A Dust of Snow

This is a rambling of a few things - thoughts, feelings and mother nature. So with the big move to Scotland life has obviously been full of changes. And seeing as I can only spend so many hours sending out CV's and job hunting I find myself with quite a bit of free time on my hands. 

Camera in hand, I have taken to walking for extended periods of time - which basically means I walk until I am so frozen that if I don't head back to the flat I will be preserved in ice for future generations. 

On Sunday night it started to snow and it was like magic. I sat in my window sill and looked out at the blizzard of tiny crystal flakes so light and soft that they seemed to be coming from everywhere as the wind tossed them around like a tiny boat in an angry sea. The next day I went walking. 

And my feelings of change and wonder of which direction my life is heading were met by a dusting of snow that overnight and engulfed my new home. 

As I walked across the golf course painted white by mother nature the words of Ross Copperman's song 'Holding on and Letting Go' played on the radio.  

Is anybody out there?

Is anybody listening?

Does anybody really know if its the end of the beginning?

The quiet rush of one breath

Is all we're waiting for

Sometimes the one we’re taking

Changes every one before..

It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't

It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed

Some prayers find an answer

Some prayers never know

We're holding on and letting go

Like the old saying says when one door closes another door opens. Or was it a window? Well either way it made me realise that in order for your dreams to come true you need to make the best of what you have and  find a way to use it as a starting point. 

As there is always a different way of looking at any situation. 

  

Just for the laugh --- Tescos

So about a week ago, my sister, her boyfriend and I decided to drive to the huge (and when I say huge I mean HUGE) Tescos Exta Store.

And like a photojournalism student who always has her camera on her these days I got a little bored of shopping and decided to observe some shoppers and Tesco staff. Basically I was being a creep and here are come of the photos just for a laugh.  

A world of cheese

 As you can see even the Stig like to have a tan - Desiree this one is for you I just couldn't resist 

Fresh from the sea

I appreciate the uniforms that butchers and fishmongers wear in the UK. It makes the tradition of the profession really stand out and it just looks awesome!

Sailing the North Sea

Sailing the North Sea - taken at Aberdeen Beach 

Now that is what I call an awesome Monday surprise

I just had to share my awesome surprise this morning. I logged onto Facebook to check my news feed (ie. stalk my friends, haha) and clicked on a link that Guy Buttery (an amazing South African folk musician that I photographed in studio at the National Arts Festival) had put up and....................what do you know there were two of my studio photos of him! haha awesome!!
Check it out here and give our local artists some support!

The below two photos are the ones that I took.

A Strange Sign

Just think

A long time ago bears were here.

By the Order of Me

Hmmm, well now that is definitely not what I was expecting to find on Broad Hill when I went a walking the other day. Rather strange to say the least and wait there was not just one but at least eight of them on and around the hill. 

Well those of you who have known me for quite some time will know that I simply cannot resist investigating something as curious as this. And so I took a detour on my walk to the beach and photographed as many of the signs as I could see. Satisfied that this was all I could do in the information gathering part of my invesitgation, while being the only person stuck on a hill in what can only be classified as bloodly freezing cold conditions, I put my gloves back on and headed to see the sea. 

On returning to the world of indoor heating later that day I asked my sister and her boyfriend if they had ever encountered these signs but alas they were not the fountains of knowledge that I had hoped as they had never even been up Broad Hill. 

So I did what all good investigators do I turned to Google! And presto!! I had answers! Thank you Google you are a good search engine! 

For a more indepth explaination you can visit the website of the Aberdeen Voice but in a nutshell  the Order of Me is a collection of visual art by artist Rachel O'Neill, writer Davey Anderson and 54 pupils from Kingsford Primary School. They are trying to challenge the way in which visitors interact with their surroundings and were inspired by the many prohibitive signs found across the city. Which I have myself noticed since I arrived. One in particular caught my eye at the beach promenade - Drinking in public is strictly prohibited! Damn that used to be one of my favourite things to do in the UK when I lived here before university. Oh how the world is changing!

Well I think that is more than enough from me. Why don't you scroll down and take a look at some of the sign for yourself.

You make

 the world

  the world

By the Order of Me



Shout 'Hello uncle Jimmy'

And see if he shouts back

By the Order of Me

My dragon breathes fire

On boring humans

By Order of Me



No kissing

On the hill

I mean it

By Order of Me

Don't tell anyone

This is the spot where my mum and dad first kissed

By Order of Me

More animals

Please

By Order of Me

It's official a beach bum career choice is only for those in warmer climates

So usually when you live somewhere near the ocean and you are umemployed you can always fall back on the career path of being a beach bum. Although I hear the pay is lousy the job satisfaction is extremely high especially if you love the beach. Hence it was with a hopeful mind that yesterday I decided to take the five minute walk down the road to the seaside.

I spent roughly two and a half hours walking along the beach front only to discover that it is official a beach bum career choice is only for those in warmer climates! By the time I had gotten home, despite wearing about four layers of clothing and wellingtons to the beach, I could no longer feel my legs. Honestly on the stretch of road home I poked my finger into my thigh and nothing......I didn't feel a thing! So I tried a good old fashioned leg slap. Barely a tickle of sensation. By now people were starting to look at me funny as they walked by so I decided to hurry on home before the men in white coats came to look for me. 

The good news that came out of my walk is that today I am back on the job hunt and despite risking frost bite taking my fingers (yes I only have fingerless gloves...I know...silly right but I like to be able to feel the buttons on my camera)  I did manage to get some nice photos of the Aberdeen seaside.

So Enjoy!

A view towards the Aberdeen city centre from on top of a hill near the golf driving range. Actually there are the most entertaining signs on this hill as well which I will be posting up in my next post.

If you turn your back to the ocean from on top of the hill you look over this grave yard that seems to go for quite a distance.

The Aberdeen Promenade is quite busy even in winter. It may not look llike it in the photo but I passed numerous joggers and dog walkers while exploring the beach.

 Another view of the promenade.

 The beach in Aberdeen is an amazing cross between the lovely sandy beaches that I am used to visiting in South Africa and the pebbled beaches that the UK is known for. I say that it is a cross between the two as most it is sandy like the photo above but in some sections there are large build ups of pebbles.

 Ok so most of you are probably thinking what does she mean by sections. Well if you look careful at one of my promendae photos you will see rows of wooden columns like pictured above going out into the ocean. This divide the beach into what I have called sections.

 Once I had walked all the way to the River Don I could go no further without a boat unless I was prepared to swim across - which for the record I was not. I stumbled across the part of the river that the birds apparently love as you can tell by their numbers.

 Six seagulls fly overhead while they keep a watchful eye for any fish near the surface.



 The Bridge of Don

The river has a beautiful s-bend before it flows out to sea.

And just to make sure that I don't lose hope and remember that God has a plan I turned around from facing the sea just as the sun burst through an opening in the dense grey cloud that had covered my day. Reminding me that no matter the grey or the cold there will always be blue skies again.