quadrille – Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey

Haibun: Strengthening Connections

two whippets in winter jackets on tidal sands beside a rock

A music of wind and waves we would never have known weaves her magic through delicate times. An invisible urge helps us connect at a deeper level, with ourselves, our fellow humans, all living creatures.

slowing down
the earth can breathe again
listen, listen

two whippets in winter jackets sniffing a rock on the beach

Wishing you all a very happy Tuesday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/4.5 – 1/800 s – ISO 200 and f/4 – 1/1600 s – ISO 200.

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Connect

dVerse Poets Quadrille #100: Abracadabra – Where’s My Magic Wand?

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Delicate

Haibun: Shimmy on the Shore

a black whippet in a winter jacket leaping across the beach

The early morning breeze is invigorating, the surf behind us roars. Eivor and Pearl shimmy between scattered seaweed, branches peeled from drifting trees. Seagulls are feasting on crabs, before the curlew get here.

the camera clicks
a sea too wild for fishing
winter memories

close up shot of a black whippet in a winter jacket in full sprint on the beach

Wishing you all a very happy Tuesday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 -1/200 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/1600 s – ISO 100 and f/2.8 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100.

Sunday Stills: Early to Rise

dVerse Quadrille #98: Peelings – Nothing More …

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Freestyle

Quadrille: Day-Moon Glow

a blue and white whippet walking across a sandbar, sniffing the ground

In our blue sky the day moon glows, while the sun rises
she spreads her hands in tidal flows and nature’s sweet surprises

we walk on in gratitude for all the love she shows
seals cast us a knowing glance, grace in gentle guises.

a common seal swimming in the tidal flow, looking slightly past us

This quadrille is also a ruba’i, a form of Persian poetry, usually written as two couplets or a quatrain with a rhyme scheme of aaaa or aaba and thirteen syllables per line. Because of the 44-word limit of the quadrille I’ve slightly bent the rules for the ruba’i. You can find an earlier example of a ruba’i in One More Glance, a poem that also features in Between Heather and Grass.

Wishing you all a beautiful Tuesday,

with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100 and f/6.5 – 1/160 s – ISO 160.

dVerse Poets: There’s a Shine to the Season

Your Daily Word Prompt: Precious

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Common

Quadrille: All That Glitters

a smiling blue and white whippet and a smiling black whippet striding out across the tidal sands

this summer blessed with sun
we walked ten miles and talked
of shorelines and geology
beyond amazed what has become
our tidal land, plucked from
desert, sea and glacier
we’re grateful time has brought us near
our gentle surf and all that glitters here

close up shot of a smiling blue and white whippet and a smiling black whippet striding out across the tidal sands

Thank you for all your good wishes before we went on our Summer break, it’s lovely to be back!

The poem above links to the Cove Bay series we posted during the week before our holiday.

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 100.

dVerse Poets: Quadrille #83 & 8th Anniversary

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Gratitude

Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in July (Yr 4) – bichrome, refulgent

Haibun: Parallels

Glen Affric

upturned tree roots in forest look like a figure in brown velvet walking, trompe l'oeil

The upturned roots look like a figure walking, cloaked in brown velvet from another time. A snail’s slick silver lines awaken our curiosity. We follow a ribbon of moonlight between lichen and moss.

an eagle calls
whose star greets the sky
in these moments

two whippets in black winter jackets sniffing the moss underneath a Douglas fir tree on a forest trail

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/125 s – ISO 250 and f/3.2 – 1/60 s – ISO 160.

Kate’s Friday Foto Fun: Mythical

dVerse Poets Quadrille #79: Up with Poems, People

Twiglet #125: A Snail’s Slick

Haibun: Mountain Layers

a blue whippet in a black winter jacket climbing a mountain with snow fields in the background

We tiptoe through layers of grass, brown heather and stone. The mountain’s steady pulse becomes our anchor with the wind whirling around her boulders. We can rest here. We can sip from the rising spring.

sunlight swims
between the melting snow fields
this wildness

two whippets in black winter jackets climbing a mountain trail

landscape shot of a mountain trail leading towards a corrie with snow fields near the peaks

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/3.2 – 1/1600 s – ISO 160 and f/4.5 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160.

dVerse Poets Quadrille #74: Sip

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Layer

Haibun: Waiting for Rain

Cairngorms National Park

blue whippet in purple harness by Lochan Deo

In early June clouds float across Lochan Deo, the water slightly receding after an un-seasonable warm week. Today, clouds only float in sky. The loch is dry, earth lies parched between stones, curved driftwood.

still waiting
the pine and heather
for rain to fall

Lochan Deo in August without water

The top photograph was taken at the beginning of June (at the start of the heatwave) and the second photograph was taken last week. We have had a little rain since and are hoping for more.

Wishing you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful new week!

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/4, 1/320 s, ISO 100 and f/4, 1/1000 s, ISO 200.

dVerse Poets Quadrille #63: Feel the Earth Move