Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey
A journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera
hoarfrost
the light searches
for souvenirs
near seaweed and shaded sands
where thin ice lingers
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/5 – 1/100 s – ISO 200, f/4 – 1/250 s – ISO 200 and f/2.8 – 1/200 s – ISO 100.
Tanka Thursday: Search
PI Poetry Prompt: Thin Ice
Word of the Day Challenge: Tenderness
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/4 – 1/640 s – ISO 200, f/4.5 – 1/320 s – ISO 200 and f/5 – 1/60 s – ISO 250.
Word of the Day Challenge: Dazzling
silver frost
dogs pick up the scent
of a new day
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a blessed Monday and a peaceful week ahead,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/2.8 – 1/1000 s – ISO 160, f/2.8 – 1/800 s – ISO 160 and f/4 – 1/800 s – ISO 125.
Word of the Day Challenge: Picking
on the hills
a blanket of snow
with a pure heart
we look forward to tomorrow
and better days to come
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a blessed Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160 and f/4 – 1/1000 s – ISO 160.
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Blanket
Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160 and f/2.8 – 1/1600 s – ISO 100.
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Lineament
clams and mussels
a beach abundant with gifts
for the new year
© Xenia Tran
We hope you all had a lovely Hogmanay, even though it would have been a bit different.
The traditional Hogmanay Ceilidh on BBC Alba was also different, with the singers and musicians linking up remotely rather than playing together in one venue.
Below is a video of one of those performances, which has a magic all of its own and unique for these times:
We wish you all a blessed and abundant New Year!
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.2 – 1/125 s – ISO 125, f/4 – 1/250 s – ISO 160 and f/3.2 – 1/80 s – ISO 125.
Frank J Tassone’s Weekly Haikai Challenge #171: New Year’ Day
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Galavant
The mild Winter that began in 2019 continues into 2020 and we go hiking in other parts of the Highlands and Perthshire to make the most of the ice-free roads. Waves of Gratitude, Love at First Sight and Windows of the Soul become the most popular posts in this period and reflect some of these unexpected journeys.
News of the pandemic begins to filter through and on 23 March the country goes into lockdown. We can only go out once a day for exercise, all non-essential shops and services are closed. Many people begin to hoard and panic-buy, leaving the rest of us without essentials.
village store
the parrot tells us
there’s no bread
© Xenia Tran
(Bundled Wildflowers, Haiku Society of America 2020 Anthology)
Spring still has a few cold days before the temperatures rise. Our most popular posts of the season are Spirit Mountain, Pink Moon Rising and Circles and Spirals.
Without traffic and tourists, our air, our beaches, river and sea become cleaner than we’ve ever seen them before. The birds and wildlife are rejoicing. It is truly amazing to see nature bounce back as soon as humans retreat.
shaded meadow
a range of flowers
surrounds our nest
the lockdown gives us time
to see each other clearly
© Xenia Tran
(Ribbons, Spring/Summer , Volume 16 Number 2)
At the beginning of July our travel restrictions are lifted and we venture out for the first time in four months, avoiding all the tourist hot spots. Because it is crowded in the places we would love to visit we continue to spend most of our time close to home.
I learn how to make videos and include these with our new Look Inside and Shopping features for Sharing Our Horizon and Between Heather and Grass.
Trust, Buck Moon and Memories in Motion are the most popular posts in Summer.
We donated dog food, dog bowls and other items on the Wish-List to DOTS (Dogs on the Streets) with the proceeds from Sharing Our Horizon and made donations to Dogs Trust and Children with Cancer UK with proceeds from Between Heather and Grass. A huge thank you to all of you who buy and read our books!
Autumn begins with sunny, mild weather and glorious trails for walking. Aureate becomes our most popular Autumn post and the most popular post of the year, closely followed by Chosen Route and Daydream.
Through an unusual sequence of online encounters I meet someone who turns out to be a distant relative. He is able to fill me in about part of my ancestral history. Another contact provides me with old film footage that features them and the village they grew up in.
all souls’ night
my great-grandparents
play in the snow
© Xenia Tran
(Autumn-Moon Haiku Journal, Volume 4:1, Autumn-Winter 2020-2021)
As Winter arrives we look back at an unusual year. We lost people from our haiku community and our local community, many local businesses struggled to survive. At the same time nature and wildlife were thriving.
the air so clean
in our lockdown days
a healing
pulsing through the stars at night
where earthlight weeps and breaks
© Xenia Tran
(Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2020, Volume 16, Number 2)
We got used to new ways of working, walking, shopping and interacting with each other. We wear our masks and keep our distance.
two metres apart
no one walks between our words
on the pavement
© Xenia Tran
(Haiku Dialogue: Connection with Others, Troutswirl, 25 November 2020)
With so many people now working from home, adoptions from animal shelters increased. It was lovely to see so many dogs and cats from shelters we support find their loving forever homes and we hope this is a trend that will continue.
If you are thinking about getting a dog or a cat, please consider adoption as your first option. Please consider adopting an older pet too if you can. We have done this several times and it is very rewarding.
his grey hair
full of sunlight
the sea retreats
© Xenia Tran
(The Bamboo Hut, Number 4, 2020)
We want to thank all our readers and followers for your support and inspiration this year. We had more time to write and there was a lot to write about.
Feel free to browse the monthly archives for posts about the support within our community, a tribute to a poet lost early in the pandemic, the Hope project and many more moments that made this year so special.
Thank you to all the editors and publishers who featured my work in journals, anthologies and special features.
Huge thanks to Eve, Frank, Kristjaan, Misky, Ronovan and the team at dVerse Poets for a great variety of poetry prompts, to Becca, Sheryl, Kristian, Brian, Christine, Emily, Heather, Katherine, Ping, Punam and Tracy for your wonderful writing prompts and to Cee, Jez, Paula, Sue & Gerry, Cathy, Terri, Amy, Ann-Christine, Patti & Tina for your fabulous photographic prompts throughout the year.
A big thank you to all the healthcare workers and people who kept us fed and cared for during the pandemic.
We wish you all a blessed, happy, healthy and creative New Year!
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia.
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Your Daily Word Prompt: Tidings
Word of the Day Challenge: Wishes
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #129: Favorite Images of 2020
We are taking a short blogging break for the holidays and will return on Wednesday 30 December.
Wishing you all a peaceful week ahead and those of you who celebrate a blessed Christmas,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/4 – 1/50 s – ISO 200, f/4 – 1/40 s – ISO 200 and f/4 – 1/100 s – ISO 200.
Word of the Day Challenge: Jingle
distant bells
a welcome comfort
from the cosmos
inside out
on solstice day
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a blessed Winter Solstice,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #56
Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge #337: Open & Solace (Welcome & Comfort)
Word of the Day Challenge: Bells
driftwood
dogs read and sniff
each message
left by sun and cloud
in morning’s frost-laced blanket
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a blessed rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.2 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100, f/4 – 1/320 s – ISO 100 and f/3.2 – 1/800 s – ISO 100.
Tanka Thursday: Blanket
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Rustic Simplicity
