Bunschoten-Spakenburg is a medieval town first named in 1294 and received it's city rights by the Bishop of Utrecht in 1383. Because of these rights the citizens were allowed to build an earthen wall around the town. The fortifications didn't last long however because a part of the town was destroyed in 1427 in a war between two rival Bishops and the wall was never rebuilt. It was originally a very important fishing villiage since it was part of a wide, open valley of the river Eem. Their main catch was paling, which is still a favorite of the Dutch today.

A century after Bunschoten was first mentioned, the settlement of Spakenburg developed. Originally the two towns were separated by a river inlet but much has happened in their history to change the lay of the land. Because of the location on the coast of what was then the Zuiderzee (a shallow bay on the Northsea), many floods inundated the area which caused the towns to become isolated.

So dikes were built to hold back the sea and stay the floods, this also caused new land to be created behind the dikes, this land (polder in Dutch) was often below sealevel and needed drainage and pumps to remain dry even if the dikes held, a big disadvantage of the dikes was that it limited access to the sea.

In the early 1900's the prosperous fishing harbor boasted over 200 ships but the closing of the "Zuiderzee" after the floods 1916 and further reclaiming of land after that period brought an end to that. No commercial fishing is now done from this area but heritage wooden vessels are still being built and repaired here.

At dusk a golden ray swept across a red sunset.

Song

Credits

Head -

LeLUTKA Briannon

Skin -

VELOUR Ipanema Icy

Heaux Cassie Icy

TRES BEAU Cherie Skin Overlay

Hair -

Yomi Daphne

Outfit -

quirky x rotten peekaboob top

Crybunbun Thirsty Outfit

Accessories -

Swallow Pixie Gauged Ears

Insomnia Angel Lottie Corset Piercing

Minuit x Litten Kirara Swallow Earrings

Tattoo -

rotten plushy spotlight

Wounds -

duckie torment

duckie gnarly

duckie fracture

But Beautiful_Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

Love is funny, or it's sad

Or it's quiet, or it's mad

It's a good thing or it's bad

But beautiful

Beautiful to take a chance

And if you fall you fall

And I'm thinking I wouldn't mind at all

Love is tearful, or it's gay

It's a problem or it's play

It's a heartache either way

But beautiful

And I'm thinking if you were mine

I'd never let you go

And that would be but beautiful I know

But beautiful

And I'm thinking if you were mine

I'd never let you go

And that would be but beautiful I know

Songwriters: Johnny Burke / Jimmy Van Heusen

Picture taken @ PhotoStudio Purple Cows

Yes, I've taken this shot many times, but this one is special because it is the first Potomac shot taken with my brand new camera!

Many thanks to Angela and

Max for the camera recommendation

Tastic - Over It Unicorn Top

TASTIC Mainstore

TASTIC Marketplace

TASTIC Flickr

TASTIC Facebook

LOTD427

Owl's., Bitterns., etc., the 'star' performers., and we love them

But what about all those other beauties who's only 'crime' is commonality?

No apologies., we'll continue to upload them

All species are special and important., and if any of them disappeared we'd surely all miss them

I think it must be Aikos hair that was stuck on this little ice heads face - giving us a smile

Saying Brrrr, it's cold outside, the wind is arctic and very cold

But it's Monday and who can't smile when we have new pages to make in our life book, new experiences, new people to meet, new food to taste

And not to mention another week has gone and I'm closing in to someone coming home, for every Monday that goes

I just love Mondays

A lovely circular walk from East Marton to Bank Newton with coffee and cake at Abbotts Harbour ...wonderful

Thanks to the talented Kerstin Frank for her wonderful textures !!

Tarnished, but I just picked up piano again recently. For macro Mondays. jspianolab.com/piano-guild/

Can view Large for texture.

Abstract Textures Challenge - Creative Digital Art Community - April 2017 (Ends in May 15)

www.flickr.com/groups/challenges_community_group/discuss/...

New!! Challenge 156.0 ~ Community Street ~ The Award Tree ~

www.flickr.com/groups/awardtree/discuss/72157682796900236...

Sony α58

Minolta Reflex 500mm, f8

I was on my way home from my Antelope Valley outing to see the poppies, but I still wanted one more thing - a sea of Desert Dandelions. They're a real wildflower favorite of mine, a subtle pale yellow, and they could be seen along the highway I was traveling. Of course, I wanted something a tad more picturesque, like maybe a Joshua Tree surrounded by the Desert Dandy. The Joshuas can also be seen along this highway of the Mojave Desert. They are special, since they only occur between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft) elevation, mostly within the boundary of the Mojave. What luck - a spot to pull off the busy highway, and there was my tree in the field of Desert Dandies. The snow-capped San Gabriels in the background were a big bonus, a great way to finish off a successful day trip. If you're wondering about the several blooms in the tree, they're over the hill - typically giant white kinda pineapple shaped blooms. One other note - if you watch the Rose Parade or Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Years Day and the TV camera cuts to the nearby mountains, these are the ones, from the other side.

The plain tiger butterfly are very common in our area. But it is really hard to stop taking photograph if camera is with me!!

Brand for MacroMondays.

Song by Depeche Mode.

We went to Van Sant Airport, Erwinna, PA. to shoot some birds but ended up shooting some Old Birds of a different kind. There were eight of them for a Fourth of July celebration. I believe these are Stearman.

I'm sorry, but I am never taking off this chest piece by :Static:, get it now at Abnormality!

~

☾ Hair: Monso- Gara Hair - Collabor88☾ Top: Gorsimi - Synkka Set

☾ Glasses: Vae Victis - Praestess - TWS

☾ Eye Makeup: KiLLJOY - Celestial Shadows - Abnormality

☾ Collar: VoluptasVirtualis - Amaranth Collar

☾ Finger Dips: STOIC - INKED

☾ Chest Piece: :Static: - Heart of the Void - Abnormality

Few days ago, I uploaded another photo of this tower. This one was taken few days earlier. It is difficult to tell, that it used to support water slides. It was taken apart in 2011, refurbished, but never used again as Ontario Place (large activity entertainment venue for children) closed the same year. It quietly reopened just as a public park in 2017, but still not many people in the city know about it.

804. TMR Toronto 2021-Sep 03, P1540130. Uploaded 2021-Sep-23. Lmx -ZS100.

A noisy, sometimes annoying bird, the Common Grackle exhibits a beautiful iridescence in bright sunlight.

This one was seen drinking from water trickling amid the rocky feature at Celery Fields, Florida.

Had open water yesterday but today the lake is frozen over, Tundra swans Isle Lake Alberta

Credits Here

Tune 🎧 Johnny <3

ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved

Do not use without permission.

A grave for an unknown American soldier buried at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery.

This American war cemetery from the First World War has 6012 graves (597 of which are over unknown persons) and commemorates 241 soldiers who died in the area, but whose remains have never been identified.

The soldiers here mainly lost their lives in the Second Battle of the Marne (15 July - 6 August 1918) and the American Oise-Aisne campaign (18 August - 11 November 1918). The cemetery was at first just a temporary solution, but was properly consecrated in 1921.

Confusingly enough, in French the name of the cemetery is (in translation) The American cemetery of Seringes-et-Nesles.

...but I think it's a wild artichoke.

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

Ich weiß nicht, was es ist, aber ich mag es

... ich glaube, es ist eine wilde Artischocke.

This encounter with a male common pheasant took place in a park a week ago. He wasn't particularly excited to see me but I shouldn't complain as he stayed put and even allowed me to get close enough to take this photo with my 50mm lens although they are usually quite shy.

“In me there is darkness,

But with You there is light;

I am lonely,

but You do not leave me;

I am feeble in heart,

but with You there is help;

I am restless, but with You there is peace.

In me there is bitterness,

but with You there is patience;

I do not understand Your ways,

But You know the way for me.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

but they were captured at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum...

my favorite place!!

Not sure but think these are probably mountain ash berries. If not the ID would be appreciated.

The mixed color combinations caught my eye.

Snow still falling off an on here with snow covering the ground, but pleased more signs of Spring are showing up daily. Yes!

Nothing like what many in CA and other parts of the country are suffering thru. Keep warm, safe and well.

“But Sasha was from Russia, where the sunsets are longer, the dawns less sudden and sentences are often left unfinished from doubt as how to best end them.”

― Virginia Woolf, Orlando

Live and make stories in Voroznia, a residential region by the incredible Paul Cutter.

SL Prompt Project 2023

Wikipedia states...Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation. Although they normally move unobtrusively and fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats or crossing long gaps. From MY perspective, jumping spiders might be the most interesting spiders of all. For more information, here's a link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_spider

He is hard to handle, but even harder to let go off...ask my ex stalking this feed :)

I have no idea what they make at this place, but my thought was some up-sized moonshine distillery, or a meth lab. I think this was someplace between Raton and Las Vegas, New Mexico. For sure I-25 and northern New Mexico. I've kept a journal since 2009 with date, odometer, and nearest town. So for a picture like this that was taken in 2012, by the date & time of day it was taken, I can usually figure out roughly where I took the picture.

but you make a life by what you give :-)

Author Unknown

cercis, chinese redbud, 'Shirobana', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina

But not curious enough to come any closer! Looks like Mum and junior and appears that Mum has missed out on being sheared.

Tweaked a tad for sliders sunday!

“I was going to kiss him, and I was going to regret it. But at that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care.”

miafoxdale.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/kissing-him/

I’m on a quest to photograph the covered bridges in Connecticut. Figured it had to be a few in my part of the state and sure enough this one is really not very far from where I grew up. None of us knew it existed until Google gave us the location. Probably no more than 15 minutes from my parents house. Can’t wait to photograph it with snow.

www.norwichbulletin.com/article/20100515/NEWS/305159967