AFTR the Fact Couture SL
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Another slightly brighter view of the hills I visited recently, from a good vantage point it gave a great view for as far as the eye could see on what I consider a very interesting landscape with it's many layers.
In the early evening light the scene was really quite breathtaking. It's a great place to photograph and also very quiet, in fact I only seen one farmer on a tractor far away in the distance during my visit :))
-South Canterbury, New Zealand.
In fact the group at the top were not threatening at all. Some were about to descend the staircase, the others were a photographer taking pictures of the man posing on the handrail..
reading fingers have left almost invisible traces on the letters. the story is very old.
what is readable, what can we know...just some shades and hints of the forgotten lives.
Mallard fact: if a predator is lurking nearby, a mother mallard will pretend to be injured to distract it from her brood. That's motherly love. :)
I may quite possibly be the proudest of this particular photograph out of nearly all of them. This guy was taken the very last day of a Yellowstone workshop. We were all on our way back to the hotel, and I happened to glance off to my right, right next to a road, and there were two brown lumps in the snow. I got my dad to drive down the road, and.. lo and behold... moose! Two moose, in fact! One male and one female. They were so close to the car, i'm amazed that us being there didn't bother them. However, it was so very, very worth it in this awesome photograph.
Sword ferns often don't get the respect I think they should. They carry on with their lives, not asking much of us. A bit of water and some shade will help the average sword fern thrive. I knew they held a certain beauty with their arching fronds that sheltered the spiders and other little creatures in my garden. However, once I took a close look at the underside of one leaf, I had to know more. Here's a link: www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/pol_mun.html
Fun Fact!
In late winter we always have clusters of this very small plant come up all over the yard. Close by, we have a large farm that is dormant for Spring tilling and these little plants form a huge blanket of purple color to break the dregs of winter none color. The plant is actually a flower, but treated as a weed. It is named Henbit Nettle and comes to the US from Europe. It was used in the early days of US settlements as a natural feed for chickens and hence the name. It has a taste of celery and is used as an addition to breakfast scrambled eggs.
I used some small twine to show the scale of the tiny little flowers. Lighting is simple with a spotlight to backlight the flowers and produce a glow in the leaves. Fill was a small silver reflector.
We are back from Portugal - very jet lagged and tired but happy to be home in spite of the fact that we were in 18C temperatures in Portugal and have returned to -28C at Keefer Lake (and a lot of snow).
I am looking forward to reviewing the 900 plus photos that I took in Portugal ... hopefully there are a few 'keepers.'
- Keefer Lake, Ontario, Canada -
Interesting fact: House Wrens are fiercely territorial, they have been known to destroy bluebird and other cavity nester's eggs by piercing them, and then often removing the eggs from the nest.
If you like this and some of my other images, I invite you to take a look at my wildlife/birding blog, which I try to update every few days. ... grenfell.weebly.com and my web page at www.tekfx.ca
I appreciate your feedback and comments! so feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached at billm@tekfx.ca or on Flickrmail
All images are copyright. Please don't use this, or any other of my, images, on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission © All rights reserved
The Sphinx (Romanian: Sfinxul) is a natural rock formation situated in Bucegi massif at an altitude of 2,216 meters (7,270 ft). Its bizarre shape has many scientific and even mystic explanations.
From a geographical point of view, it is an odd shape that was dug in conglomerate rock by a wind action called corrosion, which eroded the alternating layers of sandstone and limestone thus creating the shape we see now.
From a historical and even mystical point of view, the Sphinx is the representation of a supreme deity from Pelasgian time. Its human aspect is associated with an expression of sovereignty and power, evidenced by its proportioned face, severe lips and voluntary chin. Pelasgians inhabited the coasts and islands of the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean before the arrival of Greek-speaking peoples in the Bronze Age.
Many historians go as far as saying that the Sphinx of Giza (Egypt), is a copy of the one in Bucegi. This is based on some similarities that are more or less accidental, such as the fact that the Sphinx of Bucegi has the same height as the one from Giza.
With an average body height of four feet and wing length of nine feet, the American White Pelican gives off a dino vibe.
While gangly on land, their soaring abilities are amazing and they know how to use the air currents both in their migrations as well as in daily flight.
This one passed directly over me as I fired off several shots.
Here's a link to 10 Fun Facts About Pelicans :)
www.mentalfloss.com/article/515654/10-fun-facts-about-pel...
Painted Lady Butterfly: -
This species is a migrant to our shores and, in some years, the migration can be spectacular. The most-recent spectacle, in 2009, is considered to be one of the greatest migrations ever, with sightings from all over the British Isles that are definitely on a par with previous cardui years.
This species originates from north Africa, and it has been suggested that the urge to migrate is triggered when an individual encounters a certain density of its own kind within a given area. This theory makes perfect sense, since this species can occur in high densities that result in food plants being stripped bare on occasion with many larvae perishing as a result.
Unfortunately, this species is unable to survive our winter in any stage. This is a real shame, for not only does this species often arrive in large numbers, but is a welcome sight as it nectars in gardens throughout the British Isles in late summer. This butterfly has a strong flight and can be found anywhere in the British Isles, including Orkney and Shetland. An interesting fact is that this butterfly is the only butterfly species ever to have been recorded from Iceland.
Courtesy: UK Butterflies website
We could easily have scooped up this small dog and taken her home. In fact we were encouraged to do so by the locals. Sadly we aren't allowed pets in our condo
A combination of moments,
light and shadows.
Lines and dots.
All inconspicuous and at the same time quite clear.
ursus arctos
length: 1 to 2.8 m
weight: 139 kg (male), 95 kg (female)
lifespan: 20 to 30 years
predators: humans
habitat: boreal forest, mountain alpine, arctic tundra
yukon population estimate: 6,000-7,000
they breed for the first time around their 8th year and reproduce every 3 to 4 years
bears routinely distinguish between threatening and non-threatening human behaviour
bears are not mean or malicious; they are very gentle, curious, and tolerant animals
shih shòh (gwich’in)
shär cho (hän)
dlēze (kaska)
srà cho (northern tutchone)
akłaq (inuvialuit)
atsìá sho (big grandpa) (southern tutchone)
shash chō (tagish)
shüh choh (upper tanana)
xóots or xûts (tlingit)
Outhouse lily is a species of daylily native to Asia. It is very widely grown as an ornamental plant in temperate climates for its showy flowers and ease of cultivation. It is not a true lily in the genus Lilium, but gets its name from the superficial similarity of its flowers to Lilium and from the fact that each flower lasts only one day.
This somewhat rare and unusual car/truck took Best in Class at the 2024 Lime Rock Concours Show. The truck was developed around Studebaker's Dictator car, (looks more like their Commander model, so the info could be wrong) used it's chassis along the front and rear styling features of the car. This hybrid car/truck predated Ford's Ranchero and Chevrolet's El Camino by around 20 years.
The Studebaker Coupe Express is a passenger car based coupe utility, produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, between 1937 and 1939. Featuring an automobile styled cab and flared rear fenders right off the Studebaker Dictator, it was sold both with a manufacturer supplied pick up style metal bed, and as a rolling chassis and cab to be fitted with a bed or boxes by the purchaser.
The Coupe Express was designed by Raymond Loewy and utilized the Dictator passenger car frame, running gear, and front sheet metal. A new body stamping was made to form the cab back. The model was sold both with a manufacturer supplied metal bed and as a cab and chassis, with the Dictator’s automobile-style sweepingly flared rear fenders attached. A service box, built to specification, would be fabricated by (or for) the end user (such as a plumber or electrician).
The truck was powered by the larger of Studebaker's L-head six-cylinder flathead engines and mated to a 3-speed manual transmission. Studebaker offered a Borg-Warner 3-speed transmission with overdrive as an option. Other options included a radio, heater, wire reinforced sliding back window and turn indicators. Two optional wheels were available, including a stamped steel disc wheel and a stamped steel 'artillery' spoked wheel.
Production for the 1937 model year was approximately 3,000 units.
The truck's passenger cab was restyled in 1938 to reflect the modernized passenger car sheet metal resulted a slightly longer pickup bed. Production for 1938 was approximately 1,200 units.
The 1939 model was again remodeled to reflect Studebaker's annual design updates. Production was approximately 1,000 units. The Coupe Express model was discontinued after the 1939 model year, and Studebaker did not offer a successor model for 1940.
Studebaker introduced the M-Series pickup truck 1941, while the company used the Coupe Express name in advertising for a time,[citation needed] but no M-Series trucks were ever officially designated as the Coupe Express.
The fact that Studebaker itself labeled it a “coupe” rather than a truck (a very different thing at that time; retained a stylish, even luxurious, interior instead of replacing it with a more utilitarian one; and never named or officially referred to any of its actual pickup trucks with the terms “coupe“ or “express“, further distance it from being labeled as one.
Due to the fact that the wind comes almost from West, the waves become the same direction, from W to E, and wash the sand away
To stop/make less this washout effect, to break the stronght of the waves - that's the reason of this pillars. In the northern part of Zeeland there are beaches , many km long, and there are this pillars, always two lines together, repeating so about 500m. Depending from tide/low tide you can see 2,0m or nothing from them.
Likely was building a nest by the mud on the bill. A cool fact from Cornell "An unmated male Barn Swallow may kill the nestlings of a nesting pair. His actions often succeed in breaking up the pair and afford him the opportunity to mate with the female."
“Then suddenly comes the awakening to a new level of experience. The soul one day begins to realize, in a manner completely unexpected and surprising, that in this darkness it has found the living God. One’s being is overwhelmed with the sense that He is there and that His love is surrounding and absorbing the soul on all sides. In fact, He has been there all the time—but He was utterly unknown. Now He is recognized. At that instant, there is no other important reality but God, infinite Love. Nothing else matters. The darkness remains as dark as ever and yet, somehow, it seems to have become brighter than noonday. The soul has entered a new world, a world of rich experience that transcends the level of all other knowledge and all other love. From then on one’s whole life is transformed. Although externally sufferings and difficulties and labor may be multiplied, the soul’s interior life has become completely simple. It consists of one thought, one preoccupation, one love: GOD ALONE.”
- Thomas Merton from The Inner Experience
Gwaneumsa Temple is named after Gwanseeum-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Compassion). This fairly common temple name in Korea is located on the northeast side of Mt. Hallsan. It’s believed that the temple dates back to sometime during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). However, there is very little proof that indicates the exact year of Gwaneumsa Temple’s construction. During the early 1700’s, when the Joseon royal court proclaimed Confucianism as the state religion, Buddhism suffered horribly from this policy decision. In fact, Gwaneumsa Temple was completely destroyed during this time in Korea’s history. However, in 1912, the temple was rebuilt by the Buddhist nun, Anbongryeokwan. It was later renovated and expanded in 1964...
...Large statue is surrounded by descriptive statues of various life-sized statues of guardians - Dale's Korean Temple Adventures
2024 Alzheimer's Disease Facts & Figures
www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf
Wikipedia
Alzheimer's disease
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer's_disease
With heartfelt and genuine thanks for your kind visit. Have a beautiful day, be well, keep your eyes open, appreciate the beauty surrounding you, enjoy creating, stay safe, and laugh often! ❤️❤️❤️
Near Stapina, Velebit, Croatia.
STAPINA (1124 m) is the biggest and the most imposing rock in South Velebit. This high smooth conical rock by its shape reminds on milkman's tool piston (stap in croatian). The fact that this huge rock, on outstanding grassy peak with nice view, is well visible from afar contributes to the beauty and attractiveness of Stapina.
Thanks to everyone for your visiting, favs & comments :).
With the promise of thunder storms in the forecast I headed for the Lincolnshire Wolds in search of dramatic skies. First stop was here looking down on St James's Parish Church in Louth, a composition I spotted a few weeks ago on a long walk and thought at the time it just needed a more interesting sky or sunrise. Hey presto I got the sky, sunrise will have to wait for the shorter days.
Interesting fact, the church has the 3rd tallest spire in the uk...most of its 287ft missing in this shot.....
Experts believe that the modern-day hippo evolved in Africa around 8 million years ago. While they bear a resemblance to horses and pigs, these semi-aquatic mammals are in fact most closely related to whales, dolphins and porpoises – no wonder they’re so good at holding their breath underwater! These days there are only two types, the bog-standard hippopotamus and the smaller pygmy hippopotamus, but a few other now extinct species could be found across Europe and in Madagascar as little as 1,000 years ago. Hippos are now most common in countries such as Zambia and Tanzania.
In Africa hippo numbers are sadly declining. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed them as a vulnerable species in 2006 after establishing that the hippo population had declined by as much as 20% within the previous two decades. Drought has led to habitat loss, and the hunting and poaching of hippos, both for their meat and ivory teeth, is also a major threat.
Hippo Day reminds us to celebrate and value these mud-loving mammals, in the hope that they’ll be around for many more years to come.
Baby Hippos with 'legal guardian' / Flusspferde (Hippopotamus amphibius)
on a little island in Oliphant's River, Kruger N.P., South Africa
(from deep down in my archives :-))^
Thanks to my friend Johann de Jager (Mzansi) for telling me about this day!
October feels like such a brave month.
Ushered in gently
but all the same awakening us
to our strength
Maybe it's the rawness
the crisp freshness
the scent of apples
the longing to get out walking
to capture the day
and the precious light
Or the feeling of coming into alignment
by nature of the birth sign days to come
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel -
This month also triggers memories of groiwing up, particularly at a time when music was beginning to play such a part in defining my developing personality, so I guess it must have been early adolescence when I tuned into Radio 1 one evening and listened to a fine selection of rock music during their weekly 'Rock-tober' show.
My late brother David and I were in the two opposite attic bedrooms at the top of the family house, so between us there was a lot of music being played.
This rock balance isn't as large as it looks. It's a trick of the lens and is in fact made of small stones found in the field on a walk in the hills behind my house.
Check out these cool cardinal facts:
Cardinals are early nesters.
Both male and female cardinal birds sing.
Some people put birdseed outside to keep cardinals as “pets.”
In many cultures, bird lovers have a special place in their hearts for cardinals.
Many people associate cardinals with pleasant memories or the idea that a deceased loved one is present.
Perhaps the cardinal’s comforting, beautiful, and cheerful song invokes pleasant memories from the past.
Or maybe the bold red color speaks to us; red is the color of blood, which gives us life.
For many, cardinals symbolically represent joy and hope.
When single people encounter cardinals, they believe the bird’s presence represents an omen that new romantic relationships are on the verge of manifesting.
In the United States, when people see cardinals in winter, they feel encouraged to look forward to springtime.
In fact the whole village is named after the Saviour. Sotira in Greek means Saviour. Sotira is a well-known village in the Ammochostos (Famagusta) area of Cyprus and plenty of old churches have survived in the village centre. The "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Christ" is currently closed. There is archaeological work going on, but the building was too small anyway and, in the 20th century, had been replaced by the "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Jesus". I'll come back to this interesting change of title. This old church here goes back to the 13th century, back to the time of the crusades and the French occupation of Cyprus. The building began as a simple barrel roof construction. In Venetian times, the dome was added, and the spire, also in Venetian style, is a 19th century product (still built during the Ottoman occupation). The archaeological dig showed that this church is resting on foundations of a fifth century Christian basilica. So, the question of who the Saviour is, has always been central to this village. Metamorphosis or Transfiguration denotes the visible appearance of Jesus, not as man, but as God. But "Christ"? Christ is already a title presupposing divinity, no need to transfigure here. That is why, I would guess, that in the 20th century the title was changed to transfiguration of Jesus. It makes more sense. Sense is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. If, as Christian doctrine has it, Jesus Christ was one person, but had two natures (God and Man), and if the Trinity consist of three persons, but having only on nature, there is trouble if you apply Aristotelian logic. Things are made not easier by the gospel of John which stipulates that Christ was always there with God and, therefore, had pre-existence. If you find this difficult, it only means that your mind is working. The question of who the Saviour is is not a puzzle the mind can resolve. But if you sing the question, turn it into sound, or into vision, you may be on a different path. Fuji X-Pro3.
I just love this part of the Peak District. I live nearby and can get there pretty easily. This part of the River Dove, whilst popular does not get the traffic that Dovedale gets. In fact I've hiked this section many times without seeing a soul - especially early in the morning. I took this shot handheld and I really like the colour of the water caused by the reflection of the overhanging trees
The fact that nature is tied to increasing entropy—that is, to the increasing loss of energy over time—and hence to irreversible time, also allows for the enfolding of each person’s biography into the supportive fabric of a long cosmic narrative that is still incomplete. Nature, or what theology calls creation, is an unfinished drama rather than the product of an opening instant of divine magic. This means that the universe is undergoing a suspenseful and anticipatory process into which the evolution of all species and the brief stories of our own lives are woven seamlessly.
-God after Einstein What’s Really Going On in the Universe? John F. Haught
A bit of History:
Diego de Almagro founded Santiago de Quito on August 15, 1534, later to be renamed San Francisco de Quito on August 28, 1534.
The city was later moved to its present location and was refounded on 6 December 1534 by 204 settlers led by Sebastián de Benalcázar, who captured Rumiñahui and effectively ended any organized resistance.[6] Rumiñahui was then executed on January 10, 1535. On March 14, 1541, Quito was declared a city and on February 14, 1556, was given the title Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de San Francisco de Quito ("Very Noble and Loyal City of San Francisco of Quito"), starting at this point its urban evolution.
In 1563, Quito became the seat of a Real Audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, until 1717 after the Audiencia was part of a newly created Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada. Its administration on both Viceroyalties remained to Quito. (see Real Audiencia de Quito)
As with other places colonized by the Spanish, the colonizers promptly established Roman Catholicism in Quito. The first church (El Belén) was in fact built even before the city had been officially founded. In January 1535, the San Francisco Convent was constructed, the first of about 20 churches and convents built during the colonial period. The Spanish converted the indigenous population to Christianity.
Londolozi Game Reserve
South Africa
Near Kruger National Park
Happy Caturday !!
Some facts about male lions –
While it may look like the lionesses do all the work in the pride, the males play an important role. While they do eat more than the lionesses and bring in far less food (they hunt less than 10 percent of the time), males patrol, mark, and guard the pride's territory
They use their speed, agility, and claws to take down their prey. While African female lions have a strike force of about 16,500 lb. -ft./s, males have a strike force of about 22,800 lb. -ft./s.
Males will fight to the death to prevent other males taking over their prides. When there is a successful takeover, the newly victorious males will often kill the offspring of the former male or males. Lionesses will, on occasion fight to the death to protect their cubs.
Male lions will eat first at a kill, while the females and cubs wait their turn. The females put up with this behavior because the males offer protection for the pride.
Many of the photographs I took in Oban look grey even if they are in fact color images. So this is a straight black and white image of a fishing boat entering Oban harbor through the early morning mist.
I particularly like the way that the lack of contrast between the mist and the water makes it appear that the boat is floating in mid-air.
The film “Made in Dagenham” is the inspiration for this photo.
A comedy drama set in 1968, the film dramatises the sewing machinists strike at Ford’s Dagenham car plant in Essex, UK. The female sewing machinists, who made car seat covers, walked out on strike protesting against sexual discrimination and demanding equal pay. The film follows the women and their campaign which led eventually to the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
For the photo I’ve used a close up of a sewing machine foot and threaded needle to illustrate the following themes and concepts in the film:
Applying pressure: A sewing machine foot is used to apply pressure to the fabric to stop it from slipping around while being sewn. The female workers were under pressure from their families, management and social norms not to go out on strike but to accept things as they were. In turn the machinists were applying pressure on Ford management and the UK government to introduce changes.
The foot also represents the fact that the women 'walked' out on strike.
Making their point: The needle represents the point that the women wanted to make and their intention to drive it home through the very fabric of society.
The thread represents the growing number of supporters who are drawn in, persuaded by the women's clear aims.
I chose a late 1960s inspired floral fabric because the film was set in 1968 and women’s fashion is a recurring theme in the film.
I set the photo at an angle to give a more dynamic feel and to give the impression of a vehicle (Ford / the Government) getting ready to turn a corner and take a new direction ( a change in the law).
The photo measures 6 cm across.
ODC-Where I Live Is Known For...
This area of Upstate, NY is known for its beautiful waterfalls and gorges. In fact there's a saying here "ithaca Is Gorges!" It really is!!!