#Coronavirus #COV19 #Photography #Sunday Stills #FOTD #Uplifting #FloralPhotography

Flowers and nature are a panacea, a way to lift our spirits when we are living through difficult times.

Yellow is such an uplifting colour… I cropped my photo below to make it a square image for: Becky’s Square Tops.

Find out more about her square daily photography challenge here: Square Daily Photo Challenge

The theme for April Squares is ‘top‘. This caught my eye up above me in the Cambridge Botanical Garden glasshouses.

There is nothing I love more than a stroll in the Botanical Gardens. I count myself lucky to have a free pass from my work and I often wander there during my lunch break.

At the moment we are in lockdown in the UK so I am not venturing out much, apart from a walk in our local neighbourhood, or a trip to the supermarket to get groceries.

Thursday morning was a stressful one, I got up extra early so I could do a weekly food shop and be back in time to log on to my computer (as I am working from home.) My heart sunk when I saw the long queue snaking from the front of Tescos supermarket around the car park and then turning back on itself, a human chain of disgruntled shoppers. I added myself to the back of the queue and waited.

My shop took two hours – it would normally have taken no more than an hour.

What I couldn’t get my head around was the number of shoppers who came in twos.

Why would you do that during a pandemic?

My anxiety levels cranked up even more as the girl in front of me kept glancing back at me with this glare as if to say stay back. I was staying well away from her but her over zealous attitude only served to make me more anxious.

So, after my Easter shopping food trip complete with chocolate Easter eggs I need another treat, the chocolate alone will not suffice – I needed a floral treat.

Here’s one of my recent flower photos taken at the Botanical gardens in Cambridge. A purple one!

If you’d like to join in Terri’s fantastic photography challenges here’s the link:

April 5 Fantastic Florals #SundayStills via Terri Webster Schrandt

And you can also link to: Cee’s FOTD

Also I’m sharing some wonderful links about pandemic anxiety busters from talented photographer Cindy Knoke:

While you’re in the mood why not pop over to Send Sunshine blog for some uplifting quotes and images: Uplifting Quotes Daily.

Before I go I thought I’d recommend my latest release to you: a book of poetry, prose and photography, with lots of photos of Cambridge Botanical Gardens. It’s fairly new and receiving 5 star reviews, perfect lockdown reading!

Available for free on kindle unlimited and to buy in kindle and paperback: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Mr. Sagittarius is a collection of poetry, prose and photographic images inspired by the botanical gardens in Cambridge. Photography is in the genes! Both my uncle and grandfather were photographers. My grandfather A.G. Ingram was originally with the photography company Ingram, Gordon & Co in Haddington up until the mid thirties.  Then he ventured on his own to form the Scottish Pictorial Press in Edinburgh supplying photos to the press.  When war broke out Scottish Pictorial Press became defunct.  After the war he started AG Ingram Ltd, Commercial Photographers, at 3 successive locations in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sharing Options:

#Book #Review A Haiku Perspective 2018: Annette Rochelle Aben

A_Haiku_Perspective__Cover_for_Kindle

Amazon Synopsis:

This is a magical journey through a year in the life of a poet, presented in the format of haiku. Be entertained,and enlightened as you enjoy the worlds of reality and imagination are combined artfully. Dreamers will love this book. Writers will enjoy this book. Readers will enjoy this book. Even those who think they could never appreciate poetry, will enjoy this book. Come and be enchanted by the verbal imagery of A Haiku Perspective 2018.

Thank you to the author for a copy received in exchange for an honest review.

My review:

This is an enchanting book of poetry. So many wonderful haiku! I  love short form poetry and Annette Rochelle Aben’s book covers a multitude of poetic topics in a warm and inviting way.

The first poem Strings is a poignant haiku love story. I read this particular poem several times and seemed to take more from it on each reading. I read it down and then from the bottom up! The family dynamic in this poem changes when a new baby is welcomed and Annette Rochelle Aben captures this to perfection in this thought-provoking poem. The message within will no doubt resonate with many. Love can be the most exquisite emotion. But, there are many loves. Can the love of a child be so consuming that your partner, wife, or husband feels neglected?  I loved how this was expressed in a musical way.

Thereafter, the haiku flow in short bursts of inspiring magic. There are no images to break up the poems. This is pure poetry. And it works.

This is such an amusing, warm-hearted compilation of poetry.

My recommendation: Definitely read! You will be uplifted, you’ll smile and perhaps you might cry. Poetry takes our hearts on a journey. This poetry collection succeeds in transporting you to this special place and this feeling lingers long after you have finished reading.

My rating: 4.5 stars.

Annette Rochelle Aben’s Blog: https://annetterochelleaben.wordpress.com/

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haiku-Perspective-2018-Annette-Rochelle-ebook/dp/B07BRBDF19/

To read a selection all my A – Z reviews please follow these links:

https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-m-of-my-book-reviews/

https://mjmallon.com/2016/11/27/my-kyrosmagica-reviews-n-z/

Have you read Annette Rochelle’s poetry? Do let me know if you have. I love comments. 🙂 x

Please note: When you leave a comment on this blog WordPress will automatically store your gravatar name, IP Address, comment, and email address. Therefore, leaving a comment is considered a definite intention, as defined by the GDPR giving me consent to store this information, and permission to contact you in the future.

If for whatever reason you do not consent to the above, please don’t leave a comment on my blog. Full GDPR Privacy and Compliance details: https://mjmallon.com/2018/05/20/privacy-and-gdpr-compliance/

 

unnamed (1)

http___signatures.mylivesignature.com_54494_373_07053E7D9657CC81851243011100E58F

Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime

Social Media:

Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com

Collaborative blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com

Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time

Facebook Authors/Bloggers Support Group:

28109520_1584692061650961_905837144_n

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1829166787333493/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/

Tumblr: http://mjmallonauthor.tumblr.com/

Sharing Options:

Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑