Sunday Picspam... with brandy butter.

[curiouswombat]

Seems to be a while since I posted any pictures - so there is a bit of a mixture under the cut - including one of those mincemeat scones with brandy butter. Oh and a gate, and a door, also sunset...

But, first, a question for friends in the Tolkien fandom from my husband.

Has anyone ever written a story that explains why (filmverse) Boromir and Faramir have such very different accents? Any explanations at all? :)

Now for the pictures which

First is a picture of those scones and brandy butter -



And the flowers on the plate remind me that I took the camera out into the backyard a week or more ago - where the only things giving any colour at all were a couple of winter pansies - and even these look a bit as if something has snacked on them.







The current set of themes at Photo-scavenger are the colours of the rainbow, one each week. (I am very proud of these prompts as I put them forward when the mods asked for suggestions - and they are getting some interesting results.)

This was the picture I took for orange - it was taken from the roadside as I drove between Port Erin and Castletown after a clinic session.



It's a pity about the red blob where the sun caught the camera lens oddly - but I like the picture.

These next ones were taken a couple of days ago at a local farm called Ballakilmartin - (The farm of St Martin's keill, nothing to do with manslaughter!). there is a footpath right through it.

The outbuildings and the gate to the front of the farmhouse caught my eye. The house is elderly, not in the best repair, but still inhabited.

I intend to use one of them for 'green', not sure which, yet.







Most of those outbuildings are weatherproof and in good repair - but the one that the farmer parks his car in has a few problems with the roof -




And because I can't resist a door, or an interesting gate...







And, if you wonder what I posted for yellow - this was my daughter's gift to me when she came home from Australia -




How cool is that?



Now - this may become an almost weekly feature for a while - a reminder that this year's WriterConUk get together is at the end of May and I would love more of my friends to come...

Comments

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

Those farm buildings are gorgeous!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I rather like the orderliness of them all having green doors. The style is pretty traditional for our farms - at least until somebody modernises them.

[gillo]

That wombat sign is ACE!

I like the green pictures, and the sunset is lovely.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

My wombat sign really is wonderful!

It was a nice sunset - and very useful that it was an orange one that night rather than a pink one.

ith

[dougalsservant.livejournal.com]

Those farm buildings look so peaceful.
I've already uploaded blue and purple/violet to photobucket, but with some choices for each. I just need some good light to get the picture I want for Indigo.....

Re: ith

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It's a very peaceful spot - although it is only about half a mile from our house.

I have a couple that might well do for indigo, I think.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

That old farm is lovely. Probably chilly in winter, but I'm not sure I'd mind. As for those color prompts... Since we just got a bunch of snow that's covering everything, I'm trying to figure out what to do for "green." So far nothing is hitting me. I may have to go scavenging in my old pics for that one.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The farmhouse is doubtless draughty - but the farmer has lived there all his life.

Green is quite interesting as two of the ones I have seen posted so far are really bright - but there are all the darker, duller shades like these, to. I'm sure you'll find something.

[alwaysjbj.livejournal.com]

I love the farmhouse photos!

I'm really enjoying the colour prompts too...am actually hoping we get one for 'rainbow' or 'multi-colour' because I have a lovely shot of our resident Rosellas, although I could probably use them for 'blue' as well as that is probably their most prominent colour.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

'Rainbow' would be rather fun, I think, too.

I thought the farm buildings would interest people - they are probably rather different to yours!

[desdemonaspace]

What a gorgeous post. I want one of those scones!

Lovely colors, flowers and china.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The scones were good. I use left-over mincemeat from Christmas rather than sultanas - and the left over brandy butter...

The plate is pretty, isn't it? I have a series of small cake plates that are all odd ones from different sets, passed on by my Mum.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

You still have flowers blooming in January? I hate you!

I quite love those stone buildings with the slate roofs, nothing like we have here.

I'd say that D-d brought back the perfect gift for you.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Only those two flowers - and they are meant to be winter pansies.

The stone buildings are very typical for here - and yet so different from those where many of my friends live.

And yes - it was the perfect present.

[myrhiann.livejournal.com]

I love the farmhouse building, they look so organic, as if they 'just growed there'.

I love the concept of choosing a colour of the rainbow for each week's photo entry, and your very creative approach.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The farm buildings are built from local stone - which is why they 'fit' the landscape, I guess.

As for the picture prompts - here (http://photo-scavenger.livejournal.com/) is a link to the community - some pictures seem to be locked to members only, others aren't - but enough aren't to make it fun to look, I think. Or join - do join, even if it is only to see the pics!

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I *love* the last picture! :)))

P.s.
http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr41/ellin_elfica/6725438193_b5d4ccc05a_b.jpg

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh - thank you! Perhaps I should swap it! I am not clever enough to do things like that, sadly.

[jerusha]

I love the picture of the sunset! I thought it turned out quite nicely. And the buildings are very, very cool.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The odd thing is that the buildings are very typical of our older farms - and I really do like the look of them - whilst for other people they are almost exotic in their 'difference' from what they have at home.

[kathyh]

I love the farmhouse and the way the roof is "growing". The scones look delicious and the wombat sign is wonderful :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I think that roof is taking organic farming to extremes... :)

The scones were rather tasty, I have to say - and turned up in a piece of Tolkien fanfic (http://just-ann-now.livejournal.com/380517.html#cutid1) almost within minutes of being baked, after I mentioned that was what I was eating.

The wombat sign was such an excellent gift.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I've been craving scones all weekend and now you post a delicious photo!
The farm is just lovely no matter what its age or repair. It's so different from our whitewashed farms here. I think that farms tend to match the land they inhabit.
:)
The sunset photo is lovely! I've had blobs like that appear from odd light on the lens and I'm never sure how for that not to happen.

Love your wombat sign! I have a plush wombat sent to me from Australia by an LJ friend there.
:)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Scones are winter comfort food - and then they go so well with a cool drink in the sunshine, too...

Farmsteads are very much part of the land they inhabit - come to think of it, the same is, of course, true of churches. If you click the churchyards tag in my sidebar you will see how very, very, different our churches are to your glorious ones. (The 'church' tag is more about my own church - a rather modern building.)

I have a plush wombat somewhere - I wonder where? I should go and look for it D-d brought it home for me when she visited her grandparents out there a few years ago.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

The wombat sign is simply perfect! I love the variety of pics that you posted. Wish I lived in the UK so that we could meet some time, it would be so nice to see you in RL. Regarding the question of the different accents - no, I don't think it was ever addressed. Considering the conglomeration of different accents in that film (just take the four hobbits as a major example), PJ was casting for a look, not a sound :-)

- Erulisse (one L)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The wombat sign was a perfect gift - carefully chosen and easy to carry.

I have a feeling that my husband is mulling over quite why Faramir speaks very RP (Received pronunciation - well educated and probably southern...) whereas his brother speaks with a Sheffield, northern, working class accent...

And Éowyn's accent is very RP as well....

It will turn up as a drabble sometime!

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

The buildings are interesting; I especially like that the one has a horseshoe on the door for good luck! (I was always told that the horsehoe had to be hung with the open end up so it would "hold the luck.") You see some stone outbuildings around here, but most are wood painted either white or occasionally dark red.
Those pansies are very brave to hold out for this long. :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

When I was a child every farm I visited had a horseshoe hung somewhere for luck - but of course there are no working horses on most farms now and so the horseshoes are rarer! Apparently in somewhere in England you hang the horseshoes the other way up 'so they don't make swings for witches'!

[hilleviw.livejournal.com]

Hah, I suggested colors, too, and I'm loving the pictures we're getting to see as a result! ( http://photo-scavenger.livejournal.com/229924.html?nc=20#comments )

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Ah - if two of us suggested the colours of the rainbow it is no wonder we are doing them! And they really are producing excellent results.

I wonder what other ones of those prompt suggestions might turn up?

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Even with the red spot, the sundown one is very nice, as are the stone building ones.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Ellyn ( further up the comment thread) has actually adjusted that pic for me to get rid of the pink blob - but I haven't swapped it as some of the comments would look very odd, otherwise!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful sunset! your scones make me feel hungry.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The most interesting thing about that sunset is that you don't get that effect most of the year - the bay faces almost due South! The scones were very tasty - they didn't last long.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I love your pic-spams. So pretty!

The gate with the horseshoe reminds me of my grandparent's. They had green doors too; and there was a horseshoe nailed that same way. My grandpa told me "That way the luck won't run out".

Until this week we've had a really mild winter. I have geraniums and a few other things blooming though I suspect all the snow will have fixed that soon enough!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We were taught to hang the horseshoe that way for exactly the same reason.

My geraniums gave up a few weeks ago - only those two pansies are doing anything. Even the wallflowers seem to have forgotten the 'flower' part of their name.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

The farm pictures are really atmospheric, particularly the first one, which reminds me of farms in North Yorkshire, although the size of the stones is different. Yours look like they might be some sort of shale type stone?
And I *love* the Wombat car sticker. That is brilliant!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They are very similar to the North Yorkshire buildings aren't they? And yes, I think you are right about them being a more shale-like stone.

The wombat car sticker was really the ideal present.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

I love your tea plate - goes beautifully with the scone!

I am hopeful I'll be at WriterCon, but with the job uncertainty I'm not sure... :(

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I have an assortment of pretty cake plates from my Mum - all odds and ends apart from one set of six- but they are the least pretty ones, so the totally unmatched ones get more use.

I do hope that you can come to Coventry - although I can understand why you might not.

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

Love that door and the gate. A lot of cottages had horseshoes on them where I grew up (rural Oxfordshire.)

Your husband puts a good question. I always try to find fanfics where Boromir and Faramir look and act like book!Boromir and Faramir. They're not common.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

When I was a child a lot of the farm buildings here had horseshoes too - it only really occurred to me recently, when spotting one, that they are so much rarer now - but then so are the horses, so I suppose it's not that surprising.

I have a feeling that, given time, my husband will come up with some perfectly good reason for Faramir to sound like a member of the home counties upper middle classes whilst Boromir is a
Sheffield blade... it will doubtless turn up as a drabble at Faerie if he does!

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

Totally cool indeed.

What glorious photos. I can't make up my mind which is my favourite. I loved the pansies, and then I saw the sunset, and the photos of Ballakilmartin are making me want to visit your beautiful island.

As for the scones with the brandy butter on top they are most definitely making my mouth water. LOL

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was a fairly nice day when I took the pictures of Ballakilmartin - but somehow everything looks dark all winter. It would look even nicer in summer...

I like making scones - they are one of those quick, easy, comfort foods.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Your photos are always such a joy but I think you've surpassed yourself this time! I particularly like the barns and the doorway. Too many of ours have been turned into houses but they're just not the same.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Quite a lot of ours have been turned into houses too. But the elderly farmer has lived here for many years - and although someone else now uses the outbuildings and works the land, the farm is still completely intact.

Mind you, to be honest, the actual house would benefit from a bit of updating, I think! But somehow it seemed a bit impolite to take pictures of it, even though the footpath does go right behind the back door.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

The scones on that pretty plate make for such a pretty picture. I'd love to try one!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I do like a pretty tea plate - although I have a good selection of odd ones, rather than a set. Such a shame we can't e-mail scones.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I'm a week behind but these are lovely! That farm looks so picturesque. And personally, I like the lens flare on the sunset photo. I've actually experimented with different camera angles to see what sort of lens flare I can produce... but then I'm a little weird that way. LOL

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I love the look of old farm buildings, too - but many are being tidied up and converted into houses so they are getting rarer.

I have to say I am not a great enthusiast for the camera flare - but it doesn't bother me, either.