View allAll Photos Tagged gettycontributor
We had a lovely sunny day today, but there is a definite chill in the air now that we are in to Winter. This is a bee from a couple of weeks back - I haven't seen any for a while now. They must have gone on holidays for the Winter.
Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard VC (21 December 1847 – 1 November 1897) was a British Army officer who received the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British armed forces. He earned the decoration for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in January 1879 where he commanded a small British garrison of 139 soldiers that successfully repulsed an assault by some 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The battle was recreated in the film Zulu in which Chard was portrayed by Stanley Baker.
Born near Plymouth, Chard attended the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in July 1868. He was involved with the construction of naval fortifications in Bermuda and Malta before he was deployed to southern Africa at the start of the Anglo-Zulu War. At the end of the war he returned to a hero's welcome in England and was invited to an audience with Queen Victoria. After a series of overseas postings he took up his final position in Perth, Scotland. He retired from the army as a colonel in 1897 after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at his brother's home in Somerset later that year.
Peter has a great interest in history, especially the Zulu wars. We have been to Islandlwana where another battle took place earlier in the day where there were no survivors and also to Rorke's Drift. During our recent trip to the UK Peter searched out a few memorials of this type.
We are staying the night in Llangollen, Wales and this afternoon we went on a horsedrawn narrowboat ride along the canal for 45 minutes - a lovely, relaxing experience.
One week today, we will fly out of the UK for Hong Kong where we are staying for 3 nights and then we fly home. I can't believe how fast the 10.5 weeks has flown.
It has been my daughter's dream since she was little to own a beautiful Arabian horse one day. Two years ago she achieved her dream, but due to financial constraints, she had to sell him. It broke her heart, but she knew it was the best thing for her and for him too. I had this beautiful statue commissioned and it came just before Christmas. It is a work of art by Mindy Berg of Spruce Mountain Studio.
www.facebook.com/sprucemtnstudioLLC/
It looks exactly like Dubai and it is something my daughter will have to remember him by and treasure.
This is my photo for the group 52 in 2014 - #13 Cold. It has been rather cold here in Sydney the last few days. A bit of a shock after our lovely weather while we were in Hervey Bay. This is my favourite coffee cup which is made by Royal Doulton. It is fine bone china, but a good size for a decent cup of coffee (which I am having at the moment).
When we were in Paris our tour bus took us on a late afternoon tour of the city. Whilst I have seen the Eiffel Tower lit up, I have never been close enough for photos. This was taken hand held and whilst I am not usually good with low light photos, I am pleased at how this turned out.
This is the flower that the Bumble Bee (my last upload) was buzzing around. It is such a pretty colour and I would love to have it in my garden (the flower and the Bumble Bee LOL).
This is one of the horses that tow the horse drawn canal boat at Llangollen. He is a beautiful horse.
Another beautiful flower that I spotted during our trip. I have finally uploaded my photos to the computer and trying to get them in some sort of order.
This is my photo for the group 52 in 2014 - #8 A smile. My granddaughter is full of life and shows it, don't you think LOL.
My MRI went fine yesterday and I will see the specialist on Monday for the results. I normally have a sneaky peek, but this practice emails the results, so I have been foiled in my attempt.
This is my entry for the 52 in 2014 - something beginning with "P". I was taking down my Christmas tree today and saw this little Hallmark pram decoration that I bought in 2007 for my granddaughter's 1st Christmas. I have bought a Hallmark decoration for each of my grandchildren's 1st Christmas.
A tortoise that popped up it's head looking for food. This is another photo taken on my wanderings with Sim when we were in Hervey Bay.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
I took this photo yesterday in my neighbour's garden and when I was in Photoshop, I hit auto tone and this is what happened. The second photo is the original sooc. As blue and yellow are my favourite colours, I really like the first photo.
For each of my grandchildren, I have bought a special Hallmark ornament for Baby's 1st Christmas of the year that they were born. When we found out that my eldest daughter's second baby was to be a girl, I bought this little giraffe ornament as soon as I saw it. Sadly, Tarnia was born still on the 25th September, 2001 at 39 weeks, but the little ornament still hangs on the tree along with little angel ornaments that I buy each year. It is my way of including her in our family celebrations of Christmas.
Only 3 more sleeps
Just a little Christmas fun with PicMonkey. Merry Christmas everyone. We had a really quiet Christmas Day yesterday - heading out later to spend our family Christmas at my daughter and son in law's house - it will be mayhem, but I love it.
I was always excited to see the animals walk across the road in front of the car. This was taken in Kruger National Park.
We are back home and Peter almost kissed the ground when we arrived. The trip home was much worse than the trip up to see my brother. We were stuck in traffic after leaving Ocean Shores for 1.5 hours before we managed to take a road to Lismore (a much longer way home). Our GPS took us through a windy one lane road, but it brought us out near Ballina and the road was clear with no traffic in sight for miles. We heard as we were driving along that there was a 60 metre long truck carrying a 170 tonne boiler, which was 7.5m wide and it held up traffic for over two hours with the cars stretching back 14 klms. They were trying to find a spot for it to pull over to let the traffic clear, but due to roadworks, there wasn't any room.
That aside, my brother is doing okay. He said that his leg is not healing as quick as expected and until he can put weight on it and walk, he will not be able to go down to rehab. They are going to do another x-ray in a week or two. He is becoming frustrated as he has been in hospital for 10 weeks already with no idea how much longer he will be in. That on top of the 8 weeks he was in a few weeks earlier when he broke his leg the first time, he must be feeling that he will never be out of hospital.
We are now in Bricket Wood, near St. Albans. We had booked into a Premier Inn for our last three nights, but decided to come a night early so we could relax and catch up with friends and do some day trips. The Premier Inns that we have stayed in are all very comfortable and spacious.
We can also bring our bags in as it is on the one level - we have to rearrange everything and hope that they are not overweight. It is a worry LOL.
Playing around with textures in PicMonkay again - what fun!!
Texture by Jinterwas.
www.flickr.com/photos/jinterwas/sets/72157623759336739/
8 days until we leave for South Africa - better start packing.
These are some of the beautiful sights that I saw during our horsedrawn canal boat ride in Llangollen in Wales.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
Sharing!!
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
Is anyone else getting adds showing up on each page? Maybe I have another virus.
I love these little souvenirs from Africa. I have bought a few over the years for our friends and for myself.
I do like variety in my photo stream so I thought putting a fourth picture of a shroom would be really pushing it.
So, I have gone back to Rathlin Island because I really do love it here and I still have some interesting shots to share.
I love this shot of Church Bay in the last of the glorious sunset.
Its the end of day, all the chores have been done, the ferry is tied up, the other boats are all secure and its like the island is being tucked up for bed.
One of the few things I truly miss because of my illnesses is that I can't hike like I used to. The hikes on Rathlin are spectacular and because the island is only 7 miles long easily done in a day.
I need one of the all terrain vehicles that one of the Islanders had "concocted" (no MOT or car taxes on the island) as I could just see myself whizzing around on one!
Mr Killlllllleeeeen I need an ATV!!
The Cosmos are still flowering in my garden. Thank you Louise for sending me the seeds.
We had a bit of a disaster this afternoon - Peter cut his thumb (not concentrating) and we had to call our friend who is a doctor. He came and put four stitches in his thumb. I hope it teaches him to be more careful in the future (but I am not holding my breath).
Its that time of year again to wish my darling daughter a happy, happy birthday.
I don't think though that I have been totally forgiven by her for giving birth a month early thereby making her a Christmas Baby.
My Jester ornament is now well and truly vintage and out of all the ornaments that decorate my 49 trees, he remains my favourite.
When Rhianon was old enough to start helping decorate the tree (back then I had the conventional one tree), the Jester was her favourite ornament too and we would take it in turns to put Jester in a spot which would show him off.
Even though there is 12,000 miles between us and I haven't seen her in the last 4 years, I pretend on the years it is her turn, that she actually places the ornament.
I know, I know, I am a bit of a sad case!
For all those Christmas Babies out there, I wish you all a Happy Birthday.
This is my photo for the 52 in 2014 group - #3. Rain. After all our Summer heat we have had some showers in the last two weeks - much welcomed.This is taken from my front verandah during a heavy shower of rain.
This is my photo for the challenge 52 in 2014 - #9 Halloween. I took this photo at a market which is held weekly in Maryborough in Queensland which is only 20 or so minutes from Hervey Bay. It is life-size as well which I am sure could be frightening to the littlies.
We arrived home late this afternoon. We had a good trip with beautiful weather, although it apparently wasn't very good at home with lots of rain and storms. We did a lot of driving covering over 3,000 klms in the two weeks we were away.
Rievaulx Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey headed by the Abbot of Rievaulx. It is located in Rievaulx (pronounced /riːˈvoʊ/ ree-VOH), near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England.
It was one of the wealthiest abbeys in England and was dissolved by Henry VIII of England in 1538. Its ruins are a tourist attraction.
Rievaulx Abbey was founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey as a mission for the colonisation of the north of England and Scotland. It was the first Cistercian abbey in the north. With time it became one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, second only to Fountains Abbey in fame.[citation needed]
The remote location was ideal for the Cistercians, whose desire was to follow a strict life of prayer and self-sufficiency with little contact with the outside world. The patron, Walter Espec, settled another Cistercian community, founding Wardon Abbey in Bedfordshire on unprofitable wasteland on one of his inherited estates.
The abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538. At that time there were said to be 72 buildings occupied by an abbot and 21 monks, attended by 102 servants, with an income of £351 a year. It also had a prototype blast furnace at Laskill, producing cast iron as efficiently as a modern blast furnace; according to Gerry McDonnell (archeometallurgist of the University of Bradford), the closure of Rievaulx delayed the Industrial Revolution for two and a half centuries.
Henry ordered the buildings to be rendered uninhabitable and stripped of valuables such as lead. The abbey site was granted to the Earl of Rutland, one of Henry's advisers, until it passed to the Duncombe family.
In the 1750s Thomas Duncombe III beautified the estate by building the terrace with two Grecian-style temples; these temples, now called Rievaulx Terrace & Temples, are in the care of the National Trust. The ruins of the abbey are in the care of English Heritage.
When awarded a life peerage in 1983, former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, a Yorkshireman, adopted the title Baron Wilson of Rievaulx.
It is only 12 days now until we leave for the UK. This is my new camera bag with the camera gear I will be taking with me. I am taking my 5D MK II, Canon 28-300 L series lens, Canon 17-35 L series lens, Tamron 90 mm macro lens, memory cards, charger, USB sticks etc and it still weighs under the 7 kg allowance that most airlines allow. This trip is not a worry though as we are travelling British Air and they allow 23 kg carry on luggage which is a bonus. I bought an ultra light weight bag - 1.4 kg and took it to Clark Rubber where they cut some foam to fit the gear I will be taking. I think it turned out very well and I am so happy with it.
I spoke to my brother this afternoon and he said he is doing fine - just a little tired. The operation went well.
Autumn has finally arrived and the heat has gone. Our weather is rapidly cooling down during the night, but so far our days have been a pleasant 20-23C and sunny. The leaves around the neighbourhood are finally beginning to change.
Still busy with Peter's Dad and planning for our next big adventure. We leave mid August for an 8 day tour of France, including Normandy. We then fly to the UK and spend around 6 weeks driving around - I am so excited.
Here I was, all excited when we were following the deer as its very unusual to come across shrooms that are out in the open, instead of me getting dirty climbing up forest slopes.
I like to try and identify everything that I photograph (and ok Mr.Killen the White stags are actually White Bucks) so I popped over to the British Fungi and Lichen Group to learn that these are called Honey Fungus.
What a nice name I thought as their colour is like honey, so then I googled them.
What nasty, rotten little blighters they are!!
They are a parasitic fungi which attack trees and plants, killing them and are incredibly difficult to eradicate short of a nuclear bomb!
The only saving grace for the parkland that the deers are in is that I found this lot on an oak tree which seem to be particularly resistant.
They also could be of the genus which are fairly benign and are needed for the recycling of dead wood.
Hard to know as all of the genus's look alike to me!
Anyway Rich (my pal Surfin Chef www.flickr.com/photos/richardmurphy/10213079693/) I somehow think you won't be doing a medley of these!!!
Yes, I know I disappeared after posting the last photo but Narcolepsy and I are not the best of mates at the moment!!
The only problem of spending a Summer photographing sunrises, is that one accumulates a lot of photos of sunrises.
I have always liked to vary my photos and at the risk of being boring, I may add a couple more because sunrises ALWAYS vary and I do have some lovely shots.
When I took this last Friday, the sun was a boiling red ball and I have always wondered when photographing a red sun it doesn't come out that way but the surroundings do.
Maybe some lurking astrophysicist can tell me why!!
Oh, I know, Raj from The Big Bang Theory could tell me!!
Anyway, this particular shot is of the sun coming up behind the Skerries Islands off Portrush, home to what seems like thousands of seabirds (and on the rocks next to me).
The Skerries, because of their shelter was often home to Pirates, particularly one called Tavish Dhu and there is a whisper that he is actually buried on one of the islands, along with three bullock skins of silver.
Needless to say, neither grave nor silver have been found!!
Another shot that made the BBC Northern Ireland Weather Report.
EXPLORED NO. 186
It is the morning of the 24th December, 2014 here in Australia and tonight Santa will visit the homes of many little children. Merry Christmas everyone.
I bought this little decoration during a trip to Helsinki.
I had to make a collage of these three photos. The little baboons were playing on the side of the road and if you look closely at the first photo, it looks like one of them is laughing. In the second photo I love the hand around the other baboon's neck. They are so human like.
It's really my lucky day! Discovered an interesting vantage point. The whole floor is awaiting renovation, so I had it all to myself. Why lucky? When I left my home it seems like a cloudy day but when I arrived at the venue, a miracle happened. The dark clouds started to roll up and allow blue sky to show from beneath with sunlight pouring in to fill the scene. Something every photographer would hope for. Also, there was someone from the building management who came in later and I thought that will be the end of the shoot. But surprisingly he gave me the green light to continue as it will be my last chance to shoot before they handover the property to the new tenant. The new company will be renovating & occupying the whole floor as from tomorrow. I have covered different views which I will post later.
pp: Bump up colors with "topazlab" and correct buildings distortion caused by wide lens with "warping" tool. Planted new clouds to the left as the original seems untidy.
View the Slideshow on Singapore
Watch video on The Making of Marina Bay Sands
I was lucky to be able to get some photos of this pretty Pied Kingfisher when we stopped at a hide near one of the waterholes in Pilanesberg.
I couldn't resist taking this photo when we visited Edinburgh Castle. Peter and my brother Bluey love collecting hats. Peter even bought a "Hey Jimmy" hat during one of our trips and still puts it on to surprise the grandchildren at times. I took a photo of him in it and it made Explore so I told him he is now famous. I had to lighten this photo a lot as my settings were wrong (happens quite a lot when I try to rush a photo LOL), but I just had to keep it.
www.flickr.com/photos/83646071@N00/4069674617/in/album-72...
Blue's funeral was a lovely, simple affair, which is what he would have wanted.
This is my photo for the 52 in 2015 challenge - #40 - text or words. This is one of Peter's old books with his grandmother's magnifying glass.
My brother has been transferred to a hospital closer to his home and we are travelling up to see him tomorrow. He is doing okay, but feeling quite depressed that this has happened once again. We have been told it will be a long road ahead for him.
A Muscovy Duck that we spotted at the river the other week. They have a face that only a mother could love LOL. I love the pose on this one - it looks like it has two sets of eyes.
Stay safe all the people of Queensland who are waiting for Cyclone Marcia to hit. I spoke to my son and his family last night and he said they are all battened down, have tied all the outdoor furniture down and waiting for it to hit. At the moment it is classed as category 5 with winds up to 300 klms per hour. He is further down the coast on the Fraser Coast, but will still feel the brunt of it when it hits.
I read about this beautiful castle when we were staying in the Little Gate House in Fordingbridge. It was very overcast when we first arrived, but then the sun came out for some photos. I have added a few photos into the first comment box, if they are not visible go back to the first comment and have a look.
The striking and picturesque moated castle of Nunney was built in the 1370s by Sir John de la Mere, a local knight who was beginning to enjoy royal favour. Extensively modernised in the late 16th century, the castle was held for the King during the Civil War, but quickly fell to Parliamentarian cannon in 1645: not until Christmas Day 1910, however, did the gun-damaged portion of the wall finally collapse.