Conkers (Horse Chestnuts)

Beautiful autumnal still life with razor-sharp details.
Enjoy your weekend.

Thank you very much Jaap.

Oh, the poor boys! ;-) What are you building with them? Lovely fall shot, Keith!

English schoolboys always collect conkers at this time of year.............I remember doing it myself. They use them for playing the game of conkers.........The game has 2 players, each with their own carefully selected conker which has been drilled to create a hole and threaded onto a piece of string.

A basic idea of the game is to strike the opponent’s conker and try to break it – your conker is then the victor.

To win the game it is important to have the hardest conker! Cheating can be rife – with conkers baked, steeped in vinegar or painted with nail varnish to harden the fruit – but this is frowned upon.
Glad you like the images and thanks.

Deine schönen Bilder erinnern mich auch an meine schöne Kindheit,wo wir auch immer brav Kastanien gesammelt haben und haben sie dann mit Zahnstochern zum Basteln verwendet,wir konnten uns früher noch sehr gut alleine beschäftigen liebe Keith,ich mag deine Aufnahmen,wie du sie zeigst,was hast du mit der Schnur in den Kastanien gemacht,da komm ich nicht drauf:))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Nachmittag,ganz liebe Grüße Güni :))

Thank you Güni...........you're very kind.

Children (and some adults) use them for playing the game of conkers.........The game has 2 players, each with their own carefully selected conker which has been drilled to create a hole and threaded onto a piece of string.

A basic idea of the game is to strike the opponent’s conker and try to break it – your conker is then the victor.

To win the game it is important to have the hardest conker! Cheating can be rife – with conkers baked, steeped in vinegar or painted with nail varnish to harden the fruit – but this is frowned upon.

Das ist ja toll,dass es solch ein tolles Spiel gibt,vielen Dank für dein nettes Feedback dazu lieber Keith :))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Abend,ganz liebe Grüße Güni :))

very well presented!!

Thank you very much Gabi..........you're very kind.

Wonderful idea and work, Keith!

Thanks very much Judite..........glad you like it.

Onker, onker my first Conker this game apparently started on the Isle of White in 1848 ish,
A wonderful set of still life images and some nice shiny conkers, I especially like those still in the prickly shells Keith
I remember a bad shot can crack the holders knuckles, which can be quite painful.

Have a great weekend, what ever you are doing! Conkers perhaps ;-))

Ha, ha............only the English could invent a game this daft! I can also remember sore knuckles and the disappointment of my conker falling to bits after a good hit :-)))

Have a good weekend yourself Roger...........and thanks for commenting. I shall definitely not be playing conkers!

You meanie you!

Ha ha.............

such a gorgeous painterly effect. beautiful.

Thank you Laura...........you're very kind.

*smile*

Oh, I love conkers:-) Three exellent photos, you did get creative and the colourful background is great. We also used to collect them and build figures with the help of matches. Sadly horse chestnuts in Germany are all suffering from bacterial disease so we see less and less.

I'm pleased you like these Gudrun and for you interesting comments. Your custom of building figures with them sound less dangerous than our game of conkers..!!

The colourful background was some material from my wife's sewing cabinet.

One eye open one blinking! Great

Ha, ha thanks Jan..!!

Stachelig ***

They are a bit..........but the pointy bits go soft pretty quickly. Thanks for dropping in and commenting Christine.

Awesome captures

Thank you kindly.

Such a prickly shell with beautiful, smooth, shiny things inside. Just perfect. BTW - I think playing conkers is all but banned in schools because of health and safety, but there cannot be such restrictions outside the playground. ;-)))

Glad you like these Amelia and thank you.

Here, I think they make the children wear safety glasses...........I don't how how I survived childhood :-)))

Wunderschöne Details zeigst du uns, Keith! Kastanien und Eicheln liegen massenhaft in meinem Garten. Leider kann ich im Sommer im Bereich der Kastanie nicht barfuß laufen. Die Schalen der Kastanie verrotten nicht.

Thank you Wilhelm. We've lost a lot of the trees over the past couple of years due to disease, so it's always good to see the ones in our local park still surviving.

I wouldn't dream of walking barefoot in our garden..........our neighbour has far to many cats which foul it. We have to check daily!

Conkers seem to have vanished here, at least in the places I've been living. Forty years ago in Toronto every fall kids would be out throwing sticks into the horse chestnuts. Now nothing. I'm glad to know it's survived where you are. There's an alternative to video games.

Only just surviving, Some schools have banned the game on Health and Safety grounds. Other require safety glasses to be worn :-))

As I've said to Amelia........I don't know how I survived childhood.

Trés belle composition...Trés picturale

Thank you my friend.......you're very kind.

I was going to ask, did you string them up...and then I see that you did!
A lovely set Keith.