In the shadows of the verge by the lane grow the mysteriously fungi. Many of them I don’t know the names of, as unless they’re either brightly coloured, or very toxic, I tend not to pay their names very much attention. And so it is with this little shroom. Looking down on it (and a… Continue reading Flying Saucers
Author: rae
Tattered Autumn Lace
These tall seed crowns stand together like a small choir in the hazy early autumn sunshine, soft clouds of their out of focus siblings obscuring their stark stems and transforming them gently. Everything around them is soft and dreamy, as if the air itself has turned to cream. The palette is pale gold and warm… Continue reading Tattered Autumn Lace
Fading Fern
A fading fern frond lies against the dark, its frills crisped to a deep autumnal brown and gold. Yet in the centre, a few stubborn leaflets still glow with unexpected life, washed in green as if holding on to the memory of summer. The living colour seems to pulse against the withered edges … a… Continue reading Fading Fern
Fly Agaric
Amanita Muscaria, aka the Fly Agaric, is probably my favourite fungi. To be fair it’s one of the only mushrooms I’m likely to have half a chance of spying by myself at a reasonable (to me anyway) distance – the bright red and white spotted caps do tend to stand out a bit. So when… Continue reading Fly Agaric
Speeding Cyclamen
This tiny pink cyclamen flower was hiding in the overgrown front garden. Our fully sighted PA and I had to saw down part of a goat willow tree this week, as it has gotten too big. My hands and shoulders still haven’t recovered. Sam spotted the tiny pink blur on the bank and pointed it… Continue reading Speeding Cyclamen
The Parasite’s Quilt
Tucked into the hedgerows, where the wild roses climb and curl, a strange thing grows in the warm early autumn sun. It looks like a sea urchin woven from fairy floss – pink and green, frizzed and fine, like something a woodland sprite might use as a hairbrush. But this isn’t a fruit, or a… Continue reading The Parasite’s Quilt
Pale Lavender
A soft-focus macro of a single dried lavender stem, captured in 720nm infrared light. The flower head, now a collection of tiny hollow tubes, stands tall and ghostly against a pale lilac-toned background. The muted light smooths every detail into velvet, and the shallow depth of field turns the scene into something dreamlike – part… Continue reading Pale Lavender
Toadflax Tangle
A dreamy, almost abstract close-up of toadflax stems and their spent buds, shot in 590nm infrared. The foliage glows in soft pinks and blues, with slender stalks rising like coral branches through a shimmering haze. The buds are dusted with light, some fading, some curling like tiny scrolls. It’s a gentle chaos of intricate and… Continue reading Toadflax Tangle
Hydrangea Posy
From The Plantation Garden in Norwich. A close-up portrait of a soft violet hydrangea bloom, cradled in darkness. The four petals of each flower are delicate, with pale lavender and lilac tones blending into deeper purples. A few dewdrops cling to the petals, catching the light like tiny beads of glass. The flower cluster floats… Continue reading Hydrangea Posy
Infrared Seascapes – Cromer
An infrared seascape taken at low tide on Cromer beach. The wet sand reflects the sky like a mirror, stretching far into the distance, where the sea meets the horizon. A handful of pale figures walk along the water’s edge, glowing softly against the dark waves. Above, the sky is immense – a velvet blue… Continue reading Infrared Seascapes – Cromer
Deepest Red
A portrait of a deep red dahlia from The Plantation Garden in Norwich, captured against a pure black background. The petals are richly saturated, glowing crimson and burgundy, with hints of purple radiating from the flower’s centre. The composition isolates the bloom in darkness, creating a sense of quiet drama, like a velvet curtain rising… Continue reading Deepest Red
Five Years
Today is the five year anniversary of me meeting Guide Dog Biggie. Or Ajay, as he was known then. For that was his actual name … but over the years that I had him he kinda morphed into being called Biggie full time. Because he was Big. And it seemed to suit him. We met… Continue reading Five Years
Infrared Seascapes – Caister
A dark sweep of wet sand curves into the sea beneath a ceiling of heavy, layered cloud. The water gathers in a shallow channel that leads the eye toward the horizon. On the left, a pale, almost glowing figure bends nose-to-ground — Guide Dog Indy, transformed by infrared into a ghostly presence, padding along the… Continue reading Infrared Seascapes – Caister
Ballerina Pink
A close-up macro image of a pink dahlia, its petals unfolding in layers like silky satin shells. The focus is tight on the tip of a single petal, with the rest of the bloom dissolving into a creamy blur of pink and lilac tones, shadowed in the cup of the petals. The image glows with… Continue reading Ballerina Pink
Butter Wouldn’t Melt …
Indy-dog may look like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, standing on a rough tarmac path next to the scrubby dunes at the beach last week. In his white and neon yellow guide dog harness. Looking handsome and sweet, and gazing adoringly at us through the camera lens with gentle golden brown eyes and a… Continue reading Butter Wouldn’t Melt …
Tiny Dancers
A delicate fuchsia in palest pink hangs like a tiny lantern in the dark, its petals reaching out like outstretched arms while long, slender stamens fall gracefully below. Softly blurred in the background two siblings add a whisper of companionship. The deep black backdrop makes this little flower glow as if lit from within –… Continue reading Tiny Dancers
Rudbeckia at Dusk
Captured in the gentle hush of early evening in the back garden, two images of the same rudbeckia plant – currently showing a profusion of bold, daisy-like blooms whose golden egg yolk yellow petals still glow in the low light. In the first image, we’re drawn so close we could almost the flower beneath our… Continue reading Rudbeckia at Dusk
Velvet Bumble Bee
A velvet-bodied bumblebee, round and plump like a ball of thistledown with purpose, clings tenderly to the soft embrace of a lavender blossom. Its fuzzy coat is a patchwork of midnight black and sunflower gold, each strand glinting with whispers of pollen—a dusting of nature’s treasure gathered in earnest work. The bee’s head is bowed… Continue reading Velvet Bumble Bee
Norwich in Infrared
A dramatic black and white infrared photograph captures a towering view of Norwich Cathedral’s spire from within the cathedral cloisters. The image is full of strong architectural lines, shadows, and texture, giving a sense of both grandeur and stillness. In the foreground, a row of pointed stone arches runs along the lower right edge –… Continue reading Norwich in Infrared
Beetling About
A mass of pale fluffy white and pale pink – thistledown, with the ghost of a couple of the thistle seed heads at the bottom of the frame. Seemingly suspended in the dreamy white mist (and yet actually standing on the soft downy seeds) is a long, slim orange beetle with long antennae and dark… Continue reading Beetling About
Glass Fly
A dreamy pastel coloured overhead shot of the most amazing glass like hover fly on a pinky lilac thistle type flower. The little insect has a banded yellow, black and white striped body. Their wings are so delicate and nearly transparent – all save the strong black veins in them. Their large orange compound eyes… Continue reading Glass Fly
Hello ladies !
Four large white moo cows, munching happily in a sunny field under a blue and cloud studded sky, at Thorpe Marshes. We were across a water filled ditch so sufficiently away from them as not to bother them – or them to bother us. My husband’s guide dog Indy gave them a few puzzled “Thems… Continue reading Hello ladies !
Old Bee
Yesterday evening a very slow moving, pale furred bumble bee was (literally) hanging about on the lavender in the back garden. Unlike the other busy little bess she was just bumbling about, seeming very tired. She wasn’t flying from bloom to bloom, but walking. I would guess she was quite an elderly bee. Or very… Continue reading Old Bee
“Hi !”
Often I will try to take group shots of our dogs in a park, or some other area where they are free running. When I had both Stella and Biggie, and husband had Jackson, it was very common for a photo to completely fail – for them all to be not looking in the same… Continue reading “Hi !”
Roads, Trains, and Ants.
Yesterday I girded my loins to take a walk to the marsh by myself. Although I know the route it involves crossing a busy road where one has to judge the flow of traffic at traffic lights. This is something that gives me a sense of dread and foreboding. Biggie’s traffic work was impeccable, so… Continue reading Roads, Trains, and Ants.
At The Butterfly Farm
A couple of months ago Vision Norfolk Viewfinders took a trip to The Bug Parc, which is not far from us if we take the Vision Norfolk minibus. Or The Blindie Bus, as I call it. As in “The Blindie Bus is coming, and everybody’s stumblin …” which I believe is a Venga Boys B… Continue reading At The Butterfly Farm
Poppy Seed Head
Every year I throw as many poppy seeds at the garden as I can. Some years they don’t sprout, and some years they wait until next year. And some year they only take in some areas. Last year they all waited, en masse, until this year to show themselves. Unfortuntely they all sprouted at the… Continue reading Poppy Seed Head
Butterfly Dreams
In the front garden one of the massive buddleia bushes is already in full flower. True to its other name – the Butterfly Bush – it is covered in bright colourful flutterers. This Peacock butterfly clung delicately to a cluster of purple blossoms, bathed in warm summer light. Its wings, partially open, blaze with vivid… Continue reading Butterfly Dreams
Dark Fire
In the shadows of the Buddleia bush in the front garden are amazing Lucifer Crocosmia flowers. These tropical beauties spring up on long slender arched stems, ending with amazing fiery red orange sprays of flowers like little trumpets. They bloom in pairs either side of the stem, with the flowers further from the tip opening… Continue reading Dark Fire
Morning Walk
Jackson and I went on an early morning walk today before it got too warm. Although I walked retired guide dog Jackson (as did his dad) before I lost Biggie it now seems extra sad for me to be out there in places Big and I used to go. Jackson adores his walks, and although… Continue reading Morning Walk
Ladybird
In the garden a stout tomato red ladybird was going about her business this evening. Or eating the tiny delicate tangle of stems and minuscule buds of white flowers that was she climbing on – which I believe is Hedge Bedstraw. Seen here in a dreamy cloud of pale green and white, we’re slightly underneath… Continue reading Ladybird
A Crisp Morning
This is the first landscape shot I took that I ever actually felt quite positive about. Taken on a crisp winter’s morning, with the sun off to the right of the frame and a deep blue sky above, it’s the view from the middle of the pedestrian bridge over the railway near my house. The… Continue reading A Crisp Morning
Turkey Tail
Last year a friend gave us some large wood slices from his woodland garden. They were already colonised with amazing Turkey Tail fungi. Flat creamy fans layer themselves on top of each other. Each fan is ringed with gold, rust, and grey bands – and sometimes even a dusty blue. They get coated in bright… Continue reading Turkey Tail
Little Parasols
I believe these are a variety of Glistening Ink Cap fungi, palest cream and brown at the cap edges, clustered in the deep gloom of the forest floor. Bright green moss forms a carpet underneath.
Flighty Whitey
A Small White Butterfly perches neatly on a tuft of purple Verbena bonariensis. The tiny flowers cluster together to form a bouquet of nectar rich blooms, and the creamy white Butterly rests on them as if posing for us. One inky black spot marks their veined triangular wings. This little one was a real challenge… Continue reading Flighty Whitey
Femme Fatale
A fat white crab spider lurks on a deep lilac bluebell as it peeks of the gloom of the woodland floor. She may be pale and interesting, but she’s deadly too ! – if you’re a fellow insect, that is.
Dark Delights
A dark purple Chrysanthemum flower centre, with closely packed pale cream stamens, adorned with water drops like jewels. The outer petals fold into inky darkness.
Tulip’s Kiss
Oh so mysterious, oh so sensuous ! A deep purple tulip lined with white at the petal edges glows quietly from the inky black shadows. The petals hint at softness, gentleness, and something wondrous.
Alien Invasion
A strange upturned umbrella of funnel like seeds spouts, papery and pale, rise from a flat green blue base. What flower is this ? Is it too strange and out of focus to say, there merest hint of form in the blur.
Snowflake Stars
In the deep shade of the trees tiny white multi petalled flowers reach up to find the spring sun. Their trumpet like blooms open to the warmth, with tiny pollen dusted yellow centres advertising that business is open for bees and insects. Only one of the three here is in focus, the two behind are… Continue reading Snowflake Stars
Sparkling Seedhead
A golden brown seeded on a slim stem bursts open like a firework, throwing tiny dandelion like seeds into the blue green background.
Snowdrops
Nodding their white and green fringed heads the gentle snowdrops nestle in the deep green of the woods. Beyond them bokeh balls of white light in the blue green haze hint at the brighter sunlight beyond the trees.
Hydrangea Stars
Emerging from darkness are lilac pink hydrangea flowers, their four petalled blooms crowding together and fighting for attention. Their texture looks almost papery, and the delicate reaching stamens at the centre a gentle purple.
Red Campion at Dawn
At the side of a shady path through the woods grow Red Campion flowers. Searching for the early summer sun they reach up to greet the dawn, their slightly furry stems and leaves glinting with silver. In the background a dream of green and early summer light hints at the day ahead.
The Three Amigos
Three candy pink Japanese Anemones span side to side of a frame filled with deep shadows and smears of pink. The flowers centres are like golden yellow crowns above the splayed flurry of petals.
Butterfly Hydrangea
Out of the black comes a single four petalled hydrangea flower, its pink petals flattened and the tiny nub of the centre sitting neatly. It is almost like one of nature’s spaceships coming in at an almost flat angle to land. Behind it indistinct siblings fade into the background.
The Ghosts of Summer
Spent Hydrangea flowers, papery and golden brown, their slim stick like stems bearing them aloft in a haze of blue green. Tiny seed heads of brown dance above the whispering faded petals.
One Man and His Dog
Guide dog Indy has grown up a lot this last month since Biggie passed away. As me going anywhere but very local requires either fully sighted support, or following behind husband and Indy, the little ginger nut has taken to keeping a very close eye on me when we’re out. Here he is, sitting between… Continue reading One Man and His Dog
Indy
The Little Ginger Nut, aka fox red labrador Indy. Slightly built, mad as a box of frogs, and totally adorable – he’s my husband’s current guide dog. Here he is in a rare still moment, laying on the grass in our garden with a toy between his long front legs, gazing up at the sky.… Continue reading Indy
Stella
This silky black shiny lady dog sitting in dappled sunlight, amongst an amazing carpet of gold toned autumn leaves, is Stella. She was a flat coated retriever cross goldie. My first guide dog, she worked with me for six or so years, before deciding she wanted to retire aged eight and a half. She bossed… Continue reading Stella
Being Watched
Biggie would often keep an eye on me if I were in the garden. Here he is staring at me over a bright patch of out of focus leaves, one summer evening. His lovely pale yellow face is backlit by the sun.
Sandy Dogs
Most dogs love the beach, and ours have been no exception. Here are Biggie on the left – ears flapping in the wind, body gritty and damp from rolling in the wet sand. And retired guide dog Jackson on the right – barely keeping still and fairly vibrating with nervous energy that wants to zoom… Continue reading Sandy Dogs
The Big Dog
Biggie, his pale yellow fur slightly mucky and damp, sitting in his neon yellow and white guide dog harness on a tarmac lane. The lane stretches away between two autumn leaf strewn high banks. We walked down this lane in all kinds of weather over the four and half years we were together. Rain both… Continue reading The Big Dog
Last of the Summer Wine
A plump bumblebee drinks the last of summer’s nectar from the spire of a pale lilac Toadflax flower. The late summer evening backlights both the inset and the flower, casting them in a gold dreamy haze.
A Dream of Ferns
An old gold fern curls gently in a beige brown dream of autumn, its delicate foliage feathery and gentle. It hints only at a memory of summer’s vibrant green, but tells the story of the turn of autumn toward winter.
Autumn Lavender
Lilac lavender backlit by autumn gold evening light. Soft fronds of lilac spires dance in the hour before sunset.
Big Birds, and Accessibility.
So here we are, after a few days of exploring WordPress, and uploading content to a site created with it. I must have got the hang of it because there is more content here now, within three days, than ever was on my efforts on previous platforms. Pluses are – everything does what it did… Continue reading Big Birds, and Accessibility.
Improved Accessibility in WordPress ?
After months of messing around with various website providers and editors, and wanting to throw many of them out of the window because – 1) They weren’t accessible to use as a creator2) They didn’t produce accessible content3) They were buggy as a bucket full of beetlesI decided to give WordPress another go.I say “another”… Continue reading Improved Accessibility in WordPress ?
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