Farm Delivery Friday June 1 Plus Some

 Riverford Farm Delivery!

We also got our regular 2L skimmed milk, two orders of buffalo mozzarella, and fat-free yogurt- but those  were in the fridge already when I took this picture and I forgot to get them out.  I trust you know what those look like, though- and if not, just see last week's post. 

Carrots, calabrese broccoli, kohl rabi (yeah... this was a bonus, I'm not sure what to do with it.  Any ideas? I'll be checking my Riverford cookbooks, of course!), and wet garlic

 wet garlic, onions 

We don't eat onions, other than spring- but these were a part of our box, so I gave them to a friend. 

 cucumbers and butternut squash

 bananas, blueberries, lemons

 shitake mushrooms, tomatoes

 baby spinach, lettuce

 So today I was going to do a "how to make" on baked potato pizza. It's delicious, amazing, etc.

All I got last time I made it was this picture, right before I stuffed my face.

Well... we went out to a late lunch, and now I'm not hungry.  So we're going to make pizza this weekend and I'll have the pictures for you next week. 

Here's my lunch, though- it was delicious!

Chicken and mozzarella panini and side salad from Wildings Tea Room in Pateley Bridge.

I also had chunky chips... yum!

Have a great weekend- I'm going to do as much Jubilee celebration as possible!!

Why I Hold a Camera: Part III

See Parts I and II.

After a bit of an existential crisis, nearly decided to not go to college, but then moving into my dorm room 4 days after the "Welcome, Freshmen" festivities,

(I think the European 'gap year' is a brilliant idea)

I showed up at UGA as a prospective biology major. 

In case that sounds a bit off to you, 

the advisor I saw at orientation was terrible and more interested in shuffling the line of bewildered newly minted high school grads through his door as fast as possible.  He told me UGA didn't offer photography as a major, and despite my knowing differently [there are actually two options: fine art photography or photojournalism]

I was in the early stages of said quarter-life crisis and figured that if  I ended up still going to college that fall I'd just get to campus and worry about my specific major/classes later.

Besides, I had friends to hang out with.

Anyway, I began taking some classes that near bored me to sleeping through them tears. Luckily, when we were picking lab partners in my Chem lab class, I gravitated towards a cute and friendly guy.  While he did turn out to have a long-term girlfriend (and I soon met Paul), Eli and I ended up becoming friends, and he was there for a pivotal "I'll jump if you jump" moment for me.

Let me explain my mental status at the time. I was raised by a mom who, while a very dry realist, also wanted her daughters to be and feel able to do anything each of us wanted. She pushed us towards the highest levels of academics (not inappropriately), we were in any extra-curricular activity we showed an interest in, and she was a master at that "I'm not mad, just disappointed" speech whenever I didn't live up to my full potential.  I'd attended a magnet school (for high achievers, basically we were all socially awkward nerds) from 4th grade-12th grade, and filled out my college applications under the idea that my undergrad would only be important for getting me into the right graduate programs.

Photography did not seem like the obvious light at the end of this educational tunnel.

It seemed frivolous, and more of a novelty hobby.

The idea of letting go of a practical, "safe" major was terrifying- wasn't the cliché "poor and starving artist" a cliché for a reason??

At one point, when I had to title this image, I jokingly titled it "What's Your Major?", pretending to show the analogy of the mangled vines as my confusion in contrast to the rigid fence as my former life plan.  Art critiques can be incredibly inspiring and constructive at times, but they can also be filled with really pretentious-sounding crap.

Back to the timeline at hand.

Eli is a brilliant artist, but I believe he was one of the vast "undecideds" at the time of our Chemistry class.  As we exploded chemicals, as I stuck a glass pipette through my finger, as we goofed around with potentially dangerous acids, we talked, and discovered that we were each considering transferring to Lamar Dodd, UGA's art school. Eli was a lot braver than me, and was happy to let me be the "me, too!" as he went to the dean of Lamar Dodd (a woman with a harrowing reputation for making students cry) to petition his case.

Next thing I knew, I was allowed to sign up for spring semester's Drawing I and Color Composition, two of the four foundation courses for the art school, and take the portfolio review for admission at the end of the term.

I promptly stopped going to my fall classes, except English Composition II, which I truly enjoyed, and Italian, which I really wanted to learn, but failed anyway.
Oops.
After a harrowing escape with my life when fall grades were mailed out, I returned to school for Spring semester and moved into a townhouse off campus.

Pretty much the only drawing I've ever done that I'm proud of: a charcoal reduction of two nuts. I call it "My Nuts."  As in, "Paul, we should hang "My Nuts" in the kitchen!"
(Sadly, right now "My Nuts" live in newspaper in a portfolio, as the matting was destroyed during our move overseas and I've been lazy about re-matting it.)

Here we'll fast forward a bit.
Despite my crippling inability to draw, I managed to pass the portfolio review (I put two photographs from high school in it, despite the guidelines saying current work only),
finished my foundations courses in the fall (Drawing II and 3D Design),
and excitedly enrolled in Intro to Photography for Spring 2003.
I had a great teacher, and, despite my over-confidence going in, I managed to get over myself long enough to learn a bit.
I somehow passed the Photography portfolio review and entered the major program as one of the nine members of the Fall 2005 Exiting Class.

I've always had a fascination with the point at which nature and industry meet, and this has been a recurring theme in my work.  This is from a series I shot throughout downtown Athens, GA.

I know this is getting lengthy, but, if you want, hang in there. I just felt like I should explain the pre-photo program bit before launching into the photo program.  There will be a lot more pictures in the next two posts, promise!

Helmsley Castle

 We visited Helmsley Castle after Mount Grace Priory on Monday.  The castle's stone structure was begun in the mid-12th century and altered and added to over the centuries by its various owners.

 The mid-13th century East Tower still stands proudly. 

Built at the same time as the East Tower, the West Tower and Old Hall was re-fitted as a Tudor mansion two hundred years later.  Today it houses a small exhibit on the history of the site.

 Inside the West Tower.

 Enormous fireplace.

 Fancy set of keys!

 Some of the Tudor decorative pieces remain.

 The ruined walls have some beautiful flowers growing all over them!

 Not to be outdone, the grass is littered with these small flowers.

A nice site to see, but I'm glad we didn't set our day around it.  The town of Helmsley seems quite charming, but unfortunately most of the shops were closed when we were there, either because of the time (it was around 5:00 PM) or some had a "holiday notice" in the window.

Too bad, I would have liked exploring a bit more!

Mount Grace Priory, or, Where Paul Decided He'd Be Okay as a Monk

 Mount Grace Priory is another one of the sites not too far from us that we hadn't seen yet. Yesterday we drove over, and it was definitely worth it.  One of only ten Carthusian monasteries in England, the priory was made up of individual cells for each monk according to the order's strict solitary lifestyle. 

You enter the property through a large stately-home type building.  This building was first the priory's guest house, used by passing travelers. In 1654, long after the dissolution of the monasteries, Thomas Lascelles built a manor house, which Sir Lowthian Bell used as the structure for his 1900 arts-and-crafts home.

Not so bad!

 Many of the medieval guesthouse's features are still visible.

This room was redecorated in the arts-and-crafts style, but I was more interested in the little medieval doorway.

 A history of the property is on display on the first floor.  This model shows a cell and its attached garden. 

 A model of the whole priory, showing the cells lining the large cloister.

 The church sits in the center of the priory.

 The Great Cloister, with cell 5, Paul's claimed corner lot, directly ahead.

 Cell 8 has been reconstructed to show visitors how the hermitic monks lived.  Each monk had his own cell, which he only left for three services at the church each day.  Their lives were spent in silence, including their vegetarian meals, eaten in solitude in their cells after being delivered by lay brothers.  The days were usually spent either worshiping, gardening, or in scholarly work.

 We like the turret chimney. 

 Each cell has a large walled garden.  

 That bit ahead is a small corridor, which I would use as a sunporch/conservatory. 

  Yep. I still like doors.  Unusual doors, little doors, old doors... this one's all of the above!

 The first floor (upstairs) of each cell is a studio for the monk's work.

The ground floor has a small bedroom, a small chapel, and a large living space. 

Really, I've seen terraced homes with less space- and those are for families! 

 The spring house, one of the water sources for the priory, which may have been used as part of their  extensive sewer system.

  I love the weathered Yorkshire sandstone!

 Part of the gardens.

This is not how I walk; I was getting a rock out of my shoe.

 I handed Sylvester (my DSLR) to Paul and told him to take a picture of me with Sophie (my TLR).  He immediately started clicking... so I'm sharing these lovely bits with you.

 More appropriate.

 Of course, the butt shot. Seriously, is it a rule that when a guy has a camera he has to take a picture of a girl's butt?! 

His antics did have me laughing, though, which led to the new "about me" picture on the top right, so I guess it was a win!

While the silence and solitude may have been appealing to Paul, I'm pretty sure he'd miss his hamburgers once in a while- and maybe even me... *ahem*

Castle Howard: Part II

 Oh, welcome back to Part II of the tour of my house!

Ahem.  Part I is seen here.

This is the Garden Room.  I love every bit of it, other than the whole 'not-actually-my-house' part.

 Yep. Castle Howard has its own winter china. No, the gift shop didn't have any for purchase.

sad.

 The Crimson Dining Room.

 The Turquoise Drawing Room.  The color is almost overwhelming, especially in these pictures- but with the high ceilings and large windows it's actually not as bad when you're present in the room.  I kind of liked it. 

 Portrait of Lady Mary Howard, the youngest daughter of the 6th Earl, painted in 1828 by John Jackson, a local artist.

 17th century inlaid Italian cabinet. 

 The Long Gallery. Paul wants this room.

I wouldn't complain.

 The Octagon, the center of the entire Long Gallery.  When Queen Victoria visited in 1850 a dining table was custom-made for this room. Afterwards, a party was held, and the table was dismantled and thrown out the window to clear the room. 

 I really, really want a cabinet like this for my large prints and maps.  

 The North end of the Long Gallery.

 The rear of the house. The entry point for visitors is to the right of the image.

 Entrance to Ray Wood.

 The Temple of the Four Winds.

 Bridge to the Mausoleum, which wasn't available for visitors.

Last view of my future house...

Gorgeous.