Oh, it's definitely Summer outside - the heat wave which hit Poland last Friday seems to be here to stay, at least for some time. But there's plenty of us who instead of taking a plunge into a cool lake or lying on the beach and enjoying the sun must stay in the office, working in front of acomputer... For those who do, here are a few creative Summer wallpapers, which can surely bring a Summer feel to your desktop - all to be downloaded for free from www.wallcoo.net
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OK., so I’ve been following birds with my camera for quite some time now, but I have no idea what these great tits are doing?! I mean, sure, I can see that they’re lying on the ground with their wings extended, but why?! First I thought that maybe they’re trying to hide – as in trying to blend with the background. But it doesn’t make sense, because they kept doing it regardless of if someone was near them or not, plus in general these park birds are not afraid of humans (it happened once that one tried to sit on me, when I was taking a photo, and it gave me a scare, not the other way around!). So then I thought they might be protecting something – eggs, perhaps? But great tits do not make nests on the ground, certainly not in the open. So beats me, were they sunbathing or something?! Warming-up their wings? Anyone has an idea what’s behind this mystery? ;-) Anyway, they did look cute doing whatever it was they were doing – see for yourself! As a mood-booster, I took my camera on a walk through the Lazienki Park yesterday morning, hoping to hunt down something interesting with my camera. I’ve been to this park before, but although it is said to have a significant bird population, I’ve just kept coming across squirrels and mallard ducks, and not much else. But yesterday I hit bingo – I stumbled upon a small patch of green which seemed to be a Bird Central – I think there were at least 10 kinds of birds flying around, and some of them I even managed to take photos of ;-) So here is a photo-report from my small safari. First, a very available addition to my collection – woodpecker! I followed it around with the camera for half an hour at least, but it’s been extremely good at hiding and running – still, I was patient, so I got a few shots: Second came another valuable addition to my bird photo collection, since I’ve never come across this bird before – even though it’s apparently pretty popular. A pretty blue-orange bird with a “black eye-mask” called The Eurasian Nuthatch – if only it didn’t hid so well al the time in the darkest corners… And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a Fieldfare. I’ve already have photos of it, but no pretty ones – the problem being that this bird is honestly one of the least photogenic ones I’ve come across. I saw one in a book that it looks best not when it’s jumping (which it does 90% of the time), but when it sits cuddled-up in a fluffy roll – well, this one was…Still not a beauty, but it looks better than all the other photos of it which I've got ;-) And this is definitely not a trophy – magpies are very common after all – but this one was much less camera-shy than the others I’ve encountered, so I’ve shot a nice photo-session of it ;-) The Park seems to have a large population of Great Tits, which are quite accustomed to humans walking around (and feeding them, I guess). This one allowed me to come quite close, when it was lounging on the ground and probably warming-up in the sun… And finally something which might not be a bird, but which is the cutest symbol of this Park – fiery squirrels. They’re just soooo pretty!
Oh how I wish I could be at the beach right now… Actually, I’m not a big fun of lying on the beach and sub-bathing all day, but a beach would mean I’m actually on holidays, far away from the stress of living in Warsaw and with some beautiful views to absorb – golden sands, turquoise water, lush greenery.... Well, it doesn’t seem likely that this dream will come true for me anytime soon, but if you’re a lucky one with beach holiday coming up, let me advise you on some creative beach fashion.
One of my favourite brands – Monsoon – has an original beach collection to offer this year; you’ll find there swimsuits, dresses, sun glasses, beach sandals and many other items, which are sure to make you stand out in the crowd. Here are a few of my favourites, and you can find more on the Monsoon website. There’s certainly a lot of funny and original electronic gadgets on the market nowadays, but his one has really caught my eye. It’s an Mp3 Player in the shape of… a cow head! Now, since it’s been launched by CREATIVE, which is a US company, it seems that the fascination with cows as a design motif is not limited to the Netherlands only ;-) These cute cows – described as “cow-tastic” – are called Creative Zen Moo MP3 Players – and come in a range of colours – see below. So why not be original and let a cow play music for you? ;-) A lot of us spends more and more time in front of a computer – whether at work or at home. And while a PC is an extremely useful tool, we can make it more pleasant to use by “pimping it up” or “personalizing” it with gadgets such as wallpapers, icons, clocks etc.
There are thousands of free wallpapers available on the Internet, but to find a really creative and original one is not so easy. But recently I’ve come across a series of creative Spring and Summer, Illustrator-made wallpapers on www.wallcoo.net – beautiful, craftily designed, original, optimistic. Here are my favouite few – you can download these and many more if you click here. Enjoy! I'm back from my trip to the " wild east" of Poland and I'm happy to report hat not only did I survive and haven't been devoured by mosquitoes, but I also got to see some beautiful and charming places. I’ve heard before that the most amazing views are along the rivers which run through this region of Poland, and I’ve seen for myself that this is indeed true for Narew – one of those rivers. Below are a few photos of Narew, taken from a bridge outside the town of Łomża – quite breathtaking, aren’t they?
As you know I’ve been living in Warsaw for abort 2 months now, and I still cannot make myself feel at home here. It might seem strange – after all, I am Polish, so this is my home country. BUT – Warsaw belongs to the so called East, while the area of Poznań, where I was born and raised, belongs to the West. I’ve always heard that these two parts of Poland are very different, but until now I never understood how big those differences are. Everyone does speak the same language, but for all I experience here these could be two different countries…
Anyway, trying not to get discouraged, I’m beginning to explore the eastern part of Poland, which is supposed to be full of beautiful, wild nature and amazing views. A few weekend ago we tried to visit one of the Nature Park, close to the Bug river. Unfortunately it was not a good time to do that – due to heavy rains the roads were flooded and the mosquito plague was horrifying, so we did not get to see much. Still, I managed to get a few nice photos – in all fairness this area looks really attractive in photos, while my memories from the visit itself are slightly less rosy. So here is the first glance at ”the East” – the palace-like building is the Palace in Łochów, the small wooden chapel and the lake are located on the place’s grounds, and the river is Liwiec. Enjoy! PS. Tonight I’m going for another weekend-away in the “ wild East” – keep your fingers crossed! Remember how many times I’ve mentioned Dutch garden centres? I’ve always described them as creative places full of picture-like, lush flowers and amazing interior decoration items. Sometimes it was worth it just to visit one for a browsing spree, and you always felt cheered-up. Well, unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that in Warsaw. I’ve even visited the garden centre which is advertised as the biggest and best here in the city, and… it was a huge disappointment, to put it mildly. I will not go into more details here, but believe me, no fun at all. So I figured if I wanted some beautiful flower views I had to find them somewhere else, and so I did – on the Summer meadows. There’s plenty of the all around Poland, and this time of the year they’re exploding with colours. Here is a photo gallery of Polish meadow flowers – how many can you name? ;-) |
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August 2012
AuthorA fiery red head, a writer and a photographer in love with beautiful design and all things creative |