Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : From Below

Looking up at the Watchtower, Ardmore

Up above you can see the Gothic style watchtower, dating back to the 1800s, overlooking Ardmore bay, in Co. Waterford.   The gorse/furze bushes are just starting to bloom and brighten up the spring days.

Cheeky Jester

And this cheeky chappie on Frankfurt Town Hall is looking down on all the tourists!

See more fun photos over at Cee’s

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Events

This weekend I was visiting my family in Frankfurt, Germany, and went to an event on Saturday morning with my daughter.  It was an exhibition, at the Schirn Galerie,  of the works of the Spanish artist, Joan Miro, who lived from 1893 to 1983, and was an artist, a sculptor, and in later life did lots of murals and very large paintings.

Joan Miro Exhibition at the Schirn Gallery, Frankfurt

In later life he did a lot of abstract paintings, especially his blue series -a lot of these paintings look so simple, like the black and white triptych below, but nevertheless they are very striking and original.

 

Here is a sample  of some of his paintings we saw at this event, check out more posts over at Cee’s place.

Blue series

Person and Birds by Joan Miro

Norm’s Thursday Doors : 09 June 2016

My doors this week come from two different countries, Austria and Greece.   They are both old, ornate and have seen many people pass through them over the years.     Check out some more doors over at Norm’s Thursday Doors.

Ornate door in Vienna

Old building on Greek Island of Meganisi

Also linking to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, check it out here

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge; Things that are Rough

The Kapok tree is a tropical tree, found in Central and South America, and also in parts of Southern Africa, and is also known as Java Cotton.   The tree has a very rough spiny bark, as you can see, and can grown to about 200 feet high.   The tree produces seed pods, from which Kapok fibre is taken, and this is useful for filling mattresses, upholstery and soft toys, even though the tree itself doesn’t look too cuddly!

Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Metal and Wood

Window on the world

We came across this quaint traditonal old farmhouse near Kenmare, Co Kerry, that has been renovated to the style of the 50s,  and we enjoyed a cuppa and pastry in this room.   On the window along with the teapot and candlestick is what looks like an old meat safe, which would have been used for storage of perishables, and placed in the coldest part of the house.   I think the picture fits perfectly with Cee’s challenge for this week.

See some more entries here:

A Photo A Week Challenge : From the Back

My picture for this challenge was taken last week when we visited Bantry House and Gardens, in West Cork.  It’s a statue in front of the house, partly hidden in the shrubbery, of Diana the Huntress with her catch, a young deer.   You can see the quiver of arrows slung over Diana’s shoulder.   This statue is a copy of one from the Palace of Versailles in France and Diana was the goddess of the hunt, the moon and childbirth, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals.

Diana the Huntress at Bantry House

Linked to Cee’s Challenge : From the Back

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Teal or Turquoise

This week’s challenge is a good one for me, as my daughter got married in Malta two week’s ago, in beautiful Valletta, and her colour scheme for the wedding was turquoise! It was a  pleasant surprise to see this challenge today!

Turquoise ribbons in her hair

The flower girls looked so beautiful and pretty with their turquoise dresses and ribbons in their hair, with a turquoise sky overhead.

And next day, we took a boat to visit the turquoise waters of the Blue Lagoon, on Comino Island, close to the island of Gozo.  Truly a trip to remember.

Comino caves

Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Lime or Bright Green

Well tended lawn in Dublin

The bright green lawn above looks inviting, along with the little covered bench, where you can sit and dream.   This photo was taken at the weekend at the Casino at Marino in Dublin, an Irish Heritage site (which I will write about in a future post).   In summertime there is a lot of greenery all around, especially with the ‘soft’ (meaning dampish) Irish weather, and in my next photo, the ferns are in full bloom

Ferns in west Cork

 

The sheep are also enjoying the lush sweet green grass around the countryside.

Visit Cee’s page for more green posts.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Pick a Topic

Sky Garden, London

London Buildings

Reach for the Sky

This week Cee has given us a choice of subject, and asks us to pick a topic from her photo.    I recently visited one of the higher buildings in the City of London, and the extra special attraction of this building, apart from the amazing views, is the SkyGarden, which is on floors 34 to 36  (luckily there are plenty high speed lifts to get to the top quickly!)  The garden has a restaurant, plenty places to sit and chat, and the covered gardens are full of exotic tropical plants to soothe the stressed mind.

Hope you enjoy the views of my lines and shapes!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Colourful Monotones

Sunset in Africa

I hope you enjoy my colourful monochromes of African skies, check out Cee’s blog for more!

A storm on the way

Also linked to Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week Challenge