the sunday walk IV

it's getting darker and the camera seems to want to spend less & less time in my hand. still, i did catch a little light, a little colour.

the leaves growing all over this abandoned building were really brightening the day...



... more bright leaves -


some pink berries behind the ...? here they are called 'snow berries' do you know their english name? i adore their perfect whiteness and the way they seem to hang around forever. -


and finally a snail hiding beneath hops.

sister love

- i miss you!

(glassy) work in progress, part I

i was lucky enough to see a piece of glass come to life. i took a million pictures and they all suck. i refused to use the flash and even though the movements of the glass blowers are fluid & elegant, they actually move rather fast...
still, i want to show you how it's done as i was totally engulfed in following the process and found it very exciting.
it all starts out with a small, glowing piece.


one guy moving between the oven and his work bench all the time.



actually, it took two guys to make this piece.
as they were working on this piece together they moved slow but fast, elegant yet with tremendous force. all the while chatting in subdued, silent voices.


one more trip to the oven and the glowing, growing glass suddenly had a top layer of a darker colour.




after each blow down the long, hollow metal pipe, the glowing piece grows and is then reshaped.




the tools used for reshaping have been the same throughout centuries. metal tools, wads of leather and lots of water...




... and this wooden thingy, a kind of gigantic cup that will ensure the perfect roundness.




the older guy came over with something glittery in his hands. slowly, he peeled of one leaf of gold at the time, carefully placing each gold leaf at the top of the glowing, growing piece.



the younger guy would then gently push the gold into the already golden piece. sparks of fire within.

(glassy) work in progress, part II

he moved to another work bench which allowed for constant spinning of the metal pipe. the growing piece seemed to cool down.



again, the older glass blower came over, this time inserting another metal pipe at the top of the piece.



and lo & behold! with a very fast & fluid movement (too fast for any picture!) the piece had shifted from pipe to pipe.



while the older guy was shaping what used to be the bottom and now seemed to be the top, the younger guy was up to something new at the oven -



a third colour added. impossible to guess exactly which colour as it was all a glow.




oh! it's not a glass after all, i thought. it must be a vase... changing fast now...





double oh! it's not even a vase but a bowl...






one more trip to the oven
and !!??!!
suddenly the growing piece is all flat and alive, almost dancing on the end of the pipe.







fast, fast, he's shaping the fluidity into something stable. something that looks like a massive plate.



and there it is. almost done. a big, glittering plate for someone's living room. content & almost smiling, the glass blower showed us the piece before he turned around to start another piece. two men, twenty minutes and an amazing array of skills. i was blown away.

changing

time. season. perspective.

the sunday walk III

seems like this is turning into a tradition. i like it. so i give it numbers.
a numbered log of sunday walks.
yes.
also seems like someone forgot something.
am reading Nick Hornby's novel Slam at the moment (the narrating boy is all about skating) so i found this sight a weird coincidence.












it must be the millionth time i have that dream; i really, really wished for a pair of wings to fly out over this:

loosing light

day by day. less and less. light lingering as it fades.

purgatorium

they never said anything. especially not something like "we have a great big house crammed to the chimney and we need to empty it". they didn't ask me to come. they did not ask for help.
yet here i am. part of the purging. day after day of debating every item of the past. this belonged to her, that came from there, this is brand new, that is very, very old, this... where did this come from?
day after day of disassembling, disentangling, dismembering.
furniture, memories, boxes, lamps, spider webs.

it is a mountain. level after level of chaos. carefully crafted chaos. it is a mountain of years, some of these years from before my years even began, mountain of money, mountain of lives lived and every weird detail that entails. at every turn you'll see new sights, new items you've never seen before (or at least remember having seen before). at every slope you'll slip 'cause the angle is confusing and your load is heavy. at every peak you want to sit down to enjoy the view and relish how far you've come but you can't as the next peak is calling. a mountain. and climbing it sure brings good old Sisyphos to mind.

i have a friend who always says "i'm knackered". i like the words, they have that truly british ring to them but i don't think i've ever used that expression myself... here we go: i'm knackered. one more screw to unscrew and i'll be screwed forever. one more heavy thing to move and my arms will hang gorilla styla. one more car to load and i'll end my days in a mental institution 'cause you're not supposed to scream every time you see a car...

i like hard work. for instance i love to mow the lawn for hours, days even. i like to sweat'n'swear and really see things happening as i do so. it is because it stops my mind from rambling for the longest time and when the thinking returns there's only space for one thought at the time as the sweating'n'swearing takes up all the energy. but now i feel i have cycled through and recycled all the thoughts that are at my disposal at the moment - i'm on repeat.

oh, moan, moan, moan. i know. it's just that i'm knackered and longing to be back home again.

the sunday walk

a bit late, i know, but here's some imagery from a walk.
wanted to gather chestnuts. i can never get enough of them - the look AND the feel of them.
also wanted to look at some flowers as they will be all gone soon. Caprifolium prettifying moss, prettifying rocks.
someone dropped pieces of jewellery all around this abandoned pasture.
on the way back (to hot coco) we saw the remnants of a slaughter. big rocks can be used in many ways...
and this fellow. nope, didn't kiss him, i don't need another prince in my life.

shroomania :: norway

two walks, one in the city and one in the forest. so incredibly many mushrooms and at each spot there was lots of each kind. don't know the name for several of them but they're still pretty. i wasn't able to find any Cantharellus this year either. elusive shroom, i hope i'll get 'the eye' for you one day!
amazing Amanita:





this last one (Lycoperdon perlatum) is so good to eat if you cut it before it ripens and turns to a dusty mess. ah, what a great autumn it has been. nam nam.