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.

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

Don't hide from the wind

I guess I have a thing for various bikes..

And I miss rainy days

July has come to its end, and there is only month of summer left. I miss rainstorms, it's too hot in the city, and I spend a lot of time at home, where I can at least turn the air conditioner on. I guess my little trees (an oak and several firs) aren't happy, either. I've been planning a large trip for August, and I hope that everything will happen as I want, but right now I feel a little ill and also I have a headache, and all my future plans don't seem so bright..

Barcelona, pt. II

I've finally decided to post the rest of the mobile photos from my Barcelona trip. Tottaly forgot about the rest, shame on me..

All those amazing bakeries around the city - I enjoyed baguettes, croissants, pies, sandwiches and other tasty things!

A beautiful romantic square in the middle of the Old city - the light was perfect, coming through the leaves of big acacias, and the the wind blew and the petals started falling down, like a snow. Oh.

Barcelona, pt. I

I've had a little trip to Barcelona not so long ago (18-26 of June). I went there almost right after my birthday. I wouldn't say that it's the best place I've ever been to, but there were interesting places and people worth knowing. I've shot two and a half rolls of film there - not much, but at least something. I haven't developed and scanned them yet, so I thought I'd share some snapshots from my mobile (it's becomes a tradition - first time was with Saint-Petersburg).

I've had a connecting flight to Barcelona, with a short stop at Munich.
This man was sitting in the street with this wonderful musical box, ingenious and charming.

Dreams burn down

L'ombres de l'eau

Aime-moi comme je suis

St. Petersburg, pt. II

Here is the second part of St. Petersburg mobile snapshots.

There's more about this beautiful building here.

St. Petersburg, pt. I

I'm not a good blogger. Also, I'm not very good at writing, so I'd better just post some photographs.

I've been to St.Petersburg for three weeks, from March 18th to April 7th. I thought I'd go just for a few days, so I didn't have much stuff with me, including cameras. So, these were taking with my mobile phone, forgive me.

The weather was changing from sunny to snow all the time.

It's about uncertainty

The weather is so unsteady today - it was sunny when I went out in the afternoon, then I spent 20 minutes in the underground to get to the center, and when I got to the surface, it was snowing already. I nearly ran to the hairdresser's to meet my friend (partly because I was late, but mostly because freezing cold wind was getting under my coat, making me shiver). As I was sitting there, the sun hid and showed several times.

I got a haircut and some color refreshment after my friends, he waited for me and after all manipulations were done, we went to a café. It was nice to be with someone, once in a while. I'm not a very social person, and I spend most of my time with myself, but sometimes I crave some company and a little chat.

When I got home in the evening and went for a walk with our dog, the sky almost cleared out again, and I could even see the stars among the clouds, especially Capella in the west, which was amazingly bright today (it's the third brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere).

It's still chilly, but I feel the spring - it's not only in the calendar, but also in the wind, in birds' chirping and all those little details one can't help but notice, if has at least some attention to the surroundings.

A photograph from July 2011

Spring has come

I've been neglecting this blog for such a long time I'm almost angry with myself. At least, I could be posting some everyday pictures, if not writing text entries. But I really hope to change this and update it at least once a week.

Spring has finally come here, but it didn't bring the warmth and flower blossoms right away, as usual, we'll have to wait until April, when everything starts to melt and trees cover in little leaves. The only thing I don't like about this period is that it's too short - one day you're walking down the street and look at those ugly piles of dirty snow lying in shadows, and two weeks after everything is covered with grass and fresh leaves that grow so fast, too fast even.. And then it's summer, and I'm already thinking about its end, like in that Doors' song, "summer's almost gone".. I don't know why, but it always seems to be so much shorter than winter. Maybe, because nights are shorter and all those days flow and roll towards August, when those leaves begin to lose their fresh color and slowly wither, and it's already a shadow of an approaching autumn.

Meanwhile, there are little trees growing on my windowsill. I'd bed them out in a forest or somewhere around our summer cottage, when they become stronger.

Sunlight is a rare guest

Last golden day