Monday ...

early morning light, roma, originally uploaded by - di.

My body aches this morning and so, like a cat, I'm sitting here in the sun in the quiet of an apartment empty of people, with Louie and Ella Fitzgerald singing April in Paris, just being ... and writing this because for some odd reason, I find writing this blog relaxing.

The latest project is a Flat Stanley project for furiousball's son and so today is about heading into the city with Flat Stanley and showing him around; introducing him to the giants in Antwerpen's history and we think we'll go to the castle on the edge of the river too ... with the camera which makes everything so much more fun.

Jessie's quite keen to take Stan to our zoo - rumoured to be the oldest in Europe, I need to check that. Her antibiotics are kicking in finally and I'm hoping this is a turning point after so long with the cold/flu thing.

As of last night, my niece has all the information I could think of for her 5 French cities project, with any photographs I had and ... a drum roll moment... my sister's birthday present is on its way to her for 5 April.

I'm an unreliable creature and so it's always a drum-roll moment when I manage to co-ordinate things like birthdays and other important events.

Working all weekend left me a physical ruin, as my ergonomic situation would make people who know about these things throw their hands in the air in horror. I always think 'just this time and then I'll fix it' ...

Late last night found me working through photographs with the intention of finally filling the IKEA frames I bought during a moment of financial well-being. It took hours and turned out that my favourite photographs almost all came from the Rome trip, with some Genova photographs making the cut too. It seems the obsession with beautiful Italy continues and is deeply real. I looked through almost every photograph I have and have a bridge series in early morning Roman light, as seen above.

I love light, I get excited when the light is right but don't ever try to have a technical discussion with me about it. It's an instinct that I'm learning more about every week but explaining it all ... ufff!

Istanbul in 10 days.
2 weeks of taking photographs of that beloved city, with a side-trip to return to Gallipoli and another set of battlefields my grandfather fought on, I hope.

I return to unpack and repack for ANZAC commemorations on Flanders Fields, still following Granddad's footsteps ... a fact that would have undoubtedly stunned him had he still been alive. He was with the Otago Mounted Rifles and they were in Gallipoli, then Egypt and then on the Somme - where he was injured and his horse killed. After the Somme they came over to Belgium and were involved in the Battle of Messines Ridge - a landscape I have become so familiar with over time.

But anyway, enough rambling, camera gear to pack ...
I hope you have a lovely day where ever you are.
Tot straks.