Team Up Thursday - Week 11 - Walls

Well, I did manage to get some pics done...and I was fairly happy with the pics I took and how they related to the theme...Mariette thank you for your thoughtfullness in choosing an easier theme this week...and thank you for your understanding of my situation the last two weeks and for cutting me some slack in terms of time..It took a huge amount of commitment from my side not to postpone to next week, but I am really glad that I did not postpone...although I did not commit the time this week that I would have liked to - I still enjoyed it and realise how important taking that time out is to my sanity...
So onto the pictures..First Mariette's:-

Mariette says that she has been enjoying autumn colours and she wanted to capture a little bit of that in her picture...The contrast of the very red leaves and the brownie coloured leave and green leaves on the beige coloured wall, makes for an interesting picture..You have also captured the texture and different shades of the wall beautifully.  Don't you wander about the house and family and lives that happen on the other side of this very high wall.
When I first thought about Mariette's theme, I kind of wandered how interesting a picture of a normal brick or precast wall would be...but then I started looking around, and I was amazed at how people have different ideas that make their wall unique.

We watched them build this wall...I could not quite picture what the finished item would be like during the building (what do they say about fools and children should not see unfinished work) ..Amazing that the ship is "mouldeed" out of concrete only and painted..I also like the texture of the light colured supporting "pillars"

Here is a close up of the detail of the ship...

I also liked how this family had decorated the wall next to their gate...


All in all a lovely theme - once again it has highlighted to Mariette and I that there is so much that normally goes unnoticed and TUT is teaching us both to look behind the normal - I'm lovin' it.

Team Up Thursday - Week 11 - Walls

I can not believe that we have been doing TUT for 11 weeks already...I have had another emotionally charged week....I have not had the inclination or time to take pics...but I most certainly did not want to cancel this week - I have seen some stunning ideas for the theme...So Mariette kindly agreed that I could send her my pic this evening (South African time) and we will do a "LATE THURSDAY" update to our blogs....So to everyone, who comes to visit - especially Pam - if it is already Thursday morning on your side of the pond - I am really sorry...but please come back later or tomorrow to see our photos...
Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 10 - Hands

It was my choice of theme this week...I chose "HANDs".  I had an out of the box idea that I wanted to try - the idea was to get Brad and Kayla-Fern and some friends together and put lovely colourful handprints all over one wall...I had a very emotional week and ran out of time and energy to try out my idea...
Mariette though, cracked this theme and took it right out of the box with a picture of a miniature "HAND" made display...She says that she is in awe of the hands that created this beautiful masterpiece...Mariette, I know that you do not always think you have creative talent, but it is a talent that I can see is developing every single week.

I took some pretty "normal" pictures of "HANDs" and settled for my chosen picture of a handshake (Mike and Brad were my models)...I like that a handshake represents, honesty and integrity. 

I then got funky and jazzed it up a little using photo editing - now we have an electric handshake - hard to believe it is the same picture - I like the something different every now and again...

Some others that I liked are:...

the difference in size between Kayla-Fern and Mike's hands and an imprint of Kayla-Fern's hand when she was three...can not believe how tiny her hands were...and how quickly

our little ones grow up and are suddenly not so little anymore... 

Anyway, the theme this week was interesting and I did enjoy doing it - but it was an emotional, looooong week and I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday, and next week is  a fresh start and hopefully it will be a whole lot better.

Thats me for tonight - Lots of love to all, and thank you for visiting and sharing with Mariette and I...

Team Up Thursday - Week 9 - Light

When Mariette suggested this theme - I was a bit nervous (actually very nervous)...I thought it would be challenging and I really did not think that I was good enough to tackle it yet.....IT WAS THE BEST THEME YET - Thank you Mariette - I did not know that I could have so much fun with a camera...

Mariette took a photo of a glass ball with a lasored fairy inside which has a base with changing coloured led lights...She took her chosen picture from the top of the ball....which gives the effect of swirling, circles of light and colours - Stunning - A great interpretation of the theme - You will have to visit Mariette to see the "whole picture"... Mariette, I know that you also had great fun with this theme.

My chosen "Star" picture was not the best photo, but I liked it because it showed a different aspect, was not straightforward and normal...I took a picture of a shadow of a candle holder that I have...the candle was lit, and there were no other lights on and I did not use flash (finally figured out how to turn it off)...

Below are pictures of the whole thing - first with no flash and then with the flash...taken in exactly the same place at the same time - I promise

I was amazed at how much difference the flash makes....how it totally stripped the colour of the wall behind it and sharpened the lines of the flower and made the silver look really silver and shiny.

I loved the effect of the following photos as well (Can you see how much fun I was having)

And finally, just to be normal - a gorgeous sunset...

Mariette, thank you once again for a wonderful theme - it did challenge me and made me think out of the box, but it showed me that we are most certainly capable of creating beautiful photographs...
Right, I have had so much fun checking and choosing photos that I did not even realise the time (I normally need to be in bed by 10....) but since it is already Thursday here......I am publishing my Team Up Thursday post really early this morning...

Week 7 & 8 - Catch Up

Well, the last couple of weeks...I have had extra photos that I have not been able to load for some reason...So here they are...

First my "Morning Moon" and Kayla-Fern's cereal:

Next, my "Small" toy horse and unicorn (part of Kayla-Fern's collection)...





Team Up Thursday - Week 8 - Small

I chose "Small' this week, mainly because I really wanted to show off Kayla-Fern's dwarf hamster ,Captain Nibbles...it turned out to be quite challenging to get a nice picture of him....I think I got some fairly nice ones, but I will never know for sure because yesterday morning at ten past five (thinking I was oh so very organised for a change) -  I deleted all the photos on my memory card..At first I was highly upset, but have come to the conclusion that you can not call yourself a proper photographer until you have done it at least once, so then I had to ran around taking more pictures of "small' things.

My favourite wild animal is the hippo, and I have a set of small hippo ornaments that I absolutely adore and I chose a picture of one of them as my "small" star.  I am not sure how well the photo depicts small except if you were to compare between the ornament and the real animal.

Mariett'es picture is of Maxine's collection of "small" Pokemon all neatly arranged around the bath after she had finished playing with them...Mariette says that Maxine plays with her Pokemon every night and the play sessions become quite loud, but it is also hilarious to listen to....Isn't it wonderful sometimes to over hear our children's play times and get their perspective on things...






I also in my early morning rush yesterday morning took some photos of the smallest of Kayla-Fern's vast horse and unicorn collection. - Darn, now I have left the memory stick at home - I am having such a wonderful week...I am going to do my post anyway and add the pics of the horse and unicorn later (Sorry)...

Isn't it strange how the harder we try to be organised, the more obstacles seem to be in our way - Fortunately in the last few years, I have begun to understand that "being organised" is actually the exception then the norm - most of us are aspiring to get there (it's almost like "being organised" is the DESTINATION and we must follow a JOURNEY to get there and very few of us are actaully there)...Helps make me feel better that I am not the only one who is so terribly disorganised hee hee
Anyway, that is my post and thoughts for this week
Until next week - Lots of love