Discarded

I walked up the hill at teatime again, and photographed the clouds, which were interestingly varied. The hillside was already in shadow, but it felt good just to be out in the air and looking at things. I came back down through the fields, and just as I reached the gap in the hedgerow through which I return to the lane, I saw this heap of dry artichoke heads on an unofficial compost heap - someone living across the lane has been tipping grass cuttings down the bank for a while, and has now added their autumn tidying up. If these were mine, I would have left them to enjoy through the winter and photographed them on frosty mornings, but many of my neighbours prefer much neater gardens. The varied textures and tones were beautiful, with the fluffy down gleaming in the low light. 

We all had our Covid booster and flu vaccinations this morning, so sore arms all round and P and J are both feeling rather unwell, as they have after each round of vaccinations; I'm fortunate to be relatively unaffected.

I've just discovered this is my 1000th blip. I had lost track a bit - and the numbers will shift when I get round to uploading three or four days' photos from the summer which I didn't get round to sharing. The year end will feel like a more important milestone to me, but it's lovely still to be following a number of the people who started alongside me around New Year 2021 as well as other more established or newer blippers. I started taking daily photos almost three years ago, in late October 2020, with a trial run on Instagram to see if I could manage something every day before signing up to a 365 project. Daily photography has helped me through a long period of reclusive life at home, from the start of the pandemic in 2020 to the present, as we continue to protect J by limiting contacts and avoiding indoor spaces. It's encouraged me to try to live mindfully in the present, to get outdoors for at least a few minutes every day, even if, as so often, it's just to photograph the weeds in the garden (or other people's compost heaps!), and to notice and be grateful for my beautiful surroundings here in the North Downs. It's also given me this friendly and supportive online community to interact with, and although I don't do so as much as I would like, I enjoy and value the windows into other lives and places, the beautiful images and the everyday stories.