Trick or Treat

About a week and a half before Halloween, I ordered some DVDs from an online shop. Among those I wanted was a collection of three films by New Zealand film director Jane Campion.

When I received my package, it turned out that 3-disc box had been replaced by a totally different film, entitled The Condemned. Which, judging by the cover, I had no wish at all to see…

  -No thank you!-

Ah well – mistakes happen. I contacted the company; and within a couple of days I got a new package. I opened it eagerly, again expecting to find the films that I had ordered. Guess what met my eye? Another copy of The Condemned!

That’s when I began to fear that this might go on for ever…

However, third time round - and Halloween behind us! - the curse seems to have been lifted. Today I received yet another package. To my relief, this one did contain the right DVD-box.

Tomorrow I send back the two copies of The Condemned and pray they’ll not come boomeranging back! ;)

Now remains to be seen when I’ll find the time to watch the films I did order: An Angel At My Table, The Piano and Bright Star.

ABC Wednesday: P for Playing in the Park

 

We had a grey and very wet Sunday here last weekend. In spite of that I decided to go and check out what’s happening in ‘my’ little park  some 10 minutes walk or so from where I live. Feeling a certain obligation towards my readers who showed an interest in a previous post (follow the park-link).

First of all: Nice surprise to find some colour still left!
Yellow leaves, blue flowers, and red rose hips.

No new trees have been planted to replace those which recently disappeared … but the plot thickens:

Seems to me they’re planning a pavilion of some sort here!
It may be presumptuous of me, but I shall dare a guess:

In this park there is also a croquet lawn. But no club house.
Only an ugly blue container which I’ve not really connected with the croquet until this summer, when on one occasion I saw players putting away some such equipment in it.

So… I’m hoping for the croquet society* (as well as for photographers!) that perhaps there is to be some sort of improvement in that area.

*I tried looking up their website… But all I learned from that is that they seem to be only 7 members! Which is probably one reason why I rarely see much action on that lawn.

Good luck to them; and, whilst I’m on the topic: Good luck to my blogging and croquet-playing friend GB (A Hebridean in New Zealand), who is just about to fly off to another croquet season over there. May the sun shine or your lawns, and may there be plenty of pavilions to provide proper protection when you need it!

More P’s at ABC Wednesday!

 

Macro Monday: Blue Flowers in Rain and Frost

Yesterday I went for a walk in the rain and found these blue flowers still in bloom in the park. Quite a colour shock against the yellowing leaves in the background.

I was surprised to see that they had managed to survive the frosty nights we had earlier in the month:

The frosty pictures were taken on 21 Oct, the rainy ones 30 Oct.

It’s Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos.

SOOC: For A Moment, Time Stood Still

How beautifully leaves grow old. 
How full of light and color are their last days. 
~John Burroughs~

For Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

~~~

This morning I first woke up very early – too early – so went back to sleep. When I next got up, it was nine o’clock. After breakfast and getting dressed and so on, it was still nine o’clock! This because today we go back to ‘winter time’ here in Europe, and I started my day by making a tour round the flat to set back all the clocks. Except… oops… excuse me for a couple of minutes…

… I forgot, as usual, about the DVD and video recorders …

I find the whole daylight saving time system rather confusing. Actually I often think that up here in the north, the winter would be a better time than summer to try and save some daylight and prolong the afternoons!  

I usually adjust quicker to the time change in the autumn than I do in the spring, though.

Today seems to have decided to help (?) us by letting us remain in a sort of  grey dusk and need of artificial light all day. Enough to keep anyone confused about what time it is.

The photos were taken on Tuesday this week. As long as there are still leaves on the trees, there really is an extraordinary beauty about this time of year. Even on a foggy day, the yellow leaves seem to give off a magic light of their own. (The lamp-post in the first photo makes me think of Narnia.)

Weekend Reflections: Almost Abstract

Tree branches touching the surface of the water and reflected…