Category: Lens Artist

~ Monuments from around the World and the stories behind them ~

The Lens Artist Challenge this week is hosted by John, many thanks John for a look back through the archives.

Monument – a structure or building to commemorate a notable figure or event in history. It could be a statue or sculpture as long as it was built for remembrance. So when I looked up the provenance of my particular choices, I made sure the word monument was included in the description.

Clock Tower in Penang to commenorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubille

Queen Victoria Clock Tower, situated in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was built in 1900 and taking two years to complete. Standing 60ft tall, one foot for each year of her reign. Sadly she didn’t get to see this monument having passed away before completion. The Queen never set foot in Penang!

Obelisk standing where Great Fire of London started

The Monument built in 1677 to commemorate where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. A story which we are all familiar with. It began at a bakers owned by Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane from an oven that was not properly extinguished. Sadly a man called Robert Hubert, a French Watchmaker was accused and confessed, probably tortured and then hanged. Mr. Farriner and his family signed depositions against Mr. Hubert, effectively signing his death warrant.

Clock Tower in Kowloon

The iconic Clock Tower in Kowloon, Hong Kong built to commemorate the original site of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. The clock tower was completed in 1915. Building of the railway station started in 1906 on extensive reclaimed land and was completed in 1910. The first passenger services began on 1 October 1910. The last passenger train left the station on 29 November 1975.

Sacred heart of Jesus Statue, Mount Urgull

The Sacred Heart of Jesus monument situated on top of Mount Urgell in San Sebastian, Spain. Built primarily as a public expression of Catholic faith. Even though the monument was thought about in the 1920’s it wasn’t built until 1950. This was due to delays caused by the Spanish Civil War.

I walked up Mount Argull many years ago with my dear hubby and we somehow separated, maybe because he wouldn’t wait for me! I remember waiting at the bottom for him for many hours in a cafe, only to find him back at the hotel. Fireworks and explosions erupted, say no more.

I hope you’ve enjoyed some micro history lessons and maybe learnt something new.

🎶 “I’ve Got the Music in Me” 🎶

This week for Lens Artist Challenge the theme is Music, as you’ve probably guessed from the title!

My featured image shows the empty stage before the musical & Juliet started. I went with around 10 other ladies and we had a blast.

Over the years I’ve seen many bands or groups as we called them then. My first ever concert was going up to London to see David Cassidy. What an amazing singer he was. I was 14 and we were dropped off and picked up by my friend’s parents. My list of bands is too long to name here but I feel blessed to have seen them all.

I grew up mainly with Motown, from a very early age. Maybe I heard a song on the radio, but my parents were never fans. My first record was Viva Bobby Joe by The Equals. Which of course I played over and over.

Nowadays I am content to sit at home and listen, unless it’s an old favourite who is still belting them out. And so it was I went to see Billy Ocean last year. He was excellent and can still hold those notes. I enjoyed every minute and it only takes one person to stand up and then I’ll be the second, much to my friend’s embarrassment. Dance like no-one’s watching, isn’t that the saying.

A latin band playing with a latin mural in the background

A latin band playing in a bar in Bali. When they started playing a salsa tune I was up and dancing.

My two munchkins from a few years ago, I think it was me who needed the headphones.

Members of a military band in Bangkok enjoying a rest.

A small band in a restaurant in Melbourne, customers were happily clapping along with them. I like a restaurant with a band, it just adds to the atmosphere and gives the whole place a buzz. This place was off the beaten track and we were lucky to get a table.

A busker in London playing his trombone to cheer up everyone’s day. Some of these buskers are excellent, I always drop something in and stand and have a listen.

Thanks to Ritva for this opportunity to share our thoughts on music.

🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼 🎼

~ Exploring Harmony in Nature and Art ~

The Lens Artist Challenge this week is hosted by Ann Christine, the theme is Harmony.

My featured image is a mural from a suburb in Perth. Two women connected by a central beam piercing the moon. Cosmic energy working simultaneously with nature.

The two photos below are from the gardens at Monet’s home in Giverny.

A stream flowing through Monet's Garden in Giverny

“If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according to what others think, you will never be rich.” – Seneca

Leafy green image from Monet's Garden

Each green leaf, plant, and moss blends harmoniously with each other.

A painting of a jazz player on a brick wall in a cafe in Paris
The most beautiful concept of music is that there are no barriers, no fences, no walls. It is a universal language.” – Carlos Santana

A mural of a jazz player painted on the brick wall of a cafe in Paris. The intermingling colours working well together.

Two bronze statues one with a traditional Portuguese guitar, Rosso Lisbon
“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Outside Rossio Railway Station, Lisbon

A bronze sculpture of a man playing a traditional Portuguese guitar along with his accompanying singer. You can just imagine the harmonious partnership.

This was a wonderful theme and I had fun looking through my archives. A great way to spend a grey Sunday afternoon.

🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿

~ Holiday Fun and Festive Moments ~

This week Leya is hosting the Lens Artist Challenge. The theme this time is Holiday Fun. This could be keeping in the spirit of things with Christmas images or just your favourite holiday images. I’ve gone with some recent photos I’ve taken. I have been fairly busy with many different kinds of parties. I’ve been to a bookclub lunch, bridge parties, zumba and have an upcoming street party. It’s been so much fun, I haven’t yet found the time for any shopping.

Taken when I was back in the UK. We had a day out at a winter wonderland Christmas shop. I couldn’t believe the amount of decorations on sale. I’m happy I don’t have a colour scheme or any kind of theme as I wouldn’t know where to start.

I spent far too long on Canva with these frames, but happy to say I have more knowledge on framing now!

I’ve been a good girl, I promise

Our lovely hostess Shirley created this table for our bridge lunch.

Enjoying a glass or two after playing bridge all afternoon. We didn’t do well.

Cute shop fronts back in the UK

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

~ Scavenger Hunt, a deep dive into the Archives ~

This week for the Lens-Artist Challenge, Anne @ Slow Shutter Speed has asked us to go on a scavenger hunt for photos dealing with the topics she has suggested. Check out her website for all the details.

Our aim was to find between five and ten, no more than ten. With such diversity, it was a hard choice.

AND

This was lots of fun, I like a challenge that enables me to use photo editing tools. For this post I used SnapSeed. It’s a great free app that I have on my phone.

~ Participate in the Lens Artist Challenge: Capture Lines, Patterns and Colours ~

The Lens Artist Challenge this week is brought to us by Johnbo @ Journeys with Johnbo. He’s explained it well and we’re looking for photos that feature compositional elements like lines, patterns, or colours. Maybe we can find all three in one photo.

Bats in fronds, cables, clouds and birds on a wire

Munchkins one and two at the Airship Orchestra event at our local shopping centre.

Munchkin one is seven!

A colourful carousel featuring lines, patterns and colour

Remains of The West Pier in Brighton, designed by Eugenius Birch in 1866. Sadly beyond repair, but glorious in its hey day.

Brighton i360, an observation tower. An eyesore to be sure and not quite fitting with the surrounding Georgian architecture.

Thank you Johnbo for an interesting and entertaining challenge.

~ Presenting Zac and Rufus ~

The challenge for Lens Artist this week is “Cats and Dogs” hosted by Tina. I’m not a cat person in any way at all and have never owned one. I’m always slightly wary of cats, you never know when they will strike. Give me a dog anyday.

I know the saying is “A Man’s Best Friend” but my two fur boys are also mine. Zac and Rufus have been with us for 9 and ten years. Both were adopted from rescue organisations. They were both apparently one year old when they first came to live with us. We think though that Zac was older and Rufus was younger. They love each other like true brothers and can’t do anything without the other.

I put together a small collage using Canva instead of uploading many different ones.

Rufus and Zac are so much part of our family, I can’t imagine living life without a dog around.

I’m running out of space for this blog and it’s so time consuming deleting old posts and finding the photos that are attached. Do I upgrade for more space or spend time deleting old posts and photos?

~ Capturing the “Dogged” Details ~

Patti is the Lens Artist host this week and she has challenged us all to find the details in our subject. Post three photos from different angles.

I’m not quite sure I’m on the right track with mine! Maybe I’m biased but I think Rufus is extremely photogenic.

The last one is a tad blurry, but it was taken on the spur of the moment. Looks 3D or as if I have cut and pasted! You can probably guess that he’s excited for his dinner. Although you would think he hasn’t eaten in a week.

A Blissful Break in Benoa, Bali

It’s our annual trip to Bali week with half the family.  This time we’re trying out Benoa, staying at the Novotel on the beach.

We were allocated rooms in the block across the road.  A very small road and always manned by two smiling staff to usher you across.  Similar to lollipop ladies at school complete with whistles and high viz sticks.  The traffic were not as well behaved as ours though and these men frequently had to whistle frantically to make any bike or car stop.

The tide’s in
Beach side pool
Sea mist
Kids pool
Fishing boats
Flying high

All neatly squared for Becky’s Seven for September. Also as it’s the neighbourhood I’m in at the moment, I’ve linked it to Lens Artist.

As it’s school holidays beds on the beach are pretty limited.  There is another lovely pool in our block that’s nice and quiet and ideal for the kids.

On the first day I joined in aqua aerobics and didn’t realise how burnt I was getting. It’s quite bad and this hasn’t happened to me in such a long time.  Anyway I’ve learnt my lesson and now wear a solar top every day.

🥵   🥵  🥵 🥵 🥵   🥵  🥵 🥵

~ Hazlewood Castle, Tadcaster – A Historic Gem for a Memorable Overnight Stay ~

This year on our way back from Glasgow we had an overnight stay at Hazlewood Castle. I only happened upon this castle when looking at our route home and saw that it was also a hotel. I was extremely excited to find that it was quite reasonable for an overnight stay. We didn’t manage to get a room in the castle itself but in one of the buildings surrounding the place.

Hazlewood Castle

Hazlewood castle dates back to 1066 and was in the possession of Gamel, son of Osmund.  It was during the time of King Edward the Confessor.  

1086 Doomsday notes that it was given to Mauger le Vavasour by William de Percy.

From 1183 until 1826 it was in the hands of the Vavasour family and it was only due to the death of the 7th baron that it was passed to a relative – Edward Stourton, who then took the name Vavasour.

In 1290 it was granted a licence to crenallate the medieval building.

In 1908 it was put up for sale and the Vavasour family moved to New Zealand where they started the famous Vavasour Winery. 

This of course is just a very short timeline and below is the history of events that took place during the different reigns.  The family certainly had their ups and downs but always seemed to come together again.

Hazlewood Castle, Tadcaster

Coincidentally Vavasour is one of my favourite Sauvignon Blancs so I was especially intrigued that the name was originally from France. The restaurant was also called Vavasour.

The surrounding buildings and gardens

The castle is situated in beautiful countryside and the views are amazing. We had a pleasant walk through the gardens and were also surprised to be given a key to enter the small chapel. I think the key must date back hundreds of years as it was extremely large and difficult to open the door.

Hazlewood Castle
“To the Manor born”
Chapel door at Hazlewood Castle

The door to the chapel

Vavasour descendents
Sir William Vavasour
The Chapel

Inside the Castle

A glass of Vavasour
The King is coming to dinner!
Elaborate carved fireplace

This is a fabulous hotel for a night or two, great for an anniversary or birthday treat. There is also a day spa offering relaxing and revitalising treatments, ideal for a girls’ weekend away.

Also posting for Lens Artist Challenge, In the Garden, hosted by Ann-Christine.