Hello, I’m Pipp. Thank you for visiting Vineyard Tales
What I love about our world are the rough edges of wild open spaces, like the weightless, hollow rye husks catching the breeze like sails, discarded forgotten feathers caught on thistles, curling petals and pine needles left stacked by the rain as it ran downhill in a fury.
The story for me is in the transformation, in the metamorphosis of life, in the curl, in the seasons, in acceptance, in the seeds that lie dormant for a decade. I’m inspired as much by sunset, moss and moonlight as I am by smiles, tears, unruly hair or the wrinkles in a smile.
At home I love watching garlic pieces cooking buoyed up on bubbles jiggling weightless in olive oil; I love knowing that a chunk of dark chocolate and a glass of red wine a day is good for you; I love raspberries and recipes with pistachios or ginger. The sea, candle lit dinners and birds make me smile and so do dogs with wagging tails.
All of these things lift my spirit and fuel my sense of hope. Photography got me started. It taught me about nature’s perfect imperfections. My photography is Wabi-Sabi style; no photoshopped-out details; nature as is, rural or urban, usually rural, taken with an ordinary lens. The sparkle in the picture is a gift from sunrise itself not special effects.
If it’s cheating, to use my camera at daybreak to get back my reset, then I’m guilty. I take my camera out at dawn, or she takes me. We both think that time is better spent taking photos of nature than cleaning the house. (Not sure if my family would totally agree on that one!) What the camera has taught me is priceless. She is chief interpreter for all the beauty I discover outdoors. Unsurprisingly she is the last thing I pack when I travel and the first out of the rucksack. Like a life coach, she reminds me to appreciate and be grateful for the tiny details.
Whether it’s portrait or landscape, closeup or abstract, it is light, even the faintest of light, that lifts everything, from the photograph to the paragraph, from our mood, to our expression and self-esteem. Vineyard Tales celebrates that every day has its own sparkle and its own story, even if we sometimes have to look harder to find it.
The day I wrote this introduction, we started the day with an unusually pink candyfloss sky with a rainbow arching right through the middle, yet it hadn’t been raining. I didn’t know you could get rainbows without rain. It proved to me that every dawn is unique and so incredibly worth getting up early for. I know Oscar Wilde said a dreamer only finds their way at moonlight, but I have a feeling a dreamer is guided more by dawn than by the moon. Vineyard Tales likes to bring the magic of dawn to you.
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‘Nature helps me find that spot, the deep slow sigh,
you know the one;
that breath that reaches right up from the bottom of your lungs.
I invite you to sigh deeper with me.’
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Camera and I walk around the vineyards of Cava country where we shake off the noise. Many stories slot into place while walking. Other tales are born behind the lens, in the vineyards behind our home. The beach is another obvious favourite for inspiration as the sun rises above the horizon, even with, or especially with, a rough sea.
I’ve lived here over half my life, minutes from the beach. We live a short train ride away from the city of Barcelona, on top of a hill. They’ve kindly adopted me officially. By that I mean I’m Spanish, though with my complexion I might as well have ‘English’ stamped on my forehead, whether I speak the lingo or not. I have three children. One is learning to fly, one is a voice talent and the other is a dog therapist. Some of my stories are about the light they bring to my life too.
Train journeys especially are great for writing. I particularly love travelling on buses. Passengers become observers. You converse with people from other walks of life more than you might otherwise by travelling by car. People on the bus seem equal and humbler, happy to greet you, commenting on their day, while they sit and enjoy a peep of the landscape from their elevated bus seat.
Why read Vineyard Tales?
Writing brings me a sense of inner calm, contrasting with a world that seems to swirl in anger and retaliation. Nature and photography help me find that spot, the deep slow sigh, you know the one; that breath that reaches right up from the bottom of your lungs. I invite you to sigh deeper with me.
Maybe you aren’t able to get out of the city today so I can bring a bit of countryside to you or if you know someone who could do with a reminder please share.
Sanctuary, my first publication in 2024, in an old-fashioned book:
‘Sanctuary’ was published in January 2024 from pictures gathered over six years. This was my first book which to my delight sold out in five months. (I only printed a hundred copies I hasten to add, but I had thought they would gather a bit of dust, and hang around until Christmas. To my surprise they were ordered straight from their boxes). It is nature photography inspired by dawn and dew drops, glistening frost, dragonfly wings, butterflies, sea-polished pebbles and it talks gently of the acceptance of constant change in our lives and selfcare.
I’m working on a second, edition which will be available on Amazon. When it’s ready I’ll put a link here. The second edition will be print-to-order, which is better for the environment. (Yes Amazon does one thing right!)
🌿 In notes I post photographs and short observations that don’t get to be a larger story and I endeavour to write a story every week. They usually get sent out on a Thursday or Friday. The average number of tales/stories/stacks/posts, whatever you prefer to call them, in a year, is around fifty. That figure was a bit less when I was writing my book and when Mum was very ill too, but now, even writing and grieving, the two blur into one. It’s the way I was made; writing is how I process stuff…which takes me back to the beginning, that for me the story is in the process, the magic of metamorphosis, transition, seasons, moonlight, sunrise, kindness, tears, the beauty of imperfection, generosity and the acceptance of change.
Vineyard Tales is a couple of years old. It changed its name a couple of times in the beginning. Apologies for that. If there is one thing I really struggle with, it’s choosing titles! If you would like to reflect on any of my pieces, or suggest better titles or have other comments, I’m all ears.
Join me sharing moments of calm, aspirations and loves. My stories on Sub Stack are accompanied by my own pictures like these, mostly taken in Spain.
Thank you for your precious time.
Lots of love.
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Good Grief - a new section on its way
‘Good Grief’’ is a new section. Tales grown out of turmoil and tears, from stories we hear in the news and it’s also about how I try to handle grief, as I come to terms with losing my Mum only a few weeks ago. (The first few stories there are older ones that happen to fit the title, just to give it a start but new ones are in the pipeline.)
If you join me, I will be very humbled and extremely honoured.
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