Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey
A journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera
Cairngorms National Park
at peace
celestial voices
crossing water
their talk of pine-clad mountains
streams into my heart
© Xenia Tran
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/640 s – ISO 100 and f/4.5 – 1/1600 s – ISO 160.
Twiglet #121: Voices Crossing Water
Paula’s Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in April Y4 (resplendent, alluring)
the blue
of a fuller day
fills the sky
spirits from another time
edge dreams of new tomorrows
© Xenia Tran
For those of you who read last month’s post Helping the Hounds of Macau we are delighted that the last remaining greyhounds have left the Canidrome on 26th March and have safely arrived in their adoptive countries. We are especially happy to see that the older greyhounds, including 13-year old Astrid, have made it and are now settled in their forever homes.
It makes us very happy to know they have comfortable beds and are being loved and cared for in a way every dog deserves to be loved and cared for.
A very big thank you again to Anima, GREY2K USA and Pet Levrieri for making this possible and to all the greyhound charities in Europe and the USA who have taken the greyhounds in and provided them with veterinary care, loving foster homes and forever homes.
You can see updates on how the rescued dogs are settling into their new lives at the new public page The Macau Greyhounds – Happy at Last
A very big thank you to all of you who kindly shared the information and helped spread the word.
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160, f/2.8 – 1/1600 s – ISO 160 and f/2.8 – 1/2000 s – ISO 100.
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: Getting Your Ducks in a Row
waves leave
a voice from the forest
the path of a tree
oh what would it be like
to make this journey
© Xenia Tran
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.2 – 1/640 s – ISO 100 and f/3.2 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100.
Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge #244: Sound & Motion
new steps
every pilgrimage
a season
grateful that our souls should meet
the radiance of love
© Xenia Tran
We are celebrating Eivor’s Gotcha Day today and are so grateful we found each other in this life. Thank you for all the love and for helping us see the world through your eyes.
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.2 – 1/2000 s – ISO 100, f/3.2 – 1/2000 s – ISO 160 and f/4 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160.
Carpe Diem #1621: Kumano Kodo … Nakahechi Route
frozen puddles
winds flock in the sky
the hawk’s eye
oh to see so many worlds
weaving through the trees
© Xenia Tran
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/800 s – ISO 100 and f/2.8 – 1/1600 s – ISO 160.
Carpe Diem #1595: Hawk (taka)
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Camouflage
winter moon
reflected in waterfalls
her spirit
familiar and soothing
beyond her sweep of sky
© Xenia Tran
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.5, 1/30 s, ISO 200 and f/3.5, 1/100 s, ISO 200.
Carpe Diem #1580: Moonlight
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: The Great Outdoors
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Partner
As we near the end of 2018 we are reflecting on a very special year, both in terms of gratitude for the people we have known and lost, and in gratitude for the love of those who are still with us.
The first months of the year were colder than normal and even the beaches saw ice and snow. Eivor and Pearl enjoyed running in the snow and were happy to snuggle up in front of the fire when we returned home.
On a relatively mild day near the end of January I wrote ‘When Nature Gives us Poems‘, a poem that became the most popular post created on this blog during 2018. An edited version of the poem appears in our book, ‘Sharing Our Horizon‘, alongside the photograph of the cormorant and seals you can see in the collage above.
Our Spring was warm, in so many ways. It was lovely to walk in the hills and mountains again, breathe in the scent of pine. The beaches were still empty, with plenty of time to run and play or pause to meditate, enjoy the silence.
‘Happy Place‘ became our most popular post in the Spring. Little did I know when I created the post, what a happy place it turned out to be. The cold Winter had just left us and the long-lasting heatwave of Summer was still a month or so away.
Our Summer was the hottest we have ever experienced since moving to the Highlands. The heatwave saw wide open beaches with a sea that was retreating further and further away. The rivers were running low, some of the lochs ran dry. There were many forest fires. We found our shade in the forests of the North, a few rivers still sparkling with water. We saw salmon leap. We saw Eivor leap. ‘Toys‘ became one of the most popular posts in the Summer.
We were blessed with the most beautiful Autumn colours along the shores, in the forests and in the mountains. Early October also saw the publication of ‘Sharing Our Horizon‘, our first collection of poems and photographs especially created to help raise funds for animal rehoming shelters. Our post ‘Our Book is Here‘ was the most popular post we created during the Autumn months and the second most popular post created on our blog during 2018. A very big thank you to everyone who helped to share the news, bought the book and posted a review.
Autumn also saw a very powerful Hunter’s Moon, sparkling in a clear night sky. When we walked towards the beach the following morning it looked like a ‘Moonscape‘.
Our new Winter has just begun. We enjoyed a mild Christmas with family and friends and look forward to what the new year has in store.
A big thank you to all our followers and blogging friends for your love and support during the year.
May your New Year be filled with peace and blessings.
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
For our first annual review on our sister blog Tranature please click here.
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #25: Reflections
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #26: Photographic Review of 2018
Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Cold and Warm
