View allAll Photos Tagged Maintained
Wow... I... I don't know where to start....
This was a beautiful film. I can't think of any other way to say it. James Mangold has written a story that was incredibly moving and well thought out. There was a very clear direction to be taken for The Wolverine's final film, and he nailed it on the head.
This movie hit extremely close to home for me. This story of a generational gap between Father, Son, and Child is something that's not commonly addressed in everyday film or TV, even more so in the Superhero Genre.
I'm absolutely floored by how well this movie respected it's predecessors, while still maintaining a sense of individuality. LOGAN was the perfect way to finally end the X-Men saga that started with Jackman and Stewart so long ago. In a way, this whole film was comprised of many little things that interconnected and left plenty of room for story, with little to no need for unnecessary exposition. I'm really proud at how intelligent the audience was expected to be.
Something that really struck a chord with me though, was the dynamic developed among Charles, Logan, and Laura. Particularly how strong the desire Xaiver has to teach Laura about the beauties of the world, and wanting to provide a positive outlook on life, while simultaneously having a pessimistic father figure like Logan. I see myself in X23's position. In fact I see myself in all three of these characters, which is a rarity for me. I understood the confusions that X23 had about civility and manners and why things are the way things are. I felt pain and depression for Charles, just wanting what's best for the people around him because of his own past mistakes and pains. I especially felt empathy for Logan. Being the only one (barely) capable to keep the “family” together. Having a sort of weight bared down from the past wrongs in his life, while struggling to find peace.
Which inevitably he does.
Or that's how I'd like to see it.
It's strange. Because it's a sad ending... but it's a happy one too. There's a sense of accomplishment and pride, making it through this journey with him. Like... it's been seventeen years since we first met this guy (for me anyway), and we've gone though all these hardships with him, the good (X2, DOFP) and the bad (Origins, X3, etc). And Logan's finally found a belonging and purpose. He loved.... and I think he finally saw that.
Part of me is glad that it's over. Part of me is somber for what's to come and what has been.
I don't know if that was the goal for this film but that's what I walked away with.
I'm also really proud at how well this handled people struggling with PTSD, Suicide, and Mental Illness. LOGAN particularly shows us that despite our failings and our minds breaking down as we get older, there's always someone (even if it's only just one person) standing there willing to hold out a hand.
Charles burial was very moving for me. People deal with grief in many different ways, and Hugh Jackman held an incredible performance showing how a person struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder would handle a loss. They go down fighting. They're angry and scared and they don't want to admit their pain.
My own father has had episodes like this. ...I've had episodes like this.
And speaking from experience, having someone to care for you after event's like this is hard. Excepting help from people who care about you is really really hard....
And I know that even though this is just a movie, it gives me a sense of outward perspective on times like this in my own life. It's a good slap in the face like “Hey! Stop it! Your life isn't nearly as bad as Wolverine's!”
In a way, I needed a movie like this.
There's been a lot of talk about how this R rating was gonna hurt the film. I feel that the intelligence and depth at it's core needed a rating like this. I don't think this film could've held the same kind of impact that it did. You couldn't have moments like Logan's episode be as raw as they were without the cursing, so to speak.
Additionally there wasn't the need for hand-holding or overbearing narratives. You couldn't get the film you did if you constantly had to remind the audience that they're in The Future or have to show flashbacks to the Weapon X Program in the 80's. You could have a single line of dialogue for a plot point and be done with it. Anything else additionally can be used in an art form or an emotional/story derivative, which is exactly what happened! It was perfect!
Hell, the mere concept that you can create a dialogue heavy, three act, genre breaking, piece of art blows my mind!
And it was under the 20th Century Fox Banner?! Crazy! :P
I mean, what more is there to say? The cinematography was fantastic! The setting of midwestern farmlands and North Dakota forests, and the colors! Oh man what a great rustic palette!
The story was perfect for a concept like this. A bit on the nose at times, but the motivation was very clear cut and gave plenty of opportunity to expand on character. It was like reading a book, and I loved it! It wasn't some “blue light into the sky” BS, it was a real story! With real characters and real settings and just... wow! :)
I'm speechless!
James Mangold, you will forever have my heart.
***
Patreon's got an extensive look at the build, including some things out of frame and focus, plus some lighting tips, and an extra Patreon Exclusive photo, only seen there :)
P.S. In the month of Feburary my Patreon had 16 posts uploaded, where as Flickr only got 3... sayin' just sayin'...
___________________________________________
What did you think of that scene where Logan donned his alter-ego Patch? What a crazy Easter Egg Top Ten Things You May Have Missed Reaction Spoiler am'I'rite?!
Visit my Patreon to see early photography, behind the scenes images, and WIPs of upcoming projects, and we'll talk all about John Byrne!
Still maintained but, not in use. There apparently is some evidence to suggest it is built over an older church going back to 753. The churchyard is wild and the mausoleum dates from around 1750. Its location gives it a wild and lonely feel. Just after sunset, unfortunately not a great deal of colour in the sky.
These Ptarmigan had clearly "paired up" but maintained a respectful distance until this brief episode of togetherness !
This quaint historic Christian church is located in the heart of historic downtown Havana. The building and grounds look very well maintained from the outside.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=814&...
www.floridamemory.com/items/show/3817
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
view on the Royal Theatre Carre of Amsterdam & the Sluice. In the centre you see a lighthouse which is one of the sights of the Amsterdam Light Festival 2014. Alot of photos are combined to create this image. The reason is that there more boats sailing in the water than usual. So I had too many light trails. These 2 i like most so i maintained these lights in my image
British European Airways had a fleet of 65 AEC 'Routemaster' with Park Royal front entrance bodies maintained and operated for them by London Transport and which towed luggage trailers. KGJ 621D is in original condition at Heathrow 30/8/69
Eu não tinha nada da Essie na minha coleção até colocar meus olhos nessa belezinha! Consegui ele no desapego da Bárbara Afonso pelo Facebook :)
Eu amo azul e esse tom me lembrou muito o meu amado Curação da Sephora, esmalte esse que já usei diversas vezes, é um dos que mais amo.
Ele seca hiper rápido e tem esse brilho que é dele, ou seja, não precisei de TC pra deixar assim. Lindo!! ❤️
Vou dar um up (não que ele precise) em breve!
1x Base Argan Babado Novo
2x Essie - Avenue Maintain
Em breve no blog www.terradosesmaltes.com.br
Beijos! :*
Basic protection measures against the new coronavirus COVID-19
- Wash your hands frequently
- Take respiratory hygiene measures
- Maintain social distance
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
- If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention in time
- Stay informed and follow the recommendations of health professionals
Credits:
Coco:
Body: Maitreya Lara
Hair: MINA - Celeste - Essentials
Top: {ViSion} // Cecilia Ruffle Top -#7
Skirt: {ViSion} // Leona Skirt - #12
Shoes: Scandalize. HasleyHeels. FATPACK (unpacked)
Mask: [Actuate Eden] Visual Face Masks - Plain
In addition:
Lighting: LUMIPro HUD V3 Versión 18 V1. and Phototools- Epi Vintage Light
Backdrop: K&S - // rooftop terrace // Backdrop
Pose: by myself
Location: Natural Naughty Gallery
North of Akron, Iowa, the daily southbound train on the D&I Railway rolls through the rolling hills and tallgrass of the western part of the state.
This is all former Milwaukee Road trackage, and it doesn't take too much creativity to imagine a scenario in which Hiawatha-clad Dash-2s are maintaining the same service.
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Formerly the tallest building in the city of Buffalo from 1901 to 1912. It was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the old U.S. Post Office Department during the tenure of Jeremiah O'Rourke when construction started in 1897. The $1,500,000 building opened in 1901 during the tenure of James Knox Taylor and operated as Buffalo's central post office until 1963. The highly ornamented Gothic Revival style four story building features a 244-foot tower over the central entrance. The main feature of the interior is a roofed courtyard. It was subsequently occupied by various federal offices. Since 1981, it has been home to the city campus of the Erie Community College.
Its tower is 244 feet (74 m) tall.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1972 as "U.S. Post Office".
Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned State Road 91 (SR 91), is a toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximately 309 miles (497 km) along a northwest–southeast axis, the turnpike is in two sections. The SR 91 mainline runs roughly 265 miles (426 km), from its southern terminus at an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) in Miami Gardens to an interchange with I-75 in Wildwood at its northern terminus. The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (abbreviated HEFT and designated as unsigned SR 821) continues from the southern end of the mainline for another 48 miles (77 km) to US Highway 1 (US 1) in Florida City. The slogan for the road is "The Less Stressway". The mainline opened in stages between 1957 and 1964, while the extension was completed in 1974. The turnpike runs through Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, where it parallels I-95, and through Orlando, where it crosses I-4.
Tolls on the turnpike are an average of 6.7 cents per mile (4.2 ¢/km) for cars and other two-axle vehicles using SunPass. A trip on the entire turnpike (not including the Homestead Extension) would cost $22.59 with Toll-by-Plate, and $17.45 with SunPass.
The turnpike was originally entirely on the ticket system, but due to congestion in the Miami and Orlando metro areas, a coin system was implemented from the Three Lakes toll plaza north to the terminus at I-75, and from Lantana south to I-95, in the 1990s. In 2015, the portion between the Golden Glades toll barrier and I-595 in Davie was converted to a cashless toll system. Additional projects to convert the turnpike to an electronic collection system were completed between I-595 and Lantana in 2019, and from SR 429 north to I-75 in Wildwood in 2020.
The final stretch of the turnpike to use the ticket system ran between what are now electronic toll gantries at Lantana (mile 89.4 in Palm Beach County) and Three Lakes (mile 236.5 in Osceola County). This section was converted to a cashless system on November 8, 2021, removing the final cash-based toll collections and converting the entire length of the turnpike to electronic toll collection.
The SunPass electronic toll collection system, in use since 1999, has become the primary method of paying tolls on the turnpike, with 80% of customers using the electronic tolling as of October 2009. SunPass can be used on most Florida toll roads, in conjunction with other electronic toll collection systems in Florida (E-Pass and LeeWay). SunPass users benefit from an average of a 25% discount on tolls and access to SunPass-only exit ramps. SunPass transponders are available at the gift shop and gas stations at all service plazas, as well as Walgreens, Publix, and CVS stores statewide.[18] Since 2021, E-ZPass, which is used primarily in the Midwest and Northeast U.S., has also been accepted on Florida's Turnpike.
As the Turnpike and its system of roads are primary routes for emergency evacuations, tolls may be suspended, in cooperation with the state's emergency operations center and county governments, when a state or national emergency, most common being a hurricane watch, warrant rapid movement of the population.
Eight service plazas are located along the turnpike, spaced about 45 miles (72 km) apart. All eight plazas are open 24 hours a day and located on the center median of the turnpike for access from both directions and offer gasoline, diesel fuel, internet access, travel and tourism info and tickets, picnic areas, TV news, gift shops offering Florida Lottery, family-friendly restrooms, and pay phones. A convenience store/gas station is located at the Snapper Creek plaza on the Homestead Extension of the turnpike, while the remaining seven are full-service plazas, featuring a selection of franchised fast food restaurants. Three of the service plazas (Pompano, Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce, Turkey Lake) also provide E85 ethanol. The Turkey Lake plaza also has a Tesla Supercharger for Tesla electric vehicles. Superchargers are also located at Ft. Drum plaza, and Canoe Creek and Okahumpa are scheduled to open Superchargers in 2021/22.
The operation of Sunshine State Parkway gas stations and service centers was originally bid out under separate contracts, and as a result, differing petroleum brands operated concurrently along the parkway, with varying levels of service and pricing. This practice was discontinued in 1995 when all service center operations were combined to improve supply and continuity of service; with Martin Petroleum, a Florida corporation, operating the stations with Citgo brand fuel at its stations. Since then, the Venezuelan government, under President Hugo Chávez, nationalized Citgo, and in 2006, political controversy resulted in a movement to remove the brand from the turnpike.
In 2009, Areas U.S.A. signed a 30-year contract for operation of food and retail concessions, taking over operations from Martin Petroleum and HMSHost. Florida Turnpike Services, L.L.C., Areas' partner, replaced the Citgo brand with Shell, the current brand for gas stations along the turnpike. Many of the restaurant brands were also changed over, with Dunkin' Donuts replacing Starbucks locations as well as KFC, Pizza Hut, Villa Pizza and Wendy's replacing most Popeyes and Burger King locations. The reconstruction and renovation of six of the service plazas began on November 1, 2010, to be completed in 2012. The Okahumpka and Ft. Pierce plazas will begin reconstruction when the other plaza projects are complete. Total renovation costs are estimated at $160 million.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida%27s_Turnpike
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
A stacked image of one of my favourite orchid species, from the wonderful Lye Valley SSSI in Oxford (yes, a fen valley in the city of Oxford rather than in the wilds of Oxfordshire) which is fantastically managed by Dr Judy Webb and a team of volunteers to maintain its botanical and zoological value. This includes thousands of common spotted orchids and over a thousand marsh helleborine, now at their very best - an astonishing sight made all the more incredible by its urban situation. Long may it continue to thrive!
Parent 1 maintaining a covert watch on me....
Great Horned Owl GHOW (Bubo virginianus)
Carmichael, Saskatchewan, Canada
DSCN8476
************
Prairie occurring subspecies is much paler than our
"Great Horns' of the west coast
***
Northern or Subarctic Great Horned Owl or Western Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus subarcticus - Hoy, 1853)
Range: Found in northwestern British Colombia east through Mackenzie County, Alberta to Hudson Bay and south into the United States, where they are found in Wyoming and North Dakota. This race - or intermediates between this form and ssp. pallescens and/or lagophonus (or unnamed race) - also occurs south to Arizona, New Mexico and southwestern Texas (where they are found in the Guadalupe Mountains). Birds found in the Rocky Mountains of west central Canada south to west central USA are often separated as ssp. occidentalis. However, they are now by most authorities identified as race subarcticus.
ID: The largest-bodied subspecies of all. This pale form has a plumage that is essentially whitish with a faint creamy tinge on the upper plumage. The plumage below is variably barred blackish - from indistinct to heavily barred. The palest amongst them can be confused with young, female Snowy Owl. Their feet are whitish to buff.
Not all Postautos were bright yellow with a red stripe.
Another example of a lovingly maintained veteran.
in the last several months I've been seeking inspiration in other various forms of art such as performance art, fashion and costume design, and dance to name a few. my friend Ken suggested I write down this name: Pina Bausch. You should too. I found a copy of the film Pina by Wim Wenders at the library and was amazed at what I saw. an incredible blend of theater and modern dance. I was inspired to create this image based on one of the pieces from the film where many chairs were being stacked and also crawled through at the same time. I was very taken by the form of everything and that at any moment the chairs could come tumbling down...
Dance, dance... otherwise we are lost.
website | commission me | blog | twitter | facebook | S6 | G+
An unusually late CSXT/Pan Am train LA-2 (local freight from Lawrence) that normally comes down to Boston under the cover of darkness surprised me when they showed up right in the midst of the morning rush hour as I was getting off work. The Terminal dispatcher made quick work allowing them to come down off the New Hampshire Route High Line up to the front ladder and then make their reverse move back east toward Reading Junction and over on to the Eastern Route to clear up in the Coke Works at Everett Junction and drop off 22 cars for BO-1 to deliver later.
About 90 min after arriving they were all done and ready to head home light engine. Having come down the Eastern Route clear of the Back Ladder at Tower A they have swapped ends and B40-8s MEC 5958 and 5976 are climbing north up the ramp of the New Hampshire Route High Line to get out of the town. The large blue and purple building in the background is the MBTA's Commuter Rail Mainetenance Facility known to all as BET (Boston Engine Terminal) a legacy name harking back to the great roundhouse and shop built around 1930 and demolished in 1995 to make way for this modern facility which opened in 1998.
The units are momentarily in a little section of Charlestown which is part of the city of Boston though most trackage around BET is physically in Somerville. However, just to maintain maximum confusion, a bit of the railroad down toward Tower A is also in the city of Cambridge! Fun fact, a train leaving North Station on the Eastern or Western Routes will start in Boston, enter Cambridge, then Boston again, then Somerville, then Boston again, then Somerville again all in the span of two miles before reaching the Mystic River!
Boston, Massachusetts
Thursday July 7, 2022
Females maintain territories which may overlap somewhat, and males occupy larger territories covering those of several females.
The breeding season lasts from Late April to September. Females appear to prefer dominant males and may actively avoid other vagrant males. The gestation period averages 21 days, being longer if the female is still lactating from a previous litter. A litter can be up to ten pups but the average number is four to eight.
Females sometimes kill pups in burrows in adjoining territories and males sometimes kill pups before mating with their mother, perhaps as a tactic to ensure his offspring are advantaged.
The pups are naked and helpless and their eyes open at about nine days. They are weaned at 20 to 25 days and the females become sexually mature by six weeks with the males reaching maturity by eight weeks.
There may be up to four litters per year and as the youngsters start to breed, numbers quickly build up over the summer months.
The bank vole lives for up to two years.
(Wikipedia)
Uniondale Cemetery in Pittsburgh. In every season a picturesque landscape that is well maintained and includes wonderful trees.
This beautifully maintained DH.82A Tiger Moth was built in 1940 by the de Havilland Company of Australia and delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force with the serial A17-48.
The aircraft was sold in May 1948 and put on the Australian civil register as VH-BLX, but a crash in January 1949 saw her grounded until September 1951. Based in New Guinea, she had another accident in November 1956 but was flying again by May 1958. In 1967 she was sold to the USA, registered N48DH and painted silver with yellow fuselage bands. In January 1989 she was British registered as G-BPHR and now flies in genuine Royal Australian Air Force colour scheme and markings.
Foot bridge at the old Leighton Train Station. The station is no longer used but the bridge is well maintained and has some beautiful features which I've tried to capture here. I especially like the weathered metal railings on wood structure.
My mate Joe Moir's favourite locomotive at the Railway Museum at Bassendean was Baldwin steam locomotive Kia -Ora. He spent many hours over the years, restoring/ maintaining the loco. Here is a photo when it was working for the Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company. Photo: Joe Moir Collection.
The Alcobaça Monastery is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Alcobaça, in Oeste Subregion. The monastery was founded in the medieval period by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, in 1153, and maintained a close association with the Kings of Portugal throughout its history.
Boomerang.
Beautifully maintained by the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
See the link below,
www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/2011/september-2011/Syd...
Martial eagle - fully mature female portrait not pleased at approach to nest. A pair of these birds are used as "ambassadors" for education purposes at the Moholoholo animal sanctuary and conservation project in the Hoedspruit region of South Africa. We were given privileged access to the nest site which has one chick hatched from an incubator-maintained egg at the centre.
Manufacturer: Boeing
Operator: NASA/ German Aerospace Center
Type: Boeing 747SP (N747NA)
Event/ Location: 2022 Aerospace Valley Airshow/ Edwards Air Force Base
Comment: The SOFIA underwent extensive modifications by L-3 Integrated Systems in Waco, Texas, from 1998 to 2007. L-3 Integrated Systems was responsible for the aircraft's modifications including design engineering, airframe structual modifications, telescope design integration, and flight test activities under the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. It was an 80/20 joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. The project was terminated in October 2022.
....Or is it pink?
Taken in our garden earlier this spring....
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, of which around 75 wild species are currently accepted and which belongs to the family Liliaceae.
The genus's native range extends west to the Iberian Peninsula, through North Africa to Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, throughout the Levant (Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan) and Iran, North to Ukraine, southern Siberia and Mongolia, and east to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of diversity is in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan mountains. It is a typical element of steppe and winter-rain Mediterranean vegetation. A number of species and many hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, as potted plants, or as cut flowers.
Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that grow from bulbs. Depending on the species, tulip plants can be between 4 inches (10 cm) and 28 inches (71 cm) high. The tulip's large flowers usually bloom on scapes with leaves in a rosette at ground level and a single flowering stalk arising from amongst the leaves.Tulip stems have few leaves. Larger species tend to have multiple leaves. Plants typically have two to six leaves, some species up to 12. The tulip's leaf is strap-shaped, with a waxy coating, and the leaves are alternately arranged on the stem; these fleshy blades are often bluish green in color. Most tulips produce only one flower per stem, but a few species bear multiple flowers on their scapes (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica). The generally cup or star-shaped tulip flower has three petals and three sepals, which are often termed tepals because they are nearly identical. These six tepals are often marked on the interior surface near the bases with darker colorings. Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colors, except pure blue (several tulips with "blue" in the name have a faint violet hue).
The flowers have six distinct, basifixed stamens with filaments shorter than the tepals. Each stigma has three distinct lobes, and the ovaries are superior, with three chambers. The tulip's seed is a capsule with a leathery covering and an ellipsoid to globe shape. Each capsule contains numerous flat, disc-shaped seeds in two rows per chamber. These light to dark brown seeds have very thin seed coats and endosperm that does not normally fill the entire seed.
Etymology
The word tulip, first mentioned in western Europe in or around 1554 and seemingly derived from the "Turkish Letters" of diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, first appeared in English as tulipa or tulipant, entering the language by way of French: tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend ("muslin" or "gauze"), and may be ultimately derived from the Persian: دلبند delband ("Turban"), this name being applied because of a perceived resemblance of the shape of a tulip flower to that of a turban. This may have been due to a translation error in early times, when it was fashionable in the Ottoman Empire to wear tulips on turbans. The translator possibly confused the flower for the turban.
Tulips are called laleh (from Persian لاله, lâleh) in Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Bulgarian. In Arabic letters, "laleh" is written with the same letters as Allah, which is why the flower became a holy symbol. It was also associated with the House of Osman, resulting in tulips being widely used in decorative motifs on tiles, mosques, fabrics, crockery, etc. in the Ottoman Empire
Cultivation
Tulip cultivars have usually several species in their direct background, but most have been derived from Tulipa suaveolens, often erroneously listed as Tulipa schrenkii. Tulipa gesneriana is in itself an early hybrid of complex origin and is probably not the same taxon as was described by Conrad Gesner in the 16th century.
Tulips are indigenous to mountainous areas with temperate climates and need a period of cool dormancy, known as vernalization. They thrive in climates with long, cool springs and dry summers. Tulip bulbs imported to warm-winter areas of are often planted in autumn to be treated as annuals.
Tulip bulbs are typically planted around late summer and fall, in well-drained soils, normally from 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) deep, depending on the type. Species tulips are normally planted deeper.
Propagation
Tulips can be propagated through bulb offsets, seeds or micropropagation. Offsets and tissue culture methods are means of asexual propagation for producing genetic clones of the parent plant, which maintains cultivar genetic integrity. Seeds are most often used to propagate species and subspecies or to create new hybrids. Many tulip species can cross-pollinate with each other, and when wild tulip populations overlap geographically with other tulip species or subspecies, they often hybridize and create mixed populations. Most commercial tulip cultivars are complex hybrids, and often sterile.
Offsets require a year or more of growth before plants are large enough to flower. Tulips grown from seeds often need five to eight years before plants are of flowering size. Commercial growers usually harvest the tulip bulbs in late summer and grade them into sizes; bulbs large enough to flower are sorted and sold, while smaller bulbs are sorted into sizes and replanted for sale in the future. The Netherlands are the world's main producer of commercial tulip plants, producing as many as 3 billion bulbs annually, the majority for export.
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
For the group: Looking close... on Friday!
www.flickr.com/groups/4506717@N23/
Theme: Hobby
Unsure what hobby to photograph for the 'Hobby' theme, what with Photography itself being one of my biggest passions, I also love gardening too, for which I have over an acre of land with a woodland to maintain, a lot of fun but can be hard work. I love working in my greenhouse and growing vegetables, baking (a passionate baker) I love the smell of a freshly baked sponge cake, I adore cooking and love dress making and of course reading, nothing like a good book and a glass of wine, I get lost in a book and love a book shop, even the smell of a book shop and all the stories yet to be read. I was unsure where to start with this challenge, so I thought I'd drawer a rose, been a while since I sketched and it was nice to take five minutes out and do this for today's challenge. I have always been a very creative soul and so every hobby I have reflects this. Born on the cusp of a Pisces, I have a poet and creative soul, poetry, art and music play such a big part in my life as does water and the great outdoors and nature, the sign of the fish, I sail, and used to surf, I love Paddle Boarding and would rather do my five mile daily run through a wet muddy field than go to a clean dry gym, the lure of the outdoors calls me. I can daydream and create things in my mind and see things in nature hence I took up photography to reflect this. I don't get much chance to paint and sketch anymore with my garden taking most of my time and a busy family life, but this was lovely to do last night. Everyday and every evening my husband and son come home to find a new cake recipe or unusual vegetable I've grown, or new recipe for dinner, I show them a dress I made or a pattern I have altered, they spend their lives laughing at me crouching down lying flat on my belly to get a macro shot of a flower, so this time I sketched a flower, have a fabulous Friday and looking forward to your Hobby images ~ KissThePixel2019
Image taken with Nikon D750 and Nikkor 50mm f1.2 manual lens
Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) maintaining one of its caches.
Wiewiórka (Sciurus vulgaris) konserwująca jedną ze swoich kryjówek.
A pair of these has maintained a nesting site near the backyard fence. The eyes of this bird are amazing to me, perhaps more than those of a Northern Mockingbird.
Member of Nature’s Spirit
Good Stewards of Nature
One moment winter story.
Lakhta .This small village on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 15 km northwest of the city, is home to human settlements on the banks of the Neva. It was on the territory of Lakhta that the remains of a man’s parking site of three thousand years ago were found.
In official documents, a settlement named Lakhta dates back to 1500. The name is derived from the Finnish-speaking word lahti - "bay". This is one of the few settlements that has not changed its name throughout its 500-year history. Also known as Laches, Lahes-by, Lahes and was originally inhabited by Izhora. In the last decades of the 15th century, Lakhta was a village (which indicates a significant population) and was the center of the eponymous grand-parish volost, which was part of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of the Orekhovsky district of the Vodskaya Pyatina. In the village, there were 10 courtyards with 20 people (married men). In Lakhta, on average, there were 2 families per yard, and the total population of the village probably reached 75 people.
From the notes on the margins of the Swedish scribe book of the Spassky graveyard of 1640, it follows that the lands along the lower reaches of the Neva River and parts of the Gulf of Finland, including Lakhta Karelskaya, Perekulya (from the Finnish “back village”, probably because of its position relative to Lakhti) and Konduy Lakhtinsky, were royal by letter of honor on January 15, 1638 transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz general Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). With the arrival of the Swedes in Prievye, Lakhta was settled by the Finns, who until the middle of the 20th century made up the vast majority of the villagers.
On December 22, 1766, Catherine 2 granted Lakhta Manor, which was then in the Office of the Chancellery from the buildings of palaces and gardens, "in which and in her villages with courtyards 208 souls," her favorite Count Orlov. Not later than 1768, Count J.A. Bruce took over the estate. In 1788, Lakhta Manor was listed behind him with wooden services on a dry land (high place) and the villages Lakhta, Dubki, Lisiy Nos and Konnaya belonging to it also on dry land, in those villages of male peasants 238 souls. On May 1, 1813, Lakhta passed into the possession of the landowners of the Yakovlevs. On October 5, 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate, which then had 255 male souls. This clan was the owner of the estate until 1912, when its last representative got into debt and noble custody was established over the estate. On October 4, 1913, in order to pay off his debts, he was forced to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate passed into the ownership of the Joint Stock Company “Lakhta” of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co.
After the revolution, Lakhta was left on its own for a while, here on the former estate of the counts Stenbock-Fermorov on May 19, 1919, the Lakhta excursion station was opened, which existed there until 1932. In the early 1920s, sand mining began on Lakhta beaches, and the abandoned and dilapidated peat plant of the Lakhta estate in 1922 took over the Oblzemotdel and put it into operation after major repairs. In 1963, the village of Lakhta was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
At the beginning of Lakhtinsky Prospekt, on the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, there was the village of Rakhilax (Rahilax-hof, Rahila, Rokhnovo). Most likely, under this name only one or several courtyards are designated. There is an assumption that the name of the village was formed from the Finnish raahata - “drag, drag,” because there could be a place for transportation through the isthmus of the Lakhtinsky spill (we should not forget that not only the bridge over the channel connecting the spill with the Gulf of Finland was not yet here, the duct itself was many times wider than the current one). The search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of 1573, describing the Lakhta lands, mentions that there were 2 lodges in the “Rovgunov” village, from which we can conclude that we are talking about the village of Rohilaks, which the Russian scribes remade into a more understandable to them Rovgunovo. The village was empty in Swedish time and was counted as a wasteland of the village of Lahta.
On the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, near the confluence of the Yuntolovka River, from the 17th century there existed the village of Bobylka (Bobylskaya), which merged into the village of Olgino only at the beginning of the 20th century, but was found on maps until the 1930s. It is probably the Search Book that mentions it Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 as a village "in Lakhta in Perekui", behind which there was 1 obzh. With the arrival of the Swedes by royal letter on January 15, 1638, the village was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickshaw General Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted Lahti lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). On the Swedish map of the 1670s, in the place of the village of Bobylsky, the village of Lahakeülä is marked (küla - the village (Fin.)). The village could subsequently be called Bobyl from the Russian word "bobyl."
The owners of Bobylskaya were both Count Orlov, and Count Y. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate (which included the village of Bobyl). This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners, in order to pay off their debts, had to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate was transferred to the ownership of the Lakhta Joint-Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. By the middle of the 20th century, the village merged with the village of Lakhta.
The name Konnaya Lakhta (Konnaya) has been known since the 16th century, although earlier it sounded like Konduya (Konduya Lakhtinskaya) or just Kondu (from the Finnish kontu - courtyard, manor). Subsequently, this name was replaced by the more familiar Russian ear with the word "Horse". In the Search Book of the Spassko-Gorodensky Pogost in 1573, it is mentioned as the village "on Kovdui", where 1 obzh was listed, which indicates that there most likely was one yard. On January 15, 1638, together with neighboring villages, it was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz General Bernhard Steen von Stenhausen, of Dutch origin. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). In a deed of gift, Konduya Lakhtinskaya is called a village, which indicates a noticeable increase in its population. Later, on the Swedish map of the 1670s, on the site of the present Horse Lahti, the village of Konda-bai is marked (by - village (sv)).
The owners of Konnaya Lakhta, as well as the villages of Bobylskaya and Lakhta, were in turn Count Orlov, Count Ya. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered the possession of the Lakhta estate (which included Konnaya Lakhta. This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners had to go to corporations to pay off their debts, and the Lakhta estate became the property of Lakhta Joint Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. In 1963, Horse Lahta was included in the Zhdanov (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
As the dacha village of Olgino appeared at the end of the 19th century and initially consisted of both Olgin itself and the villages of Vladimirovka (now part of Lisiy Nos) and Aleksandrovka. In the first half of the 18th century, this territory was part of the Verpelev palace estate, which in the second half of the 18th century was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then it was owned by the family of landowners the Yakovlevs, in the middle of the 19th century the estate was transferred to the counts of Stenbock-Fermor. In 1905 A.V. Stenbok-Fermor, the then owner of Lakhta lands, divided the lands around Lakhta into separate plots with the intention of selling them profitably for dachas. So there were the villages of Olgino (named after the wife of Olga Platonovna), Vladimirovka (in honor of the father of the owner; the coastal part of the modern village of Lisy Nos) and Alexandrov or Aleksandrovskaya (in honor of Alexander Vladimirovich himself). It is likely that on the site of the village was the village of Olushino (Olushino odhe) - a search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 mentions that there were 1 obzh in the village of Olushkov’s, which suggests that at least one residential the yard. On behalf of Olushka (Olpherius). Most likely, the village was deserted in Swedish time and then was already listed as a wasteland belonging to the village of Lahta. Thus, the name of the village could be given in harmony with the name of the mistress and the old name of the village.
The villages were planned among a sparse pine forest (the layout was preserved almost unchanged), so there were more amenities for living and spending time there than in Lakhta. A park was set up here, a summer theater, a sports ("gymnastic") playground, a tennis court, and a yacht club were arranged.
In the 1910s about 150 winter cottages were built in Olgino, many of which are striking monuments of "summer cottage" architecture. In 1963, the village of Olgino was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Near Olgino, in the area of the Dubki park, there was a small village Verpeleva (Verpelevo), which consisted of only a few yards. In the first half of the XVIII century. this territory was part of the palace estate "Verpeleva", which in the second half of the XVIII century. It was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then passed to the Counts of Stenbock-Fermor. The village has not existed for a long time, but the entire reed-covered peninsula (barely protruding above the water of the Verpier-Luda peninsula (Verper Luda (from the Finnish luoto - “small rocky island”)) still existed, and there was another spelling the name of this island is Var Pala Ludo).
Kamenka. The Novgorod scribal book mentions two villages in the Lakhta region with a similar name, referring to the possessions of Selivan Zakharov, son of Okhten, with his son and 5 other co-owners. On the lands of this small patrimony, which, unlike the estate was inherited, peasants lived in 3 villages, including: the village "Kamenka in Lakhta near the sea" in 5 yards with 5 people and arable land in 1,5 obzhi, the village "on Kamenka "in 2 courtyards with 2 people and arable land in 1 obzhu. For the use of land, the peasants paid the owners of the patrimony 16 money and gave 1/3 of the rye harvest. Thus, in the 16th century on the Kamenka River (another name for the Kiviyoki River, which is the literal translation of kivi - "stone", joki - "river") there was one large village of Kamenka near its confluence with the Lakhtinsky spill and the second, smaller, somewhere upstream. On the drawing of Izhora land in 1705, a village under this name is depicted in the area of the modern village of Kamenka. The village of Kamennaya in the middle reaches of Kamenka and on the map of 1792 is designated. Other name options are Kaumenkka, Kiviaja.
In the second half of the 18th century, Kamenka became a vacation spot for Russian Germans. Here in 1865, German colonists founded their "daughter" colony on leased land. Since then, the village has received the name Kamenka Colony (so called until the 1930s). In 1892, a colony near the village of Volkovo "budded" from it. The inhabitants of both colonies belonged to the Novo-Saratov parish and since 1871 had a prayer house in Kamenka, which was visited by 250 people. He maintained a school for 40 students. The house was closed in 1935 and later demolished.
Currently, Kamenka exists as a holiday village, located along the road to Levashovo. Since 1961 - in the city, part of the planning area in the North-West, from the mid-1990s. built up with multi-storey residential buildings and cottages.
Volkovo. The settlement is about southeast of the village of Kamenka - on the old road to Kamenka, on the bank of a stream that flows into Kamenka between the village of Kamenka and the Shuvalovsky quarry. In 1892, a German colony emerged on the territory of the village, "budding" from a nearby colony in the village of Kamenka. The origin of Volkovo is not clear, the village is found only on maps of 1912, 1930, 1939, 1943. and probably appeared no earlier than the 19th century.
Kolomyagi. Scribe books of the XV — XVI centuries and Swedish plans testify that small settlements already existed on the site of Kolomyag. Most likely, these were first Izhora or Karelian, then Finnish farms, which were empty during the hostilities of the late XVII century.
The name "Kolomyag" connoisseurs decipher in different ways. Some say that it came from the "colo" - in Finnish cave and "pulp" - a hill, a hill. The village is located on the hills, and such an interpretation is quite acceptable. Others look for the root of the name in the Finnish word "koaa" - bark - and believe that trees were processed here after felling. Another version of the origin of the name from the Finnish "kello" is the bell, and it is associated not with the feature of the mountain, but with the "bell on the mountain" - a tower with a signal bell standing on a hill.
The owners of Kolomyazhsky lands were Admiral General A.I. Osterman, Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a family of Volkonsky. In 1789, the Volkonskys sold these lands to retired colonel Sergei Savvich Yakovlev. On his estate S. S. Yakovlev built a manor and lived in it with his wife and seven daughters. The once-Finnish population of Kolomyag was “Russified” by that time - it was made up of descendants of serfs resettled by Osterman and Bestuzhev-Rumin from their villages in Central Russia (natives of the Volga and Galich) and Ukraine. Then the name "Kellomyaki" began to sound in Russian fashion - "Kolomyagi", although later the old name also existed, especially among local Finns. And not without reason the indigenous Kolomozhites associate their origin with the Volga places, and the southern half of the village is now called “Galician”.
Yakovlev died in 1818. Five years after his death, a division of the territory of the manor was made. The village of Kolomyagi was divided in half between two of his daughters. The border was the Bezymyanny stream. The southeastern part of the village of Kolomyagi beyond Bezymyanny creek and a plot on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka passed to the daughter Ekaterina Sergeevna Avdulina.
Daughter Yakovleva Elena Sergeevna - the wife of General Alexei Petrovich Nikitin, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who was awarded the highest military orders and twice a gold sword with the inscription "For courage", died early, leaving her daughter Elizabeth. The northwestern part of Kolomyag inherited the young Elizabeth, so this part of Kolomyag was practically inherited by the father of Yakovlev’s granddaughter, Count A.P. Nikitin, who in 1832 became the owner of the entire village. It is his name that is stored in the names of the streets - 1st and 2nd Nikitinsky and Novo-Nikitinsky. The new owner built a stone mansion on the estate’s estate - an excellent example of classicism of the first third of the 19th century, which became his country house and has survived to this day and has been occupied until recently by the Nursing Home. It is believed that this mansion was built according to the project of the famous architect A.I. Melnikov. The severity and modesty of the architectural appearance of the facades and residential chambers of the Nikitin mansion was opposed by the splendor of ceremonial interiors, in particular the two-light dance hall with choirs for musicians. Unfortunately, with repeated alterations and repairs, many details of the decor and stucco emblems of the owners disappeared. Only two photographs of the 1920s and preserved fragments of ornamental molding and paintings on the walls and ceiling show the past richness of the decorative decoration of this architectural monument. The mansion was surrounded by a small park. In it stood a stone pagan woman brought from the southern steppes of Russia (transferred to the Hermitage), and a pond with a plakun waterfall was built. Near the pond there was a "walk of love" from the "paradise" apple trees - it was called so because the bride and groom passed through it after the wedding. Here, in the shadow of these apple trees, young lovers made appointments.
Under the Orlov-Denisov opposite the mansion (now Main Street, 29), the structures of an agricultural farm were erected, partially preserved to this day, and the greenhouse. Behind the farm were the master's fields. On them, as the New Time newspaper reported in August 1880, they tested the reaping and shearing machines brought from America.
In the 19th century, the provincial surveyor Zaitsev submitted for approval the highway called the Kolomyagskoye Shosse. The route was supposed to connect the village, gradually gaining fame as a summer residence of the "middle arm", with St. Petersburg. The construction of the road ended in the 1840s, and then horse-drawn and country-house crafts became the most important articles of peasant income. In addition, peasants either built small dachas in their yards, or rented their huts for the summer. Located away from the roads, surrounded by fields, the village was chosen by multi-family citizens.
The income from the summer cottage industry increased from year to year, which was facilitated by the summer movement of omnibuses that opened on the new highway from the City Council building. They walked four times a day, each accommodated 16 people, the fare cost 15 kopecks. Even when the Finnish Railway with the nearest Udelnaya station came into operation in 1870, the highway remained the main access road through which public carriages pulled by a trio of horses ran from the Stroganov (now Ushakovsky) bridge.
Once we turned around and went around the swamp we happened upon this lovely maintained trail complete with these arbors to support the growth over the path.
I've always maintained that if these guy's weighed 3 pounds they would rule the world. Ferocious is too mild a word for this little hunter. I've been walking down a trail, had them come the other direction and even though I out weigh them by 1000 to 1, they will convince me to give way.
Junk Food - Slaribio Gummi Bears (Fruit Salad)
Junk Food - 90's Inflatable Chair
Junk Food - Paper Bag (Variety)
All available at the main store for the sales this weekend!
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Junk%20Food/192/79/36
Junk Food - 80's Telephone
Junk Food - Animated TV
Available at Anthem maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Anthem/71/112/1114
Greats Lakes Central CSTN has departed Cadillac, MI with two 35's in charge on this day in January of 2018 and is really on a roll! GLC's extremely well maintained mainline allows for 40mph running and maybe more??? Anyway, this job is approaching McBain, several miles from Cadillac, and my first catch since their departure.