Collage for June photo a day

Photo a day - June round up & July list

Photo a day June had some interesting themes.  For a variety of reasons, I didn't complete the full challenge, but am really pleased with some of the shots that I did take.

It seems that you liked them too.

FROM A LOW ANGLE  was the theme for 12 June and is now in the top 5 popular posts of all time on divacultura!  This shot is probably my favourite for the month.

MORNING, from 1 June was a good start to the month as I went on my way to the Emerging Writers' Festival Blogging Masterclass.

The other shot I really liked was from 17 June, with the theme IN YOUR BAG.  I had fun emptying my bag out to arrange the contents.  A lot of people told me that I am obviously a very organised person after they saw this photo.  That's not how the things are arranged when they're in the actual bag

The transience of chalk art on the footpath appealed to me as I caught a passer-by putting his stamp on it for ART on 13 June.

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Already it's 1 July and there's a new challenge.  I've decided to take it up again.  Fat Mum Slim has compiled another inspiring list.  Why not join in?  You can also find my photos on Instagram.

Photo a day June - SOFT

The sky is gorgeous tonight.  This photo is exactly as I saw it.  No filter or alteration has been applied.

SOFT
(c) divacultura 2012

Photo a day June - BATHROOM

I've missed a couple of photos.  I haven't left the house for a couple of days as I pump myself full of zinc and vitamin C to return my body to health.  But today, I don't need to leave the house.

BATHROOM
(c) divacultura

This mirror is one of my favourite things.  I bought it when I first moved to Melbourne.  The flat I was renting had a chip of mirror stuck to the wall in the bathroom.  I imagined that it would be similar if I was in prison.  I like the whimsy of the real garden tap with a drop of glass water reflecting in the mirror pool.  At the bottom, which I couldn't fit in the photo, there is a drain hole too.

The artist thought of everything.

Photo a day June - ON YOUR MIND

I've been experimenting today.  I became obsessed with adding a soft brown and pink scarf to my wardrobe.  On an impulse I bought some variegated yarn which met that criteria and tried a few different patterns to knit it into an interesting and wearable scarf.  I tried chevrons first, but it wasn't really pleasing.  Then I tried some multi-directional triangles which were fun and interesting, but didn't really work with the yarn.  After a few hours of knitting, I ripped both out and put the yarn away.  (As I write this, I've remember that I have a rather gorgeous chocolate and pink crushed velvet scarf already.  Must find it.)

So I returned to socks and pulled out some yarn whose colour is called Hoochie Mama.  On my mind today has been the journey of yarn from a skein to a cake to a finished product.  The socks aren't finished, but the cuff is and you get the idea...

ON MY MIND
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Photo a day June - FROM A HIGH ANGLE

The highest place I've been today is on my balcony.  This shot was taken looking straight down over the edge.  I like the lines.

From a high angle
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Photo a day June - WHERE YOU SLEPT

WHERE YOU (I) SLEPT
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This seems even more personal than laying out the contents of my handbag.

Photo a day June - IN YOUR BAG

IN YOUR BAG
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Top row (left to right):

• 2 Quickflix discs ready to be returned
• Blackwing Palomino pencil
• red pen
• black pen
• blank, soft cover Moleskine notebook
• wallet
• fold up shopping bag
• packet of tissues
• purse to carry all those damned loyalty cards

Middle row (left to right):

• Glasses cases - spectacles and sunglasses
• business cards
• mesh pouch with mirror, lipstick, lip liner and hair tie
• Moleskine diary
• Sony e-reader
• umbrella

Bottom row (left to right):

• Two Irish Breakfast tea bags, Twinings
• packet of Extra (peppermint) chewing gum
• tube of YSL purple mascara for comparison purposes when shopping for a refill
• L'Occitane lavender hand sanitiser
• L'Occitane hand cream
• coin and myki purse
• Myki receipt from last top up

Surprised and pleased to find no chewing gum wrappers or squashed cough lollies.  Or moths.

The bag is the black one visible at the top of the picture.

I feel very exposed now.  Where are my keys?

What does this say about me as a person?

Photo a day June - OUT AND ABOUT

It's dark so early now. But the sky is a beautiful, dark blue.

OUT AND ABOUT
(c) divacultura 2012

Photo a day June - YELLOW

I don't do yellow.  Until today, the only yellow things in my house were some lemons and some post-it notes.

Then I made this little origami fish.  He's swimming with an orange one on the wild waters of the fridge.

YELLOW
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Photo a day June - TIME

TIME
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All my trains, trams, appointments and such-like ran on time today.
Like clockwork, in fact.
Good, slick, Swiss clockwork. 
Tip top clockwork
Tick-tock clockwork.
Not dodgy, knock-off-Bali clockwork.
Running like that kind of clockwork would be bad.
Tock-tick.
Topsy-turvy.

The myki readers at South Yarra station are running on the second kind of clockwork.

Photo a day June - ART

ART
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Photo a day June - FROM A LOW ANGLE

So many shots to choose from today!  Here's the final selection.

From a low angle
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With ten minutes until the next tram, I looked up!  I was at the tram stop at the Elizabeth Street end of the Bourke Street mall.  There was a lot to see.

I really like this shot because of the perspective.  I was standing right near the old GPO where the clock is.  Renovations are underway so there is scaffolding all around the building.  The Commonwealth Bank building is on the diagonally opposite corner.  It's a really tall building and I was surprised when I noticed it in the shot.  It almost looks like it's leaning in.

The wires are part of the tram system.  I like the extra texture they add to the shot.

I held the camera horizontally so I was shooting straight up.

I used a filter to add some more light to highlight the clock face - you can even see what time it is! - and to gain contrast with the clouds.

Photo a day June - DOOR

Wandering in the city I noticed this door...or is it a window?  I wonder what its story is?  Were there once stairs to somewhere?

DOOR
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Photo a day June - Best bit of my weekend

It's a quality television bonanza at the moment.  I've been waiting for several of my favourite series to release their latest seasons (Breaking Bad, True Blood, Big Love, The Big C).  I've also discovered some new ones (Justified, Game of Thrones, Treme, The Walking Dead, Shameless.)

When it's horrible outside and I don't have to work I love to immerse myself in another world.  It's the best way to watch quality television.  Oh, and I get a lot of knitting done.

Photo a day June - Your view today

I got all mixed up!  "Your view today" was the photo a day theme for Saturday.  I thought it was for Friday.  Friday's theme was "6 o'clock" which I completely failed to meet.  So I thought I'd show you my view over the last couple of days.

My View Today
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This is the "official" photo of my view yesterday.  Wandering around the city in the rain after choir practice yesterday, this display of colour in Australia on Collins caught my eye.  The umbrellas were suspended over about three floors.  The bright colours were a lovely contrast to the grey Melbourne weather.

This was much better than my view the day before.

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I spent Friday in this room at St Vincent's hospital.  I wasn't unwell, I was working as a simulated patient for medical students' exams.  That pale green they paint everything in hospitals with is enough to make me feel green around the gills.  Add some very strong fluorescent lighting and you've got the perfect circumstances to drain life from otherwise healthy people.

If I looked a little to my left I could see this.

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At 6 o'clock I was tucked in a Thai restaurant in a Melbourne laneway having a very early dinner with a friend who had also been working at St Vincent's.  No photo of that.

There were two other lovely views from yesterday that I want to share with you.

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Rather than drive to choir practice on a Saturday, I've started catching the train.  It actually takes less time and is much cheaper.  I have time to buy a coffee after I arrive at Flinders Street before my connecting train leaves and I always enjoy having reading time.  Yesterday, the park at Clifton Hill looked particularly lovely. The trees with their thinning, brightly coloured foliage, the lush green grass sprinkled with the fallen leaves and the tree trunks black from the rain. I didn't mind walking in the rain when I could see such a lovely piece of nature.  (I have used a filter on this photo to emphasise the contrast.)

Outside my rehearsal space there is a herb garden.  It's lovely to watch it change through all the different seasons.  In summer the aroma of basil permeates the garden.  Here's what it looked like yesterday.

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The window has a mirror finish and there's a seat to sit and contemplate. I love the brick wall behind it with its peeling paint.

Photo a day June - DRINK

My take on today's word, "drink", is a little oblique.

In the midst of a cold, grey winter's day, I went for a walk to the village and suddenly there was sun! and blue sky!  I stood where it was and drank in the sun.

DRINK
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* I have not used a filter on this photograph. The sky really was this blue and the sun really was shining for a nanosecond at about 4pm.

Photo a day June - CLOSE UP - and thoughts on sock knitting

CLOSE UP
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Here's a close up of the heel area of the pair of socks I finished on the weekend.

This is where all the action happens in a sock.  There's the heel flap (at the left of the photo).  This is knitted back and forth (rather than in the round like the rest of the sock.)  At the bottom is where the heel is "turned".  You might remember this moment from reading "Little Women".  They always seemed to be turning a heel or on the brink of turning a heel.

The diagonal line is where the gusset of the sock is being decreased to continue on and knit the rest of the foot.

I've now made 59 pairs of socks.  I made the first pair in September 2008 as skill development.  Everyone seemed to be knitting socks and so I decided to learn.  I bought a book and I looked at you tube for some of the techniques.  It took me two weeks to finish the first pair.  I still have them and still wear them.  My socks last me for a long time.  I've seen other friends wear through theirs in a very short space of time.  I wonder why?

Socks are the perfect place to learn knew stitches and approaches.  The scale is small so mistakes don't cost a lot of time.  I read somewhere over the weekend that it's good to make your mistakes fast.  Lately I've just been "auto knitting" plain socks from the top down.  I have all the numbers in my head and can make them without any reference to a pattern now.  I'm doing this because I have a big stash of gorgeous sock yarn which I really need to use.  So I am.

Hand knitted socks also make lovely gifts.  Many of my friends and family are wearing my hand knitted socks right now.  They are always received gratefully.  My father loves them.  Apart from feeling wonderful on the feet, they aren't so tight around the leg that the foot is at risk of falling off.  It has also solved the dilemma of what to give the person who has everything.  At least my current mission to knit through my stash has resulted in a healthy stockpile of gifts.  I can also go shopping in my own home when I feel the need for a new pair.

Often I'm asked how much I sell my socks for.  I've made a decision not to offer them for sale.  After purchasing the yarn and fairly considering my investment of time, the selling price would be around $175 - more if the yarn is a "luxury" yarn with cashmere or silk in it.  I'm not sure there's a market for socks at this price.  Instead, I offer to teach people how to knit their own.  None of my prospective students have turned into actual students yet.

I've recently signed up for some on-line classes to build my skills.  One is for "toe-up" socks.  I just need to find some clear air and be in the mood.  It will be interesting to see how different it is from going cuff-down.  The other class I've signed up for is called Mastering Lace Shawls.  I've watched the first class and wound the two huge skeins of lace yarn into usable cakes.  I think I'm going to need to have my wits about me!

Are you a sock knitter? Are you a sock wearer? What do you look for in a sock?

Photo a day June - ON YOUR PLATE

ON YOUR PLATE
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Yesterday I baked "Blacksmith's tea loaf".  Here it is on my plate today.

I love the combination of fruit cake with a cup of strong tea.  Blacksmith's tea loaf is even better because main liquid ingredient is strong black tea.  I made this loaf with wholemeal spelt flour and it's delicious.  My hair still smells like the loaf coming out of the oven.

I'm having a lazy day today.  I've been watching television.  I don't feel guilty about it though.  I've finished a pair of socks I started only a few days ago and now have started to knit my own design!  It's been in my head for a few weeks and I'm now playing around.  So I guess I'm not that lazy.  My hands are never idle.  I'd never be able to sit and watch television for hours on end without doing something else!

I'm putting the kettle on.  Who's for a cuppa?

Photo a day June - EMPTY

EMPTY
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The sugar bowl is empty.  In fact, it's never full.  I don't take sugar in my tea or coffee.  I might put a few grains in there if I have company who require sweetening.