Katherine Lightner

Travels

The Best Smelling Place I’ve Ever Been

When you travel places you expect them to have gorgeous scenery and interesting sights. That’s the reason to travel isn’t it? To see places, things, and cultures that you don’t encounter on a daily basis.

But, I’m not sure I’ve ever expected a destination to smell really amazing. Taking advantage of a gloriously sunny weekend, we took a drive into the Cotwolds to the Snowshill Lavender farm. I’m not sure how I even came across the place. I think hunting for English lavender fields in bloom became the natural extension of my poppy hunting journey in June. On the way we travelled down some single track country lanes, as you do in England, and I was sure we were lost (apart from my sat nav telling me otherwise). I even thought to myself that it would be funny if we drove the hour in the car to get there only to find there was nothing to see. But, I was pleasantly surprised as the car came up over a hill and we looked out across fields of purple.

It is an amazing sight to see the countryside covered in shades of purple but it was the smell that really caught my attention. They’d recently started this year’s harvest and were bringing truck loads of lavender into the distillery where they use steam to extract the essential oils. Just standing in the distillery for a few minutes breathing in the wonderful aroma of fresh lavender was enough to make me feel better about life. Even late into the evening that night everything smelled just that bit nicer and with a hint of lavender. To be sure, the distillery was the Little Monkey’s favorite part of the journey. Nothing says fun like big tractors driving around.

I did eventually drag him away from the tractors so that we could enjoy a walk around the farm and the lavender. And, he felt the sunshine was bright enough to merit shades. He was right.

So, if you’re in the area and you’re looking for something to do on a sunny day in the Cotswolds, head to Snowshill Lavender. Soak in the sights of the gorgeous purple fields and get a little aromatherapy on the side. Just do it soon as they’re in the middle of the harvest and it won’t be around long. Well, until next summer.

July 28, 2011

Gratitude

When You Don’t Like Mondays

Seriously, how happy are sunflowers? They certainly brighten up my day and I can’t resist getting a bunch when I see them in the shop. So here’s a bunch of sunshine to brighten your day.

July 18, 2011

Expat Life

This Is Not Going to Help My Diet

I admit that I have a weakness for chocolate, anything sweet really. But, in particular I have a weakness for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, which I consider the world’s most perfect food. I’m not saying they’re good for you, they’re just really darn good. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the candy I would never buy to give out as treats at Halloween because frankly I’d eat the whole bag and there’d be none left for the trick or treaters. I have no will power when faced with this temptation.

However, since moving to the UK I have been able to resist the temptation of Reese’s simply because you just can’t find them. They’re not in the supermarket checkout, not at the petrol / gas station, no where I would regularly find myself inclined to pick up a candy bar on a whim. Hershey’s products in general are scarce here as Cadbury and other brands I don’t recognize fill the candy isles. No Hershey bars, no Hershey Kisses, nada.

That is until now. In recent weeks I’ve seen the glorious orange packages staring at me by the checkout at Sainsbury’s. And I’ve bought them like I’m afraid I’ll never see them again. I’m sure some market researcher in their back office is amazed at the success they’ve had stocking these on the shelves. But, it’s really just the one person buying them all, me. What I didn’t know was that back in December, Hershey’s struck a deal to start distributing their products in two of the mainstream grocery stores, Sainsbury’s and Asda (subsidiary of Walmart). I’m not sure yet whether this is a blessing or a curse.

An aside to the UK Hershey’s revolution that my American friends should take note of is the fact that Hershey’s and Walmart are specifically making a point that the products they sell in the European market will not include any genetically modified (GM) ingredients. However, the products they distribute in the US have and will continue to have GM ingredients. Any argument from these companies that it’s not cost-effective to eliminate GM ingredients is surely a hollow one as they found a way to make it cost-effective when an international distribution agreement potentially worth billions was at stake. Do they take for granted that Americans care so little about the quality of their food supply? Granted, Hershey’s is junk food and people can choose not to eat it. But I’m just sayin’.

July 15, 2011

Travels

English Poppies: Photograph at Your Own Risk

I have to say that in Spring and early Summer the English countryside is a beauty to behold. In May the English landscape was a patchwork of golden-yellow rapeseed fields. In June it was dotted with gorgeous scarlet poppy fields. But, unlike the golden rapeseed fields which are everywhere you turn, the poppy fields are like little secret gems that you randomly stumble across. I honestly didn’t even know I was supposed to be looking for them or that they even existed until my photographer friend said she was on the hunt for them for a bridal shoot. Even after almost three years, I learn something new about England every day.

I finally found time to shoot some photos of a poppy field I had found nearby but I have to say I’m pretty disappointed with most of my shots. I think it’s easy to get into habits with your camera settings if you shoot the same subject the majority of the time. And then when you do something a little different, it’s easy to forget the fundamentals. Like just because you shoot wide open most of the time because you’re shooting people doesn’t mean that is in any way appropriate for wide landscapes. And, when you do that, most of your photos will be horribly out of focus. So, my close up shots were ok but the wide-angle shots are nowhere near what I would call “tack sharp.”

Also, besides going out in the blazing sunshine I chose completely inappropriate footwear. If you’re going to take a wander in a farmer’s field with waist-high vegetation, flip-flops are really not your best choice. I wanted to wade deeper into the sea of red but felt that was inadvisable.

Not sure I can even tell where the focus point was

Lots of red here but mostly out of focus

Up close and back in the comfort zone

Lessons learned from my first attempt, a new field found, and desperate to capture a good wide-angle shot of the expanse of red, I ventured forth with my tennis shoes. This time however, the footpath ended well before I got to the field I wanted to shoot and I found myself again wading though a thicket of vegetation. And, while I had addressed my footwear issue, I failed to understand that I should have worn body armour as well. Stinging nettles on the arm, ouch!

For the wide-angle shots on this trip, I paid much more attention to using small apertures so that most of the shot would be in focus. Regretfully, even the power lines. Still didn’t really get what I wanted to achieve with a wide-angle shot, but now I’ll be ready when next year’s poppy season rolls around. And, will have purchased some Kevlar clothing and steel toe boots.

Much better focus, still couldn't get close enough

Sometimes simple is good

July 5, 2011

Motherhood

No Longer Talking to Myself

Ever since my son was born we’ve had conversations. One-sided conversations of course but I’ve still talked to him about what was going on in the day. I’ve regularly asked him questions about how his day has been, what he wants to do or wear, always knowing that there will be no reply. But as he is now closing in on two, his vocabulary and understanding of what we say are growing every day. He still doesn’t have many phrases but tends to repeat words that he knows over and over again. Especially word for objects he knows and loves, as in “car, car, car, car.”

But last night, I felt as though we crossed the threshold into a two-sided conversation. Where I asked a question and he answered completely in context and with humour.

Me: Why does your poo smell like fried chicken?

Little Monkey: Bock, bock, bock, bock

I can only look forward to all the two-sided conversations yet to come.

June 3, 2011

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