snapshots, part IV

Too many snapshots, so little time! Anyway, here are some more.

The battlefield of the Battle of Hastings, 1066, + the abbey built at the top of it as a penance.

The ruins of the abbey

Inside the monks' quarters

Stairway

Fun and games on Brighton Beach

High Street, Battle

Dusk

A for Allie

Walking up an English hill made me feel like Lizzy Bennet striding around Hertfordshire

I'm off to Eastern Europe on Wednesday, so... see you later. With, no doubt, a whole lot more snapshots and a really difficult job choosing which ones to share.

snapshots, part III

I have just had the most fantastic five nights in Brighton. I did not expect to enjoy Brighton as much as I did. It's the most tasteless place I've ever been in but it LURES you in. The Prince Regent seems to have started the trend for OTT in the early 19th century with the Royal Pavilion, below, which is even more dazzling inside, full of the most lurid colours, utterly showy - but, again, somehow likeable. And after reading so many Georgette Heyer Regency novels I just had to love it; I kept wondering, "is this the room where the heroine of Regency Buck faints when the Prince tries to kiss her?" Just down the road, the Brighton Pier, where ragtime music drones away on English funfair-type rides. The beach itself - I liked it best when it was moody and stormy weather, but Monday, a bank holiday, it looked almost like the Riviera, and it seemed like half of London was there getting burnt strawberry-red as they sat on their rented deckchairs or ate their rock candy.

I also worked in the coolest archive EVER - which you should all find out about, and if possible, start your own research project that has something to do with English social history between 1937 and the early fifties. But more about that later, I have a blog post planned.

There were only two downers. The first, that I tried to eat fish and chips outside on the beach, where a horde of giant seagulls immediately flocked to me, one landing ON MY HEAD.

The other, and the worse, was that I paid very little for accommodation. You think that sounds good? Nope. It isn't. I stayed in the most depressing, skody, uncomfortable student hostel known to man. It got to the point where I was really unsure how to feel when I left today - part of me was so sad to leave Brighton - the other part was deliriously happy that I was moving on to a hotel with a) a comfortable, non-creaky bed; b) internet; c) full English breakfast; d) ensuite; e) a regard for human comfort.

And here I am now. Taking advantage of that free wi-fi, obviously. In Battle. But I'll tell you more about that another time.

The Royal Pavilion

The Brighton Pier

All taken on the same stormy evening.

Bank holiday Monday - and yes, that's the English sea looking inviting.

I just took this trying to get a photo of some pretty muffins, but I love the way it happened to capture the expressions on the faces of the people walking by.

Metal detector man. I saw him several times on the beach. It must yield something but I thought it was funny.

snapshots, part II

Really old gravestones. The oldest don't have pretty cherubs or crosses, but gruesome looking skulls - fantastic!

Atmospheric light in cathedrals.

Things that I think are funny. Fusion of the old with the new.

War memorials. This is from the memorial to New Zealand soldiers who fought in the world wars. I love it.

Absurd militaristic rituals preserved - hooray!

Blackberries! Most of them much healthier specimens than these, available in public parks, and highly edible.

snapshots, part I

Space for prayer

Stained glass meets Marc Chagall

Sunshine

Statues and flowers, Kew Gardens

Icons

London streets

Dunedin

I went down to Dunedin on the weekend, with one of my sisters and her family, to see two other sisters and their families! Had an absolutely lovely time hanging out with my siblings, their spouses, their kids. We stayed with the sister who has just moved house - and by gum it is a good location. They are still in the city but up the hill and around the peninsula a little, so from their kitchen window they can see out to sea, but if they take a short walk in the other direction, into the reserve right next door, they can see right down the harbour on the other side of the hill.

I went for a walk on Sunday morning to catch some views. I love that sunrise in winter is quite late, so these photos didn't require extreme earliness. That view was quite something.

There's something about Dunedin in the sun that is just - phwoar. It's still freezing cold, but it's the prettiest city. If only it were always sunny there!

I also enjoyed playing with my sister's cute dog, who was a tiny wee puppy last time I saw him and is now a boisterous but reasonably well behaved Jack Russell/bichon frise cross. We took him to the dog park, where he and other dogs delighted us. Example: this hilarious video - Oscar and a big German Shepherd playing hide and seek. Enjoy!

If you're the praying type, I'd appreciate you glancing at the post previous to this.

tripods are fantastic

I love having a tripod! I can finally take cool night-time shots. This was a fifteen-second exposure featuring a full moon and the Port Hills, from a road near my house. It was rather windy, hence the blurry grass.

things that I think are beautiful

Since I got my new camera I haven't had a lot of chances to use it. But here are some photos I've taken over the last couple of months which might not necessarily be that great composition-wise but which I love to look at because I think they're beautiful, for various reasons.

Greenness.
Sun shining through water onto pebbles below.
Rice crackers in neat little piles.
One of my best friends.

Bark on a tree that looks like a cross.
A little guest in our home.
Swimming.
A bee in our garden.
Cows grazing the big mound of dirt that was left by builders down the road from my home.

Ordinary. Everyday. But I still think they're beautiful.

scanners are good

My dad has finally got a scanner, and I have been playing around all evening with family photos. I thought I'd share some - I love these, for me they capture all the romance and humour of another era. Enjoy!
My mum (right) and her two sisters at the beach in the fifties, with their first car.

Sigh... I wish I was a kid in the Victorian era... This is my great great grandfather, Ernest Schwass. Fortunate wee munchkin.
My great grandmother Nell. Her husband had a passion for photography. I love this. It's the sort of photo I can't do even with digital technology.

My great grandfather on his motorbike with Nell and daughter Betty (my gran's sister) in the sidecar. Styly.
My grandmother, Olive. She hates this photo and thinks it makes her look dowdy, but I think it's just so cute.
Gran (left) with her parents and Betty at the beach.
My gran's sister-in-law and her husband, Milly and Reg. This photo makes me wish I had met these people.
My mother (on right again) and her two sisters with Santa Claus. I think this is beautiful.

One of the coolest things tonight was finding out that somehow my great-great-great aunt on the female side looks almost exactly like me. Creepy!

I know Stacy decided against sharing family photos on her blog, but does anyone else have some cool ones that they could share without offending anyone?!