View allAll Photos Tagged looksee
Sometimes in life you find yourself at a point that there's no turning back. That's what happened with me and Photography as well.
Ever since I caught the "virus", I realized there was no turning back. I would never be a non photographic mind any more. With or without a camera in my hand, I'll always take a looksee, to find the frame that speaks to me. I'll always look in more than one ways to see if there is something I'm missing about what's around me. I'll always keep on looking for that story to be told from within a photo. Sometimes it's obvious and sometimes not so much. But the thing is I'll always keep looking for it!
And while my photography is ever changing, like I do too -I know that now and I embrace it as much as I can- the feeling of discovering life through my lens will always be like it was the first time I saw a photo that I took. When I stood there, looking at a printed photographic piece of paper, depicting a moment I lived and yet telling me stories that I would have missed otherwise while I was there, if it weren't for that picture! Since then, a lot has changed, including me, yet the fire inside is still alive and the urge to click my way through is live and clicking!
And if I learned something other than all this, it's that sometimes there's no turning back not because I can't, but because I don't want to, even if I could, making this a... choice! For better or worse, my choice! One that I live, breathe and click by it, every single moment in my life, with or without a camera in my hand. A choice that doesn't lead to a mission of sorts, but rather to a long learning process, an ever lasting lesson of learning to see things, animals, people, situations and ultimately Life itself. That's photography to me. It's this exact one choice and I know, once the choice was made, the journey had began and there's no turning back...
Went out during the week to Barrenjoey Headland with Pixeloc for a bit of a looksee. Didnt have a great morning myself...Brain wasn't switched on and the camera was playing up. After looking at the small amount of shots I took, i thought this one was ok. Its definitely a place to go back to Im sure....one beautiful headland.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
I found this large horsefly resting on my fence today, and he allowed a few photos. I love those intense, psychedelic eyes. As matter of fact, I had another pretty good day with my cameras. I'm ending up with more photos than I know what to do with. Just keep on posting and hoping that everyone gets a looksee. This one looks great large.
On a personal note, things are really starting to look up here.
Post one for the day. Thanks for Viewing.
This Shilloh Set from CHEZ MOI is the perfect spot for a nice cup of tea and a book! You can go and have a looksee for yourself over at Cosmopolitan. I will be here lounging!
Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae)
For October A Month In 31 Pictures
Flickr mate David ( www.flickr.com/photos/birdsaspoetry/ ) tipped me off yesterday afternoon that two of the Grebe chicks had hatched at the Vic Uni Pond. So I reorganised my day a little so I could have a looksee.
When I arrived all was quiet with one parent on the nest and the other at the far end of the pond in the reeds. I could see movement under the wings of the one on the nest where the chicks were. Then came the chatter between the parents and the other parent returned with food for the chicks. This chick came out first for a meal.
Passing by Balyang in the middle of Geelong, today, I couldn't resists a quick looksee. So glad I did as I had an enjoyable twenty minutes seeing birds again.
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
I hadn't intended to pick up the camera or post to Flickr today. But driving back from the shops today I noticed the 'First Avenue' Hobbies were around. So after waiting for the rain to clear I took the camera and wandered down to have a looksee. The Hobbies weren't around and it started raining again. As I looked for somewhere to shelter I heard the unmistakeable call of a Pied Currawong. There were a pair of them hiding in a tree. Once the sun came out again they led me on a bit of chase.
This is the first time I have seen Currawongs in our local area.
. . . Hey wait a sec . . . This is the same place we rented last summer! But it looks so clean and everything. Let's put some money down on it.
I took this one of a Male Eastern Bluebird checking out one of our houses 3 weeks ago, and was hoping for good things to come. I have been checking the field for 2 days now and not seen or heard a Bluebird. I did see two Tree Swallows hanging around, so they must of won the territorial dispute. So sad!
Have a great weekend Facebook, Flickr, and 500px friends!
Happy Friday Flora 🍀 Taken during a recent visit to Green Road Gardens. These steps are a new feature, I really like how the herbs have been planted here & will spread over time.
Irene Kelly, who runs greenroadgardens.ie/ is a wonderful lady. She opens her beautiful garden to the public every weekend during the summer months. Next weekend there's an art exhibition taking place here, I will pop down at some point & have a looksee; plus enjoy a cup of tea & slice of Irene's delicious homemade cake.
This chair could well have been made by her brother Tom, he runs Bevel Woodworking school www.bevelwoodworkingschool.com/event/adirondack-chair-cou... A fine piece of craftsmanship (not to mention a fabulous colour), but I think I'd struggle to get up if I sat down in it 😂
Photo 34/100 : My 100x photos this year will all feature benches or chairs.
Swainson's Hawk SWHA (Buteo swainsoni)
Kincorth NWA
SASK
DSCN9348
Was on my way back from dropping off folks at the Tim H in Red Cliff (J&L Shuttle spot ..passenger transport to Calgary since no more Greyhound Buses)
Just popped in on my way back to Carmichael , for a quick looksee here... great spot for some specialties
2016.12.16
friday. daikanyama.
uncle hiro was our local guide today. he took us to daikanyama for some looksee in this hilltop posh area...
and we eventually ended up spending quite a fair bit of time and a fair amount of money at tsutaya books...
...that was quite normal...
as the sun began to set we also started heading back to shinzuku for dinner with keng yee and ricky.
on our way to daikanyama station we passed by this shining little jade that is like a nursery and florist combined...
and it was truly heartwarming to see a mini forest in the middle of the city... on a cold winter evening...especially...
Photo by Charles Ward, photochop by Steve O. Reno.
Photochop based on THIS photo taken by fellow flickrer Charles Ward. Take a looksee HERE for the image I used for the 'Bandit', which is itself a simple photchop of this photo by Andreas Zeitler.
Thanks for lettin' me mess wit 'yer pikshur, Chuck!
Fade to Black...
Luke 17:24 “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man returns.”
2018.08.15
friday. gnarabup.
we came down here for a looksee before heading back up north to perth...
...we spent a night at a farmstay nearby...
...opening scenes of inception was my first impression of this picture...
Project 914 Archives
For info about this 109 and a view of the other side, take a looksee HERE...
Fade to Black...
rho thanks: itgirls | soul | mandala | lode | the mesh project | giselle chauveau
It was such fun collabor-playing with Giselle. Please have a looksee at her interpretations:
I've been messing with homemade sourdough the last year and this video is a looksee at the starter as the yeast is activating. I made the starter Monday morning so it's been 48 hours.
It has about 5-6 more days and then I can take the grapes out and feed it and then make bread the next day. It's a very cool process. If you watch the video you'll see some of the carbon dioxide bubbles being released by the yeast.
The lady was found in an old portrait on Google and I love her clothes. I also fell in love with the background photo as soon as I saw it It's called The Last Snow and I've used it with the very kind permission of my friend Gordie..Wilderness Guy. Thank you so much! Have a looksee at his gorgeous photographs...."https://www.flickr.com/photos/80499370@N06/13844448934"
It's just a day away from the weekend. What's in store for you? Where will that trail take you?
For this image, the trail took me into the Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument back in 2020. This is one of those overlooked gems of the National Park System that's worth a looksee, if you are in the area. I even wrote a couple of articles about this national monument:
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/05/national-parks-trav...
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/04/3-days-john-day-fos...
This image was captured at the Painted Hills Unit, which is definitely the most photogenic of the three units comprising this national monument (IMO). Oregon geology and landscapes are both amazing, and if you ever have a chance to visit, make time to see at least one of the three units of this national monument. And take your camera with you!
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
rho thanks: itgirls | mandala | the mesh project | giselle chauveau
It was such fun collabor-playing with Giselle. Please have a looksee at her interpretations:
Although I never got to stay in this historic, grand hotel (way too expensive - between $400-$500 a night, yet always booked up), that didn't prevent me from having a look around and capturing a few interior shots. I mean, really, a visit to Yosemite National Park is not complete without at least a looksee into the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley, where celebrities and other notables have spent a night or two. Steve Jobs even got married there and celebrated with a vegan cake in the shape of Half Dome. Truth - it's one of the questions I had on the Yosemite quiz and trivia edition in the National Parks Traveler.
I'm not certain exactly what this room is called. It's not the lobby, per se, since the receptionist/check-in is further down the hallway at the hotel entrance. I'm calling it the Great Room. And it is quite large and very warm, with it's inviting fireplace, dark wood interiors, chandeliers and lighting and colorful stained glass windows. It's like a library, actually, since people automatically lower their voices and voices seem muted and quieter.
The key to photographing a dark interior room - especially if you are handholding your camera instead of using a tripod - is to bump up your camera's ISO (I used 640), open up its aperture (I used f5.6), and use a shutter speed (I used1/30) slow enough to let in light but not so slow as to create camera shake blur. Oh, the "burst method" of holding down your shutter button for several clicks (3 or 4 clicks) helps, too. When handholding my camera, I always use the burst method. You might also need to apply a little noise reduction software to remove the graininess to parts of the image, as well, since higher ISOs tend to create what is called "noise."
I think a winter stay there would be lovely - all nice and warm and cozy while the chilly snow swirls all around outside.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Vesper Sparrow VESP (Pooecetes gramineus)
Kincorth NWA
SASK
DSCN9339
Was on my way back from dropping off folks at the Tim H in Red Cliff (J&L Shuttle spot ..passenger transport to Calgary since no more Greyhound Buses)
Just popped in on my way back to Carmichael , for a quick looksee here... great spot for some specialties
We ran out to Ayres Natural Bridge Park for a looksee as a family. See below for a description of this small but beautiful park. We didn't know what to expect so I told the kids to bring their swim suits. Turns out to be a great place for a picnic and just some time listening to the river and resting under a tree. Me and the boys spent some time skipping rocks...which was time well spent.
Ayres Natural Bridge Park, located near Douglas, WY. At the park entrance, the old power house, a gray concrete building from the early 1900s build by North Platte Irrigation Company to supply power to pump water from North Platte River for irrigation is still preserved. The company went bankrupt before the project was completed. Source -- Wikipedia
I am in Echo park far down the Green River from Brown's Park, near the town of Dinosaur, Moffatt County, Colorado, but atill in autumn. The (Steamboat Mountain) rock ahoy forced the Green to make a loop from where it joined the Yampa river. No wonder there are echoes hereabouts? I bet even Maj. John Wesley Powell beached his floatilla at the Echo Park loop rast take out for a good looksee and even a quiet nap. I found more oldie snaps to add to my newly edited backups. This was another I found from my Brown's Park series (in my albums), this park was to the Green River at at alovely, nellow park abd rafting destination. Early ranching existed near this park.
John Jarvie himself, sliced and diced by a couple of escapees from the terriyorial prison during a stick up never made it by canoe to the Gates of Ladore on the upper end of the canyon. See the John Jarvie snap. They put his body in a canoe to float to the Gates of Ladore on the river but it got caught on reeds and discovered. Burial was in the cemetery beside Ladore Hall. Another Brown's Park story.
This park is a classic and altogether mellow place along the Green river for a camp. The location is just south on the Green and Diamond Break mountains Boy did the "Wild Bunch" ever find their home in at Brown's Park. Hollywood could make movies of many stories in the park, even Tom Horn's rustler regulation. More snaps of disappearing autumns in up country, a good season for this park! Man, did I ever leave a bunch of old snaps laying around. Usually, when I get back from a trip, I wonder where all the missing captures I should have taken might be hiding. Here's one I saw. Never miss Echo Park if nearby!
As long as I have just posted some autumn shots above Lyons in Apple Valley, I decided to dip into old trips around Colorado high country routes. when I found this original shot in Brown's and Echo Parks. Now I can chuck this pseudo-HDR in with my categorized, finished edits. This snap is feet from the banks of the Green!
Pictures here are everywhere. I just threw this series in for yet another break. I returned to Apple Valley and found my class of shots at the vertical end of the Colorado plains. It's clear that random life can always manage a foothold in our up country. These are the finger prints of Colorado-tough, rough and tumble plant life. Here, I am once again adding to my massive stash of captures to edit. At least this is greenish and I snapped away.
A Big Thankyou to my friend Iggy Starflare for the overall idea and some of the artwork, and playing the thief in my creation
Opportunities Thief
Or
The Great Ice Rip-off
As told by my Twin Brother
There were 5 of us together partying in our group that weekend.
Of the 5, I am the only one who knows the full story of how close a shave we had with a wretched fate that evening…
But I see no reason why I cannot tell my readers about it...
££££££££££££££££££££
The occasion was our Birthday weekend, my twin sister Cadence’s and me that is.
We had all gone up to the big city to make a night of it.
Our group consisted of My lovely wife Ginny, our married friends Merrick and Heather, Cadence, and myself.
Cade was supposed to bring a date, but that plan fell through. Bryan, the detective inspector she was dating, had to cover his department that weekend.
We had ended up booking 1 suite and two rooms at a rather posh hotel for the night.
But the one room was a waste since Cadence, being alone, had taken up camp in our suites living room. Her one suitcase in our living room with her cosmetics, jewel case, and dresses in the separate bath which she was using as a dressing room.
Speaking of dressing rooms, no surprise I’m sure to anyone who has read any of my stories, but the girls had all unanimously decided to go formal for our planned evening of dinner, dancing, and drinking.
Merrick and I were strongly encouraged to wear our black tuxedos. Mine had its black satin vest and Merrick wore a vest with a gold and black calico silk pattern.
Heather was really far too fetching in a long blue silk gown with rhinestone trimmings. She was wearing her best wedding pearls, a necklace, earrings, and bracelet set that had set Merrick back about a few months' pay. She also wore two diamond cocktail rings on her right-hand fingers, along with her wedding rings.
Ginny was enticingly wearing a very shiny black satin off shoulders gown with long white lace frills hanging down from the scooped neckline and puffy elbow-length sleeves.
Her jewellery was a ruby rhinestone necklace with matching earrings. One side of her hair was pulled back and held by one of her diamond chip hair clips. She also wore her favorite rhinestone diamond bracelet and several enticing rings.
But the real showpiece was the eye-grabbing broach she had pinned to the gown just at her waistband. It had a sparrow egg-sized diamond at its centre surrounded by 3 rows of smaller diamond diamonds. The top and bottom three stones of the third row were pear-shaped 5-carat diamonds. It looked like something from the royal jewels in the tower of London which indeed it was patterned after. Though that jewelled piece was worth a cool £2 million.
Over the years Ginny had worn this exquisite piece on a gown several times and it had always garnered plenty of compliments and notice, with some actually thinking the piece was genuine.
Cadence was radiant in an eye-catching sleek on one shoulder canary yellow satin evening gown that fell sweeping to her silver heels.
She was proudly wearing her set of dainty but real diamonds. She had saved for years buying the pieces bit by bit.
There was a gold necklace set with seven matching diamonds of 1 carat each, set in a V pattern. Her earrings were 3/4 diamond studs with a full 1 carats worth of diamonds dangling down, 3 to a side. She was wearing white elbow-length satin gloves. Around her right gloved wrist was a wide gold bracelet set with two outer rows of 1/4 carat diamonds, with a layer of diamond chips in between. A diamond cocktail ring worn on her right index finger nicely completed her diamond ensemble.
Dinner was an elegant affair, which for the price was expected. I knew we were in for a show when the hostess was wearing a gown rivaling anything our girls were wearing. Even the snooty French waiters were in tux and cumberbund. A roving pair of suited violinist meandered around would play for tips.
Later we went out dancing and drinking at a club on the other side of the city. Piling into a cab van to reach our destination.
Merrick and I taking multiple turns on the dance floor with each of the girls. Bring spelled only when they were asked to dance by several other males.
The girls' seemingly unstoppable desire to dance finally took its toll much later as we noticed they were getting much more clinging upon us when dancing. Cadence, missing her boyfriend, seemed to be the neediest of the three. And at Ginny’s insistence, both Merrick and I, for her own good, had to cut in and peel her off several times from strangers she had been drunkenly dancing a wee bit too close with and finish it with her.
The last time Merrick performed the task she didn't even realize she had started with someone else, my sister was that pie-eyed!
After we had closed down the dance club
Heather told us of an after-hours place where we could still get a few drinks before heading home. It was a fun sort of spot she had heard of. like one of those old cellar speakeasy that one always sees in American noir films set during the depression.
You had to knock and when asked for a password just bribe them with a fiver to get in
We were all pretty happy drunks at that point and probably should have called it a night rather than go to an unfamiliar place in a part of town we were strangers to.
But we were happy drunks who didn't care.
We found a cab and asked the driver if he knew where it was?
He did and we all squoze in.
It was like Heather said...
Located on a deserted side street lined with old Victorian-era discolored brick buildings
To me, it looked like the post-war area that my favorite author Tony Broadbent would set up his main protagonist, Cat Burglar Jethro, in.
Going down the below street stairs we found ourselves at a sturdy door with a closed slot and a large lion's head with the knocker in its mouth. Once we banged it the slot opened and a pair of male eyes looked us down and down.
“Password?”
When asked that, both Merrick and I handed over a pair of crisp fivers before being let in.
It was an interesting place, to say the least. It was located what looked like an old meat butcher brick-lined cellar, and I swear the walls were stained with some of the byproducts of that work.
££££££££££££££££££
No fancy hostess waiting to seat us here...
On our own, we managed to find a table in a far corner that fit our party. A gum-chewing waitress in a spandex dress came up and dryly took our drink order. We settled back to soak up the new surroundings.
We were literally in a smoke-filled, dimly lit room. Listening to the jazzy music bring played on the stage.
We were served our(watered down) drinks and as we chatted found ourselves becoming mesmerized by the activity around us and becoming rather sleepy due to the lateness of the hour.
I suddenly had an annoying, but the overwhelming urge to go to the loo and have a sit-down.
The old redbrick room was deserted, with only one old stall of two there was working.
Some wanker had done their wet business on the floor so I raised my feet against the door and was about to begin my business when these two blokes come in.
I held off, something about the way their feet moved about, and their hushed tones of voice told me to do so.
They began to speak as I listened:
“Thanks for calling me, Ronnie”
“Anytime Fred, Can I bum a Cig, it's been a night tailing them here.”
I hear a match strike and soon smell cigarette smoke.”
“Did you get a closer look at the one I was telling you about ?”
The other one, Fred, his voice raspy answered
“Yeah, I got a peak. Short notice though, and short-handed with the Scarborough and Heighton jobs both on tonight. “
“What about A lifter, Charlie? I saw him working around here earlier?”
Raspy didn't appear to agree and snickered...
“I wish Ronnie, Naw, we’re not talking about a wallet in the dames' purse here. Anyway, I think the bluebird caught me trying to look. I had to back off. if I tipped my hand they may be skittish of any close approaches from a stranger now.”
That canary, though, defiantly is wearing ice, not a huge amount, but no telling what other baubles the bird is sleeping with? And she looks to be alone. What do you think, should we call Dinky to tail?
Raspy Fred didn't appear to totally agree...
“I still find the blackbird’s feathers interesting, I agree it's mostly paste, but that sparkler at her waist, what she has on her wrist, Hard to tell with only a quick glance. If only one was real they'd be worth a fortune. But would the Dame really be that naive to wear them out around here? “
“Sally would know if it's ice if we can track her down quick enough before they fly away.”
With a cold chill, it had finally dawned on me that the subjects of their conversation were our girls and their jewels!
“Go head call Dink to see if he wants the shadow job on the canary usual fee, jack needs the cash, see if he is interested in plucking the ice from her flat tonight, usual split, I’ll try and find Sally for a looksee on the blackbird before she flies.”
“Jack is out again, I didn’t know that? He has talents that one, could sneak into an unlit room with a floor littered with empty cans and manage to lift the rhinestone collar from a snoozing Persian cat without it noticing.”
“Well, we're not talking about trimming a canary with rhinestones now are we?”Raspy snorted rudely
“No, we're not.”
“Let's get moving on this if Sally can confirm the blackbird's diamonds are real we can still set up to lift the feathers of all three birds. Farm it out to the east end for a split of the job. They can have one of their Cabs waiting outside.”
“But I need to be sure of this. Not wasting good money on paste. We’ll use the phone across the street.”
I saw a cigarette drop to the ground, a shoe grinds it out as sparks flew. The two men disappear as I hear their footsteps walked with purposeful strides to the door and leave.
It was like a bloody movie I thought, except this was really happening. Out girls had attracted the attention of the wrong kind this evening.
It was very frustrating that I still had to wait while finally attending to my original business before leaving.
By the time I got back to our table. I found my lot had just ordered another round of drinks.
I would have to wait until we finished them before herding them to safety without causing alarm.
The minutes passed as if in slow motion as I spent the time on guard trying to spot the pair, or anyone else looking too close.
I talked to Cadence who was by then two sheets to the wind ( like us all, except now me). And planted a seed that we should all go back to the suite and everyone do sleepover in our living room and tell stories.
She was too easy, taking off with the idea like it was her own, and soon was encouraging us all to get cracking and quickly finish our drinks
Finally, after paying off the tab, we left the joint. I had a few anxious minutes as I hailed a cab and we all piled in. I felt the girls were in a very vulnerable situation and did not really breathe until we arrived safely back at the hotel.
Once we were inside I felt that we had given them, whoever they were, the slip.
And the fact that this whole situation appeared to be lifted from Tony Broadbent’s ‘The Smoke’ did not escape me atoll.
££££££££££££££££££££££££££
Everyone was still all for changing into PJs and doing a sleepover so we could party a little longer.
Heather said sheepishly...
“I sleep in the round. Then giggled that she would just sleep in her dress. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
So with Ginny and Cadence wearing their satin PJs, Heather in her gown, Merrick and I in our jams we all sat around with drinks as Merrick began to tell one of his Irish Drinking Stories. He fell asleep before finishing it. But no one noticed, we were all there before him.
££££££££££££££
The next morning Cadence went into her room through the connecting doors to tidy up, even though everything of hers was in our room, and she had not spent more than ten minutes there yesterday before deciding to invade our room.
As she went in, I heard her question back,
“That’s odd, why is my balcony door wide open?”
Fini
Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)
From a partial photo album that belonged to an unknown 3rd Photo Group veteran...
'Irmgard' is arguably the best-known captured 109 among WWII aviation historians and enthusiasts, and it's my personal favorite... especially given the fine company she's keeping here!
The P-40s are from the 86th FS, 79th FG. 'Irmgard' is adorned here with the 87th FS emblem, but this was later replaced with that of the 86th FS.
For a view of the other side of this 109, take a looksee HERE...
Fade to Black...
Opportunities Thief
Or
The Great Ice Rip-off
There were 5 of us together partying in our group that weekend.
Of the 5, I am the only one who knows the full story of how close a shave we had with a wretched fate that evening…
But I see no reason why I cannot tell my readers about it...
££££££££££££££££££££
The occasion was our Birthday weekend, my twin sister Cadence’s and me that is.
We had all gone up to the big city to make a night of it.
Our group consisted of My lovely wife Ginny, our married friends Merrick and Heather, Cadence, and myself.
Cade was supposed to bring a date, but that plan fell through. Bryan, the detective inspector she was dating, had to cover his department that weekend.
We had ended up booking 1 suite and two rooms at a rather posh hotel for the night.
But the one room was a waste since Cadence, being alone, had taken up camp in our suites living room. Her one suitcase in our living room with her cosmetics, jewel case, and dresses in the separate bath which she was using as a dressing room.
Speaking of dressing rooms, no surprise I’m sure to anyone who has read any of my stories, but the girls had all unanimously decided to go formal for our planned evening of dinner, dancing, and drinking.
Merrick and I were strongly encouraged to wear our black tuxedos. Mine had its black satin vest and Merrick wore a vest with a gold and black calico silk pattern.
Heather was really far too fetching in a long blue silk gown with rhinestone trimmings. She was wearing her best wedding pearls, a necklace, earrings, and bracelet set that had set Merrick back about a few months' pay. She also wore two diamond cocktail rings on her right-hand fingers, along with her wedding rings.
Ginny was enticingly wearing a very shiny black satin off shoulders gown with long white lace frills hanging down from the scooped neckline and puffy elbow-length sleeves.
Her jewellery was a ruby rhinestone necklace with matching earrings. One side of her hair was pulled back and held by one of her diamond chip hair clips. She also wore her favorite rhinestone diamond bracelet and several enticing rings.
But the real showpiece was the eye-grabbing broach she had pinned to the gown just at her waistband. It had a sparrow egg-sized diamond at its centre surrounded by 3 rows of smaller diamond diamonds. The top and bottom three stones of the third row were pear-shaped 5-carat diamonds. It looked like something from the royal jewels in the tower of London which indeed it was patterned after. Though that jewelled piece was worth a cool £2 million.
Over the years Ginny had worn this exquisite piece on a gown several times and it had always garnered plenty of compliments and notice, with some actually thinking the piece was genuine.
Cadence was radiant in an eye-catching sleek on one shoulder canary yellow satin evening gown that fell sweeping to her silver heels.
She was proudly wearing her set of dainty but real diamonds. She had saved for years buying the pieces bit by bit.
There was a gold necklace set with seven matching diamonds of 1 carat each, set in a V pattern. Her earrings were 3/4 diamond studs with a full 1 carats worth of diamonds dangling down, 3 to a side. She was wearing white elbow-length satin gloves. Around her right gloved wrist was a wide gold bracelet set with two outer rows of 1/4 carat diamonds, with a layer of diamond chips in between. A diamond cocktail ring worn on her right index finger nicely completed her diamond ensemble.
Dinner was an elegant affair, which for the price was expected. I knew we were in for a show when the hostess was wearing a gown rivaling anything our girls were wearing. Even the snooty French waiters were in tux and cumberbund. A roving pair of suited violinist meandered around would play for tips.
Later we went out dancing and drinking at a club on the other side of the city. Piling into a cab van to reach our destination.
Merrick and I taking multiple turns on the dance floor with each of the girls. Bring spelled only when they were asked to dance by several other males.
The girls' seemingly unstoppable desire to dance finally took its toll much later as we noticed they were getting much more clinging upon us when dancing. Cadence, missing her boyfriend, seemed to be the neediest of the three. And at Ginny’s insistence, both Merrick and I, for her own good, had to cut in and peel her off several times from strangers she had been drunkenly dancing a wee bit too close with and finish it with her.
The last time Merrick performed the task she didn't even realize she had started with someone else, my sister was that pie-eyed!
After we had closed down the dance club
Heather told us of an after-hours place where we could still get a few drinks before heading home. It was a fun sort of spot she had heard of. like one of those old cellar speakeasy that one always sees in American noir films set during the depression.
You had to knock and when asked for a password just bribe them with a fiver to get in
We were all pretty happy drunks at that point and probably should have called it a night rather than go to an unfamiliar place in a part of town we were strangers to.
But we were happy drunks who didn't care.
We found a cab and asked the driver if he knew where it was?
He did and we all squoze in.
It was like Heather said...
Located on a deserted side street lined with old Victorian-era discolored brick buildings
To me, it looked like the post-war area that my favorite author Tony Broadbent would set up his main protagonist, Cat Burglar Jethro, in.
Going down the below street stairs we found ourselves at a sturdy door with a closed slot and a large lion's head with the knocker in its mouth. Once we banged it the slot opened and a pair of male eyes looked us down and down.
“Password?”
When asked that, both Merrick and I handed over a pair of crisp fivers before being let in.
It was an interesting place, to say the least. It was located what looked like an old meat butcher brick-lined cellar, and I swear the walls were stained with some of the byproducts of that work.
££££££££££££££££££
No fancy hostess waiting to seat us here...
On our own, we managed to find a table in a far corner that fit our party. A gum-chewing waitress in a spandex dress came up and dryly took our drink order. We settled back to soak up the new surroundings.
We were literally in a smoke-filled, dimly lit room. Listening to the jazzy music bring played on the stage.
We were served our(watered down) drinks and as we chatted found ourselves becoming mesmerized by the activity around us and becoming rather sleepy due to the lateness of the hour.
I suddenly had an annoying, but the overwhelming urge to go to the loo and have a sit-down.
The old redbrick room was deserted, with only one old stall of two there was working.
Some wanker had done their wet business on the floor so I raised my feet against the door and was about to begin my business when these two blokes come in.
I held off, something about the way their feet moved about, and their hushed tones of voice told me to do so.
They began to speak as I listened:
“Thanks for calling me, Ronnie”
“Anytime Fred, Can I bum a Cig, it's been a night tailing them here.”
I hear a match strike and soon smell cigarette smoke.”
“Did you get a closer look at the one I was telling you about ?”
The other one, Fred, his voice raspy answered
“Yeah, I got a peak. Short notice though, and short-handed with the Scarborough and Heighton jobs both on tonight. “
“What about A lifter, Charlie? I saw him working around here earlier?”
Raspy didn't appear to agree and snickered...
“I wish Ronnie, Naw, we’re not talking about a wallet in the dames' purse here. Anyway, I think the bluebird caught me trying to look. I had to back off. if I tipped my hand they may be skittish of any close approaches from a stranger now.”
That canary, though, defiantly is wearing ice, not a huge amount, but no telling what other baubles the bird is sleeping with? And she looks to be alone. What do you think, should we call Dinky to tail?
Raspy Fred didn't appear to totally agree...
“I still find the blackbird’s feathers interesting, I agree it's mostly paste, but that sparkler at her waist, what she has on her wrist, Hard to tell with only a quick glance. If only one was real they'd be worth a fortune. But would the Dame really be that naive to wear them out around here? “
“Sally would know if it's ice if we can track her down quick enough before they fly away.”
With a cold chill, it had finally dawned on me that the subjects of their conversation were our girls and their jewels!
“Go head call Dink to see if he wants the shadow job on the canary usual fee, jack needs the cash, see if he is interested in plucking the ice from her flat tonight, usual split, I’ll try and find Sally for a looksee on the blackbird before she flies.”
“Jack is out again, I didn’t know that? He has talents that one, could sneak into an unlit room with a floor littered with empty cans and manage to lift the rhinestone collar from a snoozing Persian cat without it noticing.”
“Well, we're not talking about trimming a canary with rhinestones now are we?”Raspy snorted rudely
“No, we're not.”
“Let's get moving on this if Sally can confirm the blackbird's diamonds are real we can still set up to lift the feathers of all three birds. Farm it out to the east end for a split of the job. They can have one of their Cabs waiting outside.”
“But I need to be sure of this. Not wasting good money on paste. We’ll use the phone across the street.”
I saw a cigarette drop to the ground, a shoe grinds it out as sparks flew. The two men disappear as I hear their footsteps walked with purposeful strides to the door and leave.
It was like a bloody movie I thought, except this was really happening. Out girls had attracted the attention of the wrong kind this evening.
It was very frustrating that I still had to wait while finally attending to my original business before leaving.
By the time I got back to our table. I found my lot had just ordered another round of drinks.
I would have to wait until we finished them before herding them to safety without causing alarm.
The minutes passed as if in slow motion as I spent the time on guard trying to spot the pair, or anyone else looking too close.
I talked to Cadence who was by then two sheets to the wind ( like us all, except now me). And planted a seed that we should all go back to the suite and everyone do sleepover in our living room and tell stories.
She was too easy, taking off with the idea like it was her own, and soon was encouraging us all to get cracking and quickly finish our drinks
Finally, after paying off the tab, we left the joint. I had a few anxious minutes as I hailed a cab and we all piled in. I felt the girls were in a very vulnerable situation and did not really breathe until we arrived safely back at the hotel.
Once we were inside I felt that we had given them, whoever they were, the slip.
And the fact that this whole situation appeared to be lifted from Tony Broadbent’s ‘The Smoke’ did not escape me atoll.
££££££££££££££££££££££££££
Everyone was still all for changing into PJs and doing a sleepover so we could party a little longer.
Heather said sheepishly...
“I sleep in the round. Then giggled that she would just sleep in her dress. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
So with Ginny and Cadence wearing their satin PJs, Heather in her gown, Merrick and I in our jams we all sat around with drinks as Merrick began to tell one of his Irish Drinking Stories. He fell asleep before finishing it. But no one noticed, we were all there before him.
££££££££££££££
The next morning Cadence went into her room through the connecting doors to tidy up, even though everything of hers was in our room, and she had not spent more than ten minutes there yesterday before deciding to invade our room.
As she went in, I heard her question back,
“That’s odd, why is my balcony door wide open?”
Fini
Ahhhh the Blue Moutains. Headed up there last week with the Squashed Man to have a bit of a looksee. They really are quite a magnificent place and so hard to represent. This is a 8 image stitch with a Cokin GND8 and Circ Polarizer - bloody hard work this stitching - esp with colours and exposure.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
This is it for the balloon Polaroids. We'll take a little balloon break now.
Kind of old news at this point, but still cool... Nicolle spotlighted me on Sacred Lotus Photography!
PS: Not ONLY am I have a big Polaroid sale (buy one get one free) in my Etsy shop, I also just made a huge shop update and added a couple of these balloon Polaroids, among other things.. Take a looksee. Link in my profile.
Opportunities Thief
Or
The Great Ice Rip-off
There were 5 of us together partying in our group that weekend.
Of the 5, I am the only one who knows the full story of how close a shave we had with a wretched fate that evening…
But I see no reason why I cannot tell my readers about it...
££££££££££££££££££££
The occasion was our Birthday weekend, my twin sister Cadence’s and me that is.
We had all gone up to the big city to make a night of it.
Our group consisted of My lovely wife Ginny, our married friends Merrick and Heather, Cadence, and myself.
Cade was supposed to bring a date, but that plan fell through. Bryan, the detective inspector she was dating, had to cover his department that weekend.
We had ended up booking 1 suite and two rooms at a rather posh hotel for the night.
But the one room was a waste since Cadence, being alone, had taken up camp in our suites living room. Her one suitcase in our living room with her cosmetics, jewel case, and dresses in the separate bath which she was using as a dressing room.
Speaking of dressing rooms, no surprise I’m sure to anyone who has read any of my stories, but the girls had all unanimously decided to go formal for our planned evening of dinner, dancing, and drinking.
Merrick and I were strongly encouraged to wear our black tuxedos. Mine had its black satin vest and Merrick wore a vest with a gold and black calico silk pattern.
Heather was really far too fetching in a long blue silk gown with rhinestone trimmings. She was wearing her best wedding pearls, a necklace, earrings, and bracelet set that had set Merrick back about a few months' pay. She also wore two diamond cocktail rings on her right-hand fingers, along with her wedding rings.
Ginny was enticingly wearing a very shiny black satin off shoulders gown with long white lace frills hanging down from the scooped neckline and puffy elbow-length sleeves.
Her jewellery was a ruby rhinestone necklace with matching earrings. One side of her hair was pulled back and held by one of her diamond chip hair clips. She also wore her favorite rhinestone diamond bracelet and several enticing rings.
But the real showpiece was the eye-grabbing broach she had pinned to the gown just at her waistband. It had a sparrow egg-sized diamond at its centre surrounded by 3 rows of smaller diamond diamonds. The top and bottom three stones of the third row were pear-shaped 5-carat diamonds. It looked like something from the royal jewels in the tower of London which indeed it was patterned after. Though that jewelled piece was worth a cool £2 million.
Over the years Ginny had worn this exquisite piece on a gown several times and it had always garnered plenty of compliments and notice, with some actually thinking the piece was genuine.
Cadence was radiant in an eye-catching sleek on one shoulder canary yellow satin evening gown that fell sweeping to her silver heels.
She was proudly wearing her set of dainty but real diamonds. She had saved for years buying the pieces bit by bit.
There was a gold necklace set with seven matching diamonds of 1 carat each, set in a V pattern. Her earrings were 3/4 diamond studs with a full 1 carats worth of diamonds dangling down, 3 to a side. She was wearing white elbow-length satin gloves. Around her right gloved wrist was a wide gold bracelet set with two outer rows of 1/4 carat diamonds, with a layer of diamond chips in between. A diamond cocktail ring worn on her right index finger nicely completed her diamond ensemble.
Dinner was an elegant affair, which for the price was expected. I knew we were in for a show when the hostess was wearing a gown rivaling anything our girls were wearing. Even the snooty French waiters were in tux and cumberbund. A roving pair of suited violinist meandered around would play for tips.
Later we went out dancing and drinking at a club on the other side of the city. Piling into a cab van to reach our destination.
Merrick and I taking multiple turns on the dance floor with each of the girls. Bring spelled only when they were asked to dance by several other males.
The girls' seemingly unstoppable desire to dance finally took its toll much later as we noticed they were getting much more clinging upon us when dancing. Cadence, missing her boyfriend, seemed to be the neediest of the three. And at Ginny’s insistence, both Merrick and I, for her own good, had to cut in and peel her off several times from strangers she had been drunkenly dancing a wee bit too close with and finish it with her.
The last time Merrick performed the task she didn't even realize she had started with someone else, my sister was that pie-eyed!
After we had closed down the dance club
Heather told us of an after-hours place where we could still get a few drinks before heading home. It was a fun sort of spot she had heard of. like one of those old cellar speakeasy that one always sees in American noir films set during the depression.
You had to knock and when asked for a password just bribe them with a fiver to get in
We were all pretty happy drunks at that point and probably should have called it a night rather than go to an unfamiliar place in a part of town we were strangers to.
But we were happy drunks who didn't care.
We found a cab and asked the driver if he knew where it was?
He did and we all squoze in.
It was like Heather said...
Located on a deserted side street lined with old Victorian-era discolored brick buildings
To me, it looked like the post-war area that my favorite author Tony Broadbent would set up his main protagonist, Cat Burglar Jethro, in.
Going down the below street stairs we found ourselves at a sturdy door with a closed slot and a large lion's head with the knocker in its mouth. Once we banged it the slot opened and a pair of male eyes looked us down and down.
“Password?”
When asked that, both Merrick and I handed over a pair of crisp fivers before being let in.
It was an interesting place, to say the least. It was located what looked like an old meat butcher brick-lined cellar, and I swear the walls were stained with some of the byproducts of that work.
££££££££££££££££££
No fancy hostess waiting to seat us here...
On our own, we managed to find a table in a far corner that fit our party. A gum-chewing waitress in a spandex dress came up and dryly took our drink order. We settled back to soak up the new surroundings.
We were literally in a smoke-filled, dimly lit room. Listening to the jazzy music bring played on the stage.
We were served our(watered down) drinks and as we chatted found ourselves becoming mesmerized by the activity around us and becoming rather sleepy due to the lateness of the hour.
I suddenly had an annoying, but the overwhelming urge to go to the loo and have a sit-down.
The old redbrick room was deserted, with only one old stall of two there was working.
Some wanker had done their wet business on the floor so I raised my feet against the door and was about to begin my business when these two blokes come in.
I held off, something about the way their feet moved about, and their hushed tones of voice told me to do so.
They began to speak as I listened:
“Thanks for calling me, Ronnie”
“Anytime Fred, Can I bum a Cig, it's been a night tailing them here.”
I hear a match strike and soon smell cigarette smoke.”
“Did you get a closer look at the one I was telling you about ?”
The other one, Fred, his voice raspy answered
“Yeah, I got a peak. Short notice though, and short-handed with the Scarborough and Heighton jobs both on tonight. “
“What about A lifter, Charlie? I saw him working around here earlier?”
Raspy didn't appear to agree and snickered...
“I wish Ronnie, Naw, we’re not talking about a wallet in the dames' purse here. Anyway, I think the bluebird caught me trying to look. I had to back off. if I tipped my hand they may be skittish of any close approaches from a stranger now.”
That canary, though, defiantly is wearing ice, not a huge amount, but no telling what other baubles the bird is sleeping with? And she looks to be alone. What do you think, should we call Dinky to tail?
Raspy Fred didn't appear to totally agree...
“I still find the blackbird’s feathers interesting, I agree it's mostly paste, but that sparkler at her waist, what she has on her wrist, Hard to tell with only a quick glance. If only one was real they'd be worth a fortune. But would the Dame really be that naive to wear them out around here? “
“Sally would know if it's ice if we can track her down quick enough before they fly away.”
With a cold chill, it had finally dawned on me that the subjects of their conversation were our girls and their jewels!
“Go head call Dink to see if he wants the shadow job on the canary usual fee, jack needs the cash, see if he is interested in plucking the ice from her flat tonight, usual split, I’ll try and find Sally for a looksee on the blackbird before she flies.”
“Jack is out again, I didn’t know that? He has talents that one, could sneak into an unlit room with a floor littered with empty cans and manage to lift the rhinestone collar from a snoozing Persian cat without it noticing.”
“Well, we're not talking about trimming a canary with rhinestones now are we?”Raspy snorted rudely
“No, we're not.”
“Let's get moving on this if Sally can confirm the blackbird's diamonds are real we can still set up to lift the feathers of all three birds. Farm it out to the east end for a split of the job. They can have one of their Cabs waiting outside.”
“But I need to be sure of this. Not wasting good money on paste. We’ll use the phone across the street.”
I saw a cigarette drop to the ground, a shoe grinds it out as sparks flew. The two men disappear as I hear their footsteps walked with purposeful strides to the door and leave.
It was like a bloody movie I thought, except this was really happening. Out girls had attracted the attention of the wrong kind this evening.
It was very frustrating that I still had to wait while finally attending to my original business before leaving.
By the time I got back to our table. I found my lot had just ordered another round of drinks.
I would have to wait until we finished them before herding them to safety without causing alarm.
The minutes passed as if in slow motion as I spent the time on guard trying to spot the pair, or anyone else looking too close.
I talked to Cadence who was by then two sheets to the wind ( like us all, except now me). And planted a seed that we should all go back to the suite and everyone do sleepover in our living room and tell stories.
She was too easy, taking off with the idea like it was her own, and soon was encouraging us all to get cracking and quickly finish our drinks
Finally, after paying off the tab, we left the joint. I had a few anxious minutes as I hailed a cab and we all piled in. I felt the girls were in a very vulnerable situation and did not really breathe until we arrived safely back at the hotel.
Once we were inside I felt that we had given them, whoever they were, the slip.
And the fact that this whole situation appeared to be lifted from Tony Broadbent’s ‘The Smoke’ did not escape me atoll.
££££££££££££££££££££££££££
Everyone was still all for changing into PJs and doing a sleepover so we could party a little longer.
Heather said sheepishly...
“I sleep in the round. Then giggled that she would just sleep in her dress. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
So with Ginny and Cadence wearing their satin PJs, Heather in her gown, Merrick and I in our jams we all sat around with drinks as Merrick began to tell one of his Irish Drinking Stories. He fell asleep before finishing it. But no one noticed, we were all there before him.
££££££££££££££
The next morning Cadence went into her room through the connecting doors to tidy up, even though everything of hers was in our room, and she had not spent more than ten minutes there yesterday before deciding to invade our room.
As she went in, I heard her question back,
“That’s odd, why is my balcony door wide open?”
Fini
This was *rather* difficult. Noticed the route she tended to take, involving a couple of cautious short flaps with a looksee for cats in between. And eventually, back she came. With a final dive to the seed, myself in full view. Not sure I really want to be considered completely harmless, but apparently I am... sigh.
.
Lots to discuss today ---
We'll start with Ms Pumpkin Pie.
Took her outside twice before midnight.
She peed real quick, then back to bed.
Her gums are still bone white with a
real slight bit of pink. No# 1 wife
has continued on feeding
her with the very large
syringe. Right now
she's laying next
to me here at
my desk ;-)
Might also mention, her eyes are
1/2 open watching my every move.
Thank you all for wishing her well.
So, this morning an executive decision had to be made.
What was that decision you ask ?
Who gets to go to the m/c field.
As you can see here Ms Legs The Zoomer is onboard
the K9 Uber. The Zoomer is a real good girl and stays
real close to me at all times.Couple of times she did
race around with the boys but soon came back to
where I'm sitting up on the resting platform you
have seen many times in the past. The m/c
field was 90% dry but I was still cautious
always watching for any Murphy traps.
Took a calculated chance and drove
down one of the side isles for a looksee.
Wasn't to bad, but not to good either ;-0-
IMHO ---
Another week or two and the m/c field will be
dry enough to wander on down all the isles.
Once again, I want to thank all of you
for your ongoing support an comments.
Thank You.
Jon&Crew.
Please help with your temple dog donations here.
www.gofundme.com/saving-thai-temple-dogs.
Please,
No Political Statements, Awards, Invites,
Large Logos or Copy/Pastes.
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.