Here’s the second of my Christmas colouring pictures for you all. Enjoy!
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Rudolph Colouring Picture
I thought I’d reblog some of the colouring pictures I shared last year. This is the first of a set of ten, all of which can be found in the Christmas Colouring Pictures category tab above. Feel free to download this or any of the others to print out on paper. Hopefully it’s perfect for keeping the kids entertained for a while.
I like to use this picture as part of a craft activity, where the kids use small bits of wool for his face, fabric for his antlers, and red foil for his nose.
To make it into a Christmas card you can position the picture on the right hand side of the page (in landscape orientation) before it’s printed out onto a sheet of cardboard. Make sure the picture is entirely on the right – otherwise, when you fold the sheet in half the picture will be partly on the back of the card. And, yes, I’ve seen this happen quite a few times!
Have fun. 🙂
Here’s the first of my Christmas colouring pictures for you to enjoy. I have lots more to come…
Moonage Daydream
“Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah…” – David Bowie, ‘Moonage Daydream’
Like so many others across the world I waited eagerly for the supermoon to rise a few nights ago. Unfortunately I found myself to be disappointed as the overcast sky hid it from view. Luckily for me the sky did clear a few hours later, but the moon was so high by then that the pictures I took had little of interest to them – especially when compared to all the wonderful shots that had onto flooded the internet from around the globe.
Well, last night (after finishing my Nano writing for the day) I decided to have a play around with one of the shots in Photoshop. It’s been a while since I last did any real photo editing, so it was fun to get really creative with it. I found myself singing the Bowie song, ‘Moonage Daydream’, whilst doing so – one of my favourite tracks off the ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ album. It just seemed to fit. If you don’t know it, you should follow the link above and check it out. 🙂
This, by the way, was the original photo I worked from. It’s quite a noisy picture, which is what gives the sky in the edited version its colour:
Back to Nano for me now. I’m still over 7000 words behind the daily target, but there are enough hours left in the day that I should be able to narrow the gap some more…
Wordless Wednesday: Dusk Light
Every Wednesday, all across the internet, people post a photograph with no words to explain it. Here is mine.
Changing Seasons 2016: August
During August I’ve again been photographing the wildflower meadow, wooded area and stream for Cardinal Guzman’s Changing Seasons Challenge. As usual I have far more pictures in my galleries than we’re asked to share, but I couldn’t bear to cut anything else out!
With many of the flowers having withered away over the summer, leaving a sea of golden grass, during August the main focal points of the meadow became the little trees scattered throughout the area. There are over thirty of these, but until recently they’ve been too small to show up in pictures, having only been planted when the field was bought a few years ago by a lovely couple who live in the village. It is this couple who have turned the space into the beautiful area it is now, and have made it accessible for everyone – for which I am incredibly grateful! Here are a few pictures of some of the little trees:
Whilst most of the flowers in the meadow have faded, there are a few that still remain.
But even with the fading of the flowers, there is still beauty to be found amongst the long grass. I’ve always found seedpods and dried flowers to be as attractive in their own way as flowers at the peak of their bloom…
One of the things I always love to do when I’m visiting the meadow, wooded area and stream is to look for any wildlife that I can photograph. I always see far more things than I actually manage to capture, though during August I was particularly fortunate with many of my shots. Having said that, a few pictures (the moorhen and the sparrowhawk) were taken right at the limit of my 70-300mm lens and still had to be cropped to show the creatures properly. They were also taken handheld, meaning that they’re not quite as clear as I would have liked, but I they were shots I was so pleased to have captured that I couldn’t leave them out.
Pheasant on Path
Dragonfly
Common-Blue Butterfly
Shield Bug
Brown Argus Butterfly
Ladybird with Larvae
Moorhen
Sparrowhawk
Cat
One of my favourite features in the meadow are the cluster of tree stumps, and the items that sit on top of them. And yes… many of them were placed there by me. 🙂
With Autumn drawing nearer, the wooded area has become increasingly interesting to photograph. The acorns and sycamore helicopters have grown larger, whilst spiderwebs wreathe many trees.
To finish off I’ll leave you with a few pictures of my favourite things to hunt for at this time of year – the toadstools that hide among the grass and leaf-litter.
I hope you all enjoyed August’s collection of images. I had hoped to share them before the end of the month, but unfortunately my internet connection died. Luckily it didn’t stay off for too long this time.
If you’d like to see how the area has changed over the course of the year, you can find the previous months’ galleries by following the links below:
Sparrow Fledglings
I know I’ve been rather absent from my blog over the last week or so, and I apologise to everyone who’s comments I haven’t replied to. Unfortunately I seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole! I’ve read seven books of a series in a little over a week. And I still have several books to go. This is why I try not to pick up a new book too often!
Today I spent a little while watching a group of sparrow fledglings in the garden, so I thought I’d share the pictures I took with you. They were very cute.
In case anyone is curious, the author of the books that have well and truly captured my attention is Shelley Adina. The books are steampunk adventures, centered around the Lady of Devices, Lady Claire Trevelyan. They’re daft, but very fun, and well worth a read.
I’ll leave you with my final sparrow fledgling picture, taken as the last of them flew away over the fence.
Hopefully I’ll be properly back on my blog soon. I just have a few more books to read first…
Macro Moments: Week 8
swift cloudburst tumbles
droplets weighing fragile wings
time to find shelter
This post is for Susan’s Macro Moments challenge. This week’s photograph was taken at the wildflower meadow back in June. It was taken on my Canon EOS 1100D, with the 18-55mm lens: ISO 800 f/8, 1/200 sec, handheld.
A Wild Habitat
Two years ago yesterday I started my blog, intending to post the occasional poem and my children’s stories and artwork. It has since been taken over by flash fiction and photography but my blog does still include quite a lot of poetry!
To mark my second blogiversary (yes, I’m a day late) I thought I’d reblog my very first post – the poem from which my username is taken.
I find the lack of any images on the post to be quite unsettling…
For my first post to my blog I thought I’d share a poem I wrote. I hope you like it.
A Wild Habitat
Here…
I live in a world of
make believe,
a world
of light and music,
a wild habitat for
a fairy mind.
Here my life is
my own,
with no regrets.
Here…
Far from the mundane crowds,
from the manic race
through the maze of life,
my rat grows gossamer wings,
a metamorphosis
from beast
to butterfly,
soaring in shimmering flight.
Here…
I become a creature of
pure dawn,
dancing,
swaying amongst sunbeams
as wisps of melody
entice and enthrall.
Here…
in my world.
SPF: Memento
This story is in response to the Sunday Photo Fiction challenge, hosted by Alistair Forbes, that asks that you write a story / poem of around 200 words using the photo as a guide.
Memento
She’d always wondered what was kept in the garage.
Frances clutched the key to her chest, curiosity battling with trepidation as she stood before the door. As a child she’d spent hours sitting outside, inventing stories as to why her father spent so long within. She’d imagined him as a spy, storing top secret documents; as a scientist, building a time machine behind unassuming walls.
Now her father was merely a memory and she had to accept there were far darker possibilities than those she’d once considered. Frances shook her head, chiding herself. There was only one way to find the truth.
Hand trembling, she turned the key.
Her breath caught in her throat. Shelves lined the room, all filled with achingly familiar objects that set long forgotten memories dancing. She reached out to touch a photograph; trailed fingertips over an old toy. The picture had been taken during a childhood holiday – her mother laughing as she splashed in the sea. The toy had been her favourite, thought donated to a charity shop many years past.
Tears filled her eyes as she viewed the precious mementos of her father’s life. The truth was more beautiful than she could have imagined.
Word Count: 200
If you want to read other entries or upload you own, click on the little blue frog.
TLT: The Game
Photo Prompt: © Samuel Zeller
The Game
They laugh as they play their game, ruthless ambition hidden behind genial smiles as they move counters with calculated precision. Bank balances keep score: vast accumulated wealth the desired pinnacle. On the city streets below the people scurry through their daily lives, unwitting pieces in a cutthroat contest.
This post is for Sonya’s Three Line Tales challenge.
