‘Erm… You seem to be taking photos of beach huts when you could be photographing me. Would you like to talk about that…?’
This is my contribution to today’s Wordless Wednesday. (Those 23 words don’t count because they were transmitted telepathically.) Click below to see what others are showing.
Ave amicus! Quid novi?
Hail friends! What’s new? For this My World Tuesday I’m taking you back to the 4th century, to the remains of a Roman Villa here on the Isle of Wight. Being prone to rather grandiose gestures, it occurred to me that it would help you to get into the swing of Roman times if I sprinkled this post with Latin phrases. And so, undeterred by the fact that I never really learned Latin, I’ve drawn upon the help of Ehrlich’s : Dictionary of Latin Tags and Phrases. Some of these phrases come from classical Latin scholars, others from the Middle Ages, and a couple are my own ‘freeform’ combinations! Translations of all the Latin phrases are given in italics. Truthfully - when I bought this book some years ago thinking ‘it will come in useful some day’, publication on the World Wide Web was not what I had in mind! I can give no better explanation for my folly than this one from Juvenal’s Satires: hoc volo, sit prop ratione voluntas: this I will, let my will serve as reason.
Gesta Romanorum: hoc loco redivivus
The Deeds of the Romans: in this place brought back to life
The Romans ruled Britain, including the Isle of Wight, between AD 43 and 410. Their name for the island, Vectis, is still used today - exempli gratia (e.g.) our main bus service operator is ’Southern Vectis’. Two Roman villas have been rediscovered here, this one in Brading on farmland in 1880. The first photo shows the recently constructed, award-winning building that houses and protects everything you’ll see in the following photographs.
The mosaic floors you’re about to see are laid throughout the villa and are an indication of the wealth of the owners. It’s astonishing to think that they lay hidden beneath the earth for almost 1500 years; and I wonder how many more Roman villas we unknowingly walk across as we go about our daily lives. The scenes in the mosaics depict life as experienced by the people who lived in the villa. Through the images we know what they believed, ate and drank, the importance of the seasons for them, et cetera. New discoveries and information at the site constantly change what is understood about the size and layout of the villa, the types of crops grown and the way of life of the Romans in southern Britain.
Ecce homo
Behold the man
This is Gallus, the ‘cock-headed man’ who has been adopted as the logo for the Roman Villa. He is possibly a caricature of the Roman Emperor Gallus.
Per astra ad saber
By way of the stars, to knowledge
The astrologer is pointing to a globe of the heavens. By his side is a sundial.
Bonum vinum laetificat cor hominis
Good wine gladdens a person’s heart
This is what remains of Bacchus, Roman god of wine. When the villa was rediscovered in 1880 archaeological methods left much to be desired. It’s thought that heavy-handed labourers caused irreparable damage to parts of the remains.
Facta non verba
Actions, not words
This is the hand print, used as a signature, of the man who made this tile 1700 years ago. Since it’s behind glass and the lighting in the centre is kept low it was difficult to get a good photo – in reality the hand print can be seen very clearly. To help you to locate it I’ve added (right) another version of this same image, emphasising the handprint. Click thumbnail to enlarge.
Stet muros domus
May the walls of the house endure
The original walls remain throughout the villa to a height of about 2 feet / 60 cm. Here you can see how the Romans constructed walls: two parallel courses of brick with a rubble-filled cavity (here, chalk). A skim was applied to the sides – this is the only wall in the villa where the skim remains intact.
Tempus edax rerum
Time, the devourer of all things
It wasn’t really ‘time’ that devoured this Nymphaeum, but the changing habits of the householders as times changed. A Nymphaeum was a sacred pool, used for healing ceremonies. This one was also a garden feature, fed by spring water but had fallen into disuse and was buried beneath the earth by the time the courtyard wall was built through it.
Ex uno disce omnes
From one example, you may deduce the rest
A reconstruction, but from these original period roof tiles, hewn from local Bembridge limestone, archaeologists have deduced that to withstand this weight the structure of Roman villas must have been very sturdy.
Ad perpetuam rei memoriam
For the perpetual remembrance of the thing
Brading Roman Villa has a special place in my heart. In 2007 the Youth Theatre that my sons belong to was funded to research, write and perform a production based on life as it would have been at the villa in the 4th Century. Not only was what they all did astonishingly good, but they had the honour of performing it right here at the villa, amongst the mosaics and out in the grounds. One of the scenes – a dream – was based around the imagery of this particular mosaic, including the Medusa. Whenever I see it, it will always remind me of their performance.
Acta est fabula. Vale amicus! Vade in pace.
That’s it! It’s all over. Farewell my friend! Go in peace.
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It was rather like applying for a place at an exclusive school when we were looking for a puppy. We had to be quick off the mark – in fact we had to put our names on a waiting list! This was how Lucy came to be part of our family before she was even born.
Lucy aged two weeks
As the due date approached we were not unlike expectant fathers might have been in the days before men were welcomed into the delivery room. Then on the day of her birth we were advised that our ‘application’ had been successful: we would soon be proud parents of a bouncing baby puppy! Our first glimpse of her came by text message:
Two weeks later we drove to London to meet her:
And she came home with us about a month after that. What a picture of childhood happiness!
I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said those first few months with a new puppy were easy. I spent many days wondering what on earth had possessed me to bring this naughty, overly inquisitive, extremely contrary force for disaster and destruction into our home!
She was about five months old when I realised I no longer felt this way. Lucy had calmed down. It was still some while before I could allow her to spend the night in the same room as the cats (actually more for her protection than theirs!) and since she is naturally very bossy and optimistic about her chances we always had to take care in impressing upon her that she came BELOW the boys in the pecking order. Was I on a steep learning curve!
Today Lucy is six years old. And she is just about the best friend anyone could wish for. In fact I often think we could all learn a lot from her.
Lucy’s purpose in life seems to be to spread joy. She always looks on the bright side, adores people, is gentle with small children, enjoys the company of other dogs and puts up with over-excited puppies that snap around her face. She is always forgiving, never bears grudges, doesn’t care what I look like or what I’m wearing and knows when I’m upset about something. Loves walking on the beach, gets excited about going to the vet and always welcomes visitors enthusiastically. If I were looking for faults I would have to say she has a couple of personal hygiene issues, but I won’t go into them right now. This is her special day, after all!
So to my very own Golden Girl this is for you. Happy Birthday!
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
(Traditional rhyme)
5th November is a date much-anticipated by children throughout Britain. On this night each year our skies are lit up with fireworks, we eat baked potatoes, toffee apples and gingerbread, and we light bonfires on which we burn life size effigies of a man called Guy Fawkes.
We do this to comemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605: a conspiracy to murder King James I, overthrow the government and blow up the Houses of Parliament. The plot was thwarted on the evening of 4th November when Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar of the Houses of Parliament, along with barrels of gunpowder. Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators were tortured and executed.
You could say I had my own failed Gunpowder Plot this year. My plot was that we should go to watch the annual Lantern Parade in Sandown which culminates with a large bonfire and firework display on the beach. Taking advantage of a recently full moon and a cloudless sky, I was hoping to capture the bonfire with the moon behind, maybe even reflecting on the sea…
It didn’t happen. One son is unwell and the husband was late home. You will just have to imagine the magnificence of those uncaptured images. Ah well… there’s always next year!
But we did manage to get these pictures of the fireworks, taken from closer to home, at a distance of about 1.5 miles / 3 km from the festivities. Plus the one below of the moon, which is apparently 238,857 miles /384,403 kilometers from the same spot!
Skywatch Friday is hosted each week by Klaus, Wren, Sandy, Sylvia, Louise and Fishing Guy. Thanks to them, you can click on the badge to see beautiful skies from all over the world. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Blog Blast for Peace is an annual event in the blogosphere organised by Mimi Lenox who invites bloggers throughout the world to join her on this day in a simple call for peace. Under a common heading: Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace) participants are invited to customise a ‘Peace Globe’ – that’s mine above - adding words or images that express their hopes for peace throughout the world.
The message I want to deliver is summed up perfectly in this video by Playing for Change. Let’s choose to live together in harmony. Let’s love and have pride in what makes us different, then set aside our differences, focusing instead on what we share, what we have in common. Working together, let’s see what wonders we can achieve! You can find out more about Playing for Change here. I first heard about them on Dan’s blog. I hope you’re touched by the video as much as I am.
I’ve customised my Peace Globe along the same theme – there’s a short note about how I did this after the video. If you click on my Globe, above, you’ll be transported to the 2009 Blog Blast for Peace Gallery, where you’ll find messages of peace from other participating bloggers.
A note about the artwork: I customised my Peace Globe using a rubber stamp: The Magic of Music, designed by D Morgan and produced as a stamp by Stamps Happen under licence from Arts Uniq’, Inc. The actual stamp design is not quite as wide as shown here. This and other manipulations were achieved digitally after scanning the image.
Lucy will not be impressed when she sees I’ve used this unflattering photograph of her today. But I think it’s rather fab!
I’ve been trying for years to get a ‘freeze frame’ shot of her having a good shake when she comes out of the sea. It’s harder to achieve than you might expect. Her preference is to stand so close to me that all the water she wants to shake off ends up on me. There are several reasons why this is not a good thing. Apart from the obvious one, it does mean she is too close for me to frame her with the camera.
And on the days when she does maintain a thoughtful distance she tends to stand at an angle while she shakes, as here. How I would love to capture her face full on as she shakes it from side to side!
This is my contribution to today’s Wordfull Wednesday, hosted each week by Angie over at her Seven Clown Circus blog. Please click to go on over there and see what others are showing and talking about this week.
This isn’t the sort of thing I normally put on my blog. But if it helps to reunite Madeleine McCann with her parents then I’d like to do my part. Please read the following, watch the short video and then pass it on via your own blog, email or other online community. Thank you.
The UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has released an online message aimed at reaching someone who knows more about Madeleine’s disappearance. Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, while on holiday with her family in Portugal. Madeleine is now six years old.
CEOP believes there is somebody who knows who is involved in the disappearance and hope that, by making this viral message, that person will finally come forward. CEOP are hoping the video will reach a relative, friend, work colleague or neighbour of someone involved in Madeleine’s disappearance. Jim Gamble, head of the UK’s CEOP Centre explains:
“Today we want to deliver a message to that person and we’re asking everyone who goes online to help us. We want the message to become so widespread that it becomes just one click from any Madeleine search as a constant reminder to that person that it is never too late to do the right thing – that it is never too late for that person to redeem themselves.
“So if you are a parent or carer, a student or member of the public who is a social networker, blogger or emailer, or if you run any type of online environment, big or small please look at the film today, link to it, share it with your friends and post it in the online communities you occupy.
“Do everything you can to spread it around the online world. We want to make it omnipresent so that the person we are trying to reach sees it and is prompted to do the right thing.”
I’ve been so looking forward to putting this post together. It’s my homage to all the colours of an English October, starting with the bright golden yellows and oranges of the early weeks, working towards the medley of crisp brown and yellow fallen leaves at month’s end. This year we’ve been enjoying an Indian Summer so there have been many beautiful sunny days to bring out the best in all these beauties.
Fuchsias love our garden. Not only do they assume giant proportions, but also they give us a lovely colourful show from May right through to the end of the year.
We still have a few roses holding on. I like the warm autumnal background colours of this image.
This Virginia Creeper and Russian Vine grow together along the wall of a garden I walk past regularly when I go out with the dog. They give a truly magnificent display every year, looking particularly stunning on sunny October days.
I’m sure we’ve all seen silk dresses looking just like this berberis!
These Nerine plants always make me think of fairy rings, but so far I haven’t been able to capture that effect with my camera. So for the time being perhaps you’ll be prepared to just make do with this profusion of pink!
We have two of these rhuses in the garden but they’re quite invasive - if we don’t keep on top of them we regularly find we have many more. But we have to forgive them - right now they make such a beautiful show! This image was taken from ’inside’ the branches, looking up towards a beautiful blue sky.
And finally, as October gives way to November:
October is such a beautiful month, isn’t it!
Thanks as always to Klaus, Wren, Sandy, Sylvia, Louise and Fishing Guy for keeping My World going. Please click on the badge below to go visit many more ‘worlds’!
No matter where I roam
I will return to my English Rose
For no bonds can ever tempt me from she.
Paul Weller: English Rose
I was saying a week or so ago (here) that I believe the more we understand and appreciate a subject the better our photographs will be. One of the reasons I’ve reached this conclusion is my experience out in the garden during the summer. I enjoy photographing flowers, especially close-up macro shots, but find some flowers much easier to capture than others. Regular readers will understand when I say I think I have the measure of poppies. I find all stages of their life cycle both fascinating and visually beautiful, from the luxuriance of the petals through the somewhat architectural quality of newly revealed seedpods to the full, pregnant, woody and almost autumnal quality of those same seedpods just a few weeks later when they’re ready to scatter their seeds.
But capturing roses has presented quite a different set of challenges. And much as I love them, I know from the results of my photography that there’s a long way to go before I understand them. Trust me – I’ve taken a lot of bad photographs of roses!
This post features a rare image of a rose that I’m reasonably happy with. It was growing just outside my front door and grabbed my attention because its colours made me think of a Tequila sunrise. The image above is how it was in real life, and the three versions that follow are the results of my playing around with some filter effects.
The ’smooth’ version below was the one I used for the Tequila SunRose digital collage.
This final version makes me think of Olde English Medieval manuscripts.
Like Paul Weller, I haven’t given up on my English Rose. In case you don’t know, by the way, he’s singing about an English woman, not a flower. ’English Rose’ is used to refer to the fair complexion of women native to England, and from this, to English women generally, just as the film Steel Magnolias referred to the women from Louisiana, the Magnolia state. Maybe it’s this English Rose connection that makes me want to keep trying! Whatever the reason, one of my goals as a photographer for next year is to come to understand better the roses that grace my garden!
Please click to enlarge image.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Jelaluddin Rumi; translated by Coleman Barks
I haven’t had much opportunity for photographing beautiful skies lately, but I have enjoyed playing about with silhouettes of imposing buildings and superimposing them on to interesting sunrises, sunsets and night skies. Since Hallowe’en will be upon us in a couple of days I thought this digitally manipulated scene would fit the bill for this week’s Skywatch Friday. I created it using two of my photographs that you may have already seen, since they were originally posted for Skywatch. The silhouette is Corfe Castle and the sky started out as the sunset at Totland. After darkening the castle image and changing the colours of the sky and sun (now serving as a full moon) I added a few clip-art bats. Believe it or not, those bats were the most time-consuming part of the whole thing!
The Guest House by Rumi adds another layer of meaning to this image that I can relate to right now. In my own ‘guest house’ I’m currently entertaining all sorts of doubts, anxieties and second thoughts – and wishing I wasn’t! Rumi in his wisdom has reminded me to look for the ‘gift’ in working through all of them and letting them help me to move forward. They don’t seem much like gifts just now, but I’m trying…
Wherever you are, I wish you a wonderful weekend, a happy Hallowe’en, and may all our sorrows make way for new delights!
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