une petite pause

Cards on the table time. I'm really struggling with blogging at the moment. I generally spend as little time as possible at the computer over the summer if I can help it, there is far too much going on in the real world that means my online life is difficult to keep up with. This last week with Melanie visiting was non-stop; going here, doing that and continual gassing, I barely switched the computer on. Now I've got another lovely friend arriving on Wednesday for more of the same, plus this September I am faced with the prospect of having 2 of my children living at Lycée from Monday to Friday, so I want to wring out time I spend with them to the last drop. You understand, don't you?

catch-up

I know, I know I've barely been around lately......but you know how it is. The summer holidays mean real life overtakes everything else. As soon as I get my photos back from my trip oooop north I will share them later, but, I'll spare you from all the things I've been getting up to, apart from these little nuggets, including:

A very pleasurable walk round 'circulez y'a que de l'art', a contemporary art route round the beautiful medieval village of Fanjeaux, where the artworks were exhibited in old barns, private houses and even a doctor's surgery.

I couldn't resist getting this beautiful piece by Océane Madelaine. Don't worry about us, honestly it wasn't expensive. A bit more about that later......

Then of course, the last 3 days have been taken up with Festival Ouverture. We spent Friday taking part in a pinhole camera workshop which was not only a) great fun but b) an idea fest and c) great for my french,

Unfortunately, my camera was the best thing I produced. My actual photo was little more than an  interesting abstract study in grey. Ho hum.

So, this was my story selected, 'La Lettre' (view it properly here)

I loved this story by Emmanuelle de Maistre

I loved these too, also called 'La Lettre' by Camille Chalain

they were all excellent in truth and the way they were exhibited, unpretentiously and simply hung on cardboard and string and slung around the beautiful village of Cailhau was very cool. Who wants to be cooped up in a white cube in a climate and landscape like we have here?

Soooo, tomorrow my adorable and much-loved friend for over 20 years Mel turns up for her annual holiday. We will as ever, just have the best time. This year her birthday coincides with her visit, so the lucky girl also is getting one of Océane's ceramics. Shhh, don't tell her or I'll nut you one.

roll up, roll up!

The other week I was driving along and yay, another circus! Actually, it turned out to be the same troupe that I encountered before. This time I decided to keep a healthy distance, try not to get up the lion-tamer's nose and stick to less controversial wildlife.

all praktica pm3/fuji reala 100

surely no one can object to llamas and chickens? At least this time I got away without any unpleasantness. It just seems ridiculous to me that they still bother. I mean I could hear the circus was in full flight inside but there were hardly any cars parked up, I'm sure these sort of outdated 'entertainments' just don't get the bums on seats, especially at 15 euros a ticket.
Still, the Big Top is damn fine and I do get swept away with dreams of trapeze and high wires, strongmen and exploding clown cars.
I'm going away for a few days, to stay with my parents up in Charente. This time I've decided to forego the mind-numbing autoroute and take the TGV.
à bientôt mes amis.

clandestine meetings

We have been having the hottest, sultriest weather for weeks now. One of the greatest pleasures is waiting till the evening and taking a cooling dip in the lake. There are a few to choose from in this neck of the woods, but for me, the best is Montbel. Apart from a couple of inevitable busy spots with buvettes, pedalos and surveilled bathing, there are plenty of places to swim that are natural and relaxed, peopled by the occasional camper, dog-walker, horse-rider and fellow swimmers.
All hail the zoom lens! I've heard (if anyone can confirm or disprove I'd be very grateful) that taking pictures of the general public in France is illegal. If it's true, then I'm a serial offender, please don't cuff me Sarge.
But at least the zoom on my Praktica allows me to lay low in the grass, snapping unseen. Like a wildlife photographer crouching stealthily on the savannah waiting to catch the cheetah to bring down the impala. Or maybe not.

 

Ouverture

Today is a momentous day for two reasons. First off, exactly a year ago I started blogging. I'd never tried before, I thought I'd never get any readers and felt very self-concious and a bit silly about it all. Who on earth would be interested and what would I write about? I fully expected to make a complete tit of myself and scuttle off into the shadows after a couple of months. Yet here I am, still waffling on and still enjoying, whilst not the sound of my own voice, more the sight of my own voice and the sound of my tap-tap-tap on the keyboard.
Well, the secret I mentioned earlier was a photography competiton I entered, for the Ouverture Festival running in July. Only 15 selected winners and I am one of them. The brief was un histoire en photos (a story in photographs) and a story had to be told in a series of 5 to 7 photographs They had to tell the story yet each image must be able to stand alone and of course, be original. I submitted 2 stories,  "ailleurs l'herbe est plus verte" (elsewhere the grass is always greener) and "la lettre" (the letter).  As yet, I'm not sure which was the winning story, but a soon as I know I'll post the pictures to share.
To think, when I went through the back of my wardrobe and somehow ended up in Blogland a year ago, I hadn't picked up a film camera for donkeys years, didn't have a clue about photography as art and was just stuck in a rut of making little illustrated prints for etsy and that was getting me down, feeling I was not flexing my creative muscles enough and concerned too much with making money instead of following my instincts.

What a journey I've had my friends, so glad to have met you along the way. For me, the grass actually was greener on the other side.