Back from France with lots of photos.

Back from France (with photos)

I flew back into Stansted early Sunday morning, spent the day sunning myself watching the aircraft in the sky and finally caught the overnight coach back to Scotland that evening. My daughter met me at the bus station and I made it home by 10 Monday morning. 

La Rochelle

I don't knw what this is called but I bought it at the market because i wante to photograph it and draw it.

This one was growing in my sisters front garden. 

I don't know what these are either, they grow in the ditches along the country  lanes. 

Ox Eye daisy grows every where. They all came out about the second week I was there. 

Big clump of red clover right out side the patio door. My sister thinks she may have to move it because it attracts too many bees around the patio.

These self seeded from last year, they started to flower a couple of days after I arrived and new flowers were strill opening as I left. 

This is also one of my favourites. I never knew the common  Iris was so beautiful. 

Perriwinkle was growing up the front wall. I'm sure my perriwinle isn't such a vivid purple as this one. 

This wild rose bud opened up on my last day. The bush had hundreds of buds and once they all open up it will be a fantastic sight, sadly too late for me this year. 

Yum, the strawberry flowers will be red ripe strawberries soon. 

Wild yellow water iris on the pond.

One of the first attempts to use the zoom. Considering he was sat at the far side of the lake, I was quite pleased with this result. 

The resident frog. I waited days to get this. Every time I heard him, I would creep up to the pond only to hear the 'plop' as he jumped in before I could see him. To get this I did a huge circle around him, approached from behind and set the camera to zoom. 

I don't know what he is but he sat on the inside of the kitchen window all day and then flew away in the evening. 

He made me laugh, he just kept on looking at me. 

I walked here quite often. It is a small fishing lak in the nearest village. It was about a 5 mile walk there and back but well worth it. 

Some sort of wild lily at the waters edge in the fishing lake. 

I caught a few really good sunsets out there but I particularly like this one because you can see the new crops in the field with the setting sun behind. 

Very impressed with the 'sunsets' setting on the camera. Just set the camera up properly and it does all the work for you. 

And another fantastic  sunset. 

I saw the moon like this a couple of times, full, bright, silver and easily seen well before the sun had set.

 Last but not least, one of the paintings I did out there. 

I don’t know where to start with the story of my trip.  I managed to post a few things with my new tablet (which I learnt to love) but the internet connection was weak because my sister lives in such a rural location. Facebook was easier just because it’s much quicker to post a photo and add a few words. The weather wasn’t wonderful, we had a few nice days but we also had lots and lots of rain. It was apparently one of the coldest, wettest Mays for many, many years in that area. But; regardless of the weather, it was lovely to spend so long with my sister. She and her husband are both in poor health and I think they are getting worse, which makes it all the more important for me to spend time there. Their location is so beautiful its breath taking. They think (and I do tend to agree) that they are healthier in France because of the better climate, the slower pace of life and the rural location. It’s about as close to a total stress free zone as it’s possible to get. Even in the bad weather it’s still beautiful. I spent lots of time  walking along country roads not seeing another soul for hours, the only sounds were the birds, the cows and sheep, the frogs, the crickets and of course the wind and sometimes rain. The sunsets were astounding, the old rural buildings picturesque and the many lakes and ponds little havens of wildlife and flowers.
I took literally hundreds and hundreds of photos with my new camera. I tried out all the settings but the one I think I liked the most was the macro setting. I can’t remember ever having a camera that allowed me to take up close and personal shots of flowers and insects. I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but even I am quite impressed with some of these photos. This is just a small random selection of some ofn them; my favourite photo is the one of the white flower with rain drops. ( at the top)  It was one of those happy accidents that I doubt I could reproduce if I tried . It’s going to take me forever to sort through all of the hundreds of photos and tell some of the stories associated with then, but I guess in time I will.
Since arriving back life has returned to its normal rather more hectic pace, I’ve been busy every day catching up with daughters, grandchildren, neighbours and the inevitable backlog of laundry and grocery shopping, and that’s before I even think about the garden. I guess I should be grateful for the poor weather; my garden has flourished in all this rain. It looks like a rain forest, the grass is almost knee high and even though all my vegetables have done really well, they are overgrown with weeds. No points for guessing my next priority. 
 I don’t think I have a cat in hells chance of catching up with posts here. I guess I’ll just try to make my way around the new posts as and when I can. But for now………..its bed time again, already gone midnight and its been another busy day, but its nice to be back and I look forward to catching up as and when I can.