first saw her work a few years ago I have been taken by the power of her work, particularly her portrayal of women. I was honoured when she sent this painting to me and more recently this magnificent drawing.


I know I posted this for a Wordless Wednesday but I love her work so much I want to share it with as many people as I can - so sorry if you have seen it before!


Finally, because I posted photos of two of my favourite pens last week, someone asked whether I had the handwriting to match. I think this picture is the answer.

For info. The top line is written with my right hand and says "The quality of mercy is not strained" The bottom line is with my left hand and says the Koala tea of Mersey is not strained *the punchline of a corny joke_

Photo Hunt - Plastic

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is plastic. This one made me rack my brain to come up with something and then I thought pens! I have a small collection of vintage and moder Conway Stewart pens, a British pen manufacturer that was in operation from 1905 to the 1970's and then from the late 1990's. Some pens were and are made of silver. gold or even casein ( the milk protein) but most are made from acrylic and are very attractive.

This pen is a modern Duro. Most modern Conway Stewarts are normally made in limited numbers, usually 1,000
This is a "Cracked Ice" pattern pen "28" from the 1950s. The cracked ice pattern is very collectable but I treat my pens as something to use rather than look at.

Photo Hunt - Tiny

Tiny is the theme of this week's Photo Hunt. so here goes:

A single bloom on a Buddelia.

A bumble bee getting a snack from teasel flowers

Tiny? well in both cases the blooms are pretty small...

Staurday Photo Hunt - Fake (or how my cats see themselves)

Ted wants to be top cat so he sees himself as a an almost imperial figure. Robyn the alpha cat sees things otherwise!

In her head Mimi is a creature of the night!

Robyn is the alpha cat and thus takes umbrage at one of Ted's attempts to usurp him

Scroll down for a pic of our fourth cat Bebe. She is an angel and she knows it.

Fake is the theme of this week's Photo Hunt. I know these photos may is a bit tenuous but my cats' images of themselves are utterly false, to the point of being fake!