ross fountain

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 July 2022].}

Apologies for the radio silence the past week.

I'm playing catch-up after a busy week of work, meeting up with old friends and meeting new people, and finding out more about some potential work.

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edinburgh, my arse! [princes street gardens, edinburgh, scotland, 2011]

My temporary employment is dropping down to 21 hours this week. I'm both pleased and nervous about it.

I'm pleased to have more time to do creative things for myself (and you!), but obviously, the drop in income is less welcome. The new work may fill that void but not immediately. We'll see.

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untitled #142 [princes street gardens, edinburgh, scotland, 2011]

Dad and I also managed to have one of our lengthy Skype calls this past week, and I've been wrangling with some health issues.

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untitled #138 [princes street gardens, edinburgh, scotland, 2011]

Last night and in the wee hours of this morning, I finally edited my photographs of Ross Fountain in the West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. I took these during my last visit in August 2011.

Since it was restored in 2018, it looks different to when I captured it.

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untitled #141 [princes street gardens, edinburgh, scotland, 2011]

I hope to return to Edinburgh sometime in the next few months. I just need to arrange some reasonably priced accommodation or a cat-sitting gig there :)

crown imperial

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 June 2022].}

neon chicks

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 June 2022].}

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chic to chic [budapest, hungary, europe, 2012]

full of goodness

^{[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 June 2022].}

The inscription on the headstone of this grave reads Eenvoudig en oprecht vol goedheid was uw leven, uw edel hart heeft ons zoveel gegeven.

According to Google Translate, it means Your life was simple and sincere, full of goodness, your noble heart has given us so much.

The other photograph I took of this grave showed the other two items holding more cobweb hens and chicks - or sempervivum - and the inscription, but it wasn't sharp and worthy of sharing. However, I decided to take the title for this image from the inscription.

I took this after the rain in the churchyard of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Wulveringem.

The church is opposite Kasteel Beauvoorde. We visited the castle (it was the reason we were in the town), but I've yet to edit most of the photos from there. Another task on my to-do list...

a korean rose in brussels

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 June 2022].}

I'm a little hesitant about the identification of these flowers. My plant identifying app said it was a Korean rose for every photo I checked, though, so I'll go with it.

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untitled #232 [palais royal de bruxelles, bruxelles, belgium, europe]

And they seem to match - to my untrained eye - photos in the Wikipedia entry for the Hibiscus syriacus.

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untitled #230 [palais royal de bruxelles, bruxelles, belgium, europe]

I find flowers past their prime or weather-worn as beautiful as the most perfect specimen, just in a different way.

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untitled #233 [palais royal de bruxelles, bruxelles, belgium, europe]

Having said that, when I photographed these, it did strike me as odd that the flowers in the front garden of the Palais Royal de Bruxelles should look so unkempt... I might have been quietly judgmental.

yer takin’ the pis

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 June 2022].}

The Manneken Pis, of course...

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chocolate, chocolate, beer, pissing, pis, number two [manneken pis, brussels, belgium, europe, 2014]

Congratulations to whoever managed to get that Space Invaders paste-up there. Apparently, it's been there since around March 2012. I took these photos in September 2014, and the paste-up looked relatively new.

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pis-ing about [manneken pis, brussels, belgium, europe, 2014]

I don't know the symbolism of this particular costume, but apparently, he has many costume changes.

innocence lost

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 June 2022].}

artichoke

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 June 2022].}

Once again, I'm reminded of why I love photography.

I love to eat artichoke, but it never occurred to me that's what I had photographed in a garden on Mersea Island until I popped the photo into a plant-identifying app.

It also never occurred to me that the artichoke is a flower. I knew we eat the "hearts". I didn't realise that they bloom and become inedible if left to their own devices.

When I saw them, these flowers reminded me of protea and some brassica species, which I love. I photographed them because they were eye-catching despite not recognising them.

Because I have such a massive backlog of photos to edit, sometimes it takes me years to learn from the photographs I've taken. But that doesn't make the learning any less enjoyable.

out of step

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 June 2022].}

the lighthouse keeper’s son

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 5 June 2022].}

Nearby the lighthouse at Table Cape in Tasmania lies the small grave of the infant son of the first Table Cape lighthouse keeper.

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the lighthouse keeper’s son [table cape lighthouse, table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

Bertram Jackson passed away a little over two weeks after the lighthouse opened in 1888.

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bertram jackson [table cape lighthouse, table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

The lighthouse keepers left Table Cape sometime after 1920 when the lighthouse operation became automated. However, his little body remains.

banksia

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 June 2022].}

My plant-identifying apps failed me, with one thinking these were an ornamental pincushion. And the other knew they were banksia but couldn't identify the cultivar. They are, obviously, a different cultivar to these beauties.

My gut instinct/plant memory said banksia, but I did check in with Bellamy (otherwise known as Dad)*. He confirmed they are. But as with one of the plant apps, he couldn't narrow it down to a cultivar. He is a font of plant knowledge, but no one is perfect ;)

Either way, they're photogenic. They caught my eye in the front garden of a home on Table Cape that gave a lovely view of Stanley in Tasmania. I took this during my visit in 2018.

My last visit with my parents in October 2019 seems a lifetime ago. It was bittersweet for so many reasons.

My next visit, which could be as soon as this year, will be even more difficult. As though dementia, hospital visits and a car accident weren't stressful enough in 2019.

Some days (or nights), thinking and talking about it, pragmatism wins out. Other times, raw emotion wins the day (or night).

^{*My dad is not, in fact, David Bellamy. When he used to point out and tell us about the plants on our walks through the rainforests and national parks of Australia, my then-teenaged brother liked to respond with a sarcastic "Thanks, Bellamy". It has remained an affectionate jibe in my mind all these years.}

my bewildered mind

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 9 May 2022].}

table cape lighthouse

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 31 May 2022].}

A series of photographs I took of Table Cape Lighthouse during my visit to Tasmania in March 2018.

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untitled #189 [table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

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untitled #190 [table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

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untitled #191 [table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

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untitled #193 [table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

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untitled #192 [table cape, tasmania, australia, 2018]

under glass

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 May 2022].}

Illustrations:

The talking head by C. Gilbert.

Pressure of the air by E. Pérot.

a ca(p)tive audience

Now that Meg's gorgeous face has got your attention...

I have a couple of return tickets to use for travel on the Avanti West Coast network by late November.

Ideally, I'd like to travel back to north Wales and Edinburgh on those tickets. I haven't been to Edinburgh since 2011, and most of my travels in north Wales were back in 2001. I'd also like to venture from Edinburgh to Inverness (or thereabouts) to visit a friend.

Related: I'd like to find some cat-sitting (or dog-sitting, or just house-sitting) work in Edinburgh.

And also somewhere on or near the Avanti West Coast network in north Wales. Potentially around Llandudno.

My full-time temporary work will drop to three days from July, and I can work fully remote. So I'm relatively flexible about location and duration as long as I have decent internet access.

To allow me enough time to get out and explore, it would need to be at least a long weekend, but I'm open to a week or more (my first cat-sitting gig was three weeks).

I can provide references for my cat-sitting and photographic evidence of happy kittehs I've cat-sat. I keep lines of communication open while looking after kittehs, and I'm a clean and tidy occupant.

I also feed fish and can guard goldfish against kittehs, if required ;)

And prints from kitteh portrait sessions are an optional extra.

I thought I'd put my feelers out through friends first before potentially listing myself on Cat in a Flat or similar. In case I know (or you know) anyone in or around Edinburgh or Llandudno/the Avanti West Coast network across north Wales.

My only real restriction is that I don't drive. So anywhere I'm cat-sitting has to have reasonable transport connections (foot, train, bus, cab, etc.)

Bonus points if the home has a room with floral wallpaper, and I can take self-portraits in and around the place I'm cat/dog/house-sitting if I'm so inspired.

If you or someone you know might be interested, slide into my DMs for more info and a confidential discussion ;)

outcasts always mourn

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 May 2022].}

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untitled #200

magnolia on blue (bromley)

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 May 2022].}

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untitled #31 [bromley, london, england, 2022]

road to lamington

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 May 2022].}

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untitled #47 [lamington park road, lamington national park, queensland, australia, 2009]

bright blue rose

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 May 2022].}

ochna serrulata

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 May 2022].}

Technically, these are the fruitlets and sepals of the Ochna serrulata, not the flower, but sepals are part of the flowers, so I'mma let this one pass through because they're damned purty.

Taken during a photo walk around Redland Bay in Queensland back in 2009.

They're designated as an invasive species in Australia despite their attractive appearance.

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untitled #64 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]