Week 6 theme - love 52 images for 2011 flickr group

For this week's theme I wanted to capture the essence of the word love as an emotion, rather than a symbolic reference through hearts or flowers, it has just taken me all week to get round to doing it.



In the end I found myself struggling again with the image for the theme.

I was going to take a hand clasp image, inspired by the photo I took at a wedding last year:

 

but as the group is about taking new photos and not just recycling stock ones, thank you to my beautiful models on Friday for this image

 

unfortunately someone had already posted a hand clasp image and I did not want to replicate the entry, so had to scout around for something new.

I was considering something along these lines:

 

but again this is a photo I took a while ago and not during the week of the theme - although it does reflect the theme of love from all angles, Ferguson and his sister Pond are very loving and utterly lovable too.

But from there my thoughts led me to ideas of first loves, and so I decided on the following:

 

for most children their first experience of love is their pet, and there is nothing quite so rewarding as the unconditional love offered by a loyal dog.

Too cold to go out

Tried to let the chickens out this morning while it was still -10°C, needless to say they had no intention setting foot out of the coop, not even with the temptation of some nic bread left overs and some cake crumbs.

Everything pool of water is frozen solid and it takes forever to get the rabbits watered with endless trips inside with the watering can.  But funny to watch the ducks and geese break through the frozen top of the pool for a splash around.

With the decorations up, the fires lit, all the lights on because it has been so foggy all day that we can not seen the end of garden, I have managed to get quite a large part of my Lesley Anne Ivory cat cross stitch done.

Large part relatively speaking for a 16 count aida and tiny tiny tiny cross stitches.



This is the one I would really like to do if I could find it on sale somewhere, for mounting on a patchwork quilt.

 Having just googled Lesley Anne Ivory cats, I never realised quite how many pictures she has created.


And then a lovely visit from a neighbour and her new grand daughter, Emma is only 5 months old, and utterly adorable, baby talk in French is a new one on my though, at least goo goo and ga ga sounds the same in any language.

Saturday's child has far to go .........

...........I don't think that is right but it certainly fitted today.

Today's project was a bit different from studio or gardening time.  Today I went hunting eggs with a friend.

Orpington eggs to be exact. 

My friend likes Orpington chickens, has done for several years, and is now ready to become a chicken mama.  So having found an Orpington breeder on line with eggs and chicks for sale, we drove 180 kms across France today in hot sunny weather to collect some eggs ready to go in the incubator.  I had my first introduction to this breed first hand, and, wow, they are big birds.  Looking forward to the hatching to see what we get.

It has been a glorious day today, 27 celcius this afternoon, and this evening is still very mild, at fast approaching midnight, I have only just closed the front door against the dropping temperatures. 

With Mr Pink happily curled on my lap after an impressive afternoon when he caught 3 mice, following the two he had this morning before we went out, we are both agreed that it is now bed time.

Early start tomorrow for the car boot sale, our favourite of the year - perhaps I'll even get to replace my broken crockery from the other day.