View allAll Photos Tagged EVER-EXPANDING
I'm trying to use up my ever expanding stash of supplies ( Gulp!*!supplies addict"! ) and at the same time NOT make brooches.
So, I'm experimenting with necklace designs which can, if wished, be both and turned into a brooch by addition of a finding.
YD18WXX is another new addition to the ever expanding Bouden coach Travel fleet this VDL Futura 2 marks a. Change for the firm as everything else in the fleet is Mercedes this coach is also apprantly to C61FT spec
By the 6th of November 1958 Lake Moondarra, originally known as Leichhardt Dam, was officially supplying water to Mount Isa Residents.
A history of the Mount Isa region, like most towns in Australia's arid interior, is a story about securing reliable water for domestic and industrial development. Prior to the construction of Lake Moondarra, Mount Isa's water needs were met by a series of bores near the bed of the Leichhardt River and the old Rifle Creek Dam.
But with a burgeoning town population and ever expanding mining operations, these water supplies became inadequate for the thirsty town. Subsequently, Mount Isa Mines Limited took the unprecedented decision to construct what was at the time Australia's largest privately funded water scheme.
In late 1956 a rocky gorge on the Leichhardt River (Tharrapatha) 16kms downstream from the township was selected due to its natural bedrock attributes and proximity to town. American company Uta Construction was awarded the contract and works began without delay with the building of a bitumen road from town to the clearing of trees within the basin.
However, this ambitious project was not to progress without drama, and by December 1956 seasonal rains sent flood waters rushing through the gorge causing extensive damage to the partially completed wall. When construction did resume several months later, it was the Australian company Thiess Brothers that completed the 26.5 metre concrete-faced wall thereby concluding Operation Big Water in 1957 at a cost of 2.4 million dollars.
On the 11th of July 1962 the Mount Isa Mail announced Lake Moondarra and 'Warrina Park' as new official names selected from over 400 entries by local school children.
In 1968 Clear Water Lagoon was partition off from Lake Moondarra to address water quality issues during flood events and interestingly remains one of few examples of natural filtration reservoirs in Australia.
On average 2000 megalitres/month is filtered through Clear Water Lagoon after being pumped from Lake Moondarra. Due in part to Moondarra's high evaporation rate and the region's sustained growth and development the need to secure additional water supplies continued. In 1971 the height of Moondarra's spillway was increased and later in 1976 Lake Moondarra's sister dam Lake Julius, also on the Leichhardt River, was completed 70km downstream from Mount Isa. During times of prolonged drought, Lake Julius water can be pumped directly into Clear Water Lagoon.
Undeniably, economic growth and development are the catalysts for offering forever our inland waterways and natural, cultural landscapes.
Source: Southern Gulf NRM & Mount Isa Water Board.
One of many locations on my ever expanding list to be visited, was Cromford in Derbyshire, the opportunity to cross it off the list arose during a family visit to see friends in Buxton; on 26 April 2018, whilst our wives visited Chatsworth House, my friend and I drove to this delightful station.
In 1849, the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway opened the station here, the company operated the (then) 11-miles long railway, but soon ran out of money, something that allowed the Midland Railway to lease the line. It became part of that company's main-line between Manchester Central and London St Pancras. Unfortunately, in 1966 the line between Matlock and Buxton closed with the former up-line at this location, being removed in about 1969. Currently, there is an hourly service on the branch between Matlock and Ambergate, with many services extended to/from Newark Castle via Derby.
The ornate chalet-style building on the former up platform is now a holiday let and the buildings on the down platform are Grade 11 listed, hence this beautiful setting.
Pictured on the day of my visit is East Midlands Trains' Class 153 numbered 153357 bringing up the rear of 2A22, the 0841 Newark Castle to Matlock, out sight is 153379 leading the consist.
The Edinburgh Transport Group's final excursion of the 2012 season featured an evening tour on one of the affectionately named 'tomato soup' coloured Alexander R-type Leyland Olympians.
F367 WSC was new to LRT in 1989 and was one of six vehicles (366-371) fitted with grey coach seating and painted in white, black and blue coach livery.
The six Olympians were first used on city tours and then on the Airlink shuttle between Waverley and the Airport. Various livery alterations and internal changes took place over the next decade and in 2000 they were repainted into standard madder and white when new Dennis Tridents took over the ever expanding airport service.
In 2005 the six Leyland Olympians came into their own with this, a unique livery of Castle Cement which has been called many things over the years and they were to enjoy a long working period on Service 15 - actually being promoted as Lothian's 'Service 15 buses'. It was thought that the new, experimental livery might become a standard colour but this idea was never realised.
367's last duty with us was on the 14th of March 2009 working a Service 26 toTranent. Today 367 is owned by Bee-Line Travel of Penicuik and is preserved in just the way she was when in regular public service with Lothian - a credit to the small bus company who look after her now.
This was a great trip starting at Hillside Crescent in Central Edinburgh and working out to Penicuik as day-light turned into night during this early autumn evening.
Note the rather splendid tram-board which was used on these buses for their final running day in March 2009 and if you'd like to see more on that farewell day then do have a look at my set of photos and stories below:
Final Leyland day in Edinburgh:
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_montgomery/sets/721576155794...
This shelf is where my Hunchback of Notre Dame dolls resided for the better part of seven years. When I first acquired the tent, I knew I wanted to have it out in my room. So I designated one entire shelf to my otherwise measly Hunchback of Notre Dame collection. At first, they shared the top shelf of this unit with my Mulan dolls. My Mulan collection also featured a horse, so I thought they'd look spiffy together. But that only lasted a few months, and later the Mulan dolls moved to their very own shelf. Anyways, later on in 2011, Dad and I finagled this tent onto the lower shelf. He had to cut a metal bracket to fit over the adjustment knobs on the shelving unit. The spacing between the notches was not adequate enough to fit the tall tent and leave space above for dolls to stand (it's all because of the darn fixed shelf in the middle of the unit).
Since this picture was taken, the dolls relocated to my art room/office area, and are now on a top shelf of the white unit that houses Moxie Girlz and Bratzillaz. This shelving area was much larger, so I figured I'd save this space for my miscellaneous Disney/character doll collection, which is ever expanding. Although it's sad that neither Mattel nor the Disney Store produced many Hunchback of Notre Dame dolls, at least I can comfortably fit everyone, including this tent and the horse, on display! It's odd seeing this setup without my funny looking Disney Store gal, who I acquired some time later. But other than that, my collection is more or less the same, since I dedicated quite a bit of effort and money into tracking the dolls all down, back in the early days of my adult doll journey. I'm so grateful to have this photo to remember my original display--it's fun to look back and reminisce!
The ever expanding collection of Asahi Optical gear. I tried to get all my Asahi screwmount cameras in one shot, but unfortunately, there are still a couple that didn't make it.
It all started with one Spotmatic I received when I started my analog photography course.
Shot with:
Canon 1D-Mark III
Canon EF 17-40L f/4 USM
© text & photos Dutch.Dennis
Kurt Weiser is Professor in Ceramics at ASU. Follow link below.
art.asu.edu/ceramics/index.html
In the hands of Kurt Weiser, (b. 1950) the centuries-old tradition of china paint on porcelain is given new life. Weiser’s sumptuous, provocative teapots and jars, resplendent with lush jungle scenes, can be both alluring and unsettling. Detailed depictions of tropical splendor become wayward reveries as radiant colors and subtle distortions transform classic porcelain vessels.
Weiser, trained in ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Michigan, originally worked in an abstract, non-representational style with minimal surface decoration. While director of the Archie Bray foundation in Helena, Montana from 1977-88, he began to feel limited by this approach and contemplated new ways of working. Around 1990, he took the first step towards his current style when he covered a porcelain teapot with intricate botanical imagery using black and white sgraffito. After making a series of visits to Thailand, where he was inspired by the region’s luxuriant, intensely colored flora and fauna, a black and white palette no longer satisfied him. Seeking to capture Thailand’s richness, he began to experiment with China paints. Soon his skill as a colorist became an indispensable element of his work.
With the introduction of color into his work, Weiser also began to indulge his narrative impulses by incorporating figurative elements, drawn both from fantasy and art history, into his jungle scenes. Weiser’s figures, often nude and distorted across the planes of his vessels, move through steamy, Eden-like landscapes, interacting with the natural world they encounter. Themes of lust, predation, scientific curiosities, and the vulnerability of both man and nature abound in these scenes, resonating curiously with the cultivated vessel forms and refined medium Weiser has chosen.
Although Weiser has worked in this style for more than ten years, his work continues to evolve. The technical challenge of the overglazing process he uses, which requires multiple firings for each vessel and careful attention to the order in which colors are applied, forces him to thoroughly consider each piece he creates. Through refining this method of working, he has learned to take full advantage of the three-dimensionality of his surfaces by extending his scenes to fully encompass each vessel. In his recent work, he says that the softened, amorphous forms of his vessels should blend with their seamlessly painted surfaces so that the pots fade from view and “the painting is the three dimensional reality” floating in space as would a dream or reverie. Whether Weiser’s work is interpreted as three-dimensional painting or sensuously decorated porcelain, the pots he creates are among the most vivid and decadent of modern ceramics, providing a distinctive contribution to the ever-expanding medium.
Awards
1999 Arizona Commission on the Arts, Artist Fellowship
Regents Professorship A.S.U.
1998 Asian Cultural Council, Artist Fellowship
Research and Creative Activity Award, A.S.U.
1992 Artists Fellowship: National Endowment for the Arts
1990 Artists Project Award: Arizona Commission on the Arts
1989 Artists Fellowship: National Endowment for the Arts
1986 Artists Fellowship: Montana Arts Council
Education
1976 M.F.A. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1972 B.F.A. Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri
1967 Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, Michigan
Museum Collections
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Ceramics Monthly Magazine, Columbus, Ohio
Charles A.Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
The George M. Gardiner Museum of Art, Toronto, Canada
Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Helsinki Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, Virginia
Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Shigaraki, Japan
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
National Museum of History, Republic of China, Taipei, Taiwan
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island Schien-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred University,
Alfred, New York
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
Valley National Bank, Phoenix, Arizona
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Washington University Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
Winnipeg Art Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Yellowstone Arts Center, Billings, Montana
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2001 Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
2000 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1999 Working His Way Around China, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, Alabama
1998 Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
1996 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1995 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1994 Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1993 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1992 Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1990 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1986 Lawrence Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Salem Art Association, Salem, Oregon
1985 White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Paris Gibson Square, Great Falls, Montana
1984 Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Aspen, Colorado
Lawrence Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1983 Brentwood Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Hand and Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Omaha, Nebraska
1982 Surroundings Gallery, New York
The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, New York
Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1981 White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon
A friend said this makes him think of Yin & Yang.
The black area represents yin with the following characteristics:
Female: This energy is the opposite of masculine (yang) energy.
Passive: Yin energy is restive and receptive.
Intuitive: The inner sense of understanding life and its nuances resides in yin energy.
Creative: The yin energy builds up and bursts forth in creativity that motivates yang energy into action.
Moon: The phases of the moon and movement of the moon affect the yin energies on Earth.
Dark: The darkness represents the all the expression of yin energy.
Cold: The lack of light in darkness brings cold. Coldness becomes a respite from heat in light.
Submission: Yin energy provides a balance against aggressive yang energy.
Contracting: The ever expanding energy of yang is reined in when balanced with yin's contracting force.
Downward seeking: The yin cycling part of chic energy always seeks a downward movement.
Downward movement: Yin energy moves downward in preparation and building up of energy transforming into the rising yang energy. This is the perpetual cycle of chi.
Night: The absence of day brings the bold and darkness of night; a time of rest.
Soft: Yin energy is soft, making it flexible and capable of bending and giving.
Stillness: With the downward movement yin energy becomes quiet and still.
Still water: Yin energy rests in lakes, ponds, deep waters and only in ebbing tides.
The white area represents the yang with the following characteristics:
Male: Yang is the male energy of chi energy and the opposite of yin (female) energy. Together they complete a balance of chi energy.
Active: Yang energy is powerful and energetic. It is the energy of creation.
Active water: Yang energy drives currents in rivers, streams, oceans and the rising tides.
Logical: Yang energy resonates with the logical mind that tempers the creative mind.
Enlightenment: Yang energy motivates and inspires to understand and reach enlightenment.
Bright: A property of the light is its brightness that illuminates the dark.
Sun: The movement of the sun affects the yang energy on Earth.
Light: The light follows the dark as night gives over to day.
Creation: Yang energy is movement and burst forth with aggressive energy.
Dominance: The yang energy dominates in its strength and massive force.
Upward movement: A product of the downward movement of yin energy, yang energy blasts upwards.
Strong: The opposite of yin weakness, yang energy lifts away from yin energy towards fullness.
Hot: The friction of movement generates heat.
Expanding: As yang energy bursts free of yin energy, it grows in its upward movement, forever expanding.
Hard: Where yin is soft and flexible, yang energy is hard and unbending.
Movement: Yang energy moves upwards and expands.
Mountains: The mountains rise up from the earth just as yang energy
Freight handling 1970s style.
Class 24 5080, still carrying it's original identity but having lost the 'D' prefix reversing it's train into the yard at Walton Old Jct. A routine frequently observed at what was then a regular spotting venue between the low and high level lines at Walton Old Jct.
Access here is lost forever behind the ubiquitous fence and to the ever expanding lineside forest.
bn71b0208
Shooting in locations like this at night reveals a couple of things: wide lenses become viable as there's an ever expanding supply of good looking background. Second, with the camera setup to register the dim ambient street and building lighting, your speed-lights are like mini suns and most of the of the time were around 1/32 or less. This allowed me to light up the underside of the viaduct with just one pop from a V860 - Iso 1000 at f/4, balanced on a litter bin about 50m to the right.
Brand new Matchbox 1963 Ford F-100 designed to be used in the ever expanding Moving Parts series. Its sheer ordinariness is its selling point, totally stock and unadorned without any logos or graphics to interrupt its smooth creamy bodywork.
Plenty of chrome to be found here as well as delicious rear tampo detailing, chrome disc wheels and an opening bonnet/hood which reveals a surprisingly well detailed engine block.
Sourced from a UK online model shop called BTL Miniatures who are able to sell them much cheaper than my previous Netherlands based supplier.
Mint and boxed.
Gladstone Gaol.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse (former Protector of Aborigines) in 1872 as a private town, but a Government town was proclaimed next to it as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. The two towns merged but it was not until 1940 that the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898) a 19th century British Prime Minister. The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two growing townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. In Moorhouse’s town east of the railway line is the old butter factory and the original school building. West of the railway yards, with its three gauges, you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family were not the founders but they have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in the Main Street of Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only. The Gladstone Courthouse was built in 1878 and it became a major regional Courthouse as it was situated mid-way between Laura and Georgetown. It was attached to the local police station. The land for the police station was purchased by the government for £120 in December 1877. The Gladstone Police Station and Court opened in March 1878. Laura and Georgetown petitioned for their own Courthouses which were duly erected in 1878 and 1879 respectively. The Courthouse in Georgetown cost nearly £1,100. The Gladstone Courthouse closed as a court many years ago. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal.
Gladstone has some fine old buildings including the two banks mentioned above .They both opened in 1937. Along the Main Street is the old Post Office which has been modernised and changed from its original appearance. It opened around 1880. The hotels include the Gladstone Hotel built in 1875 and the Commercial Hotel which was erected in 1879; and the oldest hotel is the Booyoolie Hotel built in 1873. Finlayson’s Butter Factory with its signage was built around 1890 for a skating rink and converted to a butter factory in 1922 which operated into the early 1980s partly because it produced butter for Broken Hill. The town has several fine church including the Anglican Church which was the Pro Cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Willochra for many years. It was built in 1891. Amateur Anglican Church architect William Mallyon, manager of a Port Pirie bank designed the transept, sanctuary and chancel which was added in 1890 and although he designed the tower at that time it was not erected until 1928. The Diocese of Willochra was based in Gladstone from its inception in 1915 and the nearby Bishops House was completed in 1923. In 1999 the Diocese moved its headquarters to Port Pirie and made the church of St Peter and St Paul the Anglican Cathedral. The Anglican Sunday School hall next to the church was built in 1909. The Catholic Church is on the hill near the primary school on West Terrace on the northern fringe of the town. It was built in 1928 when the original church of 1881 became a hall before it was demolished in 1951. A Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Gladstone in 1876. This small Wesleyan Church was connected to the current Methodist, now Uniting Church, in 1922. The former Bible Christian Methodist Church at 32 High Street was built in 1876. Upon Methodist churches Union in 1900 it was left vacant until 1919 when the Masons purchased it for £120 for use as the Masonic Hall which it still is. The funds from the sale of the church to the Masons helped fund the new 1922 Methodist church. Next to the now Masonic Temple is a grand two storey house dating from around 1900 with a small cupola on an arched entry porch. It is just south of the old Police Station and Police Court room. From here you can turn left into Fourth Street and left again into Sixth Street to reach St Albans Anglican Church. Behind the 1960s Council Chambers in Cross Street is the stone gable faced Soldiers Memorial Hall built in 1921.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Tenders were called and Sara and Dunstan of Burra won the tender for its construction. Its design was based on the model prison of Bristol in England. Slate for the flooring was transported from Mintaro and stone was quarried locally for both the cell blocks and the high external prison yard walls. It was intended for debtors and inebriates and seldom housed more than 20 prisoners at any one time from when it opened in 1881 until it closed in 1939. Both men and women were incarcerated in Gladstone gaol and the first gaol keeper was Mr Pollet who had been the keeper at Redruth gaol in Burra. When opened it could accommodate 86 prisoners but with a later expansion this increased to around 200 prisoners. But given that it seldom accommodated more than 20 inmates why did they ever expand it? Criminals from around the Mid North charged with serious crimes like murder were also housed in this prison awaiting their trials. Gladstone gaol closed in 1939 and during World War Two from September 1939 to 1940 it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. Then from 1942 until 1943 it was used by the Army as a Military Detention barracks. In 1953 it reopened for convicted youth offenders so that they were separated from the hardened criminals of Yatala gaol at Northfield. It opened with 90 youth offenders in 1953. Its peak year of operations was 1969 when it held 130 youth offenders. It finally closed as a youth prison in 1975. Prison life was never easy. The daily routine of the Gladstone Gaol in the early years was as follows:
7.00 am - Prisoners woken and served breakfast in their cells.
7.30 am - Leave cells, empty toilet buckets and shower.
8.00 am - Parade in exercise yard and work details issued.
11.30 am - Collect lunch and return to cells.
1.00pm - Return to work assignments.
4.15 pm - Finish work and shower. Collect evening meals from the kitchen and return to cells.
9.00 pm - Lights out. Prisoners were allowed to have visitors once a fortnight and write one letter a week and their work assignments included making metal buckets, making mops, metal garbage tins and working in the prison vegetable gardens and orchard.
Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: Shànghǎi; Shanghainese: Zånhae [z̥ɑ̃̀hé]; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂɑŋ˥˩xaɪ̯˩˧]) is a metropolis in eastern China and a direct-controlled municipality of the People's Republic of China. Located at the middle part of the coast of mainland China, it sits at the mouth of the Yangtze.
Originally a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favorable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking.[6] The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational hub of finance and business by the 1930s.[7] After 1990, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in intense re-development and financing in Shanghai, and in 2005 Shanghai became the world's largest cargo port.[8]
The city is a tourist destination renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and City God Temple, and its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the Oriental Pearl Tower. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the "showpiece" of the world's fastest-growing major economy.[
Source: Wikipedia
Interesting 50 ||| China set ||| Night pictures
Gladstone Gaol.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse (former Protector of Aborigines) in 1872 as a private town, but a Government town was proclaimed next to it as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. The two towns merged but it was not until 1940 that the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898) a 19th century British Prime Minister. The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two growing townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. In Moorhouse’s town east of the railway line is the old butter factory and the original school building. West of the railway yards, with its three gauges, you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family were not the founders but they have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in the Main Street of Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only. The Gladstone Courthouse was built in 1878 and it became a major regional Courthouse as it was situated mid-way between Laura and Georgetown. It was attached to the local police station. The land for the police station was purchased by the government for £120 in December 1877. The Gladstone Police Station and Court opened in March 1878. Laura and Georgetown petitioned for their own Courthouses which were duly erected in 1878 and 1879 respectively. The Courthouse in Georgetown cost nearly £1,100. The Gladstone Courthouse closed as a court many years ago. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal.
Gladstone has some fine old buildings including the two banks mentioned above .They both opened in 1937. Along the Main Street is the old Post Office which has been modernised and changed from its original appearance. It opened around 1880. The hotels include the Gladstone Hotel built in 1875 and the Commercial Hotel which was erected in 1879; and the oldest hotel is the Booyoolie Hotel built in 1873. Finlayson’s Butter Factory with its signage was built around 1890 for a skating rink and converted to a butter factory in 1922 which operated into the early 1980s partly because it produced butter for Broken Hill. The town has several fine church including the Anglican Church which was the Pro Cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Willochra for many years. It was built in 1891. Amateur Anglican Church architect William Mallyon, manager of a Port Pirie bank designed the transept, sanctuary and chancel which was added in 1890 and although he designed the tower at that time it was not erected until 1928. The Diocese of Willochra was based in Gladstone from its inception in 1915 and the nearby Bishops House was completed in 1923. In 1999 the Diocese moved its headquarters to Port Pirie and made the church of St Peter and St Paul the Anglican Cathedral. The Anglican Sunday School hall next to the church was built in 1909. The Catholic Church is on the hill near the primary school on West Terrace on the northern fringe of the town. It was built in 1928 when the original church of 1881 became a hall before it was demolished in 1951. A Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Gladstone in 1876. This small Wesleyan Church was connected to the current Methodist, now Uniting Church, in 1922. The former Bible Christian Methodist Church at 32 High Street was built in 1876. Upon Methodist churches Union in 1900 it was left vacant until 1919 when the Masons purchased it for £120 for use as the Masonic Hall which it still is. The funds from the sale of the church to the Masons helped fund the new 1922 Methodist church. Next to the now Masonic Temple is a grand two storey house dating from around 1900 with a small cupola on an arched entry porch. It is just south of the old Police Station and Police Court room. From here you can turn left into Fourth Street and left again into Sixth Street to reach St Albans Anglican Church. Behind the 1960s Council Chambers in Cross Street is the stone gable faced Soldiers Memorial Hall built in 1921.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Tenders were called and Sara and Dunstan of Burra won the tender for its construction. Its design was based on the model prison of Bristol in England. Slate for the flooring was transported from Mintaro and stone was quarried locally for both the cell blocks and the high external prison yard walls. It was intended for debtors and inebriates and seldom housed more than 20 prisoners at any one time from when it opened in 1881 until it closed in 1939. Both men and women were incarcerated in Gladstone gaol and the first gaol keeper was Mr Pollet who had been the keeper at Redruth gaol in Burra. When opened it could accommodate 86 prisoners but with a later expansion this increased to around 200 prisoners. But given that it seldom accommodated more than 20 inmates why did they ever expand it? Criminals from around the Mid North charged with serious crimes like murder were also housed in this prison awaiting their trials. Gladstone gaol closed in 1939 and during World War Two from September 1939 to 1940 it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. Then from 1942 until 1943 it was used by the Army as a Military Detention barracks. In 1953 it reopened for convicted youth offenders so that they were separated from the hardened criminals of Yatala gaol at Northfield. It opened with 90 youth offenders in 1953. Its peak year of operations was 1969 when it held 130 youth offenders. It finally closed as a youth prison in 1975. Prison life was never easy. The daily routine of the Gladstone Gaol in the early years was as follows:
7.00 am - Prisoners woken and served breakfast in their cells.
7.30 am - Leave cells, empty toilet buckets and shower.
8.00 am - Parade in exercise yard and work details issued.
11.30 am - Collect lunch and return to cells.
1.00pm - Return to work assignments.
4.15 pm - Finish work and shower. Collect evening meals from the kitchen and return to cells.
9.00 pm - Lights out. Prisoners were allowed to have visitors once a fortnight and write one letter a week and their work assignments included making metal buckets, making mops, metal garbage tins and working in the prison vegetable gardens and orchard.
Drop a pebble in a still pond and watch the ripple travel out in an ever expanding ring
with every Heartbeat.
mis regalos,
el silencio
el abrazo de mi chaqueta
el recuerdo del mar
la sonrisa de él
respirar,...
el murmullo de mi corazón
el roce de la luz
el sonido de un saxo
la sincera mirada de un desconocido
(from cam - no processing)
VIA 6412 leads VIA 33 past an ever expanding wall of condos as it passes the out of use Wellington Tower.
On October 11, 1975, in San Francisco, Archangel Zadkiel announced the transfer from the priests and priestesses of the Violet Planet of the Cathedral of the Violet Flame. We will continue working with the Six Rays of God to transmute any elements from the previous day’s journey. Saint Germain will guide us to Table Mountain, Wyoming to the “Cave of Symbols” which is a cave in the mountain lined with pink and white crystals that gives way to a gigantic chamber covered with rainbow colored stalactites that form symbols representing sacred geometry.
Each participant will work through the revelations they received from the Royal Teton Retreat. This retreat houses the “Cosmic Mirror” in which an individual will see the cause and effect of their karma along with the “Atomic Accelerator” which brings forth electrons in the Light Body to make the necessary changes, and lastly, the “Sphere of Light” which is a room that will help an initiate in their ascension process.We now start the work within the 7th Ray of the Violet/Purple Flame with the Archangels Zadkiel and Amethyst along with the Elohim Masters Arcturus and Virginia.Students of Ascended Master Teachings organizations (also known as Ascended Master Activities) believe that their doctrine has been given to humanity by the Ascended Masters, individuals believed to have lived in physical bodies, acquired the wisdom and mastery needed to become immortal and free of the cycles of "re-embodiment" and karma, and have attained their "ascension", a state of "one-ness" with God. This knowledge is believed to have previously been taught for millions of years only within "Ascended master retreats" and "Mystery schools".
Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this wisdom was partially released by the Theosophical Society beginning in 1875, by C.W. Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, and began to have more detailed public release in the 1930s by the Ascended Masters through Guy Ballard in the I AM Activity.[1][2] However, Theosophists maintain the concept of Ascended Masters are a corruption of the original Theosophical concept of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom.
The term Ascended Master was first introduced in 1934 by Guy Ballard with the publication of Unveiled Mysteries, a book which he said was dictated to him by the Ascended Master: St. Germain. Other Ascended Master Teachings are contained in The Bridge to Freedom The Summit Lighthouse (1958), (Known also as The Church Universal and Triumphant[6] The Aetherius Society (1955),[7] The Temple of The Presence (1995),[8] the I AM University (2004), the White Eagle Lodge (1936) and the Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (2006)
Our first visitation on this day will be “The Cathedral of the Violet Flame” in the Rocky Mountains which includes all Violet Flame Angels and Priests and Priestesses of the Violet Planet representing elemental life. This retreat represents to ability to be cleared of human burdens and densities.
Our second visitation will be the “Temple of Purification”with Archangels Zadkiel and Amethyst which is located over the islands of Cuba (previously known to be the location of Atlantis). Part of the initiation for this journey will represent the work with the Order of Melchizedek as training as a Priest/Priestess along with learning the true meaning of “spiritual freedom.
The third visitation will be the “Temple of Freedom” with Elohim Masters Arcturus and Virginia which is located over Luanda, Angola; they release the violet, purple and pink flames of mercy, forgiveness, transmutation and freedom for the entire planet, as a giant fiery pillar. We will be utilizing the Violet Flame to overcome difficult situations on a personal and planetary scale, to transmute darkness into light.
Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life[edit]
Students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that there is One God, the "Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life", "The One", Who is the Source of all Life, Light, and Love in existence, and that all forms of existence and consciousness emanate from this "Allness of God" - "The One". The Voice of the I AM states "All Life is One" [11] and that there is "One Substance, One Energy, One Power, One Intelligence" as the Source of all consciousness and creation.[12] This Divine Being and Mind is considered to be above and distinct from all creation (in the sense of classical theism), transcending all creation yet interpenetrating all existence. Belief in this "One God" stresses the essential unity of the spiritual and material components of the universe. God creates through Individualized Identities that have distinct Self-Consciousness and that make up the Spiritual Hierarchy of Creation, yet remain connected through the flow of the "River of Life" and "Lifestream" to the "One Undivided God" - the "All in All" - the "Good" - the "Source from which all Life, Light, and Love come." There is always an uninterrupted "Oneness" that is maintained with the "Allness" of God. From the "One God" all other realities, including hierarchy, humanity and the material universe, are the result of a process of emanation.[2]
The Individualized "I AM" Presence[edit]
Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that each person is an incarnation of an "Individualized Presence" of the "Most High Living God" - the "Mighty I AM Presence" - as part of our very Nature and Being. God (as Life and Love) manifests in the 7 octaves of the created universe through individual Divine Identities. As embodied individuals, we are the outer expression of that God Self in form. It is our unique and immortal True Identity, yet always sharing in the Allness of the ONE GOD.[2]
Ascended Master Saint Germain, believed by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings to have previously been embodied as Plato, Proclus, Roger Bacon, Francis Bacon, and numerous others, was quoted as saying:
"When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life, he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny — which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection." [13] When You, the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' will to come forth into an Individualized Focus of Conscious Dominion and use the Creative Word, 'I AM,' Your First Individual Activity is the Formation of a Flame. Then you, the 'Individualized Focus' of the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' begin your Dynamic Expression of Life. This Activity, We term Self-consciousness, meaning the Individual who is conscious of his Source and Perfection of Life, expressing through himself." [1]
Twin Flames[edit]
Saint Germain explained through Guy Ballard:
"The 'Almighty God Flame,' breathing within Itself, projects Two Rays into the 'Great Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Intelligent Light-substance becomes the clothing, as it were, for these Rays of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Each Ray has all the Attributes of the Godhead within It, and no imperfection can ever enter into or register upon It. The Individualized Flame sends down into each Ray a Focal Point, or Spark, forming a Heart Center upon which gathers the 'Electronic Light Substance,' creating the Electronic Body." [1]
In 1937, The Voice of the I AM article on this subject elaborated:
"When the Ascension of both has taken place, each is the complete balance of all masculine and all feminine qualities within himself. Then the Threefold Flame of Life is completely unfolded, the individual becomes Master at Cosmic Levels of creation and does work with systems of worlds, as well as in this physical world. Thus, that which came out of the Great Central Sun as One Flame becomes Three complete Flames, each of the same full Limitless Power and Activity as the Great Central Sun. This becomes the Cosmic Activity of the Power of the 'Three times Three'. "When both Rays have made the Ascension, then the individual works with systems of worlds instead of just in one world. This is the way the Godhead is ever expanding the Perfection of Itself throughout Infinity and keeping order throughout interstellar space." [14]
Beliefs about Ascended Masters[edit]
It is believed that Ascended Masters are individuals who were once embodied on Earth and learned the lessons of life in their incarnations. They gained mastery over the limitations of the matter planes, balanced at least 51% of negative karma, and fulfilled their Dharma (Divine Plan). An Ascended Master has become God-like and a source of unconditional Love to all life, and through the Ascension has united with his or her own God Self, the "I AM" Presence. It is claimed that they serve as the teachers of mankind from the realms of Spirit, and that all people will eventually attain their Ascension and move forward in spiritual evolution beyond this planet. According to these teachings, they remain attentive to the spiritual needs of humanity, and act to inspire and motivate its spiritual growth. In many traditions and organizations, they are considered part of the Spiritual Hierarchy for Earth, and members of the Great Brotherhood of Light, also known as the Great White Lodge or Great White Brotherhood.[2]
Belief in the Brotherhood and the Masters is an essential part of the beliefs of various organizations that have continued and expanded the concepts released in the original Saint Germain instruction in the 1930s through The "I AM" Activity.[15][16][17][18][19] Examples of those believed by the ones proposing these teachings to be Ascended Masters would be the Master Jesus, Confucius, Gautama Buddha, Mary the Mother of Jesus, St. Paul of Tarsus (aka Hilarion), Melchizedek, Archangel Michael, Metatron, Kwan Yin, Saint Germain and Kuthumi, as well as dozens of others.[20]
Unveiled Mysteries records:
"Truly the Great Ascended Masters are Gods. It is no wonder in the mythology of the ancients that their activities have been brought down to us in the guise of myth and fable. They wield Tremendous God Power at all times because they hold with unwavering determination to the Great God Presence and hence all Power is given unto them for they are All-Perfection. "'When Jesus said, All these things I have done, ye shall do and even greater things shall ye do, he knew whereof he spoke,' continued Saint Germain. 'He came forth to reveal the Conscious Dominion and Mastery that it is possible for every human being to attain and express while still here on Earth." [13]
Great Sea of Universal Light, Life, and Love[edit]
Unveiled Mysteries states:
"Try to think upon this Power, which is within you. Call into use the Great Sea of Universal Substance from which you may draw without limit. It obeys, without exception, the direction of thought, and records any quality imposed upon it, through the activity of the feeling nature in mankind. Universal Substance is obedient to your conscious will at all times. It is constantly responding to humanity's thought and feeling whether they realize it or not. There is no instant at which human beings are not giving this Substance one quality or another, and it is only through the knowledge that the individual has conscious control and manipulation of a Limitless Sea of It that he begins to understand the possibilities of his own Creative Powers, and the responsibilities resting upon him in the use of his thought and feeling." [13]
Spiritual Hierarchy[edit]
Main article: Spiritual Hierarchy
Adherents of these Ascended Master Teachings believe that the All-Pervading Presence of God does not act nor create except through Its Individualizations. All creation comes forth through These Individual Identities and is sustained by Them. According to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, this Spiritual Hierarchy is a "Universal Chain" of Individualized God Free Beings fulfilling Attributes and Aspects of God's Infinite Selfhood. Included in this Cosmic Hierarchical scheme are Solar Logoi, Elohim, Sons and Daughters of God, Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, the Twelve Solar Hierarchies, Archangels, Angels, Beings of the Elements, and Twin Flames of the Alpha-Omega Polarity sponsoring Systems of Worlds and entire Galactic Systems. This Universal Order of Divine Self-Expression is the means whereby God in the Great Central Sun steps down [ spiritual energy from ] the Presence and Essence of His Universal Being / Consciousness in order that all Life in time and space might give and receive Unconditional Divine Love. One's placement on this "Ladder of Life" in the Spirit / Matter Universes is determined by one's level of Spiritual Attainment - measured by Awareness and Manifestation of balanced Love, Wisdom, and Power - as well as the embodying of other Divine Qualities."
Use of "I AM" in decrees, affirmations, and invocations[edit]
A characteristic of students of the Ascended Master Teachings is the use of God's Creative Name - "I AM" - in the use of Decrees, Fiats, Adorations, and Affirmations to invoke and send forth the Light of God to Bless Life, to bring forth the Perfect Divine solution for every situation, and to fulfill the Divine Plan. It is believed to be a way of externalizing more Divine Light, Divine Love, and Divine Life into the lower planes of creation through the dynamic force of sound vibration as creative energy.[2]
The Magic Presence states:
"Only the Self-conscious Individual has ALL the Attributes and Creative Power of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Only He can know who and what He is, and express the Fullness of the Creative Power of God whenever He decrees, by the use of the Words, 'I AM.' The outer human part of this activity is what We call the personality. It is but the vehicle through which Perfection should be expressed into the outer substance of the Universe.
"Within the 'Pure God-Flame' is a Breath that pulsates constantly. This `Great Fire-Breath' is a Rhythmic Outpouring of Divine Love, Its Three Attributes being 'Love, Wisdom, and Power in action.' These pour out constantly, into the 'Infinite Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Light is the Universal Substance or Spirit, out of which all forms are composed. It is intelligent, mark you, because It obeys law through the command of the Individual who says, or is conscious of, 'I AM.' These Two Words are the Acknowledgment and Release of the Power to Create and bring forth into outer existence, whatever quality follows That Acknowledgment. For Intelligence to act there must be Intelligence to be acted upon, and the Universal Substance, being like a photographic film, takes the record of what-ever quality the Individual imposes upon It through his thought, feeling, and spoken word. The Words 'I AM' whether thought, felt, or spoken, release the Power of Creation instantly. Make no mistake about this. Intelligence is Omnipresent, and It is within the Electronic Light." [1]
Violet Flame[edit]
Use of the "Violet Flame of Divine Love" is considered to be the 7th Ray aspect of the Holy Spirit and the "Sacred Fire" that transmutes and consumes the "cause, effect, record, and memory" of sin or negative karma. Also called the "Flame of Transmutation", the "Flame of Mercy", the "Flame of Freedom", and the "Flame of Forgiveness". "Our God is a Consuming Fire" in Deuteronomy 4:24 (KJV) and Hebrews 12:29 (KJV) is believed to be refer to this "Sacred Fire of God".
The "Violet Fire" is held to be a raising, transforming, purifying action of "Divine Love" from the "Heart of God" in the "Great Central Sun". It acts to transmute and consume human creation that is not worthy of becoming Immortal, and all negative karmic causes, effects, records, and memories, without the need to individually balance that karma face-to-face with each person back to the earliest beginning of one's individualized manifestation on this or any other world.[2]
Ascension[edit]
Main article: Initiation (Theosophy)
The Ascension is believed to be the returning to complete "Oneness with God" - "raising the outer atomic structure of the physical, emotional, and mental bodies into the Electronic Structure of the I AM Consciousness", becoming an Ascended Master, eventually a Cosmic Being, and beyond. The Ascension into Immortality through reunion with the God Self requires the consuming of at least 51% of the records and memories of "negatively qualified karma" as well as:
Mastery of the matter planes[edit]
It is believed that the "Individualized Flames of Perfection", emanating as lifestreams taking physical embodiment, can develop further attributes that express a unique Identity, and attain the fullness of the use of Light. This is done by mastery over matter planes that have a slower vibratory action, thus requiring more energy and concentration to externalize form. This allows for the development of greater skills of creation and "Causal Body Momentums" of various "Divine Qualities". Physical embodiment gives each individual the opportunity to expand these attributes and faculties through matter substance, and to become a "master of energy" through thought and feeling. This allows for accomplishments and added power which one who does not ever embody on a planet does not possess. Thus an individual may expand the "Flame in the Heart", and expand the "Perfection of the Allness of God's Love" in the created universe, eventually becoming an Ascended Master and later a Cosmic Being.
According to the Ascended Master Teachings, gaining "mastery over matter planes" means learning to consciously use 100% of one's Creative Power of thought, feeling, and spoken word to create greater perfection, joy, and love in the world, as opposed to using thoughts, feelings, and words to create greater limitations, bondage, and chaos in one's own experience and in the world at large through carelessness and lack of awareness of the extent of one's influence in the world. "Matter planes" refers to the differentiations of atomic and molecular structure in which evolution takes place, the lower planes (dimensions / wavelength frequency resonance) sometimes correlated with physical solids, liquids, and gases; the higher subplanes of the Physical Octave are sometimes referred to as "etheric" and are not normally perceivable by the physical senses. The emotional and mental octaves are also made up of electrons and atoms of feeling and thought substance and differentiated into levels of density and vibratory rate.[2]
"To understand the above explanation concerning the electron and the conscious control the individual has through his thought and feeling to govern the atomic structure of his own body is to understand the One Principle Governing form throughout Infinity. When man will make the effort to prove this to himself or within his own atomic flesh body, he will then proceed to Master Himself. When he has done that, all else in the Universe is his willing co-worker to accomplish whatsoever he wills through Love." [13]
Fulfillment of the Divine Plan[edit]
"Within the Life of every human being is the Power by which he can express all that the Ascended Masters express every moment — if he but chooses to do so. All Life contains Will but only Self-Conscious Life is free to determine upon its own course of expression. Hence, the individual has free choice to express either in the human, limited body or the Super-Human, Divine Body. He is the chooser of his own field of expression. He is the Self-determining Creator. He has willed and chosen to live as Self-Conscious Life. . . . When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny - which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection.[13]
Threefold Flame[edit]
The Threefold Flame of Life is the Immortal Flame within the Heart of the children of Light and Sons and Daughters of God, and is an actual extension of the Heart of the I AM Presence of each Lifestream in embodiment on Earth.[2]
The fall of man[edit]
It is believed that since the "fall of man" during the time of the incarnation of the Fourth Root Race, imperfection, limitations and discord increasingly entered into our world. The memory body is considered to have become known as a "soul", and this temporary personality has taken on the sense of a self that is separated and not connected to God. It is believed that a "Dictation" from Maitreya further clarified this matter through the "Messenger", Geraldine Innocente, on September 27, 1954 when what occurred during the time of the "Fourth Root Race" was described:
"Curiosity, rebellion against holding true to the Divine Pattern and the use of thought and feeling in creation of imperfection, began the building of what you call the 'soul'. It is a consciousness apart from the full Purity of God. The first thought a man had that was imperfect and impure, energized by a secret feeling, was a cause and that, sent out into the atmosphere, created an effect. Like a boomerang, the effect came back into the consciousness and made a record. That record was the beginning of an impression. Energy sent out in a certain manner returned to affect the lifestream who had sent it forth and there began to be created a shadow between the I AM Presence and the human consciousness. Endeavoring to contact the Presence, the individual would find these 'tramp' thoughts and feelings flowing through that line of contact until more and more imperfect was the conscious use of them. Finally, those centers got completely away from the control of the ego and acted independently.[21]
Dictations[edit]
Within The "I AM" Activity, contact and cooperation with the Ascended Masters became a central part of each member's life. Through the Ballards as "Messengers", the Ascended Masters were believed to have regularly communicated with the students of The "I AM" Activity. Those Addresses (known as "Dictations") were delivered before gatherings of members in Conclaves held throughout the United States of America, published in the monthly periodical, The Voice of The "I AM", and some were collected and reprinted in the books of The Saint Germain Series. In all, 3,834 Dictations from the Masters were received through Guy and Edna Ballard. Other "Ascended Master Activities" believed that the Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, Elohim, and Archangels continued to present a program for both individual development and spiritual transformation in the world.[22] They believe that further instruction from the Ascended Masters and the rest of the Spiritual Hierarchy continued through new Dispensations with new Messengers, such as The Bridge to Freedom,[23] The Summit Lighthouse,[6] and The Temple of The Presence.
Dawning Golden Age[edit]
Students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this world is destined to again have a Golden Age, a "Heaven on Earth", that will be permanent, unlike previous Golden Ages millions of years ago.[2]
"In your beloved America, in the not so far distant future, will come forth a similar recognition of the Real Inner Self, and this her people will express in high attainment. She is a Land of Light, and Her Light shall blaze forth, brilliant as the sun at noonday, among the nations of the Earth. She was a Land of Great Light, ages ago, and will again come into her spiritual heritage, for nothing can prevent it." [13]
"The Divine Plan for the future of North America is a condition of intense activity in the greatest peace, beauty, success, prosperity, spiritual illumination, and dominion. She is to carry the Christ Light and be the Guide for the rest of the Earth, because America is to be the Heart Center of the 'Golden Age' that is now dimly touching our horizon. The greater portion of the land of North America will stand for a very long time." [13]
The Aquarian Church[edit]
The Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (ACCU) is a denomination founded in 2006 based on The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ transcribed from the Akashic Records by Levi H. Dowling. The Aquarian Christine Church actively promotes Ascended Master Teachings and shares many beliefs in common with the I AM Movement, White Eagle Lodge and New Thought and Theosophical groups. The book "Initiations of the Aquarian Masters: The Theosophy of the Aquarian Gospel" by ACCU founder Rev. Dr. Jacob L. Watson, expounds on the church's teachings which draw heavily from the writings of A.D.K. Luk, the Saint Germain Series published Saint Germain Press (The Saint Germain Foundation), and especially from "The Lost Years of Jesus" compiled by Elizabeth Clare Prophet and published by The Summit Lighthouse.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascended_Master_Teachings
Archangel Zadkiel said:
"In this moment it is being transported by angelic hosts as they carry this giant cathedral to be placed in the etheric plane of earth's atmosphere for the consecration of the violet flame and as another focal point for souls desiring to be free to frequent while their bodies sleep at night. And therefore, the Cathedral of the Violet Flame is placed in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in commemoration of the light of freedom of the Ruler of the Violet Planet, Omri-Tas, who does respond to the calls of men and women who pursue the light of freedom, yet do not know of the violet flame.
"Hail unto the children of light! Hail to the elementals! For they are invited also to enter into the Cathedral of the Violet Flame to be saturated with that light, to be cleared of all of the burdens of the planes of mankind's consciousness...
"The focuses of light in this Cathedral are the jewels of the amethyst and violet crystals of many varieties that also hold the action of the violet flame. And these crystals are not native to Terra but come from the Violet Planet as specimens of that which coalesces there as the crystallization of the Christ mind...
"Remember To Enter The Violet Flame Cathedral.
"You will find violet flame angels tending there, tending the flame of sacred fire, and you will also find on the altar, the central altar, a focus of jade, the gift of the Angel Deva of the Jade Temple, placed there as the offering of healing for those who come to have their substance transmuted—a focus of jade, healing jade, for the removal of the cause and core of that sin and that struggle that produce disease in mind, in souls, in bodies.
"And you will see also certain angels, twelve in number, who come from the Temple of the Angel Deva. You will also see an arc of light from that temple in China to the temple in North America. And if you are fortunate in the flame of living Truth, you may also find the Angel Deva standing there also officiating at the altar with the violet-flame angels.
"So I have come in the midst of the judgment to tell you of this gift of the priests and priestesses of the sacred fire. So make your way to the Cathedral of the Violet Flame and be blessed as you carry that flame north and south and east and west."1
Call to Give Violet Flame at the Cathedral of the Violet Flame Retreat
In the name of the Christ, my own Real Self, I call to the heart of the I AM Presence and to the angel of the Presence, to Archangel Michael and Archangel Zadkiel and your legions of light to take me in my soul and in my soul consciousness to the Cathedral of the Violet Flame, that I may join the heavenly hosts and elementals in invoking the violet flame for the freeing of elementals and mankind from the burdens of mankind's karma. And I ask that all information necessary to the fulfillment of my divine plan be released to my outer waking consciousness as it is required. I thank thee and I accept this done in the full power of the risen Christ.
Spiritual Books on the Saint Germain & the Violet Flame:
Books by Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet on the Great Divine Director, Saint Germain, and the Violet Flame. Spiritual books showing how to work with the violet flame to clear the obstacles to your divine plan for effect personal change and world spiritual transformation:
Saint Germain on Alchemy: Formulas for Self-Transformation
The Soulless One: Cloning a Counterfeit Creation by the Great Divine Director
Saint Germain: Master Alchemist
Violet Flame to Heal Body, Mind and Soul
Alchemy of the Heart: How to Give and Receive More Love
The Masters and their Retreats
Lords of the Seven Rays: Mirror of Consciousness
The Chela and the Path: Keys to Soul Mastery in the Aquarian Age by El Morya
www.ascendedmastersspiritualretreats.org/ascended-master-...
Saint Germain's Spiritual Retreat, Chohan of the 7th Ray
Saint Germain's Cave of Symbols retreat is in Table Mountain near North America's Rocky Mountains. This is an important focus, and many inventions are to be released from this retreat. Saint Germain uses this retreat along with the Rakoczy Mansion in Transylvania, the Cave of Light in the Himalayas and the nearby Royal Teton Retreat in the Grand Teton range.
Interior of the Cave of Symbols
One enters through a cavern in the mountain lined with pink and white crystal and then moves on into a vaulted chamber two hundred feet wide covered with stalactites of rainbow hue in the formation of occult symbols. As focuses of the rainbow rays of God and geometric keys to the release of fohat, the energy that blazes through these symbols extends throughout the United States. This energy has a most significant influence upon her people, keying into their consciousness the matrix of the golden age and the remembrance of their lost inheritance. The cave derives its name from these symbols.
Ascended master Saint Germain, violet flame alchemist. On the opposite wall, at the far side of the chamber, there are three arches, spaced twenty feet apart: the first a deep rose, the second a penetrating white and the third a cobalt blue. These are the focuses of great cosmic beings for the victory of the Christ consciousness in America.
Accompanied by the ascended master Saint Germain, who raises his hand toward the center archway, we gain entrance to a tunnel that opens at his command. After several hundred feet, he shows us through a door on which there are more ancient symbols into a twelve-sided, domed room sixty feet in diameter. Immediately we notice that four of the twelve sides are a brilliant white (focusing the purity of the Christ consciousness in the four elements and the four lower bodies of the planet). The remainder are the pastel hues of the rays.
Cave of Symbols: Home to Many Inventions
In this room we are shown the fantastic radio invented by the ascended lady master Leonora, by which one can communicate with other planets in this solar system, with the center of the earth, or with any point on the surface of the earth. There are chemical and electrical laboratories where scientists are perfecting formulas and inventions they have been permitted to take from the hermetically-sealed cities at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. These cities have been protected since the sinking of Atlantis. These discoveries will be brought forth for mankind's use in the golden age, just as soon as man has learned to harness greed, selfishness and the desire to control others through war and dishonest financial policies.
When the Sons of God are once again in control of the great nations of the world, the ascended masters will step forth with a tremendous wealth of information that has been guarded in their retreats for ages. Unascended scientists come here in their finer bodies while asleep or between embodiments.
Opportunity to Spiritually Travel to Saint Germain's Retreat
Students of the light can also ask to be taken to Saint Germain's Cave of Symbols. Saint Germain is training a large cadre of souls devoted to the Christ and to the science of the Christ, who at the proper time will have lowered into the outer consciousness all that they have learned in this and other retreats of the Great White Brotherhood.
The Golden Atomic Accelerator Chair
There is an "atomic accelerator"—a golden chair through which are passed electronic currents that quicken the vibratory pattern of the atoms and electrons within the four lower bodies. Initiates of the Brotherhood who have proven their merit by service and devotion to the light and who have already balanced a considerable amount of their karma are allowed to sit in this chair for a length of time prescribed by the master Saint Germain and the Lords of Karma. By accelerating the light frequency in the four lower bodies, a portion of one's karma is balanced and a portion of one's misqualified substance is thrown off by the centrifugal action produced by the revolving electrons and transmuted by the sacred fire.
Thus, the individual's four lower bodies can be accelerated in ascension currents and the soul raised into the ascension. Under the sponsorship of Saint Germain, many lifestreams have ascended from this room.
Entering Further into the Retreat
Entering an elevator, we descend a hundred feet into the heart of the mountain, emerging in a circular room having a diameter of twenty feet. We are led through a door into a huge hall equipped with furnaces and machines for the production of materials used in the experimental work carried on in the chemical and electrical laboratories in the upper level of the retreat.
Returning to the upper level, we are shown a reception hall with a domed ceiling, adjoining sleeping quarters, and an audience hall also with a domed ceiling of sky blue with painted clouds, giving the impression of being in the open air. Here there is a magnificent organ and piano that is used by the masters to focus the harmonizing currents of the music of the spheres on behalf of the freedom of sons and daughters of God on earth.
The Cosmic Mirror
The Cosmic Mirror in the Cave of Symbols. The Cosmic Mirror is on the east wall of the Crystal Chamber. When the disciple has reached a certain degree of attainment, he is taken by the master before the Cosmic Mirror, which keys into his etheric body and reflects his past lives, including the cause and effect upon his world of every thought, feeling, word and deed he has ever manifested. The Cosmic Mirror also reflects the original blueprint of his divine plan that is placed upon the etheric body when the soul is born in the heart of God.
In viewing his past lives, the disciple then may learn what portion of the divine plan he has outpictured. He may see what conditions in his world must be corrected and what good momentums he has developed that he can now use to overcome the difficulties of the past and the present and thus fulfill his divine plan in the very near future.
The Sphere of Light
At the far end of the audience hall, through a concealed door, one enters the Sphere of Light, a spherical-shaped room where the focus of the sacred fire is used to intensify the expansion of the light within those who are permitted to enter there. The function of this room correlates with the action of the light in the Cave of Light in the charge of the Great Divine Director in India.
Together with the Atomic Accelerator, these focuses serve to bring the disciples of the masters closer to their ascension and to provide them with the assistance to accelerate the process that could not be achieved in the outer world.
It is a very real and enlivening experience to stand before the Cosmic Mirror in this retreat. The disciple needs to be ready to look through the illusions, the fantasies and the synthetic self. He must be able to own up to the deceits that the ego continually practices against itself. It is not possible to hide anything from God.
The sincere student who would like to get rid of these illusions may call to Saint Germain to be taken to stand before the Cosmic Mirror.
Violet Flame Call by Saint Germain
Violet flame alchemy for spiritual transformationThis violet flame mantra for the Aquarian age is for accelerating personal and planetary spiritual transmutation of past errors in thought, feeling and action.
I AM a being of violet fire,
I AM the purity God desires.
Call to be Taken to Saint Germain's Violet Flame Retreat.
In the name of the Christ, my own Real Self, I call to the heart of the I AM Presence and to the angel of the Presence to take me in my soul and in my soul consciousness to the Cave of Symbols retreat of Saint Germain. I ask that I be saturated with the violet flame focused there and be taught the mastery of the ritual of the atom for the Aquarian age. And I ask that all information necessary to the fulfillment of my divine plan be released to my outer waking consciousness as it is required. I thank thee and I accept this done in the full power of the risen Christ.
Ascended Master Retreats of the Chohans
Fourteen-Day Cycles at the Universities of the Spirit Chart (PDF)
El Morya and the Temple of Good Will near Darjeeling India
Lord Lanto and the Royal Teton Retreat in Wyoming
Paul the Venetian Le Château De Liberté In Southern France
Serapis Bey and the Ascension Temple and Retreat at Luxor
Hilarion and the Temple of Truth over Crete
Lady Master Nada and the Arabian Retreat
Saint Germain and the Cave of Symbols in the Rocky Mountains
Maha Chohan and the Temple of Comfort over Sri Lanka
Summit Lighthouse Books on the Chohans of the Rays
The Book of Apocalypse explained. Like the captain of the Host of the Lord, I invite you to stand up in honor of your Powerful Presence I AM, because I release upon you the power of the sword of the Spirit and I will increasing its power, according to the measure which you are able to receive it! Holding this sword, that my mentor give me long time ago, I direct its power to consume the cause and nucleus of all the negative conditions that can be upon you or in your interior! wields the flaming sword and direct its omniconsuming fire to the insane areas of your subconscious and unconscious minds. My Friends, adverse conditions like those that you have allowed to poison the organs of your physical body, affects also the astral body, the mental and also the etheric body, dimming the mind and preventing that you assume the divine control on your conscious mind! Therefore, I hold my sword of the Spirit and I let that it traverse you! I traverse you! I traverse you with the power of First Ray of the Sacred Will of God! With my sword I extirpate any precancerous conditions in your four lower bodies, from the etheric body to the mental, from the body of desires where its tentacles reaches the physical body and strangle the body as well your soul. Therefore, if you want to save yourself and save others, Call me, and with my sword of blue flame I will extirpate those conditions inside you and your beloveds, close or far to you.
www.ascendedmastersspiritualretreats.org/chohan-retreats/...
"As Deaths Mount, An Ever Expanding Recall" by By via NYT t.co/Fk7tEEpaaU (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/693557079475384321)
I made a solo hike out to the edge of a volcano. On a dark and moonless night, you could see the billowing yellow smoke - toxic sulfur dioxide - from miles away. After walking over the rough terrain of volcanic rock, I came to the rim and laid eyes on what lay within the caldera - a roiling lava lake that moved in waves and cackled like shattering glass as the ever-expanding rim eroded into it.
My weekly contribution to the world of graffiti and the ever expanding hole in my head. I don't love it...I don't hate it. I'm between styles, lines, wives or that down time....waiting for inspiration to hit. Days, hours, minutes and seconds......
Overheard...
Tragedy has struck the small town of Vassalboro Maine as the Grand View Topless coffee shop burned to the ground in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The state fire marshal's office has concluded that the fire was intentionally set due to speculations that the business was expanding to a more strip club like setting.
Out side the door was posted a sign that stated "No cameras, no touching-cash only" It was a real family establishment that brought new meaning to "do you want milk with that"......RIP. .........JUMPIES!
Another disappointment, the appearance of Stagecoach 36952 (SN63 KGU) on a 96 from Northampton to Rugby. I was hoping for a Dart, but even one of the 'terrible twins' would have been prefferable to this. Oh well, I shall not lose any sleep over it. The boring Enviro E200 is seen along the A428 between Crick, and Hillmorton, and has passed under the relatively new railway bridge linking yet more horrid Warehouses to the West Coast mainline. This ever expanding 'Dirft' site is now leterally on the doorstep of Rugby, which makes calling it Daventry International Railfreight Termianl even more ridiculous!
23rd March 2017
A lightning rod between different cultural valencies (high/low, ancient/modern, oriental/occidental), Takashi Murakami has stated that the artist is someone who understands the borders between worlds and who makes an effort to know them. With his distinctive "Superflat" style and ethos, which employs highly refined classical Japanese painting techniques to depict a super-charged mix of Pop, animé and otaku content within a flattened representational picture-plane, he moves freely within an ever-expanding field of aesthetic issues and cultural inspirations. Parallel to utopian and dystopian themes, he recollects and revitalizes narratives of transcendence and enlightenment, often involving outsider-savants. Mining religious and secular subjects favored by the so-called Japanese "eccentrics" or non-conformist artists of the Early Modern era commonly considered to be counterparts of the Western Romantic tradition, Murakami situates himself within their legacy of bold and lively individualism in a manner that is entirely his own and of his time.
To see more of our artworks, visit us at odetoart.com
Another grail has joined my ever expanding army of 12" fashion dolls. I have wanted this doll for a long time, well, at least for the last 7 years, but a couple years ago, I stopped actively looking for her.
Recently, a fellow collector had decided to downsize his collection, and I spotted this gal in one of his photos, she was on the bottom shelf of his display case. I inquired about buying her, and at first he said no, but then a day later he reached out and told me I could buy her. I am beyond thrilled to have this Gorgeous doll!!!
This is Huddersfield Centre taken from Castle Hill using my Sigma 100-400mm lens.
Middle of the frame is the ever expanding Huddersfiled University, spreading out to the left of frame and towards the middle frame where the red tower crane is situated.
To the left of this crane is the orange crane, this is the expansion to Kingsgate Shopping Centre.
Right of frame you can see the gasometer and in front of this is the Gas Club which has now been demolished, behind and to the left is the chimney of the Huddersfield Incinerator.
Today's story and sketch "by me" the first thing you will notice is that the Dinkum Twins, two of Darwin Gofish's
many Alien/aboriginal children (seventeen total). The Dinkum twins are quite the little troublemakers, seems today they
let out all of the Kiwi laying hens, and are now waiting in the pens to see if they will come back, which they
will at feeding time. Darwin just rode up in the ranch razer 1,200 sport glider he picked up on the last family vacation to Lippo his home moon, It is not only utilitarian as a grocery getter, but fun way to get away with Spunk his aboriginal
wife, when she wants to get away from the kids. Darwin met Spunk on his first trip to Earth, he arrived with only his
pets, (twelve Birds from his home crater Kiwizoondap, and a transport full of there favorite giant green berry vines to grow).
He found this part of Earth perfect to raise his birds in peace and quite. (Darwin was escaping from his X girlfriend
Rosie'O, who was a squawker, she was never quiet, she even quacked when she slept). But that is a story for another time.
After Darwin arrived he built up this estate, with a nice large tri level ranch house, six hundred and nine acres of Kiwizoodap vines, and an ever expanding herd of birds. Then one day while out walking on the ranch, he spotted a
young beautiful aboriginal girl who's name was Spunk, she was feeding one of the birds a Kiwizoondap fruit, the birds
had never seen a girl, specially a beautiful short dark haired beauty like Spunk. At first site of Darwin she was shy
and afraid, but as Darwin began to talk to her in a low soothing, (his sexy voice), she was OK, herself having never seen
a four foot tall grey alien with humongous dark black eyes, but soon they became very close friends, very close friends, which soon turned to the life they've shared together, here in the Northern Territory of Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin is the one of the many places in Australia where you can find his pets running free, the locals call them
Kiwi for short, and if you haven't, you should try a Kiwizoondap fruit, now available in the US, the health benefits of consuming kiwis include maintaining healthy skin tone and texture, (even if it is not grey), reducing blood pressure and preventing heart disease and stroke. We at the Rod Blog are happy you could spend a few quality minutes with me learning
a bit of history and getting a little quality education, till next time Taa ta Rod
Never settle for the low hanging fruit, it is always sweeter at the top.l
I sold my Purity Dasha, but kept this dress. It is magnificent, like a piece of art. The construction is flawless and the fit amazing.
This is the description for Purity, and I think Daydream fits into the story quite well:
"After a dreary, rainy month of May in Paris and the promise of a warm summer right on the horizon, Dasha was getting cabin fever (or in her case, Luxurious Parisian Penthouse fever). Always on top of the latest trends, the fashionable ambassador of Mademoiselle Jolie's school for girls couldn't wait for the warmer weather to arrive so that she could wear her latest addition to her ever-expanding designer wardrobe!"
I can imagine her getting ready for a walk in her penthouse dressed in her teddy and doggy choosing which dress to wear. Lovely!
So this was my second "night in" and it's fair to say life has been very rocky at times since last time. But we're surviving and I'm (Nicky) still alive (just) and very much enjoying and embracing being me, so things could be worse haha.
BTW I know the photos are very samey (is that even a word..?) and I need to have a bit more variety, I'll see what I can do in the future... That said I'm loving this new top from Boden :)
Oh and I've added more to my ever expanding bio/life story if you're interested in knowing more :)
"I wish I knew, I wish I knew
what makes me, me, and what makes you, you.
It's just another point of view, ooo.
A state of mind I'm going through, yes.
So what I see is never true, ahhh.
I wish I could tell, I wish I could tell
what makes a heaven what makes a hell.
And do I get to ring my bell, ooo.
Or land up in some dusty cell, no.
While others reach the big hotel, yeah.
I wish I had, I wish I had
the secret of good, and the secret of bad.
Why does this question drive me mad? ahhh.
'Cause I was taught when but a lad, yes,
That bad was good and good was bad, ahhh.
I wish I knew the mystery of
that thing called hate, and that thing called love.
What makes the in-between so rough? ahhh.
Why is it always push and shove? ahhh
I guess I just don't know enough, yes."
- "I wish, I wish" by Cat Stevens
--------
Yesterday I came across a video that blew my mind. Its from Harvard Multimedia Lab, and its about the life inside a cell in our body.
multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/media.html
Watch this a couple of times. Pick various audio. One of them has beautiful music, and the others have a voice over explaining whats happening. Look at the amazing intricacy of even the smallest processes inside our body. There is an entire living universe inside every one of us, then look outside at the sky and look at the stars and see the ever expanding universe, sending us back enough light that we can feel connected to it. Take it all in... this massive and intricate world we find ourselves living in.
Then turn on the news and see what we've managed to do with all this complexity. We kill each other, through bullets or apathy. We hate each other for such ridiculous things as the kind of sex we enjoy, or the color of our skin, or our conflicting delusions of the afterlife.
Humanity can be so disappointing.
Humanity can also be very reassuring.
I saw Harold and Maude today for the first time. Beautiful and brilliant, and with a perfect Cat Stevens soundtrack. The artists that came together to make that movie and the scientists and artists at Harvard Multimedia Lab that created the cell animation restore my faith in what Humanity is capable of, and what we must strive to protect and nurture.
We get so caught up in our "differences" that we forget our common wirings and our similarities. We identify ourselves so strongly and rigidly that we are willing to kill to protect that identity. What is identity if not a point of view of the world, where we can separate ourselves from the "differents", and align ourselves with the "sames".
Life is too short for that kinda nonsense.
Religions come and go, nations rise and fall. There is no permanence in identity as we define it. The only identity we can ever find doesn't lie in flags and slogans or invisible father figures. It lies in finding out who we are and what we believe in. It lies in finding out how we are connected to other people, not how we are separate from them.
(Sunday musings from the Beach-Haus)
Read some more great lyrics:
www.geocities.com/RainForest/5862/xharoldlyrics.html
...and make sure you see Harold and Maude.
My Grandson & I walking the Sinnissippi Dam Walkway between Rock Falls & Sterling, Illinois.
Built in 1906, this dam raised the Rock River water level by 11 feet so it would flow into the Hennepin Canal. In 2007, the State of Illinois, in a collaborative effort with Rock Falls, Sterling and their respective park districts constructed a 10’ wide walking bridge that spans the Sinnissippi Dam. Known as Sinnissippi Dam Walkway, the nearly 500’ bridge provides a much need safe link between the ever expanding trail systems of Rock Falls and Sterling; while also providing walkers, runners and bicyclists with a scenic view of the Rock River.
A mixture of old values and an ever-expanding suburban environment. Thu Thiem, District 2, the new Saigon.
Not dissimilar to yesterdays shot...slightly less abstract this time, decaffeinated and bereft of bulky frame.
CUBE, Manchester, UK.
27 August, 2010.
My ever-expanding Black and White set.
Lahore is ever expanding, mercilessly eating away any village or town that comes in its way. Many towns and villages like Niaz Beg, Hanjarwal, etc, which were historically well outside the city are now deemed as part of Lahore. However, even after being incorporated by the phenomenon that is Lahore, such places have managed to retain their past, culture and identity as something that is different from the city itself, and that is what makes this new city of Lahore so interesting and endearing. Whereas most of these settlements do not predate Lahore and were never historically as significant as Lahore, there was nonetheless one such locality, which is believed to have existed even before Lahore did. Its significance chronologically exceeds that of Lahore. This town is Ichhra.
In the popular culture Lahore’s origin is tied to the Hindu mythologies. There are historians who argue that before the walled city of Lahore became Lahore, Lahore actually was the locality of Ichhra. A very interesting observation is presented to substantiate the thesis. Mostly what we find in the appellations of the doors of a walled city is that the gates are named after the city which they face. The Delhi darwaza of Lahore is named so because it faces Delhi, so is the case with the Kashmiri darwaza. There has been some controversy regarding the name of the Lohari darwaza. It is argued that the Lohari darwaza points towards Ichhra. Lohari could be a primeval name of Lahore in this case, and Ichhra would be that historical city of Lahore.
This is a plausible contention according to the British Gazetteer of Lahore, because they argue that two of the oldest Hindu temples are found in Ichhra, viz. Bheeru da asthan and Chand Raat. Sadly, the latter has been lost but the former still looks over the city. However, the question that arises is that on what premises the British say that this temple is one of the oldest temples. The architecture of the building does not suggest this nor do the folk tales.
The temple is on the Ferozepur road behind the Shama stop. In fact the Shama and the Sheesh Mahal cinemas stand today where once the huge pond of the temple was. According to Maulana Noor Ahmad Chishti, there once lived a man called Godar during the tenure of Shah Jahan. He used to handle the accounts for Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of the Emperor at Benaras. When the prince had an auditor analyze the accounts, it was learned that the accountant had been stealing from the treasury. On this the prince gave the man capital punishment. Legend has that as Godar lay in the prison waiting for his turn to go to the gallows, a man appeared before him. This man asked him to close his eyes and he did as he was told. When he opened his eyes, he found himself at the exact location where today the tall, cone-shaped structure stands. It was a Sunday. The man who had brought Godar here, was sitting on a camel and he was standing next to him. In utter amazement, he asked the man who he was? The man replied that he was Bheeru after which he disappeared.
Bheeru is derived from the Sanskrit word of Bherv, which means Bogey-man. Bheeru is an incarnation of the Lord Shiv-Rudar, who is the Hindu deity of destruction. Shiv-Rudar travels on a dog, and the fear that he excites is such that even the witches and the ghosts are afraid of him. He is usually found near the cremating grounds.
Godar was a follower of Bheeru, and after the miracle, he demarcated the spot, where Bheeru stood, and started his search in the city. He ended up at Shah Alami, where he started living near the Pari Mahal. After adjusting in the new city, he one day gathered a few Hindus and took them to the spot. There he narrated to them the story of Bheeru, after which the spot became known as Bheeru da asthan. He along with other followers made it a regular practice to visit the spot, and present it with garlands, as a token of their reverence. In this way seeds were sown for this place to become a site for one of the most sacred Hindu temples in Lahore.
Later, during the tenure of Ranjit Singh, the mother of his concubine Mora once fell sick. She was diagnosed to have been affected by djinns. Mora was informed that one of the descendants of Godar practiced magic, and he would be able to rid the body of the intruders. According to tradition, she summoned him, and he was able to cure her mother. As a reward for his services, Mora ordered all the villages that were granted to her by the Regal to bring forth a cart of bricks for the construction of a proper temple at the asthan of Bheeru. Bricks from all the hundred villages that fell under her sway came forth. Besides the bricks the total expense for the construction of the present day temple was around 1400 rupees. This temple was further extended by Ram Chandar, the nephew of Sanwal Mal, who was a minister of the Ranjit Government. Besides him contributions were also given by Raja Lal Singh.
There is a big main gate which is followed by a corridor for the entrance to the edifice. At the end of the corridor is another gate. The corridor is around 3 yards wide and 13 yards long. It is embellished by arches on both the ends. Flanking the entrance are rooms. A ground used to follow the entrance whose dimensions were recorded to be 17 x 11 yards. Now however the ground has been taken over by refugees from the other side of the border and new houses have sprouted everywhere. This corridor was added by Raja Lal Singh.
The area east from here was the Langar Khana, where people were given free food. In front of this is the octagonal platform upon which the temple stands. There was also a well next to it. On each side of the temple are arches (mehraab like structures). East from here is another enclosed place where now houses stand. There is a big door here that opens towards the temple. Next to it is a platform where there are 8 samadhis. During the riots following the Babri mosque incident in Ayodha, like other temples in Lahore, people tried to bring this temple down too, but since it was made of strong material, it luckily survived.
Even though the story of Godar is hard to believe there is no doubt that the present day shape of the temple was given to it during the tenure of Ranjit Singh. One plausible reason as to why this temple is called ancient by the British is that the spot where the temple now stands must have been the site of a primordial temple, which has now given way to a modern construction. It is said that a lump of mud signified the holy place before the temple, making it reasonable to believe that some sort of building existed here before this one, and later on the story of Godar was explained for the inception of the temple.
These three Stagecoach double-deckers are seen here on display at the now ceased Trans-Lancs Rally, Heaton Park, Manchester, on 04/09/2005. This popular event was last held in 2019. This was due to COVID-19 and the now ever expanding summer fairground. Furthest from the camera is Stagecoach Manchester 10840, MX53FME, a TransBus President bodied TransBus Trident SFD33. It was new to Stagecoach Manchester in 09/2003. In the centre of the trio is 17699, MW52UJF, an East Lancs Lolyne bodied Dennis Trident SFD448. New to Dennis's(Cooper)(DT5), Dukinfield, in 02/2003, it was acquired by Stagecoach Manchester on the acquisition of Dennis's a little earlier in 2003. Nearest the camera is Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes 15513 MBE613R, an open-top converted Roe bodied Leyland Fleetline FE30AGR. It was new to the erstwhile Grimsby-Cleethorpes Corporation Transport(113), in 01/1977, and would later work for Stagecoach East Midland out of their Chesterfield depot and then Stagecoach Yorkshire Traction. It has since been preserved.
The camera being a Pentax MZ-M with the film being a Jessops Colourslide.
I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 2005.
Adding to the ever expanding list of Airbus A350 operators; the Spanish flag-carrier, Iberia took delivery of their first example back in 2018 with an initial order of 16 examples, in recent years has expanded the order from IAG's order backlog with the carrier now expecting to take on 20 examples.
For Iberia, the flag-carrier has undergone a major fleet renewal programme since the carrier's merger with British Airways over 10 years ago... Gone are the dated Airbus A340-300s, the early demise of the Airbus A340-600s following COVID-19, as well as a small handful of existing Airbus A330-200s which are to be converted to aerial tankers for the Spanish Air Force.
Iberia took delivery of their first Airbus A350 back in 2018 and as the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold, deliveries were halted with a total of 9 in the current fleet. As demand began to rebound, Iberia has since taken delivery of a further 3 examples in 2022.
The Airbus A350-900s in Iberia's fleet have since taken over the Airbus A340-600s role in the long-haul fleet and are common visitors at London Heathrow in the evening providing additional cargo uplift from its Madrid-Barajas hub.
Currently, Iberia operates 12 Airbus A350s, all of which are Airbus A350-900s. Iberia have 8 more Airbus A350-900s on-order.
November India Golf is one of 12 Airbus A350-900s operated by Iberia, delivered new to the flag-carrier on lease from CCB Financial Leasing on 5th March 2020 and she is powered by 2 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines. She is named after the Spanish men's national basketball team, Selección Española de Baloncesto.
Airbus A350-941 EC-NIG 'Selección Española de Baloncesto' on final approach into Runway 27R at London Heathrow (LHR) on IB3166 from Madrid-Barajas (MAD).
GB Railfreight are keen on delivering the best service possible so with the first of GB Railfreight's new Class 66 diesel locomotives seen on the 14/07/14 on there final part of the delivery trip from America by rail and sea this the move from Newport Dock to Doncaster lead by older Class 66 locomotive, 66737, which here leads the 5 new ones down towards Doncaster through Denaby, Mexborough, Rotherham working 0X66 Newport Docks to Doncaster Robert's Rd Electromotive Depot the locomotives numbered in running order, 66737, 66752, 66753, 66754, 66756 & 66755 the new ones behind not been commissioned at Newport Docks and been commissioned later at Robert's Rd, Doncaster. It's nice to see some new locomotives arrive in the UK especially for GB Railfreight the ever expanding Europorte outfit running freight trains mainly around the East Coast mainline out of Doncaster, Peterborough, Immingham and the port of Felixstowe with other major contracts with Drax power station and Ironbridge with Biomas trains among other work it carried out as well who have recently picked up a lot of work from DB Schenker UK and a few trains from Freightliner too thus needing to bump up its locomotive fleet with some electric and ED second hand locomotives on the way as well, Class 73 & Class 92, and the spot hired Class 47's it is currently using around Doncaster too. The locomotives are General Motors built JT42CWR EMD710 engined Class 66's and are one of the most common locomotives not only within GB Railfreight but also within the UK its self with most major freight operating companies running the type which is built in America before been shipped over much like the General Electric build Class 70 diesel locomotive of which Colas Railfreight are the latest customer. As of the 14/07/14 all 5 new locos remain on Robert's Rd and have not been used on a revenue earning freight train however it wont be long now while here the sheds follow each other in a nice line around the curve just north east of Denaby foot crossing its self looking rather fresh as they go.
this is Mojo, she is eight weeks old and the newest addition to the ever expanding felt_tip_felon petting zoo, she seems to be settling in well and is full of energy - the current cats seem a little perplexed but they'll get used to her...
all together now - Awwwwwwwww
Beautiful Steampunk Woman and Faire Maiden.
Fashion by Leather Mysticsmpunk Women -
Retrofuturism is a broad definition, that's ever expanding because of free thinking enthusiasts. That being said, retrofuturistic fashion is exploding across multiple genres. And it's fashion takes leather to "new/old world/alternative world" extremes. In point of fact, Steampunk fashion is often wearable art. Be it Steampunk, Renaissance Festival or Cosplay, the classic appeal and distinctive look of leather works. And, it works well.
Photos by Raven - 2016
New to London Buses - East London(S36), in 07/1992, so just missing the 'K' reg. issue by a matter of weeks, this Scania was new in Docklands Express branding, being delivered in a batch of fourteen. Operating for Stagecoach Manchester in this view, it is alongside 13215, C215CBU, a Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympian ONLXB/1R. This Manchester resident was new to Greater Manchester PTE(3215), in 03/1986. They are seen here on display at now ceased Trans-Lancs Rally, Heaton Park, Manchester, on 04/09/2005. This popular event was last held in 2019. This was due to COVID-19 and the now ever expanding summer fairground.
The camera being a Pentax MZ-M with the film being a Jessops Colourslide.
I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 2005.
19th Century Courthouses.
After full self-government in South Australia in 1857 the new government spent its money cautiously. In terms of public infrastructure they mainly built gravel roads, courthouses and police stations, and later in the 1870s public schools and railway lines and stations. The 19th century was an era of low government spending. Fortunately many of the courthouses, designed to impress and give the impression of the solidness of government and police keeping, have survived albeit with vastly different uses. Thus the Courthouse in Two Wells (1876) is now a craft shop, Balaklava Courthouse (1913) is now an art gallery, Georgetown Courthouse (1879) is now a residence, Laura Courthouse (1878) is now an art gallery and Port Pirie Courthouse (1882) is now used as state government offices.
Gladstone Gaol.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse (former Protector of Aborigines) in 1872 as a private town, but a Government town was proclaimed next to it as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. The two towns merged but it was not until 1940 that the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898) a 19th century British Prime Minister. The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two growing townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. In Moorhouse’s town east of the railway line is the old butter factory and the original school building. West of the railway yards, with its three gauges, you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family were not the founders but they have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in the Main Street of Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only. The Gladstone Courthouse was built in 1878 and it became a major regional Courthouse as it was situated mid-way between Laura and Georgetown. It was attached to the local police station. The land for the police station was purchased by the government for £120 in December 1877. The Gladstone Police Station and Court opened in March 1878. Laura and Georgetown petitioned for their own Courthouses which were duly erected in 1878 and 1879 respectively. The Courthouse in Georgetown cost nearly £1,100. The Gladstone Courthouse closed as a court many years ago. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal.
Gladstone has some fine old buildings including the two banks mentioned above .They both opened in 1937. Along the Main Street is the old Post Office which has been modernised and changed from its original appearance. It opened around 1880. The hotels include the Gladstone Hotel built in 1875 and the Commercial Hotel which was erected in 1879; and the oldest hotel is the Booyoolie Hotel built in 1873. Finlayson’s Butter Factory with its signage was built around 1890 for a skating rink and converted to a butter factory in 1922 which operated into the early 1980s partly because it produced butter for Broken Hill. The town has several fine church including the Anglican Church which was the Pro Cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Willochra for many years. It was built in 1891. Amateur Anglican Church architect William Mallyon, manager of a Port Pirie bank designed the transept, sanctuary and chancel which was added in 1890 and although he designed the tower at that time it was not erected until 1928. The Diocese of Willochra was based in Gladstone from its inception in 1915 and the nearby Bishops House was completed in 1923. In 1999 the Diocese moved its headquarters to Port Pirie and made the church of St Peter and St Paul the Anglican Cathedral. The Anglican Sunday School hall next to the church was built in 1909. The Catholic Church is on the hill near the primary school on West Terrace on the northern fringe of the town. It was built in 1928 when the original church of 1881 became a hall before it was demolished in 1951. A Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Gladstone in 1876. This small Wesleyan Church was connected to the current Methodist, now Uniting Church, in 1922. The former Bible Christian Methodist Church at 32 High Street was built in 1876. Upon Methodist churches Union in 1900 it was left vacant until 1919 when the Masons purchased it for £120 for use as the Masonic Hall which it still is. The funds from the sale of the church to the Masons helped fund the new 1922 Methodist church. Next to the now Masonic Temple is a grand two storey house dating from around 1900 with a small cupola on an arched entry porch. It is just south of the old Police Station and Police Court room. From here you can turn left into Fourth Street and left again into Sixth Street to reach St Albans Anglican Church. Behind the 1960s Council Chambers in Cross Street is the stone gable faced Soldiers Memorial Hall built in 1921.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Tenders were called and Sara and Dunstan of Burra won the tender for its construction. Its design was based on the model prison of Bristol in England. Slate for the flooring was transported from Mintaro and stone was quarried locally for both the cell blocks and the high external prison yard walls. It was intended for debtors and inebriates and seldom housed more than 20 prisoners at any one time from when it opened in 1881 until it closed in 1939. Both men and women were incarcerated in Gladstone gaol and the first gaol keeper was Mr Pollet who had been the keeper at Redruth gaol in Burra. When opened it could accommodate 86 prisoners but with a later expansion this increased to around 200 prisoners. But given that it seldom accommodated more than 20 inmates why did they ever expand it? Criminals from around the Mid North charged with serious crimes like murder were also housed in this prison awaiting their trials. Gladstone gaol closed in 1939 and during World War Two from September 1939 to 1940 it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. Then from 1942 until 1943 it was used by the Army as a Military Detention barracks. In 1953 it reopened for convicted youth offenders so that they were separated from the hardened criminals of Yatala gaol at Northfield. It opened with 90 youth offenders in 1953. Its peak year of operations was 1969 when it held 130 youth offenders. It finally closed as a youth prison in 1975. Prison life was never easy. The daily routine of the Gladstone Gaol in the early years was as follows:
7.00 am - Prisoners woken and served breakfast in their cells.
7.30 am - Leave cells, empty toilet buckets and shower.
8.00 am - Parade in exercise yard and work details issued.
11.30 am - Collect lunch and return to cells.
1.00pm - Return to work assignments.
4.15 pm - Finish work and shower. Collect evening meals from the kitchen and return to cells.
9.00 pm - Lights out. Prisoners were allowed to have visitors once a fortnight and write one letter a week and their work assignments included making metal buckets, making mops, metal garbage tins and working in the prison vegetable gardens and orchard.
The Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum is a volunteer-operated aviation museum located in and around the World War II-era watch tower (control tower) at the former RAF Dumfries. It is located two miles north east of the centre of Dumfries, Scotland, where it was in service from June 1940 until 1957, when it closed. The museum, founded in 1977 by the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Group, has a collection of aircraft, both civil and military, aero engines, artefacts, and a small, but "ever-expanding collection of memorabilia honouring airborne forces".
So this was my second "night in" and it's fair to say life has been very rocky at times since last time. But we're surviving and I'm (Nicky) still alive (just) and very much enjoying and embracing being me, so things could be worse haha.
BTW I know the photos are very samey (is that even a word..?) and I need to have a bit more variety, I'll see what I can do in the future... That said I'm loving this new top from Boden :)
Oh and I've added more to my ever expanding bio/life story if you're interested in knowing more :)
Finally had a chance for another small photo session to capture some of my models which have been made over the past few months and missed during previous opportunities.
Please enjoy my ever expanding array of vehicles and emergency services.
:)
We spent this weekend painting Puff's nursery and assembling the furniture. I have to say, I am super proud of us and how it turned out. Ian and I are terrible when it comes to projects and doing things on time - we tend to be late, slack off, screw around, procrastinate, etc. I expected it to take all weekend just to get the room painted and the furniture together, but we got it all finished on Saturday, which meant that all we had to do on Sunday was arrange everything in the room. We also put the bedding in the crib, to get the full effect. ;) Today I started washing and putting away the rest of Puff's stuff - blankets, bibs, clothes, etc. and did some general organizing. It's safe to say that the "third bedroom" is now officially, the Nursery. All it needs is a baby!
I forced myself to take some photos today, to show off the room and my ever-expanding physique. I am now 35 weeks along, so we are definitely in the home stretch. (Which is good, because I'm also really sick of being pregnant.) ;)
More photos in the comments!
You can admire Emirates presence at London Heathrow, all of their 5 daily flights operating between Heathrow and Dubai are in the hands of their enormous Airbus A380 fleet which is showing no signs of slowing down just yet...
As per Airline Route, Emirates is adding to its ever expanding Heathrow portfolio by introducing a 6th daily flight between London and Dubai beginning from 27th March 2016. The newly introduced flight (EK31/32) will initially be utilising Boeing 777-300ER's however this will be short-lived as from 1st June 2016, the flight will utilise unsurprising Airbus A380.
The level of flights Emirates is operating between London Heathrow and Dubai is mesmerising, the 6 daily flights dominates this market and if you add Qantas's twice daily flights which Emirates are partners, that equates to 8 flights! In comparison, British Airways offers 3 daily flights, whilst Royal Brunei and Virgin Atlantic both offer a single daily flight.
There have been suggestions that Emirates is eye-ing up the possibility of launching fifth-freedom flights from London Heathrow to New York-JFK, but that plan will likely not materialise given Heathrow is heavily slot constrained plus features stiff competition, especially from British Airways.
Emirates fleet of Airbus A380's currently stands at 73 with 67 examples left on-order. Out of the 67 remaining orders on the books, 50 will be delivered with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. All of Emirates Airbus A380's are currently powered by Engine Alliance GP7270 engines.
Echo Delta Kilo was delivered new to Emirates in July 2010 and she is powered by 4 Engine Alliance GP7270 engines.
Airbus A380-861 A6-EDK on final approach into Runway 27L at London Heathrow (LHR) on EK29 from Dubai-International (DXB).
Ian Hope, motor mechanic and long-time resident and property owner along the Cape Coast who created and curated ‘the largest collection of British motor vehicles in the world’, passed away on Sunday June 16, 2019.
His passion for Morris Minors, initially handed down from family members, turned into a classic collection of British cars that soon outgrew its original Te Awanga showroom to overfill an old kiwifruit packhouse in East Rd, Haumoana.
Ian Hope first moved into Pipi St, Te Awanga in 1973 after completing his apprenticeship at Baillie Motors in Hastings and working for Hibbert and Mathers in Havelock North.
He purchased what had been Tim Hollis’s grocery store on Clifton Rd and converted the premises into Ian Hope Motors, where he kept local and visiting motorists on the road engaging in his trade repairing motor vehicles, completing warrants of fitness and operating the Europa petrol bowsers.
When BP wanted to charge him $70,000 to upgrade the petrol bowsers, he decided to end that part of his business and leased his garage to Jim Lord who operated as a motor mechanic before taking over from competitor Brian Emerson down the road at Haumoana Motors.
Hope was designated the local Civil Defence representative and over time purchased several neighbouring commercial premises. From 1975 he took on a lawn mowing contract for the Hastings City Council, mowing all the verges and public lawns from Clifton to Haumoana until the council took over.
When his mechanic moved on, Hope transformed the premises of his former mechanical business to house his growing collection of British cars, including a number of Morris Minors he acquired from older family members. The museum opened on 14 July 1995 with 36 cars, including 18 Morris Minors.
Converted Packhouse
He then learned the K Pac Packhouse, a kiwifuit packing shed in East Rd built on the site of a former trotting stables was coming up for sale in 1998, so he put in a bid.
The massive building next to Keighleys Poultry farm had employed 90 people at its peak until root stock was sold offshore undermining local supply opportunities for the former Chinese gooseberry. It was also an apple packing house for a time.
His application for consent initially met resistance as a non-complying activity with Hastings District Council limiting commercial activities such as museums to 560sqm. The packhouse was on 2.43ha of land.
Neighbours Keighley’s Poultry Farm feared visitors would complain about the smell, dust and flies and force the closure of the 50-year old poultry business. In giving the green light for the museum, the council said the effect on the environment was minor and the museum was a sustainable use of the disused building.
With some conversion, the factory now became home for Ian Hope’s ever-expanding British Car Museum.
Hope believed the first experience of owning a motor car for most New Zealanders over 40-years of age would have been British made; an Austin, Morris, Triumph or Vauxhall or Jaguars, Hillman Minxes, Triumph Heralds and 2000s, Oxfords and Princesses and Rovers.
Quake Fire History
Overall he collected more than 450 of them, 80% of which still run. He even had the 1923 Dennis Fire Engine used by Hastings Fire Service at the time of the Hawkes Bay Earthquake Disaster in 1931. The hand-cranked siren still amuses visiting children when they’re allowed to crank the handle.
“My aunt and uncle had a Morris Minor which I looked after while they were alive, then when they passed away in 1986 it was sitting in the Hawkes Bay sun deteriorating. I bought it as a ‘do up’ for my first great nephew, so he could have it when he was old enough. That was the start of it. Now I have 20 great nieces and nephews - and I have a Morris Minor for each of them!”
Last count there were 38 Morris Minors including 'ute' and station wagons all in working order; add up the ones not quite up to standard or being cannibalised for parts and the number heads toward 70.
Ian Hope was a well-known local identity, often referred to in earlier days as the ‘mayor of Te Awanga’ because of the many properties he owned and his involvement in local civil defence and other community groups.
Former Haumoana School secretary, Moira Lindsay recalls Ian’s generosity in the days before the school had its own hall: “One year we had persistent rain in December and had to postpone the school breakup two nights in a row, so we were looking for a large space. I phoned Ian and he cleared one of his bays and we held the breakup there on the morning of the last day of school. It was amazing, sitting on hay bales, the theme was based on the newly released Lord of the Rings film. It was just so cool and kind of Ian. He loved everyone being there.”
Ian Hope passed away on Sunday June 16, 2019. What will happen to the iconic museum and tourist attraction is unknown for now. Finding someone with his passion for British vehicles, each of which each had a story behind them, will be a difficult if not impossible task