Picture Perfect; Focused

Totally Focused; he was focused on us and we were focused on him. He does enlarge if you click :-)

http://fotofriday.multiply.com/journal/item/377/Picture_Perfect_Competiton_Time_Week_Three_Focused_

Picture Perfect; Of the Sea, a tribute

http://fotofriday.multiply.com/journal/item/277/Picture_Perfect_A_Special_Tribute_to_JohnO

Picture Perfect; Cold

This is a photo I took back in the summer at the local 'Seafest', a celebration of the sea and all that she provides. This was a little oasis of icy cold on an otherwise hot and sunny day. These are freshly caught White Fish from the North Sea, all packed in ice and ready for the pot. Click on the image to enlarge, Just realized my site is having problems again and you can't click to enlarge, I've posted in a photo album instead and you are able to see the full size version here.
http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/219/SEAFEST_2008

Not one to be beaten................tried it another way this is linked from my flickr account

Picture Perfect, Everyday Thanksgiving

If you have seen my ''Song Saturday'' you will have seen this introduction already.
Now I know my mind works in a strange way but I was already thinking about a transport theme this weekend. Like every one else around here I've been surrounded by images, words and thoughts of Thanks Giving. I began to think about all the extra food that's being bought, prepared and eaten and how all this extra food has been shipped around the country before ending on your table. Then I began to think about all the people who are traveling to spend Thanks Giving with friends and family, all that transporting of food and traveling of people adds up to lots of extra activity on the roads. Which is why my own theme for this weekend is Transport.

 
This picture was taken at about 3.30 this afternoon, for me it is an 'everyday' picture, I can see this most days right at the end of my street and it is a scene I am thankful for every day of my life. Today there were quite a few people sat in their cars (the transport element), all of them admiring the beauty of nature just as I was.

Picture Perfect; seasonal, late afternoon sky

Autumn, late afternoon, the mist rises over the sea and the sun sits low in a muted sky.

Picture Perfect; Favourites, reflections

This is one of my favourite phots at the moment. It is a picture of a reflection in a large deep puddle taken at the bus station while waiting for a bus. It is part of a collection of photos of reflections taken on the same day. the rest of the photos are here
http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/195/picture_perfect_favourite_reflections_photos

Picture Perfect, Rhyme Time

Picture Perfect; Rhyme Time

 

One fine day I took a walk’

Along the cliffs and beaches

Occasionally I’d stop to talk’

Above the seagull screeches

 

Through fields like swaying seas of gold’

The sun was high and getting hotter

Suddenly, the air turned cold

BEFORE ME…..THE CASTLE OF DUNNOTTAR

 

Picture Perfect, Old fashioned

I wasn't going to post a PP this week and then i realised this picture from the Crombie Park album would be just  perfect for this theme. My dream is to one day find my self living in a little house that looks exactly like this with the front door looking out onto the sea. I would sit at my door and watch the sun rise over the sea.  The only sounds; the sea crashing against the shore, the sand being dragged back into the sea and the gulls screeching above the wind and the waves, no company, no conversation, no nothing except me and my house and the sea. …… Oh Navada

Picture Perfect, Joined

This is where Cowie Water JOINS the North Sea at Stonehaven. The water has a reddish/brown hue due to all the tannins picked up as it passes through Dunnotter woods

Picture Perfect; Angles

These steps are quite new, they were built within the last couple of years. I love this design, at the bottom of every section is a circular viewing platform. I've had these photos on my computer for a while now and never got around to posting them, then I realised how well they fit with the PP theme, ANGLES.
I just haven't had the time to do PP for a couple of weeks and I wasn't going to do it this week until I saw the theme and remembered these photos

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/167/Dundee_Pathway_down_to_the_tay

Picture Perfect; Flower of Scotland

It seems  the video at the bottom of the page has stopped working so I have copied it into 'my videos' and it does work there. the link is

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/video/item/16/celtic_music_flower_of_scotland

O Flower of Scotland - Scotland's (unofficial) National Anthem. If any one doesn't know, the song is called 'O Flower of Scotland' , the thistle IS the Flower of Scotland, and the Photo IS a thistle.
The Flower of Scotland, written by The Corries, is the official anthem of
the Scottish Football Team and the Scottish Rugby Team.

The rest of the photos are here

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/81/Flower_of_Scotland

 

 

O flower of Scotland
When will we see your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

The hills are bare now
And autumn leaves lie thick and still
O'er land that is lost now
Which those so dearly held
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be the nation again
That stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

 

 

Picture Perfect; Zest

HE IS BLESSED WITH ZEST ESPECIALLY IN THE CHEST

 

 

 

 

His name is Blair, he is four years old and he is my youngest grand child. This was taken just a couple of weeks ago when I took him and his cousin to the beach for the day. We had a picnic, they played in the sea and built castles in the sand while I watched the birds and took lots of photos.

 

Picture Perfect, Freedom

 

These last few days the weather has been wonderful and I have amused my self by going for long walks all around Seaton Cliffs, happily wandering along watching the birds and the sea. Every time I go there I find something different, I have seen a group of young people standing on a cliff excitedly shouting about the dolphins in the water. I have seen cormorants swooping and diving for fish. I have seen young boys’ way out on the rocks with their fishing lines. I’ve seen young rock climbers practising. It has been a totally beautiful couple of days. Obviously I took my camera, a Fujifilm S500, and I took the opportunity to practice with the zoom lens, something I am not very good at. This is a fairly complicated camera compared to my previous ‘click n go’ ones and it is taking me a while to learn how to use it. This weeks PP theme is ‘FREEDOM’,  the batch of photos I’ve collected over the last couple of days show every thing I associate with the word ‘Freedom’, my only problem was chosing which one of these photos to post. I finally made my selection but I have also posted the whole lot in flickr and am about to put them in a multiply album too. I know how difficult it is to get round every ones PP entry without stopping off to have a look at a whole album. But maybe when you have a bit more time you might like to take a look. This is the first time I have used the zoom lens so some of these photos are not that good.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/forget-me-not5275/sets/72157605963007585/

 

 

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/67/Seaton_Cliffs_first_few_days_of_July_2008

 

PICTURE PERFECT; INDUSTRY

 

PICTURY PERFECT; INDUSTRY

This picture was taken last year at the Arbroath Seafest, 25/08/07. The Seafest is a local celebration of the towns traditional fishing industry and all things connected to the sea. In the fore ground you can see The Reaper, a Fife Herring drifter, a traditional fishing boat Built at Sandhaven near Fraserburgh in 1902. One of the last of its kind to be built and now a tourist attraction. Its large traditional brown sails were probably made from textile produced in one of the towns many old mills. Behind The Reaper you can see leisure craft moored at the new pontoons designed to encourage visitors into the town. At the back of the harbour you can see the old Harbour Masters House and some old Merchant Houses. These old traditional buildings are now used mostly for Bed and Breakfast on the first and upper floors and retail on the ground floor. There is a traditional fish and chip shop, an ice cream parlour, a small antique shop, a restaurant and a pub.  This photo shows lots of examples of industry from the towns past and present. There is the Fishing industry and the textile industry of the past and the leisure industry, the tourist industry, the retail industry and the catering industry of the present. Looking forward to this years Seafest, great day out.

 

Picture Perfect, Extravagance

 

 

 

I took this picture on the way home form work today. I believe this is extravagance gone mad. Whoever these people are who pile up unwanted appliances and leave them to pollute the environment are extravagant, (and selfish) with the worlds diminishing resources and irresponsible in the way they simply discard belongings that are longer wanted. There are three types of extravagance here, one is the extravagant use of resources in a world of disposable appliances, another is the extravagant waste of resources by not recycling where ever possible and the last is the damaging environmental pollution caused by our extravagant society. 

The Dangers of unwanted televisions.

Most people know lead is a toxin. Lead damages the central nervous system, and children are particularly sensitive. Most people don't realize how much lead is in CRTs. Televisions and monitors can have 4-10 pounds of lead in them. Recycling the glass in CRTs also saves energy and conserves resources. By making sure your CRTs are recycled responsibly instead of dumped, you significantly reduce your load on the environment and decrease the heavy metals in your community's drinking water.

The Dangers of unwanted  fridges and freezers.

Fridges and freezers contain CFCs which are Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) and are potentially damaging to the atmosphere. As a result of recent legislation, fridges and freezers must have the ODS removed before some of the other materials are recycled. Every year there are reports of children becoming locked inside irresponsibly discarded frigdges and freezers, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Unwanted rubber tyres.

 Rubber tyres collect water, which attracts mosquitoes and they create huge fire hazards, once they get "lit" it's an environmental catastrophe. Most commercial gyms use recycled rubber matting in their facilities, most children’s playgrounds are protected by recycled rubber matting under swings and roundabouts. Rubber is a natural resource that needs protecting. Rubber does not easily decompose and will continue to pollute the environment for many years after it has been dumped.

And the lawn Mower??.............................

Much of it is made from meteal and all metals can be reclaimed and reused. If left where it is it becomes an unsightly danger to children.

PICTURE PERFECT, CURVES

 

Fine day for a visit to the Falkirk Wheel and surrounding docks, barg boats and beautiful countryside. Mechanics of the wheel astounding. Some dramatic and almost abstract photography.

Picture perfect, Roadside

Click on picture to see full size version.

This picture speaks for itself. It was taken by the roadside behind the Montrose Basin which is a large inlet of water in Montrose, Angus, Scotland, where geese and other wild birds nest, breed and stay over winter. It was taken winter 2007 and is shown here exactly as it was taken, not edited in any way. The sky really did look that way

PICTURE PERFECT - BROKEN

Red Castle of Lunan is a ruined fortified tower house on the coast of Angus, Scotland. A tower house is a Scottish, vanacular stone house , built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Such buildings were built throughout Scotland broadly between the 13^th and the 17th  century. These houses can still be seen all over Scotland, particularly around the Scottish Borders. Some are still intact and inhabited, some are beautifully renovated, some are horribly mutilated and others, like Red Castle  stand as ruined BROKEN shells. Red Castle was built for King William I ("the Lion") in the late twelfth century initially to repel Viking invasions to Lunan Bay. Although William did  take  up residence there on several occasions, he tended to use it a bit of a huntinmg lodge.

William I (Mediaeval Gaelic: Uilliam mac Eanric; Modern Gaelic: Uilleam mac Eanraig), known as the Lion or Garbh, "the Rough", (1142/1143 – December 4, 1214) reigned as King of Scots from 1165 to 1214. His reign was the second longest in Scottish history before the Act of Union with England in 1707, (James VI's was the longest 1567–1625). He became King following his brother Malcolm IV's death on 9 December 1165 and was crowned on 24 December 1165. William was a powerfull , redblooded redheaded,  Scot. An effective monarch whose strong reign was virtually BROKEN by his vastly miscalculated  attempts to regain control of Northumbria from the English. William is credited with founding Arbroath Abbey, the site of the later Declaration of Arbroath. He was not known as "The Lyon" during his own lifetime, the title ‘Lyon’ was given to him because a contemporary of his is know to have called him; "Lion of Justice". William also inherited the title of Earl of Northumbria in 1152. However his right to this title was BROKEN by King Henry II of England in 1157 when William was forced to give up this title and hand it over to the English King, Henry II.

William was a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–1174 against Henry II. In 1174, at the Battle of Alnwick, during a raid in support of the revolt, William is said to have recklessly charged the English troops, shouting, "Now we shall see which of us are good knights!" He was supposedly unhorsed, captured by Henry's troops, taken in chains, a BROKEN man, first  to Newcastle, then Northampton, and then transferred to Falaise in Normandy. Henry then sent an army to Scotland and occupied it, Scotland, a noble and independent country under the rule of William became a BROKEN, enslaved nation. As ransom, and to regain his kingdom, William had to acknowledge Henry as his feudal superior and agree to pay for the cost of the English army's occupation of Scotland by taxing the Scots. This he did by signing the Treaty of Falaise. He was then allowed to return to Scotland but to complete his humiliation in 1175 he swore fealty to Henry II at York Castle. When he returned to Scotland it was to a BROKEN Nation, peopled by those with BROKEN spirits, and his dreams of regaining Northumberland were BROKEN forever

The Treaty of Falaise remained in force for the next fifteen years. Then Richard the Lionheart of England ,who by that time had control over England, needing money to take part in the Third Crusade and agreed to terminate it in return for 10,000 silver marks. Thus the dreaded Treaty of Falaise was at last BROKEN

In 1328 Robert the Bruce gave the castle to the Earl of Ross.  Aodh, Earl of Ross, commonly known as Earl Hugh of Ross, was the third successor of Ferchar mac in tSagairt as Mormaer of Ross (often anglicized and more commonly known as Farquhar MacTaggart). He was also Chief of Clan Ross. Aodh was a big favorite with  Robert the Bruce who showered him with lands and wealth. Aodh even married Robert's sister, Maud, and all because Robert the Bruce took a likeing The Earl of Ross. Favoured though he was, his luck finally ran out. His body, along with many other Scottish nobles, lay BROKEN and dying, at the Battle of Halidon Hill on July 19, 1333. He was succeeded by his son, Uilleam, who took over ownership of red Castle. By this time the building had been officially named  rubeum castrum (Red Castle) in written deeds of 1286. The name referred to its red sandstone, very typical of the area.

Moving on a couple of hundred years to 1579 James; son of Lord Gray, married Lady Elizabeth Beaton, who by that time owned the castle, and he  promptly fell in love with her daughter. James, with a BROKEN heart (to the young daugher) and a BROKEN marriage (to the mother) was truly the victim of a BROKEN home after Lady Beaton threw him out, no suprises there really.  James Gray, with his brother Andrew of Dunninald, laid siege to the castle for over two years, the occupants were finally BROKEN by Grey and his brother by burning the inhabitants out.

From then on the castle slipped into decline, the shell of this once proud building became more and more BROKEN by the forces of nature and the neglect of man. Although it remained partially roofed until 1770 it was never again a residence of nobility. Its last inhabitant was the minister of Inverkeilor, one James Rait. Today only a part of the (fifteenth century) rectangular tower and the six-feet-thick east curtain wall remain, but the castle is still  an eye-catching, if BROKEN,  ruin. The tower  is  in precipitous condition, being perched almost on the edge of the hill overlooking Lunan Bay, just waiting for the day when it will become completley broken and fall right into the sea.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/forget-me-not5275/879064849/in/set-72157600972041541

 

PICTURE PERFECT, SUMMERTIME FUN

This is Erin my eldest grandchild. The picture was taken on July 8th 2005. Erin was spending the week with me while her parents went to Spain and had 'together time'. Erin and I had a great time, we were lucky, the weather was amazing and we were out and about every day. This was taken by the paddling pool on ArbroathSeafront. She was only 4 at the time but of course that was couple of years ago and she is a much older 7 now. That whole week was summertime fun.

Gossamer Picture Perfect, St Vigeans Nature trail

Gossamer, Picture Perfect
St Vigeans Nature Trail, Arbroath, Scotland
 July 20th 2004


Gentle ripple of the water, dappled sun through leaves, lazy, hazy, dreamy afternoon. Pure gossamer