Photo challenges

August is coming to an end and September is soon upon us. It's time to share our monthly collages at Susanna's Pieni Lintu blog.

I do like autumn, it's a time for new beginnings and change, for new ideas and inspiration. (Magazine, bottom centre: "Anna" 33-34/2015, photo: Ofer Amir)

♥

With this post I will participate also in Susanna's MakroTex Challenge. This week's topic is "important". So below's a selection of things that are important to me.

You can participate in MakroTex Challenge also with regular photos. I don't have a macro lens, so what you will see is only close up photography. This time, however, I tried to get closer than usually and audaciously I participate in Laura's I Heart Macro as well.

Do check out these lovely link parties!

Several of my subjects were black, grey or white and I decided to convert all the photos into black and white ones. I actually like the result. What do you think?

Wishing you a lovely September!

Postcards #11: Piacenza, Italy

Welcome to our home town in Italy! Piacenza was founded as a Roman military colony in 218 BC and its name means a "pleasant place". Here are some glimpses of the town centre, of our wedding church (built from 1122 to 1233) and of the shiny windows of my favourite shops...

We had a walk in the town in the morning to avoid the high temperatures, but it was already rather warm.  Lovely days to remember now when the weather has turned rainy again. This year the Finnish summer was really short, here about one-two weeks long. :)

Yesterday evening, however, under my large umbrella I greatly enjoyed watching the rain and contemplating the golden coloured leaves on the ground.

Participating in

Mosaic Monday

hosted by

Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Have you been shopping for the autumn/winter season? :)

Postcards #10: Blooming in July

Hello and welcome to see what was blooming in our garden in Emilia-Romagna at the end of July, during our visit in Italy. You may remember that it was very warm in Central and Southern Europe in those weeks.  Our garden and those of our neighbours were dreaming of some rain.

Oleanders (Nerium), crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia), bignonias, and rose mallows (Hibiscus syriacus) were the superstars of the moment.

(I never knew crape myrtles are called "kutriot" in Finnish. Thank you, Wikipedia!)

It's said that Emilia-Romagna's viticultural heritage dates back as far as the seventh century BC.

With this sunrise view from our bedroom balcony I wish you all a lovely day! 

Thank you, D! :)

More August moments...

... in other words, more a little bit badly focused photos with splendid colours and light. :)  I just fell in love with the colours of the Cornus alba 'Sibirica' above. Aren't they pretty!

Sharing with

Mosaic Monday

hosted by

Judith at Lavender Cottage

Have a lovely new week!

Postcards #9: Aosta Valley, Italy

In Italy, we first enjoyed some beautiful views of the Aosta Valley, "Valley of Augustus", a mountainous region in the north-west.

There would have been so much to see! We didn't have time to take long walks, but we just had to climb to see the Castle of Graines, in the municipality of  Brusson.

The oldest part of the castle, believed to have been built in the 11th century, is the chapel. The ceiling has crumbled down a long time ago, but some parts (like the semicircular apse, below) are still visible:

The weather was rather cloudy - fortunately! The temperature on the mountains was about 30 degrees Celsius and when we descended into the Po Valley, the temperature rose to 37 °C (98.6 °F). During our stay in Italy, the daily maximum temperatures were around 35 - 37 °C. After the cool Finnish summer it felt lovely, but I must admit that the air conditioners made the trip much more comfortable. :)