actually it is my tiara... not hers ! =) Taken at a surprise party I was throwing for my mother that turned out to be a double cross and a surprise party for me ! I really... really... don't like surprises. But it was fun anyway! (tequila helped!)

Juniper branch berries.

Actually, these are neither fruits nor berries. Strictly botanically speaking, fruits are the mature, ripened ovaries of flowering plants (Angiosperms). Berries are fleshy fruits of some flowering plants with seeds distributed throughout the interior.

Junipers are Gymnosperms. These "berries" are simply fleshy cones, not fruits at all.

And that concludes Professor McGovern's botany lesson for the day.

BTW, I'm not certain which species of juniper (Juniperus) this is; there are several species found throughout the western U.S.

Actually, a murmuration or cloud, on Salisbury Plain. It just looks a bit like a fist, I think...

Sony A99, Sigma 150-500 DG HSM

actually they asked me to take their photo, while I was standing with my small camera.

Actually I did this photoshot around a month ago XDDD

Actually, this motel is not even close to the center of the city.

www.danmoret.com

It's gonna be a long night......

Actually, I uploaded this image by mistake! I tried to delete it as there is an identical one just a few images away, but I find Flickr will NOT allow me to do this!!! Anyone know of a way around this..??? "-(

Actually this shot was taken by a FRIEND from Kodaikanal. Loved the framing and her beautiful expressive face.

Actually this one isn't too bad!

Actually, I pushed the button on the other side. I took this photo after I passed through safely.

Actually, on the corner of Bleeker and one of the streets east of Broadway but I do recall it was before I got to Bowrey. I walked past him, across the street, and he was standing up and talking to himself and seemed quite strung out - agitated. I wanted to get a better closeup but discretion was the better part of valor this time .. I think the juxtaposition of subjects here is interesting ..

Whether it be the elderly, children, homeless, the workers or the men and women that carry out the mating ritual on the city sidewalks. .. My social photography intends only to inform, and to share with others what I observe and find to be interesting. I apologize if I inadvertently offend anyone ~Rhpsr

actually quite happy with this, little more cleaning work to do, but pretty much finished. Comments appreciated!

PS (the orange is a design choice)

I actually found this note in a post secret book.

It says "While visiting my parents last night, I caught my father sleeping in front of the TV. The moment was both beautiful & sad. I realized how little I really know him - yet, at that moment, I felt more connected to him than I ever had before."

It really touched me.

Holy Crap that's pretty small.

Actually more like US$1.40 Shop

We actually have like 4 more knives. I only ever use the Shun (4th from the left) and a cheap-o one that is not shown here. My mom sent me that other one. It has what Joe likes to call "speed holes". It can't hold an edge for crap, but it hones razor sharp very quickly.

Actually it's the roof of my neighbor's house.

Actually my second shot for the "inspired-by and dedicated-to-series" is more than one shot, cause your style, dear

Denis Collette was so inspiring, that I could not stop to capture all the beautiful impressions I found on my "calm pond" - echoing your wild river :)

Thank you so much for opening my eyes to such beauty mirrored on every water - even if it's wild or calm!

Actually this was taken using the WCL X70. Giving a 14mm FOV, 21mm in full frame equivalence

actually, this is a candle. and it's layered with a picture of honami and becky if you can tell (at the bottom, really faint)

View of the effigy from the top of the ziggurat.

We actually made it to the burn this year! We didn't sleep through it.

Callan.

looking.

effigy, grass, trees.

Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, Artemas, Pennsylvania.

June 11, 2016.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

BACKSTORY: Well, that was a crazy burn! So much shit I never expected to do, at WickerMan Burn 2016!

- Damaged Carolyn's car on the way in so that it permanently squeaks, except it got better by the time we left

- Ate a tequila worm (so much more chewing than you would imagine!) when naked-goddess-bartender poured me one, randomly. (I had to check that it wasn't something from the woods)

- Watched fireworks so dangerously close that I needed first aid for a burned eyeball (could this be why the vision in that eye went bad this year?)

- Learned to weave. On a loom. And wove some. Took video of weaving.

- worried about this spleen issue I have that is starting to feel less like a pain, and more like an actual tumor that you can distinctly feel on one side (still hurting as of 2017, CT Scan found nothing)

- controlled huge flamethrowers with laserbeams & buttons

- fun stuff on top of a 20-ft wooden ziggurat art installation (Carolyn was too scared to go up!)

- Watched a firework fireball zoom past Carolyn's head (she didn't even flinch) and catch the ground on fire 1 foot from her feet

- Made out with both members of a couple (beards can be soft?)

- Bounced in a moon bounce

- Saw Carolyn fall off a bounce-house ramp,tumbling in mid air, as onlookers screamed (one massage later, she's fine)

- Played with propane bubbles (cover hand, stick in fire, watch self burn) with zero regard for my safety or even knowing what they were ("other people aren't dying when they do this, so i'll do this, whatever this is. no, i won't ask anybody any questions about it or learn anything safety-related")

- Treated 2nd degree cooking burn with actual aloe leaves someone bundled up, just in case. Only had to walk 20 feet from my camp! No relation to previous bullet point.

- Tried [REDACTED]

- Used logical deduction to guide a damsel in distress to her campsite that she could not find, even though I had never been there. (If you want to flatter me, make me feel like Aragorn. I also accept pints of cherry tomatoes & great conversation)

- Received tons of compliments about my hair & badass cartoon shirt (and about my brain) (but I get that a lot... it's the othersI'm not so used to)

- Worried about Andrea in rehab. Did all kinds of crazy things to maintain connectivity to check up on her. A lotta good that did. RIP, Andrea.

- Learned to always great one specific person with "Hi, Clint!" (Her name is not Clint. This is how she prefers greetings.)

- Wore My Little Pony boxer-briefs around strangers

- Sent video from the middle of the woods with a phone that only works when plugged in (tricky)

- Met the creator of games I've played for 15 yrs, & found out that the vintage set of game pieces my aunt found me in a thrift store are so rare that he was re-telling people about our set... Even when we weren't even there. So honored! To tell the man who invented Fluxx that you had the original Fluxx back when that was the only Fluxx you could get was awesome, too.

- But to make a reference to a specific episode of 2 Stupid Dogs to the creator of Fluxx, and have him know it and repeat it back... Wow.

- Chastised by Channy for not knowing how to spell my own name on facebook, becuase she wanted pictoral proof of my story that did not believe -- that the deer shit that came out of the deer when my Bonneville was totalled (while driving back from Dirk's) had splattered onto my car in the shape of Pluto the Dog's face. I totally sent her that picture!

- Lost 1 of 2 cameras, resulting in our pictures being quite incomplete (gee, real Burnery of whoever found it to not bother giving it back. If I find someone else's camera, I guess this means I'll have to keep it to break even?)

- Learned I can consistently inhale an entire nitrous oxide cartridge in one lungful

- Randomly given 2 beers by someone, only to ask to see her face, and, after introductions, us all realizing we already know each other already and are FB friends already (wtf?! what are the odds?!)

Saw a truck covered in fire driving down the mountain like nothing was going on. Overheard: "Are you seeing that? Is that real?"

Phew? Did I get everything? I don't know! One night, I never saw my camp during the night time, at all.

Day 6 of the trip.

There was discussion this morning on how many orchid species we have actually seen, it is possibly either 39 or 40. Which is quite amazing, really.

And there was the promise of yet more species through the day.

I was up at six, and after a shower, I went for a walk to the coffee shop for a double Greek coffee and one of the small sesame seed coated baguettes they sell, which I ate in the French way, dipping mouthfulls in the coffee.

Yummy.

I walked back to the hotel, with the sound of a Hoopoe echoing around the village, though I never got a look at the bird, I do know its call.

ack at the hotel I had second breakfast of Greek yogurt, fruit and a slice of cake, and yet more coffee. I felt I could take on anything.

So, at nine we loaded up the busses and headed to the wooded hill in the centre of the island where we got out and straight away were shown the first rarity of the day, a Milky Orchid, which is a small understated orchid.

We took turns to photograph it, then moved on up the slope where we found the next rarity, Neotinea maculata, known as the Dense Flowered Orchid, which is found in some places back home, but not Kent. It is a cousin of the Milky, but looks very different. Just a handful of these tiny orchids were found, some more delicate than others.

Over the hill and down a slope came the only disappointment, just unopened spikes of the very rare Limodorum abortivum, a half dozen round the foot of a fir tree. We hope to return on the way to the airport on Saturday, but in the end, time beat us.

We walked back to the car, and drove a short distance where at a rocky outcrop we found smaller Milky Orchids, missed by the herds of feral goats.

We moved on.

To a dry site next, where we had hoped to find a coterie of spikes, but found just one impressive Ophrys mammosa, which we all snapped anyway.

We had lunch, and as well as the usual rolls, we had pastries and stuffed vine leaves cooked by the mother-in-law of the owner of the tour company.

Along a river valley, we stopped to see the largest colony of Orchis italica on the island. We took our time to record those, and with that came the realisation that we were running out of orchids.

Our last scheduled stop of the day was beside the only large lake in the island for some general botany, which I sat out, as the conditions were arid to say the least, but the botanists were happy enough.

Our last call was thanks to to a tip off to see the few Anacamptis laxiflora. So beside a road, we saw a single photographer in the reserve, snapping. So, imagine his surprise as 12 people joined him to see the fine and rare orchids,

And that was that.

We took and hour to get back to the hotel, where we retired to the bar for a beer and a chat, before the serious matter of dinner.

Dinner was chicken and peas, a simple but hearty meal, which I drank with some red wine.

And just like that, we have just one day left....

-------------------------------------------

This is undoubtedly the most frequently encountered Serapias in the eastern Mediterranean and it's surprising therefore that the plant has only been known as a distinct species/sub-species for just over a century, having first been described from Corfu in 1908 and named after the French botanist Monsieur P. Bergon.

Much of its recorded existence has been spent as a subspecies to either S. cordigera or later S. vomeracea and in both cases as ssp laxiflora. There are a number of authorities who remain sceptical about bergonii's full species status and it's certainly true that in some populations, differentiating this plant from other Serapias species can be all but impossible.

This is due in no small part to hybridization, which over the years has contributed to the creation of large number of intermediate swarms, though even in colonies that seem free from genetic interference, variation can be significant. An interesting characteristic of S. bergonii is that together with S. orientalis, it seems far more prone to hypochromy than its cousins, it also demonstrates a predisposition towards low anthocyanin production which leads to very pale, often yellowish colouration.

S. bergonii is generally shorter and less robust than S. vomeracea but the key feature distinguishing the two, is the length of the bracts relative to the hood. In this species the height of the bract is no more than twice that of the hood whereas in S. vomeracea the relationship can be closer to three times, creating a distinctive appearance reminiscent of church spires rising from a town skyline, though this is most apparent in younger plants, becoming less obvious in older, taller specimens.

www.orchidsofbritainandeurope.co.uk/Serapias bergonii.html

Actually looks better larger.

Actually, that is the name of the sea shanty group in the background, singing at the village fete!

Actually, it's his wife that's the Ambassador but he still looks the part.

Actually I had the biggest fail of a garage sale ever. Check out my childhood right there though.

Actually, the eye is closed.

Actually these were expired. And my mom gave these to throw away, but i took it for the sake of photography. lols...................

Actually, I was bested by this slice. Could only finish half! Who AM I?

Dobos Torte [Dobos Strip] on smittenkitchen.com

actually this was Saturday morning,

thus the ridiculous goofy smile.

weekdays do not make me smile on a regular basis.

Actually allowed to handle your food with your own fingers

and slurp the butter off at the end...and the taste

Actually the female on the left just continued feeding as the male on the right followed her from flower to flower.

MLK Shoreline Regional , Oakland, CA

Why did Apple remove the icons?

Actually turns out it's at Calle de San Juan! Amazing what you can find on Google Street View www.google.co.uk/maps/@41.2354125,1.8123949,3a,75y,245.26...

(actually, they opted for this one themselves. Easier to walk barefoot than take your shoes on and off every time you get to a sidechannel crossing)

Actually, this photo is full color, not just black & white

Near a friends house, Duluth, MN

2020,03.08

Home cooked Apple Pie. My first attempt. Actually it tasted better than it looks

Actually, I think they're "zombified" zombie film-makers. :-D

Hawkwoman was one of the winners from the Saturday night costume contest. Damn but that's alotta feathers!!

Actually a replica, as the thousands of visitors were breathing too much moisture which caused fungus to grow on the 14,000BC paintings. They recreated the whole lot in another specially-made excavation. And then forbade photography. Ah well ...

...actually we intended to build a snowman, but the willow was just too distracting.

New Year's Day, 1 January 2024. Happy New Year, everyone! It actually rained a bit last night, here in Calgary. I've seen several people comment on how slippery it is out there today, after the rain fell on top of the snow.

Please ignore these four owl photos - just the sort of photo I don't like posting. However, I really wanted to post just one (awful!) photo of the four remaining Snowy Owls seen on 28 December 2023. Just for my own record. Perhaps I can change the date posted, later, so that these photos can all be together with the photos of owls #1 and #3 that I posted yesterday. These owl photos are heavily zoomed, so maybe you can imagine how far away they really were.

On 28 December 2023, my daughter and I went for a drive to look for Snowy Owls. We saw six of them, but five were extremely distant. Though my daughter has amazing, eagle eyes, I still don't know how she spotted the distant ones. I took a few highly zoomed photos of them and will probably upload one of each, just for my own record.

The very first owl was seen almost as soon as we got out there, and the second owl was seen about four minutes of driving later. Another twenty minutes and we saw the third owl. It was almost an hour later that the fourth owl was spotted. Twenty minutes after that, we saw owl number 5, shining brightly at the top of a distant hill of a farmer's field. Continuing our drive, we thought we would be returning to the city with five sightings, but then, an hour and 55 minutes later, our last owl was seen, so far away. Needless to say, we were both really happy with the birds we were so fortunate to see.

In the very early morning hours at 1:00 am, 30 December, I heard a Coyote down the street. One of my neighbours had an encounter with one the day before, right by his doorstep. Luckily, he managed to pick up his dog and get it inside before the Coyote fully attacked. 30 December: 2:35 am more Coyote howling and again at 2:50 am when it/they heard sirens on the main road. I wonder if there is a den nearby.

This photo is actually from this summer, I just haven't had the time to edit this photo shoot until now.

Today I vacuumed the corridor that me and 9 other share and I also cleaned my room and washed some of my clothes. It's been a rather good day, if you rule out that I'm still kind of sick and my throat hurts. Tomorrow it's time for school again, I've been looking forward to that.

If you like my photos, it would mean a lot to me if you liked my facebook page :)