1 April 2020

Victory

 
Between March 14th and March 20th, 3224 eligible photographs were submitted to the Geograph website that I have mentioned several times before. It was nice to see that one of my pictures had made the Week 11 shortlist but a couple of days later it wasn't just nice it was uplifting to discover that that image had been selected as the overall Photo of the Week winner! Ring the bells! Bang the drums! Pudding is back on the pedestal!

I revealed the winning picture here on this blog before I submitted it to Geograph so you saw it first my blogosphere friends. I guess I was just lucky that the judge - a woman called Pam - was drawn to the sheep. It was very different from the other nominated pictures - mostly predictable landscapes. Pam said that the sheep reminded her of one of her aunties.
__________________________________________________

Last Friday morning, after I had dropped Clint off at the garage for his service and Ministry of Transport test, I walked home via Sheffield's General Cemetery. It is a fascinating place. Some areas are wild and overgrown but the graveyard remains a monument to Victorian England and to a northern steel city that became a world powerhouse in just a hundred years. Here are just three of the pictures I took:-
Victorian stone carving
View from the cemetery to The Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Blackbird

37 comments:

  1. I started my career in the Reference Library in Sheffield. My boss used to spend her weekends going round cemeteries, taking down information from all the gravestones. This was all put onto a card index for local historians to use. Maybe it's computerised now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So you were in our magnificent Central Library then Margaret? Old gravestones can tell so many stories.

      Delete
  2. Well done, Mr. P! I am so pleased for you. I remember that photo well; I found the contrast in colouration of the sheep's head and body was quite striking.

    The judge's comment is funny, but it's also true how animals can look like people. And vice versa :)

    I like that blackbird in today's pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations! All that walking gives great opportunities for photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You never know what you will see.I took the winning picture as sunlight spotlighted the slope on which my friend was grazing.

      Delete
  4. I love the blackbird photo. Congrats on yet another award winning photo!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations, Mr pudding.
    I particularly like the blackbirds. We have a pair nesting in our hedge. It offers a distraction from the troubles of the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny how garden birds have no idea what is currently going on in the human world.

      Delete
  6. I know a cat that reminds me of my grandpa Virgil.

    Great picture. Congrats

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda. I once saw a snake that reminded me of Margaret Thatcher.

      Delete
  7. Congratulations! I believe you have made Photo of the Week quite a few times haven't you? How exciting for you and also well deserved for your photography skills are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It always gives me a buzz when any of my pictures are shortlisted but to get another winner - why, I am walking on air Bonnie!

      Delete
  8. Woohoo! Three cheers for Yorkshire Pudding!

    I'd love to walk around that old cemetery. This week and last, I have been to Ludwigsburg's old and new cemetery for walks. All other park-like areas are either closed or there are too many people about for my liking, but the cemeteries are still peaceful, quiet and full of spring flowers - some planted there on purpose, others growing where they want to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watch out for the ghosts Meike! There are so many of them in old cemeteries that it is not easy to achieve social distancing.

      Delete
  9. Well done YP. You take some marvellous photographs. like visiting old churches, especially Anglican ones when ever I visit dear old Blighty,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am a non-believer but I still love visiting old churches. There are some great old churches in Ireland too. Thanks for your nice comment Dave.

      Delete
  10. My congratulations too Mr P. Your photos are always impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations. It also makes a change for you to be waiting for Clint rather than the other way round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are a dynamic duo, I'm Batman and he's just Robin.

      Delete
    2. No, an unreliant one.

      Delete
  12. Happy to offer congratulations once again on your photographic achievement. Love the sheep, but the Blackbird photo immediately had me thinking of the Beatles lyrics/tune...somehow a bit appropriate to the times.

    "Blackbird singing in the dead of night
    Take these broken wings and learn to fly
    All your life
    You were only waiting for this moment to arise

    Black bird singing in the dead of night
    Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
    All your life
    You were only waiting for this moment to be free"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That song does indeed have a special resonance at this point in time Mary. Thanks for calling by again - but please keep at a safe distance!

      Delete
    2. I'm thinking that 3,570 miles (give or take a few) is sufficient for now. :)

      Delete
    3. Yup! That's what I call social-distancing!

      Delete
  13. This is wonderful! And it's a great picture. Congratulations on a much-deserved award.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This blogpost is my acceptance speech because of social-distancing rules.

      Delete
  14. We have red-winged blackbirds here and a very noisy pair has returned to nest in the tree just outside my kitchen window so I'm enjoying watching them - but they are noisy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are noisy but you are nosy Margie!
      "Hey, she's looking at us again honey!"

      Delete
  15. I don't know man, you and your sheep. Where you a sheep herder in a previous life?

    I love that the woman who chose the winning photo, liked it because it reminded her of her aunt.

    I love the blackbird photo. Our blackbirds have red badges on their wings. They have a lovely call and will fiercely defend their harem, yes, they have harems:)

    Glad you're still able to get out for walks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's becoming harder to get out for a walk Lily. The Derbyshire police are becoming over-zealous - as if a solitary walk was somehow an insult to frontline health workers. I cannot see the connection.

      Delete
  16. I never tire of wandering through our cemetery here. So much artistry and history! Congrats on the fabulous sheep photo! I wonder how Pam's auntie would feel knowing that sheep makes her niece think of her??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if her auntie was into knitting...with sheep's wool!

      Delete
  17. Congratulations! I remember that "sheep portrait" from an earlier post of yours, too :)

    ReplyDelete

Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

Most Visits