November Project update: Days 1-5

[calissa]

We're almost a week into November already and I haven't yet checked in regarding my November project. To be honest, I haven't been quite sure whether I should because I find that I start thinking things have to be up to a certain standard in order to share them here. However, there have been some things that I have wanted to share. I'm also losing track of what I've done and when, so this might help keep things straight for me.

To recap: since I am unable to participate in NaNoWriMo, I decided to create my own challenge. I will engage in some form of creativity every day--at least enough to fill one A6 page. So far, this has tended to be photography because taking photos is relatively quick and I'm still enthralled with the new iPhone lenses my sister gave me for my birthday.

Apologies to those that follow me on Instagram and Facebook since you'll likely have seen most of these before.

My best photo on Day 1 can be seen in my Beltane entry. However, I also managed to use my new fisheye lens for the very first time to capture a 22 degree halo around the sun. Usually the phenomenon is so big that you can't fit all of it in frame.



I'd also spent some time on Day 1 responding to jjhunter's 2013 Trick or Treat haiku fest. I wrote some more for Day 2. Below are my responses.

Prompt: Ghost
A pale plume rises
from a mug that's warm and full
--a ghost of tea past.


Prompt: Pumpkin
To carve a pumpkin!
How I long for this! Tried once--
almost broke my wrist.

Suspect northern friends
Use different pumpkins.


Prompt:Happiness
Happiness I'd give
Like candy: unstinting to
Whoever knocks here

--save a pack or two
For me to snack on.


Prompt: Worm (Attempt #1)
The stench of decay
Fat worms eat death and leave me
Compost for my plants.


Prompt: Worm (Attempt #2)
Early bird, singing,
Gets pre-dawn worm and a curse
From partied-out witch.


Prompt:Notebook
Pretty, blank notebook,
Once neglected and sterile,
Now filling with haiku.

I was rather pleased with how my photo for Day 3 turned out.



Day 4 was a little less inspired. I'd been keen to try out my macro lens on the bean sprouts Sahaquiel's father had brought over on the weekend. I just couldn't get a good shot, though. Below is the best of the batch. It reminds me of a somewhat serpentine dragon :D



As an aside, beans are so amazing! They grow so quickly, unfurling even in the few hours I was out for lunch on Day 4. They're now several inches tall and will have to be planted in the veggie garden in short order.

Day 5 involved an aborted attempt at poetry. I used to write a lot when I was a teenager and while I was at uni. I even had a few small bits and pieces published. Over the years, my output slowed to a trickle and I had never been a big reader of poetry, though I mostly enjoyed what I stumbled across.

In 2010 a friend of mine passed away suddenly. At his funeral his wife read the Owl and the Pussycat and talked about how he would read poetry to her every night. When I got home Sahaquiel was ordering books online and asked if I wanted anything. I put in a request for Mary Oliver's New and Selected Poems, Vol. 1. Since then, a book of poetry has lived on my bedside table (I limit myself to one poem a night, so that they can be properly savoured).

Joining poetree helped along the desire to begin writing poetry again but I have been struggling with it and feeling like I am learning from the beginning all over again.

So as my unofficial contribution for today, you get this:



Imperial Spice tea with the first fruit mince pie of the season. Sahaquiel is enormously fond of fruit mince pies and can never resist buying a pack when he sees they've come out. It probably helps that the ones from the local bakery are super tasty.

That brings us to today. My official contribution is a poem I plan on posting in another entry. However, since I've been sharing some glimpses of my daily life, I thought I'd post this photo.



It's a glass teapot that can be warmed up by a tealight candle underneath. I'd managed to smash the original teapot a few months back. Today, I finally managed to get a replacement, thanks to some gift vouchers I had acquired for my birthday. This is especially awesome for cooking my own ginger infusions.

Comments

[lynnoconnacht]

That mince pie looks so tiny and cute. Yay on getting your teapot replaced and those haiku are gorgeous. <3 And the photos are lovely. Why is the bean one not a good/great shot? Because it's a bit fuzzy around the edges?

*good thoughts*

[raze]

Adorable haikus, esp "Happiness," and I enjoyed your photos as well. Agreed on beans plants being so cool; you can almost see how Jack and the Beanstalk became a story with how quickly the common bean plant grows.

[onewhitecrow]

I like the bean picture, too! They do grow super-fast...it's hard to get beansprouts for eating up here, but every time I've tried to grow my own I've just ended up with pet beans. [farmer fail]

I really want to play with your kettle now. What's in it?

[calissa]

I think I would have a hard time growing my own beanspouts, too. They're just so cute!

The tea in the photo was Imperial Spice. It's really more of an autumn tea but I have a ton of it to use up (and it really is rather tasty).

[calissa]

I'm not generally a fan of sultanas but for these fruit mince pies they work :)

Thank you, my dear *hugs*

I have been pondering a bit why it is I think the bean shot is not as good. Part of it is the fuzziness, even though that is partially a result of using the macro lens. I think it's that when I look at what I consider to be a good shot, I get this little 'yes!' that I wasn't feeling from the beans. However, this photo has been growing on me and I now rather like it.

I think another part of it is that the framing of the photo isn't quite there. For example, the tips of the leaves have been cut off.

Does this help? I find it hard to put into words.

[calissa]

Thank you :)

I've been thinking the exact same thing about Jack and the Beanstalk. It really is astonishing.

[onewhitecrow]

Pet beans all round...

Oo. I am intrigued, but also divided upon the question of vanilla in tea. Green tea, maybe...black? Not so sure. [wandering tea site now] My, but that Billy Tea looks interesting...have you tried it?

[calissa]

I'll be interested to see whether these beans grow into the monsters we had during the first year of our vegetable garden. Unlikely, perhaps, given the soil conditions are almost never as good as they are in that first year. On the other hand, at the rate these lot are growing...

I find vanilla pieces work well in black tea. I'm less keen on vanilla flavouring. In the case of the Imperial Spice tea, I find the vanilla is actually overwhelmed by the clove (which is stronger than the 'hint' it says on the website... although this could be a result of the longer brew time I tend to use).

I've not tried the Billy Tea. I tend to prefer smoky teas in the winter, but I think I'll pick up a sample pack to try anyway.

[onewhitecrow]

If you've had beans in before and turned the soil over it should be pretty fertile. Mind the giants.

Hmmmm...oh, pretend vanilla might as well be sugar, say I. Cloves will do that, it is true.

Tell me about it if you do?
(alas, I have no tea icon, only tiny tomatoes...this must be remedied, I think.)

[lynnoconnacht]

That helps a lot! And I don't blame you for finding it hard to put into words. I'd struggle a lot too. Thank you for explaining. <3 That does make sense. It's not a feeling I get from visual arts, but I think I recognise it from writing. ^_^

[calissa]

We dig through some compost at least once a year, so it should be fine. I'm counting on my dogs to give me warning of the giants :)

pretend vanilla might as well be sugar Agreed.

I most certainly will! In fact, I'm going to write myself a reminder now to pick up that sample pack...