Meme - or is that Me Me?

It's past midnight, I can't sleep (I knew I shouldn't have had that late evening cup of tea!) so what better to do than browse a few blogs?  Well, maybe there is something else (I'll leave you to judge whether it's 'better' or not!)  Kat Mortenson has challenged me to a meme.  Now, I have never participated in a meme on my blog - and it won't become a habit - but this one seems a little more interesting than some, so here goes:

(Apologies that the light print is a little hard on the eyes when there's a lot of it.  I like the grey background for photos so it has to stay, sorry.  Suggest you zoom in a bit!)

1) Why did you create your blog?

My first and 'main' blog, Saltaire Daily Photo, was a challenge to myself.  I'd been reading some of the City Daily Photo blogs (Venice, Paris) and thinking for a while that someone ought to showcase the fascinating and historic World Heritage Site of Saltaire, where I live...  and one day quite suddenly I realised that someone could be me.  I tried to argue myself out of it but then I thought, well why not?  So I gave myself the challenge to post a photo a day for a year - and rather to my surprise I managed it... and by then I was thoroughly hooked on blogging and knew that my photography was getting better, so I have carried on.  I developed this blog, Seeking the Quiet Eye, as a place where I could be a bit more experimental. For why I chose the title, please look back at the first post.  It has not really gone in the direction I first envisaged, but I don't mind.  These things tend to develop a life of their own!


2) What kind of blogs do you follow?
Mostly photography blogs, quite a few of the City Daily Photo ones.  Any with photos of places I'm interested in - local to me, those close to where I grew up, places I've visited, some I'd love to visit. Those that are well-written.  I tend to find new blogs by looking up the authors of comments on other people's blogs that I find interesting or amusing and that resonate somehow with me.  I find I enjoy too, those where people are open about themselves (but not self-centred), share their creativity (poetry, crafts, cooking) and make me laugh.  I mentioned some in my previous post.  Here's a few more - by no means an exhaustive list:

Chronicles from the Shore                                                Fearless Nesting
Adventure before Dementia                                              Square Sunshine
Vicki Lane Mysteries                                                        Paris Through My Lens
didyoubringyourcamera                                                    Heartshaped 

3) Favourite make-up brand?
(Well that's change of focus!) Don't know if I have one - most of my stuff comes from Olay, Body Shop or Boots No 7.  I wear make-up every day but I can't see the point of spending a fortune on it, though I have a belief that it's worth spending more on 'wet' stuff (serum, moisturiser, foundation) and less on the powdery things (eye shadow, blusher etc.)  Even so, I don't believe a £50 jar is necessarily any better than a £10 jar.  But I do swear by Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum. It really works! as well as feeling lovely on my skin.

4) Favourite clothing brand
The one I loved (Offshoot) closed down. I buy some clothes from Jackpot which is a Danish brand with an organic range. I also buy far too much from M&S (safe and dependable but not very exciting).  I am having a bit of an image crisis at the moment. Shops & magazines seem to imagine that women the far side of 50 can afford to spend more. I can't, but cheaper high street ranges don't seem to cater anymore.


5) My indispensible make-up product... would have to be mascara, as I have blonde eyelashes that look non-existent without a slick of black.


6) Favourite colour - to wear, blue, always - any shade of.  But I look good in pink and red too.  Years ago, in my teens, I had red-gold hair and my art teacher (!) tried hard to persuade me out of blues into greens and browns.  But I don't like sludgy colours and don't think they suit my skin tone. Most unfavourite colours would be mustard and lime green!  Funnily enough, I don't like to decorate with blue.  My house is mostly creams, soft yellows, duck egg, a bit of grey.

7) Perfume - always floral.  For years I have worn Estee Lauder 'Pleasures' but I can't smell it anymore! I'm trying 'Stella' by Stella McCartney - lovely roses.  I like Lancome's Trésor too - old-fashioned girl.

8) Favourite film - too hard to choose! Romantic ones I guess. Ones I can watch again and again are Brief Encounter, Casablanca, The Holiday (just fun!) - and Mamma Mia if I need cheering up!  But there are hundreds I have really enjoyed, going back forever.  Films (and music) from the late 60s/early 70s are the most nostalgic for me - things like Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Graduate, Dr Zhivago, 2001 - A Space Odyssey.


9) What country would you like to visit and why?  
USA - because I read and enjoy so many blogs from there.  But it's such a big country, I wouldn't know where to start!  Italy, because apart from a brief trip to Venice (which may be in Italy but is a place apart) it's a European country I've never been to - and I think it's very photogenic and historical.  I'm fascinated to read about and look at photos of places like India but I'm not a brave traveller and don't like the heat, so I have no desire to actually go there.

10) Make up the last question and answer it yourself....uum...
Why did you choose the blog name jennyfreckles? 

When I was chewing the end of my virtual pen trying to think up a name, the pop song "Jennifer Eccles" by The Hollies started up in my head. (Since it was a hit in 1968 and I can remember every word, that really dates me!)  So, jennyfreckles it is.


I'll have two questions!
If you could change one thing about yourself?.....
I would give me my hearing back.  I've become progressively deaf since I was 25, and am now severely/profoundly deaf in both ears. I wear hearing aids and get by, but it is an isolating condition.  I've become much more introverted as a result, as well as having to give up the career I loved (running training courses) and get a boring office job.  On the other hand, photography has become a passion and as a hobby it's ideal for a deaf person.  I doubt I would have become so focused if I weren't deaf - I'd be trying to do too many other things!  So the way deafness has shaped me isn't by any means all bad news.

[Photos from the web, except for Salts Mill which is mine]