Day 24 - The Chenonceau Gardens

Just like Château de Villandry, Chenonceau has beautiful gardens. They might not be quite as large, but they're just as lovely. Places like this makes me think of novels like Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. It's been so long since I read it I have forgotten most of it, but I remember that there were several scenes set in gardens, and when I read it I pictured a place like this. So today's picture made me time travel again, just like yesterday's shot.

It also makes me think about how things have changed... Back when the chateau was in its prime there were no smart phones, computers or TVs, and the inhabitants spent their time doing stuff like needlework, riding horses or strolling through the gardens instead. It feels so far removed from how our lives are today, and yet, we're not that different from what they were. We're still the same species, with the same faults and virtues, and yet, those times almost feel like something not only from a fictional novel but a fantasy one. Weirdly, times without electricity feel just as foreign as elves and dragons. Isn't it strange how fast our lives have changed? On the scale of human existence, the speed in which we've evolved the last couple of centuries is astronomical. Our lives have practically gone from fantasy novels to sci-fi RPGs in no time at all. But now I'm starting to get philosophical, and when that mood hits me I ramble quite a bit, so now it's time to end this twaddle of mine.

I hope you're having a wonderful day :)

/MrsHjort

Day 41 and 42 - The Guardroom

Yesterday was an unusual day. We took one of our cats to the dentist and the poor thing had four teeth pulled. She's got a dental illness, so once a year we take her to the dentist and each time she is returned to us with less teeth. All of her molars and premolars are gone now and she only has her incisors and three canines left. It's always painful to watch her go through it, but in the end it's for her best. It has to be done or she will be in more and more pain as time goes. It's just hard to see her all groggy and weak as she suffers the aftereffects of the sedation and the general damage a tooth removal does to a kitty. So, yesterday was spent taking care of her and making sure she was okay.

Today's pictures are from a guard room in Castel Sant'Angelo. From the looks of things I'd say it used to be a nice enough place, with its own fireplace and a window. I can almost picture the officer sitting in the chair talking to his men on the bench.

It's funny how some places have that impact on you and some don't. Somehow I find it easier to picture the past in places like this, where the common folk hung around, than in fancy rooms with tapestries. Maybe because their lives were closer to mine than the nobility's were - I've had many jobs in my day - from assembling chain saws and sowing machines or packaging raw meat to teaching, and now, working in the field of law, and though I now have a cushy white collar job, I know full well what it's like to be a laborer. Jobs like that build character I think, and though they may be monotonous or gritty, they certainly have their charm, especially if you have a great team around you. Some things are universal and transcend space and time. Gritty jobs is one of them and fun coworkers is another. It makes it easy to picture the guards sitting on that bench, chatting merrily before the morning briefing...

/MrsHjort

Day 1 and 2 - Welcome to Rome!

Oops! I totally forgot that I was gonna start yesterday, so I'll post two shots today instead. :)

To start off, some of you know I have some health Issues - I'm undiagnosed but I've had some kind of chronic condition for two years now. This trip was wonderful in many ways. I made sure to call my doctor before hand, and he let me go back on a medication that worked well before (I usually don't take it since I am undiagnosed and taking it slows down the progress of finding out what's up with me). So, that meant that I was able to cope with the physical strain that the trip involved (Rome is a place where you usually do a lot of walking) and have more energy in general. So, not only was it lovely to get to see so many lovely things, but I got to feel better than I have been feeling since what feels like an eternity, and it made me feel like me again, if that makes sense. But this isn't a cryfest, I'm not complaining and I'm not looking for sympathy. I want to celebrate life and share the beauty I found in Rome, so here goes.

Day 1: 

I thought you might want to have a look at the person behind the camera. This is me, with the Vatican in the background. Mr actually took the shot for me, so it's cheating a bit, but this isn't a formal challenge, I set up the camera for him and I did the editing... and besides that's the only way you'll get to see me anyway, unless I brought a tripod, but who wants to lug around that in Rome? Anyway... we wanted a silly emo picture where I started into the distance. A real cliche to poke fun at me to show to a coworker as an inside joke (we're silly like that, we did a similar thing with a picture of Mr in front of the Colosseum but I'll show you that one another day). It actually turned out quite nice though. As good as I'll get on camera anyway - I'm way more comfortable behind it haha.

Day 2: 

This is the view from our balcony with the Tiber in front and the city center in the background. A lovely tiny bed and breakfast with walking distance to the Rome highlights.


/MrsHjort

My story, part 1

So… I am not usually the type to share personal things on the internet. I’m a very private person, and I am the kind of girl who answers “just fine” when people ask me “how are things?” That’s something I am working on though – I have come to realize that life has changed for me and that my story needs to be told for the people around me to understand what I’m going though. So here goes; I am not “fine”. In fact, I haven’t been “fine” for about a year now.

It all started last summer after a trip to France when I got a “cough”. Now there’s nothing unusual about getting a cough, but that “cough” was the start of everything that has been going on with me since then. My “colds”, or “coughs”, sometimes come with asthma, and since we were in France, I simply went to the first pharmacy I could find, and they were kind enough to give me some asthma medicine, even though that normally required a prescription. Awesome! Problem solved! Or not… After a few days I traveled back home, as planned, and got well, or so I thought… A few days later I went for a run. The next day the “cough” was back with a vengeance. The coughing and asthma were worse. I felt tight over the chest, had chest pain as well as a feeling of a “lump” in the chest, and it felt like somebody was sitting on me, weighing me down and making it hard for me to breathe. All of that has been with me almost every day since. Some days are better and some days are worse. Some days I cannot make it up a flight of stairs without catching my breath a couple of times, and some days I can without too much effort. It took me quite a while to figure out, but basically, the more active I am, the worse I feel, so exercise is a no-go and I need to rest, a lot. The most demanding form of exercise I can manage is a short slow walk (sloooow!), but that is only when I’m having a good day. Over the past year, I’ve been to the emergency room twice. Why? Because the tests my doctors made me do overexerted me and made me feel so bad the next day I thought I might have a punctured lung (that has happened to me two times before, hence the hypothesis).  That was not the case though, and they sent me home the same day both times.

Anyway, this past year has had more health related “surprises”. Periodically, when I’m having bad days, I’m much more tired than usual. I used to be a very active person. I’d enjoy training in the home gym we’ve set up in our attic, taking long power-walks, doing garden work, photography, managing internet forums, and other fun things, but this past year I have been forced to give up almost all of them. I simply don’t have the breath, or the energy, to do them anymore. Some days I don’t even have the energy to sit by the computer. It’s hard to describe the way this tiredness feels to a healthy person. I have never felt like this before, but imagine that feeling of being totally spent after a long hard day, move it to before lunch and add confusion… which brings me to my next “thing”; “confusion”.

This past year I have been growing more and more forgetful. Not that normal kind of forgetful that you sometimes get, but unusually so. It’s normal to forget a thing or two during a day, but I am getting to the point where I constantly forgetting what I’m doing, or what people have told me. A few examples… I’ll put on music on my computer and not realize that the speakers aren’t on until a quarter later. I’d pull up my phone to check on something, and the process of logging into the phone (pressing my thumb on the button) makes me forget what I was supposed to do. I’ll walk into a room without a clue as to what I’m supposed to do there, or forget what things are called. Like I’ll remember the name of a common flower (like a Poppy) in English but it will take me about 10 seconds to remember its name in my mother tongue; Swedish. Or I’ll start telling you something and forget the point along the way. Not that uncommon you might think, but this happens a lot to me, every day, and it’s frustrating.

I also have other symptoms, but so far, they haven’t had a noticeable effect on my day to day life. I have skin problems, stomach problems and problems with circulation in my hands and feet. That’s why I always dress warmly (slippers at work, even during summer) and that’s why I’m currently trying out a gluten free diet. Oh yes, this past year I’ve been very careful with what I eat. Not because I suspect that all this is the result of a food allergy, but I have always prioritized eating healthy, and especially now that I am unwell. Add to this that the thing I suspect this is… well, people with that diagnosis get worse if they eat gluten.

So, there you have it. This has been my life the past year… Don’t worry though, I am in contact with two wonderful doctors and they are trying their best to figure out what this “thing” is (no diagnosis, yet). They have done a gazillion tests (I’ve lost count) and are pursuing a few things, but it takes time. There are queues to do the tests, and to see the specialists, so I’m patiently waiting and trying out different medicines to ease my symptoms. One of them worked really well, but since it’s harmful to me to take it for longer periods of time, we are trying to get me off it (sadly it’s not going too well this far).  The waiting is one of the hardest parts though. The uncertainty of all this is hard to live with. Like not knowing if I will be well enough to go on a trip this Summer, to go on a kick-off with my colleagues or even have the energy to spend some time chilling with my friends a Friday afternoon. Or when I’m doing something I’ll worry that the people I’m with might notice how crappy I’m feeling - I am, and have always been one to put on a brave face and hide the bad. I’ve never wanted anybody to see me at less than my best, and I never want to come off as whiny, but I’ve come to realize that if I’m to continue living like this, I need to be more honest, let people in on how I’m feeling and stop answering “just fine”.

To all of you who have shown me support this past year, a huge thank you. Knowing that you care warms my heart and puts a silver lining to my days. I really appreciate when you ask me how I’m feeling, and appreciate your interest in how I’m doing. You mean the world to me. Don’t be discouraged if I look uncomfortable talking about “it”, I am simply having a hard time getting past “just fine”, but I’m working on that. Facing the fact that this “thing” might be something more serious than what can be cured with a simple non-prescription pill or short term medication is hard for me. Sometimes I don’t want to think of it, because it makes me sad. So there are also times when I just don’t want to talk about it. But if that’s the case, I’ll tell you so, and I’ll know you understand. Just know that I appreciate how much you care, and that I always appreciate when you ask me how I’m doing.

And finally, a big thank you to all of you for taking the time to read this long, rambling, most likely typo-infested text J

Much love

MrsHjort

Day 30 - Scottish National War Memorial

Tada! I've made it an other 30 days! Wohooo! That makes 61 days of blogging in total (I threw in an extra day between tow sets) phew! I have to say, I'm a bit relieved that it's coming to an end. But then there' no time to rest next month either. You see, next month is BotS month, so that ought to keep me busy haha. My, my! How am I ever going to make that one, already tired from these two months? We'll see I guess... But then, BotS is a different kind of challenge. I wouldn't bet on me though haha

Finally, I want to say that I'm so impressed by my fellow post-ed challenge participant Craig, and his gorgeous bike shots! I cannot believe how many of them he has! And he has been posting several shots a day, so we have had the pleasure of seeing not 30, but 54 of them! Wow! What an achievement! Congrats Craig, on making it so far with me, and thank you so much for tagging along. It's been a wonderful ride! Thank you for the company, all of your thoughtful comments and for sharing all of those beautiful shots :)

/MrsHjort

Day 23 - City Life

I'm a bit late, sorry. I was just so exhausted after work yesterday... Mr and I just crashed on the sofa that evening. Add some good food, a bit of nice wine and a few hours of snooker (Shanghai Masters) and you'll have our evening. It was lovely! Just what we needed.

Anyway... I just found this shot and thought it would be fun to add it to the challenge, on account of the cyclist. I'm really enjoying Craig's series of action shots from the races. I can't believe how many gorgeous shots he has. Check it out his collection if you haven't already :)

/MrsHjort

Day 7 - Castle Courtyard

Edinburgh Castle is lovely. There are so many things to look at there and so much history. Mr was very happy the day we spent there, the history lover that he is, and I marveled at the beautiful stone buildings and the rolling landscape. It was a great day.

And now for something completely different, a Scotsman on a horse! Nah, just kidding, though I do love Monty Python hehe, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry to Craig and Kim, for not keeping up with the commenting. I'll try and catch up soon, I promise.

It's a very busy week. Autumn is here and we have to prepare the garden for winter while the weather is good and there's still daylight in the evenings. We've been redoing the strawberry plantations completely. We're replanting all of them from the traditional sort of plantings to plantings in pallet collars. It's a lot of work, but we're half-way there now, and I love what we've accomplished so far. It's much easier to manage and it looks great too. Yey!

/MrsHjort

Day 2 - Weavess

This photo went through more or less the same processing as the one I posted yesterday - minus the selective blurring. That made it easy in comparison. Making a fake DOF effect look good is a lot of work, so I'm glad I didn't have to today. But then this is a picture that thrives upon its many details.

This woman sat waving the whole day, and it was a treat to watch her work. It's always marvelous to watch a skilled craftsman. There were quite a lot of them at the market. Smiths (you'll get to see them an other day), glassblowers and carpenters. I really admire those who have learned to create works of art with their own hands. Nowadays we take so many little things for granted. It's so easy to pick up stuff at the local store, but there is something special about something that has been created by hand. Don't you think?

/MrsHjort

CCC - January: Thaw

I just realized I haven't been posting any of my Calendar Challenge shots this year. There has been so much going on that I completely forgot - the start-up of Daggerbay (check it out if you haven't already, it's turning out quite awesome :D), work both at the office and home to improve our garden... you know how life can be. Well anyway, here goes, my theme for this year is "Little Details in Nature".

I love doing nature shots, especially closeups, and since I've already done floral shots the other year, I didn't want to repeat myself. There may still be "flowers" in this years, calendar, but I won't be going for the blooming ones. Also having done the last calendar in portrait dimensions, this year I'm flipping format 90 degrees, so all my shots will be in landscape dimensions. And just one more thing; I want all of my shots to reflect the weather somehow - if you've ever met a Swedish person you know that swedes are fascinated by weather haha, but it's not only that. Finding the shots that reflect the weather in some way should also prove an interesting challenge.

January isn't really a colorful month. I wasn't as worried this year as I was back in 2014, since it's far easier to find "little details" than flowers, but the beginning of this year was unusually dull when it came to weather. Thankfully I finally found this little spec of color. It's a bit cliche, I know, but lovely nonetheless.

/MrsHjort

Fun in the Sun

Spring has arrived, no scratch that, summer has arrived, skipping spring almost entirely this year. Here's a picture of someone who very much enjoys the sun and the feel of fresh new grass under her little kitty feet. The cats are always so happy when they get to go outside for the first time of the season. If you've ever seen cows released into the fields, you know what I'm talking about. They may not be as jumpy and intensive, but they're positively giddy and go around smelling everything like it's the first time again.

I'll see you out in the sun :)

/MrsHjort

Love, Fun and Color

True love is when your hubby calls you to say "Go get your camera! There's a Rainbow outside!" Mr does by no means share my interest for photography, so it was very sweet of him. He didn't even try to mess with me! You see, in our marriage, whenever the one of us is in a hurry or wants to end the call for some reason, the other will try to prolong the conversation in stupid ways, like faking sadness and asking "don't you want to talk to me?" or starting to ramble on about various stupid stuff. Weird I know, but that's us, we're constantly messing with each other like that haha. It's all in good fun.

Anyway, I was so glad to finally get to shoot some color today, and what could be more colorful than a rainbow? I have been longing to do colorful nature shots for a very long time now, and I just realized the reason for why I haven't done much processing lately. Winter colors are just too boring! Thankfully spring is just around the corner, but for now, I'll have to settle for this rainbow. Not half bad :)

/MrsHjort

Happy Easter

I have really been neglecting my blog lately. Dagger Bay is taking up much of my time (but it's so much fun) and work has been busy too (I love it though). In the meantime spring has finally arrived, and colors are returning to the world outside my windows.

This spring is something extra. Maybe it's because last time I didn't have the time to enjoy it. Sure I'm busy now too, but it's a positive kind of busy. The kind of busy that is about building new things, enthusiasm, creativity and drive.... about that feeling of moving forward and accomplishing something. I am very happy right now. Life couldn't be better. It feels so good to be able to say that.

This is a shoeboxd picture. I shot it years ago but it has never seen the light of day because of some slight focus issues. I can't help but love it though. The low angle in combination with the light and colors is so pretty. It's very "Eastery", if there is such a word haha.

Happy Easter to all of you!

/MrsHjort

Dagger Bay is Live!!!

The first contests have just closed and the winners have been pronounced, two of them actually, including yours truly. Yey!

The first contest was "Pirate Portraits", what else? We are all pirates after all. We all abandoned ship when our old flagship sank and built a new one from scratch, filled with enthusiasm and drive. I'm so happy it's finally afloat. It's long from finished though, there are a lot more things to add and develop, but the basic features are there. So go! Check it out, come, join the fun at Dagger Bay (if you haven't done so already)! The contests are up and running and the community will blow you away!

It's all like a great adventure to me, it's a bit bumpy, but the shear joy of all of the amazing people who have moved with us is simply amazing! They don't care that things aren't perfect yet, they're not even complaining, nope! Instead they cheer us all on, and it makes me so happy, because they are what makes Dagger Bay so amazing! The spirit of W1K lives on, and we're all so very grateful to the person behind it all, who is building this new amazing home for us. Hipp hipp hurrah for devilmoon! Our fearless skipper with a heart of gold!

/MrsHjort

18:17 - Ceberations

This series ends with a nice glass of the bubbly. Mr and I have finally, finished renovating our house! Today! We've been at it for almost three years, but now it's finally the way we want it.

We've done it all, name it, we've probably done it! We've re-plastered the facade, changed the windows, redone one kitchen and torn out another (yes we had two), "bricked up" a door, torn down a wall and moved another, renovated one of the  bathrooms, painted everything, built sliding door wardrobes, changed all the floors and now, remade the washing room. And that's not even mentioning the garden...

Aaaah, it's nice to be done with it all. Now we'll just wait a few years before starting over again :P

/MrsHjort

17:13 - Friday Treat

I love Fridays, for obvious reasons. Each Friday I like to sit up late and tinker with stuff on my computer, whilst treating myself for having made it through the week. Ah, I love Fridays!

This is something that is very typical for Sweden - the "Semla". It's a bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. You can find it in every bakery between November and March, it has even got a day of it's own called "Fettisdagen" which occurs the 9th of February this year - yey, an other excuse to get one, they're so yummy!


Happy Friday!

/MrsHjort

07:45 - Traffic

If you've been following my blog, you probably know of the 30-Day Challenges that used to run on W1K. That tradition has now been carried over to my new home - Dagger Bay. This is not a 30-Day Challenge though, but a Seven Day Challenge! We're starting light so to speak :). The theme om my challenge is, "7 Days in the Life of the Mrs". So, here is day one's shot - traffic on the may to work :)

As one of the Quartermasters of Dagger Bay, I cannot resist the opportunity to promote my new favorite hang-out spot a bit. We've started the very first contest there now! A historic moment! Come! Check out the fun!

With hope to see you soon :)

/MrsHjort 

New Beginnings

It's a brand new year, filled with new possibilities, surprises and adventures! Time to move forward and start fresh. And, with that in mind, what could be more fitting than a new favorite online hangout spot?

As some may know, the well known site Worth1000 has changed owners and is in the process of moving. Nobody likes change, but I have kept an open mind throughout the process and have been willing to give the new place a chance. As it turned out, the new place offered is not even a shadow of the awesomeness that is W1K. Thus, for many reasons, of I which won't ramble on about here, I have chosen not to stay on...

Instead I chose a fresh new home. And what could be better than a place developed by one of our own? A well known "Worthian" who knows what the site is about and has been a contributing member of the community for a long time. Color me impressed when I heard the news that a new home was in the making, and my jaw dropped even further when I saw what this one person had accomplished in only one month! It's so much more than that other place, and I just know it's going to be grand when it's finished!

My new home is being created by a generous person, who has put in hours and hours in it's making. It is called Dagger Bay and it's growing, fast! Just one week ago we were only a handful of members, and now there's 119 of us. Now if that's not impressive I don't know what is! It's a true testimony to just how awesome this place already is. When most of a community's most active members move to the same place, you know it's good. And that is just what has happened here. Wow!

Dagger Bay is currently just a forum, but things are happening fast and soon we will be able to host all sorts of contests - effects, photo, illustration, writing, multimedia and strips (BotS)! We're aiming at adding more familiar features as time passes and, in time, I think it has the potential to become even better than what we had. The drive and passion of creation drives us forward and I just love the joy of it all. Dagger Bay has found its way into my heart faster than I could ever have imagined.

I hope my shameless promotion of Dagger Bay hasn't scared you away haha. I just really really want to get my feeling across. Please come join us! If you know us, let me tell you that we're still that merry old bunch you're so familiar with, and if you don't, then I'll tell you that you couldn't find a better community out there, com join us and find out what a fun gang we are :D

/MrsHjort

Day 30 - Newspaper

Sorry, no story about newspapers this time - there's simply too much else to say ;).

So! It's finally arrived! The final day of the 30-day challenge is here! Like always, it's a bitter-sweet moment. It's a bit of a relief that it's over - I won't have to plan a specific shot each day anymore. Surprisingly (not) carrying the camera around everywhere can be a bit of a nuisance, not to mention the times the battery has died on me (one of them being today), which has been very irritating to say the least. And I can live without the embarrassing shots of bus-stops as people walk by thinking I'm crazy! Also, no more cases of "camera-eye" (fucuseyeus stangeis) or "trigger-finger-itis" (itchyis spasmus), fellow photographers, you know what I mean!

However, I also love the challenges! I'ts such a great opportunity to get to know the wonderful people who play, and see their awesome shots each day. I've seen so many beautiful shots that make me think and break my own habits, and it's been such a joy to see people develop and breaking barriers of their own.

Another great thing is the comments I have received. They have been such a silver lining to every day (not cloud). Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to stop by and sharing your thoughts. You're the reason why W1K is a great place to be and I hope we'll keep in touch :).

Also, thank you to all you other visitors who have stopped by to take a gander each day. Seeing the stats map of all the people who come here, from all over the world, is just sooo cool! I hope I'll see you around here too! And feel free to drop me a line whenever :)

Finally I want to say congratulations to everyone who made it, and well done to those who tried! It's been an amazing challenge this time! You're all winners in my book!

Cheers!

/MrsHjort

Day 28 - Padlock

I love those bridges filled with padlocks symbolizing the love two people share. We don't have one in my home town though, instead I had to come up with something of my own. So, why not Mr's and my own padlock locked together :)

It's been eleven years now, since I met Mr. It's strange to think - time flies by so fast! Though at the same time, I cannot even remember what it was like before I met him. It's been eleven very happy years, and I just know, we're going to stay locked together forever :)

/MrsHjort

Day 20 - Library

This is part of our little library at home. We actually have one, though it's also our guest room with a hide-a-bed :). Anyway, Mr and I have organized it to our taste with genres and series in mind. Though I don't actually know how these three ended up together. Maybe they're all religion to Mr haha.

Me? I'm a fantasy girl. It started with "Lord of the Rings" way, way back, and I've never stopped since. My favorites? Andrzej Sapowski and George R.R. Martin. They have both managed that great feat of bringing a whole new world to life, with all its nuances and complexity. I love that it's not ever "happily ever after" with them, but rather "anything goes". Never before had I encountered fantasy with a higher sense of reality than many other "finer" works of literature. I've read far too much of that, let me tell you, and I never liked it...

A few year back, I studied "English Literature" at the university, or so it was called, even though the works originated from many different countries. We had to read a lot of "fine" works then. Works like "Disgrace", "Pride and Prejudice" and "Beloved"... I hated them all with a roaring passion! Just as I hate the very concept of "finer" literature. Why should one kind of literature be considered "better" than the other? Just because a it's a different genre? It does not automatically make it more enjoyable to read, and that's what counts. I say "to each his own". Read what you like and to disregard the critics. Everything is subjective anyway :)

What do you enjoy reading?

(And if you enjoy "Pride and Prejudice", that's fine too ;) )

/MrsHjort