5 in 5 - November 2017 - Melanie

Melanie is my friend who lives in Australia and she loves photography.  Every month since the start of this challenge Melanie has taken part in this monthly meme and as she doesn't have her own blog I post here.

I love that we have found a way for her to take part.

And I was excited this month when Melanie visited UK. She has friends and family here, and as always she had a busy schedule and lots packed in.  But we managed to squeeze in a meeting one afternoon, and it was wonderful to meet her daughter after so many years. Our children grew up together, and now she is a mother herself, so I also got to meet Melanie's two grandsons who I hear so much about.  We enjoyed a lovely walk along the estuary promonade, and of course I took my camera!

 

But this is Melanie's post. So, I'm handing over to you, Melanie:

I have selected for my November 5 in 5 photos taken when I was visiting Paris.  It was an Eiffel Tower in the rain day.  Just got back home on Monday 20^th after being on the go for four weeks.  Now I need time for my head to catch up with my body and hopefully return to a normal state though with Christmas on the horizon it may not be too easy.  Hope to catch you next month with a 5 in 5 for December.

As always, thank you Melanie! It was lovely to meet up and I hope you soon find your energy. 

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Thanks for popping by and I look forward to another post from Melanie next month. 

If this has inspired you to pick up your camera and join in please go to the original post where you will also find out how to link in.

And to find out more about this monthly photo challenge, and how this started, please go to this post. 

A SoulBook Gathering

Have you heard of the SoulBook Gathering experience, an idea recently shared by Melody Ross? I decided to invite a group of friends to join me and I was lucky enough to be given creative space to use at a local community cafe. It was the perfect location, and the warmest of welcomes (thank you Emma!).  Throughout the morning people popped through to see what we were doing and hopefully some of them will join us another time. 

Usually, when I take an idea, I expand it and always make my own tweeks and adaptions.  But this time I decided to keep it simple, and follow Melody's instructions to make the book. So I cut enough corrugated card so everyone had 6 pages, and we attached them with masking tape.  I wasn't sure how this would work as it seemed a bit basic, but with addition of papers and some strips to connect the pages together it proved a strong and useful construction.

With the instruction download came pages of prompts, such as:

'These are things I always want to remember' and

'I want to remember that every single day is a brand new chance to start over'

These were cut into strips and shared among the group and we put our books together. Then using the collection of materials provided we decorated our pages and added personal touches such as photos. There was chatting, and drinking tea and coffee; but more than this, there was periods of stillness as everyone appreciated this 'me' time, because too often we are dashing around or caring for others and not giving ourselves time to just be present in the moment. 

Here are some of the books made that morning: 

 

Afterwards we gathered in the cafe for lunch, and as always the food did not diappoint. It was made even more special by my favourite lemon merignue pie!  

I would certainly arrange another SoulBook Gathering and this it might be something that you would be interested in doing too - let me know how it goes if you do. Thank you to the ladies who joined me to made this a special time, and to Emma and her team at the School Room Cafe for providing such a warm welcome. I will be back soon!

5 in 5 - November 2017 - Pumkpin time!

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th of

each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

Last year I posted about the award winning pumpkin grown at Hyde Hall RHS garden. This year Matthew Oliver beat his own record and so I went along to see.

There are lots of pumpkins to be seen this time of year and many homes and gardens have been decorated for Halloween. We were excited to be in York where the shop windows had amazing displays. In particular, the narrow Shambles and side streets were full of atmosphere, especially at night time. And we discovered 'The Shop That Shall Not be Named', it's Harry Potter theme even more magical than usual.

Back home we were too busy to decorate for Halloween and in the days after I saw some bargain pumpkins. So I bought a large one and set to, making some soup. With a little chilli it makes a warming lunch for this time of year and there is lots to go in the freezer. It seemed a good opportunity for 5 in 5 photos:

There is still lots left...

I will chop the rest for the freezer to use in curries, pies and for risotto.

But one of my favourite ways of using pumpkin is roasted, with beetroot, and what other vegetables I might have that are suitable. These are such versatile squash and I'll be looking out for other new recipes to try - but I'm interested to know about your own favourites - please share!

It is always fun to have company in this photo challenge so a big thank you to Mary-Lou, Maggie, Melanie, Melissa, Karen, Kat and Borqna for taking part last month. And to all those who visited and left comments.

And YOU would be very welcome to join in too, so I hope you are inspired to get out your camera. Here is the plan:

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (I use my mobile phone).

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool below.
                         
                              You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos.