Meme - or is that Me Me?

It's past midnight, I can't sleep (I knew I shouldn't have had that late evening cup of tea!) so what better to do than browse a few blogs?  Well, maybe there is something else (I'll leave you to judge whether it's 'better' or not!)  Kat Mortenson has challenged me to a meme.  Now, I have never participated in a meme on my blog - and it won't become a habit - but this one seems a little more interesting than some, so here goes:

(Apologies that the light print is a little hard on the eyes when there's a lot of it.  I like the grey background for photos so it has to stay, sorry.  Suggest you zoom in a bit!)

1) Why did you create your blog?

My first and 'main' blog, Saltaire Daily Photo, was a challenge to myself.  I'd been reading some of the City Daily Photo blogs (Venice, Paris) and thinking for a while that someone ought to showcase the fascinating and historic World Heritage Site of Saltaire, where I live...  and one day quite suddenly I realised that someone could be me.  I tried to argue myself out of it but then I thought, well why not?  So I gave myself the challenge to post a photo a day for a year - and rather to my surprise I managed it... and by then I was thoroughly hooked on blogging and knew that my photography was getting better, so I have carried on.  I developed this blog, Seeking the Quiet Eye, as a place where I could be a bit more experimental. For why I chose the title, please look back at the first post.  It has not really gone in the direction I first envisaged, but I don't mind.  These things tend to develop a life of their own!


2) What kind of blogs do you follow?
Mostly photography blogs, quite a few of the City Daily Photo ones.  Any with photos of places I'm interested in - local to me, those close to where I grew up, places I've visited, some I'd love to visit. Those that are well-written.  I tend to find new blogs by looking up the authors of comments on other people's blogs that I find interesting or amusing and that resonate somehow with me.  I find I enjoy too, those where people are open about themselves (but not self-centred), share their creativity (poetry, crafts, cooking) and make me laugh.  I mentioned some in my previous post.  Here's a few more - by no means an exhaustive list:

Chronicles from the Shore                                                Fearless Nesting
Adventure before Dementia                                              Square Sunshine
Vicki Lane Mysteries                                                        Paris Through My Lens
didyoubringyourcamera                                                    Heartshaped 

3) Favourite make-up brand?
(Well that's change of focus!) Don't know if I have one - most of my stuff comes from Olay, Body Shop or Boots No 7.  I wear make-up every day but I can't see the point of spending a fortune on it, though I have a belief that it's worth spending more on 'wet' stuff (serum, moisturiser, foundation) and less on the powdery things (eye shadow, blusher etc.)  Even so, I don't believe a £50 jar is necessarily any better than a £10 jar.  But I do swear by Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum. It really works! as well as feeling lovely on my skin.

4) Favourite clothing brand
The one I loved (Offshoot) closed down. I buy some clothes from Jackpot which is a Danish brand with an organic range. I also buy far too much from M&S (safe and dependable but not very exciting).  I am having a bit of an image crisis at the moment. Shops & magazines seem to imagine that women the far side of 50 can afford to spend more. I can't, but cheaper high street ranges don't seem to cater anymore.


5) My indispensible make-up product... would have to be mascara, as I have blonde eyelashes that look non-existent without a slick of black.


6) Favourite colour - to wear, blue, always - any shade of.  But I look good in pink and red too.  Years ago, in my teens, I had red-gold hair and my art teacher (!) tried hard to persuade me out of blues into greens and browns.  But I don't like sludgy colours and don't think they suit my skin tone. Most unfavourite colours would be mustard and lime green!  Funnily enough, I don't like to decorate with blue.  My house is mostly creams, soft yellows, duck egg, a bit of grey.

7) Perfume - always floral.  For years I have worn Estee Lauder 'Pleasures' but I can't smell it anymore! I'm trying 'Stella' by Stella McCartney - lovely roses.  I like Lancome's Trésor too - old-fashioned girl.

8) Favourite film - too hard to choose! Romantic ones I guess. Ones I can watch again and again are Brief Encounter, Casablanca, The Holiday (just fun!) - and Mamma Mia if I need cheering up!  But there are hundreds I have really enjoyed, going back forever.  Films (and music) from the late 60s/early 70s are the most nostalgic for me - things like Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Graduate, Dr Zhivago, 2001 - A Space Odyssey.


9) What country would you like to visit and why?  
USA - because I read and enjoy so many blogs from there.  But it's such a big country, I wouldn't know where to start!  Italy, because apart from a brief trip to Venice (which may be in Italy but is a place apart) it's a European country I've never been to - and I think it's very photogenic and historical.  I'm fascinated to read about and look at photos of places like India but I'm not a brave traveller and don't like the heat, so I have no desire to actually go there.

10) Make up the last question and answer it yourself....uum...
Why did you choose the blog name jennyfreckles? 

When I was chewing the end of my virtual pen trying to think up a name, the pop song "Jennifer Eccles" by The Hollies started up in my head. (Since it was a hit in 1968 and I can remember every word, that really dates me!)  So, jennyfreckles it is.


I'll have two questions!
If you could change one thing about yourself?.....
I would give me my hearing back.  I've become progressively deaf since I was 25, and am now severely/profoundly deaf in both ears. I wear hearing aids and get by, but it is an isolating condition.  I've become much more introverted as a result, as well as having to give up the career I loved (running training courses) and get a boring office job.  On the other hand, photography has become a passion and as a hobby it's ideal for a deaf person.  I doubt I would have become so focused if I weren't deaf - I'd be trying to do too many other things!  So the way deafness has shaped me isn't by any means all bad news.

[Photos from the web, except for Salts Mill which is mine]

Fixing My Spring Water... In The Dark

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Most of ya'll know by now, i have been having every water problem thinkable since winter started. The last few days I had an increasing problem with sediment coming from my outside pump (cause of course my inside water has been frozen for weeks)- there was not just a lil dirt in my drinking & cooking water, but a dead salamander so decayed it's legs were gone, large pieces of bark and leaves, and the clincher that sent me out into the night... little shavings of plastic with bits of plumbing glue on it (somehow from back when the piping was put underground.)
I will drink salamander decay water ANYDAY over plastic!!!!!
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xoxoxox

Winter Comfort

I’ve been blessed to have had Clementine come and visit me in South Korea for a third time. The first time was in May, the second time we went to Indonesia and around Korea during July and August and now again for Christmas.
I can’t express how grateful and lucky I am to have had her come and visit me over the festive season. Clementine stayed for two weeks. Two weeks that went by too quick and two weeks I wish I could have all over again.

My time in Korea is drawing to an end. We are now already in the middle of winter. The winter I was so terrified of, yet I am coping fine.

Clem’s visit was a great boost for my final leg here. I now have less than 3 months till I am back in Cape Town and then on to who knows what? 3 months that will go by just as quick as the past 9 months here.

I am having great experiences here on the Korean outskirts and being able to share it with a special person makes it even better.

 

I have one more vacation at the beginning of February and I am planning to go to China again. I will take the same ferry, but this time I will go south from Qingdao to Shanghai. I have not planned much and I am a little scared that I might not find a train to Shanghai as it will be Chinese New Year and everyone travels cross country to be with their family. It’s cold here in Korea and I will go by public transport to another cold city. When I get there the realities will unfold and I will make a plan, but for now I will only hope to catch a train. I’ll fly back from Shanghai to Seoul to finish my last 2 months before heading back to sunny South Africa and on to the next adventure…