Wife, Cats, and stones – Lens Artists Photo Challenge #49 – Favourite Things

This week we are challenged us with:

We look forward to seeing your unique and varied responses to this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #49: Favourite Things.

What are my favourite things?  There are a lot when I come to think of it, but if there are so many, does that make them favourite, or just things that make me happy and those I love.  And what should I group into the category of ‘Things’.  Anyway enough of an early morning existential crisis, here is a photo that has a number of ‘things’ in it.  My wife, friends, me taking a photo, Long Meg and her daughters, stone circles in general, wide open spaces, the country side, walking, nature . . . I’ve used a different edit of this before but it just contained so many favourites, that the opportunity to re-edit was too good to miss.

‘Meg is a favourite’, Long Meg and her daughters, Cumbria, 2018.

What is missing, well cats, our cats especially, music, dancing, visiting new places, West Penwith, St. Ives, sunsets, a roof over my head . . . just where do the likes stop and the favourites begin!

So I am going to choose just one more photo:

‘A wife and two cats’, 2014.

Ken

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Circles – Weekly Prompts: Comfort

This weekend GC and SueW have chosen the following as the theme for their challenge.

What makes you feel comfortable, is it a favourite chair, a pillow on your bed, a roaring fire on a chilly day, or something else? How about your discomfort, what takes you out of your comfort zone?

I feel comfortable visiting stones circles, I also feel discomfort when visiting stone circles, it depends on the place, the space, and sometimes the time.  Sometimes I want to rush up and hug the stones, sometimes I want to depart as quickly as possible.  This was a comfy circle, a warm morning, I may have had a snooze while my wife did some sketching, she has a whole series of photos that could be described as – Ken asleep at ancient sites.

‘Circle of comfort’, Torhousekie stone circle, 2018.

Ken

Stone pixie – A Photo a Week Challenge: Smile.

This week Nancy has challenged us with the following:

Smile

Given the group shot I used as my final photo for last week was taken by my wife and had me in it, this week I decided I would use a photo of my wife.  Smiling as we had reached our destination of the Maen Mawr at the Cerrig Duon stone circle.

‘Stone pixie’, Cerrig Duon stone circle, 2019.

Ken

Acres of sky – Friday Fun: Clouds

For this weeks Friday Fun we have been asked:

Please share a few of your ‘cloud’ photos, poetry or stories?
Whether through your lens or with creative writing … go where the prompt leads!
Post a photo or get creative
… skies the limit, be sublime, fluffy or grey … please share that!

Well no food to tantalise you or make your stomach grumble this week.  I love a good cloudy sky in my photos, so here is one from last year while we were on holiday in Dumfries and Galloway, the skies were just amazing the entire time we were there!  So a 4 photo panoramic stitch for you this week.

‘Acres of sky’, Glenquicken stone circle, Dumfries and Galloway, 2018.

Ken

On top of the ancient world – Tuesday Photo Challenge: Vista.

Well this week Frank challenges us with the topic:

Your challenge is to share those vistas that inspired you or simply left you breathless!

I recently posted that we had visited our 50th Stone circle of the 50 we were attempting to fit in before my wife’s 50th birthday this year. It was the Cerrig Duon Stone Circle near the Maen Mawr standing stone in the Brecon Beacons.  This circle is egg-shaped, and measures about 60 feet accross, with roughly 20 small stones. The stones are quite small, and the tallest only 2 feet high, however this is in juxtaposition to a very large monolith, or standing stone, known as Maen Mawr, ‘the large stone’, some 30 feet north of the circle.  The stone is about 7 feet high, nearly 3 feet thick, and about 4 feet wide, and outside it are two small stones in a row.  West of the circle are two rows of very small stones approaching at an oblique angle there are 17 stones in the west row and 12 in the east row, but they are hard to spot. The east row is about 80 feet long while the west row is 135 feet, and the stones are about 16 feet apart.

All of this is set against a most magnificent vista.  So here is an 8 photo panoramic stitch of the circle and landscape, from our recent travels.

‘On top of the ancient world’, Cerrig Duon Stone Circle, 2019.

Ken

Joyful swings and things – Sunday Stills: #Playground

This week Teri has challenged us with:

Show us your version of your favourite playground for Sunday Stills!

Maybe not my favourite playground, but for this moment it was theirs!

‘Merriment’, Mumbles, Swansea, 2015.

My own favourite playground probably looks a bit more like this,

‘Stone dancers’, Long Meg and her daughters, Cumbria, 2017.

Ken

In the spaces in between – One word Sunday Challenge: Power

This week Debbie has challenged us with the following:

Welcome to One Word Sunday, and over to all of you to join the challenge with your own power post.

Some of you you may have guessed by now that I feel an immense sense of power, emanating from the earth when I visit these old stones, often in lonely places, on moors.

‘In the spaces in between’, Scorhill, Dartmoor, 2018.

Ken

Restorative – Weekly Prompts: Peaceful

This weekend GC and SueW have chosen ‘Yellow’ as the theme for their challenge.

Today, GC and I would like you to search your files, or take a walk, find somewhere peaceful to sit and dream, meditate a while and come back and tell us about it. Share your pictures, write your poems or send us your music. Whatever works best for you.

Those of you who pass by regularly will know that I really love visiting ancient monuments, stone circles in particular.  The all have a different feeling sometimes I wish to sit and meditate a while, and some times I feel the need to depart as quickly as my legs will carry me.

Long Meg and her daughters has become somewhat of a pilgrimage when we visit Cumbria and the lakes, after only a few moments of being there I usually feel restored and at peace, I have no idea why this should be so, I am only happy it is so.

‘Restorative’, Long Meg and her daughters, 2018.

Ken

Big Stone – A Photo a Week Challenge: Three of a Kind

This week Nancy has challenged us with the following:

Last week I asked you to obey the rule of threes. This week, I want you to take three photos of the same subject, but from different angles or distances or whatever. This will give you the chance to look at your subject in a lot of different ways. This is the only rule, so have fun.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE THREE DIFFERENT PHOTOS OF THE SAME SUBJECT.

This week we went in search of the stone circle that wound become the 50th stone circle in a series of 50 that we were attempting to visit before my wife’s 50th birthday which is in June.  This was ‘Cerrig Duon’ stone circle in the upper reaches of the Tawe Valley.  As an aside this means I have also visited 50 stone circles :).  Right next to the circle is a standing stone ‘Maen mawr’ (Big Stone), so here are 3 different views of that, two from different sides of the megalith, and one from a distance.

‘Holding’, Maen mawr, 2019.

‘Shooting’, Maen mawr, 2019.

‘Distance’, Maen mawr, 2019.

So what next, well we should easily fit in another 10 new circles before we are 60! So we might need more of a challenge than that.

Ken

Druids way – Which Way Challenge: April 25, 2019

Each week sonofabeach96 challenges us with the following:

This Which Way challenge is all about capturing the roads, walks, trails, rails, steps, signs, etc. we move from one place to another on.  You can walk on them, climb them, drive them, ride on them, as long as the specific way is visible.  Any angle of a bridge is acceptable as are any signs.

A recent walk up to the Druids circle above Penmaenmawr.

‘Druids way’, Druids circle, Penmaenmawr, 2019.

Ken