photos from the loonybin

Texture all around me

photosfromtheloonybin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 14:43:57 +0000

Smooth, bumpy, rough, and lumpy…
Slimy, fuzzy, sharp, and fluffy…

Texture is the way a surface, material, or substance feels when we touch it, but I don’t think you have to touch something to notice texture. Every time I pick up my camera, I see texture all around me, and as I was looking through my photos trying to figure out what to do for my next week’s worth of posts, I saw texture everywhere. So, I thought it might be fun to do a series about it.

Tree bark provides my eyes with texture overload but not in a bad way. There are so many different textures in tree bark, especially on a tree where the bark is peeling like in this photo. What I see could mostly be described as rough, but I’m sure if I closed my eyes and touched the bark, there would be many different degrees of roughness and also some smooth sections where the bark has peeled away enough to reveal the natural wood underneath. Do you notice the texture around you?

Mystery Photo #14

photosfromtheloonybin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:22:04 +0000

Sometimes it’s really hard to figure out what to use as the mystery photo, but yesterday my creative side appeared out of nowhere, and I took enough mystery pictures to last a couple of months. There’s a good mixture too – some are mind boggling (I think anyway) while others are fairly easy if you look carefully. I think today’s photo might strain your brain a little, at least I hope it will. Ok, ready, set, go……..

Punting on the Cam

photosfromtheloonybin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:27:40 +0000

Ok, so I know I said I was done with my series on Cambridge, England, but I forgot one aspect of Cambridge that I found very quaint.

While Cambridge is world renowned as a centre for knowledge and learning, it’s not all about hitting the books. There is rest and relaxation as well, and one of the best ways to do just that is to go punting on the Cam. A punt is a square-ended boat which has a flat bottom with no keel and is usually propelled using a long pole. Punts were developed in Medieval times to provide stable craft which could be used in areas of water too shallow for rowing conventional craft. Punts were introduced to Cambridge as pleasure craft in Edwardian times and even now punting on the River Cam on a lovely summer day is still an image often associated with Cambridge. It’s also referred to as punting on the Backs, as the River Cam runs behind the colleges of Cambridge University. Here are three of my favourite photos from the Backs.

Views from the top

photosfromtheloonybin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:05:43 +0000

As a final post in my series about Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, I give you the view from the top of the Great St. Mary’s. As I couldn’t choose just one, here are my favourites that show some of the colleges as well as the market place behind the church. I hope you have enjoyed this series!!

Phew, that was quite the climb!!

photosfromtheloonybin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:55:01 +0000

Another one of my favourite historical landmarks in Cambridge, England was the Church of St. Mary the Great, known locally as Great St. Mary’s or GSM, a Church of England church. The first church on the site of the current one was built in 1205, but this was mostly destroyed by fire on July 9, 1290 and then rebuilt. During its early years, the church was the property of the crown, but ownership eventually passed to the University of Cambridge. The present building was constructed between 1478 and 1519, with the tower finished later, in 1608. The cost of construction was covered largely by Richard III and Henry VII.

Access to the tower is via a 123-step medieval turret staircase, and I’m telling you it’s quite the climb and fully convinced me that the human race has definitely grown since medieval times. As a woman with a size 9 shoe, I had to turn my feet sideways because the stairs were so tiny, and the staircase is so narrow that if you are going up and meet someone coming down, somebody has to backtrack to a small landing so that everyone can continue. There is no way you could pass someone on that staircase! But no matter how tricky the climb, the view from the top is totally worthwhile, as you are treated to a panoramic view of Cambridge.

The first picture below is a view of Great St. Mary’s from the street, and the second shot is one of my favourite photos from the day, looking up toward the top of the tower. Tomorrow I will show you the view from the top.

St. John’s College, Cambridge University

photosfromtheloonybin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:50:33 +0000

While walking around Cambridge University in England, I was fascinated by the details found on the buildings. One that was especially detailed was St. John’s College. The college was established in 1511 by Lady Margaret Beaufort, and believe it or not the full, formal name of the college is “The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge”. That’s quite a mouthful isn’t it? The college’s alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints.

This is a photo of the Great Gate. According to Wikipedia, “St John’s distinctive Great Gate follows the standard contemporary pattern employed previously at Christ’s College and Queen’s College. The gatehouse is crenelated and adorned with the arms of the foundress, Lady Margare Beaufort. Above these are displayed her ensigns, the Red Rose of Lancaster and Portcullis. The College Arms are flanked by curious creatures known as yales, mythical beasts with elephants’ tails, antelopes’ bodies, goats’ heads, and swivelling horns. Above them is a tabernacle containing a socle figure of St John the Evangelist, an Eagle at his feet and symbolic, poisoned chalice in his hands. The doors date from 1665-6, and the fan vaulting above was constructed by William Swayne, the master mason of King’s College Chapel”. Like I said two days ago, college or castle? Sorry about the people’s heads in the picture, but it does help to give you an idea how huge these buildings are.

Can you see the difference?

photosfromtheloonybin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:13:50 +0000

To continue on from yesterday, King’s College Chapel took over a century to build, and it has the largest fan vault ceiling in the world and some of the finest medieval stained glass. It is one of the finest examples of late Gothic (Perpendicular) English architecture. The Chapel has a total length of 289 feet, and the width of the main vault is 40 feet. The interior height is 80 feet and the exterior height is 94 feet. The windows of King’s College Chapel are some of the finest in the world from their era. There are 12 large windows on each side of the chapel, and larger windows at the east and west ends. It also features a Renaissance wooden screen, and a painting by Rubens called The Adoration of the Magi above the altar.

What I found really interesting is that you can see two distinct colours of stone in the chapel. This is because a white magnesium limestone from Yorkshire was used for the first 15 years of building, while later work is in Northamptonshire sandstone. You can best see the difference in the buttresses where you can see the level the building had reached by 1461, fifteen years after the first stone was laid. Can you see the change in colour?

Have you ever gone to school in a castle?

photosfromtheloonybin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:48:56 +0000

Harry Potter went to school in a castle, but we all know that is fiction. In real life nobody goes to school in a castle do they? I didn’t think so until I visited the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.

Walking down the streets of Cambridge, I was totally blown away by the architecture of the different colleges. In fact, I’m sure my jaw was touching the ground most of the time. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. As I’ve mentioned before, I visited England while on a school trip with my oldest son, but while in Cambridge I was like the errant student because I was taking so many photos that I kept lagging behind the group, and one of the teachers kept having to come back and make sure I didn’t get lost. Even my son, Bryan, who is not much into photography, took tons of pictures that day.

Over the next couple of days I am going to show you some of my favourite shots from that day and try and throw in some of the history of the university as well because it’s quite fascinating.

The University of Cambridge is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world (after the University of Oxford), and the seventh oldest globally. It celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2009! Wow, 800 years old – that’s truly amazing don’t you think? The colleges of Cambridge University were founded in the Middle Ages, the first in 1284. However, my favourite of all the colleges, King’s College, was founded by Henry VI in 1441. It is one of 31 colleges in the University of Cambridge. Once of Henry’s biggest concerns was the chapel for the college, and he wanted to ensure that it would be without equal in size and beauty. He succeeded because King’s College Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. This picture doesn’t show the entire chapel, but I like it because you can see the details in the architecture.

Mystery Photo #13

photosfromtheloonybin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:56:43 +0000

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – post photo on blog. Check!

Thursday – acknowledge blogging awards. Check!

Friday – oh ya, it’s mystery photo day!!

Time for everyone to wake up their lazy brains that have turned to mush during the week because of jobs, kids, etc. and get thinking. Ok, ready, set, go…….

Better late than never!!

photosfromtheloonybin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:55:19 +0000

And now we take a break from our usual programming for an important message. That means no photo today because I have been a very bad blogger. Over the last month I have been awarded 5 blogging awards and have not been able to find the time to acknowledge any of them. I am, to tell you the honest truth, feeling a wee bit overwhelmed by it all. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it from the bottom of my blogging heart, and it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside to think that people are enjoying my blog so much. It makes all the hard work so worthwhile.

First of all, I would like to deal with the most important part – the thank you’s. I am very grateful to Jean Mishra for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award and the Kreativ Blogger Award, Dor for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award, Xandré Verkes for the Sunshine Award, and Sue Llewellyn for the Versatile Blogger Award. They each have great blogs themselves, which I highly recommend you check out if you haven’t already.

Each of these awards has certain rules to be followed, one of which is to pass the award on to other bloggers. However, I am going to have to break the rules a bit because I have already received both the Versatile Blogger Award and the Kreativ Blogger Award in the past and have passed them on to others, so I hope you won’t mind if I only fulfil the rules of the Sunshine Award this time. Please don’t think that I don’t appreciate the other awards because I definitely do. I just honestly don’t follow enough blogs to pass on the award that many times.

Part of accepting the Sunshine Award is answering 10 questions, so here goes:

Favourite colour: Purple
Favourite animal: Monkeys
Favourite number: 5 (from childhood: 5 in my family, our house number was 5, my parents were married on Nov. 5th in 1955, etc.)
Favourite non-alcoholic drink: chocolate milk
Facebook or Twitter? Definitely Facebook – Twitter is too time consuming and battery draining
My passion: I have many, but books have to top the list
Getting or giving presents? Can’t decide – I love both
Favourite pattern: It’s not so much a specific pattern, but I am fascinated by patterns done in mosaic
Favourite day of the week: Any day I don’t have to go to work
Favourite flower: Tiger Lily

And now to pass on this award. I have already given awards to many of my favourite blogs in the past, so I am only picking a few this time – new ones that I have only recently started following that never fail to bring some sunshine into my life. Here they are:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Jonesin’ after 40

Technicolor Day Dreams

Behind the Lens

Thank you again everyone!!