The place was ablaze with desolation. Reeking of decay, it offered a comforting solace. Sun found its way through the cracks in the concrete, speckling the rough ground in patches of skin-burning warmness. Dust lingered in the air long after my footsteps were gone. There was no rotten smell of villas, hospitals and manors dying a loud and painful death. Soft and parched – that was its scent. The walls were bare, riddled with holes through which rebar stuck out like bones from flesh. The colours were muted, the factory silent.

 

Yet I was yearning to see the belly of the beast, to bathe in the vastness of the inner chamber. I clambered up the steep debris that piled up against a high wall, grabbing onto whatever came under my fingers. Occasionally I slipped, moving too quickly, which sent a small avalanche of rocks to the ground. The anticipation of the sight was almost unbearable. At the top, I pulled myself up the wall, as much as my strength allowed. The chamber with the furnace stretched before me, gloriously high and menacingly deep - there was no way down and no way in. I remained there for a while, breathing in the scene. When I could hold on no longer, I let myself fall to the top of the heap again and started my descent. I came down in a cloud of dust, slightly disappointed yet utterly happy.

 

The factory floor is my playground. I revel in the scorching sun among the rubble, the rusty catwalks and winding staircases. I welcome the adrenalin in my blood that heightens the senses with a simple step into the unknown. Is it running away from the world? Or is it running towards the world? The questions remain.

 

www.facebook.com/inkquietude

 

Visp offers plenty of attractive leisure opportunities. The well preserved old town with its eventful history is one of Visp's greatest assets, as is “La Poste”, a theatre that has offered a mixed programme of guest performances every season since November 1991, including concerts, opera, operetta, ballet, plays and musicals by visiting companies as well as local societies and organisations. The spectacular hike along the Visperi irrigation channel (Suone) is another inviting option.

I was having coffee as usual this morning as I battle with sleep! I saw this sky from my apt. I rushed and drove to a clearing to watch this beautiful moment unfold. It was worth it!

Some news from Nicolas and Meritt`s home ☀️

Meritt is by my friend thesummerannj 💕

 

More photos here.

coal tit and other tites came in spite of no snow in the mountains shen I offered nuts.

On the first day of my Icelandic roadtrip, I was overwhelmed by everything this new environment could offer in terms of photography. I had pulled over on the side of the road (again) to take a picture of just another mountain when suddenly, out of the blue, came a horse herd, runing on the road. One horse actually stoped right next to me to drink out of the puddle before catching up with the others-which explains the water waves on the puddle. This all happened so fast, I only managed to take that one shot.

The Godfather

Qingjing Farm offers exquisite scenes all four seasons of the year, each with its own unique interest, and just by following your steps you can enjoy them all: Mountain Reflection in Green Lake, 487-Steps Trail, Clouds Covering the Mountain, Green Green Grasslands, Fragrance of Fruit Orchards, Sincere Heart Makes Wishes Come True. Here you can fully savor the sweet tranquility of the high-mountain countryside.

www.cingjing.gov.tw/en/about/

Starting in the late 1960s, Yamaha offered a range of attractive, similar looking 2-stroke engine motorcycles within their ‘Enduro’ series, suitable for off-road/trail riding and street riding. The engines were single cylinder units offered in a variety of displacements, this one sold as the 175 Enduro, positioned neatly between their 125 and 250 cc Enduro models.

 

Instead of pre-mixing oil and gasoline for the 2-stroke motors, Yamaha offered ‘Autolube’ which automatically mixed in the correct amount of 2-stroke oil so long as the oil supply tank was adequately filled. There’s a tell-tale oil tank level indicator window visible here on the trapezoid-shaped panel below the saddle. Autolube simplified operation so that only gasoline needed to be added to the fuel tank, not a mixture.

 

One of my good friends, a classmate named Scott who also happened to live down my street, owned a 1969 125cc Enduro that he bought using money he earned by delivering newspapers. My other friends and I were quite envious! I think that the going price for that 125 Enduro then was on the order of $325. Nowadays, over half of a century later, one of these Yamaha Enduro examples in excellent condition could be expected to sell at auction for several thousand dollars.

Mechthild of Magdeburg: God Is Hopelessly in Love

 

In season eight of Turning to the Mystics, James Finley points to the guidance Mechthild of Magdeburg offers to people in relationship with God:

 

We turn to the guidance that Mechthild of Magdeburg offers in The Flowing Light of the Godhead. Through what we know about her life, she’s mentoring us and modeling for us this Christlike life. Mystics such as Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross, and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing all share their way as mystically awakened Christians. They try to offer guidance to help us discern our awakening, with instructions such as how to recognize our awakening starting, how to conduct ourselves, and so on. Mechthild doesn’t do that….

 

Mechthild shares this deepening love between herself and God, but she doesn’t share it by talking about it. She lets us in on it with the language of intimacy and bears witness to it. As we read her book, insofar as we’re touched by the beauty of what she’s saying about the deepening of this love, we’re being guided by her. The very fact that we’re touched by it and its beauty reveals that we’re also being drawn into this love—or we wouldn’t be touched by it. That’s how she guides us. That’s the intimacy of her teaching.

 

Finley describes how we might connect with Mechthild’s emphasis on love:

 

"In a way, Mechthild is playing a violin with just one string on it, which is love. But the more we listen to it, it’s the beauty of the whole orchestra. It’s the beauty that permeates the reverberations of all the various aspects of this. Even though she just stays on point, never leaving this love, she makes stunning statements about love. We wonder, “Where did that come from, seriously?” When we sit with her, we learn these endless variations are unfolding in us. It’s endlessly evocative and she helps us to be sensitized to surrendering ourselves over to that flow of love….

 

God says to her that he’s so freely chosen to be so hopelessly in love with her, that he quite honestly doesn’t know if he could handle being God without her. And she says back to God, “Take me home with you. I’ll be your physician forever!” [1] The power of these words is that, as we’re reading them, we know they are true of us. We know that God has freely chosen to be so hopelessly in love with us, and that God doesn’t know if God can handle being God without us in our brokenness…. It circulates back around, and we give back to God the gift that God longs for, which is us!...

 

To sit with Mechthild and to read her is to be taken by the beauty of what she says. It is to sit in silence and ask God to deepen our capacity to realize how the love of which she speaks is already unfolding within us, and how to be faithful to that, and to carry it through the day."

 

[1] Mechthild, The Flowing Light of the Godhead 3.2.

 

Adapted from James Finley and Kirsten Oates, “Turning to Mechtild of Magdeburg,” in Turning to the Mystics, season 8 (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2023), podcast, MP3 audio.

Chicago graffiti

Special Offer to my Group Members 50 LINDEN <3

Bens Boutique - Sisila Heeled Slippers - Hud Driven

including;

-Hud (50 Colors)

-Shoes for (Slink Belleza Maitreya)

STORE: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Heavens%20Gate/207/164/39

(DONT AVAILABLE MARKETPLACE ONLY STORE)

Excerpt from the plaque:

 

Prayers Offered at the Tomb of Imam Husayn: This folio and its accompanying text emphasize the importance of sharing water resources. A 14th-century prince of the Jochid Mongols and a group of commanders are shown praying at the tomb of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third Imam of Shik Muslims. The prince is expressing his gratitude for receiving a share of water. The painting and its accompanying text allude to the Battle of Karbala in 61 AH / 680 AD where Husayn and his companions were denied access to water of the Euphrates River by the Opposing army.

 

According to medieval Islamic political theory and practice, one of the ways to establish oneself as a just and legitimate ruler was to ensure everyone in the kingdom had access to water and that wells are irrigation were maintained.

Nature has so much to offer and it's there for the taking. All we have to do is open our eyes to what's in front of us and also don't forget to look in the rear view mirror from time to time....

This image offers some scale perspective for the falls and for the interesting rock formation situated to the left of the falls.

 

If you look closely along the top of the cliff face, at the point it slopes down to the water, you can see three people that had hiked over to the top of the falls. The most easily seen individual in the blue pants is right in the middle of the trio.

(Watch out for that one step back !)

Get ready for the BackBone Summer Splash Sale, where prices are so cool, even flamingos are trading their fancy feathers for fantastic discounts!

 

With a jaw-dropping 50% off everything (excluding gift cards and new releases), this sale will have you flapping your wings in excitement.

 

Available from NOW until July 8th at BackBone Main Store:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BackBone/34/174/2106

Digital Photo Magazine interviewed me about photographing Istanbul. What a treat to visit Istanbul, but to photograph this great city, too? Wow. Istanbul offers photo opportunities wherever you turn.

 

What was it about Istanbul that made you want to capture it on camera?

 

The Ottoman architecture of Istanbul, it’s minarets reaching to the heavens, the colourful spice market, Grand Bazaar presented a vivid image in my mind. Hypothetically, I had been photographing Istanbul even before I arrived. I had seen a myriad of photos while researching my trip and visualized how I would capture the various scenes differently. Once my feet hit the pavement, it seemed as if I had already visited the city, making my task of capturing the city on camera all the more easy. Additionally, having grown up in Tripoli, Libya, re-discovering the Islamic world has been high on my list. Istanbul has been only one stop with regard to this journey.

 

Istanbul is famous for its beautiful Ottoman architecture, such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and so on; artistically, do you think you did it justice?

 

Ottoman architecture is brilliant, isn’t it? The style completely captures my imagination, and there is a fairytale magical element I’ve not seen elsewhere. My eye is drawn towards curves, and lines, so Istanbul was ideal for me as a photographer. Hour upon hour I studied Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque), Süleymaniye Mosque, Basilica Cistern following each curve and line.

 

I help aspiring and established photographers get noticed so they can earn an income from photography or increase sales. My blog, Photographer’s Business Notebook is a wealth of information as is my Mark Paulda’s YouTube Channel. I also offer a variety of books, mentor services and online classes at Mark Paulda Photography Mentor

 

All images are available as Museum Quality Photographic Prints and Commercial Licensing. Feel free to contact me with any and all inquiries.

 

Follow My Once In A Lifetime Travel Experiences at Mark Paulda’s Travel Journal

Bonne et heureuse année 2013

Je vous souhaite tous la santé, la paix, la prospérité et surtout

Un «COEUR D'OR» rayonnant d'amour.

Et je vous offre ce petit texte que j'aime bien partager.

 

hier c'était une histoire ...............

demain c'est un mystère .................

mais aujourd'hui c'est un cadeau ............

c'est pour cela qu'on l'appelle le présent ............

Garder espoir, et vivez bien votre présent consciemment , afin que demain le mystère vous soit dévoiler et qu'hier soit une belle histoire à raconter .

Avec toute mon amitié

Sarah

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Happy New Year 2013

I wish you all the health, the peace, the prosperity and especially

A golden heart shining with love.

And I offer you this small text which I like to share.

Yesterday it was a story ...............

Tomorrow it is a mystery .................

But today it is a gift ............

It is for it that we call it the present ............

Keep hope, and live, please, your present consciously, so that tomorrow the mystery is you to reveal and so that yesterday or a beautiful story to be told.

Friendship

Sarah

Galland Homes is pleased to offer the Ligonier in three versions: Red, Tan, and Grey. Each is sold separately or all three are available in a fat pack.

 

The Ligonier is available at the Galland Homes Mainstore. Limo: tinyurl.com/y2p7rkx4

 

❖ 114 LI ;

 

❖ Approximately 23 M wide and 28 M in deep.

 

❖ For 2048 sq. m. lots or larger, but may fit a 1024 sq.m. lot that is square. A free footprint is available at the in-world store.

 

❖ HUDS to customize exterior, floors, and interior walls - see description and photo.

 

❖ Copy/Modify/No Transfer.

 

This ranch style home combines elements of traditional colonial architecture with the open and single floor living found in the ranch house design. Brick with accents and siding adorn the home complete with colonial shutters and pillars supporting the front covered porch.

 

The entrance to the home includes bricks stairs which allow you to reach a spacious covered front porch. The stairway is flanked on each side by brick planters with elevated planting beds.

 

The Ligonier includes a large open living room with fireplace, and you could easily include a kitchenette of your choosing in the area opposite the fireplace. Recessed lighting helps light the room and provides a touch of elegance.

 

The primary bedroom has vaulted ceilings with wood beams, a closet for those who may be roleplay oriented and an attached hallway which enters a room designed to be a bathroom, third bedroom, or nursery. The second bedroom also has vaulted ceilings and enters directly from the living area.

 

French doors lead from the living room to brick steps and a paved stone patio. A brick fireplace and chimney here is included with the home.

 

Doors open upon approach or touch and access to the doors is controlled by a notecard found within the door prim itself. Windows operate in that the lower sashes will rise and lower upon touch.

 

The Ligonier is presented in three base versions - red brick, tan brick, and grey brick. Each is sold separately, or you may purchase all three models in a fat pack.

 

The Ligonier comes complete with wearable HUDs which will allow you to customize the exterior, interior walls, and floors.

 

Each base version will allow you to choose from 4 different brick textures in the color you have selected. For example, there are 4 brick varieties in red tone, 4 brick varieties in tan tones, and 4 brick varieties in grey and white tones. Each version also includes 5 options for siding, 5 options for shutters, and four options for the front door.

 

The interior HUDs allow for 7 different wall colors. The floor HUD includes options for 4 wood floor textures in each room and an additional 3 tile options for the room which may be used as a bathroom.

 

The home rezzes as one item so a rezz box system is not necessary. Just drag the house from your inventory to the land and position as you will.

 

Thank you for your interest in Galland Homes.

 

www.woodberrywetlands.org.uk/

  

Nature in the heart of London

 

Woodberry Wetlands offers great opportunities for people to enjoy nature in the heart of London, free of charge, fully accessible and five minutes' walk from Manor House Tube station.

  

Opening after almost 200 years

 

Woodberry Wetlands is an operating reservoir, originally constructed in 1833 and closed to public access ever since. Working Thames Water, London Wildlife Trust has carefully built a urban wetland oasis rich in wildlife.

  

Woodberry Wetlands wildlife

 

Woodberry Wetlands is home to lots of wonderful wildlife. Kingfishers dart across water, whilst reed warblers, bees and dragonflies buzz around the reeds. You'll be amazed you are in London.

  

Where to find us

 

Woodberry Wetlands

West Entrance via New River Path

Lordship Road

London

N16 5HQ

  

Get in touch

 

info@woodberrywetlands.org.uk

020 8802 4573

  

About Woodberry Wetlands

 

Woodberry Wetlands is a haven for wildlife and people in Hackney: 17 hectares of reed-fringed ponds and dykes, always free and accessible to everyone. The reserve is five minutes’ walk from the densely built up areas of Manor House, Stoke Newington and Woodberry Down. The contrast between the surrounding tower blocks and the wild wetland habitat with old oak trees is almost unbelievable. Click the links below to find out more.

  

www.woodberrywetlands.org.uk/about/wildlife/

  

Woodberry Wetlands supports lots of species throughout the year, from wintering populations of pochard, shoveler, tufted and gadwall ducks, to reed warbler and bunting who have migrated from Africa for spring and summer. But it’s not just great for birds…

 

Birds & Waterfowl

 

London has recorded over 365 species of bird within a 20 mile radius of St. Paul’s Cathedral. From the parks and green spaces of Central London to the reservoirs and gravel pits in the North & West and the estuary and the salt marshes in the East. Just some of the species you might expect to see this Spring and Summer season include:

 

APRIL / MAY

 

When the wintering birds begin to disappear and the last of the siskins, bramblings, redwings, fieldfares, water rails and green sandpipers and most of the gulls have departed, trans-Saharan migrants such as swallows and house & sand martins make their long-awaited return. Common swifts congregate in large numbers alongside commonly sighted residents blackcaps and common chiffchaffs. Five species of warbler, including the lesser & common whitethroats and garden warblers, arrive with the reservoir’s breeding varieties of reed and sedge warbler in April. Common terns are a regular presence with the possibility of seeing arctic terns due to the favourable fishing opportunities. Two main species, the common buzzard and red kites, dominate the sky during Spring with marsh harriers and ospreys being more rare but annual visitors. Other notable sightings and unexpected visitors to the reservoir conditions dependent have included: redshank, northern lapwing, little ringed plover, whinchat, water pipit, firecrest, brambling, shelduck, snipe and northern lapwing.

 

During May, some escaped species, including budgerigars, African grey parrot and cockatiel, have been spotted on the run in the wetlands area. Raptors, mainly represented by our two resident species kestrel and sparrowhawk, are also a feature over the skies.

 

JUNE / JULY

 

June & July are generally quiet from a migratory perspective, hence, the summer is a good time to enjoy the breeding species, of which at least 50 of which have bred regularly at the reservoir in the last few years. The wetland habitat provides nesting sites for a good variety of waterbirds, including coot, moorhen, mallard, tufted duck, mute swan, Canada goose, little grebe, common pochard, great crested grebe and our only nesting larid the lesser black-backed gull.

 

Both kestrel and sparrowhawk breed in the vicinity and stock doves, green & great spotted woodpeckers, pied & grey wagtails breed close by and are a familiar sight in the summer. Blackcaps have increased as a breeding species in the local area and Cetti’s, reed & sedge warblers and Reed Buntings nest exclusively in the reed bed at the East Reservoir whilst bullfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, common chiffchaffs, common whitethroats, kingfishers, goldcrests, long-tail & coal tits breed within the perimeter.

  

Bats

 

Bats most likely to be spotted at Woodberry Wetlands:

 

The pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus/Pipistrellus pygmaeus/Pipistrellus nathusii): This tiny animal is the most common species of bat in Britain and can eat up to 3000 midges, caddis flies, mosquitoes and other similar small insects in a night. They can be seen after dusk as they leave their roosts or where they feed in woodland, over water and along hedgerows in almost every part of London.

 

The noctule (Nyctalus noctulla): One of the largest bats found in Britain, the noctule has a sleek golden coloured fur and broad brown ears. Although still fairly widespread in London, the species has declined in recent years, possibly due, in part, to over management of trees where it exclusively roosts in woodpecker or rot holes. The noctule feeds on moths, beetles and mayflies and typically feeds high over woodland, parkland and water bodies.

 

The Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii) – This species is similar to the natterer’s and is often called the water bat due to its level flight pattern above the surface of water bodies such as lakes. It feeds on small flies such as caddis flies and midges and roosts in trees, tunnels and bridges which are generally near water.

 

Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri) – This is a species of bat belonging to the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. It is slightly smaller than the common noctule. Its face, ears and wings are dark and its fur is brown. The undersides of the arms are hairy giving it the alternative name “hairy-armed bat”.

 

Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattereri) – The Natterer’s is medium-sized species with short, dense fur on the upper surface of head, a greyish-brown outer body and whitish-grey ventral surface with smoky grey ears and wing membranes. The ears and the wing membranes are smoky grey. It feeds on small insects and other invertebrates which it catches on the wing or pursues on the ground. In summer it roosts in deciduous and coniferous trees, structures or bat boxes close to its feeding habitats.

 

The brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) – As suggested by the name, the brown long-eared bat has remarkably large ears which are nearly as long as its body. It is most frequently found roosting inside roof spaces where it likes the ridge beams of older properties. It emerges very late when it is quite dark and keeps close to trees when hunting making it difficult to spot even when it’s definitely there.

  

Invertebrates and Amphibians

 

The reserve proffers the opportunity to observe such distinctive moths as the sizeable black & white spotted leopard moth and large yellow underwing with a wingspan of 5 – 6 centimeters and the more petite small magpie and literally clear-winged red-tipped clearwing to the more common members of the Tortricidae family, tortrix, clover seed and holly tortrix moths, and the micro moths of the Eriocraniidae, Gracillariidae, Momphidae and Oecophoridae families.

 

The butterflies that you will most likely spot are the orange and brown winged large and Essex skippers representing the Hesperiidae family and Lycaenidaes. Holly blue, identified by their bright blue upperwings and pale blue spotted undersides, the very handsome purple hairstreak and common blue. The peacock with its red wings and brilliant eyespots and striking orange & black patterned small tortoiseshell are amongst the most spectacularly coloured and easily spotted of the Nymphalidae family whilst the meadow brown, speckled wood and red admiral are also present.

 

Woodberry Wetlands is an excellent place to see dragonflies and damselflies in the summer months, including the rare red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas). Hoverflies, such as the distinctive marmalade fly (Episyrphus balteatus), are frequent visitors too.

 

There are also healthy populations of smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), common frog (Rana temporaria) and common toad (Bufo bufo) across the site, which provides excellent breeding and foraging habitat for amphibians.

  

Habitat

 

Reedbed

 

Over the last century, the reservoir has become shallower, now 2m from its original depth of up to 6m, and there is around about 4m worth of silt which the New River has primarily deposited. The silting up of the reservoir has created undulations to form pools, islands and channels and allowing the existing reedbed to spread out further from the edge, benefiting a huge range of wildlife.

 

The reedbeds surrounding the reservoir are rich in wetland wildlife. These have been increased in size by London Wildlife Trust with movement of silt and planting to be enhanced for its wildlife, birds in particular.

 

The reedbed habitat is dominated by common reed with patches of bramble, curled dock and common nettle found throughout the reedbed. Invasive species such as Japanese knotweed and orange balsam were treated before works started to avoid potential distribution of these species.

 

Hedgerow

 

Hedgerows provide important habitat for mammals, birds and invertebrates on the site. Hawthorn is the principal component of the hedgerows at Woodberry Wetlands, with its blossom providing a nectar source for pollinators and its structure sheltering foodplants of butterflies.

 

Grassland

 

There is an area of improved grassland on the top of the embankments and semi-improved grassland and tall herbs on the south facing slope next to the reedbed. This is reflected in the dominant grass species on the site which are species associated with higher-nutrient environments: meadow foxtail, barren brome, red fescue, Yorkshire fog, wall barley and perennial rye-grass.

 

Wildflower Meadow

 

An area of wildflower meadow has been created, supporting species such as meadow vetchling, greater bird’s-foot trefoil and lesser trefoil.

 

Orchard

 

The orchard is planted with traditional English fruit varieties including Victoria plum, conference pear and James Grieve apple. The James Grieve variety was formerly a fruit market staple that has been forgotten by many people. It bruises easily and so it is not considered to be suitable for modern supermarket handling. As they mature, the orchard trees will provide vital habitat for invertebrates.

  

History

  

Prior to the building of the new river and reservoirs, the Woodberry Down area was in fact not a wetland at all! On the crest of a hill, the area is rather known confusingly known as ‘down land’, hence the name Woodberry Down. 600 years ago the was rolling grass meadows, pastures for cattle and small woodlands, probably home to dear and wild boar, as well as a number of small hold peasant farmers.

 

Woodberry Wetlands Historical Timeline

 

Pre-1500

 

‘Woodberry Down’ land was all grass meadows, pasture and small woodlands.

 

1613

The New River Company completes construction of an aqueduct called the New River, to bring clean water from chalk streams in Hertfordshire.

 

1833

The Stoke Newington East and West Reservoirs are built in 1833, again by the New River Company, to meet the growing demands for drinking water in the suburban London ‘towns’ of Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill.

 

1850-1920

Large Victorian and Edwardian mansions are built with gardens backing onto the New River and overlooking the reservoirs. At this time Manor House and Woodberry Down become famous for suburban luxury; an early stock broker belt.

 

1930-1955

Two world wars lead to many of the houses being sold of left un used and the Greater London Council compulsory purchase the Woodberry Down land. The Woodberry Down housing estate is built along the northern bank of the Stoke Newington reservoirs to re-house slum dwellers of Shoreditch, Bethnal Green and the docklands.

 

1955- 1980

Woodberry Down is hailed as a utopian success for social housing projects. Meanwhile the Reservoirs and New River are treated with chlorine and sodium phosphate gas to ‘clean’ the water. Unsurprisingly, the reservoir was devoid of any wildlife.

 

1980- 1997

Woodberry Down estate, like many housing estate across the UK, suffers from many years of neglect and lack of funding.

 

1992

The Stoke Newington reservoirs are put up for sale by the newly privatised Thames Water, with a view to both reservoirs being filled in and built over. But after a long campaign by local residents, the reservoirs were saved, chlorine and sodium phosphate is no longer used to clean the water and wildlife begins to take over.

 

2001

The Woodberry Down Estate is to be regenerated after years of disrepair. The increasingly damp, dark properties are to be replaced in one of the UK’s largest housing regeneration schemes.

 

2016

Woodberry Wetlands is constructed and the Stoke Newington East Reservoir is opened to the public for the first time

This image is being offered for the Smile on Saturday theme ofBackside. If you look at the boardwalk you should see the people walking away for the camera … displaying backsides.

 

Thanks in advance to all Flickr Friends for your Faves and Inspiring Comments. HSoS!

 

Since getting the Mirror-less full frame camera I've developed a new interest in working with Vintage film era Lenses. They often can provide a unique character to images and always get my mind more involved in creating images as I explore what it might have been like to shoot with older cameras where everything must be done manually.

 

For this early afternoon visit to the park like area around Lake Somerset in our community I mounted a made for Kodak's Retina series cameras some 50 years ago.

Specifics:

Retina-Curtagon, f/4 28mm lens made by Schneider-Kreuznach

Fotodiox PRO DKL to Canon EOS

Aperture f/5.6

 

Client work.

 

Trying something different. Too much shiny stuff so I am trying a bit something else.

 

I am taking any kind of pictures as I am in desperate need to save up and get a new PC. This one can barely handle PS open. Thank you in advance!!

 

If you want a simple edit like this it will be 800L per single offer, regular artsy edits 1000L!! Available just for me not all the photographers at Pixel Rehab

 

Don't forget to add me on Plurk: www.plurk.com/rawscientistGossipGirl/invite

 

I do comission work.Contact me inworld.

rawscientist GossipGirl or look for Pixel Rehab Photography.

For the upcoming cycle of Whimsical, 22769 ~ [bauwerk] has created the Coffee Cornerhouse.

 

This item is a Gacha Set to collect of 16 items in total.

 

With every pull (50L$) at the Gacha Machine you get one of the following items from the 22769 ~ [bauwerk] Coffee Cornerhouse randomly in return:

 

RARE:

Corner Coffeehouse - LI 34 - 8,1 x 9,1 x 12,1 meters

 

COMMONS:

Coffee Armchair - 11 single sit animations - LI 2

Coffee Barstool - 12 single sit animations - LI 1

Coffeehouse Cup Lamp* - LI 2

Coffeehouse Wastebin* - LI 1

Coffe Marble Table* - LI 1

Coffeehouse Bistro Table* - LI 1

Coffeehouse Sunshade* - LI 6

Coffeehouse Counter* - LI 3

Coffeehouse Shelf* - LI 6

Coffeehouse Special Offer Stand* - LI 3

Coffeehouse Wallart* - LI 1

Coffeehouse Sign* - LI 2

Coffeehouse Cashpoint* - LI 1

Coffee Maker Machine* - LI 2

Coffee ToGo Supplies* - LI 1

 

all items have next onwer permissions: no-copy, mod**, trans

 

items marked with * are decoation only items

 

** used scripts and animations may have different permissions

 

We provide the SLurl to Whimsical:November below, but please keep in mind that the event opend to public on Friday, November 18th, 2016.

 

SLurl:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fuyumi/138/129/28

 

Gacha is a game of luck, for every pull you get a randomly selected item in return

When Cinderella arrived at the palace, it was the king’s son who offered her his hand as she alighted from her golden coach. He led her into the palace to join the glittering company gathered there. Upon her entry to the ballroom there was an immediate and profound silence. Everyone stopped dancing, the musicians ceased to play, and all heads turned, so entranced was everyone with the singular beauty of the unknown newcomer. Nothing was then heard but a confused noise of, "Who is she? Do we know her? How wonderful her gown! How elegant her hairstyle! How beautiful she is!" The king himself, old as he was, could not help watching her, and telling the queen softly that it was a long time since he had seen so beautiful and lovely a creature.

 

‘Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper’ by Charles Perrault.

 

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 8th of January is “portray a fairy tale”. This theme was made for me, as I love faerie tales, which were very much a part of my childhood when my beloved maternal Grandmother used to read me stories from an old book of faerie tales. Over the years, I have never lost the love, or the magic of faerie tales and these stories are as enjoyable and as fresh to me as they were when I first heard them. I now tell them to my godchildren, instilling in them the same love of old folk and faerie tales from around the world, complete with the darkness so many of them contain in their original versions. The only difficulty I faced with this theme was, out of all the things I could do, which one would I pick?

 

Over the last few years, I have been photographing different faerie tales I love using Playmobil characters to dramatise the tales. I have about fifty to sixty stories completed now, some of which I have uploaded to Flickr, but most have yet to see the light of day here, so I could have chosen a more obscure faerie tales like the Grimm Brothers’ “King Thrushbeard”, “the Sea Hare” or “Mother Hollie” or the Estonian faerie tale of “The Waterlily and the three Golden Spinners”, just to name a few, however I have opted for what would generally be agreed is the world’s most famous and beloved faerie tale of “Cinderella”. This is just one photograph of many that I have taken to illustrate the Grimm Brother’s version “Ashenputtel” which features no faerie godmother, although the text above comes from the more commonly known “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault. I do hope you like my choice for the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.

 

Playmobil is a line of toys produced by the Brandstätter Group, headquartered in Zirndorf, Germany. Production began in 1974. Playmobil began to be sold worldwide in 1975, and by 2009, approximately 2.2 billion Playmobil figures had been sold. The signature Playmobil toy is a 7.5 cm tall human figure with a particular smiling face. In 2006 Playmobil released three Fairy Tale Sets, including set 4213 which was a Cinderella set, which today is highly sought after. It contains four characters, all of which I have included here: Cinderella in the foreground, the king’s son in the midground to the right of Cinderella and her two stepsisters who are midground to the left of the photo. To complete her family, I have added her stepmother in the black and gold dress and her father in the cream hat with the red beard (as in the Grimm Brothers’ version, both father and stepmother play a more significant part in the tale). I have also included the king and queen and various ball guests including a joker with his yellow hat.

 

A wide range of accessories, buildings and vehicles, as well as many sorts of animals, are also part of the Playmobil line. Playmobil toys are produced in themed series of sets as well as individual special figures and playsets. New products and product lines developed by a 50-strong development team are introduced frequently, and older sets are discontinued. Promotional and one-off products are sometimes produced in very limited quantities. These practices have helped give rise to a sizeable community of collectors.

@designeour : Paramount Script & Sans by Roman Jokiranta Licenses Offered Standard File Types TTF, WOFF… bit.ly/1UlhrXr (via Twitter twitter.com/designeour/status/736724236186750978)

offer me something if ya want it

Situated in Uyuni, HOTEL BOUTIQUE ATIPAX offers air-conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi. Among the various facilities are a garden, terrace and shared lounge. The tour desk is available to help you plan your days away.

 

The hotel features a seating area, flat-screen satellite TV, a kitchenette, dining area and a private bathroom with complimentary toiletries and a bidet. Some rooms at HOTEL BOUTIQUE Atipax have a balcony, and all are equipped with a coffee maker. All rooms include a work desk.

 

The daily breakfast offers buffet and American-style options. In the accommodation you will find a restaurant serving Cajun Crioula cuisine. Vegetarian and vegan options may also be requested.

 

The property features a whirlpool.

 

Staff at the 24-hour front desk can provide information about the area.

 

The nearest airport is Uyuni Airport, 1.5 km from the property. Free pick-up at the airport and early check-in.

 

This accommodation is rated for the best price in Uyuni! The money of the guests is worth more, when compared to other accommodations in this city.

My photoclub offered the opportunity to visit the Armamentarium, the building of the former army museum in Delft. The large rooms were completely empty. I played a bit with some Warhammer toy soldiers in one of these rooms.

 

This picture has been composed of two almost identical photos, one with the three soldiers in the back, one without. I changed the overall colour to change the mood of the scene. Then, I made the layer of the three soldiers semi-transparent and added additional layers for the ligth beams, trying to suggest some kind of teleport mechanism. The soldier in the front has been materialized completely already and is opening the attack.

So grab your weapons or run for your life!

HSS!

 

Sliders Sunday (03-08-2014)

EXPLORE (03-08-2014)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Here is the bridge, I posted of only one window ..

~ I am so far behind in FLICKR WORLD ...

Due to circumstances out of my hands ...

My internet has given me FITS ...

 

But I thought, I would at least, let you see this beautiful, old covered, bridge .. that offers so much character ...

 

I am going to to try to do a little catching up ..

 

Have A Too Good to Be Kinda Of Thursday Friends ...

Agassiz, BC Canada

 

Mount Cheam offers a spectacular view from Harrison Mills, BC. On clear days, the peak stands majestically against the skyline, providing a stunning backdrop to the Fraser Valley. The combination of the mountain's rugged beauty and the serene surroundings of Harrison Mills makes it a favorite spot for photographers and nature enthusiasts alike.

 

Mount Cheam, also known as Cheam Peak, is a stunning mountain located in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, near Chilliwack. It stands at an elevation of 2,104 meters (6,903 feet) and offers breathtaking 360-degree views of the Fraser Valley, Jones Lake, Mount Baker, and the surrounding peaks.

 

The hike to the summit is a popular activity, especially from July to October, when the trail is most accessible. The trail is about 9.5 kilometers round-trip with an elevation gain of 700 meters, making it a moderately challenging hike. Along the way, you'll pass through meadows filled with wildflowers, Spoon Lake, and switchbacks leading to the summit.

 

Reaching the trailhead requires a high-clearance 4x4 vehicle due to the rugged forest service road. The summit offers incredible views, but hikers are advised to stay cautious near the edges, as the terrain can be loose and steep.

 

Cheam Peak is another name for Mount Cheam—so it's the same breathtaking mountain! It's part of the Cheam Range in the Fraser Valley, known for its majestic presence and stunning panoramas. The peak is a favorite for outdoor enthusiasts, offering a rewarding hike with views of the Fraser River, the city of Chilliwack, and beyond.

  

Thank you for your visit and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!

 

~Sonja

   

And thats no pussy cat .. a classic Morgan .. the best off , the 2019 ... 110 Anniversary Limited Edition model .. Yes this proud British motor company has been manufacturing these classic hand built cars for the last 110 years . The company had offered this fully optioned up car at no extra price to their regular customers . A delightful car in the traditional style of English sports cars .

 

Park Rd. Milton

Brisbane

El Forn & Prats landscape with view to Llac d'Engolasters & Vall del Madriu & Perafita mountains. Canillo parroquia, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees

 

More El Forn & Canillo parroquia images: Follow the group links at right side.

 

.......

 

About this image:

 

* Full frame format 3x2 quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

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* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism redactions

 

We offer 100.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. The largest professional image catalog of Andorra from the newer history: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). HighRes & HighColor GeoCoded stock-photo images including metadata in 4-5 languages. Prepared for an easy systematic organising of large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System). The big stockphoto collection from the Pyrenees.

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

 

Old woods offer so much to the imagination. I had decided to go to Little Wittenham Woods before dawn to try some long exposure shots, as it drew light I wandered more into the old part of the wood It is amazing how your senses work overtime in the low light, every sound is a potential threat and you look for a safe place to hide...

 

Really needs to be viewed full size.

Last day to dive into incredible deals with BackBone Summer Splash Sale! Hurry, the 50% Mega Sale ends at MIDNIGHT SLT! maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BackBone/34/174/2106

Esmerelda / Come What May sailing in the Sound of Bute, Scotland. Inchmarnock and Arran in the distance

 

Log of the Dinghy Esmerelda or Come What May

Three seasons learning to sail (1998 - 2000)

 

May 1998

For years, it seems, it has been at the back of my mind that, when it was convenient, I would learn to sail my own boat. Life being such as it is, I have spent the last nine years living within ten minute's walk of the sea but have not been in a sailing boat in all that time. Last weekend, I answered an advert in the local paper. Now, I am the proud owner of a 14ft Lark sailing dinghy! Ian, the seller, kindly offered to teach me to sail her. She’s a modest little boat, but seems worth the price. Adam (my elder son) is delighted and is raring to have a go.

****

Yesterday evening was our first time out on the water, not on the tide, but on West Kirby marine lake in the Dee estuary. I felt very much an incompetent land-lubber. I have a whole new set of coordination skills to learn, certainly more than when learning to ride a motorcycle or drive a car, but this is part of the challenge. I think it helps to have the limbs and bodily plasticity of an octopus.

****

Ian took me out in the boat for the second time yesterday evening and it was beautiful! - sun sinking in the west, warm blue sky, a gentle breeze and the boat gliding effortlessly through the water. If I am not yet completely hooked, then I soon shall be. My aspirations are modest: I'd be thrilled simply to learn the necessary skills and gain the confidence to navigate the Wirral coast.

****

This sailing has really got a grip on me. I spent last Thursday night in Manchester so that I could start earlier on Friday in order to be home by 5 p.m. to take the boat out. It was wild! The wind was approaching force 4 and we managed to capsize twice, (although we were the last boat on the lake to do so). It is a wonderful activity which, like mountaineering, is completely absorbing both mentally and physically, and which, if you're not actually doing it, then you're thinking about doing it or pottering around with the equipment. I'm pleased, because it has restored a dimension to my life that has been sadly lacking for a few years. Alix and I have decided definitely to withdraw our house from sale and stay put here on the coast, at least for the foreseeable future.

 

Inanimate objects

I hesitate to consider my boat an inanimate object. She has several traits suggestive of animation, and female at that:

a nice shape,

moves gracefully,

behaves wilfully,

demands attention,

requires sensitive handling,

and on two occasions has been quite upset and ditched me.

 

Friday 12th June 1998

Stimulating, thrilling, absorbing and therapeutic.

We went out last Saturday and plan to again this Saturday. It is time I took it out on my own though, or rather with someone I can't rely on to take the initiative in a tricky situation. After all, the whole idea is to sail this boat myself. With this in mind, I persuaded my German colleage Tobias to come over on Sunday to join me. He has never sailed, so it'll be the blind leading the blind, but it has to be the quickest way to learn.

 

Sunday 14th June 1998

Achievement!

I took the boat out truly as 'skipper' this evening (with Tobias). The wind was northerly, gusting force 4, and slightly intimidating - I nearly called the whole thing off - but once we'd cast off it was magical!

Suddenly after all the flapping and palaver of rigging, all is quiet and smooth as we glide downwind. A slightly anxious moment ensues when I realize we'll have to gybe before we run out of lake, but this manoeuvre works smoothly and I realize with relief that I can actually tack back against the wind.

After an hour, despite some interesting moments, we have managed to avoid capsizing and are still relatively dry. We are rewarded by the sun peeping out from under the clouds just before it vanishes below the horizon.

 

Clynnog fawr, Lleyn Peninsula, north Wales, July 1998

 

Wonderful holiday! - the best I think for several years. Brothers Martin and Chris and our three families (15 of us in all) staying in a farm house together. Best of all was to see all the kids together (eight cousins and one half-sister) - how the older ones looked after and amused the younger ones, and also how the younger ones amused the adults, and how the adults are actually kids at heart and behave as such when they are all together. It was invaluable to have so many young cousins for Adam to play with, and to be able to let Ricky trot out into the large green spaces around the house and to play in the sand, knowing that there were nearly always three or four others keeping an eye on him.

 

The farm itself was in a beautiful location on a magnificent length of coast, north west facing, catching the best of the sunsets. The whole area is delightfully quiet and unspoilt (and only two hours drive from home, even towing the boat). The weather was not ideal, but we still managed to spend a large proportion of the time outside.

 

At the beginning of the week high winds, cloud and some rain made it quite unsuitable for sailing but we managed some hiking and some went horse riding. By Wednesday, the forecast was slightly better and we'd discovered relative shelter and what seemed to be a nice launching site at the northern end of Llanberis Lake, so we decided to sail come what may. [At this moment Come What May suggested itself as a name for my boat. Only later did I discern the name Esmerelda almost completely faded written on the hull.]

It turned out to be a delightful, sunny and warm afternoon, the shore had trees to climb, sticks and stones to splash in the water and soft grassy spots for picnics. We launched and I was able to take everyone out in turn. For Adam and Alix it was actually their first time, the complexities of child care being what they are. Adam was fairly excited but not a hundred percent confident, he finds it a little intimidating but hopefully that will change. It was the perfect day for him - gentle and warm.

 

The next day started fine with a light breeze. Majority interest however determined that we go riding again followed by a pub lunch, but in the afternoon I was determined to get the boat out. The tide was up and three of us succeeded in handling it down a steep track to the shore and then over small, slippery, seaweed-covered boulders to the water's edge.

I still find it miraculous how, once rigged, with a quick shove and hop in, we are gliding through the water as if by magic (hoping a freak gust doesn't turn us round before I grab hold of the tiller and get the centreplate down!)

Caernarfon Bay, and first time on the sea! The swell was a little daunting as we sailed into deeper water, especially with four adults aboard (not sailed with that many before), but I practised a few tacks, sailing up-wind and down-wind, and she seemed to handle alright without shipping water, albeit a bit heavy at the tiller, so I was happy. It was a delight with the rhythm of the waves and the late afternoon sun sparkling through the spray and sea to the open horizon; with our course set for the open Atlantic I just wanted to keep going. Fortunately, I didn't. All of a sudden there was no more resistance on the tiller and we swung round into the wind: the rudder had torn off its mounting! I was glad that I'd invested in some oars as a precaution with which we were able to turn about to face shoreward; then, by holding the rudder (fortunately still attached to the boat by the uphaul line) and leaning right into the water astern, we were able to hold a course back to the shore. I since realised that the reason the rudder felt so heavy in the first place was because it was not engaged in its fixed down position but trailing horizontally behind; the extra leverage combined with the weight in the boat must have sheared the two mounting bolts. I've now repaired it with four new reinforcing bolts. It was a learning experience and exciting at the time. The others all seemed to enjoy it and seemed to think it was all in a day's sailing adventures.

 

7th August 1998

Last weekend was wonderful. Summer finally seemed to have arrived: it was comfortable to spend dawn 'til dusk in shorts and T shirt and to sit out late in the garden for dinner with a bottle of wine after the kids were in bed. Adam and I went onto the beach on Sunday and spent a good hour just splashing in the sea and being crabs and sea-monsters wallowing in the deep soft sand. Simple happiness!

More exciting still, I took the boat out twice. First, on West Kirby marine lake completely on my own for the very first time. I was out on the water by 7.30 a.m., it was a gorgeous morning and I had the whole lake and, indeed it seemed, the whole estuary to myself. Second, again on my own, on the high tide for the first time. Two significant achievements which have given me such a thrill that I can't wait to do it again! In fact, I can now say that I have achieved my long held ambition of being able to sail my own boat on the sea, albeit in very easy conditions: a smooth surface and barely a breath of wind. I sailed for three hours on the high spring tide and was really chuffed to be out there on my own, but it would have been nice to have had some good company too. I feel this is only the beginning: my curiosity is already drawing me to peruse the second-hand yacht sections of the sailing magazines!

 

17th August 1998

I had my sailing abilities stretched this weekend when I took the boat out on the tide in a breeze that was slightly too strong for me (also my muscles and parts of the boat were well stretched). It was a humbling experience:

On the sea front, the breeze felt rather intimidating. The lifeguard on duty hailed me, having seen me with my boat the previous week,

"Going out today?"

I confided my reservations to him, but he replied, presumably intending to encourage me,

"Only way to learn, by experience!"

This was a challenge I felt bound to accept.

Having rigged and launched, all there was to do was push off and hop in. It was that moment of hesitation that reminded me of the feeling I had as a novice skier on the lip of my first black run: the point of no return. Hesitation over, the first few seconds I spent struggling to lower the rudder, which for some reason would not go down (because, I found out later, I'd hitched the uphaul too tight), while keeping an eye on other boats at their moorings skimming past me at an alarming rate even before I'd trimmed the sails. In the excitement, I forgot to lower the centreplate, which meant that having covered about half a mile in what seemed like about ten seconds I tried to come about into the wind but couldn't. Hemmed in by a sand bank on one side and an approaching groyne on the other, there seemed to be little room to manoeuvre and all I could do was gybe, but this didn't work properly either and I capsized. I realised the centreplate wasn't down when I tried to stand on it to pull the boat back upright, it then took me a few moments to lower it because first I had to untangle the anchor warp from the centreplate uphaul, the two having become intertwined. The boat then righted quite easily and I tacked back against the wind with the water gurgling reassuringly out through the self-bailers; I was determined not to be defeated.

Eventually though, the jib became wrapped around the forestay and I capsized again trying to unwind it. At this point I felt I was doing everything wrong and it was time to come in so I limped back to the slip still half full of water where by now a small group of spectators had gathered to watch me, including the lifeguard and two old sea-dogs who'd obviously been passing comment. Later, the lifeguard told me that the old sea-dogs were "impressed" that I'd got back without assistance. But really I don't suppose I impressed anyone much. I clearly have much to learn.

 

7th September 1998

I took Adam out in the boat on Saturday. There was almost no breeze: we seemed to spend long periods just playing with the sails trying to detect what little air movement there was. Adam had a go at the helm which quite thrilled him, and he even tacked. He was pretty good at holding a course when I told him to steer towards particular landmarks.

The dissipated remnants of hurricane Danielle have been lurking off the coast of Ireland these last few days and forecast to be moving across the British Isles; on Sunday the wind got up and there were gales forecast in the Irish Sea and I chickened out of going out on my own although several boats did sail on the high tide.

 

14th September 1998

Sunday was too windy for sailing. I'm going to have to experiment with techniques for reefing the sails, or sailing on the jib only.

 

18th September 1998

I saw a centre page pull-out guide in one of the yachting magazines this week entitled, "Your guide to crossing the Atlantic" - I dream.

 

9th October 1998

It's been cool and windy here but with a lot of bright sunshine interrupted by occasional showers. The leaves are starting to thin on the trees and most of the apples are in, except the late ripening ones. I was hoping there might have been a chance to take the boat out, but the weather really wasn't suitable. Most of the moored sailing boats are coming in onto dry land for the winter now.

I did get some useful clearing done in the garden and managed to build up our supply of fire-wood. Richard was following me behind the wheelbarrow and he managed to tumble into the pond!

It is simply beautiful being out in the garden. There is something very special about this time of year: the colours, the earthy smells and the sound of the wind in the trees.

 

20th October 1998

Autumn has set in a big way: chilly, grey and wet, and particularly dismal now that the nights are drawing in. Definitely time for the wood fire in doors. It was beautiful though in the garden on Sunday: I got a lot of clearing done and generated much material for bonfire night; also, I came across a hedgehog - not so rare in our garden but unusual in broad daylight and nice to see. Adam insisted I tell stories to him about hedgehogs for the rest of the day.

 

3rd November 1998

At 11 p.m. there was a 10 metre tide bursting on the sea wall with a strong northwesterly wind behind it and a full moon. I never saw such a high tide here. The sea was all over the road. I felt a strange, pleasant, almost terrified excitement because there is one recurring nightmare that I have occasionally had in adult life which involves standing on a foreshore and seeing the monster of all waves rising up and bearing towards me and the growing realisation that I won't escape it in time.

Our bonfire party is tomorrow. As usual, a huge pile of wood has appeared as though by magic in the night, the local contractors see it as an opportunity for free rubbish disposal and it will take four of us half the day to built it into burnable shape tomorrow, but this is all part of the fun. Adam is looking forward to it and so am I.

 

2nd December 1998

We like too much where we live: our wonderful garden, horses over the fence, lying in bed listening to the waves on a summers night, the crashing surf of a winter storm, opening the door to the tangy smell of sea air in the morning, sunrise in a crispy dawn sparkling on frost-covered sand, and the pink rays of setting sun over the water glowing off the distant Welsh hills. It's a clear, frosty night with a full moon. There's a thin, misty vapour over the water as the tide silently slides past the sea wall and the oyster catchers make their eerie call - I love it!

 

***

 

26th April 1999

Out sailing again - first launch this year. Saturday was a beautiful day and I took Adam out on the high tide in the evening while the sun was lowering in the west. It was neap and there was virtually no wind - very still, we moved like a whisper. It was so still that we went aground (neap tides don't leave much room to manoeuvre between sand banks) and didn't even notice that we were stuck for about a minute! It was good to be on the water again.

 

28th April 1999

The sun is a great red orb above the horizon. The boat is all set for launching at the next available opportunity - this weekend. It is a long weekend with the May Day holiday and there are high spring tides around midday - perfect!

 

14th May 1999

Sailing has been wonderful! Especially yesterday, when conditions were perfect and I spent three hours exploring some of the far reaches of the sand-banks several miles up and down the coast. I'm looking for the best route across the shallows that will allow me to circumnavigate the islands in the mouth of the Dee estuary on a single high tide. The timing is important in order to avoid being left high an dry.

 

18th May 1999

Sailing is good exercise: strong on the back and arms hauling the trailer along the road to and from the slipway, and then on the tummy muscles when leaning out to balance the boat when it's heeling over.

 

I had an embarrassing little incident two weeks ago in front of the lifeboat. It was a perfect day for sailing, sunny with a gentle breeze. I'd been out for about an hour and was starting to think about coming in for some lunch when I saw the Hoylake lifeboat coming past. This is a big, powerful, offshore boat with an experienced, sea-going crew. It pulled up close to our slipway, and the crew having passed some lines ashore set about some rescue exercises. Meanwhile, I thought I'd better make a good impression. I gave them a wide berth and tacked cleanly round to make my approach to the slipway in such a way as to avoid any risk of entanglement with their lines. Gliding in smoothly, I reached aft to raise the rudder to stop it grounding, but instead managed to pull the tiller off the rudder stock: the boat slewed round out of all control and, before I could do anything about it, heeled over wildly and capsized, right in front of the life-boat! What's more, a crewman was recording the whole incident on video! I righted the boat without assistance and then sailed out again to allow the self-bailers to empty the boat of water to avoid the embarrassment of having to do so ashore. Afterwards, our local lifeguard, who was also there on duty, remarked that I couldn't have chosen a better moment: the lifeboat only comes down here about once a year!

 

We've finally booked our holiday cottage for this summer: a house on the shores of Loch Torridon, way up in the north west of Scotland. I'm really looking forward to it. It is in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland and a superb area for mountaineering. Everything is literally on the doorstep. There is access to the loch to launch the boat and the cottage lies at the very foot of one of the most spectacular mountains in Scotland, Liathach, the crest of which, soaring to 3,456ft directly above the sea, is considered to be one of the four classic ridge routes in the country. Of course, scope for serious mountaineering will be limited, but at least we will be four adults to share child minding. Unfortunately, the cottage was only available for one week and not two, but we plan to take the tent and tour for a few days after. I'm already really excited.

 

10th June 1999

Sailing, it is completely absorbing and I love it! This was my diary entry last weekend:

Onshore breeze, about force 3, which seems plenty strong enough for me single handed. The question arises how to launch at a right angle to the breeze with the sails up; hoisting the sails once afloat would be the better solution but with no means of holding the bow this could be awkward. I wheel the boat on the trolley half into the water then swing the trolley to head the boat into the wind, hoist the sails, rig the rudder, then manoeuvre the trolley so as to allow the boat to float, holding the bow. I'm glad Alix then turns up to retrieve the trolley. Which direction to cast off? Try to avoid the embarrassing and awkward situation of being blown back onto the sea wall before making way, but to make good way, must lower the plate and sheet-in immediately but can't lower the plate until in deeper water. Conundrum. Oh well, try it. Here goes. Shove, hop in and grab tiller. Impetus of shove already gone, drifting back on shore into small party launching rowing boat; sheet-in sheet-in: yes! now 45 degrees to wind and making way, miraculously avoid sea wall. Rudder down, plate down - no, not enough depth for plate, grounding on sand bank; half raise plate, can't tack, bear round with wind, avoid moored boats, must gybe - tricky in confined space, risk of capsize. Steady gybe by holding vang as boom swings across. Success! Now on course with clear water ahead.

It takes a few minutes of lively sailing to convince myself that I am really in control. The swell is slight but riding the waves is exciting as every other crest bursts on the bow, shooting spray up my bum leaning out over the windward gunwale. Shortly, the rhythmic plunge and rise through the waves works a very soothing effect, my senses become fully attuned to my immediate surroundings and all else seems a world away.

 

Hoylake Sailing Club Regatta, 15th June 1999

I actually took part in a race this weekend. The local sailing club held its annual regatta. While I was launching on Friday evening one of the officers of the club introduced himself and invited me to take part. It's quite an event locally, with a lot of visiting boats from the region and open to non-members.

So there I was on the water on Sunday morning with only the vaguest notion of what was expected. I was confused by the order of buoys and posts that marked out the course, which ones to pass on which side and in which order. Then there was the gun. There were meant to be six minute and three minute warning shots but I'm sure there was an extra one, and on which side of the line was I supposed to be? At the last moment but too late it suddenly became clear and the start gun found me on the wrong side of the line going the wrong way! The other boats were racing towards the first buoy whilst I having recrossed the line lagged hopelessly in their wake. For a while I was able to follow them, but as the wind got up and the sea became grey and choppy the field spread out and even some of the more experienced boats appeared to become confused and eventually I had to admit that I really didn't know where I was supposed to be heading! Oh well, I'll know what to expect another time.

I appreciated the opportunity to make contact with the sailing club. They seem to be a friendly and pleasantly informal lot and I may consider joining, partly for access to their rather nice clubhouse with bar overlooking the sea, but partly also because it represents a chance to get to know people whose company I might enjoy and who share an enthusiasm for sailing. It is not a sporty, highly competitive dinghy racing club, although they do organise racing on some Sundays. I have the impression that the competitive aspects are not taken too seriously. It is more a group of people who enjoy sailing in all its forms, which suits me. The attractive clubhouse is an added bonus.

It was not a competitive streak that induced me to participate in the race on Sunday, but an exploratory streak to see how I might enjoy it, and a sense of curiosity to see how my sailing matched up to others. I realised that racing is a good way to hone one's skills because I did a lot more manoeuvring and trying to maximise efficiency than when out on my own. I can see how racing could be enjoyable because it involves optimizing your performance, which can be thrilling and satisfying (and it would be nice to win sometimes too) but I can't yet see myself wanting to race regularly. Like skiing, I see sailing as a means of exploration rather than a competitive sport.

 

Tuesday 6th July 1999

We were sailing on Sunday, all of us together for a change. Rick was very excited before he got in, then once underway he kept saying, "Tip over!" and looking worried, but he got used to it for before long he was scrambling to the stern to grab the tiller saying, "Have it, Ricky do it!" Meanwhile Adam was intent that I tell him a story about some limpets who make friends with some ammonites. I am learning that taking the kids out demands additional skills to normal sailing competence.

We're soon away to Scotland for a fortnight. I actually bought myself a fishing rod and some tackle just in case the wind drops while out on the loch, as if I won't have enough to occupy myself with a boat and kids and magnificent nearby mountains. It telescopes down to 18 inches so it won't take up much space. I thought it might be fun for the kids too (good excuse, eh? Of course I'm just a big one.) I have fished exactly twice in my life and caught one trout about four inches long, so the family probably shouldn't rely on me for food.

 

Torridon and Kishorn, July 1999

 

[Monday 2nd August 1999, back home.] It is hard to be back after such a lovely break. Tragic actually. I suddenly see all the things that are wrong with my life here and what an effort it is to try to force myself to put up with them. Especially I see how drab, ugly and over-crowded are the areas where I live and work, even our little patch on the coast holds no magic compared with the northwest of Scotland.

While we were away it was wonderful to be able to spend so much time continually with Richard and Adam and coming back I realize how unnatural it is for a parent to see so little of his children as I normally do here. I have no illusions that we have a right to a perfect life - there is no reason why working for a living should be easy - but some things need to change.

The northwest of Scotland would certainly have limitations as a place to live, the principal of which would be an acceptable means to make a living, followed by the distance to secondary schooling for the boys. Also, family visits would be much less frequent, the midges bite terribly and the weather would not be as reliably good as we had it at least in the second week. But as for the rest of it - city life - I don't need it.

 

We spent the first week on the shores of Loch Torridon nestling at the foot of two of the principal mountains of the area. Torridon is rugged country - one of the last places in Britain to have glaciers as late as 9,000 BC - but like the whole west highland seaboard, sublimely beautiful. Other fjord-scape coastlines in the world are certainly more splendid, but Scotland has a special charm that appeals to me personally.

The peaks of Torridon rise straight out of the sea to over three thousand feet and are composed of thousand Myr old sandstone, which in the larger corries takes the form of sheer, dark grey precipices of giant masonry blocks, and on the tops, precariously placed boulders like part-melted stacks of huge dinner plates. Many of the peaks are capped with silver-grey quarzite which when wet glints and sparkles in the sun. The whole is founded on much older bed-rock (up to half the age of the earth) which shows itself in places as contorted swirls of intermingled shades of pink, orange and fiery red streaked with white. The region has remnants of the original Caledonian pine forest still undisturbed after eight thousand years. But the principal charms are the play of cloud and light on the hills and sea, and the unhurried style of life, where people still leave their house doors unlocked when they go out.

We had a fair bit of drizzle and overcast days in the first week, during the course of which ours was the only boat we saw afloat in the whole of Upper Loch Torridon. In fact, one afternoon, Martin and I were sitting in the boat in the middle of the loch, with the clouds low on the hills and the rain dribbling down the sails, awaiting any movement of air that might get us back to shore before tea, and I did start to wonder what it might take before I started to question my enjoyment!

Another day Martin and I thought we'd make the most of any time when the breeze died by trying my new fishing rod and three hundred piece fishing kit. Out on the water, the sails lolling impotenty, I gave Martin charge of the helm, should any light air arise to stir us, while I sorted hooks and fiddled, trying to remember how to tie them to the line. All of a sudden, there were ripples on the water, the sails filled, the boat heeled wildly and we were creating a creaming bow wave, covering the distance across the loch in a couple of minutes that it had taken us a whole afternoon the previous day, while I scrabbled to prevent fish hooks from littering the floor around our bare feet and at the same time tried to give instruction to Martin who'd never helmed a dinghy!

 

Come the weekend, the clouds evaporated and there followed six days of glorious hot weather when we were out everyday in T-shirts and shorts, even on the water and up at 3,000ft late into the evening - very unScottish! We found accommodation slightly farther south, with magnificent views from our living room window up into the majestic corries of Applecross and out to Skye, in a secluded bungalow just outside the small village of Achintraid on the shore of Loch Kishorn. Alix, Adam, Rick and I spent a couple of days of idyllic sailing when we were out for the whole day with picnic and cans of beer, mooring on uninhabited islands and remote beaches for long lunches, lounging in the sun, exploring the rock-pools for crabs and sea-anemones and swimming nude (there simply was no need for swimming costumes because no one was there!), although not for many minutes because the water was chilly. I love to abandon the trappings of civilization as much as possible on holiday - radio and television, swimming trunks, combing my hair, etc. I go happily for days washing and bathing only in salt-water with my hair gone wild, I like the feeling of it.

The Highlands can be extremely bleak and dreary ("driech" in the Scotch dialect) but only in some places and in certain weather. The atmosphere is often fresh and invigorating or imbued with a remarkable softness. Part of the beauty is this softness and the wonderful cloud-scapes. During our hot weather spell, although I wouldn't have wanted to change it, some of the distinctive charm was lost: it reminded me more of the Alps or the Sierra Nevada than Scotland.

I think we've all felt slightly down since returning, we had such a gorgeous few days. Sailing off the sea front here in Liverpool Bay has (at least temporarily) lost its appeal.

 

***

 

Sunday 19th March 2000

First launch of the year. It was wonderful to be on the water again! It is something very special to me. On the water, I am happy: life is as it should be and I don't want for anything. I was out at 8:30 a.m. for nearly three hours, and there was no one else.

 

28th March 2000

Summer time

We switched to British Summer Time this weekend and today the temperature has dropped to 3°C - it feels like January again! I did get out in the boat though, both on Saturday and Sunday. Good thing is, the kids have not adapted to the time change yet, so we get to sleep slightly later, but I wonder how long it'll take for them to catch on.

 

Sunday 2nd April 2000

Hoylake Sailing Club first dinghy race of the season.

It rained the whole weekend: a pretty much continuous light sea-drizzle which hardly let up even once. Alix took advantage of child-minding by parents and agreed to join me in the boat on Sunday (rare that we are ever in the boat together). At 9 a.m. there was a sea mist and hardly a breath of wind, and we really wondered whether we were silly, sitting bailing the rain out from where it collected from dribbling down the sails as fast as it came in, and feeling the wetness slowly creeping in down our necks. At the starter's gun, the few other boats all managed magically to coax some movement out of the still air, while it took a good two minutes before we managed first to point in the right direction then get underway, bringing up the rear. It was all quite amusing really, and in the end we were glad we'd made the effort to go out. Afterwards, all of us including the boys went into the clubhouse for a drink, then returned home for proper Sunday lunch of roast lamb, a good bottle of Rioja and an afternoon cozily by the living room fire. A near perfect Sunday.

 

Hoylake Sailing Club Regatta, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June 2000

There were around 70 boats racing offshore, so quite a spectacle. I didn't race. I'm not convinced that racing is where my interest lies, I simply like to be out on the water and go where the whim takes me rather than jostle with other craft around buoys. The lifeguard introduced me to Billy who offered to take me out in Magnetic, his Cygnet cruising yacht. We walked out over the sand to his mooring in the outer channel. The tide comes up here with a rush; it is impressive like a fast flowing river, one minute you're lying aground and the next you're bobbing around floating free. It was interesting for a change and novel to be able to brew tea en route in the cabin, but it struck me how sluggish and how restricted in manoeuvring over the sand banks is a boat like Magnetic compared to my dinghy, so on Sunday I was happy to be back under my own sail.

Alix took the boys to the Millennium Dome in Greenwich at the weekend. It has been billed as a festival of Britain to match the great ones of the past but has had bad press and accusations of waste of public money. Alix thought it was accurate in presenting an impression of the state of Britain today in that it was confused and didn't seem to know what it was trying to be, and it had an abundance of what this country is famous for abroad: its queues.

 

12th June 2000

I'm considering an over-night sailing and camping expedition to Hilbre. The tides were right this weekend but the winds were too fierce for me, force 4 - 5 the whole time, and I didn't get out in the boat at all (I feel deprived). Beautiful sunny weather for the garden though; however, I had to use some of it on afternoon naps as, first Adam, then Richard, were sick during the night and left us very short of sleep.

 

16th June 2000

I went out on Tuesday evening just after I got home and it was gorgeous in the late light, sailing into the sunset. There was a significant breeze and I was even surfing in on some waves. This weekend the weather looks set lovely and, wind permitting, tomorrow we will all go out and perhaps anchor somewhere for a picnic.

 

19th June 2000

We are enjoying a heat wave; that is, I am enjoying it, but many are not. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the inner cities reached 90°F this weekend. We have a south wind, but plenty of breeze on the coast to be bearable. We all sailed on Sunday, cruising out to the far edge of the sandbank (about a mile offshore) where we beached, ate picnic lunch and had a swim; it is good to have a break to provide variety for Adam and Richard, otherwise they get restless just having to sit. After we returned, we all went to the beach again (with swimming costumes this time) to cool off while the tide was still up to swim in. Adam and Richard loved it. Later Alix and I were eating dinner on the lawn until 10 p.m. I love weekends like this and count it a great privilege to have the wonderful sea on the doorstep. Being back at work is definitely dull by comparison, but it is what I am paid for.

 

Monday 26th June 2000

We are in the 70s today, warmer than at the weekend with its brisk northwesterly breeze - too windy for sailing, unfortunately, which we’d been looking forward to as Alix’ sister and family were here to visit. We were a bit downcast from sadness that our visitors had to leave. The kids were so excited the whole time to have each other as playmates and they were all devastated when they had to part. They all shared the same bedroom and around seven each morning we heard the "gentle" patter of feet as they trooped down stairs, trying to be quiet but not quite succeeding, to organize their own breakfast before any of the adults appeared. On Sunday morning they even let themselves out of the house to play in the garden and in the lane before we got up - two of them still half in their night-clothes! And Adam was revelling in showing them around his home territory.

 

Sunday 30th July 2000

It's been a good weekend for sailing. Thursday evening was looking gorgeous and Adam decided to come with me (partly I suspect as a means of delaying his bed-time); unfortunately shortly after we launched some grey clouds coalesced above and released persistent rain for an hour. Friday really was gorgeous though: what little rain there was had cleared during the course of the day leaving a few fantastic cloud shapes and sparkling sunshine. I was the only boat out and I sailed until just after sunset in only my shorts and T-shirt. The breeze was very light and at one point I let myself hang backwards over the side with my hair almost dabbling in the water becoming almost dizzy from the huge upside down vista of red orb sun and pink tinted clouds gliding passed at water's-eye view. It was very pleasurable.

This morning Richard and I went out together. First time I've taken Richard alone. He was very good (in doing what he was told when told) and seemed really to enjoy and remain interested for the whole of nearly two hours that we were out (in perfect summer weather). He caused some amusement upon landing when he insisted in helping me by pushing the boat from behind with all his might up the slipway!

 

Saturday 5th August 2000

We are leaving for the Isle of Bute next Saturday and I feel there is a lot to rush to do before we go. Preparations for holidays these days are no longer a simple matter of organizing a rucksack on my back, boots on my feet and money in my pocket. There's the boat trailer to load - do the lights work? - need a new registration number plate to match the new car, grease the wheel bearings, where are all the straps and cords I used last year? Adam, Rick, where have you hidden xyz since I last saw you playing with it? Where are all the tent pegs? Does the camping stove work? etc. Alix tends to organise food and kids' clothes, which is a relief. All I've done is had a case of wine sent to the friends we're staying with for the first week (definitely essential provisions). I try to tell myself that this is a holiday and we're supposed to enjoy it, but I know I've worn myself down because I've succumbed to respiratory infection and my back is playing up (doesn't help to have to lift the boat trailer). None of this stopped us all going out sailing today though. We pottered along the shore to Leasowe beach and landed for the kids to build sand castles for half an hour (they like the break), then headed home before the tide went out. We saw lots of birds and a couple of very brightly coloured jelly fish.

 

Wednesday 9th August 2000

The boat and equipment is now loaded for the road and ready to go as soon as we can get out on Saturday morning. I avoid the check-list syndrome as much as possible and usually get by with a single pencilled sheet of paper scribbled a week in advance; I do what I consider necessary to avoid wasting time when we are actually away. High tide is about an hour before sunset and there is light air movement: if I feel I've worked well by the end of the day I'd be tempted to go out, although I'm not sure I want to face all the unloading and reloading again!

 

Isle of Bute and Argyll, August 2000

 

Our holiday was really wonderful. August Scottish weather again proved remarkably fine. There were only two days in nearly a fortnight when rain deterred us from doing what we had planned, and we had several magnificent days. Of our eleven days spent actually in Scotland, we sailed on six of them.

We enjoyed our time on the Isle of Bute spent with a long-standing friend David in his parental house. His parents are now dead but his sister lives there still. David lives in Switzerland, but returns every couple of years to supervise (and pay for) necessary structural upkeep as it is a large, rambling Victorian property. He generally invites a house-full of friends for the duration, which makes for a lively week - ideal for the kids, because there are other kids to play with, and for the adults too, who have the stimulus of each other's company.

The island is relatively close to Glasgow but, on its western shore particularly, it is quiet and has much of the character of more remote Hebridean islands. We had some fine sailing off the beaches in magnificent scenery and crystal-clear water. I also took some of the other guests out - I enjoy sharing their pleasure in it.

 

For the second week we moved farther westward and found a delightful camp spot on the shore of Loch Sween. It was a perfect, level, grassy platform a few yards above the shore, facing the sunsets. We had words with the local farmer who let us stay there and gave us access to a water tap, and who also offered to launch our boat from their adjacent field, enabling us to keep it moored right below the tent. We actually used two tents on this trip, letting Adam and Richard share the small backpacking tent together, which they enjoyed, thus leaving us some peace and privacy in the larger dome tent. It was very close to idyllic: we were completely secluded, I was able to read The Hobbit to Adam snuggled up to the campfire for his bedtime story, and we were very little harassed by midges, which is unusual for the Scottish west coast in August.

 

Upon arrival, it had been a hectic day travelling in the car, the kids had been fractious and were finally in bed, it was a beautifully placid evening with perhaps half an hour left of sun before sinking behind the hills, and I took the boat out. Ghosting along the middle of the loch with barely a whisper, making myself comfortable with my head resting on the thwart staring backwards up at the sky, I was so absorbed that I turned with a start when I suddenly realized I'd nearly bumped into an island full of seals! About a dozen of them on a craggy rock, about twenty yards long and four wide, breaking the surface of the water by about three feet. The rock was actually marked on the 1:50,000 map as a small blip but I hadn'd noticed it. It lay only about 500yd offshore from where we were camped, so we all returned there together in the morning for a closer look. There were several pups among them looking very cute.

 

Our nearest shop was 4 miles away by boat up the loch at Tayvallich on the opposite shore, but a 20 mile trip around by car, so we experienced the novelty of a family grocery shopping expedition by sail, making a fine day trip, with a good sea-food pub dinner thrown in.

 

Kilmartin Glen, not far away, is a centre for some of the earliest known settlements in Scotland, so on non-sailing days there were five thousand year old stone circles, burial sites, iron age fortresses, and also near by, tiny ruined churches dating back to the early Roman missionaries of the 6thC AD, some with original 12thC stone carvings still intact, as well as Castle Sween to explore. But I must say that I loved the sailing most: exploring the little islands, anchorages and unfamiliar harbour entrances. It is completely absorbing, demanding a wonderful combination of attention to physical coordination and judgment. That is what I find immensely satisfying about mountaineering too: this combination of physical challenges together with the continual need for reassessment of the situation in the light of one's knowledge of one's own abilities and of the objective dangers.

 

Tuesday 29th August 2000

I picked up a book from the library recently about how to build a wood and canvas kayak. I am wondering whether I could sustain the motivation and determination for such a project. This came after casually browsing for some information on glass fibre boat repairs: the boat could benefit from a little attention this year. I would like to paint her name on the hull. The word Esmerelda is just discernible written large on the side but so faded as to be almost invisible except in certain light. I'm still in two minds as to whether to call her this or Come What May, which refers to a remark made in conjuction with a decision to sail one day. To me, Esmerelda is the name of an elderly lady, and as time goes by I realize that she deserves the according level of respect.

 

Brother Martin and family came over the bank holiday and we sailed. Then today Adam and I happened to get the perfect combination of clear sunshine, fine breeze and high spring tide that allowed us to cross the sandbank and circumnavigate Hilbre, a feat that has been my aim since the beginning of the season, but from which I had been deterred either by too much or too little wind or insufficient tide. We spotted a dozen seals on the way, a pair of which followed us at close quarters for up to half a mile (Adam was thrilled).

 

Wednesday 13th September 2000

This day I was at home working, ostensibly, but there was mild, balmy sunshine and sufficient breeze to tempt me out onto the tide at midday. It was gorgeous and I made good way into the gentle south westerly air, ploshing pleasantly through the wavelets. Out of the distance, suggesting itself as a destination, appeared the HE2 East cardinal buoy that marks the east side of the West Hoyle Bank, beckoning me like a siren to go farther offshore than I have ever been, two and half miles out from the mouth of the Dee estuary. I decided I ought to be able to round it and return with the breeze behind me in time to cross the bank before the tide receded.

It was eerie being alone and so far out, with the buoy and its apparently resident population of perched seagulls on its large scaffold superstructure behung with lights, bells and other navigational symbols; the boat seemed small and fragile compared to its robust iron bulk.

On the way back the breeze became lighter. A seal investigated me closely, surfacing and blowing noisily just off the stern and rolling tummy-up as if to get a better look. Shortly afterwards the wind died.

I tried with the oars to get as far as possible, and then towed and hauled on the painter as the ebbing tide left me with barely enough depth to cover my ankles, but eventually had to deploy the anchors, abandon my vessel and walk home, some fifteen minutes back to Hoylake promenade.

Next high tide was not until midnight so I would have to walk out and wait for the flood two hours before, then row back in the dark. My main concern was to locate the boat on the vast expanse of sand in darkness; I had taken a compass bearing and, fortunately, noticed that the iron railings on the promenade caused the needle to deviate by about 30°!

Come What May / Esmerelda finally appeared as a ghostly white shadow in the torch beam. Waiting on board for the tide was a quietly serene experience, reclining quite comfortably in my 8mm wet suit in a slight drizzle. It was rather beautiful: wet but warm in the dark, with the night full of the sounds of oyster catchers and imagining the gurgling trickle of advancing water becoming louder by the minute, and a hint of moonlight behind the clouds.

 

20th September 2000

The season is distinctly about to slide into autumn. The apples have reached full ripeness and are starting to drop, and there are widespread hints of leaves starting to turn colour. The sunshine is warm during the day, but last night the temperature dropped nearly to 50°F for the first time probably in months. With the shorter days, the number of high tides potentially suitable for sailing becomes restricted; that combined with the higher probability of poor weather means sailing will be sporadic (I've been out only twice this month). But I love this season.

 

22nd November 2000

I'm enthralled with a book at the moment. It is a description of three seasons spent sailing up the eastern seaboard of North America, from Florida to the St. Lawrence, in a 16ft Wayfarer dinghy by Frank Dye. It is about exploration by sail stripped to its bare essentials, the idea of which appeals to me enormously, and is exactly the sort of sailing I'd love to do on this coast, although without some of the author's more hairy adventures. Among other things, he has opened my eyes to what an enormous and varied coast North America has - like distances on the land, the size of the coastline is difficult to conceive compared to this country.

Uber does it again with its latest service being offered in Stamford t.co/wueRNzQ6vb (via Twitter twitter.com/limoct/status/771798362890735616)

The winter is over

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Shop keeper in Muscat Oman Mattrah souq offers me hats

 

Ḩillat as Sūr, Muscat, Oman

Axe Edge is the main hill on the central horizon. Wetton Hill offers good views in all directions, particularly good in conditions like this where freezing fog covered the low ground all-around

Pal historic village, Pal, La Massana, Vall nord, Andorra, Pyrenees

 

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Jonsrud Viewpoint offers one of the most classic vistas in the Pacific Northwest—a sweeping look over the Sandy River Valley, once carved by the floods and glaciers that flowed from Mount Hood. On a clear day, the mountain dominates the horizon, its snowy summit rising above layers of forest and farmland that stretch toward the Cascades.

 

That morning, the scene was dreamlike: a sea of fog drifted through the valley, wrapping the evergreens in shifting veils of silver. The treetops rose like islands from a clouded sea, and the soft light made the world feel hushed, suspended between earth and sky.

 

By afternoon, the mist had burned away, revealing a mosaic of autumn color—gold, amber, and evergreen spreading down to the river below. What began in mystery ended in clarity, as if the valley had taken a slow, luminous breath and opened its eyes to the day.

From a weathered wooden post, an iron cage, gnawed by rust and time, dangles ominously. Crafted to hold a sole prisoner, it offers no escape from the elements or prying eyes. Its skeletal form casts long shadows, a stark and public warning to all who pass by, ensuring the captive's plight is a constant, visible spectacle in the bleak landscape.

 

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