Photography challenge

I am Joining Kathy on two Photographic challenges this year.

I will try my best with both and hope you enjoy what I come up with. The first is a photographic Scavenger Hunt.

Each month there is a list and you have to take a photo to illustrate each thing on the list. You have a month to find a photo for each and then show them at the end of each month. Here is January's list.

January's Scavenger Hunt List :
1. an abandoned building

2. a stained glass window

3. a goldfish

4. yarn

5. playground equipment

6. a library

7. a tombstone over 100 years old

8. your front door

9. a reflective surface ... not a mirror

10. something out of place

11. nature

12. bubbles

The other challenge has been going for a few years. I already carry my camera everywhere so this in theory should be easy! You  take a photo everyday. This illustrates your day. I am also uploading a photo a day onto the 365 Project website.  I think I will do what Kathy suggests and show you at the end of each week (Sunday night?) my weeks worth of photos. I can't decide whether to make a mosaic out of each weeks worth of photos or not?



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Time for a snooze on a warm knee

Do you fancy joining us on one or both of these challenges?

Yesterday we went to the Yorkshire dales for the day. It takes about one and a half hours from our house to Settle.

I have blogged about Settle before as it is one of our favourite places to visit. (Blogger playing up today so sorry if the photos are mixed up a bit!)

After a bite to eat at the Naked Man Cafe and a much needed hot chocolate we headed off to Malham.

We parked in the village then walked up the lane rather than the footpath to the cove.


Long and winding road-up hill!

The lane winds up to the left of the cove and there are footpaths off the lane at the top that lead you to the limestone pavement at the top of the cove.

We passed a frozen dew pond where the highland cattle were drinking at a small hole in the ice.

Onto the pavement where we looked at the information board which had this lovely quote describing the limestone perfectly.

"Where flinty clints are scraped bone-bare

A whale's ribs glint in the sun"

Norman Nicholson

If you are a fan of the Harry Potter films you may recognise it as one of the places Harry and Hermione set up camp in the latest film.

Plants survive the harsh conditions by staying low and growing in the grykes in between the clints.

As the light was going we made our way down the steps into the cove.

It was a great view from up there though!
It was dark by the time we got back to the village and headed for home.

A New Year

Welcome to 2011

We started the year not thinking about the extension, the cleaning or the tidying.

We decided to go for a walk on New Years Day.

It was a very, very dull and grey day here but I still took my camera to take some photos.

They were so uninspiring that I spent the afternoon today 'playing' with them using various websites, Picnik being a good one.

I played with some but left others as they were.



Oxgrains Packhorse Bridge

We discovered a beautiful Packhorse bridge just up the road from us. A single arch stone bridge over Oxgrains Clough and is about 9 foot wide. Wool, cotton, finished cloth, salt, lime, coal and other goods were carried by horses in panniers on their backs. There are many packhorse routes and bridges in the area. So as not to hinder the horses' packs, the bridges normally had a low parapet or no parapet at all.


The A627 a new road to replace the packhorse route

From the early 19th Century, the turnpikes and then the canals quickly replaced the packhorse routes; a single canal boat could carry the same load as 600 pack horses.

Hull Mill Pond



Confused ducks

We drove onto Saddleworth for a walk around Hull Mill Pond where the ducks were confused with the ice.

Looking towards Castleshaw

It blew away the cobwebs and was a good start to the year.

We seem to have missed autumn and early winter this time, so now the house is getting back to normal we plan to get our walking boots out a little more.


Footpath Steps



In the little village of Delph, on a lane called Sandbed Lane, stands a gas lamp. It has been burning and lighting the little lane for as long as anyone can remember. As we walked passed it, it was getting dusk and there it was, burning bright.

The end of the year is near

2010

As 2010 comes to a close I have been thinking about the past year.

The last few months have been taken up with the extension.
We cancelled Christmas because of it, the house was not in any state to be decorated.

The rooms will be all finished by the end of January and I look forward to showing you some photos when it's all done.
Although the extension has taken over our lives these past few months, it's not the only thing that has happened this year.

Baking in 2010

I did a bit of baking in 2010.


Lucy's year

Lucy has been photographed hundreds of times this year-as she is every year!

Lucky me!

I have also been very, very lucky and I have been sent some beautiful gifts from my bloggy friends over the year (forgive me if your gift is not pictured, I have hundreds of photos to go through and it took AGES to find these!)

While I was going through my photos I realised I had not done too bad on the craft side this year.

I have done more Arts and Crafts than I thought!


Westminster Abbey, London

We had some lovely days out, a holiday in Shropshire and a couple of days in London too.

Shropshire Hills

Liverpool

Downton Hall Gardens

Spitfire in Haworth

We have said goodbye to some dear friends and pets this year, there have been a few ups and downs but thankfully we have had more smiles than sadness

So this is the end of 2010, I look forward to the fresh new start that the new year brings and all that remains for me to say now is

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Christmas Eve 2010

Merry Christmas to everyone!

It's Christmas Eve and Hubby and I have been cleaning the lounge so we can at least relax in one room in the house that's back to normal and clean and tidy.
it's gone from this....

Lucy isn't levitating there, she's sat on the end on the ironing board, can you see the tiny Christmas tree on the mantle? and the layer of dust on the bureau? the washing drying on the maiden? the presents piled on the chair?

Just a few lights around the picture and my little tree and the Christmas cards on the window sill. but it's clean and tidy and the only room in the house that we can relax in at the moment.

The presents are piled around the Grandmother clock which is where we usually put the Christmas tree.

We have some lights on the box tree outside.

I have been following Santa's journey on NORAD. And I was lucky enough to receive a beautiful gift in the post yesterday. Yes I won ANOTHER giveaway, must stop entering them and give someone else a chance!!!

This time it was over on The Linen Cat blog and I won the most adorable bunny purse.

and it came beautifully packaged and with one of Beth's famous birds! I love it Beth, thank you so much.

Manchester Albert Square

I took some snaps when I went to pick up Hubby after his works Christmas meal

Frozen Fountain

I also thought I would show you some photos I have taken of the winter wonderland around here in the past few days.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!