Out and About - and using our senses

Isn't it amazing how time flies?  One moment it was 11.15, just after break; the next we were twenty minutes late for lunch - and still 5 minutes away from school.....but you know, it didn't seem to matter.  At least there were no audibly rumbling tummies (apart perhaps from mine).

What had kept us so focused and utterly unaware of the rapid passing of time was being Out and About with our sketch books and cameras.

We were Out and About, discovering and making a visual record of some of the places of interest at Chateau de Penthes; the next stage in the preparation of our informative brochures.

Being behind the lens (and I seem to spend quite a bit of my life behind one!) seems to give one a completely different perspective on things.  Children, who would under normal circumstances choose to chase each other down a gravel track, scuff their shoes in the dirt, dodge between the trees, roll in the long grass, suddenly started using their senses and noticing a whole world of different things.

"Look at all that nature," exclaimed Rekik.  "There's so much nature here!"

"Ooooh you can see the lake," squealed Swati as she rounded a bend.

"Mmmmm!  Smell those flowers; they are so sweet," suggested Dangi.

Vaishnavi wanted to taste the 'honey' that clung in tiny droplets on the base of petals gently tweaked from purple clover flower.

Fiona noticed the chirruping sounds of the crickets; we could also hear the mewing cries of the buzzards (I did check, but correct me if I'm wrong!) that circled overhead.

"Touch this bush," suggested Umar.  "It's soft and prickly.  It tickles"

"These petals look and feel like tissue," observed Dangi.

Hundreds (literally!) of photographs.....

   

.....somewhat fewer sketches.....

.....later, and having (finally) gobbled down our lunch in record time, we had plenty to inspire us for the next step; coming up with the right wording which would make anyone using our brochures feel quite as excited and enthusiastic about Our Local Area as we do!