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Valladolid is definitely worth a visit. The city is a blast from the past and has managed to maintain a decent vibe, the Mayan culture is very apparent. The colonial architecture and old convents are awesome to see. It is touristy but doesn’t feel overly touristy, you won’t get harassed by vendors. The Mayan culture is very apparent.
Valladolid Mexico
Detroit, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2024
Greektown is a historic ethnic neighbourhood and entertainment district located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the few ethnic neighbourhoods in Downtown Detroit to have maintained its identity and vitality over time.
History: The neighbourhood was established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the arrival of a large wave of Greek immigrants. It was originally a centre for Greek community life and commerce.
Atmosphere: Today, Greektown is known for its lively atmosphere, especially at night. The main street (Monroe Street) is lined with Greek-themed restaurants, bakeries, bars, and shops.
Key Landmarks: A major landmark is the large Greektown Casino, and the St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church, which underscores the area's religious and cultural heritage.
Cuisine: People visit Greektown to enjoy traditional Greek cuisine, such as saganaki (flaming cheese, often accompanied by the shout "Opa!") and gyro.
Male Ringed Teal in Regents Park.
The Ringed Teal is native to Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina and southern Brazil, it is a small teal that is very easy to maintain in captivity on a basic waterfowl diet. When it was first available to aviculture it was considered delicate and only suitable for maintaining in a tropical house. Over many successive generations the Ringed Teal has adapted to Captivity and become very hardy and can easily withstand a UK winter with no requirement for additional protection provided some open water can be maintained. The Ringed Teal is not believed to be threatened in the wild and is one of the more common waterfowl in captivity. As with many other southern hemisphere waterfowl the Ringed Teal does not have an eclipse (non breeding) plumage so the striking colours of the males plumage are maintained throughout the year once adult plumage is assumed at about fourteen weeks of age.
An outstanding attendant maintains a graceful demeanor at any and all times.
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SCOIATTOLO
Lo Scoiattolo Comune (Sciurus vulgaris) è un roditore appartenente alla famiglia dei Sciuridi
Le sue dimensioni sono piuttosto piccole infatti peso da 250 a 340 gr, è lungo circa 25 cm mentre la sua coda è lunga da 15 a 20 cm. Una coda così lunga è utile allo scoiattolo nel saltare da un albero all’altro e nel correre lungo i rami, assicurandone l’equilibrio. Ha inoltre una funzione termica, contribuendo a mantenere il calore del corpo durante il sonno. Anche durante le fasi di corteggiamento, la coda serve come segnale visivo e viene sollevata e agitata in modo del tutto particolare per attirare l’attenzione delle femmine.
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SQUIRREL
The Common Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a rodent belonging to the Sciuridae family
Its dimensions are rather small in fact it weighs from 250 to 340 gr, it is about 25 cm long while its tail is 15 to 20 cm long. Such a long tail is useful for the squirrel in jumping from tree to tree and running along the branches, ensuring their balance. It also has a thermal function, helping to maintain body heat during sleep. Even during courtship phases, the tail serves as a visual signal and is raised and waved in a very particular way to attract the attention of the females.
Dedicata all'amico Luciano
CANON EOS 600D con ob. CANON EF 70-300 f./4-5,6 IS USM
Photographed at the Poppoff Sparrow Patch, Yakima Greenway, Union Gap. Thank you Kevin for maintaining this site. I hope to see and photograph a White-throated Sparrow soon. Yesterday I enjoyed a small group of Greater Yellowlegs as the flew overhead. There are many Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Flickers and many other birds in fewer numbers in the area right now. I didn't count the Wood Ducks in the ponds but there must have been more than 50 along with a few American Wigeon. IMG_5334
Yellow-tipped Flasher (Telegonus anausis) captured at the Emerald Valley Nature Center, Lake Yojoa, Honduras. This image showcases the butterfly perched delicately on a cluster of white flowers, its intricate wing patterns and vibrant yellow tips highlighted against a softly blurred green backdrop. The photo was taken with a Canon R5 and an RF 100-400mm lens combined with a 1.4x extender, using a shutter speed of 1/180 sec at f/11 and ISO 800. The f/11 aperture was intentionally chosen to achieve a deep depth of field, ensuring the entire butterfly and its perch remained in sharp focus.
From a photographer's perspective, capturing the Yellow-tipped Flasher in its natural habitat presented a rewarding challenge. The choice of equipment and settings was crucial to freeze the subtle movements of the butterfly while maintaining clarity and depth. The Emerald Valley Nature Center is renowned as the top spot in Honduras for butterfly photography, offering a diverse array of species to observe and capture. Special thanks to Robert Gallardo and his efforts at the nature center. His dedication to conservation and his comprehensive butterfly book have been invaluable resources for understanding the rich biodiversity of this region. This image stands as a testament to the beauty and complexity of nature, and I hope it inspires others in the photography community to continue exploring and preserving our natural world.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
Vilhelm Hammershoi ranks among the pre-eminent Scandinavian artists from the turn of the twentieth century. At once traditional and avant-garde - maintaining a self-conscious dialogue with the artistic traditions of his homeland while being thoroughly conversant with contemporary European trends
- Hammershoi helped redefine modernism, both in terms of its aesthetic quality and geographic range.
He was first and foremost a painter of interiors - of hushed, near-deserted spaces populated by a solitary, seemingly spellbound figure. Contemplative and hauntingly still, these scenes comprise the majority of his oeuvre and are the works for which the artist is best known.
Landscapes, however, also played a central role in Hammershoi's art. This sheet is a magnificent example of the artist's unique approach to the genre, where strangeness and silence prevail, and space and line defy all expectations. The work is a precise preparatory study for the central
portion of a large-scale painting. . . .Hammershoi worked meticulously on
each individual tree, deftly defining the structure of the trunk and crown, establishing its precise position in relation to the road and imbuing it with a particular personality.
While "Group of Trees" depicts a deserted-looking thoroughfare flanked by trees, the Royal Road was in actual fact one of Copenhagen's busiest arterial roads. Unlike his Nordic contemporaries Hammershoi eschewed Romantic notions of pure nature untouched by civilization and instead transformed populated areas into desolate, barren landscapes seemingly abandoned by humanity. A sense of alienation and disquiet pervades his work.
Despite the low horizon and resulting high sky in this drawing, there seems to be a total absence of air or atmosphere - an emptiness all around. The grouping of trees, suspended in time, is a microcosm of the world, their seriality suggesting infinite expansion. And yet there is a claustrophobic quality to the scene.
Equally unconventional in "Group of Trees" is the distance between the scene and the beholder: no one has ever perceived and painted a Danish landscape that way before. The road is no longer as it traditionally was: a route into the internal space of the picture, a powerful source of connection. Here it runs parallel to the sheet - there is no way in. For Hammershoi, the work of art no longer served to mediate between humans and nature, but rather emphasized the distance between them.
-- notes from the catalogue "Gathered Leaves" --
We made a family trip to Sigmaringen. This little city in the Danube valley features this fabulous castle right in its center. We also had the chance to accompany a guided tour through the castle, which is very well maintained. Unfortunately it is forbidden to make captures. Here, I was playing around a bit with Photomatix and Gimp.
As I approached a small car show in my area, I was immediately captured by this beautifully maintained 1967 Mustang Fastback.
The owner of this fine looking classic muscle car told me that he has owned this car for 43 years. It had begun life as a six-cylinder - it now sports a 302c.i. V-8 taken out of a 85’GT Mustang. Power/torque to the rear wheels/tires is handled by a nine-inch Detroit locker differential. Amenities include; A/C, cruise control and a tilt steering wheel. Rack and pinion steering along with power disk front brakes compliment the steering and braking. Under the hood the 302 is fed by a Holly Sniper EFI with matching distributor. An aluminum radiator and electric cooling fan keep this little pony running efficiently.
I was told that originally, the car was yellow but now, as everyone can see, it's dressed in a striking rich, flawless red paint. A real “eye catcher”.
Hope ya’all enjoy ……………….
Btw- I also have front end views of this fine car that I may be posting later.
Note: I would love to have the opportunity to shoot these cars on location (a "location of my choosing") but this doesn't seem to be in the cards so I have to deal with the cards I am dealt with.
6/18 Objekt Marciena (LV)
i.mycdn.me/image?id=174815482783&t=0&plc=WEB&...
The monster, they started with:
Sadly the lilies seem to have not survived, maybe they will try again.
www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater/garden-highlights/para...
The large pond keeps the centre of the garden people free maintaining a serene space (assuming no noisy humans nearby by, be they little or large) for quiet reflection; or as the two ladies demonstrate, a chance for a natter.
An old shot taken back in early 2009 when the old 1950's neon sign was looking its best. At that time there was a burgundy backing behind the large lettering which served as a light block. Over the years the metal started to deteriorate so it was all taken down in 2014 just leaving the neon. With rising taxes ($382,000.00 for 2021) it seems maintaining the sign had to take a back seat to economic survival. Now it's just been announced the old 1954 motor hotel has been sold so who knows what will become of the signs.
vancouversun.com/news/vancouvers-city-centre-motel-report...
Palacio de Miramar, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, España.
El Palacio de Miramar, también denominado Palacio Municipal de Miramar o Palacio Real, es un palacio de estilo inglés situado en la ciudad guipuzcoana de San Sebastián, en España. Fue construido en 1893 por José Goicoa, por encargo de la Casa Real española, con base en un proyecto de 1889 del arquitecto inglés Ralph Selden Wornum. Situado frente a la bahía de La Concha, dispone de una de las más espectaculares vistas de la ciudad.
El palacio de Miramar es de estilo puramente inglés y presenta ciertos elementos decorativos neogóticos. En su interior dispone de ciertas zonas nobles que se mantienen fieles a su configuración original, como el Salón Blanco, el Salón de Música, el Salón de Madera, el Petit Salón, la Biblioteca y el Comedor Real. El resto del palacio ha sido reformado sucesivamente desde su compra por parte del Ayuntamiento, convirtiéndolo en un recinto más funcional aunque algo desvirtuado. Las últimas obras acometidas en el mismo, en 2001, tuvieron como objeto la construcción de aulas para Musikene. Posteriormente, en 2007, se restauró la torre del edificio.
En cualquier caso, el palacio mantiene su aspecto externo original y es habitual la celebración de ciertas fiestas en sus jardines y zonas nobles, principalmente las del Festival de Cine de San Sebastián.
Miramar Palace, also known as Miramar Municipal Palace or Royal Palace, is an English-style palace located in the city of San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Spain. It was built in 1893 by José Goicoa, commissioned by the Spanish Royal Family, based on a project from 1889 by the English architect Ralph Selden Wornum. Located in front of La Concha Bay, it has one of the most spectacular views of the city.
Miramar Palace is purely English in style and has certain neo-Gothic decorative elements. Inside it has certain noble areas that remain faithful to their original configuration, such as the White Room, the Music Room, the Wooden Room, the Petit Room, the Library and the Royal Dining Room. The rest of the palace has been successively renovated since its purchase by the City Council, turning it into a more functional although somewhat distorted enclosure. The last works undertaken there, in 2001, were aimed at building classrooms for Musikene. The tower of the building was later restored in 2007.
In any case, the palace maintains its original external appearance and it is common to hold certain parties in its gardens and public areas, mainly those of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Both rice and laugh (ing) in Italian are "riso"....It is Known that " laughing maintain good blood flow" but sometimes also eating a good "Riso".....Risotto.....has similar effect!
The recipe:
Ingredients:
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Arborio rice -- unwashed
2 eggs -- room temperature
2 lemons
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Pour broth into a saucepan to simmer slowly while cooking rice.
Heat butter in a saute pan or skillet, add rice, and stir for 1 minute until each grain of rice is coated with butter. Add 1 cup hot broth, stir, and cook about 3 minutes until broth is absorbed.
Pour in second cup hot broth and simmer 4-5 minutes until rice is soft but firm in center; add 1/2 cup hot broth if rice needs longer cooking.
Whisk eggs until frothy in a bowl; add juice of lemons and cheese. When rice is soft in center, stir egg mixture into rice in pan and cook over low heat 1 minute; rice should be very creamy.
The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. Originally known as Boulder Dam from 1933, it was officially renamed Hoover Dam, for President Herbert Hoover, by a joint resolution of Congress in 1947. Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc., which began construction on the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule. Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume (when it is full). The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened. As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. An initial attempt at diverting the river for irrigation purposes occurred in the late 1890s, when land speculator William Beatty built the Alamo Canal just north of the Mexican border; the canal dipped into Mexico before running to a desolate area Beatty named the Imperial Valley. Though water from the Imperial Canal allowed for the widespread settlement of the valley, the canal proved expensive to maintain. After a catastrophic breach that caused the Colorado River to fill the Salton Sea, the Southern Pacific Railroad spent $3 million in 1906–07 to stabilize the waterway, an amount it hoped in vain would be reimbursed by the Federal Government. Even after the waterway was stabilized, it proved unsatisfactory because of constant disputes with landowners on the Mexican side of the border. As the technology of electric power transmission improved, the Lower Colorado was considered for its hydroelectric-power potential. In 1902, the Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles surveyed the river in the hope of building a 40-foot (12 m) rock dam which could generate 10,000 horsepower (7,500 kW). However, at the time, the limit of transmission of electric power was 80 miles (130 km), and there were few customers (mostly mines) within that limit. Edison allowed land options it held on the river to lapse—including an option for what became the site of Hoover Dam. In the following years, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), known as the Reclamation Service at the time, also considered the Lower Colorado as the site for a dam. Service chief Arthur Powell Davis proposed using dynamite to collapse the walls of Boulder Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of the eventual dam site, into the river. The river would carry off the smaller pieces of debris, and a dam would be built incorporating the remaining rubble. In 1922, after considering it for several years, the Reclamation Service finally rejected the proposal, citing doubts about the unproven technique and questions as to whether it would in fact save money.
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
Original Caption: Watering the Shrubbery at Noon in Fountain Square 06/1973
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-10757
Photographer: Hubbard, Tom, 1931-
Subjects:
Cincinnati (Hamilton county, Ohio, United States) inhabited place
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: catalog.archives.gov/id/553211
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
"During the first months on Atlas, we marked out mining fields and progressively established outposts close to each field, to operate and maintain the harvesters from. My parents were stationed at one of those outposts for maintenance duty. For the remaining years of my scholarship in The Ring, before joining service as a drone operator on the sun-side, I only saw them on rare occasions. One of those was the regular medical check they would undergo, as traces of the raw materials on the machinery they were taking care of could be toxic despite all protective equipment. Our med staff quickly discovered that, curiously, not everyone reacted to such exposure.
After refining the resources, command launched unmanned carriers in closely spaced intervals towards other star systems controlled by the confederation. Given Atlas' thin atmosphere and comparably low mass, our engineers had developed highly efficient launch systems early on, halving our colony's fuel expenses for exports. The saved budget was partially redirected towards local causes, the majority however was shoved into the pockets of the Confederation."
Part III of ATLAS, a collaboration hosted in The Workshop.
This scene, like all in this series, was captured entirely in camera. Screen background with complementary light on the left; brickbuilt forced perspective foreground.
Let me know what you think!
Maintaining utilities in "old towns" can be a tricky process when you don't want to damage buildings that are over 500 years old.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, Honiton flourished as a market town, benefiting from its strategic location along the busy Exeter to London road.
Established in 1880, the Taiping Lake Garden is one of the oldest garden in Malaysia. The huge lake was formerly a tin mine but was since transformed into a beautiful well used and well maintained park where flowers, birds, insects, animals and lush greenery thrive.
MAIDEN SHAHR, Afghanistan--A Turkish Army soldier stands watch at the main gate of the Turkish Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) compound on Dec. 9, 2008. The Turkish PRT is the only one of 26 throughout Afghanistan that is run solely by civilians, while the Turkish Army lends support to maintain force protection of the PRT compound. ISAF photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Aramis X. Ramirez (RELEASED)
The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
“Charlestown grew out of the small fishing village of West Polmear, which consisted of a few cottages and three cellars, in which the catch of pilchards were processed. The population amounted to nine fishermen and their families in 1790. Before the harbour was built, trading vessels landed and loaded on the beach. Charles Rashleigh, who moved to Duporth Manor, just outside the village, used plans prepared by John Smeaton to begin the construction of a harbour and dock in 1791. After building the outer pier, he excavated a natural inlet to form the main dock and a shipyard at its inner end that was demolished when the dock was extended. The first dock gates were completed in 1799. To maintain water levels in the dock, a leat was constructed, which brought water from the Luxulyan Valley, some 6.4 km away.”
Happy New Year Flickr folks! Hope you all enjoyed a lovely break. We had a wonderful time in the North of Devon in between the years and on the last day we visited Heddon's Mouth, a lovely secluded cove maintained by the National Trust.
This poor bird maintains a body temperature averaging 107 degrees and so "panting", and by remaining in the shade, where it's non-feathered feet dissipating heat is the only way it can cool itself in the 84 degree temps at 9:23 AM in Arcadia, CA on September 29, 2016
The temperature was 94 at 11:31 AM
Samburu National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
Elephants are a keystone species. It means they create and maintain the ecosystems in which they live and make it possible for a myriad of plant and animal species to live in those environments as well. The loss of elephants gravely affects many species that depend on elephant-maintained ecosystems and causes major habitat chaos and a weakening to the structure and diversity of nature itself. To lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn.
Only a bell and a bird break the silence…
It seems that the two talk with the setting sun.
Golden colored silence, the afternoon is made of crystals.
A roving purity sways the cool trees,
And beyond all that,
A transparent river dreams that trampling over pearls
It breaks loose
And flows into infinity.
Hora Inmensa – Juan Ramon Jimenez
Located near Milford, Kentucky. The house was abandoned years ago. Now used for hay storage. The barns are maintained. Sits at the intersection of 539 and Lamonda Road in a floodplain.
We humans seem to prefer parkland over natural forest and we'll go to considerable lengths to create it. Here, the forest floor has been cleared of all natural vegetation--except for the little strip of goldenrods along the edge--and the hummocks neatly leveled. A carefully maintained lawn takes its place.
I have to admit though, with the morning sun streaming in, I'm drawn to it, even though I find it hard to condone.
This old tree [that I colored] was seen at Whittington Beach Park, Naalehu, Big island, Hawaii. [Maintained by city & county and has camping area but need permit.]
Italy, Venice, Italy, illustrator drawing a sketch of the Canal Grande at the corner of the vegetable market near the Ponte Rialto.
The lagoon city hides many picturesque places offside the tourist roads. If the buildings would be straight, painted & well maintained, I think Venice without this patina, the gondolas & gondolieri, channels, little bridges & the at all-time busy Canal Grande; all these main ingredients altogether express the romantic charm of Venice.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
acrylic on canvas, 2015 , 70 x 100 cm
I will maintain
Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure
Les jours s’en vont je demeure
avec l'aide de mon béni Créateur
Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel...
Finally found one couple with a little modesty. As you can see in the following 2 images, they weren't quite so modest.
47776 'Respected' is captured at Hunt's Lock, along the Weaver navigation at Northwich working 5K44 Manchester Piccadilly - Crewe empty coaching stock which, instead of working direct to Crewe took a round about route via the Mid Cheshire line and reversal at Chester. I can only think to maintain driver route knowledge?
Tug 'Clifton', operated by KD Marine UK and was working on the river with hopper barges Halton & Sutton. One of which can just about be seen in the big lock behind.
I was well chuffed the church was open. It was nice and compact inside. As you can see it is well maintained and looked after.
For yet another monochrome look at European Architecture. One has the sense that such places are not central to their communities anymore, but I don’t really know. Probably doesn’t take a large activist membership to maintain a landmark with such a nice garden. This was about the place that I lost the tour and spent the some time in search mode.
Just 10 minutes after sunrise on Hound Tor, Dartmoor, the quality of the light is radically different. Despite the very early start, it's worth it just to see this view :)
Shot as 3 bracketed exposures combined into a 32bit floating point tiff and processed through Adobe Camera Raw to maintain the dynamic range of the scene.