One of the primary difficulties faced in the USSR's espionage efforts was the issue of extraction. Realistically, covert operations consisted far less of silent executions and far more about successfully retrieving and extracting valuable information. Losing covert agents to capture slowed these efforts, and ensuring a compromised agent was still able to extract with their information was deemed important to Soviet research.

R&D in this area ranged from new techniques in dead-drops and disguises, advanced insertion and extraction strategies, and new covert tactics, as well as a veritable gambit of gadgets and weapons. In the weapon field, particular effort was put into concealable, compact weaponry to aid in agent survival. These weapons were not designed as much to be covert in usage, as to be covert in storage until such a time as they were needed. One of these, the Chertenok project, sought to provide a PDW weapon which could meet the minimum combat needs of an agent on the run, yet could be broken into smaller parts and stored. It could be broken down into the stock, the receiver, and the barrel. The magazine served as the majority of the grip, and the use of an optic was optional, allowing the break down PDW to be easily stored. The Chertenok was also designed with the latest in Soviet recoil mitigation technologies to provide a solid combat platform, while being chambered in reverse engineered 5.7 armor piercing round. The project did not reach fruition until 1990, one year before the Union's collapse, and ultimately was never put into use, as far as any official records show.

Having some difficulty navigating the keyboard with this broken arm, so for now these will have remain as mystery birds.

In the early years, difficulties with maintaining local roads and securing adequate water supply for the town lent weight to Winton's application to become a local authority with power to levy rates and charges for services.

The Shire of Winton was proclaimed a local authority in September 1886. On the 12th of January 1887 the first meeting of members from the three divisions of the Winton Divisional Board was held, and J B Riley was appointed Chairman.

When the passing of the new "Local Government Act of 1902" created Shire Councils, the Winton Divisional Board became Winton Shire Council. Members met for the first time under the new name on the 8th of April 1903.

At the height of the Depression, government relief measures were instituted in the form of day labour and local councils began to take a major role in supervising relief work. Relief schemes which usually took the form of building roads and bridges continued for many years and were responsible for maintaining employment and promoting economic activity in many shires.

The concept of a permanent day labour force to undertake council responsibilities became entrenched and accounted for a sizeable proportion of the population of remote area towns. These developments also contributed to the towns' long term economic survival as construction and service centres.

The first Shire Hall and Council Chambers were completed in 1914. The hall was the centre of social activity and public functions until 1956 when it was partially destroyed by fire.

The current offices were constructed in 1959, with an extension completed in 1987, incorporating chambers and additional office facilities. The Supper Room was completed in 1960 and the present Shire Hall opened on the 22nd of October 1964. The hall foyer houses the Roll of Honour of the 1914 - 18 and 1939 - 45 wars. The Cenotaph opposite the hall contains three pieces of Rockhampton granite and weighs over 12 tonnes.

Winton, Queensland:

Winton, in Central West Queensland, is 750km west of Rockhampton on the Landsborough Highway between Longreach and Cloncurry.

The Winton district was traversed by three exploration parties to search for members of the Burke and Wills expedition during 1861: Frederick Walker, in the Aramac district and the headwaters of the Thomson River; John McKinlay, along the Diamantina watercourse, west of Winton; and William Landsborough, along the Flinders and Barcoo watercourses, also west of Winton. Their reports led to pastoral occupation during the mid and late 1860s. By the mid-1870s, pastoral stations occupied most of the district, necessitating a postal delivery system for regular communication.

A former police sergeant from Aramac, Robert Allen, opened a hotel/store in 1876 at ‘Pelican Waterhole’, a convenient transit point for mail deliveries. He renamed the place Winton, probably after a village 3km north of Bournemouth, England. Another hotel, the North Gregory (the name of the pastoral district) was opened in 1878. The Winton town reserve was gazetted in 1879. With a population of about 150 and numerous pastoral employees in the district, Winton established a hospital in 1882. Three years later a primary school was opened, and a newspaper, the Winton Herald, began publication in 1886. The Winton local-government division was proclaimed in 1886.

During the mid-1890s Winton's outback remoteness lessened. The railway out of Townsville reached Hughenden in 1887, and the line out of Rockhampton reached Longreach in 1892. Cobb and Co coaches ran services further west. In 1895 Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson was a popular poet. He visited the outback Dagworth Station, 100km northwest of Winton where he heard Christina Macphearson play the tune 'Craiglea'. Impressed with its rhythm, Paterson wrote words to accompany it, basing the verses on a story told locally about the misadventures of a swagman. Thus was 'Waltzing Matilda' written and performed at country gatherings before its first public performance at the North Gregory Hotel on the 6th of April 1895.

With a population approaching 1000 at the end of the 1890s, Anglican and Catholic churches were opened and the railway extended from Hughenden (1899). Reticulated bore water was laid on in 1902.

Winton's economy was dependent on pastoral prosperity, which went in step with drought periods and good seasons. Some droughts were severe, in 1902 and later in the 1930s. During better times improvements were made: a Catholic school (1911), the town's first moving picture show (1913) and an attractive shire hall (1914, but damaged by fire and replaced by a utilitarian structure in the 1960s). Remoteness was still significant when youthful aviators and local promoters registered Qantas in Winton and held their first company meeting in the Winton Club in 1921. Qantas later moved to Longreach, to which Winton was connected by another railway extension in 1928.

Pastoral traffic then had a choice of either Townsville or Rockhampton for port facilities. Whilst the 1930s were hard times for both seasons and wool sales, war time, and postwar sales brought unprecedented prosperity.

Fire had destroyed two North Gregory Hotels, and the third burnt down in 1946. Although there were three other hotels, the town's people wanted the "first class" hotel replaced. The shire council got special powers to build and run a fourth new Gregory, and the 1950s wool cheques supplied the loan funds for a modern all brick and masonry building (1955). Wool cheques also funded a swimming pool (1956) and town sewerage, and the 1950s ushered in a CWA students hostel, a bowling green, an RSL hall and three new motor garages. Winton's "golden age" lasted until the mid-1960s, when there was drought and a fall in wool prices. A tourist promotion association was formed in 1966, and the Qantilda Folk Museum was opened in 1972, just as wool needed rescuing by the reserve price scheme.

Winton has a showground, racecourse, golf, bowls club, and swimming facilities, two churches, a hospital, a combined primary-high school, a Catholic primary school and an aerodrome. Its tourist attractions include the Waltzing Matilda (severely damaged by fire in June 2015) and Qantilda museums, an open air picture theatre, the Matilda country races and a mineral collection in the former Corfield and Fitzmaurice Emporium (1916); a heritage-listed building. The Elderslie homestead (1882), 60km west of Winton, is on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Source: Winton District Historical Society & Museum, Winton Shire Council, & Queensland Places (queenslandplaces.com.au/winton).

Ukrainians!

Strong people of the indomitable country!

Another day of our defense has passed. Another day of many that are gradually, with difficulties, but steadily bringing us closer to peace. To peace that no one will give us a gift. We need to understand it clearly. Because there are no subjects in the world that can stop wars and give peace.

The global security architecture has failed. Peace for us will not be the result of any decisions of the enemy somewhere in Moscow as well. We should not cherish empty hopes that they will simply leave our land. We can only gain peace. We can gain it in hard battles and in parallel - in negotiations, and in parallel - in daily vigorous work.

Therefore, each of us must continue to do everything we can. In all directions. To support our Armed Forces. To preserve and develop economic activity in Ukraine - as much as possible now.

To support all our citizens... Wherever they are, whoever they are.

In peacetime warm words sustained the vital forces. And in wartime it is even more important. When we may not even know what a person is going through. What a loss. What help a person needs. But we can see that a person needs help. We need to support this person. We should at least hear this person. Say a few kind words. Something needs to be done to support the life of this person. This must be done. You should be attentive to everyone around you!

When people defend themselves in a war of annihilation, when there is a question of the lives or deaths of millions, there are no unimportant things. There are no unimportant moments. Everything matters. And everyone can contribute to the victory of all. Someone with a weapon in their hands. Someone - at work. And someone - with a warm word and help at the right time.

So do everything you can for us to withstand together in this war for our freedom, for our independence. For Ukraine to live.

Due to such sincere and constant support of each other, due to unity and attention to the neighbor, the people can overcome the most difficult challenges. And drive out the enemy, which is many times bigger in numbers.

Our defenders continue to regain control over communities in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. There are more and more Ukrainian national flags in the areas that have been temporarily occupied.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not release the invaders without a fight. Inflict fire damage. They are destroying everyone we can reach.

We are strengthening our defenses in the eastern direction and in Donbas. We are aware that the enemy has reserves to increase pressure in the east.

What is the goal of Russian troops? They want to capture both Donbas and the south of Ukraine. What is our goal? Protect us, our freedom, our land and our people.

Do everything for protection.

Our heroic Mariupol continues to hold back a significant part of the enemy forces. Thanks to this resistance, thanks to the courage and resilience of our other cities, Ukraine has gained invaluable time. The time that allows us to undermine the enemy's tactics and weaken their capabilities.

Unfortunately, Ukraine has not yet received enough modern Western anti-missile systems. Has not received aircraft. Hasn’t received what the partners could provide. Could - and still can!

Every Russian missile that hit our cities and every bomb dropped on our people, on our children only adds black paint to the history that will describe everyone on whom the decision depended. Decision whether to help Ukraine with modern weapons.

I would like to thank the residents of our Enerhodar separately. Those brave Ukrainians who went to a rally today to defend their city. To protect our state.

In response, the occupiers opened fire and used grenades against completely peaceful people, which are on their land, within their law. There will be an answer for each wounded person. And the Ukrainian character cannot be conquered by any pressure or violence.

I am grateful to everyone who takes to the streets in the temporarily occupied cities. To all who are not afraid and go out. I am grateful to all who are afraid and come out. To all those who feel that without this decision to defend Ukraine and their freedom, the occupiers can gain a foothold.

And when people protest - and the more people protest - the harder it is for the occupiers to destroy us, to destroy our freedom. This is our common struggle! And it will be our common victory.

I would also like to say a few words to those politicians, some deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine who absolutely do not understand what is happening in the hearts of our people. They don't understand it so much that they even decided to change the national anthem. I have a question for these people: what have you done in your life to give you the moral right to change the words of the anthem? Are you outstanding poets? Maybe you excelled in the battles for Ukraine? Or now is such a time that you can change the anthem whenever you want?

Cool down emotions. Stop pretending to be fools. I believe that the authors of these and other similar bills, proposals, should take up arms and go to the battlefield, if you have these opportunities. Only there will you understand something.

And even if they accidentally vote for something like this, I still will not sign such bills. Don't waste time.

I want to turn to another person who does not seem to fully understand what is happening. Not only in Ukraine, but throughout Europe. To the Prime Minister of Hungary. He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin.

We did not ask for anything special from official Budapest. We didn't even get what everyone else is doing! Doing for the sake of peace. We did not receive the vital transit of defense aid, we did not see moral leadership.

We saw no effort to stop the war! Why so?

The whole of Europe wants peace. The whole of Europe does not want the battlefield to be moved from Mariupol to Budapest or from Kharkiv to Krakow or from Chernihiv to Vilnius.

The whole of Europe is trying to stop the war, to restore peace. Then why is official Budapest opposed to the whole of Europe, to all civilized countries? For what?

The main thing for us is the opinion of the people. The Ukrainian people support the Hungarian people. The Hungarian people support the Ukrainian people. We value peace equally, we value freedom equally. It will always be so. We will always live in good neighborliness. And I am convinced that our minorities should be the bridges that unite us even more.

Politicians come and go. And the truth remains. That's what I'm talking about - the truth. And I always say what I think. When I am speaking of Hungary, I mean Hungary. And I don't need to mask my thoughts. If we need to speak of Germany, we are speaking of Germany. If I need to speak of another country, I'm speaking of another country.

If it's a war, then I call it a war, not a "special operation." If this is a threat to the whole of Europe, then I call it a threat to the whole of Europe.

This is called the honesty that Mr. Orban lacks. He may have lost it somewhere in his contacts with Moscow.

I spoke today with the President of Colombia. I am very grateful to him for his support and solidarity with Ukraine. The list of countries that honestly say that freedom matters and the war must stop is expanding.

I also spoke with British Prime Minister Johnson. A meaningful, pleasant conversation. We agreed on new defensive support for Ukraine. New package. Very, very tangible support. We also agree on the strengthening of sanctions against Russia. Extremely tangible. Agreed on joint steps to achieve peace. Thank you Boris for the leadership! Historical leadership. I'm sure of it.

In the afternoon I held a large meeting with the economic bloc of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Office of the President. The economic frontline is another direction of our struggle for our state, for our people.

We discussed in great detail the situation with sowing, with the supply of food to Ukrainians, with the supply of fuel, the situation in the energy sector, the situation with the main sectors of the state.

The Minister of Finance reported on the state of implementation of the state budget, details of negotiations with partners on financial support for Ukraine.

In wartime, economic relations must remain one hundred percent managed, no matter how difficult it may be for all of us. Because it's about perspective. About the perspective of life for more than 40 million Ukrainians, about what our tomorrow will be like. The participants of the meeting received clear tasks.

And finally. Already traditional.

I signed a decree on state awards to our heroes - the heroes of our state. 131 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nine of them - posthumously.

Eternal glory to them all!

Eternal glory to all who gave their lives for Ukraine!

Eternal glory to all our defenders!

Glory to Ukraine!

The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.

Jim Rohn

Thank you all so much for the very generous comments on my last post...I really appreciated your words ...

I don't usually post pics of myself but it's Christmas Eve tomorrow and I'm done working till New Year! Seems like the perfect excuse to wear a celebratory stuffed turkey on my head. (Not that I even needed an excuse really.) Bummer is, I fell last night and it seems I have a hairline fracture in my right elbow and can hardly move it so sadly I won't be able to take photos nor post any, nor will I be able to comment or reply to comments, so this is your "we are experiencing technical difficulties" picture while I'm somewhat out of commission :-( But I wish all of you the most wonderful Christmas - or however you might choose to call the holidays - and thank you dearly for another year of your amazing inspiration and generous support.

Hugs, Tinsel and Quality Street, Katrina x

(Oh how strange, I see this photo is somehow from the future - it has a date of Jan. 15, 2018! Who knew photos could come from the future? Not sure how that happened when it was actually taken at our company Christmas Party last weekend. Parallel universe?)

THE DIFFICULTY OF SHARING THE SAME TOOTHBRUSH / FINAL / CHRISTELLE GEISER & AEON VON ZARK / NAKED EYE PROJECT BIENNE / ALTERED STATE SERIE / THE WEIRD DREAM .

Still finding difficulty in texturizing reasonably good SOOC floral macros, but still trying nonetheless. That effort a result of inspiration provided by some of you who excel at it. So here for your consideration is my often photographed favorite, the rowan tree, finally beginning to bloom and presented three ways. The lead photo more subtle in application than the initial comment photo, followed by the SOOC original. I must say the effect of each is markedly different, preference perhaps determined by one's mood or state of mind. And nice of my apian friend to stop by adding an appealing and attractive accent to the activity.

I am truly delighted to be a transvestite despite some of the difficulties and angst that inevitably come with being a man that enjoys spending time as a woman. I do think it an amazing experience to enjoy time as the opposite gender, it holds great appeal for me and I always enjoy myself.

I do love the commitment and physical preparation one has to engage with to try and look female and I really enjoy getting into the persona and acting the part. It is illusionary, a form of impersonation and performance yet part of me feels so right presenting as a woman. I often joke that despite being a boy I was born to wear a dress; there is I feel a girl within me I like to set free now and again.

I increasingly I find my ambitions as a transvestite growing within me though I rarely get an opportunity to try and fulfil them. Such is the reality of life and ensuring I remain grounded and maintain my commitment to my wife, family and work and not get too carried away with my passionate desire to spend time as a woman.

This is a self portrait I took a few years ago during one of my cross-dressing sessions and seeing it again today has rather filled with me with joy and comfort and a fair degree of excitement simply recalling how thrilled I was to dress up and pose in female clothing and make-up. I do genuinely love to call myself a transvestite as it is such a taboo in our society yet as a man it is a true thrill and adventure to go through with it. I also want to do it on a deeper level a well as I would have liked to have been a girl though I now realise not strongly enough to go for a full transition. I enjoy the whole illusion as well as the emotional need. I am aware many who cross-dress despise the word but it is a word that saved me as a teenager and gave me hope and a sense of not being alone. I embraced it and knowing I am one fills me with happiness.

I do feel it is the rarity of my cross-dressing that provides such a big rewarding experience when I do go through with it. I thrive on the anticipation and the euphoria afterwards can last for months. This rare high is one that is well worth waiting for. It is great to walk around with shaved legs, skirt, have breasts and be wearing make-up and a wig, even the dressing up side is appealing. It is a cocktail of various elements that makes transvestism such a delightful and truly exhilarating experience. I love it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoyoymtWXyg

In the early 1800's, many thoughtful Americans believed that isolation and the difficulties of communication would force the Mississippi Valley settlements to form a separate nation. Hoping to hold the frontier, Congress, in 1800, established a post route from Nashville (TN) to Natchez (MS). The Trace, then a series of Indian Trails, had drawn from the Secretary of State the bitter comment, "The passage of mail from Natchez is as tedious as from Europe when westerly winds prevail." To speed the mail, President Jefferson ordered the army to clear out the trail and make it a road. Postriders, carrying letters, dispatches, and newspaper helped bind the vast turbulent frontier to the republic. However, their day passed by the mid-1830's when steamboats, running from New Orleans to Pittsburg, robbed the Trace of its usefulness as a main post route.

The markers shown above read:

This early interstate road building venture produced a snake-infested, mosquito-beset, robber-haunted, Indian-traveled forest path. Lamented by the pious, cussed by the impious, it tried everyone’s strength and patience.

When the trail became so water logged that wagons could not be pulled through, travelers cut new paths through the nearby woods.

Here you see three cuts made to avoid mud into which oxcarts and wagons sank, making progress slow, dangerous, or even impossible.

Take 5 minutes to walk this sunken trail and let your imagination carry you back to the early 1800's when people walking 500 miles had to put up with these discomforts and where a broken leg or arm could spell death for the lone traveler.

Both of the markers above were placed by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6 including the combination of all 3 photos into one image seen above.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

Location: Coruscant Underworld, Night Life District

Objective: Delivery of supplies.

Difficulty: Well, it should have been easy.

—LOG ENTRY—

After dodging Admiral Jud’s hunters, I escaped the cold atmosphere of Orto Plutonia and headed to meet my old friend Jahk Duran. I guess after our split he found a group called The Survivors to take refuge with. He told me of their fearless leader Zach, as well as their missions on Tatooine and Zeffo. More recently though has been the outbreak of riots all throughout Coruscant. Since they’ve started to die down he’s been tasked with bringing in supplies and rebuilding the city. I’ve gotta say being away from the action has gotten to me; I miss it, but I’m glad to get back to it.

Entering the Coruscant sky gave me a real idea of what we were up against. Scattered spots of destruction and fire as far as I could see. Im not sure what the riots didn’t touch. I was given coordinates to Coruscant’s Fine Arts District, which is located next to the Night Life district. Cant land there because to my understanding the place is crawling with Imps which makes it a real hot zone. Soon after touching ground in the arts district I met up with Jehk, I felt overwhelmed after not seeing him for so long. We talked shortly on whats been keeping us busy and the such, but with short time we had to get situated with The Survivors and make it over to the Night Life District to start moving supplies.

—END LOG—

“Cray get a move on brother we got quite the walk ahead of us, we have to meet up with group leader.”

“Whats exactly our plan here Jehk?”

“We need to rebuild this city in the end and get rid of the remaining Imperial scum that crawls the underworld. There shouldnt be too many Imps left but watch yourself. Plus you were telling me about that Admiral Jud and his plot to defeat you. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of his men. Just stay on your toes, watch for anything out of the ordinary, and stick with the group... if you do that you’ll be fine.”

The two men made there way into a large hub, there meeting Jehk’s group leader Clern Ido. (Pronounced: Slern I-Dough)

“I take it you’re the Cray I’ve been hearing rumors about?”

“Yes sir, that would be me, at your command!”

“Well rest easy, we are pretty easy going around here, but when its time to get the jobs done we do it! And thats what will happen concerning these supplies.”

Clern turns to address the group.

“Hey!! We will be moving in small groups. Taking a few crates each to 6 locations. My group will be Jehk and our new blood Cray Schaf, need to see what this mans made of. As for the rest of you keep your same groups as we had for controlling the riots. Watch your back for Imperial Scouts or just some lowlife thugs looking to ruin your day. You have valuable items here. A lot of people want this stuff but we have a job to do... so lets get to it. Each of your crates should already have the destinations locked in, all you gotta do is escort it.”

The group scurries to get their cargo and move out. In the midst of the chaos Cray finds himself looking up into the vast city planet of Coruscant. There spotting an old Imperial astro mech droid moving across a walkway... Cray lets Jehk know but he assures him there aren’t any Imps in the immediate area.

Cray moves over to the crates and checks the destinations. Theres a nightclub by the name “Clúb Ice” located in the heart of the Nightlife District.

“Lucky us”

He turns on the hover mode and punches the destination into the AGS. Now? Well all they gotta do now is make sure the supplies get there. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?

“Its awfully quite around here” Jehks uneasy voice is sure a cause for concern. For having riots not to long ago the roads are extremely calm. Only the occasional bit of rubble or dumpster fire. Moving deeper into the heart of the district the men started spotting people on binoculars looking down at their convoy, talking through communication holograms or to each other about the goods the men were traveling with.

After a cautious stroll they make it to the club, typing in the codes to drop the crates and then getting an update through high command that the people picking up the supplies were running a tad late and now they are going to have to sit with the supplies until they arrived.

“Well thats just great!” Exclaims Clern. Clearly not his first time dealing with this type of situation. The men take watch. Each glaring a different direction... it’s almost nothing for 20 minutes. The men are starting to become uneasy.

“Can anyone hear that” Clern asks. The sound of metal clanking sends shivers down the spines of both Cray and Jehk.

“Well whatever it is its getting closer, who’s picking up these supplies anyways??” Cray questions as he holds his gun in the direction of the metal clanking.

“Ha, you act like we are supposed to know, they just gave us this mission, with the location. They don’t tell us anything else.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Cray is in disbelief, but theirs no time to sit and ponder, whatever is making noise is right around the corner. He gets ready.

What rounds the corner stuns all the men.

“An Imp Medical droid? I haven’t seen one of those in ages!” Cray sets his weapon down. He asks the droid what its doing here.

“Just going for a walk”

And no later as it says that a scout trooper and Imperial Bounty hunter make their way out of the Nightclub’s balcony accompanied by the astro mech droid Cray saw earlier. He takes out his staff and makes quick work of the medical droid while Clern and Jehk take care of the enemies on the roof. With one of Jehks shots sending the astromech’s head flying.

With the supplies still secured the men end up waiting another 2 hours before anyone arrives. It was a quick and quiet transaction. Tired from the day and ready to head back the men make their way to get some rest because this is just one of 5 supply running missions. And they can be sure to see many more foes along the way.

We had little difficulty to find time for each other but when Alice come to the shoot she had those wonderful hair blue and purple i was very excited to work on , wonder if i could keep the magic and the light , I had so much fun working on her portrait , so much out of my comfort zone . so light tan and special subtitle and strong makeup. si i did push on the softness feeling I had.

if you dont know she is, model, wonderful photographer her self, designer doing those special flowers accessory you see around , events maker, fashion blogger , she publish also Inovar magazine and I am sure I forget things =)

April 23, 2015 on our trip to the blipmeet at Wanaka, Central Otago in New Zealand. www.polaroidblipfoto.com/browse/me

Our first morning in Cromwell. We woke to heavy fog which took a while to lift. We have arrived at Mt Difficulty Estate Winery so John can do some tasting.

The unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area is partially created by the presence of Mount Difficulty which overlooks the southern Cromwell basin, and is the namesake of Mt Difficulty Wines. Mount Difficulty is integral in providing low rainfall and humidity for the region. Bannockburn enjoys hot summers, a large diurnal temperature variation and long cool autumns; conditions which bring the best out of the Pinot Noir grapes. These conditions, along with soils which are ideal for viticulture, provide an excellent basis not only for Pinot Noir, but also for Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. The soils are a mix of clay and gravels, but all feature a high pH level; grapes produce their best wines on sweet soils.

For More Info and photos: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/aboutus/ourstory.html

“Simplicity and difficulty are twin sisters” said famous Japanese … no no nobody said this, I made it up, what I am saying is these ocean rocks are slippery bastards, the guys who balance river rocks are having it so so easy, river rocks are funky, irregular , they have grip …. Ocean rocks are egg shaped and have no grip, to balance a straight stack of them is like balancing .. well stack of eggs, go on try it, eggs I mean, let me know how it went. Anyway, it took a few collapses and trying various things before some agreeable shape been achieved and agreed to stay. When finished I went back to our shady spot under the tree to get my camera and I saw a kid walking along the beach approaching the thing. That was the ultimate test of how zen I am. Do I run back and shoo the kid away? Do I leave the thing in the hands of fate ? Well, I am very very zen I appears. I have left it to fate and the kid passed the thing without knocking it down. Would I get upset if he did? No, because I am very very zen you see.

Something zen to play me out;

youtu.be/pA9q6uwcBio?si=i1ksJ4PDawnEY5gg

For those who are having difficulty finding them at Colony Farm Park in Coquitlam. Make yourself familiar with the males call. It is available online and in birding apps. It is a little bird and even though it is brightly colored you may have trouble spotting it by visuals alone.

Do not play the call for them. The males do not respond to it and you just annoy other seekers!

Check near the first parking lot off Lougheed, CAREFULLY along the rail line

and the road going into the park. The field northwest of the hospital is a frequent hangout for them. Right now I have heard them in the big trees and then you have to look very carefully.

Or you can be lucky like me and find it as I walked along a trail heard the song, tip toed past some nettles and blackberry vines and it was perched in a bush!

Good luck

Iodine bottle.

In Victorian times, when chemicals started being sold in quantity to the populace, it was common practice to have bottles made with some sort of tactile warning of the poisonous contents to help people with sight difficulties. Typically the bottles would have ridges or an embossed hatch on the glass.

The practice is far less common now with the advent of plastic safety containers and a wider (though declining) Braille literacy. Currently in the UK, for example, all medicines have their names embossed on the packaging using Braille.

For the Macro Mondays Poisonous theme this I thought it would be fun to concentrate on this unseen bottle language.

This image is of a Tincture of Iodine bottle purchased from Boots Chemists of Nottingham in the 1960s. The bottle, sadly, is almost empty. It’s difficult to buy Iodine in its yellow form these days because of its propensity to stain things.

Iodine is used externally as an antiseptic (rather like Mercurochrome in the States when I was a kid - can you still get that I wonder?). Being a halogen, it is a strong oxidant. Iodine is also essential for the body (it is stored in the Thyroid glands) but when ingested in any quantity it is toxic.

I particularly wanted to show the wonderful dense brown colour of the chemical along with the ridges on the glass sides of the bottle. The image shows about an inch of the bottle.

Iodine is useful when you apply it to an injury caused by splinters. The wood absorbs the colour easily so you can see them readily.

It also looks great when applied to a damaged finger. The finger is stained a rich yellow/brown and looks as if it has already died a decidedly horrible death. This is is sure to elicit sympathy well in excess of the needs of the injury… well that’s my theory anyway.

Thank you for taking time to look. I hope you enjoy the image.

[Handheld in bright sunlight. Basic processing in LR. A bit of fluff removal in Affinity Photo along with enriching the colour; a slight dark vignette and crop to strengthen the composition; bold sharpening in Topaz Detail to emphasize the bits in the liquid and the ridge texture.]

I captured the two photographs that make up this Vertorama... with extreme difficulty!

Although the south-easterly wind was blowing quite strong on Friday afternoon, fortunately Cosy Bay was protected by the mountains and was quite calm. After spending a couple of hours watching the kids splashing around in the water, Jenny and I decided to drive to Hout Bay to grab a bite to eat in one of the local restaurants. The road to Hout Bay follows the coastline and offers a number of quite spectacular views... so I was really hoping to capture one or two more shots along the way. While driving along this road, we came around a corner and out of the lee of the mountain... and suddenly we felt the full force of the howling gale!!

Having lived in Cape Town for most of my life, I know how strong the wind can sometimes blow here. But this was unprecedented... the wind was so strong that it was almost impossible to get out of the car without the door ripping off and blowing away! I held on to the door with both hands and carefully squeezed myself out. Then I staggered over to the edge of the parking area and held the camera up to my face to get some shots of the wild ocean... but no matter how hard I tried... I just couldn't keep the camera (and myself) still enough to get anything sharp. Shooting from a tripod was out of the question (even a heavy camera bag hanging underneath it wouldn't have held it down), so I hunched myself behind the low barrier wall, set the aperture to f8 (for a fast shutter speed)... and hoped for the best.

Although I decided to include the trig-beacon in the lower right-hand corner of the frame to add a sense of scale... I'm afraid that this shot doesn't come close to capturing the moment as I experienced it!!

I've been quite busy these past few days with a million-and-one things, so unfortunately I haven't had much time for Flickr. However, I promise that I will catch up with all your latest photographs as soon as I have a few moments.

Nikon D300, Sigma 18-200mm at 44mm, aperture of f8, with a 1/640th second exposure.

Click here to view this one large.

Click here to check out my Vertorama tutorial.

The jelly fungi comprise a diverse and complicated group within the Basidiomycetes. Identification of species often hinges on microscopic examination, and things are further complicated by the fact that it is often difficult to transport a jelly fungus home in "examinable" condition, to say nothing of the difficulties encountered with trying to dry and preserve specimens.

My first post in some time. I will admit to having some difficulty finding personal inspiration amid the current chaos.

This is a repost of a photoshop project I did a few years ago. A digital manipulation of a vintage WWI photo of a brigade of soldiers from Brown County, Wisconsin USA. My maternal grandfather (William) is seated front row, one o'clock (I have tagged him with a yellow dot). The original photo was taken at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville, KY USA. The map is from a vintage US Government book on the war showing the world battlefronts in the year 1918 (I sphereized it in PS to make it look like a globe).

My reasons for this repost are two-fold:

1) to take advantage of the more recent upload size - zoom in to see the faces. The photographer did a great job with the original photo.

2) ALSO going on in the world at the time was the LAST pandemic - the "Spanish Flu". As it happened, my grandfather entered late in the war. He contracted the flu while at Camp Taylor. As such he did not travel overseas with his unit. By the time he was well, the war was over. Had he traveled with his unit, he may not have come back. THUS, I may owe my existence to the flu pandemic of 1918-19.

Another interesting bit about the photo - I shared it with the local historical society. In doing so, I came to find that the uncle of a friend/neighbor is seated to the immediate right of my grandfather. An incredible coincidence. My friend and I have shared many laughs about that and hope that they were friends too.

They got through their trials and I guess we will too, one way or another.

Stay safe out their Flickrinos and keep posting your insprirational photos. I know I need them right now.

A free Spirit

Mirit Ben-Nun was born in Beer- Sheva in 1966. Over the years she has presented in solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Israel and around the world.

When she was six, her father was killed in a car accident, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, Mirit and Dana.

Ben-Nun had difficulty concentrating on studies, which caused behavioral problems, and at the age of fourteen she dropped out of the education system and went to work. The colors and writing tools gave her a quiet private space and her own way of surviving. Creativity eased her tumultuous soul.

Until her early 30’s she worked as a telemarketer and for the next fourteen years she doodled and doodled. While talking to customers she filled thousands of pages with lines and dots that resembled hundreds of compressed eggs and seeds which she threw away.

In a large portion of each page she would pick a random word and would write it down over and over while concentrating on her hand movements.

Even then she noticed the rising of her need and obsession as she practiced the endless doodling and writing.

Ben-Nun testifies that the lack of artistic training to paint "correctly" freed her from adhering to the rules of painting and allowed her freedom and spirit of rebellion.

In 1998, she received a bunch of canvases and acrylic paints as a gift from her sister.

She brought the acrylic into her world of lines and dots; she went back to painting women and masks that appeared in her childhood paintings and flooded them with lines and dots without separating body and background.

This is also the moment when Ben-Nun began to refer to herself as a painter.

and when art became the center of her life.

The intense colors in Ben-Nun's paintings sweep the viewer into a sensual experience. The viewer traces the surge of dots and lines formed in packed layers of paint. The movement leads to a kind of female-male hormonal dance within the human body and to a communion with an artistic experience of instinct, passion, conceiving and birth.

Contributing to this experience is the wealth of characteristics reminiscent of tribal art. Ben-Nun merges these with a humorous and kicking contemporary Western Pop art. In the language of unique art, Ben-Nun creates an unconventional conversation between past and present cultures.

It is evident that the paintings emerge from a regenerated need and desire, a force that erupts from her soul, a subconscious survival instinct to which she cannot or does not want to resist.

Ben-Nun places women at the center stage where they are her work focus. The paintings obsessively deal with the existential experience of being a woman in the world. A few of the women's paintings carry feminist slogans stressing the women's struggle in society, a critique for being held to perfection and being required to perform as a model of "beauty, purity and motherhood". Feminism pulsates in Ben-Nun's psyche, through her diverse female images and the play between beauty and unsightliness; Ben-Nun assimilates the consciousness of feminine possibility, of not being "perfect", of being powerful, influential, and outside social norms. This mandates a departure from acceptable limitations where Ben-Nun creates a new world of free spirit for women.

Mirit Ben-Nun is a mother of three and the grandmother of three grandchildren.

Mirela Tal

"There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer.

No disease that enough love will not heal.

No door that enough love will not open.

No wall that enough love will not bring down ...

No matter how deeply embedded it is the problem,

nor hopeless it seems.

No matter how tangled the web that is,

nor is the huge error.

understanding of love, dissolve it all.

Bibiana Aysha

"No hay dificultad que suficiente amor no venza.

No hay enfermedad que suficiente amor no cure.

No hay puerta que suficiente amor no abra.

No hay muro que suficiente amor no derribe...

No importa lo profundamente asentado que esté el problema,

ni lo desesperanzador que parezca.

No importa lo enredada que esté la maraña,

ni lo enorme que sea el error.

la comprensión del amor, lo disolverá todo.

Knowing firsthand the difficulty that lesser known artists have in finding a venue to display their work, Marion reopened the Little Gallery to visiting artists after her husband’s death. Today the DeGrazia Foundation continues this legacy during the winter months. We are happy to announce our 2017/2018 Little Gallery application is now online until February 28th! All applications must be filled out and submitted to the gallery by March 31st. Good luck! Please click on the link for more information degrazia.org/exhibitions/little-gallery/.

She likes her new fortress.

These birds seem to have no difficulty navigating a mostly frozen creek. The duck on the right is a Greater Scaup.

Bronte Creek, Oakville, Ontario

The proces of dying, to transform, the never ending change

Difficulties prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.

Credits!

We finally have some winners after much difficulty! I may as well just always have a 4th Place because we always add one lol. It's always a tough decision and hard not to include just about everyone. We had 6 judges with a total of 42 entries to go through (including those entered only in world). They looked at creativity, originality and showing the beauty of the sim as criteria. They felt the above showed off the sim in the most creative and imaginative ways. I would've loved to have added 10 honorable mentions, but had to narrow it down a bit.

I want to thank everyone who entered! All the pictures were awesome. We will display all the winners at the front of the gallery. I will also post the winning pictures on www.thelostunicorngallery.com soon.

‎Tell Him everything. Confide in Him rather than in people because Allahﷻ will never betray your trust. He will show you a way out of every difficulty if you’re patient & willing to learn, fear Him Not His creation ask Him to help purify your intent.

Difficulty 10/10.

The wasps are constantly moving, never rest. The only moment to catch him this close is when he is a bit "drunk" because of the flower juices, so he moves a little bit slower than usually.

Count the sheep!

All Rights Reserved

© Angela M. Lobefaro

© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

2nd one for my 100 x series.

Difficulty by KT Tunstall on YouTube

To make converts, we are tempted to play down the difficulties and play up the peace of mind and worldly success enjoyed by those who accept Christ. We will never be completely honest with our hearers until we tell them the blunt truth that, as members of a race of moral rebels, they are in a serious jam, and one they will not get out of easily. If they refuse to repent and believe on Christ, they will most surely perish. If they do turn to Him, the same enemies that crucified Him will try to crucify them. (A W Tozer)

The Windows

Length: 1 mile round trip

Difficulty: Easy

Description: Also known as the Spectacles, these two arches stand side by side, though separated by some distance, cut from the same sandstone fin. A large “nose†separates the Spectacle arches visually from the southwest, made of a gigantic fin remnant over 100 feet wide. Directly southwest of the Windows sits Turret Arch with its vigilant tower standing beside. The whole Windows area is full of unique and captivating stone formations, with many arches among them.

To get there, drive 9.2 miles up the Arches Entrance Road, and then take the first right after Balanced Rock into the Windows section of the park. You will follow this road 2.7 miles to its end at a circle for the Windows Trail. This is a leisurely trail, and visitors can easily extend their visit to include Double Arch, the Parade of Elephants, and the other features of the Windows area of the park should they have the time and the desire.

The Windows Trailhead

There is ample parking here for the many visitors that frequent the Windows section of the park.

Turret Arch

The fin that Turret Arch is carving away is over 100 feet wide, but the arch itself is relatively young and small. There is a secondary, smaller arch directly to the right of the main arch, and maybe within a few hundred thousand years or so the two of them will join to create a larger arch.

The Windows

The two Spectacles are formed of the same sandstone fin, one of the farthest reaches of the collection that sits below Elephant Butte.

Double Arch

Double Arch takes its name because of it consists of two arches that share the same stone as a foundation for both of their outer legs. Double Arch was formed by downward water erosion from atop the sandstone, rather than from side-to-side water erosion.

The Parade of Elephants

To the south of Double Arch lies a lone section of sandstone, the remnants of the fin to which Double Arch used to belong. The rock formation appears to be a herd of elephants, holding each others’ tails, traveling single file. The formation consists of a few small arches within the elephants’ ranks that seem to give the impression that they were actually carved to appear as the pachyderms.

Difficulty in reading.

History of "The Old Natchez Trace"

In the early 1800's, many thoughtful Americans believed that isolation and the difficulties of communication would force the Mississippi Valley settlements to form a separate nation. Hoping to hold the frontier, Congress, in 1800, established a post route from Nashville (TN) to Natchez (MS).

The Trace, then a series of Indian Trails, had drawn from the Secretary of State the bitter comment, "The passage of mail from Natchez is as tedious as from Europe when westerly winds prevail." To speed the mail, President Jefferson ordered the army to clear out the trail and make it a road.

Postriders, carrying letters, dispatches, and newspaper helped bind the vast turbulent frontier to the republic. However, their day passed by the mid-1830's when steamboats, running from New Orleans to Pittsburg, robbed the Trace of its usefulness as a main post route.

The sign shown above is posted near a section of the original Old Natchez Trace (before the road) that you can walk on yourself as it winds back and forth across the newer Natchez Trace Road. Some sections are fairly flat adjacent to the nearby roadway and others are deeper, worn out paths that are usually referred to as the 'Sunken Trace'.

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

« If you appreciate my work and would like to support me becoming an independent photographer, become a Patreon supporter at www.patreon.com/alexdehaas, or buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/alexdehaas :) »

unstable : (Adj) 1. not firmly fixed and likely to wobble or fall

2. likely to change suddenly and create difficulties or danger

3. (of a person) having abrupt changes of mood or behaviour

No this isn't a photoshop trick, and (#$^%&) my foot hurts from standing like this. Consider that my rant for the day.

(unless you have prior proof I've already ranted. In that case...Shhhhhh.)

I have been tagged yet again for 16 things, so anyone who isn’t intrigued by useless babble might find it pertinent to move along now…………

Once I started it all just flowed out...therapeutically perhaps?

No obligation to read whatsoever. It's just there.

Consider yourself warned. :)

I will never do it again.

Goodnight.

****************

1. I am an avid bookworm. I am currently reading 3 books at the same time. I don’t know how I separate them in my head, but it’s not nearly as hard as you would imagine.

2. I despise my 365 because I feel that 99% of the time I rush through it and post absolute rubbish simply to achieve the “one-a-day” rule. I have literally only posted a handful of pictures (handful being 5-8) that I am actually proud of. The rest of them, I could really care less about and would disown them if my name wasn’t so blatantly attached to them.

3. I am ridiculously self-conscious. It actually makes me uncomfortable when people tell me I’m beautiful because my initial response is to believe that they are lying to me. I never have, and never will, truly think that I am pretty. I am and always will, however, be content being who I am.

4. I am perfectly satisfied being unsocial and alone. (a byproduct of my self consciousness?) I would take a good book, a cup of coffee and a blanket over a night out on the town any day. I like myself, and I prefer company I trust.

5. One of my biggest irritations is when people underestimate me for my age or appearance. I can change a tire in less than ten minutes and I can drink a full grown man under the table. I am a customer service manager of an entire office and I can play Mozart’s ‘Rhondo Alla Turca’ from beginning to end without looking at sheet music. Neither my face nor age defines any of these things, the rest of my character withstanding.

6. I want to be a mother more than anything in this entire world, and I am not the least bit frightened or apprehensive about it. I just simply feel that my life is incomplete, and it always will until my husband and I have a family that is solely ours.

7. I cannot tolerate immaturity or mistrust. I very recently had an incident that involved being backstabbed and slandered, and consequently lied to. I have firmly resolved to disown these people in the highest level comfortable based upon our relationships. I am a forgiving person, but I refuse to allow myself to be a victim. I also have no desire to be associated with people who constantly make themselves the victim.

8. If I could go back in time, I would do everything differently. I know it isn’t traditionally inspiring for someone to say that, but in my case, I regrettably blundered through a good 3 years of my life in a way that I am forever scarred for how I harmed myself and damaged others.

I would unhesitatingly accept a chance to try it all again.

9. I have numerous acquaintances whom I know well and who know me half as well. The amount of people in this world that I sincerely call friends is only three. (my sister, my husband, and one friend.) It is not that I do not have frequent opportunities to enter into friendships, but I rarely trust people enough to open up to them, nor do I wish to waste my time trying only to be sorely disappointed.

10. I adjust myself based upon the company I keep and the situation I am in. Likewise, I rarely utilize my full vocabulary on Flickr. It is not that I believe anyone is improperly educated and would be confused. It is because when I am on Flickr I am just simply me and there is no reason to appear to be pretentiously showing off by tossing out five-syllable words unnecessarily. I also rarely reveal anything in my facts. Today I am.

11. I spent many years despising my childhood and using it as a scapegoat for the things I had done detrimentally wrong. Now, as I’ve finally matured I realize that any and all somewhat traumatizing instances from my childhood did not in any way disrupt my development but rather strengthened and prepared me to become the person I am today. For which I am thankful.

12. I hate change. It throws me into a chaotic state of discomfort when I am compelled to attempt things that are unfamiliar or unknown to me. For as long as I can consciously remember, I have had anxiety issues when I feel out of place or exposed. Therefore, I often force myself into such situations in attempt to widen my comfort bubble…..I have been doing it for years.

13. I am violently opposed to dependency. I am of the firm opinion that after a certain point in your life you need to learn to rely upon yourself alone to handle your existence, finances, and emotions. I am not referring to the desire to have someone in your life (obviously). I am more specifically determined that one should not ‘need’ anyone else to survive in the world.

14. I abhor my own contradictions. As much as I hate dependency, I am admittedly a mess without caffeine or nicotine. I vow to rectify it, but somehow the first step evades me. I will do it eventually.

15. Rather than being a person who knows a lot about a small amount of things, I know a small amount about a lot of things. I’ve rather disliked this over the years and wished that I had a better depth into certain subjects. Simultaneously, there have been numerous times in which my brief understanding or knowledge of a range of subjects has been incredibly useful. I’m indeterminate.

16. There are a great many crevices and cracks to my personality that I seldom reveal. It’s not that I’m embarrassed or reluctant to be myself, I simply attribute it to my private nature. I dislike revealing things that make me appear to be pretentious or proud, and most everything else is typically unnecessary information for anyone to associate with me. For example; saying that I completed Calculus my Sophomore year in high school merely makes me sound arrogant, and the fact that I can fold my tongue in half towards the back of my throat is simply worthless information.

Point proven.

What a mess Flickr was the night before last! I had difficulty adding titles to my uploaded images, comments didn't save and, after I had added a description to each of the 20 photos, the descriptions all disappeared. When I opened Flickr next morning, there was still no sign of them. Then, suddenly, they re-appeared. I also discovered that all the hundreds of photos from this trip that I added to the map are no longer on the map!!! Someone on the Help Forum told someone else to refresh a page and the map will appear again - and it works. Now, I can't add photos to albums - it looks like they are added, but when I check the album, some of yesterda's photos had not appeared. Suddenly, now appeared. Also, my descriptions appeared in duplicate! Today, 13 May 2019, everything I try to do on Flickr takes a long time to do.

My photos taken at the National Butterfly Centre, Mission, South Texas, have now come to an end, so you can sigh a huge sigh of relief : ) Today I added 22 photos taken at another place that we called in at later in the afternoon, the Valley Nature Centre. Unfortunately, we only had an hour there before closing time, but how glad we were that we found this place. The highlight there was watching 25 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons coming in to roost for the night in the trees, right where we were standing! What a great sight this was, and we were lucky enough to have a good, close view of these gorgeous birds, though in very poor light. We also saw some Purple Martins and their circular, hanging nesting "gourds".

On Day 6 of our birding holiday in South Texas, 24 March 2019, we left our hotel in Kingsville, South Texas, and started our drive to Mission, where we would be staying at La Quinta Inn & Suites for three nights. On the first stretch of our drive, we were lucky enough to see several bird species, including a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Harris's Hawk, Pyrrhuloxia male (looks similar to a Cardinal) and a spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. This stretch is called Hawk Alley.

We had a long drive further south towards Mission, with only a couple of drive-by photos taken en route (of a strangely shaped building that turned out to be a huge, deserted seed storage building). Eventually, we reached our next planned stop, the National Butterfly Centre. This was a great place, my favourite part of it being the bird feeding station, where we saw all sorts of species and reasonably close. Despite the name of the place, we only saw a few butterflies while we were there. May have been the weather or, more likely, the fact that I was having so much fun at the bird feeding station. We also got to see Spike, a giant African Spurred Tortoise. All the nature/wildlife parks that we visited in South Texas had beautiful visitor centres and usually bird feeding stations. And there are so many of these parks - so impressive!

Tomorrow, I will be able to start sorting and editing images taken on Day 7 of our 13-day trip!

The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.~Jim Rohn

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to everyone who celebrates this special day today!

What a mess Flickr was last night! I had difficulty adding titles to my uploaded images, comments didn't save and, after I had added a description to each of the 20 photos, the descriptions all disappeared. When I opened Flickr this morning, there was still no sign of them. Then, suddenly, they re-appeared. I have also just discovered that all the hundreds of photos from this trip that I added to the map are no longer on the map!!! Someone on the Help Forum told someone else to refresh a page and the map will appear again - and it works. Now, I can't add photos to albums - it looks like they are added, but when I check the album, some of today's photos have not appeared. Suddenly, now appeared. Also, my descriptions have just appeared in duplicate! Think I will get off Flickr and see if it is back to "normal" later.

My photos taken at the National Butterfly Centre, Mission, South Texas, have now come to an end, so you can sigh a huge sigh of relief : ) After that, I have just a few photos taken at another place that we called in at later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we only had an hour there before closing time, but how glad we were that we found this place. The highlight there was watching 25 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons coming in to roost for the night in the trees, right where we were standing! What a great sight this was, and we were lucky enough to have a good, close view of these gorgeous birds. We also saw some Purple Martins and their circular, hanging nest "gourds".

On Day 6 of our birding holiday in South Texas, 24 March 2019, we left our hotel in Kingsville, South Texas, and started our drive to Mission, where we would be staying at La Quinta Inn & Suites for three nights. On the first stretch of our drive, we were lucky enough to see several bird species, including a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Harris's Hawk, Pyrrhuloxia male (looks similar to a Cardinal) and a spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. This stretch is called Hawk Alley.

We had a long drive further south towards Mission, with only a couple of drive-by photos taken en route (of a strangely shaped building that turned out to be a huge, deserted seed storage building). Eventually, we reached our next planned stop, the National Butterfly Centre. This was a great place, my favourite part of it being the bird feeding station, where we saw all sorts of species and reasonably close. Despite the name of the place, we only saw a few butterflies while we were there. May have been the weather or, more likely, the fact that I was having so much fun at the bird feeding station. We also got to see Spike, a giant African Spurred Tortoise. All the nature/wildlife parks that we visited in South Texas had beautiful visitor centres and usually bird feeding stations. And there are so many of these parks - so impressive!

nationalbutterflycenter.org/nbc-multi-media/in-the-news/1...

"Ten years ago, the North American Butterfly Association broke ground for what has now become the largest native plant botanical garden in the United States. This 100-acre preserve is home to Spike (who thinks he is a butterfly) and the greatest volume and variety of wild, free-flying butterflies in the nation. In fact, USA Today calls the National Butterfly Center, in Mission, Texas, 'the butterfly capitol of the USA'." From the Butterfly Centre's website.

The Centre is facing huge challenges, as a result of the "Border Wall". The following information is from the Centre's website.

www.nationalbutterflycenter.org/about-nbc/maps-directions...

"No permission was requested to enter the property or begin cutting down trees. The center was not notified of any roadwork, nor given the opportunity to review, negotiate or deny the workplan. Same goes for the core sampling of soils on the property, and the surveying and staking of a “clear zone” that will bulldoze 200,000 square feet of habitat for protected species like the Texas Tortoise and Texas Indigo, not to mention about 400 species of birds. The federal government had decided it will do as it pleases with our property, swiftly and secretly, in spite of our property rights and right to due process under the law."

"What the Border Wall will do here:

1) Eradicate an enormous amount of native habitat, including host plants for butterflies, breeding and feeding areas for wildlife, and lands set aside for conservation of endangered and threatened species-- including avian species that migrate N/S through this area or over-winter, here, in the tip of the Central US Flyway.

2) Create devastating flooding to all property up to 2 miles behind the wall, on the banks of the mighty Rio Grande River, here.

3) Reduce viable range land for wildlife foraging and mating. This will result in greater competition for resources and a smaller gene pool for healthy species reproduction. Genetic "bottlenecks" can exacerbate blight and disease.

IN ADDITION:

4) Not all birds can fly over the wall, nor will all butterfly species. For example, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, found on the southern border from Texas to Arizona, only flies about 6 ft in the air. It cannot overcome a 30 ft vertical wall of concrete and steel.

5) Nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife, which rely on sunset and sunrise cues to regulate vital activity, will be negatively affected by night time flood lighting of the "control zone" the DHS CBP will establish along the wall and new secondary drag roads. The expansion of these areas to vehicular traffic will increase wildlife roadkill.

6) Animals trapped north of the wall will face similar competition for resources, cut off from native habitat in the conservation corridor and from water in the Rio Grande River and adjacent resacas. HUMANS, here, will also be cut off from our only source of fresh water, in this irrigated desert.

Hello ladies! I would first like to apologize for the delay, technical difficulties aren't fun. Since this happened, I decided to save time by NOT judging your creepy close ups, but instead of getting rid of 6 of you like planned, I will keep all of you. But, that means next week 2 MODELS will be eliminated from the competition. Don't worry, in the future themes will go up at the right times.

Now, for your first theme, I picked something relatively easy.

"Karma's A Bitch...And Death Is Her Sister."

In this theme, you will be victims of the lovely Karma. If you already don't know, Karma is the result of your actions. It could be good or bad, but is usually referred to as bad. So, in the spirit of Karma each of you lovely models will be portraying a different death, that resulted from doing something bad. It could be anything from stealing to a catfight in the house. It's up to you.

Requirements:

~Full body shot

~Fierce and fashionable outfits

~Death must be easy to see

~Try not to make this a bloodbath.

~A small story of what happened in the photo will be appreciated!

~Tag me in photos please

**YOU CANNOT USE STRANGLED AS A DEATH. I'M USING IT AS AN EXAMPLE. BUT YOU CANNOT USE STRANGLED.**

Photos will be due the 31st. That's 2 weeks. Anyone who doesn't turn in a photo will be eliminated.

Be fierce, be creative, but most of all...BE CREEPY.

MODELS WHO TURNED IN A PHOTO: (in no order)

1. Jinkx Pidgen- www.flickr.com/photos/bratzjaderox/9533522305/in/contacts/

2. Lucy Hale- www.flickr.com/photos/94274459@N07/9535715862/

3. Lou- www.flickr.com/photos/mramerica2011/9566343458/in/contacts/

4. Lorelei Sin- www.flickr.com/photos/fabulousdolls/9595123368/

5. Marie-Andre Mothee-

6. Victoria Van Hartog- www.flickr.com/photos/malaysianbarbiecollector/9607155096...

7. Rose Lee-

8. Angel Jade-

9. Jade Nicole West- www.flickr.com/photos/93220200@N07/9547396978/

10. Okiku- www.flickr.com/photos/72298509@N05/9569918363/

11. Sweetie-Regina Green- www.flickr.com/photos/reginia/9636788928/

12. Katy Daly- www.flickr.com/photos/bratzboymax/9557593264/

13. Jemima Grey- www.flickr.com/photos/52629305@N07/9611950863/14.

14.Penelope Delis- DROPOUT

15. Ashlee Smith-http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashlee_bitch_fashion4/9593241430/

16. Zoé A- www.flickr.com/photos/87049656@N06/9574104823/in/contacts/

17. Sweettina Dágwood- www.flickr.com/photos/diva3tina/9633885387/

18. Spencer Grey- www.flickr.com/photos/happydollplace/9640969420/

19. Jamlia Blossom-

20. Spencer Martinéz-

Had difficulty creating a picture for my own chosen theme, lol;

this morning the first snow arrived, and when I saw the tyre tracks I was thinking of which road people have to take these days : with all that divided and twisted (non)information we get from the media, we sometimes lose our own path and forget which way to pick and create our daily life;

ugh, I've said :-)

Using my 1950's British 'Ensign Selfix 16/20 Mk 1' with last roll of 2007 dated ILFORD XP2 400 Super - I had difficulty seeing the frame numbers through the red window so some were over-lapped .

The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path. ~ Jim Rohn

. . . meant to be viewed on black . . . Via Fluidr . . . (then click on image to view details LARGE) . . . bigger is definitely better . . .

having turned with difficulty at acton bridge , the daniel adamson finally sails back down the weaver to liverpool

Drs 37403 drags an errant set through Dagworth near Stowmarket as 5P99 Stowmarket-Norwich having been assisted previously by Freightliner 66502 to get into Stowmarket loop after operating difficulties with 90012 seen just at the end of the train dor.The sight and sound of this climbingHaughley bank was superb!!