Green

This little photo essay is dedicated to the arrival of Spring and the focus is on all things green. Green is of course associated with renewal and new growth, so is an apt choice for Springtime. And there is plenty of green around the garden now. Some of it new growth and some surviving from last year.

Clockwise from the top left you can see some bergenia or as it is sometimes known, elephant’s ears; tulip leaves; an unknown shrub; snowdrops and early growth from a campanula.

Green is the predominant colour in the countryside most of the year. One of the things that amazes me about green is the enormous variety of hues and shades that you get in nature. There seems to more variations of green than of any other colour. Here are some photos of the Scottish countryside, taken at various seasons.

Again from the top left, clockwise; the Eden estuary from just outside St. Andrews - you may just make out some golfers on the links; Kathleen taking in a bit of sunshine in a lovely Crail garden; some water plants in a pond in the grounds of Falkland Palace; Castle Campbell nestling in the surrounding hills, above Dollar; lobster creels on the pier at Crail harbour with the green covered cliffs beyond.

The next group of photos shows a range of landscapes from Switzerland.

Clockwise - a lovely and colourful meadow in Kilchberg; the hilly countryside of the Klettgau in Kanton Schaffhausen; the summit of the Schnebelhorn, the highest mountain in Kanton Zürich; looking up to a church near Hallau in Kanton Schaffhausen; a traditional farmhouse on the lower slopes of the Schnebelhorn.

Green of course is also the colour of many fruits and vegetables. Below is an appetizing plate full of delicious grapes. The photo was taken in Pompeia Turi’s house in Francavilla Fontana in Puglia, during our holiday there in September 2008. Pompeia is Emma’s mother-in-law. The grapes were a gift from Pompeia’s brother who grows and harvests his own grapes. He also brought us absolutely delicious figs.

The following photos show some fruit and veg bought in our local supermarket in Dundee - peppers, okra, limes, apples and pears.

Green is a colour I use quite a lot in my stitching pieces. I don’t have a large selection of green threads, so I may have to add to my collection. Below is a photo of the seven shades of green currently in my stash.

I have never had much in the way of green coloured clothes, apart from the odd T-shirt or so. I might change this as green is a very relaxing and calming colour. However all three grandsons wear green clothes regularly. Below is a collage of all three of them attired in green. You can just about make out all three. The backgrounds are the Zürichsee and the sand dunes at St. Andrews. This is the first time I have tried this type of collage. It is a multiple exposure in which each picture is superimposed over one another. I used Picasa photo editing software for this.