Cornish Memories

I had hoped to get out with my camera today but for various reasons I wasn't able to do so and as a result I felt a bit glum. As I am writing this I can see that it is now raining so perhaps I wouldn't have had such a great time anyway. To fill some time I decided to review a few old files and photos and I realised that I had a couple of folders that I have neglected so I have some work to do to sort through them. The first is a collection  of photos I took on a holiday in Cornwall at the end of September 2024. \9I can hardly believe that I have left them so long although I may have shared some mobile phone photos from that trip on Instagram and Facebook I don't appear to have done anything with this folder).

I had visited Cornwall briefly for a work trip a long time ago but I had never gone for leisure so I was really pleased to have an opportunity to go for a short break. I stayed in Newquay but travelled around a fair bit over the few days I was there.

These first two images were taken on Pentire Headland looking towards Fistral Beach. The conditions were a bit dull and overcast so I thought these images worked better in black and white. They are grasses which were growing on the top of an old stone wall.

These next few images are from St Michael's Mount. 

The cannon pointed towards Penzance, was one of many pointed in the same direction, I did wonder whether this was a sign of aggression towards the people of Penzance or a show of strength to ward off would be aggressors from the sea. 

I always like a nice sundial and this one definitely caught my eye. I originally shot this in black and white because I liked the way it looked in monochrome however when editing I actually wanted to bring out the colours in the sea and the stonework.

This last image was part of a "thing" I was doing with Lego minifigures, mostly using my phone's camera and you can see them all on my Instagram profile (Chipster_63), but here I have used my DSLR and I have kept it in black and white as shot. I have lots of minifigures that I like to pose in various locations to tell a story. In this image the figure represents me and has its own little camera and the image overall represents the time I spend taking pictures as well as being a little bit of fun.
 

Rattled

 I sometimes struggle to get motivated to spend time sorting through the photos that I take, perhaps because I have so many, maybe its because I seem to have too little time that its just not a priority. Sometimes though, I will spend a long time sifting through a file, editing some images and then deciding that I don't actually want to share them or do anything more with them. But I have so many beautiful images that I want to share too so I need to sort my head out a little bit.

Recently I have been bothered about the messed up world we live in, particularly as I am busy with grandparenting and I wonder what a mess we are leaving for the future generations to sort out. Close to home I see conflict in the community about the "loss" of a beach as nature is allowed to fight back after years of raking and pesticide use. I have seen  protests against refugees when people should be protesting at the conflicts that cause so many people to flee their homelands and we should be more welcoming. Nationally and internationally I see policies being promoted that are divisive and leaders who feed the chaos with lies and misinformation. Famines created by conflict, more children murdered in mass shootings and when anyone says "enough, this has to stop" those who could do something about it look the other way. 

Honestly it is so depressing. I really didn't intend to go down this route when I started this post so I am sorry for the depressing tone but something does need to change. I have said it before we cant do much but we need to do the little things that can make our world a better place, for ourselves and for the future generations, if we don't set a better example how can we expect those who follow us to do any better. 

Maybe that is why I have chosen the pictures above, the title for this post is Rattled and I was referencing the grasses seed heads which look like tiny rattles, but there is an added meaning because I feel pretty rattled by all the things I have seen and referred to above. 

But these grasses are beautiful. I can recall seeing them on a hot and sunny day out with my family in a forest in California, with all the giant trees around me I took time to notice something so little and seemingly insignificant. But how beautiful it is and even something so small plays a part in the wider ecosystem. So, as I say I had no idea where this post would take me but I guess the point I have arrived at is that we, like these grasses may seem/feel insignificant but we have a place and a role to play, we may only be able to do little things but we should do the little things that make things better and more beautiful and not contribute to the mess.

Why The Rush...

Tomorrow I will get back to posting pictures of birds but I just wanted to share this shot of a rush in full seed. I love the wispy, fluffiness of this plant growing on the waters' edge. It was quite a windy day so it took a few attempts to capture a sharp image as the grasses and rushes were blowing about so much.

I really like this image and hope you do too.

Sea Holly

Today I have left Whitby behind and these pictures were taken during a visit to Ness Botanic Gardens.

I thought these were a variety of thistle but apparently it is Sea Holly or Eryngium maritimum which has been described as "a Thistle with style". They are certainly striking plants and with their vibrant blue they look great against the background of wispy grasses.

I spent a few hours wandering around the gardens so you can be certain that I took lots of photographs of bugs and flowers and of course I can hardly wait to share the pick of the bunch so please keep coming back to see for yourself.

Meadow flowers

I was going to say here are some shots of an English wildflower meadow but as it happens it's in North Wales, but that's just a detail.  What really matters is that this is a beautiful place with such a variety of wild grasses and flowers.