Category: Photographs

Natures Way


As you hear the wind through the trees,
Sounds on the ear to entice and tease.
Natures bounty there in the wood,
Planted here for the great and the good.
Will share its branches and bend its bough,
Save some for later, not all needed now.
Leave some behind, to heal and regroup,
Let nature keep you in the loop.
Berries and fruits, there to behold.
What was once a garden of old
And one day, will be so again,
If you take care and do not drain.
The resources it’s happy to share.
While you clamber among it there.

Mi Casa Su Casa – Casa Lola Via Laietana

It was a wonderful day, we had wandered about looking again in awe at the sights that surrounded us when we were heading back to the hotel. On our last night I was determined that although it was nice and I mean the food was really nice, I did not want us to be the Brits who always go to the same place to eat on holiday. That I would be such a cliche. So I pushed us to go back to the hotel to get freshened and dressed up. Mum had promised me a birthday meal whilst we were away and I did not want to go somewhere local once we came back, what would be the point of that. We were in this wonderful place and although we were tired, there were restaurants aplenty there. We were heading back with our feet aching when we stumbled upon Casa Lola. It wasn’t a cafe at all it served tapas and other lovely things and the decor put an immediate smile upon my face. I stopped to take photos from outside and a man strode towards us smiling. Come inside if you like, he said inviting us in. I said that we weren’t ready to eat, he said that’s Ok you don’t have to, you can come in just to take photos. So I did. It was five minutes walk from the hotel even in the heels I was definitely going to wear so I asked if I could see the menu and he told me that it is all freshly cooked at the bar where you can see it. I figured out that there was food I could eat and would also enjoy being an awkward diner due to allergies I have to check.

All good. I Thanked the man for allowing me to take photos and explained that we had to go back to the hotel but that we would return. He probably hears that all the time I thought, but I wanted to do this.

We walked back and got sorted out dressed up changed and walked back. He was pleased to see us “Thankyou for returning,” he said. I said that we would I replied. He showed us to a seat and we ordered wine. We still had half a bottle of a lovely Tempranillo Merlot sitting in the hotel room from the night before. It was so fruity and tasked like raisins but so smooth too, we had savoured a glass each before crashing out to sleep the night before. So we ordered a Tempranillo which was just as good, by the glass as it was already late we did not think we would have time to drink it all.

We began with a starter of Tapas I ordered steamed mussels which were absolutely right and tomato ciabatta bruschetta whilst Mum ordered cod. She made me try it, it was cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth and was served with a grilled red pepper and asparagus and lightly dressed with sea salt.

For our main course, we tried the seafood paella. It was darker than I had anticipated and served in a cast iron skillet but the flavours were intermingled beautifully. Mum was distinctly unimpressed with the seafood on top.

We sat observing the other diners, there are convex mirrors on the walls which made her view so much easier. Three ladies at another table were having a lovely time and we commented on it was like watching me with my two best friends when we got together. Although that has been far too long since that happened.

We looked at deserts which are notoriously difficult for me as Mum fancied one. I considered ordering the cod starter which she had chosen. It tasted so good. She went off to investigate them and spoke with the man who arrived back just before she did with a wonderful fresh fruit salad that he had made for me. The strawberries within it were so fresh and juicy it was just right.

He also asked the waitress to bring me another glass of red wine which was “a gift, on the house”

By 10pm it was starting to get busy in there. A man joined the ladies for Tapas and drink and then proceeded to rearrange the front of the restaurant to set up a sound system at about 11pm and started to play some really good tunes. A real mix of music and including a bit of jazz and some mixed up old songs. I’m not great with loud music but this was not too loud. You could still hold a conversation and Mum was considering getting up to dance, saying that was one thing that was missing from our holiday. Dancing. I told her that she could but I wasn’t drunk enough to attempt to dance. A necessity before I would have. I have never been a dancer.

We ordered coffee and as it arrived I smelled the coffee. We had not had a cup all day, no wonder we felt so tired and were flagging! But I have to say that at that point it tasted and smelled like the best coffee in the world! It was smooth on the tongue and livened the senses. I bowed to the coffee gods, thanking them, it made mum laugh.

At the end of the meal I thanked the man. Explaining that this I had a wonderful birthday meal and such a lovely evening in this wonderful place. I also thanked him for the wine. He said it was a pleasure and Thank you for your custom it was lovely to meet you.

We walked back to the hotel. We had a lovely evening and enjoyed the remainder of the lovely red wine as I rang my partner to tell him all about it. It really was the best way to spend our last night on this wonderful place.

img_4724

 

The Daily Post – Invitation

All Hail The Breadmaker.

 

It took  a little while for me to start to use it. I thought it would be much more difficult to make bread. I had forgotten that years ago I used to make it and loved the whole process of leaving the ingredients in a warm place and letting the yeast go to work. I never experimented with recipes much back then. 

I have always had a weakness for bread, the scent of it wafting will not fail to entice and enliven the senses. Now, thanks to my dear friend I have inherited the breadmaker so makes it so much easier than before, since I used to do it all by hand way back.

I am finding delight in the ingredients in my store cupboard and have been craving focaccia for the past month or so. Having looked at the wonderful bread recipes in the past week or so that are available I decided to throw things together and see what happened. Since I am dairy free I was concerned that the bread recipes in the manual all contained Milk powder, but I need not worry it still worked.

Tonight I thought I would stick with the machine since I’m not using the oven to cook. My focaccia style loaf contained whole meal and plain flour, rosemary from my garden, some Italian herbs, black olives, extra olive oil and sea salt. I’m sure that if I had used bread flour it would have risen better but this shape means that it will fit nicely into the toaster if there’s any left. 

For my first attempt though from scratch I have to say the end result was delicious and the heavenly smell wafting around the home is just fantastic. Focaccia in the true sense will have to wait just that big longer. 

Having found a few more recipes along the way I will very soon be experimenting with cake. But my next one is likely to be banana bread.


The Daily Post – Scent

Winter Hibernation


We have slipped into Winter Hibernation  mode here. Where we do not want to go anywhere and do anything. Going to bed late, in the early hours of the morning and sleeping until lunchtime, our days are spent playing catch up and with a sense of dread that I am wasting time. I should not waste time, it is precious and whilst I do not have a job there is in theory so much that I could do around the house and sort out for us but I am getting none of it done. I find this very frustrating and berate myself for it I am not by nature a lazy person but feel that I am being one lately. My job search is taking up most of my waking day, and it is getting me nowhere so the highlight is taking a walk with our dog together. We have not even managed that in daylight for the past few weeks. I am craving daylight but there is a lack of any motivation at present to haul myself out of whatever this is. Normally in winter months I do not cope with the cold and aches and pains that the season provides me with and this year it is slightly different. It is somehow worse, more depressing. Less desire to get out there even on the brightest of days. My ears are painful as is my throat with this annoying thing that will not go away and is as yet undiagnosed as I count the weeks off before I get to see a specialist. I have a cough which has not cleared and the doctor offers no solution to whatever causes the condition but it leaves me feeling exhausted and disoriented. On the plus side I am not shoving medication onto my system for that reason at least. I also have to see another specialist since I have been struggling over the past few months with pain and discomfort elsewhere But I wake from a night when I have been in bed for 9 hours feeling as though I have not slept at all.

I know that it is not good enough, it is no way to live and I need to haul myself out of whatever this is, and him kicking and screaming if need be. We are in this together though, currently cocooned in our winter life. He says that he is grateful for the time we have had together in the past few months. I am too and being able to form a lasting bond with our new boy has been an absolute gift. I have been here whilst my partner has been ill so there has been no pressure upon him and I have been able to help. But trying to move us in any direction forward has felt like an uphill struggle where we have not succeeded.

Am I trying to kid myself that all this time I have been nurturing my mind and body. Waiting to heal from the past few months experiences. I ask that, Am I kidding myself? Or has that actually happened and that is now leaving me feeling so restless.

January is always a month that leaves me feeling strange. My birthday month when I dissect the year before and what I have or haven’t done. Without he realisation that I am doing it again until it is done. I make plans, wishes even. I wouldn’t call them resolutions as such. For they have often disappeared by Springtime when I want for something entirely different.

I think about a slightly new direction, a bit of new life, growth. The things I want to achieve. It all starts out so well. Then so get to thinking how on earth I will go about doing these things, getting these done and making them happen and that’s when I get these feelings of doom.

It is cold and wet outside, our baby boy had spent too much time out in the wet in his previous life, so has no inclination to be out there for very long unless we are going anywhere. The ground is frozen so I cannot do much put in the garden. I am waiting for things to sprout. Now is not the time to haul stuff out of its, whilst it is resting and sleeping I must learn patience.

So what have I been doing? Well in the past week I have been cooking, if nothing else we can eat properly and the odd desert which is a break from the norm for me at least has been well recieved. I have also tried out the breadmaker which was gifted me by my friend. Much to the delight of the others the house is filled with the wonderful smell of fresh bread on a regular basis. I am imagining ingenious ways to use the food in the freezer to create wonderful things to inspire us. Sometimes it happens and other times we just resort to our chosen convenience food of pasta and… (fill in the gap) Interesting food may continue this week or I could make good old comfort stew with dumplings it depends if we can shake off these feelings.

Maybe if I stay up till 3am I will just be able to sleep, not be awakened from slumber at this hour instead. The random thoughts will have already exited stage left by this time and I can concentrate on the business of sleeping.

The Daily Post – Successful

Saab Monte Carlo Yellow

image010It was his favourite of all the cars that they had owned together. They had enjoyed many Saab’s over the years but this one remained in his memories and had a lace in his heart. Of all of them this one was his smile factor.

A bright yellow Saab 900 convertible. It was not the original shape vehicle, but the newer model on a 1998 registration. A 2.3 petrol engine with an Automatic gearbox and as it changed through it’s gears it flew with a whisper quiet engine. They loved it. It took them all over the country on many trips away, exploring together in the sunshine. Even in huge rainstorms you couldn’t help but smile. It made you feel like you were a small child that had found the biggest puddle in your favourite wellies. A car which made you feel totally safe. It’s big comfortable black leather interior always looked smart and turned heads approvingly down whichever street we drove.

They took it to Belgium and France on holiday, on day trips. Visited family and felt sure in the knowledge that they were perfectly safe exploring new things together. Those were happy times when they were younger and more carefree.

When he decided to get her new car some time later, he gave it up included into the deal. He regretted it, not for weeks but for years but did not say so for she would have wanted him to keep it.

Although they had many other Saab’s of the same model it was never quite the same. Later when the truth emerged that it was his favourite they looked for another to recapture the times gone by, to create new memories and to drive through France again exploring new things together. They haven’t managed to get another one yet, always somehow missing out when they see one, but she has not given up hope of fulfilling that particular wish just yet.

The Daily Post – Yellow

Make do and Mend or Have Back Ups?

While it is still January and as I realise that there is much to do in the house, sorting and getting rid of stuff. I feel that it is time to clear out things which no longer serve me.

Like the broken things I have not repaired. The clothing which has been mended over and again, if only I could not feel guilt over it. I don’t even know why I do.  But you know finally just chuck it out. If only it were that easy to do so but with a hoarders mentality I always consider the what if. I read an interesting article about things which held us back recently, it was a bit of an eye opener for me and I began to think that I really should. But I feel that I would have regrets if I cleared out all those useful things, or didn’t try to repair them. I have an issue with useful things unnecessarily ending up in landfill. It grieves me. No I mean that I really object!  What about the people who have nothing. Would they want them, well no probably not, people don’t seem to want old stuff these days, except for me. Could I make them better and they go on to eternity or at least a while longer.

I have just realised that I have five hairdryers for goodness sake. That’s just madness! Of course I can explain. One stays in the house in Scotland. One is a travel one (does that even count?) One I had at my partners, then I was bought one for Christmas as a gift one year and then another one was bought when the one I took on holiday packed up. Lately I’ve been getting that thing that happens from time to time when you are really fed up, it really helps the situation when you have somewhere to go and are drying your hair and suddenly the hairdryer packs up. So you haul out the reserve hairdryer and then within minutes so does that. I actually got the third one out the other day. Placed them side by side and said “Now let that be a warning to you!” Which is when I also took this photo strangely the second one has been going strong ever since. Bizarre but true. 

Meanwhile as everyone tells me so have too much stuff and of course they are right I look around trying to decide what things I will get rid of. It is inevitable that there will still too much for such a small place but I will never live in anything even near to a minimalist home.  At least I can say that I don’t need to go and buy very much as it’s probably all around here somewhere.  The replacements for this or that, purchased at a time when I had more disposable income.  This behaviour did not develop through greed.  It was borne out of necessity, when you are living in two, or more different places. You tend to make sure that you have the essentials where you are staying.

It is not just me though… My partner used to say if you find something you like, “Buy Two” he had this rule when he went shopping too. So you can imagine that he has amassed quite a bit too over the years.  Hmm and he wonders why the loft is groaning.

But as I try and accept changes which come my wayas I prepared a meal the other night I thought, I need a new knife for cutting the vegetables. I have been using the same knives in the kitchen for years and years, some of them I inherited when I moved out of the family home and have been sharpened and sharpened. I think I still have broken ones in the drawer, whilst the new ones languish in their packaging and cases and as I was thinking  out loud the other day as I got out the new hairdryer, what are you saving it for anyway?

Stop saving it for Best,  We have one life, Live it. 

The Daily Post – Replacement

Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya – MNAC

img_4548

After my mother’s disappointment had become apparent when we arrived at the Barcelona Pavilion, we looked for something else to do. It took only moments to find from there. Looking up we found the National Museum of Art. High upon the hill with fantastic gardens surrounding it and the most wonderful far reaching views over Barcelona city and the Place d’Espagne.

The gorgeous building has so many wonderful features tucked inside, before you even get to the artwork.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Although religious artifacts aren’t my thing, although there were some fabulous pieces in that section. I was particularly taken with a statue of St George, slaying his dragon. A mother and her boychild, then as I am a capricorn girl, I couldn’t resist photographing the last panel below.  As we were short on time, I wanted to get to the contemporary art section.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We were lucky to find that there was a contemporary art exhibition on there, with such delights including doors and furniture by Antonio Gaudi and my particular something wonderful there some sculptures and sketches by Miguel Blay whom I had not heard of before, but will definitely look at more closely.


I was thrilled there was a photographic exhibition. I was cheeky enough to get a few pictures showcasing Marianne Breslauer’s career spanning the years 1927-1938 beautiful images of ladies for good measure before closing time, along with a few more monochrome shots from other photographers.

 

Lots of other photographs caught my eye, including a rather lovely picture of a starlet from a golden era.

There was a beautiful stained glass panel which I just have to share with you here, unfortunately I do not know who created it. But I must admit that glass is another of my weaknesses.

img_4591

As we left the gallery, we were met by the most beautiful sky and sunset. Like most of the other people who were leaving, we took photographs not of ourselves, just the scenery around us, it was exquisite.


The Daily Post – Exquisite

A Month of Thankyou! 

A month ago, the day I bought the ticket that would take me to see my friends before they emigrated to Australia I wrote this on the patio for my partner. It was to express my Thanks for such a lovely gesture. A month later, the word has faded out there, in all the changes of the weather that has hit it but my gratitude has not.

We have been together a long time now. Yet I am so thankful to him for the things that he has given me within the past month alone. The experiences which we have spoken of over the years and in recent months which he has pushed me into and I have enjoyed wholeheartedly but which I would not have thought of doing without his gentle shove. He motivates me you see, but in a gentle, supportive way, which makes me feel capable of the changes that are happening, in readiness for their arrival. We have found the last year tough on many ways and so I would not do something extravagant as I concentrated on just paying the bills. But he felt that I deserved a break from it all, well a couple of them in fact.

The best of all, he is there when I arrive home and so is our boy ready to welcome me and hear my news and for the first time in ages, I have some for I have been somewhere and done something and I am grateful, so grateful.

The Daily Post – Capable

Dali v Gaudi

I do feel the need to explain. For those die hard art fans out there, it is simply my own opinion and fighting my own inner thoughts why I had no desire to go and see Salvador Dali’s work whilst I was in Barcelona. You see, I have never felt entirely comfortable with what little of his work that I have seen.  My mother said it quite succinctly “Well, he was totally mad!” and thankfully she didn’t want to go either. I know there are lots of “mad” people out there who are great artists, however I have always felt more than slightly uncomfortable with his work. Yes, he was probably a genius.  But very little of what I have seen makes me want to see more.

The same could certainly not be said for Antoni Gaudi.
Although I only recently came across his work, I have an absolute thirst to find more of it, he was brilliant in his architecture.  I don’t know what it is about it, but I am in awe of the colours, textures and patterns and the skills that were used.  It was a later arrival to my Barcelona wishlist, once I knew that I was going there and I certainly did not want to leave without visiting at least one of his projects.

Casa Batllo, on the Passieg de Gracia was the place we settled upon visiting whilst we were there.  Well it had to be once I saw the front window alone. It’s curves and frontage pleading me to venture there and see what else it would show me, I was little prepared for it and as it turned out we were in for one of the biggest surprises of our trip.  I walked around the place in absolute awe, listening to the pre-recorded tour, eyes wide from what I was seeing and was totally besotted with the house. Mr Josep Batllo was a very lucky man to live and work there and commissioned Antoni Gaudi in 1904 as architect to create a fine home for his family.  In 1906 it was completed and over 100 years later, it is a celebrated Unesco world heritage site, which is privately owned and the upkeep and restorations now financed by the admission fees.

I can quite honestly say that I have never experienced anything like it before.  My eyes were drawn to the colours, the shapes and wondering how on earth they managed to do it all.

I probably took about 300 photographs whilst I was in that building, possibly even more.  I could easily split them into monochrome and colour sections but I will not, I think there will be some stills and also a slideshow for here.  There was so much to see, a glorious assault upon the senses, which left me dizzy and eager to see what was around the next corner, or in the next room.  I adore the place and have happily dreamed of living in a building like that, if only I were lucky enough to do so.

The sitting room holds the most beautiful windows I have ever seen. Being very keen on architecture this is quite an achievement and deservedly so. The large bay windows are cavernous and have stained glass sections in multiple shades all around the top, as have the doors within this section of the house. It is simply breathtaking to see it for the first time and my photographs do not do it justice.


We walked around the house loving the design, it was a touchy feely building, your hands are drawn to the curves everywhere and the warmth created by the honeyed tones of the wooden fittings I think that this place brings a whole new meaning to the term “love handles” here are just a few of them here and they were exquisite.


The handrails of the stairs strong yet smooth where possibly millions of people have done the very same thing grabbbed the rail in eagerness to see what is next.

This is a place to reawaken your creativity. It is exciting, both in it’s form and humour. Likened to a dragon, it is a great beast of a building, fascinating and makes wonderful use of my favourite colour throughout.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The light well is central to the building and which houses the entrances to the various apartments, the staircase and elevator is something to behold and the colour blue deepens the higher you climb, being the darkest at the roof. It occurred to me that it must hold every shade of the spectrum in that one building.

If you like ceramics or glass in any form then you will probably love this place after all, What’s not to love? 

As the tour continued upwards throughout the building, I felt that the clever architect brought a new feeling of calm as I walked through the rooms.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The staircases, the curves in attic bedrooms of the servants quarters were welcoming and I think at the end of a long day, I would feel safe and secure being looked after within it’s walls. Everywhere we went, the light was wonderful and so cleverly used throughout. There was no dark cramped attic rooms in here, they were white and bright and yet had such softness, it must have been the curves and the clever touches throughout for storage. Not as flamboyant or colourful as the main quarters but just as lovely.

The sunny terraces were at the rear of the building and up on the roof.  I remarked upon the similarities to the enamelled ceramic colourful plaques in the rear garden and the artwork that my mother had produced years earlier in art college. She said that at the time, she had no idea as to what was possible and this had opened her eyes to it. I have quietly hankered after one day owning a particular piece of her pottery from that era. The rooftop also housed the highly decorated chimneys and the amazing roof which curled around the front of the building like a sleeping dragon its multicoloured scales at the front.

 

I think that my hardest task was to capture photographs without people walking across them. But I have to say the other visitors were very accommodating and would wait if you were poised for a shot. All these photographs I took on the iPhone I will ensure that next time I travel I will take a battery bank or two as my only complaint was that it ran out on me too early in the day. I decided to purchase a book, it was not hugely expensive and the photography was lovely. It also gave a potted history of the house which I could show my partner upon returning home.

We walked out late afternoon elated from the experience, so pleased that we had been able to see it on our last day, the sunlight on the building casting yet more glorious shadows upon its curvaceous form. I felt that if God took me now, then I would die with a smile on my face feeling as though I’d lived and grateful for the experience.

The Daily Post – Interior

Well Here We Are….

So we flew in last night for a few days a little visit to Barcelona for my Birthday. Something else to tick off the bucket list. I am looking forward to getting out and about and us seeing some of the sights. Especially the Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies Van der Roe.

I must admit that on looking out of the window last night and being met by beautiful twinkly lights on a balcony opposite I thought, this looks nice and this morning I have apartment envy as there is a huge rooftop terrace which is rather lovely. One lucky man is wandering about on it with his coffee this morning.


Today we will get our bearings and tickets for travel and might save the Pavilion for tomorrow. We are tired today, the hotel is on a very busy city corner, so we were wide awake till 3am and didn’t sleep much after that either. I haven’t slept in a city for a few years now, it takes some getting used to. But I find that the first 24 hours we are always adjusting. It feels strange not being able to speak the language. My partner would be fine he used to live in Spain.

So as we wandered about for almost 8 hours of yesterday. We basked in Sunshine and blue skies on this fine January day, were serenaded by beautiful green parrots surrounded by fabulous architecture and surprises around almost every corner. My Birthday was wonderful. 

We are staying in the Gothic Quarter and it is a short walk to Port Vell which had some fantastic yachts in the harbour and a pirate ship!


It was the perfect day to wander along the quayside. 


My weakness is for the architecture and it doesn’t disappoint at all. Art Deco and Nouveau at every corner and beauty that jumps out at you. 

It was quite warm and the horses looked hot, we decided not to make them walk anywhere on our behalf. 

I had to photograph this Lion it reminded me so much of my Roki at home having a stretch.
In the late afternoon we were tired so stopped for some good food. After which we wandered around replenished and as we turned a corner of a side street were met with a beautiful sound. A man playing the violin in a square directly in front of the Cathedral all lit up and a full moon overhead. My phone had run flat earlier and I had switched it off and at that moment prayed for a photograph of what stood before me. I was blessed and got this one then listened to the music and went on my merry way. 


Although I had the grand idea of us dressing up for our meal out we were just too tired after walking all day so had coffee and cake late evening and went to bed.