Black forest

I've always been a stargazer

In the beginning of May I went to the country, and of course I couldn't miss the chance to look at the stars. I'm not a pro in star photography - you can't set too high ISO sensitivity, as it would cause tons of noise, and if you have a long exposure (longer than 30 seconds), it would cause some blurring, as the Earth's rotation makes the stars seem to move. Of course, one may take interesting photographs, setting a very long exposure (hours), but that wasn't my goal. But still, here's my result.

The well-known part of the Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and a pair of stars from Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs) - Cor Caroli (Charles' Heart) and β Canes Venatici (Chara), forming a "southern dog" together.

Roll over to see two constellations.

Abyssanctum – La Mort de Gabrielle

She wears a shadow

I'm sorry I'm not updating this blog regularly..

Viva! - She Wears a Shadow

Our little adventures

I've decided to post some digital photos I've made this summer, when me and my friend went for a spontaneous night walk to "the island". I call it so, but actually it's a pond which was constructed in the 17th century around a piece of land, "the island". There's a church and some tennis courts and playgrounds there, which are rarely used and look quite abandoned and unmanaged.

The weather was quite cold that night, but we went there anyway. It was a little scary, but exciting, we laid down on our backs, on the grass, and stared at the sky, and then went around the whole park. The thing is, one part of it is well lit, and another is completely dark, the road goes under the trees, there were some little ponds, fallen branches and plenty of dirt on it, so first we decided to climb up onto the football field, which borders the road. I thought we could go across it and exit through the gate, which turned out to be closed. We heard some stray dogs barking somewhere behind us, and it was the scary part. I'm not afraid of dogs in general, but those could be protecting their territory.

So we had to brace ourselves and go back, giggling nervously and making jokes about this weird adventure. Soon we got back on that road, very dark, so we couldn't see a thing. I've turned on the flash on my mobile, and we walked very fast, with this jumping light guiding us.. The adrenaline spiked again, but it was a good feeling, because sometimes a little bit of shaking up is needed. Finally, we got back to where we entered - the bridge across the pond (the second, leading to the football field, was on the other side), and rushed home.

Waiting for the snow

This autumn I've discovered IKEA's lingonberry concentrate (basically it's just juice preserved with sugar). They suggest mixing it with water, but I've been adding a little to my usual black tea, and it's perfect for it - a little sour, but not too much, with nice berry touch. I've ran out of it already, I wish IKEA wasn't that far away from me. You can see the bootle in the background.
I've collected some maple leaves again, to dry them between the pages of big books. Wish they've stayed that bright as they once were.

Under this weather

It feels like I'm slipping into winter hibernation.. It's been snowing already in the end of October, and though everything melted down, the weather is cold, most of the time it's cloudy. Sometimes it rains, and I feel drowsy, so I turn the light on even during the day, trying to get away from this dullness outside. It always feels like winter came too early, but perhaps I just don't remember which time it starts usually. It's just sad to think that there are at least four months of grey, cold and depressing weather.

I just want to hole up in a warm blanket on my couch, watching movies, drinking tea and dreaming, without feeling lonely and sad.

Dogs and socks

My dog often sleeps with his tongue stuck out, and that looks ridiculous!

Lately I've been into sock knitting, at first it wasn't easy, as I wasn't familiar with all techniques and didn't have a proper "strategy" for a good sock, but I think I've finally managed to find a good formula and nice yarn. Maybe I should put some on etsy, hah. Another view is here.

On film and in my memory

I've decided to post slightly larger pictures from now on. I won't reupload previous ones (or maybe I will!), but I'll stick to this new size in the future. I don't really like those "click to enlarge" things, and I'm also lazy to upload pictures in two sizes, along with not trusting built-in resize mechanisms.

These two photographs are from Barcelona. I haven't been taking much pictures since September started, so I browse through those I've taken this summer.

It's always a little sad to think about those days, when I traveled and walked in a light dress, now that it's raining heavily outside, and trees are losing their leaves.

From twilight to night