My traisping around the local cemetery is well documented on this blog (promise I’m not a goth. Not anymore).
It’s Victorian and not used any more but is beautifully overgrown and maintained in its ramshackle condition as a historic and beautiful site in its own right.
Amongst the dilapidated grave stones (so many stories we’ll never know) nature thrives and flourishes like nowhere else I’ve seen in a city. There was a mound of heather covered in at least 100 tiny butterflies and the noise of the crickets/grasshoppers was constant. There were bees and weird insects of every shape and size. Squirrels, Jays, magpies and so many other birds. We saw a squirrel and have heard tale of deer living deep, deep in the undergrowth.
Photos taken with Polaroid SX-70 + 600 film + ND filter
I like to hang around graveyards; spooky, derilct Victorian ones, full of hidden paths, secret tombs and overgrown ivy. I was a bit of a goth during my teenage years, that must be why.
Polaroid SX-70 + 600 film + ND filter on film pack
Canon 40d + 85mm f/1.8 lens
In other news, we had an unexpected vistor to the garden on Sunday. A very friendly racing pigeon who decided he needed a break on his flight back to Cheltenham (from goodness knows where – I googled his number). It was strange being able to get so close to a bird, but so sweet to have him eat food from our hands. After eating, drinking and having a little nap he decided to continue on his way – I hope he got home OK!
Canon 40d + 85mm f/1.8 lens
I have a whole of the year in front of me and I’m determined to make the most of it – find the value in the small things and take some bigger steps, too.
Yesterday was a very Sunday-ish day, which is not surprising at all as it was, in fact, Sunday. The highlight was being outdoors in good weather and natural daylight! It has been many, many days since this has happened so I grabbed the opportunity (and a camera) (oh, and the hubster) and went for a peaceful stroll around Southampton Common.
You’ll know by now if you’ve been reading this blog that I have a morbid fascination for rundown victorian cementries, so that’s where I headed for first. It’s a huge place with all sorts of hidden alleyways and overgrown mysterious corners.
Then we went to feed the ducks my left over homemade bread (no, they didn’t sink afterwards). And look at these sleeping swans – how dreamy!
Berries are everywhere at the moment and lend themselves perfectly to a wide open lens (which I am officially still deeply in love with and haven’t yet removed from my camera).
All this was finished off with a roast chicken. I LOVE roast chicken. It’s the ultimate in convenience yet gives the impression of sweat-inducing kitchen-slavery – just whack it in oven and eat with some VERY good french bread, butter and tomatoes. Yum.
To finish it all off was a brand new Doctor Who. Everyone knows this should be shown on a Saturday teatime really, it’s traditional, but that’s ok, it was still pretty cool. I’m going to miss David Tennant gurning his way through a stream of end-of-the-world adventures. Change is good though – bring it on!
Poor hubster. Bank holiday weekend and the promise of a funfair on Southampton Common – it’s been advertised all over town for weeks – come to the fair! We got there yesterday morning (early for literally the first time ever in our lives) and it was all closed up! Not the hint of a candy-floss or a bumper-car for at least four hours. So, my solution… a wander round the Victorian cemetry which is just next door! Could anything be more the polar opposite of a funfair than this? It’s a good job we picked up our NEW CAR today, I think this may have saved me from the divorce courts (yet again). Phew!
Southampton Old Cemetry – Polaroid SX-70
