52 Weeks of Memories - Week 8 - Sky

Today is a beautiful, hot and blue skied day. Bloody hot though and the sun is too strong for my incredibly pale skin. The cicadas are singing (or whatever it is they do) and there's an occasional chirp of a bird.
I ventured outside for about 5 minutes earlier to catch a snap of the beautiful blue sky.

Travel Tuesday - London - Tower of London

Welcome to Travel Tuesday - the day of the week where I tell you about a place I've travelled to in the past.
For the past few weeks I've been talking about awesome places I've been to in London. This week will continue that trend - with a focus on the Tower of London.

I should also specify that we got a 'London Pass' that gave unlimited travel within certain zones (I forget which) and entry to many of the attractions that we were interested in. The Tower of London was included in this pass.

The day that we went to the Tower of London was a beautiful, blue skied summers day. We got up early and got there before it opened. So worth it as there was already a bit of a queue. Once we got in we headed straight to see the crown jewels as we knew it would be unbearably crowded there later on. You can't take photos in there but we did get a photo of the guard outside.

You might need to actually click on the image to see the guard - but this proves how quiet it was when we first got there.

From there we went to the armoury where there was a plethora of armour, swords, guns, polearms, and other weaponry. The following photos are some of my favourites.

We wandered around many parts of the Tower and saw lots of graffiti from former prisoners, traitors gate and the houses where the Yeomen warders live. The following pictures are a selection from our wanderings.

52 Weeks of Memories - Week 7 - Love

So I love a lot of people - my husband, parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends etc....
But to post a picture of them without permission is a bit rude in my opinion.
So I started to think a bit more abstractly - what else do I love?
I love polka dots and I remember seeing a shop window in Auckland last year that was pure awesome. So while it's not a photo from this week it does represent a huge love in my life - the love of polka dots.

Travel Tuesday - London - Kew Garden

I really like London. Not enough to live there but I liked it nonetheless. So I thought I would make a list of my favourite places that we went while we were there. This is the first of many posts.

Kew Gardens
We loved this place and would quite happily go back again. We spent half a day here wandering around and still didn't see everything. We saw lots of squirrels scampering and also quite a few robins. There were lots of glasshouses with tropical plants from around the world as well as Kew Palace (the cutest palace I saw our entire trip).

Rosey wearing her 'feelin Rosey' tshirt under the roses.

Robin

Kew Palace

SQUIRREL!!!

52 Weeks of Memories - Week 6 - Flower

This week's theme is flower so here's an iris from my garden :)

Travel Tuesday - Favourite Things About London - Shopping

The shopping. 

We went into quite a few shops while we were in London and found some very cool stuff. We especially liked one called 'Thomas Farthing' (first three photos). Didn't take as many photos but here are a few to give you an idea of the types of things we found.

Fantasy Meme Tag Thing

So for the Solstice my friend Dragonlady did this Fantasy Meme. So I decided it looked interesting enough to do for myself. 

Who is your favourite living mythic artist?
John Howe. I think he's amazing.

Who is your favourite mythic artist from the past?
I'm not sure I have one. I like so many different artists it's hard to think of one from the past that stands out. Not necessarily a mythic artist - but I do like Monet.

Who is your favourite living author?
Unfortunately most of my favourite authors have now passed away. I do like Patrick Rothfuss though.

Who is your favourite author from the past?
David Eddings

What is your favourite Pre-Raphaelite painting?
I'm not sure I know enough about artwork to answer this question.

What is your favourite fairy tale?
I never really had a favourite. I do love some of the Celtic fairy tales involving Finn McCool. I have a book of celtic fairy tales that I read through every now and then.

What is your favorite ballad?
Don't have one that I can think of.

If you could go for a walk in a faerie wood with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
My husband because we love to travel together and this would be an amazing thing to experience together.

If you were a faerie creature (and of course some already are), what sort would you be? (troll, pixie, etc)
Nymph. I just think they're incredibly beautiful - well the depictions I've seen anyways.

What item in your wardrobe makes you feel the most magical when you wear it?
My purple t-shirt with a unicorn, castle, rainbow and stars on it. It's pure awesome.

Who is a living artist who you feel isn't as well-known as they should be?
My lovely friend Dragonlady who I nicked this meme thing from. Her artwork is amazing and such a unique style.

What are some of your totem jewelry items that make you feel magical to wear?
I have a lot of jewellery and a lot of it feels magical. The best ones for this feeling though is my Lord of the Rings jewellery. So pretty! I want to dress up as an elf and wear these with a pretty elf dress. And a head-dress! Ooooh, my mind has pretty thoughts now...

What mythic or folkloric story resonates the most for you on a personal level?
I think that most tend to resonate with me as I get so into stories. So I can't pick one in particular. 

Studded jacket or fairy crown?
Why not both?

Antlers or fairy wings (if you have to choose)?
Again, why not both? I don't want to choose.

You are getting sparkling strands in your hair that look like iridescent magic (Fhairy Strands). What color/s do you choose?
Pink! Of course...

You have just been given an all-expense paid trip to anywhere in the world, with the caveat that it must be a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts. Where do you choose to go?
Probably Ireland. Or Scotland. These two countries just resonate with me and I feel homesick for them even though I've never lived in either place.

You have just been given $20,000, with the caveat that you must use it to support the work of artists you admire. What will you buy and by whom?
I wouldn't buy just one artist's work. I'd buy many different works. I would shop around and see who's work I like the best. 

Faeriecon is celebrating its ten year anniversary next year. Imagine you are attending a big celebratory ball, and you have unlimited budget to create a costume. What will you wear?
Elf costume complete with beautiful dress, head-dress and jewellery. I'd have my make-up and hair done too. 

If you could have any author’s work turned into a television show that would spare no expense, what book or series would you choose?
The Wheel of Time series would make a fantastic continuing TV show.

Who are your favorite children’s book authors and illustrators who you feel really capture magic?
I really liked Margaret Mahy's books. She wrote books that let kids explore their imagination which is hugely important. Such a pity that she passed away a few years ago.

What song do you feel best bares your soul?
Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Nightwish.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb1p8fm7Ag

Name five singers/musical groups who feel like your own personal brand of magic when you listen to them.
Nightwish, Within Temptation, Foo Fighters, Chvrches, and just recently I've been really into Disturbed.

You are given a choice: castle by the sea, or cozy cottage in the forest. Which would you choose?
This is a really hard choice. I love both the sea and the forest. Ultimately I'd like a castle in a forest and then a cottage by the sea (I really just like to change these things don't I? :P )

You go walking in an extremely magical area of nature and have an incredibly spiritual experience. What item of gratitude do you choose to leave for the spirits/fey/nature?
Nothing. I believe in leaving nothing behind and that's the best sign of gratitude for nature. 'Leave nothing but footprints'

What grows or would grow in your enchanted garden?
Herbs, flowers and lots of garden for faeries to linger in

If you were making Stone Soup, what ingredients would you ask for?
I'm not sure I understand the question. Stone? Water?

Who is your top mentor/inspiration in the creative arts you wish to pursue?
I've been really enjoying crafting lately and Karen Kavett is awesome. She's a crafter and puts videos on youtube as well as things on her blog.

Name an interstitial artist whose work is hard to put into one category, but who you think is phenomenal.
I have absolutely no idea.

For doing a favor for the King of Faerie, he offers you your own house fey. What sort of house fey do you choose and what would they do?
I would have a brownie. I really don't like doing housework and one of these would be great for doing tasks around the house at night.

What quote best encapsulates your spiritual goals and beliefs?
If you want the rainbow - you have to put up with the rain.


So that's that. Sorry I couldn't answer all of the questions. It was a bit more art based than I originally thought. Hope you enjoyed it :)

52 Weeks of Memories - Week 5 - Outside

I almost forgot to take picture this week but I remembered earlier on today. Looked outside and it was miserable so stood in the doorway and took this picture.

Travel Tuesday - Favourite things about London

Sorry I didn't post for Travel Tuesday last week guys. Things just got so hectic that I completely forgot. Hopefully I'll be on top of it from now on.

So, onto my favourite things about London.
Note: I started writing this and realised that the post was going to be incredibly long so I'll leave the rest for other posts and talk about one thing at a time.

• All of the old buildings. I live in a country where the oldest structure is from the early 1800s.  We also get earthquakes so very few buildings that were built before earthquake regulations have survived. I loved all of the cool looking buildings. Don't ask me what any of the following buildings are. They're just random ones we saw while wandering around London