Image: Su Leslie 2020
What could be nicer than a lazy, post-Christmas afternoon with a cup of tea, a good book and some homemade Christmas cake.
No substitute
Christmas
Merry Christmas
Image: Su Leslie 2020
Wherever in the world you are, and whatever your holiday traditions (or absence of them), I want to thank you all for your company through this weird, terrible and seemingly endless year. Thank you for your kind words, wisdom and humour; for sharing your thoughts, images and changing seasons with me, and for joining together to share virtual afternoon tea, especially when so many of us have been unable to be with friends and whanau in person.
I wish you all a safe and peaceful holiday.
Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koutou
The Changing Seasons, November 2020
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. — Douglas Adams
You know when you have a great idea, and it seems quite straightforward.
So you invest a bit of time. Then it starts to get complicated, and there’s a deadline.
But damn, it’s a great idea and you’re not going to be beaten or back down.
Or maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, the idea was simple. With Covid and whatnot, it’s been a very virtual year, and I thought it would be nice to post people actual Christmas cards (with hand-written messages), instead of just sending emails or texts, or trying to remember my FaceBook password.
And because I’m quite arty, I thought I’d make the Christmas cards.
But since I didn’t fancy doing 20 or so watercolours, and my lino-cuts were a fail last year, I thought I’d take some nice photos and get them printed onto cards.
And then, because I love food, I thought the photos should be of Christmas goodies. Which of course I’d have to bake.
You see where I’m going with this?
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. — Douglas Adams
Suffice to say, I’ve learned a lot about cookie-making, royal icing and bokeh.
But. I barely managed to post my overseas cards before the van arrived to empty the box on the last day NZ Post claims they will deliver them by Christmas (and no, I’m not holding my breath).
And. I am rather pleased with them.
I would show you, but as I don’t know your postal addresses, I’ll almost certainly end up using the images here anyway, by way of a Merry Christmas to you all.
So from where I’m sitting now, my November has been one long baking, icing and photographic session.
But the month started with a short trip to the Waikato, during which I did no baking or icing and very little food photography, unless you count shots of food trucks at Gourmet in the Gardens, at Hamilton Gardens.
This is a weekly event, run every Sunday night over summer, and it was fabulous. The Rhododendron Lawn becomes a vast picnic area, ringed by food trucks serving some really nice food.
I chatted to one of the organisers and was really impressed by how carefully thought-out the whole event is. They even bring in a caravan containing a couple of dishwashers, so that all of the cutlery and crockery can be reused. Apparently the forks and knives came from cleaning out practically every thrift shop in Hamilton.
We spent the night in Hamilton, and drove home via Raglan (only a short detour), which became a longer detour as we explored the Te Akau area on the north side of Raglan Harbour.
One road in, one road out. Thirty or so kilometres of gravel road through some really pretty countryside, and a wharf at the end with some very cool rock formations.
I don’t know if our trip counts as supporting the local tourist industry, but it did confirm that we probably won’t be buying land at Te Akau — unless we also bought a boat that would get us across the harbour to Raglan (about a 10 minute trip).
That’s unlikely, as neither T nor I are natural sailors.
The Changing Seasons, contributor’s guidelines
In the last couple of Changing Seasons posts, I’ve talked about the guidelines for this project and sought feedback on them.
Based on this, and my own thoughts I’m suggesting the following — only slightly amended from the Cardinal’s original — guidelines.
The Changing Seasons is a monthly blogging project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently — though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.
For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different.
Others focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.
Or you might like to share a recipe or instructions for something you’ve made — or just show us what you’ve done.
Post length and photo numbers
There are no fixed rules around this; just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.
If you find you have more than 20 or so photos, you’ve either had a pretty exciting month, or should consider not showing them all.
Similarly, if you’ve already posted an image on your blog, it’s probably not a good idea to use it again — unless it really helps to tell your story.
Tags and ping-backs
Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them
Create a ping-back to this post, so that I can update it with links to all of yours.
Update
Lani at Life, the Universe and Lani
Tish at Writer on the Edge
Marilyn at Serendipity, Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth
Tracy at Reflections of an Untidy Mind
Ju-Lyn from All Things Bright and Beautiful
Pauline from Living in Paradise
Brian at Bushboy’s World
Sarah at Art Expedition
Lights, camera … ready for Christmas photoshoot
Christmas plums
We probably won’t quite have home-grown plums on Christmas Day, but I don’t think we’ll be waiting too long.
And the tinsel — less a seasonal touch than an attempt to keep the birds from eating the fruit.
Macro Monday
Silent Sunday
Meri Kirihimete / Merry Christmas
Wordless Wednesday
The advent of the advent calendar-free Xmas
The Boy-child’s Advent Calendar 2017. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Image: Su Leslie 2017
Advent Calendars weren’t part of my Presbyterian upbringing; so I was largely unaware of them until the boy-child was little and he began to receive as gifts the kind with little chocolates behind each window. Then a cousin sent him a lovely quilted version with numbered pockets to be filled with goodies.
Despite its Winnie the Pooh fabric, the Calendar remained in use until my son left home, and probably would still be pressed into service except that I can’t find it.
The boy-child’s advent calendar; made by a cousin and given to him when he was four. Image: Su Leslie
For the last couple of years I sought alternative solutions; the row of goodie bags that could be hung in a flat bedroom, a box with numbered envelopes.
I’m not sure whether it’s a lack of imagination or a general ambivalence towards Christmas, but this year we’re going calendar-free and I wonder if he will even notice.
Friday flowers
An inexplicably swollen ankle has kept me a bit house-bound the last few days, so I’m recycling a pohutukawa photo from last week — albeit with a bit of Xmas bokeh.
Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia
(Merry Christmas and a happy New Year)
Regular Random: five minutes with some Christmas decorations
“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” — Charles M. Schulz
“Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.” — Stephen Fry
Perhaps I’ll be infected by some Christmas spirit in the next few days, but right now I’m feeling grateful that it looks like the day will pass quietly without the usual rushing from one place I don’t want to be, to the next.
I expect that once I begin wrapping presents, my desire to create little works of packaging art will kick in and I’ll end up in a frenzy of ribbons and embellishments. Meantime I can content myself rearranging the token bowl of tree ornaments brightening up the coffee table.
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Image: Su Leslie 2018
Regular Random is a photo challenge hosted by Desley Jane at Musings of a Frequently Flying Scientist. Please pop over and take a look; and if you’d like to join in:
- choose a subject or a scene
- spend five minutes photographing it – no more!
- try to not interfere with the subject, instead see it from many angles, look through something at it, change the light that’s hitting it
- have fun!
- tag your post #regularrandom and ping back to Desley’s post.
Zimmerbitch 