Silent Sunday: In Full Flow

a side on view of a cascading waterfall in the forest
close up of a waterfall in full spate

Wishing you and our beloved earth a blessed Sunday and happy Earth Day tomorrow,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Flow

Word of the Day Challenge: Fountain

Sunday Stills: Continuously Moved by the Earth

Haiku: Mist and Moss

steam rising from the river Braan at The Hermitage

mist and moss
how memories paint softly
on the rocks

© Xenia Tran

steam rising from the river Braan at The Hermitage

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Xenia and Bria xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #295: Rock Your World

Xingfu Mama’s Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge 2024 Week 15

Wordless Wednesday: Framing the Flow

a small waterfall with two branches, captured with a low shutterspeed
close up of a silky waterfall with scattered autumn leaves

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.

Wordless Wednesday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #275: Filling the Frame

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #198

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge: Energy

Silent Sunday: Quiet Spaces

a small waterfall flowing into a natural pond with floating autumn leaves
a red fly agaric mushroom growing between stones and moss in the forest

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

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #172: A Day of my Week

Silent Sunday: Shapes in Flowing Water

close up of a small waterfall shot with a slow shutter speed and flipped to portrait
close up of a small waterfall shot with a slow shutter speed

When I slow down the shutter speed the most amazing shapes show themselves in the water.

The second image was taken in landscape mode and looked even more magical when I rotated it to portrait.

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

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Discovery

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #171: Weird and Wonderful

Wordless Wednesday: Natural Healing

a small waterfall in a mountain stream
green leaves covered in raindrops on a mountain trail

Sending Highland Healing to where it is needed and wishing you all a peaceful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/2.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 100, f/1.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160 and f/5 – 1/1250 s – ISO 1100.

Wordless Wednesday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #148: Spots and Dots

Wordless Wednesday: Magic Awakening

Cairngorms National Park

a pair of mallard ducks in the shallows of the loch
a clear mountain stream flowing over stones and branches

Wishing you all a magical Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 125, f/6.3 – 1/1600 s – ISO 400 and f/14 – 1/40 s – ISO 500.

Wordless Wednesday

CFFC: Shiny

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Awakening

Haiku: Mountain Stream

close up shot of water tumbling down between stones

always near
the spirits of loved ones
heaven’s river

© Xenia Tran

multiple waterfalls in a fast flowing mountain stream

We’re delighted that this haiku is featured in Haiku Dialogue: Poet’s Choice, cemetery, Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation Blog, 25 September 2019. A very big thank you to Kathy Munro for putting this edition together.

We’re taking a short blogging break to make the most of the fine weather and will be back next Wednesday.

Wishing you all a wonderful week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.5 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160 and f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160.

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Stone

Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: Stacked

Wordless Wednesday: Plodda Falls

Glen Affric

a douglas fir tree see from below with exposed roots by a waterfall
a waterfall with a viewing platform overhanging the cliff and falls
view from the overhanging viewing platform above Plodda Falls

A spontaneous walk to the edge of the viewing platform overhanging the waterfall in the first two images gives you the view in the image above.

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/4 – 1/30 s – ISO 200, f/2.8 – 1/125 s – ISO 160 and f/2.8 – 1/60 s – ISO 125.

Wordless Wednesday

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Splash

Gerry’s Weekly Word Prompt: Spontaneity

Lai Nouveau: River Affric

view of the River Affric near Dog Falls, with moss growing on a branch in the shape of a deer's head and neck

history lives near
in waters this clear
old songs
when ravens nest here
pine martens and deer
belong
fresh bluebells appear
this time every year

wild salmon who steer
the gorges this sheer
are strong
in silence we hear
our hearts leap and cheer
along
in waters this clear
history lives near

© Xenia Tran

close up shot of a raven preening on a branch, partly obscured by smaller branches
a river tumbling over boulders and rock with small waterfalls

Grace at dVerse Poets invites us to write a Lai or a Lai Nouveau and I have opted for the Lai Nouveau at my first attempt.

A Lai is a French poetry form consisting of a five-syllable couplet followed by a two-syllable line. The number of lines in each stanza is fixed at nine and the couplets must rhyme with each other, as must the two-syllable lines. The number of stanzas is not fixed and each stanza has its own rhyme pattern. The stanza’s rhyme pattern is: a a b a a b a a b.

A Lai Nouveau is considered to be slightly more challenging than the Lai. It has an eight-line stanza and is similar in idea to the Villanelle. In the Lai Nouveau the first two lines are the refrain and are used as the last lines of the subsequent verses with the last verse including the refrain lines in reverse order. The stanza rhyme patterns are: A1 A2 b a a b a a and a a b a a b A2 A1.

You can read my second contribution Seashore Anew on our sister blog Whippet Wisdom.

The Lai and Lai Nouveau prompt stays open for another three weeks.

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr

Settings: f/4 – 1/200 s – ISO 160, f/6.5 – 1/160 s – ISO 200 and f/5.6 – 1/500 s – ISO 200.

dVerse Poets Poetry Form: Lai and Lai Nouveau

Your Daily Word Prompt: Negotiation