Old road watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

Wandering Camera – Nearby Adventures

The Girl And Her Cat on the Old Road watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat and I had our own little adventures, right where we live.  Much to my delight, we already had a few bouts of snow this year in the mountains here in the rain-starved California.  That brought rainstorms to the lower elevations.  I promptly bundled up in my waterproof clothing and boots and headed to the park for a walk in the rain.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

Ever since I was little, I have always loved playing in the rain, the more torrential the better.  The world gets quiet, and it’s mostly just the sound of the rain and me.  

There is an oak grove in the park.  Standing under that canopy, I listened to the rain sing as it danced on the leaf-covered ground below. 

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

This is normally a narrow and deep drainage gully, but to my imaginative mind, it might as well be a stream that I have to cross carefully.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I wore my big boots, so I could splash along as I continued down the rain-sodden path.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I have made up my own names for certain areas in the park.  I call this area Darcy Field, resembling a certain scene in the Pride And Prejudice movie.  Right around the corner, the path turns hard with rocks and tree roots jutting out of the ground.  That would be the Dinosaur Ridge.  I love running over those protrusions.

I really wanted to continue on with the rain pelting down on me.  It was getting dark though, so I reluctantly decided to turn back.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

Rain droplets on these dry stems looked like little crystal flowers.   My camera has a rain jacket of its own, so, just like me, it stayed toasty dry.   I would have liked to get close-ups, but it would have been impossible to change lenses in that windswept rain.  Also, I had to bow to the failing light.  This is the best photo I could take with the lens I had at hand.  Hopefully you get an impression of what I saw there.

 

 

Adventure of the Girl and Her Cat

 

While my kitties stayed warm and toasty at home,  The Girl and Her Cat continued their adventure together in the snow.

 

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –

 

 

 

Not to worry, they are bundled up for their snow walk.  When her cat gets cold, The Girl carries him inside her coat.

 

Wandering Pages Paintings

 

I added all the paintings shared so far about their adventure from the Wandering Pages book at the above link.  I will add to that page as we continue with their adventure together.

 

 

 

Migraing Geese Northern California Nature Journal watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I will leave you with a page from my nature journal.   The day before the rainstorm came,  my husband hurriedly called me outside to see something  he thought I would love.   We saw a flock of geese flying overhead against the backdrop of a beautiful sky that only impending rain clouds can bring.  We watched them slowly dissolve the right arm completely and then recreate the V pattern as they faded to a distant shimmer.   I have never seen anything like it before.   I didn’t take a photo.  Instead, I recreated the scene in my journal.

 

I personally hand-make the journals in my studio.   You can purchase the journals here in my shop.   I have journals for both artists and non-artists.

 

Let me know which photo and/or paintings of our adventures you liked.  The Girl and her Cat, and I would love to know.

 

 

Since next week is a holiday week here in the US, I decided to move Wandering Camera one week up. 

 

Wandering Camera art and photo linky party @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that runs on the last Thursday of every month.  If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

All photo and art/creative-themed posts are welcome.  You can continue to link up multiple posts.

Please add the badge or a text link back to this site on your blog, or on each post that you link up.  I look forward to seeing your photos and reading about them.

Have fun!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

Leave a comment

 

Radcliffe Camera Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

Wandering Camera – Catte Street, Oxford

 

Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to Wandering Camera, a monthly photo and art link-up.  I am looking forward to sharing my travel and wandering photos with you, as well as seeing a bit of your world too.   When I was hosting it before,  I started sharing photos and an account of my visit to England in 2016.   I love old architecture.  Naturally, my travel started with exploring Oxford University and some of its architecture.

 

 

University Church St. Mary Tower and Spire Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

 

After visiting the Christ Church and Magdalen colleges, my husband and I walked up to Catte Street.   At the very beginning of the street is the university church of St. Mary.  The 90ft thirteenth century tower is the oldest part of the church, topped with a 101ft spire which was added in the early fourteenth century.

It was the end of the day, and we had just enough time to climb the 127 steps to the top of the tower, where you see the clock in the photo above. We were rewarded with a magnificent bird’s eye view of the city and the nearby colleges. 

 

 

 

View from university church St. Mary Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

High Street down below, with the countryside in the distance

 

 

 

All Souls College view from university church St. Mary Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

All Souls College along Catte Street

 

 

 

Radcliffe Camera Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

 

The Radcliffe Camera is in front of  the church of St. Mary, with Catte Street on the right.  It was designed by James Gibbs as a circular library, the very first of its kind in Britain. Now it is used as reading rooms of the Bodleian library.

 

 

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

 

 

I had to use my long lens to get a few close-up photos of the beautiful dome.

 

 

 

Radcliffe Camera Dome Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

From my travel sketchbook – The Radcliffe Camera dome and the Sheldonian dome in the distance.

 

 

 

Hertford Bridge Sheldonian Theatre Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

 

After enjoying the wonderful view, tea and cakes were in order at the cafe downstairs, with the beautiful Radcliffe Camera as our view.  Afterwards, we walked up Catte Street toward the Sheldonian theatre.  Once we reached there, I walked past Hertford Bridge on New College Lane to take a picture of the theatre dome framed by the curvature of the bridge.

 

 

 

Sheldonian Theatre Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

 

The Sheldonian theatre was built between 1664 and 1669.  It is not a theatre in the conventional sense but the principal assembly room of the university.

The reason it is called a theatre is because Christopher Wren was inspired by Roman theatres, and designed this D-shaped building so.  However, load bearing columns in the centre space to support the ceiling would not be aesthetically pleasing.  He avoided adding the columns by designing a roof truss that spanned the required 70ft, a great technical achievement in roof construction.

 

 

 

Sheldonian Theatre Oxford England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

 

I have long been fascinated by Sir Christopher Wren’s work.  A visit to the theatre was therefore a must for me and I had the most amazing time walking around and taking it all in in person.

 

I hope you enjoyed this very concise walk along the historic Catte Street in Oxford.

 

Here are my previous posts and photos from England, 2016 –

 

Christ Church, Oxford Part I

Christ Church, Oxford Part II

Magdalen College, Oxford

 

 

Wandering Camera art and photo linky party @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that runs on the last Thursday of every month.  If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

All photo and art/creative-themed posts are welcome.  Per previous requests, the link-up is open for a month, so you can continue to link up multiple posts.

Please add the badge or a text link back to this site on your blog, or on each post that you link up.  I look forward to seeing your photos.

Have fun!!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.  

 

 

 

Leave a comment

 

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