Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Distance

I didn’t know if I would find a photo for Hugh’s Weekly Photo prompt- distance – but it’s strange how sometimes distant things can literally be on your doorstep. Yesterday a flower peeped out from above me as I walked home from work. I saw a tempting triangle of sky – a promise of a mysterious place beyond it to explore. This little piece of sky is my distance shot, it leads to the river pathway that exists in my novel The Curse of Time, which is currently with beta readers awaiting critique. So distance can sometimes refer to something within your grasp which still seems far away like my intention to publish. Both that piece of sky and my goals are a step away but if I try really hard, and believe in myself I will get there!

In Hugh’s words: For this week’s photo challenge take or choose a photo that shows an object that is in the distance. Maybe it’s a building or a wonderful view that contains an interesting object or scene that, although it is in the distance, shows up really well in the photo? Maybe you can spot where you are headed to from a plane or train and you’ve managed to capture it?

Want to join the fun? Here’s what you need to do.

1. Take or choose a photo that you’ve taken which defines Distance.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Week 26 – ‘Distance’
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to this post or leave a link to your post in the comments section so other participants can view the post.

Not sure how to create a pingback? Click here for a step by step guide on how to create one.

Do pop over to Hugh’s blog to join in the challenge: Hugh’s Photography Challenge: Distance

Hope you like my distance shot. Have a lovely week…

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My fun (totally not serious but nevertheless 90% true,) author bio on Wattpad – Link below.

Marjorie Mallon was born in Lion City: Singapore. She grew up in a mountainous court in Hong Kong. Her crazy parents dragged her spotty soul away from her exotic childhood and her much loved dog Topsy to the frozen wastelands of Scotland. There she mastered Scottish country dancing, haggis bashing, bagpipe playing and a whole new Och Aye lingo.
As a teenager she travelled to many far flung destinations to visit her abacus wielding wayfarer dad. On one such occasion a barracuda swam by. It stopped to view her bikini clad body, longing to take a big bite. With dogs' fangs replacing barracudas' teeth, she returned to her mother's birthplace: Kuching, Cat City. There, Blackie, a black-hearted dog sniffed her frightened butt, whimpered and ran away! Shortly after this extraordinary event an angry female Orang-Utan chased her unfit ass out of the Malaysian jungle believing that she was a threat to her babies! She still monkeys about, would love to own a cat, or a replacement Topsy but refuses to entertain murderous dogs, or over-protective monkeys.
It's rumoured that she lives in the Venice of Cambridge, with her six foot hunk of a Rock God husband, and her two enchanted daughters.
After such an upbringing her author's mind has taken total leave of its senses. When she's not writing, she eats exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surfs to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out she practises Tai Chi and Yoga on the crest of a wave. If the mood takes her she goes snorkelling with mermaids, or signs up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.

She is a child of the light and the dark. Her motto is simply this: Do what you love, stay true to your heart's desires, remain young at heart, and inspire others to do so, even if it appears that the odds are stacked like black hearted shadows against you...

My Links:

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May 24, 2016 12

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude

This is my photo for Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge – the theme this week is Solitude.

It is of Brighton beach – I took it ages ago when I went there with my hubby for a weekend away. So I wasn’t alone, but the beach was pretty deserted. Just me and my man! This photo really captured a moment of solitude to me, as I stared out to the ocean and surrendered my thoughts to the power of the sea. It is never to be taken for granted, the sea is a mighty force, even on Brighton seafront!

If I had to be alone anywhere it would be beside the sea.

To join in with Hugh’s challenge follow the link:

http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/04/05/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-20-solitude/

On Saturday I will be featuring Brighton in my #WeekendCoffeeShare post so do keep an eye out for that…….

Also I’d like to mention that the first few chapters of my novel, The Curse of Time are now on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/67166165-the-curse-of-time

Thanks to everyone who has visited me on Wattpad and tweeted about it, I really do appreciate it.

Before I go I’d just like to ask: Do you love the sea too? Do you have a favourite seaside town? Happiest beach memory?

Bye for now,

https://www.instagram.com/kyrosmagica/

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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April 8, 2016 25

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge – Gap

This silver dude who I came across in Covent Garden seemed like the obvious choice for Hugh’s Challenge this week which was to – “take a photo of a gap. It could be a gap between two buildings or maybe that gap in your garden fence. Maybe there’s a gap that your pet dog squeezes through or a gap that a child has between two of their teeth.”

Well he certainly can hold his own in a gap, no doubt about that one! Quite amazing perhaps he’s blessed with a silver sliver of magic….

Want to join the fun? Here’s what you need to do.

1. Take or choose a photo that you’ve taken which shows a gap in it.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Week 19 – “Gap”
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to this post or leave a link to your post in the comments section below so that other participants can view the post.

Do pop over to Hugh’s blog : http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/03/29/hughs-weekly-photography-challenge-week-19-gap/

Hope you liked those amazing silver gaps of wonderment!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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April 1, 2016 10

Thursday Doors: The Fitzwilliam Museum

Today I’m opening a new door so to speak and having a go at Norm’s Thursday Doors #ThursdayDoors which ‘ is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time), by using the blue link-up button on Norm’s blog:

https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/thursday-doors-march-31-2016/

This week Norm is doing a special Anniversary addition with two parts:

Special Anniversary Edition – Church of the Holy Trinity (Part 1) – Toronto and the second part is by his blog buddy Joanne Sisco over at My Life Lived Full. So do pop over to their Norm and Joanne’s blog to find out more.

I’ve been meaning to do this post for ages and I’ve had just the door in mind.

It’s the magnificent entrance door to The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge:

I’ll think that you’ll agree that’s a pretty striking door.

I went there just recently with my eldest daughter to go to see The Death on the Nile Exhibition and indulged in a very fine Chelsea Bun just before the museum visit – in Fitzbillies Cafe, more about that scrumptious delight here:

Chelsea bun heaven: https://mjmallon.com/2016/03/24/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-18-sweet/

I’m looking forward to walking through the magical portal of the Fitwilliam Museum again soon http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/– I’m stewarding for one of the Cambridge Literary Festival events there during the Spring Festival this April. I’m looking forward to taking part in this – I’ve never been a steward before – I’ve been to many book festivals but never as a helper. So that should be interesting. The event is ‘A very special event to celebrate the life of feminist trailblazer and literary visionary, Charlotte Brontë who was born 200 years ago this April. Claire Harman joins us to discuss her acclaimed biography, Charlotte Brontë: A Life. Audience members can also enjoy a display of Charlotte Brontë’s personal letters from 1845 to her death in 1855 and cover the period during which Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette were published, as well as her marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854.’

As well as this I’m stewarding at a couple of other events at the Festival so no doubt there will be more about that later on my blog. Do check out the following link to the festival: http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/

Doors hold such fascinating potential…. In fact I’ve opened a new door just recently on Wattpad. The prologue and the first few chapters of my novel The Curse of Time are now on Wattpad so do click on the links to find out more. Please feel free to comment, add feedback, share, I would really appreciate it.

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/67166165-the-curse-of-time

Bye for now.

I’ve been a busy bee today, trying to catch up on the daily grind… cleaning really is a curse!

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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March 31, 2016 17

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge week 13 Love

What do I love? The answer lies in so many directions that I am almost staggered wondering what to post. I love my family, my hubby, my friends, writing, blogging, books, crying… wait a minute I said crying. What? I mean to say that I love books that stir the emotions, make me cry, get me reflecting….

I just finished one such book, boy did it make me cry, Me Before You By Jojo Moyes.

So I love all sorts of things. But one of my great loves is my old home town of Edinburgh. I just love visiting Edinburgh lapping up all that this great city has to offer.

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog you might have seen my posts about Edinburgh. So surprise surprise my photo this week is something I came across whilst in Edinburgh this half term. I found it in a place that I have many fond memories of. The photo was taken in The Botanic Gardens, right outside an art gallery. Yes, I’m kind of partial to them too…

I don’t know quite what it was about this particular statue that grabbed my attention, but whatever it was it gripped me. It might have been her tummy, I have one of those, I may be skinny but my tummy has always been a bit rounded. Or it might be the way she was twisting her arm behind her back in a yoga stretch. Perhaps that was it. Anyway the fact that I noticed her was saying something as on this trip I was busy spending time with family, oh and eating a lot. That is one of my other loves. I ate lots and lots of Asian food. My mum is a wonderful cook, so we had many tasty meals but as well as this we visited a particularly fine Malaysian restaurant in Glasgow called, Rumours Kopitiam. By the way kopitiam or kopi tiam is the word for a coffee shop in Southeast Asia. The interior of this little restaurant wasn’t exactly flashy but the food was excellent and the lunch menu’s really good value for money. Our waitress had a great sense of humour she asked my daughter if she liked chilli, she said yes, so she made sure that she was more than adequately supplied with lots of them! That’ll teach her….. The Singapore noodles were to die for. So if you are in Glasgow give Kopitiam a go.

On this week away I didn’t really do much in the way of blogging or Instagram. Or visit half of the places I had intended to. Which isn’t like me but all that eating, and chatting to family was taking up all of my time. This statue wasn’t having it she just begged me to photograph her, she pointed her belly at me accusingly and twisted my arm! What astonished me about it all was this. When I came back to Cambridge I did some research and found that she had just been moved back to this particular spot. I came back to Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and so did she…. A pair of kindred spirits. How sweet. She is Reg Butler’s cast bronze sculpture, entitled Girl. She is now to be seen outside Inverleith House, right beside the gallery of modern art.

More about her reappearance here:

http://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/news/stories/butlers-girl-comes-home

So a bit of a meandering kind of love but there you have it. Hope Hugh approves. This is my entry for Hugh’s photography challenge this week.

http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/02/16/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-13-love/

Hope you like my photo and my tale of my many loves: eating, reading, writing, art, statues, and spending time with family in my favourite Scottish city, Edinburgh. Sorry, Glasgow, I love you too!! Especially your Kopitiam….

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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February 22, 2016 19

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge Week 10 Faces

When I saw Hugh’s Photo Challenge this week I knew that I had to join in the fun.

I had just the photo in mind, and here he is, Mr Frowning Tree.

Isn’t he extraordinary?

I photographed him some time ago when I was working as a Christmas temp at John Lewis. I was on my way to work one morning, and there he was greeting me with that wretched face. I had to stop and photograph him, I couldn’t walk pass without doing so. I have to admit that on that particular morning I just wasn’t in the mood for work. He knew it. I knew it. I just wanted to spend time blogging or writing!! Anyway, I saw his sad face and his monumental frown had me in stitches. He knew what I was thinking: There is nothing as fulfilling as spending time being creative. So that sad tree kind of frowned in sympathy, cheeky so and so….

Today, I was with my daughter in Ely. We were prom dress shopping. We went to a charming shop called Something Special and we found just the right one. The amazing thing was it wasn’t one she had picked. I spotted it! C’est Moi, the Fashionista! It had no price tag on. Eek, but she tried it on anyway, and I prayed it wouldn’t be too expensive. It fitted her like a glove. This in itself was a big bonus as she is so petite that finding a dress is no easy feat. This is the moment when she transformed from a very pretty sixteen year old into classy, and beautiful. The dress is simple, elegant, with just the right amount of detail for her to look like a total knock out.

She just loved it. Of course this midnight blue gown was way over my intended budget. I tried to make her see sense but as we left the shop, she kind of worked her magic on me. Of course she convinced me!! We only walked a few yards down the road, and then we were heading our way back to the shop much to the shop assistant’s amusement and the rest is history. Anyway, that sad tree has a lot to answer for, he’s probably chuckling now, cracking his bark, with splinters of spontaneous laughter. My poor wee bank account…..

So how did my daughter manage to work her magic on me?

Easy.

We mothers just can’t resist their daughters when they look so beautiful. But, as an insurance policy she promised to get A’s and B’s in her GCSE’s and to help with the price tag…. Clever lass. So I can’t complain. Perhaps this will spur her on to do extraordinary things….

This is when my day out with my daughter turned into an extraordinary day.

We had such a lovely day in Ely, it was such fun. The sun shone. We walked down to the waterfront and took loads of photographs. This is a common interest as we are both photography mad. I banished the thought of my money blues by suggesting that we visit a free event at the Babylon Gallery. Yes free, can you imagine? The Gallery is right on the waterfront. There is a very interesting exhibition at the moment called Time and Time Again, by Helena g Anderson from 20-31 January. Today is the last day, so hurry if you want to go see it. It totally took my mind off the state of my bank balance. In fact it was such a wonderful idea to go, as my daughter is doing GCSE Textiles and is a keen photographer and this exhibition really inspired her. The main theme of the exhibition is “an opportunity to look at the changing nature of time on the human condition, where one sees the body deteriorate but the soul remain omnipresent. Women and girls were photographed in 10-year increments, ranging from 0 to 100 years old.”

Startlingly we recognised one of the photographed faces, a friend of my daughters. Isn’t that quite amazing? It can only happen in Ely you know, you must visit!

More about Babylon Gallery here: http://www.babylonarts.org.uk/gallery/view,time-and-time-again-helena-g-anderson-2031-january_1906.htm

My photos of Ely will shortly be on my Instagram account so if you’d like to see them please follow the link: https://www.instagram.com/kyrosmagica/

I just love Ely. It is a must see place to visit, with its beautiful cathedral, lovely places to eat, riverside restaurants, and independent bookshops. Moreover, I just love spending time with my daughters, even when they cost me a fortune. I even found a dress for the Bloggers Bash too. It was in the same shop, fortunately the price wasn’t in the same frowning price tag league!!! But it was really pretty. So two dresses bought in one day, ouch…. what a day!!

Yes, I’m intending on going to the Bash again this year. I went last year and it was such fun. A day not to miss….

More about the Bloggers Bash this year via Sacha Black’s blog. The date is 11th of June, so do put it in your calendar. By all accounts it sounds like it’s going to be an awesome event. I just can’t wait.

http://sachablack.co.uk/2015/10/01/the-bash-is-back-the-second-annual-bloggersbash-2016/

And my account of last year’s event:

https://mjmallon.com/2015/08/02/the-bloggers-bash-oh-what-a-day/

Want to meet the organisers and attendees from last year? :

https://mjmallon.com/2015/08/05/meet-the-bloggers-who-attended-the-first-annual-bloggersbash-held-in-london-on-august-1st-2015/

Here’s the link to Hugh’s blog if you’d like to join in his photography challenge:

http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/01/26/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-10-faces/

Here’s Hugh’s advice on what to do if you want to join in:

This week take a photo of an object that looks like it has a face. Rather than taking photos of the faces of people or animals try and capture an object that looks like it has a face.

Want to join the fun? Here’s what you need to do.
1. Take a photo of an object that looks like it has a face.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 10 – Faces.”
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to this post or leave a link to your post in the comments section below so that other participants can view your post.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica XX

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January 31, 2016 32

Camera Lucida: Metal

It’s #12 Challenge from Julia at My Red Page and this week’s photography challenge is metal.

Here’s a link to Julia’s post : https://myredpage.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/camera-lucida-metal/

I decided to take a photo of one of my favourite metal candle holders in the evening, all lit up, and it was interesting how the shadows around made interesting patterns.

I’ve done some other metal photography in previous posts, here’s a link to these too:

The Kelpies: https://mjmallon.com/2015/08/28/edinburgh-festival-the-kelpies-sculptures/

The metal structure in the ceiling of the Grafton Shopping Centre, Cambridge. https://mjmallon.com/2015/10/08/instagram-kyrosmagica-style/

Hope you like them. You can see more of my photography on my Instagram account here’s the link:

https://instagram.com/kyrosmagica/

Bye for Now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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October 25, 2015 5

Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 2 – What’s in the Cupboard?

I’m joining in week 2 of Hugh’s photo Challenge.

Here are the rules from Hugh’s blog:

Fancy joining in the fun? Here’s what you need to do.

1. Take a photo of either the contents of a cupboard or of just one item from a cupboard.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 2 – What’s in the Cupboard?”
3. Add the photo you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing us.
4. Create a pingback to this post or leave a link to your post in the comments section below so that other participants can view your post.

My photo:

This is my new kitchen display cabinet, so I thought I’d photograph these pretty assorted fairies under the spotlight, in the new, clean dustless shelf! A perfect spot to show off their prettiness. The top shelf has a little ornamental container with houses my crystals. I love crystals so it’s not surprising that they feature in my writing! More about that to come, I will be looking for beta readers for my novel so keep a look out for posts.

You can see the individual china angels and my crystals in close up on my Instagram account: https://instagram.com/kyrosmagica/

Link to Hugh’s post: htt p://hughsviewsandnews.com/2015/10/17/hughs-photo-challenge-week-2-whats-in-the-cupboard/

Hope you enjoy the fairies. These were a gift from my mother, a collection that she gave to my daughters. Now that they are older and have lost interest in them, I keep them as a keepsake, a reminder of them being little. Perhaps one day when they are older, past their teenage years they will appreciate them again!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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October 20, 2015 2