salmon sky –
poppies lean the past
into the half light
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #131
CFFC: Landscapes or Waterscapes
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Half Light
their own nest
between rooftops
cherry blossom
© Xenia Tran
Autumn Moon Haiku Journal 5:2, Spring-Summer 2022
A warm-hearted thank you to all of you who showed so much kindness and love after the loss of our beloved Eivor and Pearl last month. Your prayers and healing have brought us great comfort.
We had no intention of fostering or adopting another dog so soon until angels both in heaven and on earth brought a sweet elderly whippet into our lives whose owner had passed away unexpectedly.
We look forward to introducing her on our sister blog, Whippet Wisdom, early next week.
Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Cee’s Flower of the Day
Your Daily Word Prompt: Catenate
first light
a surfer tries his luck
on the waves
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #130
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Achievement
Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness
morning cruise –
happy hospitality
for Nessie-hunters
© Xenia Tran
The Asahi Shimbun, 6 May 2022
We were not sure what we were seeing in the distance and cropped the image:
At first I thought it was a wave, then I wondered whether it was driftwood. Could it be Nessie? I am not sure what we are looking at here, so if you have any idea, please let me know!
Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead.
I am taking a short blogging break and will be back on Sunday 12 June 2022.
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge: Nautical Blue
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #202: Minimalism – Maximalism
The first gorse is in bloom and its warm scent of coconut and vanilla greets us as we follow the path across the moor. The rookery at Leanach Cottage is full of rooks and hooded crows. I wonder about the music the men who rest would have danced to and all their loved ones, who wanted to keep them safe.
ancient battleground –
the place where men fell
brimming with life
pilgrims and progeny
hear a skylark sing
© Xenia Tran
This is another poem from a series I wrote at Culloden Battlefield during my visits in February and April. You can read two earlier poems here and here.
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Your Daily Word Prompt: Elude
Spillwords.com presents: Kindness Glitters, poetry by Xenia Tran, artist & photographer who lives and works in the Scottish Highlands.
Source: Kindness Glitters, poetry by Xenia Tran at Spillwords.com
I am deeply honoured and delighted that my poem Kindness Glitters was published on Spillwords earlier today.
A warm-hearted thank you to Dagmara K and the Spillwords team for selecting and featuring my poem here.
Wishing you all a happy Saturday and a wonderful weekend,
with love from Xenia xxx
here – the silenced
still speak
war graves
© Xenia Tran
The Asahi Shimbun, 29 April 2022
Some of the wreaths and flowers from the 276th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden, which took place on 16 April 1746.
Wishing you all a peaceful Sunday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #197: Rule of Thirds
Culloden Battlefield
Culloden Moor –
the grass beside the bench
a paler green
© Xenia Tran
The Asahi Shimbun, 15 April 2022
Wishing you a blessed Sunday, and to all of you who celebrate, a blessed Easter too.
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Observance
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Short
second-hand bookstore
a blue and yellow candle
lit in the corner
© Xenia Tran
Haiku Dialogue, The Haiku Foundation, 9 March 2022
It is heart-breaking to see what is happening in the world today because of one man’s fear of open and honest conversation.
It is heart-warming to see how many of us are working together for peace and freedom at the same time.
Yesterday’s visit of friendship to Kyiv by the Prime Ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister hopefully marks another step on the road to peace.
When you look more closely at the actions taken by people in support of peace for Ukraine, they all come from a place of kindness and compassion. Each and every one of these actions make a statement and make a difference.
Last Monday I signed an Open Letter (organised by The Society of Authors) to the writers, illustrators and translators of Ukraine expressing our solidarity. When I looked at the signatures more closely, I noticed that the name above mine was almost the same as my late grandmother’s. She was nearly 101 years old and lived through two World Wars.
Had she been alive today, I’m sure she would have signed the Open Letter too.
Wishing for peace and freedom in Ukraine and wishing you all a blessed Wednesday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #190: Close and Closer
Word of the Day Challenge: Statement
Cullen skink and stovies
a lunch-time line forms
in the rain
© Xenia Tran
The Asahi Shimbun, 18 February 2022
Cullen Skink is a popular fish soup along the Moray coast, where it is served in many restaurants, cafés and takeaways. Seeing people wait in line outside a takeaway inspired the above haiku.
This traditional Scottish soup originated in Cullen, a town that has featured a few times on this blog, most recently in January’s post Seatown.
It is an easy dish to prepare yourself. Some people use onion, we prefer leek. Some people use mashed potato with cream, we prefer cubed potato, steamed in their skin.
Ingredients:
Organic leek, organic potato, smoked haddock, milk, parsley (or lovage).
Method:
Wash, peel and chop the leek, wash and cube the potatoes. Steam the potatoes for approximately 15 minutes, the leek for 10 minutes.
In a separate saucepan, poach the smoked haddock in semi-skimmed milk for five minutes. Remove the haddock with a strainer and transfer it onto a plate. When the fish is cool enough to touch, flake it into large pieces, removing any bones, and return it to the milk in the pan.
Add the steamed potato and leek to the milk and haddock and heat together for another five minutes. Serve and garnish with fresh parsley et voilà – you have a simple, wholesome dish for any occasion.
Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Thank you Cee for honouring us with this post as a CMMC Featured Blogger!
CMMC: Close-Up or Macro
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Wholesome
Word of the Day Challenge: Occasion
Tranature 
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