My Photo a Day November 2014

I have joined a challenge where participants take a photo a day using a list of prompts for inspiration.

The challenge has encouraged me to discover more skills as a photographer 

and look at things in a different way. 

Please enjoy my take on November 2014, most photos were taken on the day,

with three from my archives.

The prompt given is listed in red, the photo is my take on the prompt

and the caption is my description.

1

 Something Blue - Blue Sky, Blue Sea and Blue in the boat, from the archives, August 2014 in Croatia as we had fog all day and barely any natural light! 

2

 I saw this - Autumn Colours in my German Forest on our daily dog walk! Every day the colours change.

3

 Weather - Raining, grey and gloomy! My neighbour's tree brightens my day when I look out of my dining room window! 

4

 Can't live without...can't live without my girls, my husband, my dog...also can't live without my coffee! 

5

 8 o'clock - 8pm, 16 year old daughter at the go kart track. So hard to get a clear shot...she was fast...2nd fastest of eight and the only girl! 

6

 Made me smile today - Love that this ball is Ralph's favourite. Makes me smile every time he picks it up with the teeth showing! 

7

 On the floor - Lots of autumn leaves...and of course one of Ralph's balls!

8

 A place - A place I walk the dog every day, a place I enjoy watching explode with Autumn colour. In a place I call home for now. Germany!

9

 Heck Yes....lets have a wine with friends, watching the world go by on a gorgeous afternoon in Frankfurt! 

10

 I do this every day...light a candle for lost loved ones, friends at home, to send light and love around the world to those who need it.

11

 A Set - My set of Chinese Fortune Sticks...my Fortune today #32- No journey take by rail or sea or calamity may happen thee...which is quite incredible...I was going to catch the train to the next town and pay some bills but after walking the dog for too long decided on tomorrow instead ...before I read my 'fortune'

12

 Normal - What is normal for one person, may not be normal for another. 

It is normal for this German town to have a British red phone box in the main street! It is normal for me to take my camera everywhere...which I did today...minus my memory card! Today's photo comes from my phone!

13

 Letters - When you live in a place where you don't know the language, signs are just a jumble of letters. I could pick out school, but not much else on this sign in Bavaria. Google translate helped unjumble the letters and came up with "urban school champions for Stonemasons and sculptors times Urstein technic" Still not 100% sure but thank goodness for Google Translate...helps me do the shopping!

14

 For Me - Flowers from my husband...for me...wonder what colour they will be! 
(They were pink)

15

 Hot + Cold 

16

 After - After the Autumn leaves have all fallen.

17

 Cooking - This guy is always cooking Wurst in a bun on his little portable BBQ, for people on the main shopping 
street of Frankfurt.

18

 I love this - I love the city of Shanghai, the mix of ancient and new, the colour, the culture, the vibrancy, the food. A photographers dream city. From my archives.

I ♥ Shanghai 

19

 Whole - This tennis ball started our walk, brand new and whole. Was not whole when we returned. At least we had the whole forest to ourselves

20

 Bright - Bright flower, brightening a cobblestoned street with half timbered houses near Frankfurt on a dark, cold, grey day.

21

 Shoes - My girls just chilling in their colourful shoes, soaking up some sun by the river! 

22

 Favourite - So many favourites, my girls, the dog, souvenirs, travel, my childhood teddy. This picture of the Shanghai skyline encompasses many of my favourites. It is a mosaic of 1000's of my photos of our life in China, many memories and adventures, friends and family. One of my families most treasured and looked at possessions.

23

I made this - I love Christmas and creating...I made the advent calender when our girls were small...the elves come every night to deliver treats. Made the table runner and the mosaic bowl too...Christmas is coming :)

24

 I need to do this - rake up a few thousand beautiful Autumn leaves!

25

 Time - 10:26am, 25 November 2014 Place - Frankfurt, Germany Temperature 6C. 

Time to soak up what is left of Autumn.

26

 Wall - I found this street art on a wall while wandering around Camden in London recently. So vibrant and those eyes reach into your soul!!! Archive October 2014.

27

 I'm thankful for this...Thankful for the opportunity to live in these amazing places with my husband and girls by my side. Soaking up different cultures and countries, lifestyles and languages. The memories and friends we have gathered along the way. Perth, Western Australia: China: England: Germany :) Archive shots.

28

 Black - My black cast iron teapot 

29

 So this happened - It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....the Christmas Markets in Frankfurt have opened. Colourful, festive, fun!

30

 I bought this - A gingerbread Santa for my daughter at a local Christmas Market last night. Then I helped her eat it when our train home was over an hour late and we were cold and hungry. It was delish! 

Forty Winks Friday. Suzhou Slumbers

The streets of Suzhou are bustling and crowded. 

It takes energy and wits to get tourists from one place of beauty to another.

In the quiet times between customers it is nice to put your feet up and nap!

German Gems #4

Free Beer

My husband is a bit of a beer connoisseur, quite partial to a well kept
British Ale, also a Little Creatures Pale Ale from my home town of Fremantle.
 He likes his beer but it has to be decent.

On one of our first forays into Aldi in Frankfurt, we grabbed a 6 pack of
Karlskrone Premium Pilsener for the paltry sum of €1,69, thinking that if it was bad
we wouldn't be wasting that much money. Well it turned out to be pretty good!
Even better when our neighbour saw the empty bottles in with our recycling and told
us to take them back to the shop where we would get 25 cents Pfand/deposit for each bottle.
Really...that would make the 6 pack just 19 cents...basically FREE!

Well not quite... as it turns out...you pay the €1,69 plus the €1,50 Pfand/deposit as well.
Not the €1,69 including beer and Pfand as we thought at first.

Our recent Aussie visitor to Frankfurt could not believe how cheap the beer was...or how good!

Great pic Col ;)

It is so easy to get your Pfand/deposit back. Take your bottles back to the shop, 

put into the hole in the wall where they will be scanned.

That is my husband's hand...he is shy!

When you have finished....this time we had...ahem.... 13 bottles...

press the green button and you will get a voucher.

When you have finished doing your food shopping...

grabbed some more 'free beer'....and maybe some wine.

Give the cashier your voucher at the till and the Pfand from your empty bottles will be taken off,

which will negate the Pfand for your fresh bottles of 'free beer'! 

The Pfand in Germany also applies to drinks other than beer,

 bottles of water, soft drinks and juices, just look for the word 'pfand'.

Intriguingly there is no Pfand on wine bottles...shame!

So, even though the beer is not technically 'Free' it is still only

29 cents a bottle...it may as well be Free and we will always call it 'Free Beer'!

German Gem...absolutely!

Forty Winks Friday. Cosy Couch.

The cosy couch in our apartment building foyer was far more comfortable

than balancing on a scooter!

Moments in time,10 April 2011 Suzhou, China

When we lived in Shanghai, we would often have weekend getaways in nearby Suzhou.

Well, a city of 10 million people has to be more relaxing than a city of 23 million!

On the tenth of April, 2011 we were on one of those relaxing weekends and

found ourselves in the touristy Shantang St in the Northwest corner of Suzhou old town.

The Paris of the East, restaurants and shops line the canal on the main street, 

ancient bridges link the two sides. 

Wander the streets and discover art galleries, crafts

and sample some delicious street food.

12:01pm
We stroll down the side of the canal.

12:13pm
A chat to a local vendor.

12:16pm

We choose a small man powered wooden boat to glide down the canals.

Much more personal than the larger ones crammed with tourists, 

so much quieter and so more in touch with the local people.

12:18pm

The boat softly glides under a bridge and the noisy tourist area is left behind as

we seemingly go back in time.

12:23pm

A local lady does her washing in the canal.

12:28pm

Soak up the ancient architecture and get a glimpse into the lives of the locals.

12:29pm

Time for a rest and watch the world go by.

12:32pm

The canal is the backbone of the neighbourhood.

12:39pm

Traditional homes, some centuries old, line the canal, everyday life carries on

veggie gardens are grown, chickens are raised, washing is hung.

12:45pm

The busy, bustling and colourful, Shantang Old Street comes back into 

view, time to re-enter the present time...and go off in search of lunch!

A lovely place to visit, with lots to discover.

Weekends are usually very crowded, especially in the summer.

Shantang Street, Jinchang District, Suzhou 215008, China.

Forty Winks Friday, London Napper

Making the most of a nice bench and a sunny morning in London!

German Gems #3

We were on the road, just out of Frankfurt, when I saw a field of sunflowers. 

I asked my husband to stop the car so that I could take a few photos.

As we pulled in we saw a woman filling the boot of her car up with sunflowers,

how rude we thought, she is just taking the farmers sunflowers!!!

I carefully made my way through the very muddy field in my totally inappropriate footwear 

and snapped a few shots before squelching my way back to the car.

...then I saw this sign...you cut your own flowers, they even supplied little knives.

The lady wasn't stealing them at all...she had bought some...what a fabulous place!