Learning in the u3a movement

After some 3 years the Red Mason Bees have found it and are laying their eggs. We saw a lot of bees one day and it was a few days before we realised what they were and what they were doing. Now we will make another ready for next year. This population of bees is possibly due to us making a wildlife garden close to where the Insect Hotel is situated.

When lockdown struck, a talented lady named Gill began the Invergowrie Fairy Door Trail “to create a few free smiles”. Beginning with 10 doors Gill was inundated with requests, the trail mushroomed and after 101 doors Gill decided to take a break. But doors kept appearing, families began creating their own doors and adding to the trail. We added door hunting to our daily lockdown walks. The doors are miniature works of art and Bilbo Baggins would be impressed by this door with its 5 circles and a spiral!

After several challenging upside-down days, my lens ball helped turn my frown into a smile - it made me chuckle. What a heroic circle my lens ball is, turning all those frowns into smiles. I hope it brings a smile to you as well.

These caught my eye in a local playground with their stack of discs topped by one with a smiley face. Unfortunately, there weren't any kids around to see how they worked as there doesn't seem to be much to hold onto.

Removing the back from an old watch reveals the circles in the movement.

What a pleasant way to meet friends with a glass of wine. My U3A has a thriving wine tasting group which I have every intention of joining once we are allowed to socials again. It's not the same when using Zoom!

These circles are appearing everywhere and symbolise social distancing for me. This one was in my local garden centre.

Paper straws from a different angle while enjoying a cold drink in the lockdown heatwave.

Having had an hour or two ‘spare’ over the last couple of weeks I decided to have a go at ‘Oil on Water’ photography using a glass dish with about an inch of water in it and some cooking oil floating on the top. The results can be both exciting and unpredictable but, at my first attempt, I was lucky enough to achieve this wonderfully abstract pattern of circles using white and red LED lights to underlight the dish.

At the beginnig of lockdown my wife planted cucumber seeds in a pot in our conservatory. The amazing spirals of the tendrils sent out to find somewhere to latch on to, and the marching rings of protective spikes along their stalks, provide fresh entertainment every morning.

These eggs were in our circular egg bowl and reminded me of our chickens when I was a child; I added a little straw, as we did to the nest boxes, this photograph is the result.

I am always drawn to look through a hole. In this case it was to see another hole at The Kench Hayling Island.

Don't we all need a few kind words right now? Found these old vinyl singles amongst my collection of old records.

This shot was taken looking through the (unconnected) outflow venting tube for our new tumble drier which was slightly turned at the far end and placed near a light bulb. I wanted to get the effect of bright sunlight streaming in just beyond the bend in a tunnel.

My flat has two lovely 18th century porthole windows and I collect glass paperweights. My 'suncatchers' are circular and the larger one is a copy of a stained glass window by Edward Burne-Jones. I think they all complement each other for the theme 'Circles'.