Five Minutes: A glass of bubbly

Frosty, empty glass.

I came across a new photo challenge last week: Desley Jane’s Five Minutes challenge. “Choose a scene or an object and keep fixed on that object, and shoot for just five minutes. You can move around the object or scene but try not to interfere with it. See what happens in that five minutes, what changes, how the light changes, what comes into the frame or leaves the frame, or what other parts of the object you can focus on or use to your advantage.”

If you scroll down the page, you’ll certainly see what changed in these five minutes. 😉

Just poured and frothing over with enthusiasm.

Settling down nicely with a fine stream of beads, and a delicate mousse on the surface.

Sip!

Slurp!

Not much left now!

All gone. 😦

Why the pink straw? Well, how else could I drink the bubbly without picking up the glass and getting fingerprints all over it? But I’ll tell you, as “challenges” go, drinking a glass of sparkling wine — even a small glass, as this one is — in five minutes is no easy feat, and using a straw doesn’t make it any easier!

Jaunty pink straw in empty glass.

From mirror pouch to mobile phone holder

Originally, this drawstring pouch held a hand mirror.

A friend gave me this lovely drawstring bag with matching hand mirror after she returned from a stint teaching English in Japan. I’ve repurposed the bag to hold my mobile phone and earbuds/microphone, as I wanted something to not only protect the phone’s screen but also to keep the earbuds with the phone.

Now, it holds my mobile phone and earbuds.

Happy Australia Day!

I love the precaution of fixing the glass to the table!

It’s Australia Day, and that means barbeques! My building is hosting one in the courtyard, which has been suitably decorated.

Balloons and flags peeking from the shrubbery

Roof curves at Bondi

Arched roof feature, North Bondi

The first flush of building along the beachfront at Bondi and in the streets behind took place in the inter-war years of 1914 to 1940. As such, the area features a blend of architecture styles that, at the time, were new and exciting: Art Deco, Functionalist, Arts and Crafts, Free Classical and Stripped Classical, and Spanish Mission. I don’t know what style defines this apartment building beside the bus terminus in North Bondi, but the graceful, simple arches that decorate the roof make me suspect it’s Functionalist.

(“The Inter-War Functionalist style was influenced by modern European architecture and typically has an asymmetrical massing of simple geometric shapes, clean lines, and dissociation from styles of the past.” source) If you know your architecture styles, please let me know if I’m right!

In the next couple of weeks I’ll publish a longer post focusing on many interesting features of the buildings along the beachfront.

Final fountain: my lobby

Full view of the fountain in the lobby

For my final contribution to Poli’s fountain challenge, I’m going with a fountain very close to home — in the lobby of my building! It’s a shame there’s no water in it, and it irks me that only one spotlight is working.

Zoom on the woman

What the heck is this thing?? A bat? An evil fish? Clearly they originally had water jetting from their mouths.

January’s fountain theme is defunct. I’d like to say a big “thank you” to Polianthus for hosting this challenge for the past year.

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Defunct fountains: Bolivia

National Museum of Art, La Paz, Bolivia

This waterless but still lovely (marble?) fountain is in a courtyard of the National Museum of Art in La Paz, Bolivia. The photo is a scan of a print from 1999, so rather poor quality I’m afraid.

January’s fountain theme is defunct or repurposed.

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The view from the window: Lace curtains

Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana

This lace-curtained window looks onto the hedges and columns of the formal entry to Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana. I can just imagine a woman pushing aside this curtain to peer outside and see who is coming up the very long, oak-tree-lined drive.

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Defunct fountains: Fiji

Only the legs are left!

In Suva (the capital of Fiji), there is a lovely garden named in honour of Sir John Bates Thurston, governor between February 1888 and March 1897. While the lawns, trees and plants are well looked after, the monuments and fountains have had a tougher time. This fountain must have been very impressive when it was new and the basin was full of water. I can imagine children running through the water on a hot day, splashing each other and laughing with glee.

Defunct, decrepit, destroyed …

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