Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful new week ahead,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/6.3 – 1/160 s – ISO 640, f/6.5 – 1/160 s – ISO 500 and f/5.6 – 1/80 s – ISO 320.
Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #49
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #119: My Hideaway
The cygnets are now ten weeks old and their feathers have changed from grey to brown, with a bit of white coming through.
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday and a peaceful rest of the week,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/160 s – ISO 200, f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 200 and f/5.6 – 1/160 s – ISO 160.
Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #41
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Legacy
nurturing
stillness of summer
a swan’s love
© Xenia Tran
gentle breeze
pulling up pond weed
the cygnet grows
© Xenia Tran
two cygnets
between them the water
flies away
© Xenia Tran
At the woodland pond, there are only three cygnets left.
They’ve grown a lot since we last saw them and are now pulling the smaller pond weeds up by themselves.
Sitting on the bank and watching them for a while, it was lovely to see them already develop their own, unique personalities.
Wishing you all a peaceful Sunday,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/4 – 1/400 s – ISO 100, f/4 – 1/320 s – ISO 100, f/4, 1/640 s – ISO 160 and f/5.6 – 1/640 s – ISO 200.
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #51: Unique
Word of the Day Challenge: Nurture
Sunday Stills: Stillness of Summer
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
a swan in spring feathers tidies the nest
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
big webbed feet are beginning to shuffle
the swan feels happy the nest looks its best
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
with a breeze from the east, still fairly cool
the swan walks through grass, feet pointing west
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
his neck stretched out, feathers unruffled
reflected in water, the swan knows his quest
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
moments like these feel deeply spiritual
he lands in the river assured, on his chest
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
loving, devoted and dutiful
the swan and his mate are equally blessed
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
as time brings us growth, birth and renewal
This is my third contribution to the Villanelle prompt at dVerse Poets. You can read A Voice that Knows and Where Seasons Meet on our sister blog Whippet Wisdom.
A Villanelle is a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain (the Poetry Foundation)
Below is the complete version of the villanelle:
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
a swan in spring feathers tidies the nest
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
big webbed feet are beginning to shuffle
the swan feels happy the nest looks its best
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
with a breeze from the east, still fairly cool
the swan walks through grass, feet pointing west
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
his neck stretched out, feathers unruffled
reflected in water, the swan knows his quest
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
moments like these feel deeply spiritual
he lands in the river assured, on his chest
it’s time for growth, birth and renewal
loving, devoted and dutiful
the swan and his mate are equally blessed
here by the river, our world seems beautiful
as time brings us growth, birth and renewal
© Xenia Tran
The prompt at dVerse remains open if you want to participate and there are now more than seventy contributions for you to enjoy.
Wishing you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful new week,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/5.6 – 1/500 s – ISO 200, f/5.6 – 1/640 s – ISO 200, f/5.6 – 1/800 s – ISO 200 and f/5.6 – 1/400 s – ISO 200.
dVerse Poets Forms for All: The Villanelle
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Wait
Your Daily Prompt: Participate
dressing spring
the kind eyes on a nest
river swan
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you a all a very happy April and a great start to the week,
with love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/400 s – ISO 200, f/6.3 – 1/500 s – ISO 200 and f/6.5 – 1/500 s – ISO 200.
Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge #247: Kind & Mind
Friendly Friday Photo Challenge: Feelings of Spring
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #39: Hello April
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/6.5, 1/320 s, ISO 800 and f/6.5, 1/320 s, ISO 1250.
Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Anticipation
newly hatched
brimming with a lust for life
a cygnet
swimming beside his father
spring’s first hello
© Xenia Tran
at home
in the water, on land
a cygnet grows
strong wings, white feathers
autumn’s first farewell
© Xenia Tran
The most spirited and independent of the seven cygnets has flown the nest and we wish him well on his new journey.
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/4.5, 1/1000 s, ISO 160; f/5.6, 1/800 s, ISO 100; f/5.6, 1/250 s, ISO 320; f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 100; f/5.6, 1/250 s, ISO 125 and f/6.3, 1/160 s, ISO 400.
Carpe Diem #1556: Fleeting Autumn (yuki aki)
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: Things with Wings
tucked in
with the fading light
resting swans
© Xenia Tran
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6, 1/320 s, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/250 s, ISO 100, f/5, 1/320 s, ISO 200.
Carpe Diem’s Autumn Retreat 2018: Love Eternally
Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Comfort
fisherman’s boat
a swan glides by to see
the harbour
© Xenia Tran
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6, 1/200 s, ISO 100 and f/5.6, 1/160 s, ISO 100.
Carpe Diem #1478: Harbor
Carpe Diem Summer Retreat 2018: Finding the Way
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Week 2 (Animal, Blue, Black, Orange, Water)
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Welcome
saluting the sun
our days grow ever longer
wings and waves
© Xenia Tran
With love from Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Liquid
Frank J Tassone’s Weekly Haikai Challenge #34: Passing Spring
Tranature 
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