In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna's Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range.

Machu Picchu 20221127

Machu Picchu not only offers the visitor the view of the temples and stone houses that are on its cusp, but also gives a look of its terraces and irrigation systems, which give a unique personality to the Incan citadel and its surroundings.

The Functions of the Platforms

These constructions are wide steps built on the mountains’s slopes that allowed the Incas to gain land in order to develop agriculture adapted to the landscape.

Without a doubt, creating great steps meant a great effort, but without these, the constant rains, the humidity of the environment and the steepness of the area would have triggered large landslides that would have destroyed the ruins of Machu Picchu.

This terrace system fulfills three main functions:

Containment: These constructions prevented the land’s erosion from creating landslides when carrying out the construction of cities, houses and temples.

Agriculture: Through the construction of these platforms, the Incas expanded the amount of land used for agricultural activity. These terraces allowed to take advantage of the rainwater as a source of crop irrigation directly from channels that connected each of the levels. Nowadays, crops are not cultivated anymore to maintain their integrity, due to the condition of World Heritage of Machu Picchu.

Ceremonial centers: these finer and more extensive construction platforms were intended to decorate ceremonial and/or administrative centers.

The clouds spread out above the horizon with the mountains in the backdrop.

Ring-billed Gull - - - - - - ( Larus delawarensis )

Prospecting for feeding opportunities on the lake, below.

Lake Emerald, in Oakland Park, Florida -US- near Fort Lauderdale.

Shot from my balcony over the lake, Thursday afternoon, November 23, 2006.

See him LARGER,

or 12" x 16". ( Remember to click "expand" when 12x16 image comes up, to get the full size.)

See WHERE. ( When map appears, click "Hybrid" and "+" sign for best map view.)

Looking from the Observatory Tower of Lincoln Castle towards the Grade I Listed Lincoln Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Lincoln, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.

Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549) before the central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt.

Remigius de Fécamp, the first bishop of Lincoln, moved the Episcopal seat there between 1072 and 1092. Up until then St. Mary's Church in Stow was the "mother church" of Lincolnshire (although it was not a cathedral, because the seat of the diocese was at Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire).

Bishop Remigius built the first Lincoln Cathedral on the present site, finishing it in 1092 and then dying on 9 May of that year, two days before it was consecrated. In 1141, the timber roofing was destroyed in a fire. Bishop Alexander rebuilt and expanded the cathedral, but it was mostly destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185.

The earthquake was one of the largest felt in the UK. The damage to the cathedral is thought to have been very extensive: The Cathedral is described as having "split from top to bottom"; in the current building, only the lower part of the west end and of its two attached towers remain of the pre-earthquake cathedral.

After the earthquake, a new bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as St Hugh of Lincoln. He began a massive rebuilding and expansion programme. Rebuilding began with the choir and the eastern transepts between 1192 and 1210. The central nave was then built in the Early English Gothic style. Until 1549 the spire was reputedly the tallest medieval tower in Europe, though the exact height has been a matter of debate.

The two large stained glass rose windows, the matching Dean's Eye and Bishop's Eye, were added to the cathedral during the late Middle Ages. The former, the Dean's Eye in the north transept dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh, finally being completed in 1235.

After the additions of the Dean's eye and other major Gothic additions it is believed some mistakes in the support of the tower occurred, for in 1237 the main tower collapsed. A new tower was soon started and in 1255 the Cathedral petitioned Henry III to allow them to take down part of the town wall to enlarge and expand the Cathedral.

In 1290 Eleanor of Castile died and King Edward I of England decided to honour her, his Queen Consort, with an elegant funeral procession. After her body had been embalmed, which in the 13th century involved evisceration, Eleanor's viscera were buried in Lincoln cathedral, and Edward placed a duplicate of the Westminster tomb there.

Information Source:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Cathedral

This photograph taken inside the Wisconsin Central’s diesel shop at North Fond du Lac shows two recent arrivals getting a mechanical check-over before being added to their then rapidly expanding fleet of SD45s.

The WC had already purchased 21 of these big EMDs from the Santa Fe in 1993, but due to increasing traffic levels they found it necessary to add more power in late 1994 into early 1995.

The ATSF 5327 would become the WC 6599 and the ATSF 5400 the WC 6629. – The additional road units that came to the WC from the ATSF this time around included 33 SD45s, 6 F45s and the one FP45. - September 6th, 1994 ~~ A Jeff Hampton Photograph ©

melting hearts

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I couldn't help but notice that someone had placed a warm hat and scarf on Lachlan ~ it is cold out in the woods!!

This beautiful carved sculpture was created on behalf of Lachlan who fell from a tree and died in Fullerton Woods. Lachlan loved reading and his pet cat Percy was never far from him.

Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!

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Taken for Flickr Lounge ~ mementoes from the Past

My husband's family used to have a tool making firm and this is their paper embossing tool. It leaves an impression of the company logo on the paper. It is over 100 years old.

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Treasure Hunt #35 ~ Insect

Chive flowers are buzzing with bees at the moment.

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As regular contacts will have seen, my son bought me a gift of an afternoon Tea for Two do be delivered yesterday because all slots for today had been sold out. There was far too much for both of us so we ate the two remaining pieces today . Original shots in comments.

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Flickr Lounge ~ Simplicity

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Lemon and Passion Fruit Cake.

We have to eat this quickly as it's full of fresh cream...oh dear!

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Some mono images using Norwich Cathedral and varying lighting conditions.

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

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Capturing the first of the Spring bulbs whilst they still look good. I have particularly enjoyed my Iris Histrioides (Katharine Hodgkin)

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More from my garden today.

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factory for expanded clay products - 1965-2012

cof

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Finally got around to editing my Dune build to fit the lurid machinations of the Chiss family rivalries.

Expand the Star Wars universe by building for Star Wars Factions at swfactions.net

These ancient timbers in the salt marshes at Thornham in North Norfolk must be several hundred years old, and are the remnants of the original port. Over the years the coast has silted up and the salt marsh has expanded. Until 1914 sailing ships weighing over 100 tons were delivering supplies of coal to Thornham via the creeks in the marshes, but only small boats can now get through at high tide. At either side of the picture are more modern wooden landing stages which enable small inshore fishing boats to land their catch. The sea can be seen in the distance on the left, while right of centre we can just see a vast sandy beach.

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Spotted in the garden of the old village school. The garden has been lovingly planted and maintained by a group of local residents and now looks wonderful.

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abandoned factory for expanded clay products - 1965-2012

Wide angle lens :-D

(expand and then click to embiggen)

Blessings of the season to all during these difficult times

Taken in my garden after I'd been around the corner of my home once or twice to capture the sunrise . It's been a long time since I used this so I discovered that most shots were out of focus because I'm unable to stretch my arms out as straight as I used to last summer . Only one thing for it in that case - some physio and stretching exercises at home.

Before you stands the great western divide. This ridge of peaks divides the kaweah river drainage in from of you from the kern River drainage on the other side. The great western divide rises high enough to block the view of Mount Whitney, tallest of the Sierran peaks at 14,494 feet.

In 1890, Sequoia National Park included the Giant Forest but not the peaks you see in the distance. Over time, ideas of what should be preserved in a national park changed. in 1926, this view became park scenery when Congress enlarged the boundary to the crest of Sierra Nevada.

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Taken for Our daily Challenge ~ Scents

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Cann!bal region is expanding and there is finally a perfect place for this !

Cann!bal Airlines : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cannibal%20Island/249/10/3....

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Birthday treat from my husband, afternoon tea at our local café.

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Expanding.

Reflections, Light and Water

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.”

Mohandas Gandhi

Sorry I haven’t posted or visited much this week; dad duties are filling the day and then some. I look forward to catching up on both this weekend! Have a great Friday everyone!

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Treasure Hunt #51 ~ Pom-pom

Take Aim: A Challenge Group ~ Something New

My husband bought me this lovely warm and sparkly hat for Christmas.

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'Tiny Toblerones' - a gift for Huw from a friend. I know he'd be willing to share 😉

Must be great to sit in this wonderful house looking across the gorse on Royal Troon Golf course and then across the sea!

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Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!

Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all!

Today, space day, expand your thinking, expand your consciousness.

Taken from 1-Chome 15-1 Hanakawado apartment rooftop. A 25 seconds exposure captured both colors of the Skytree. The weather was cooperative at that moment, had to wait for the rain to stop though. Somewhat lucky! I hope it will be of interest to some of you. Once again, thanks for looking!

Your comments & faves are greatly appreciated!