Category: Nature

Silent Sunday: Time to Rest

red shank roosting in the shallows
red shank roosting in the shallows

Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Word of the Day Challenge: Resting

Wordless Wednesday: Scintillating Sunrise

sunrise over the harbour with a leafless tree reflected in the water
sunrise over the harbour with a leafless tree reflected in the water

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Your Daily Word Prompt: Scintillate

Weekend Sky #52

Haiku: Window Feeder

window feeder
a robin people-watches
while he eats

© Xenia Tran

a robin looking in from the window feeder

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Window

Your Daily Word Prompt: Amenable

Wordless Wednesday: Step by Step

a black headed gull and a herring gull chick side by side in the shallows
a herring gull chick looking for food in the shallows
a herring gull chick catching a crab in the shallows of the tide

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge: Step by Step

Word of the Day Challenge: Discovery

Silent Sunday: Crystal Leaves and Berries

wild berries, leaves and stalks covered in hoar frost
close up of wild berries and leaves covered in hoar frost

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #181: Double Dipping

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Wordless Wednesday: Pearls of Frost

Clematis

macro shot of a frozen clematis seed head
close up of two clematis seed heads with frost melting in the sun

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Cee’s Flower of the Day

CMMC: January Close-Up or Macro

Highlights of 2021 – Thank you for the Love

First of all we want to say a warm-hearted thank you to all of you who visited, commented, inspired and prompted us with photo and poetry challenges. It has been another extraordinary year with beauty and loss, where kindness and magic was still to be found when we were ready to see it.

As in previous years, I am delighted to share a gallery of the posts you liked the most, season by season.

Winter

The most popular posts this season were Sunlight on her Wings (a haiku later featured in EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration 2021), A Dash of Dazzle, Special Moments (featuring a tanka first published in Ribbons), Softly Softly, Happy Homecoming and Violet Ray.

close up of a goldfinch munching on lavender seed heads in Winter
three oystercatchers near the tidal surf and shingle
a swan family swimming towards us on the river in winter
two swan parents in the river with their eight-month old cygnet
macro shot of the top of a closing purple crocus flower
faint green aurora just above the mountains across the water with a lighthouse and pier
Spring

Spring gave birth to many beautiful and creative initiatives where we could meet virtually and lift each other’s spirits.

In April 2021 Placing Poems invited poets to write about real or imagined journeys away from the stifling realities of the pandemic to create a poetic cartography of adventures for everyone to enjoy.

I am honoured and delighted that my poem Presence was selected for inclusion. You can find it on the map when you scroll north and click on the marker for the Cairngorms National Park. Presence was the most popular post in Spring and became the most popular post of the year.

Other popular posts in Spring were Natural Healing, Welcome to the World, Gold in the Shadows, Wonderful World (featuring haiku first published in the Asahi Shimbun, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal and Sharing Our Horizon) and Lily of the Valley.

a swan family on the river with six cygnets
green leaves covered in raindrops on a mountain trail
rings forming inside a woodland stream
Lochan Mor in late spring with reflections and shadows
close up of fresh green growth in a fir tree
lily of the valley in bloom
Summer

Travel restrictions were lifted and tourists flooded into the Highlands. We decided to stay close to home to avoid the crowds and enjoy the magic of familiar places.

We also wanted to protect our area’s natural beauty for future generations and started the Tranature Grove with Trees for Life. The trees in our grove are carefully planted in protected sites in the Scottish Highlands where they will create homes for wildlife and forests for the future.

The most popular post in Summer was Caring for River Wildlife, featuring the calendar I contributed four photographs to in aid of our local wildlife trust. Other popular posts this season were Red Rose (featuring a tanka first published in Ribbons), The Changing Season, Dandelion Clock, Colours of the Setting Sun and A Postcard from the Country.

a mandarin duck in the shallows of a tidal river
close up of leaves
still life composition with a red rose on a breakfast plate
close up of a weathered wooden bridge
macro shot of a dandelion clock
sunset with part blue and part orange sky
Autumn

Autumn started off warm and offered some glorious walking days where the colours were just beginning to change. A new calm had returned to the area and it was a joy to be out and about.

The most popular post in Autumn was Weathered Wood (featuring a haiku first published in Haiku Dialogue). Other popular posts were Garden Gold, A Serene View, Community Spirit, Stars on the River (featuring a haiku first published in The Bamboo Hut) and COP26 (featuring a haiku first published in the Asahi Shimbun).

close up of weathered wood on an upturned tree stump
macro shot of a leafcutter bee on corn marigold
a view of a frozen Lochan Mor through the trees in bright sunlight
a hand-painted wall tile with a leaping dolphin at sunset
a fast-flowing river seen from above through the trees
a haiku poem by Xenia Tran about COP26 with an image of low clouds between mountains with pine and heather

Thank you for walking along with us here.

If you want to read more about our year, feel free to check out the 2021 highlights on our sister blog Whippet Wisdom.

We send you our warmest wishes for a healthy and happy 2022 – may your year be filled with joy, peace and wellbeing!

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #180: Favorite Images of 2021

Wordless Wednesday: Solstice Sunset

sunset on Winter Solstice Day over the Moray Firth at low tide
sunset over a tidal lagoon on the Moray Firth on Winter Solstice Day

After a few overcast days, the sunset of our shortest day was filled with light and made for a scintillating Winter Solstice.

We are now taking a short blogging break and will be back on Wednesday 29th December 2021.

Wishing you all a blessed week and for those of you who celebrate, a blessed Christmas too!

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Scintillate

CMMC: Pick a Topic from my Photo (Blue, Brown, Texture)

Silent Sunday: A Serene View

Lochan Mor

a view of the northern shore of a frozen Lochan Mor with snow on the mountains
view of a frozen Lochan Mor and the southern shore

Wishing you all a serene Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: A View

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #179: Serene

Wordless Wednesday: Magic in the Forest

close up of lichen on the trunk of ancient pine
the sky and trees reflected in a thin layer of ice on the loch

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #178: You Choose