But he looks like Gene Simmons. Makes me laugh!

Exotic garden in the Odenwald

A small but fine private botanical garden in the Odenwald, Hesse, Germany with the focus on Yucca & Co.

 

Yucca necopina Shinners, Spring Fl. Dallas-Fort Worth. 91, 408. 1958

Vernacular names: Brazos River Yucca, or Glen Rose Yucca

A rare endemic native to a small region in north-central Texas, in Somervell, Hood, Parker, and Tarrant Counties, west of Dallas and Fort Worth, River terraces, deep sand; 200--300 m

This is the first flowering specimen of this Yucca in Germany, and it is grown from Seeds collscted by Fritz Hochstetter in Texas as Y. arkansana (var. / subsp) necopina, field collection number fh 1185.29. In his new treatments Hochstetter conceals this taxon. Also, the forthcoming treatment for the FNA will treat this taxon as a synonym for Yucca arkansana, But field and molecular studies support species rank!

  

Photo made by the owner of the "Exotic garden in the Odenwald" to complete the documentation:

Original - Photo by Walter Schönherr in the forum "Yucca & more"

   

The bus driver spoke no English but he did understand the words "Parco Di Mostri" (Park of Monsters). When the bus drops you off in Bomarzo there are road signs leading to the Monster Park unfortunately the road goes out of town then bends back into town, its a 30 minute walk or so and i did it in this dense mist. On the way back, after the fog had cleared a guy in a pickup truck (who spoke no English) gave me a lift and dropped me off at the bus stop, then after doing some wandering i realised that there was a short cut to the park...so it's really only a 10 minute walk from the bus stop...from the roundabout follow the road down the hill and then take the road left when it forks and then left again, so that you are actually turning 90 degrees and then you come down some steps or ramps and follow the road left again, i think it's signposted from here, you eventually take the road on the right anyway.

Trix Antwerp BE

27.01.2018

© @arnecrdnls

 

- www.cardinalsmedia.com -

But the view is great.

 

Oh Horsetooth, how I've missed you.

Josef Steyskallsen, Olšanké hřbitovy, Praha.

But it keeps some leather. Flatties at the moment but heels and then boots to folllow

St Mary, Higham St Mary, Suffolk

 

Ooh, but Higham's posh. If I can ever afford to live here, you won't find me cycling around lonely lanes visiting medieval churches. No sir. I'll have my feet up on a large settle, and I'll be eating truffles and pate de fois gras, and drinking champagne to the sound of trumpets. Until then, visiting St Mary is probably as close as I'm going to get to the high life.

 

St Mary is not a big church; however, its restoration has left it cavernous, and it seems big inside. A long north aisle lies on the village side, and you step down into it from the north porch, a simple affair. It contains a memorial to Robert Hoy, who died at the age of 10 in 1811. It is charged with the sentimental piety one expects of the time. The artist was Charles Regnart, and Mortlock thought it not his best, pointing out that the awkwardly posed woman clasps an urn which she seems to have caught just in time; which rather endeared it to me, actually.

 

The churches in this part of Suffolk were, for the most part, enthusiastically scoured by the Victorians. Sometimes, the results were good; I think particularly of Great Wenham and Layham, where low-church restorations left us with fine, bright, neat interiors. It is harder to do this with a big church, and something similar was tried on a grander scale at East Bergholt, which is now rather gloomy, I'm afraid; but to be fair, Bergholt had already been seriously distressed by the Anglicans and Puritans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The other wing of the 19th century church was brought to bear at Stratford St Mary, which is internally indistinguishable from a thousand Tractarian temples from Coventry to Calcutta. Higham also underwent a Tractarian remodelling, and it was of good quality, as you'd expect for the clientèle. The chancel is a gorgeous confection of 1880s Anglo-catholic piety. It must have cost an absolute fortune - but then, they could probably afford it. The elaborate reredos is tiled in the manner of the 19th century churches of North London that Betjeman loved so much, and the high roof allows it to be full of light, otherwise it would be overpowering.

 

Indeed, the high chancel arch, a Victorian replacement in wood, saves this church from aesthetic suicide. It gives scale to the east end, and allows the nave to retain something of its former barn-like quality, despite the heavy 19th century furnishings. It gives proper scale to the stained glass, much of which is good, and I particularly liked Faith and Charity by Powell and Sons. This is as good as their early 20th Century glass gets, and there are earlier survivals - note the beautiful carvings on the capitals of the arcade, and the stone corbels beneath the roof also look medieval. Well, Mortlock thinks so, anyway.

 

Mortlock also indicated to me what appears, at first, to be a second font, but is in fact almost certainly an ancient holy water stoup, from the lost days of Catholic England. He wondered if it had come from the now-demolished south porch. It might seem awkward to us today that the main entrance of this church was once on the other side, but it is a good reminder that, however old the villages of Suffolk look, they are never as old as their parish churches, turned as they once were towards long-vanished communities.

There is another Capel in Kent, inbetween Dover and Folkestone, to find another was a surprise, but then maybe not so, as there are few other double names in the county.

 

Anyway, on what should have been a fine and sunny day, the mist and fog that had dogged the trip thus far, refused to lift. But for me, that meant that photoraphing the windows should be better without the sun dazzling.

 

St Thomas is most well known for the wall paintings which have been uncovered, but for me the most striking thing was the darker stone used for construction than those in East Kent, and with a very different tower too.

 

The church was open, and well lit inside, as well has having a very large graveyard outside, which enabled me to get a shot of the whole church with the 50mm lens. If only just.

 

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

 

A Norman church, much rebuilt in the seventeenth century following a storm, and again in the early twentieth century. A twelfth-century window survives in the north wall of the nave, but most of the windows are later. The altar rails are good examples of the seventeenth century whilst the Royal Arms of George II are dated 1739. Most people remember this church for its wall paintings which were rediscovered under layers of whitewash in 1927. These have been dated to the mid-thirteenth century and were painted in two tiers along the north nave wall. If the south wall had not been rebuilt in the later Middle Ages that too might have yielded further murals. Those that survive cover a variety of scenes including a good Entry into Jerusalem, Cain and Abel and the Last Supper. The paintings were restored by Professor Tristram, but luckily he concentrated on conservation of what survived and repainted very little. There are also some later murals to either side of the chancel arch. The church is now cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Capel

 

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

 

The Church of St Thomas à Becket is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Capel, Kent, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building,[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2] Capel is located 4 miles (6 km) east of Tonbridge, off the B2017 road.[2] It is said that Thomas Becket preached either in the church,[2] or under a yew tree in the churchyard.

 

The church originated in the Norman era. The chancel arch dates from the 13th century, and the tower and the nave from the 14th or early 15th century. Alterations were made in the 16th century.[1] There was a fire in the tower in 1639, and it had to be partly rebuilt.[2] The chancel and the south wall were refurbished during the 19th century.[1] The church was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 8 July 1986.[5] It is open daily for visitors.

 

The church is constructed in sandstone, and the chancel and north wall have been rendered. The roof is tiled. The plan of the church is simple, consisting of a nave, a chancel with a north vestry, and a relatively large but short tower, through which the church is entered. The tower is in a single stage, and stands on a moulded plinth. It has diagonal buttresses, a battlemented parapet, and a pyramidal roof surmounted by a 20th-century cast iron weathervane. The bell openings are lancets and are louvred, with slit openings beneath them. On the west face of the tower is a plain round-headed doorway, with a double-lancet window above it. In the south wall of the nave are four two- or three-light windows, and in the north wall are two lancet windows. In the south wall of the chancel is a priest's door. The east window dates from the 19th century and is in Early English style.

 

nside the tower is a porch and a timber staircase. The walls of the interior of the church are lime-washed, and the floors are tiled. On the north wall of the nave are wall paintings probably dating from the 13th century.[1] They depict biblical scenes, including Cain and Abel and Christ's entry into Jerusalem. They were discovered in 1967 and restored by Mrs Eve Baker.[2] Towards the west end of this wall is a niche. The chancel contains a 20th-century stone altar. The communion rails are dated 1662. The oak pulpit dates from the 19th century. The stone font is probably medieval, and consists of an octagonal bowl on a cylindrical shaft. Apart from brass plaques commemorating those who died in the World Wars, the only memorial in the church is a plain marble plaque dated 1834. Above the tower arch is a board painted with the royal arms. Also on the west wall are further boards inscribed with the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. The stained glass in the east window is dated 1905.

 

In the churchyard are two chest tombs and 15 headstones, each of which has been designated as a Grade II listed building. One chest tomb is anonymous and dates from the 16th or 17th century.[6] The inscription on the other tomb is illegible, but it is dated 1768.[7] The named single headstones are to Jane and Samuel Brook, dated 1781,[8] to Elizabeth Daniel, dating from the 17th century,[9] to Thomas Larkin and his wife, dated 1769,[10] to John Larkin, dated 1753,[11] to John Millesden, dated 1758,[12] to Elizabeth Relph, dated 1759,[13] to Ann Town dated 1732,[14] and to Ambrose Vineen and his wife, dated 1784.[15] There are pairs of headstones to the Hubble family, dating from the middle of the 18th century,[16] to the Kipping family dated from the 1680s,[17] and to the Mills family from the late 18th century.[18] There are also four illegible or anonymous single headstones.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Thomas_%C3%A0_Becket,_...

My Grandmother's friends and a 1929 Ford Model A Tudor

Looking outside one of the windows in the waiting room at Hermann Memorial Hospital in Houston, Tx, while my sister was so critically ill. It seemed to rain so much during that time and this picture personifies the feelings we had for a long time. However, the rains lifted and the sun started shining and so did she! She is doing so wonderfully right now. Home, doing many things that she used to do but still lots of limitations, but, those will resolve as well, I just know it! I have held onto this picture for a long, long time because I didn't think it was very good. Then it hit me. Shows how love, friendship, God and medicine can make so many terrible things result into something miraculous! Thank you for letting me say this. :)

 

All rights reserved

But he had laryngitis and couldn't speak that day, of course, of course

She - " We are One"

He - " But where did he come from?"

  

Shot at China Town last week.

Press L to view large.

The Army West Point Football team staged a dramatic comeback effort against Tulane Nov. 14, but could not walk away with the victory at Michie Stadium. Despite overcoming a 21-point deficit, the Black Knights lost 34-31 on a last-second field goal by the Green Wave.

 

The Black Knights record now stands at 2-8 while the Green Wave moves to 3-7.

 

The Cadets' quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw set a career-high with 121 passing yards and added 72 rushing yards. The sophomore threw two touchdowns and tacked on another score on the ground while completing 6-of-10 passes.

 

Army running backs Christian Drake and John Trainor each had career days as well. The freshman Drake had 69 rushing yards while Trainor, who was split out wide much of the game, hauled in three catches for 81 yards and one touchdown.

 

The Black Knights jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Tulane followed with 28 unanswered points. The Army comeback began as the end of the first half approached. Bradshaw ripped off a 41-yard run that placed the Black Knights 19 yards from the end zone. John Trainor found pay dirt on the next play as Bradshaw's pass narrowly went over the hands of an outstretched Tulane defender. Army cut the lead to 28-14 with 1:40 showing in the half.

 

Army created a special teams score at the conclusion of the next Tulane drive. As Tulane's Zachary Block went to punt the ball away on 4th-and-10 from his own 35-yard line, Army linebacker Andy Davidson broke through to block the attempt. Linebacker Kenneth Brinson scooped the ball up at the 21-yard line and ran in for the touchdown. It was the first time Army blocked a punt since the Navy game last season, which was also returned for a touchdown. The Black Knights trailed 28-21 at the break.

 

Photos by Eric S. Bartelt/Pointer View (USMA PAO). Words by Mark Mohrman/Army Athletic Communications.

Matt and I decided to venture out to Oak Cliff today. There are some really nice spots to shoot frames. Many of the store fronts were filled with manequins wearing these long colorful dresses. Creepy? Kinda, but I thought this was a nice slice of Oak Cliff.

Those who are familiar with my Flickr stream will know I am a spider lover (along with all creepy crawlies), so for me, this experience was quite sad.

 

I was out planting some plants we had just picked up, and while digging, I noticed I had squashed a soft white ball like object. I had a closer look and noticed that it was actually a sack containing tiny spiderlings. They were obviously extremely new as they were barely recognisable as spiders (1mm if that) and they were motionless. (I wouldn't have applied enough pressure to kill them)

 

I continued on planting and then my wife pointed out a rather large spider by my hand. It didn't occur to me at first, but I soon realised it must have been the mother.

 

I tried to move it along, out of harms way, by giving her a poke in the behind, but she refused to budge. She kept walking around the area where I found the sack.

 

Most people are probably aware that the female wolf spider is known for carrying her young around on her back, but this motherly instinct was beyond what I thought a spider was capable of. Not even my digging or my two dogs strolling around deterred her. Quite brave but in no way aggressive (to my surprise).

 

I'm not sure if spiders have emotions, but if it's possible, then she appeared to be showing signs of worry and depression.

 

One of my more interesting spider encounters, that's for sure. Just a shame that it all began with the loss of her little ones.

"But then in the summertime when it's Hot I'm comfortable in light blue" - Johnny Cash

madrid. but it could be anywhere.

better on black

(Shot using 35mm film in a Nikon F3)

 

Thoughts - comments - critiques - always welcome.

instead of where you actually are..

 

the bottom picture is old.

We would be leaving Brazil from Sao Paulo, but I still needed to get my broken bass from Belo Horizonte. They were supposed to ship it to me in Sao Paulo a few days before our flight, but suddenly I got a message that said they couldn't ship it in the weekends and would have to wait until Monday to get it. Only, we would be leaving early Monday morning! So, quickly that evening (Saturday) I hopped on a 10 hour bus to Belo Horizonte, arrived on Sunday with two hours time for me to grab my bass and hop back on the long bus to Sao Paulo. Then when I was at the bus station in Sao Paulo, me and Johan were all ready with all of our stuff to take a bus or taxi to the airport, when we realized that we were completely out of cash! Johan had no money on his account to use his debit card, my credit card was expired, and my debit card was temporary and only useable in the US. We also didn't have any credit on our Brazilian phone, and no service on our European phone.. It was 2:00am and the bus station was almost empty with no one who spoke English. All stores were closed, and there were only crack heads around us.... We had the equivalent of 4 euros that could buy us a few emergency internet calls which didn't solve anything (only scare the shit out of my family), there was no Western Union to be found and no banks open so late on a Sunday night. So, we just hopped in a taxi with all of our stuff, knowing that we didn't have money to pay the taxi, but just so we could be at the airport and be closer to not missing our flight at 7:00 in the morning.

At the airport we again searched everywhere for a way to get money and pay our taxi so that we could stay at the airport where we needed to be, but nothing was possible and no-one could help us.. The poor taxi driver waited for over an hour for us to find money, when Johan finally offered his new cavaquinho (small guitar) as payment which the

taxi driver reluctantly accepted.. Finally we thought we had solved our problem when we double checked our ticket and realized that our flight was not leaving at 7:00 in the morning, but at 4:30 in the afternoon.................

So, we took terns sleeping and waiting without any money for food or coffee, until we could finally check in almost 12 hours later.. Finally we could take our flight and arrive in Amsterdam the following afternoon, however my bass had not arrived with my flight, and I had to wait another few hours before we had all the luggage and could take

the train to Rotterdam where we could finally go to SLEEP!

But that said, Brazil was a great experience!

 

www.balconyplayers.com

but at least it's the right half

but i lost it! now i have no choclate!!

A bitter pill to swallow loosing in the dying minutes of extra time but all credit to Hebburn who were strong and well organised. A record crowd of 692 watched the match. Good luck to Hebburn in the next round.

Not my picture, but I have loved this image since first seeing it on some gift wrap in a tiny store in Royal Oak! Makes me giggle everytime! (I later found her on a skateboard too, so grabbed that deck and tried to kill myself learning to skateboard! I learned to ollie and that was that...LOL) Anywhooos, I am uploading her here today because my birthday gift is in the mail- and she has hit the nail on the head as to how happy I am about that! :D

 

Package deal in which I am getting:

 

Canon EOS Rebel T4i DSLR camera

18-55 IS lens

75-300 lens

8GB SD card

interface cable

neck strap

rechargeable battery

and carrying bag

EOS Digital Solution software

software instruction CD

manual

 

•18 megapixel CMOS sensor

•14-bit A/D conversion

•3" diagonal Vari-angle touchscreen Clear View LCD monitor with smudge-resistant coating, multitouch operation, touch AF

•Live View

•DIGIC 5 image processor

•Nine-point auto focus with dual-cross f/2.8 center point

•Hybrid CMOS AF

•Scene Intelligent Auto Mode

•HDR Backlight Control

•Night Scene mode

•Seven creative filters

•Multishot noise reduction

•Up to 5fps continuous shooting

•Full HD 1080p movie mode with Movie Servo AF, manual exposure control, multiple frame rates

•Video snapshot with editing

•Built-in stereo mic

•Manual audio level adjustment

•SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot

•USB 2.0 terminal

•Video, mini HDMI outputs

•Measures approximately 5"W x 4-1/4"H x 3-1/4"D

•UL listed adapter; 1-year LMW

  

but i'm a creep.

lala, self portrait, bad composition.

oh well.

And so we come to the first of the Kent churches visited this month. Well, not quite true, as the very first church I tried to enter, St Mildred's in Preston, was locked fast as usual. Being the heritage weekend as well as ride and stride, and being on the latter list, one really hoped that the church would have made an effort, it being so remote and all.

 

But, they put a trestle table out, placed a rock on top of the check in sheet to stop it blowing away, and left the church for the day, despite arrangements having been made by another church the day before for it to be open.

 

This really is not good enough.

 

Anyway, St Mildred's was the first of three that were locked, but I managed to gain entry to seven previously closed churches to me. So, on the whole, I was pleased.

 

St Nicholas is a large and imposing church, with a huge churchyard, showing that it is one of the larger and better populated parishes in the area of east Kent.

 

There was a warden sitting at the table in the large doorway, and after a warm welcome we entered inside.

 

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

 

The present parish of Ash, more than 7,000 acres in extent and one of the largest in Kent, was once only a part of the great manor of Wingham. Originally a royal manor, Wingham was given by King Athelstan of Kent to the See of Canterbury about 850 : it covered the present parishes of Ash, Goodnestone, Nonington, Wingham and parts of Staple and Womenswold.

 

In a list of churches probably made in 1071, in which 'Aesce' is said to belong to Wingham, mention is also made of an apparently more important church 'de Raette', as well as one at 'Fleota' belonging to the manor of Folkestone. If, as seems likely, 'de Raette' refers to Richborough, this is the only record of that church; but the chapel of Fleet, actually within the 3rd century Roman walls of Richborough Castle, continued in use until the 16th century. Leland in the time of Henry VIII wrote that 'withyn the castel is a lytle paroche Chirch of S. Augustine'.

 

It was believed that when St. Augustine first stepped ashore in England in 597 the impression of his foot was miraculously left upon a stone. This relic was afterwards kept in this chapel dedicated to him, and pilgrims flocked there upon the anniversary of the landing to pray and to recover their health. Excavations have uncovered the ground plan of the chapel, and confirm that it was pre-Norman in origin. Excavations in the northwest comer of the Roman fort have also, revealed the foundations and font of an even earlier church of c.400, one of the earliest Christian structures known in Britain.

 

By the 13th century there was another chapel in the northwest of the parish, at Overland, where complaint was made in 1294 that 'there used to be a baptistery and seven years ago it was taken away and is at Esse'. Edward Hasted, writing about 1790, said that the chapel had been 'for some time in ruins ... having been desecrated about the beginning of this century'. Its exact site has now been lost : some carved stonework which may come from it is at Knell; a few more pieces are in the church.

 

In 1282 Ash became a separate parish. In the deed founding a College of Canons at Wingham and dividing that parish into four, Archbishop Peckham explained, 'We have turned our eyes to the church of Wingham as it were to a fruitful vineyard..... which cannot be easily cultivated by the labours of one husbandman... from the great extent of the parish as well as its numerous population'. He assigned to Wingham parish church the chapel of Overland; to Ash he gave the chapel of Fleet. It was the duty of the canons of Wingham College, to whom the tithes of Ash were paid, to provide a vicar. In 1535 the parishioners of Ash complained: 'There has always been a vicar here to serve the cure till for the last 22 years the said Canons have usurped the vicarage to their own use ... within a quarter of a year we have had seven curates, which has caused much strife as we are 500 residents.'

 

In 1547 Wingham College was suppressed by Henry VIII, and its possessions forfeited to the Crown. In 1549, "the late chapel called Richborough Chapel in Ash Parish with its burial ground, buildings, lead, glass, iron, stones and tiles except the bells and leaden roof", and "the late Chapel of Overland in Ash parish next Sandwich in width 22 feet in length 34 feet, with its burial ground of half a rod, buildings, etc.", were both sold to William Hyde and Hugh Cartwright.

 

The right of presentation to the benefice of Ash was granted by Queen Mary to the Archbishop in 1558, and three years later Queen Elizabeth I gave the rectory - the right to the great tithes - to the See of Canterbury. The Archbishop is still the patron of the living today.

 

In the 19th century the need again arose for chapels in the more distant parts of the parish. In 1842 Holy Trinity Church at Ware was built, and Westmarsh was formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1849. The corrugated-iron mission room of St. Augustine's, Richborough, was opened in 1888. It was followed in 1892 by a similar room at Goldstone, rebuilt in 1904. But by the 1960s the motor car had made these separate buildings less necessary. In 1967 the parish of Westmarsh was re-united with Ash; St. Augustine's, Richborough, was closed in 1969, and Holy Trinity Church in 1970.

 

An unusual feature of the church is the south chancel, whose axis is out of alignment with the nave. It was once supposed that this architectural oddity represented the inclined head of Christ on the Cross, but a structural fault caused by rebuilding and restoration is a more likely explanation.

(Bygone Kent, 1985, Michael David Mirams.)

 

In recent years the Parish of Ash with Westmarsh has been linked to the parish churches at Goodnestone and Chillenden through a united benefice. Further pastoral reorganisation in the East Bridge Deanery means that a new canonry benefice is to be formed of the parishes of Ash, Chillenden, Elmstone, Goodnestone, Preston and Wingham. This is expected to be undertaken between 2012 and 2014.

 

www.s8nicholas.talktalk.net/html/more_history.html

The entire 15-kilometre stretch is regardedas very lonely and scary but mystical. Since there is no electricity and means of communication between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, and taxis do not work on the stretch after sundown.

 

Regular bus service is available only up to a certain distance from Rameswaram via the Kodhanda Ram Kovil temple, and many pilgrims who wish to perform religious rites at Dhanushkodi have to depend on private vans who charge anything between ₹100 and ₹200 per passenger depending upon the number of passengers and type of vehicle. There are passenger jeeps and buses which tourists can hire from Dhanushkodi or from the city of Rameshwaram, and are capable of traversing the sandy stretch to the beach.

 

At the "land's end" terminus of the peninsula to the southeast of Dhanushkodi, known as Arichumunai or erosion point, begins the chain of rocks and islets known as Rama's Bridge. These lead approximately 19 miles (31 km) across the Palk Strait to Mannar Island on the northwestern tip of Sri Lanka.

But I do need to do something with my hair...

 

Been a crazy time indeed, but when I do have time for respite, I either play video games, play some guitar, catch up on some readings and update myself on the COVID-19 research developments, spend time with the family, or as much as possible, find things I can photograph while at home.

 

It rained today, during summer, which is a blessing, and the scent of petrichor is such an inviting scent which is very much needed in the stressful state we are all in right now.

 

Took a few photos with my Nikon D7200 of the dew on the leaves of the plants around the front lawn.

 

Hope everyone has been doing fine and safe, as the world literally stops for a moment while the pandemic still rears its ugly head, but we will prevail... it will only take patience. But together, we will overcome this!

 

Shooting Information:

 

•Nikon D7200 with MB-D15 Battery Grip

•Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DC OS HSM

•Aperture Priority

•1/100th @ 50mm zoom, f/2.8

•ISO 250

•Flash Not Fired

 

Post Processing Information:

 

•Phase One Capture One Pro

•Not Cropped

 

I accept any comment, from praises, awards, invitations, all the way to criticisms - as long as the criticism is constructive that I can learn and improve from. So, don't shy away with the comments!! =]

 

You are also free to use any of my photos without a fee (except any photos that are portraits of any of my friends or family members), I only ask in return that you credit me, link my Flickr profile, not re-editing any of my shots, and not removing my watermark.

 

Finally, consider following me! I will certainly follow back! You can never have too many friends!! =]

Digital painting...

I call upon my Flickr friends to tell me the correct name for this kitchen gadget. I need to know it for a little ditty I'm going to write up. Actually I found out ditty refers to more of musical type thing. The thing I want to write up would be more prose.

 

Even though it is a long cumbersome name, "Snap Spoon Tea Infuser" does seem to be correct. My daughter and I have been calling it a steeper until now. Watch for the enthralling (well maybe not so much) episode (in the next several photos) of "The Snap Spoon Tea Infuser and the Hula Girl."

 

NOTE: I posted this to Tenuous Links group for about 5-10 minutes, and then realized that we are not supposed to use the title to make our link. I recognized the Grand Tetons, without the title, as they are pretty famous in the USA, but I don't know if they are particularly famous throughout the world. I removed it and made a better link. ~ Delina

  

(IMG_0007prob4teabutwhatiscorrectname4it)

*************************************************************************************

 

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but it isn't really. i've hated my profile since as far back as i can remember.

 

and i'm wearing this dress because i love it, but i have no real occasion to wear it ever.

But do you think Bunny and Jaime can eat it all?????? :)

 

Kity Rose and I had a Doll Meet/ Sleepover at my house. (Hence the flash because it was dark out) as you can see, our Dals had quite a bit of fun. =^.^= Thank you so much Kitty for the Sushi!!!

but it is a "Nekkid Knickerbocker" ...eeps!

 

We went on a tour of an old graveyard this morning. This one belongs to a Mr Hansen Frush 1835-1882. He owned the first Saloon in Portland. It is said that he had a party every Christmas Eve where batches of his special spiked punch were served from this marble punch bowl, which now serves as his foot stone. If you look closely, you can see just above my little nekked knick, the opening for the spout, and behind her is Mr Frush's headstone.

I'll be far from Flickr the next days...

Happy holidays to all of you! :)

Variation on a theme for which opinions on compo’ would be gratefully received.

 

I took this a couple of weeks ago at Appleby a few seconds after the one below which I posted recently.

The question is; is the locomotive too central?

It still draws the eye due to the lack of focus on the speed-limit sign but is there too much foreground, even though I think that the point-rodding adds interest?

 

I like it but it doesn’t really conform.

Be interesting to hear any views.

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beats, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

I programmed in the next church, a 45 minute drive away just on the outskirts of Ipswich, or so I thought.

 

The A14 was plagued by roadworks, then most trunk roads and motorways are this time of year, but it was a fine summer morning, I was eating a chocolate bar as I drove, and I wasn't in a hurry.

 

I turned off at Claydon, and soon lost in a maze of narrow lanes, which brought be to a dog leg in the road, with St Mary nestling in a clearing.

 

I pulled up, got out and found the air full of birdsong, and was greeted by a friendly spaniel being taken for a walk from the hamlet which the church serves.

 

There was never any doubt that this would be open, so I went through the fine brick porch, pushed another heavy wooden door and entered the coolness of the church.

 

I decided to come here for the font, which as you can read below has quite the story: wounded by enemy action no less!

 

There seems to be a hagioscope (squint) in a window of the south wall, makes one think or an anchorite, but of this there is little evidence.

 

Samuel and Thomasina Sayer now reside high on the north wall of the Chancel, a stone skull between them, moved here too because of bomb damage in the last war.

 

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

 

Suffolk's most secret places are among the twisting valleys to the west of Ipswich, the little churches hidden in glades on hilltops or in the dips below where the narrow lanes snake down into groves of ash and elm. Maybe there's a stream nearby, but not many houses, hardly a village at all. The churches in these places are among my favourites. Their ancient stones endure through the shadowy grip of winter, and cool the summer haze. They sit in silence as the centuries go by, far from the mundane bustle of traffic, beyond the scope of the tourist guides.

 

Nettlestead is one of these places. The pretty unbuttressed 14th century tower shows evidence of Norman work in its lower reaches, although Mortlock thought this may have been found and reset during the 19th Century restoration. Similarly, a Norman lancet window in the north wall is surmounted by a reset delicate carving, interlacings of beads, arches and scrolls. You see such things in the Victoria and Albert museum, but they do not have the same power there, out of context. Here, a thousand Suffolk summers and winters have come and gone and still it endures. Speaking of Victoria and Albert, their portraits form the headstops to the outside of the east window.

 

The inside of the church is neat, bright and welcoming. It is easy to describe the interior of a small church as pretty, but Nettlestead really is so, and once stepped into it will not easily be forgotten.

 

The crowning jewel here is one of Suffolk's loveliest fonts. Panels intersperse lively evangelistic symbols with grinning men, one with his tongue sticking out (a wild man I suppose, but could he be a lion?), a jolly bishop, and, almost surreally amongst all this merriment, St Catherine clutching her wheel of martyrdom. There are noticeable cracks around the bowl, as if at some point it has been seriously damaged. There is a story behind this font and its survival, as we shall see.

 

Another curious survival is the large squint in the splay of a window in the south wall. It seems to be focused on where the pulpit is now, so we might assume that there was once an altar in the nave there. But why was the squint where it is? Mortlock thought there might have been an anchorite's cell outside the south wall there, but it is hard to see how an outbuilding could have offered a view through the squint without its east wall cutting into the window. I wondered if the Easter sepulchre had been built where the pulpit is now, and the squint allowed parishioners a view of it on Good Friday, when the church was out of use.

 

Cautley doesn't mention the squint in his 1935 survey, so it was probably uncovered during a major restoration after the war. On the night of 12th August 1940, this pretty church suffered the same fate as that at Akenham, six miles away, when German bombers returning from a raid on the Midlands dropped their remaining bombs in a swathe across this part of rural Suffolk before embarking on the crossing of the North Sea. The church was gutted, and its restoration and reopening in 1950 was one of Munro Cautley's last jobs for the Anglican diocese. He is responsible for the meticulous piecing back together of the font, which was wrecked in the explosion.

 

The east end of the sanctuary is a curious thing, too. Its rather sober classical blank arcades are elegant, but beside them on the north wall are the remains of the grimly morbid early 17th century memorial to Samuel and Thomasina Sayer holding hands above a skull. They survived the explosion, but much of their memorial didn't, and so they have been reset on a kind of shelf, their inscription beneath. Sayer built a faire almes house at Bewdley in Worstershier for six poore men and gave thirty powndes a yeare for ever, but he seems none too happy about it.

Rather jollier are the lion and unicorn on the George IV coat of arms, which, instead of supporting the shield, emerge dramatically from behind it. Bizarrely, a ledger stone to Thomas Wingfeilde of 1629 in the chancel has had the words who dyed altered to was buryed. Did they perhaps keep him around for long?

 

As lovely as this church is, only the font has survived until today from the Medieval period. But there was once much more. The iconoclast William Dowsing visited Nettlestead on 22nd August 1644. It was one of seven churches he visited in the area that day. One of his houses was in the adjacent parish of Baylham, and these small churches are close together, but in any case the going on horseback would have been easy that day.

 

He found plenty to do at Nettlestead. The Saints on the screen, of which no trace survives, had not been defaced, and there were a dozen further Saints in stained glass, again none of which survive. It appears that his instructions with regard to the screen and ancient glass were carried out by the churchwardens in full, and he also noticed a prayer clause in brass which had gone by the time the antiquarian William Blois visited in 1660. The knight above its matrix survives, suggesting that the inscription wasn't taken by collectors or early modern metal thieves. The armour is early 16th Century and it may be to Richard Wentworth who died in the 1520s in the last days of Catholic England.

 

Dowsing does not usually get too worked up about fonts, but he mentions St Catherine on the one here, who survives, unlike her saintly companions in paint and glass, so presumably she was consequently either plastered over, or the font was removed from the church and used as a drinking trough for cattle or something. Further, and most unusually, Dowsing names the Saints he sees at Nettlestead, and this despite it being just one of many churches he visited that day. Why was Dowsing so thorough at Nettlestead? The obvious conclusion is simply that, being local, he already knew the church well.

 

And there is one further intriguing connection between Dowsing and Nettlestead. Thomasina Sayer on the Sayer memorial in the chancel was born Thomasina Lea, and she was the sister of Thamar Lea, William Dowsing's first wife.

 

The thought that this wonderful little church once had a medieval screen and medieval glass that had survived the Reformation makes you want to weep. Ho hum. Back outside, then.

 

The pompous memorial by the north east hedge to Stephen Jackson, publisher of the Ipswich Journal, is a quite different prospect to the quiet beauty we have encountered so far. You might see this in the V&A as well, as an example of the arrogance of the Gothic revival. Here is someone who thought very highly of himself, and now lies under flowering columns, pillars, balls, pyramids and curlicues. An antidote by the south porch is the memorial to a child who died after just ten hours. Just a Perfect Day as the inscription reminds us. It's one of the loveliest modern memorials I know in Suffolk.

 

So there you are, what a delightful little church this is, how can you possibly resist? And then, if you are on foot, or on a bike, just keep going. On the other side of Somersham, you'll come to Flowton, which is equally remote, equally lovely, equally welcoming. If you are in a car - well, you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

Simon Knott, November 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/nettlestead.htm

 

But every Song is my favorite one :)

Found this leaf bug (katydid) in Rosalind Park yesterday morning, didn't notice it until I was looking closely at the plant it is on, wanted a shot of the red leaves with water drops with some green in the background, I think this is better though!

Can you fight the urge to run for another day? You might make it further if you learned to stay. I wrapped your love around me like a chain, but I never was afraid that it would die. -- Brandi Carlile & the Twins; The Eye

But in time, as evil stretched out its foul hand over the earth, the trees and forests were felled, or burned, or broken, and all but a handful of these Shepherd's of the Forest were destroyed...

That was yesterday and part of sunday, right now we are in Dunedin by the way....but coming back to the subject...we took the southern scenic route towards invercargill and boy! Scenic that was! we stopped at several bays, the coastline is absolutely beautiful with viewpoints, cliffs...but this area is full of wildlife and we were not disappointed: first stop was Waipapa point where some sea lions can sometimes be seen...and of course, there was nothing to be seen....for about 10minutes, and then we spotted one...we walked down to the beach, but kept the necessary distance to take pictures...there was another couple with us doing the same thing. The sea lion spotted us too and suddenly we were wondering who was watching who....the sea lion started to come towards us, nearer and nearer, so much so that we had to go backwards...and still he drew closer, he even went into the dune where we were standing while we kept on going backwards.....Incredible!! I was so fascinated that I forgot to take a photo, doh! Then, we went to the most southerly point in new zealand, slope point, that was a bit windy. After that, our final stop on sunday night was curio bay. The campsite was great and we had a spot right by the edge of the cliff, with view on the sea. Curio bay is where the petrified forest is. fossil trees, very impressive. In the same location, there a colony of yellow eyed pinguins. The rarest pinguins in the world, only to be seen at dusk...we decided to go the next morning by foot as it is beside the campground, we were there around 11am, and there was hardly anyone there....only a pinguin coming out of the bush and going to the sea!!! While we were watching him, making sure we were at the correct distance, I could hear a sort of flip flop noise behind me...turn round to see another pinguin going straight towards me....again, we had to go backwards to respect the distance allowed, but there were not bothered by us...the spectacle went on, and we saw 5 pinguins in total...coming back to the camper, and looking at the other side of the bay, porpoise bay, I saw a dark shape in the water....and we knew there was a pod of hector dolphins there so the conclusion was obvious, the shape was a dolphin! We went down to the beach and as it was hot, we decided to go swimming...and guess what, in the water, there were back, the dolphins, we saw them 3 meters away from us!!! WHAT A DAY! It was difficult for us to leave curio bay and we only left at 3pm. Next stop were the waterfalls, matai and purakaunui. The icing on the cake was nugget point and its lighthouse. View is simply somptuous. Down at the bottom of the cliff, we could see seals and penguins. Our overnight stop was kaka point.

but she's never seen a Dinopuppy before. I have a feeling they are going to be fast friends. =0)

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (10 November 1565[1] – 25 February 1601), is the best-known of the many holders of the title "Earl of Essex." He was a military hero and royal favourite of Elizabeth I, but following a poor campaign against Irish rebels during the Nine Years' War in 1599, he failed in a coup d'état against the queen and was executed for treason.

 

Essex was born on 10 November 1565 at Netherwood near Bromyard, in Herefordshire, the son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys. His maternal great-grandmother Mary Boleyn was a sister of Anne Boleyn, mother of Queen Elizabeth I, making him a cousin of the Queen, and there were rumours that his grandmother, Catherine Carey, a close friend of Queen Elizabeth's, was Henry VIII's illegitimate daughter.[3]

 

He was brought up on his father's estates at Chartley Castle, Staffordshire and at Lamphey, Pembrokeshire in Wales and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.[4] His father died in 1576, The new Earl of Essex became a ward of Lord Burghley. On 21 September 1578 his mother married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's long-standing favourite and Robert Devereux's godfather.[5]

 

Essex performed military service under his stepfather in the Netherlands, before making an impact at court and winning the Queen's favour. In 1590 he married Frances Walsingham, daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham and widow of Sir Philip Sidney, by whom he was to have several children, three of whom survived into adulthood. Sidney, Leicester's nephew, died at the Battle of Zutphen in which Essex also distinguished himself.

 

Essex first came to court in 1584, and by 1587 had become a favourite of the Queen, who relished his lively mind and eloquence, as well as his skills as a showman and in courtly love. In June 1587 he replaced the Earl of Leicester as Master of the Horse.[6]

 

He underestimated the Queen, however, and his later behaviour towards her lacked due respect and showed disdain for the influence of her principal secretary, Sir Robert Cecil. On one occasion during a heated Privy Council debate on the problems in Ireland, the Queen reportedly cuffed an insolent Essex round the ear, prompting him to draw his sword on her.

 

After Leicester's death in 1588, the Queen transferred to Essex the royal monopoly on sweet wines, which the late Earl had held; by this Essex could profit from collecting taxes.

 

In 1589, he took part in Sir Francis Drake's English Armada, which sailed to Iberia in an unsuccessful attempt to press home the English advantage following the defeat of the Spanish Armada; the Queen had ordered him not to take part in the expedition, but he only returned upon the failure to take Lisbon. In 1591, he was given command of a force sent to the assistance of King Henry IV of France. In 1596, he distinguished himself by the capture of Cadiz. During the Islands Voyage expedition to the Azores in 1597, with Sir Walter Raleigh as his second in command, he defied the Queen's orders, pursuing the treasure fleet without first defeating the Spanish battle fleet.

 

Essex's greatest failure was as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a post which he talked himself into in 1599. The Nine Years War (1595–1603) was in its middle stages, and no English commander had been successful. More military force was required to defeat the Irish chieftains, led by Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, and supplied from Spain and Scotland.

 

Essex led the largest expeditionary force ever sent to Ireland — 16,000 troops — with orders to put an end to the rebellion. He departed London to the cheers of the Queen's subjects, and it was expected that the rebellion would be crushed instantly. But the limits of Crown resources and of the Irish campaigning season dictated another course. Essex had declared to the Privy Council that he would confront O'Neill in Ulster. But instead, Essex led his army into southern Ireland, fought a series of inconclusive engagements, wasted his funds, and dispersed his army into garrisons. The Irish forces then won several victories. Instead of facing O'Neill in battle, Essex had to make a truce with the rebel leader that was considered humiliating to the Crown and to the detriment of English authority.

 

In all of his campaigns, Essex secured the loyalties of his officers by conferring knighthoods, an honour which the Queen herself dispensed sparingly. By the end of his time in Ireland, more than half the knights in England owed their rank to Essex. The rebels were said to have joked that "he never drew sword but to make knights." But his practice of conferring knighthoods could in time enable Essex to challenge the powerful factions at Cecil's command.

 

He was the second Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, serving from 1598 to 1601.

 

Relying on his general warrant to return to England, given under the great seal, Essex sailed from Ireland on 24 September 1599, and reached London four days later. The Queen had expressly forbidden his return and was surprised when he presented himself in her bedchamber one morning at Nonsuch Palace, before she was properly wigged or gowned. On that day, the Privy Council met three times, and it seemed his disobedience might go unpunished, although the Queen did confine him to his rooms with the comment that "an unruly beast must be stopped of his provender."

Essex by Isaac Oliver, c. 1597

 

Essex appeared before the full Council on 29 September, when he was compelled to stand before the Council during a five hour interrogation. The Council — his uncle William Knollys included — took a quarter of an hour to compile a report, which declared that his truce with O'Neill was indefensible and his flight from Ireland tantamount to a desertion of duty. He was committed to custody in his own York House on 1 October, and he blamed Cecil and Raleigh for the queen's hostility. Raleigh advised Cecil to see to it that Essex did not recover power, and Essex appeared to heed advice to retire from public life, despite his popularity with the public.

 

During his confinement at York House, Essex probably communicated with King James VI of Scotland through Lord Mountjoy, although any plans he may have had at that time to help the Scots king capture the English throne came to nothing. In October, Mountjoy was appointed to replace him in Ireland, and matters seemed to look up for the Earl. In November, the queen was reported to have said that the truce with O'Neill was "so seasonably made… as great good… has grown by it." Others in the Council were willing to justify Essex's return to Ireland, on the grounds of the urgent necessity of a briefing by the commander-in-chief.

 

Cecil kept up the pressure and, on 5 June 1600, Essex was tried before a commission of 18 men. He had to hear the charges and evidence on his knees. Essex was convicted, was deprived of public office, and was returned to virtual confinement.

 

In August, his freedom was granted, but the source of his basic income—the sweet wines monopoly—was not renewed. His situation had become desperate,and he shifted "from sorrow and repentance to rage and rebellion." In early 1601, he began to fortify York House and gather his followers. On the morning of 8 February, he marched out of York House with a party of nobles and gentlemen (some later involved in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot) and entered the city of London in an attempt to force an audience with the Queen. Cecil immediately had him proclaimed a traitor. Finding no support among the Londoners, Essex retreated from the city, and surrendered after the Crown forces besieged York House.

 

On 19 February 1601, Essex was tried before his peers on charges of treason. Part of the evidence showed that he was in favour of toleration of religious dissent. In his own evidence, he countered the charge of dealing with Catholics, swearing that "papists have been hired and suborned to witness against me." Essex also asserted that Cecil had stated that none in the world but the Infanta of Spain had right to the Crown of England, whereupon Cecil (who had been following the trial at a doorway concealed behind some tapestry) stepped out to make a dramatic denial, going down on his knees to give thanks to God for the opportunity. The witness whom Essex expected to confirm this allegation, his uncle William Knollys, was called and admitted there had once been read in Cecil's presence a book treating such matters (possibly either The book of succession supposedly by an otherwise unknown R. Doleman but probably really by Robert Persons or A Conference about the Next Succession to the Crown of England explicitly mentioned to be by Parsons, in which a Catholic successor friendly to Spain was favored). Essex, however, denied he had heard Cecil make the statement. Thanking God again, Cecil expressed his gratitude that Essex was exposed as a traitor while he himself was found an honest man.

 

Essex was found guilty and, on 25 February 1601, was beheaded on Tower Green, becoming the last person to be beheaded in the Tower of London. (It was reported to have taken three strokes by the executioner to complete the beheading.) At Sir Walter Raleigh's own treason trial later on, in 1603, it was alleged that Raleigh had said to a co-conspirator, "Do not, as my Lord Essex did, take heed of a preacher. By his persuasion he confessed, and made himself guilty." In that same trial, Raleigh also denied that he had stood at a window during the execution of Essex's sentence, disdainfully puffing out tobacco smoke in sight of the condemned man.

 

Some days before the execution, Captain Thomas Lee was apprehended as he kept watch on the door to the Queen's chambers. His plan had been to confine her until she signed a warrant for the release of Essex. Capt. Lee, who had served in Ireland with the Earl, and who acted as go-between with the Ulster rebels, was tried and put to death the next day.

 

Devereux's conviction for treason meant that the earldom of Essex was forfeit, and his son did not inherit the title. However, after the Queen's death, King James I reinstated the earldom in favour of the disinherited son, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex.

Tuesday 30 July 2013 - Day 11 - Incahuain / Laguna Carhuacocha (4,200m) - Siula Punta (4,800m) - Huayhuash (4,300m)

 

As the trip notes promised, a long but fab day.

 

After breakfast, again with stunning views of Siula Grande (6,344 m / 20,814 ft), Yerupajá (6,635 m / 21,768 ft), Yerupajá Chico (6,089 m / 19,977 ft), Jirishanca (6,126 m / 20,098 ft) and Jirishanca Chico (5,446m / 17,867 ft), we retraced our steps down into the valley of Laguna Carhuacocha / Qarwaqucha and back towards Laguna Gangrajanca.

 

This time, we skirted the glacial moraine and continued south, coming out into the valley alongside Laguna Siula (4,290m), and a little later, Laguna Quesillococha (4,332m). The path then took us up a stiff 500m ascent to Punta Suila (4,800 m / 15,748 ft) where we were rewarded by fabulous views of the east side of the Cordillera Huayhuash - the peaks of Siula Grande et al joined by Nevado Sarapo (6,127 m / 20,102 ft) and Nevado Carnicero (5,960 m / 19,553 ft), with the three lakes nestling below - and a mum and son selling fizzy drinks!

 

After a breather on the pass we dropped down into the Quebrada Atocshayco, bouncing over the weird island cushions of Plantago rigida and occasionally passing/being passed by the Fair Isle-d trekker from Laguna Mitucocha, who turned out to be Austrian.

 

A fast pace brought us round to the south side of the Cordillera Huayhuash, and then to the shores of (a second) Laguna Quesillococha. Soon after we rendezvoused with Hazel and Gayble who, with Melky, Blackie and Co had taken the alternative route along the north side of Laguna Carhuacocha and the south through the Quebrada Atocshayco, getting some fabulous photos en route.

 

Then it was downhill all the way to reach the small hamlet of Huayhuash (4,300m), crossing the stream by way of a stone bridge to reach our campsite. That evening we vicariously celebrated a local lady's birthday with camp made, chocolate coated Panettone.... more Val magic!

 

Read more about the Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit plus Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

 

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