In another attempt to solve the peeing situation with Poeka, we added one more litter tray, a cardboard scratching block and a simple piece of cat furniture in a different corner of the house. We also bought some cleaning liquid which is supposed to (and does) get rid of the nasty smell in affected places. So far this makes the situation manageable.

It looks as if we underestimated the introduction of a new kitten in our household. In this picture Pip is the top-cat and we hope she'll keep that position. She has the most and best contact with Billy, even though he really plays roughly with her at times.

Again, the film-like feel. There was enough light here, so the noise remained manageable.

For night shots with this camera, I leave the ISO at 100, set the exposure time to 1/30, slide the f-stop ring to "A" and hope for the best.

The theme for Macro Mondays is "In the center," and, while this 25-shot group needed a little windage adjustment to nudge it a bit closer to center, it'll have to do. I shot the group about 15 years ago with my .44 magnum, using somewhat reduced hand loads to keep the recoil down to more manageable levels.

ODT; CENTERED

I just recently finished this collection. This is my favorite collection by Jakks Pacific after the 2012 Comic Con exclusives.

Here are my reviews on the dolls:

Flora - The outfit doesn't really have the same shape that it does in the show. I think the top is a bit longer, and the skirt is a bit tighter. I would have liked for the skirt to be finished off at the bottom. The socks aren't completely accurate to the show, but I don't really mind that much. Her shoes are spot on; I quite like them. I also like the jewelry that comes with this doll. The earrings aren't accurate, but they are cute. The necklace doesn't stay on very well without the elastic holding it on. I also would have preferred that the necklace be green. It does have very nice detailing though. I believe that Flora has a a pink bracelet and a green bracelet that goes with this outfit in the show, but the doll doesn't come with them. I like the style of Flora's hair, but it does get messy easily.

Musa - She is one of my favorites from the collection. Aside from the clear elastics, her hair is accurate. Her top is quite accurate, but the stripes don't continue on the back of the shirt, and either does the ruffle. Those things aren't really noticeable though, unless you are looking at the back of the doll. The pants are a good color, but I wish that they had been a bit longer, and had been folded at the bottom like in the show. The shoes aren't really accurate, but I don't really mind that much. I would have liked to see the bottoms painted dark blue though, like in the show. The belt is cute, but I would have preferred more accuracy. Musa didn't come with the arm warmers that she has in the show, and I thought that kind of took away from the look, so I made my own arm warmers for her.

Aisha - I like that her hair is quite smooth, and I like how the elastics are pink, like in the show. It would have been nice if they had put pink hair elastics on the strands that fall in front of her face, like in the show. I have all her hair at the back right now though, because if I put a few strands in the front, it looks a bit messy. Her shirt could have been more accurate, but it's still nice. The skirt is pretty well done. I would have preferred a real buckle and pockets, but it still looks nice as it is. The pink socks could have been more accurate, but I think they still look good. The shoes are nice, but I think they really would have benefited from having the bottoms painted light green. The necklace is a very nice touch. It is only one color, but it still looks quite intricate, which I like.

Bloom - She is another of my favorites from this line, because her outfit has quite a lot of detail. Her shirt is quite nice, although I do wish that the sleeves were a bit more poofy, and I would have liked it to have the turtleneck part. I get that they didn't add it because then it would cover up the "X" on her back where the wings go in, but I would have rather had the the turtleneck, than to have the "X" uncovered. Her skirt is very pretty, although the ruffles are only on the front, and not the back, so it looks a bit strange from the back. Her socks aren't completely accurate, but they still look good. Her shoes are nice, but I would have preferred boots. The armband is cute. It can fall off easily though. I would have liked to see Bloom have bangs like she has in the show, but aside from that, her hair is okay. It can easily become messy though, so I've been trying not to touch it that much.

Tecna - I've got some of her hair held back with a clear packaging elastic, so it looks a bit more accurate. her top is pretty accurate aside from the missing collar, and the stripes are red, instead of hot pink. The top looks strange without the collar because it just ends kind of abruptly right at her neck. The collar would have done a lot for the look. Her skirt is well done, but I wish that the stripe was hot pink, instead of red. The leggings are pretty good, but I wish that they had made them stockings. The boots aren't too accurate but they are creative. Once again, I think that they could have benefited from a second color. The earrings are accurate, and they add a lot to the look. I like the bracelet that was added to this outfit. Tecna doesn't have it in the show, but I like it, and think that it fits well with the look.

Stella - Aside from the color, I think that Stella's hair is quite accurate. It can be a bit hard to work with, like Bloom's and Flora's hair. I think its a bit more manageable than theirs though. The dress is nice, but the stripes don't continue on the back of the dress. I would have also liked for the dress to have pleats at the bottom. The belt isn't completely accurate, but I think it's fairly close to how it looks in the show. Her shoes don't look a whole lot like they do in the show. The color is a bit dark, and the style is a bit off. Her headband isn't accurate, but it's still quite nice. The only problem is that it can be a bit hard to get it to stay in place on her head. Her earrings aren't completely accurate, but they still look good.

Overall, some things that I like about the line are that each girl has her own shoe style, and unique accessories, and the colors are bright and vibrant. Some criticisms are that the hair quality isn't as good as it could be, there are some minor inaccuracies, and I would have liked to see these dolls with the deluxe bodies, as I think their arm positions are a bit awkward. Still, I think it is a very charming line, and I like it a lot, despite the inaccuracies.

This is the 2nd blooming for this plant. It was in bloom about 8 months ago with 14 flowers and this time, 12 flowers. This time, I was surprised that the spike emerged long before the pseudobulb had matured. The 3 open flowers are just getting their fragrance. The remaining 9 flowers should open in the next 10 days. I'm hoping that since it bloomed so early in the growing season, it might try to grow a second pseudobulb.

This is also a recently repotted orchid and it is in a clay pot with lava rock. Since it is growing so fast in lava rock, it may have to be repotted in a bigger pot next spring.The plant leaves are quite long, about 18-24 inches including the pseudobulb so the plant might become a space hog eventually. I might have to remove some older spent pseudobulbs to keep it manageable.

It has been surprisingly a carefree plant, just requiring a watering on hot sunny days. It seems to grow much slower in winter so it is allowed to dry for a longer time in between waterings.

The flowers last about 1 month and are reminiscent of a less aggressive 'Oncidium Sharry Baby' scent. I'm sure the flowers would smell stronger in sunlight. It does fine indoors, even with AC.

A proud and tactical Protector of the Stone Region, Piedra led her tribe toward being the most prosperous of its time. She was awarded a double-barrelled Sand Blaster, but as it proved too unwieldy for her liking, she had it compressed down to a more manageable size.

Village centre of Beuvron-en-Auge with its half-timbered houses and its former market hall, Normandy, France

Some background information:

Beuvron-en-Auge is a little village in the Norman department of Calvados. It is located in the Pays d'Auge (in English: "valley of the river Auge") right between the cities of Caen to the west and Lisieux to the east. Both cities are about 30 km (19 miles) away from Beuvron-en-Auge. With its almost 200 residents the village is situated in the agricultural back country of the Côte Fleurie (in English: "Flowery Coast") with its popular seaside resorts Deauville and Trouville.

Beuvron-en-Auge was most likely founded in the 12th century. At that time it was just a tiny settlement of self-sufficient farmers. In 1382, the village and its surrounding lands entered into possession of the noble Norman family d'Harcourt that owned the estates until 1793. Hence, Beuvron-en-Auge formed a part of the earldom Harcourt for more than five centuries.

In the 15th century, the village began to thrive. The farmers achieved modest prosperity because the valley of the Auge was a rather fertile spot of land. In the 16th century, more and more apple orchards were laid out. Cidre (in English: "cider") has already been produced since the 8th century, but in 1553, Gilles Picot, Lord de Gouberville, carried out the first known distillation of calvados and thereby created a completely new branch of trade that soon became very successful. Since then, the valley of the Auge in known for being the heart of Norman calvados distillation.

In the 18th century, also tanners and weavers established themselves in Beuvron-en-Auge. Many of the half-timbered houses in the village center as well as the half-timbered market hall on the village square were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, bearing witness of the community’s former affluence. In the first half of the 19th century, a growing number of merchants and craftsmen complemented the rural community and the village became also a centre of cattle trade.

However, in the middle of the 20th century, migration from the land to the cities gave the village a hard time. The village population halved and the community seemed to have no prospects. But after the motorway A13 had been built 6 km (3.7 miles) north of Beuvron-en-Auge at the beginning of the 70s, the then mayor conceived a plan of sustainable tourism. The village centre was restored carefully and as a result of that Beuvron-en-Auge was admitted into the association "The most beautiful villages of France" (in French: "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France"), which promotes small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage. Currently 155 villages throughout France with less than 2,000 residents are pooled under the umbrella of the organisation.

Since Beuvron-en-Auge belongs "to the most beautiful villages of France", it attracts a significant, even so manageable number of tourists, which are usually accommodated in the nearby seaside resorts, but are also interested in exploring the surrounding country.

The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne (plus a small part of the territory of Eure). The chief town is Lisieux. The landscape of this area is considered typical of Normandy—agricultural and producing dairy produce and apples. It is noted for its cheeses, especially Camembert (named for a place in Pays d'Auge), Livarot and Pont-l'Évêque, also names of villages. But most importantly, the Pays d'Auge has been granted appellation contrôlée status for its famous cider and calvados production.

My dolls today~ (not including the ones I've put away to sell or be customised!) I think this is under 70, right? So...a slightly more manageable number ^^;; I do sometimes think I'm going to tire of dolls, and I'll be left with this huge collection O_o I haven't felt like taking so many photos of them lately, but maybe it's just that I am getting a bit tired of photography rather than the dolls, because I still love to look at them.

I think I could survive with a few less dolls, though... And I've ordered a couple more >_< But I'm definitely not buying them at the same rate I was last year, at least! I think I bought about a doll a week last year. This year it's more like one every 2-3 weeks, maybe ^^;;

Times Square was emptier than it usually is as snow fell during winter storm Nemo in midtown Manhattan.

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Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

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I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.

I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.

And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).

--

View more of my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.

View my photography profile on Google Plus: New York City photography by Vivienne Gucwa

To purchase any of my work view my site gallery for info here.

To use any of my photos commercially, simply click the link which reads "Request to license Vivienne Gucwa's photos via Getty Images". This link can be found on the bottom right corner of the page of the photo you are interested in using.

[Somebody faved this and I reread it and I thought "damn, that's really pretty good" and of course it made me cry all over again but it made me happy all over again too. If you're the crying type and don't want to cry don't read it, but if you can hold up against some sadness to get to some happiness, read on]

I've had this bit of family ephemera floating around my apartment for some months now, slowly making its way towards the back bedroom, where all the family ephemera is supposed to end up, all the booklets and pamphlets and maps and letters (dozens and dozens), and post cards (hundreds) and family photographs (thousands), memoirs, hand-transcribed, taped interviews, Last Wills and Testaments, all that kind of stuff. Mostly it's the women, the mothers and the grandmothers and the great-grandmothers going back, who were the savers, the hoarders, but I guess in my grandfather's case, he the prolific letter-writer and giver-of-sermons, an exception would have to be made.

As for me . . .

After my mother's death, I gave one of my cousins my grandmother's diaries, and now I want them back, or at least the first one. I'd love to see if I can decipher my Gran's handwriting: it is some of the most difficult-to-read handwriting I've ever seen. I suppose once you've cracked the code, you're in. I imagine the diary will say things like "today I had a soft-boiled egg in an egg cup for breakfast" (the English are big on egg cups). Family ephemera. Someday, it will all get organized, and perhaps reduced in the process to a more manageable volume, this tidal wave of family ephemera. At least, that's what I tell myself.

But this one piece of ephemera: I couldn't get unstuck from it. I would shuffle from one room to another, and there it would be, lying on a desk or sitting on top of a dresser. How nice, I thought, that my mother had saved a page of my (very) youthful drawings, my baby steps towards becoming an artist (alas, twas not to be). But still, thanks Mom, at least your heart was in the right place.

And then one day I picked up the page of drawings and turned it over to look more closely at the other side. My mother was a great letter writer, and of course these child's scribbles, and her adult's attempt at a helping hand, are written on her letterhead. But though I'm sure I had looked at both sides, not once but several times, I had not focussed, not bothered to notice, the address on the letterhead. I had assumed, in my solipsistic way, that these feeble attempts at art were a joint effort of me and my mother. But then I saw the address: "620 - A NORTH SEVENTH STREET." I was 7-years-old when we moved to North 7th Street. These aren't my scribbles. These are my sister Wendy's.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Today is the 60th anniversary of the death of my sister, Wendy Graham Van Noate. When I finally figured out who did the drawings on the letterhead (I really did imagine that I was one of the two artists, for a period of several weeks, until I finally stumbled onto the truth), I was moved to do a bit of research. Wendy's grave is nicely memorialized on Find A Grave. She was born on June 1, 1959, and she died on April 11th, 1961. She was less than two months short of her second birthday.

I don't actually have a lot to say about the little page of drawings. My mother's duck is pretty good. There doesn't seem to be a high degree of difficulty in the bear. Wendy seems not quite ready to be out of the scribble stage.

What I think of are my mother, sitting there at the breakfast room table, Wendy in her high chair, or perhaps sitting on my mother's lap, the two of them utterly absorbed in the business at hand, each living in the surety of the other's full attention. I can imagine my mother holding this page in her hand, after Wendy was gone, and experiencing a rush of warmth and tenderness inseparable from an almost unbearable sadness.

I thought about holding on to this page until Wendy's birthday, writing about it then, but frankly, I remember nothing about the day Wendy was born, and the day she died is like a brand on my wrist. Today, It's been sixty long years since I had my sister Wendy with me. Sixty years ago today I was walking up the alley that ran through the middle of our block and my parents had just pulled into the garage, after a long, what must have been an agonizing drive back from Cleveland, where Wendy died following failed open heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. But don't get me wrong: almost two years with Wendy will always be infinitely more valuable than an infinite number of years without her.

My mother idolized people. Maybe both sexes, I don't know. FDR, Churchill, Alaister Cooke, the guy from Cleveland who sailed the dingy across The Atlantic----they all got the treatment. I was either the sainted son or the distinctly feet-made-of-clay fallen idol. Had Wendy gotten older, started school, wanted to learn to play the violin, entered puberty, gone off to college, smoked pot, gotten married, had children, won that city council race, inevitably, had Wendy become Wendy, there would have come a day when she disappointed my mother. Perhaps, when that day came, as it inevitably would have, my mother could have gone and held this page of drawings in her hands, and remembered.

Family ephemera

Greater Anglia's 720537 leads class mate 720538 on 5Q28, mileage accumulation duties from Rugby to Wolverton via a brief pause at Crewe. 350404 gives chase on the down slow, working 1U33 frm London Euston to Crewe (350265 on the rear).

After Heamies Farm, where opportunities were limited as I forgot my ladders, I returned to Chorlton for an hour or so on the way home. Sun coming and going, but still manageable.

- www.kevin-palmer.com - The last time I was at this viewpoint, was on one of the longest nights of the year. I came back to see how it looks on the shortest of nights. The steep trail with many steps was a little more manageable not buried under 3 feet of snow. Astronomical twilight is the time when the sun is between 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon. The lingering glow is almost imperceptible to the eye, but a long exposure picks up the deep red and blue colors. The purple is likely an extremely weak aurora, only visible due to the high elevation. Once astronomical twilight ended at 11:20, night began. By this definition nights in northern Wyoming are only about 3.5 hours long in late June and early July. Traffic on Highway 16, which curves around Meadowlark Lake, was light. But traffic in the sky was heavy. New satellite launches have increased exponentially in the last few years. It’s nearly impossible to take a picture without one in it, especially at this time of year.

1. Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop., 2. flickr.com/photos/9134065@N03/4520617238/, 3. A Moment., 4. A day without sunshine is like, you know... night, 5. Untitled, 6. springtime, 7. Why can't I turn invisible?, 8. Joyful, 9. A box of stuff that'll go crazy when spring comes, but it's pretty manageable until then...

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

My inspirations, my friends! Where would I be without you? A few of my favourites from Flickr, representing new starts, Spring and life!

I rescued this antique tripod from an interior design shop a couple of years back, just before they turned it (can you believe) into a lamp stand!!! It's amazingly versatile, breaks down into manageable pieces and is extremely sturdy. And as a kind of novelty, I'm planning to cannibalise a modern ball-head to adapt it for use with a modern camera.

Should I feel the need to visit the Product Development Centres based at Ford's Melbourne Headquarters, from Geelong, the traffic is either Sunday-afternoon light or terrible.

One saving grace of terrible traffic, is that it gives me more time to look longingly at the lovely white-and-lime tractors and harvesters at the local CLAAS distribution centre, next to the highway. (Incidentally, the distribution centre nestles just besides the highway overpass used in 'Mad Max' where the message is phoned in that the hell-razing, post-apocalyptic bikies are heading in to town - but that is another story.)

In an earlier LUGNuts challenge that focused on food-related and on farm vehicles - Challenge 37 'The Food We Eat', I took delight in building various model s from the CLASS Tractor range, in miniland scale. This resulted in some nice (and very large), lime tractors. An absence of time, large wheels & tires, and lime Lego, left a few model untried, including the magnificent CLASS XERION, a double steering axle, giant wheeled behemoth, with a swiveling cab so it can go forwards, backwards, AND sideways - AWESOME.

The XERION will have to wait for another challenge somewhere down the line.

The other CLAAS with which I was captivated appears periodically in the distribution yard, and is equally magnificent. This model is the equally enormous CLAAS JAGUAR Harvester. I am a little bit sad that it can only go forward, but it makes up for this in being able to carry all sorts of crazy cutting, slicing and dicing tools on the front end. I have modeled only two here the Maize Cob Silage (MCS), designed to harvest corn/maize type plants, and the more traditional spinning long blade harvester type tool. There are more cool tools too, so they may be modeled for adaptation to the MotorCity-scale JAGUAR shown here.

One key difference from the Challenge 37 tractors, and the JAGUAR Harvester shown here is the scale. The sheer size of the real JAGUAR - 6.6 metres long (20 ft), and 3.8 metres tall (10.5 ft), not including any tool attachments, make it a seriously big entity. Maybe I will get to a Miniland-scale JAGUAR someday, but for now, I display the model in a more manageable 1:28 (MotorCity scale).

Incidentally, the Lego Group have also released a Harvester in the past few years under the 'City' line. One of the images shows this model (Nr. 7636). My JAGUAR was loosely based on this model for size and tool compatibility, and also as an example of the customisation of original Lego models that can add a dose of individual creativity to Lego modeling.

The point of this?

This CLAAS JAGUAR model has been created for Flickr LUGNuts 68th Build Challenge - 'A Baker's Dozen', to the sub-theme Nr. 11. 'Any tractor or combine harvester'.

I think I've ridden past this one a couple of times at its 'home', so thought I'd get a shot while I could. Not remarkable, but one I could imagine disappearing without me capturing. I think I've heard of the 'Atlas' previously, but I don't know any details. A lowly 8v motor in this one with just 68bhp, manageable enough for this to have covered around 100k miles.

On the edge of the southern old town of Chur. Lindenquai on the left and Plessurquai on the right, the road to Arosa where the Rhaetian Railway also runs. The old "Bear Wagon" has been enqueued somewhere between the multiple units again. There is even a stop here that is served by the Arosabahn. Instead of taking the bus, you can also take the train to get here. From the main station on foot through the old town it is only about 700 meters. The paths in the city of Chur are manageable. Switzerland, Sep 25, 2021.

Leyland National 207 was a sprightly twenty one year old when seen on Wallgate, Wigan, in September 1994.

New to Ribble in 1973 as 389, it joined the 'New' North Western company that was formed out of the split of Ribble to make the operation more manageable for looming privatisation and the break up of the NBC.

Nessaea Aglaura

Butterfly World

Coconut Creek, FL

Thanks to Leppphotos for the ID.

It's been so long since I'd been out shooting thanks to my bum foot and then, a tumble down the stairs got my tailbone area to hurting. I was feeling a little better and feeling the itch to go out, so I went to Butterfly World today thinking it was a manageable place to take a "test run". It turns out even that was too much. My body definitely let me down. My foot pain reared its head again, but that wasn't the worst of it. When I crouched down to take a picture, the pain in my lower back registered off the scale. By the time I left I was hobbling. I got a few keepers before crying uncle, but I went home knowing that my photo taking days are on hold. Not happy!

© All Rights Reserved

No use without permission.

After spending the morning at Gullfoss--perhaps Iceland's most famous waterfall, on a whim, I headed into Iceland's interior on highway 35--one of the very few roads leading to the interior that isn't designated "F"--i.e., where an all-wheel drive with high clearance is needed. The interior is an entirely different beast from the coastal areas. There are virtually no inhabitants for one thing, and many areas get very little rain, rendering them sub-arctic deserts with virtually no vegetation. This particular spot clearly had plenty of vegetation, though no trees. I had taken a side road off highway 35 toward a lake (Hvítárvatn)--a road that was designated "F," but which turned out to be manageable in my little Ford Fiesta. After only 1/2 mile or so, however, I came upon a locked gate, so hiked the remaining mile or so to the lake. This photo was looking back (east, I think) from whence I came. The mountain's name is Blafell, I believe.

Snowball fight! Times Square during winter storm Nemo.

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Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

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I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.

I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.

And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).

--

View more of my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.

View my photography profile on Google Plus: New York City photography by Vivienne Gucwa

To purchase any of my work view my site gallery for info here.

To use any of my photos commercially, simply click the link which reads "Request to license Vivienne Gucwa's photos via Getty Images". This link can be found on the bottom right corner of the page of the photo you are interested in using.

Plumbago capensis is an evergreen shrub that will grow as a vine if tied to a trellis. Cape plumbago is a native of South Africa.

Pale blue 1 inch flowers bloom in phlox-like clusters all year long. The fruit is a sticky bur.

Plumbago capensis need at least 4 hours of full sun per day with night temperatures of 45 to 50°, day temperatures of 60 to 80°. Humidity of 40 to 60% is desirable. Plant cape plumbago in a compost that consists of 2 parts loam to 1 part peat moss to 1 part sand. Keep the compost evenly moist. Feed established plants monthly with a balanced fertilizer diluted to half the strength recommended on the label. Cape plumbago responds well to heavy pruning to thin the plant and to keep it within a manageable size.

Plumbago capensis,Gelsomino azzurro o Pianta del piombo (perché si credeva che curasse l’avvelenamento da piombo)

Comprende circa dieci specie di piante coltivate per la gradevole fioritura estiva e per la possibilità di essere utilizzate come rampicanti, per ricoprire graticci, spalliere o muri, o come tappezzanti per gli angoli rocciosi del giardino.

The main path from the parking lot to an inviting bench was manageable by my 91 year old mother using a 4-wheel rollator. This portion of the path is wide enough for a wheelchair.

The path makes a 0.7 mile loop, but the branches off this main path to the bench looked a bit rough for the rollator and probably would be too narrow for a wheelchair.

The parking lot is small and rough, especially where the paved driveway ends. Take it slow and pay attention to the drop at the end of the pavement and you won't have a problem.

The best part of this little state park is no bicycles, no dogs, no motorized vehicles, no picnic tables, no restrooms. It is just an idyllic grove of redwoods with few visitors and a great place for someone with mobility challenges to commune with nature.

Find it on Google Maps here:

goo.gl/maps/2kumb3y8WzjiazSHA

The streets of midtown Manhattan were rather empty during winter storm Nemo.

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Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

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I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.

I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.

And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).

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View more of my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.

View my photography profile on Google Plus: New York City photography by Vivienne Gucwa

To purchase any of my work view my site gallery for info here.

To use any of my photos commercially, simply click the link which reads "Request to license Vivienne Gucwa's photos via Getty Images". This link can be found on the bottom right corner of the page of the photo you are interested in using.

Here is a comparison between my Taurus Model 85T Revolver in .38 Special (+P) and my Kel-Tec P3AT in .380 Auto.

The Taurus 85T frame is made of Titanium, which makes it much lighter than a comparable steel-framed snubnose revolver. It is part of the Taurus "Total Titanium" series of snubnose revolvers designed for concealed carry. I don't think this particular model in "Stealth Gray" is currently available. The 85T trigger group, hammer and barrel are made from steel, and the grip is rubber.

The Kel-Tec P3AT has a steel slide, barrel and trigger group. The frame is made of aluminum alloy, and the grip is made of a Dupont high-impact polymer. Both handguns are made to be very light within their respective design class. Both have features to keep the effects of recoil manageable. The Taurus has a ported barrel, and the Kel-Tec has the combination of the locking mechanism, the lighter caliber, and the overall balance.

From the Kel-Tec Website:

"The P-3AT is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol, chambered for the .380 Auto cartridge. It has been developed from our highly successful P-32 pistol with negligible increase in weight and size. The slidestop has been eliminated and the magazine capacity reduced to 6 rounds due to the larger cartridge."

"The firing mechanism is double action only. The magazine has a 6 round capacity. The KEL-TEC P-3AT is the lightest .380 Auto pistol ever made. Thanks to its locking dynamics and superior ergonometry, perceived recoil and practical accuracy are comparable to much larger guns."

I can personally vouch for the truth of the Kel-Tec claims. It's made in the USA! However, I also like the Taurus revolver very much. It's not as compact, but it's very light because it's made of Titanium. The Model 85T is no longer made, presumably because the all-Titanium construction is too costly to be competitive. The new, similar model has a slightly lighter, aluminum-alloy frame, and it costs considerably more than what I paid for this all-Titanium handgun.

Taurus makes fine handguns, and mine is no exception. It is an extremely accurate snub-nose revolver.

I know it's back-lit but I still rather like this imposing view of Armstrongs Mill in Ilkeston, and I don't think there would be too many times when the sun was both on the front and high enough to make the shadows manageable. Unique Frieghtliner 66623 'Bill Bolsover' is seen heading north along the Erewash Valley line with the 6M90 02:57 West Thurrock to Hope cement empties. Wednesday the 19th of August 2015.

1989 Austin Metro City 3-door.

A 6R4 replica fitted with a 1998cc engine.

Anglia Car Auctions, King's Lynn -

"V5 Present

MoT Apr 2020

Chassis number: SAXXFDNB1BD774449

The vendor advises that the previous owner commenced the building of this car in 2012, taking five years to complete. To reduce the amount of modifications to the body in order to fit the engine in the rear, an MG TF subframe was used which is almost identical to that of a Metro but with benefit of coil springs. All parts fitted are either MG or Rover including the engine and gearbox taken from a Rover 600 Turbo. The vendor decided that he wanted lots of power and in 2017 sent the engine to Scholar Racing Engines when racing pistons, Piper cams, larger turbo, a one‑off dry sump kit and programmable ECU were fitted at a cost of £8,415. The gearbox was rebuilt using better racing bearings. At that time, the car was able to reach 500 bhp on full boost. In 2018 new stage 2 racing clutch and new radiator were fitted. At the end of that year, the engine was down‑tuned on a rolling road to a more manageable power which means the engine and turbo are not at full capacity although the car is still amazingly quick. The V5 states the correct 2.0 litre engine. It has been used for track events and hill climb time trials for a few years now. The mileage is recorded at 45,472."

Sold for £14,840 including premium.

Noun. zawn (plural zawns) (regional Britain) A deep and narrow sea-inlet in the British Isles, especially Cornwall and the south-west, cut by erosion into sea-cliffs, and with steep or vertical side-walls.

And this one is at Levant on the far west coast of Cornwall .

Levant Mine stands in a superb location on the edge of a cliff near St Just, Cornwall. A restored steam engine supplies the power for the historic beam engine which stands at the core of the mine buildings. The famous Levant beam engine is the only example still in steam at a copper or tin mine. It is housed in a small winding engine house on the very edge of the cliffs.

Visitors can take an underground tour of the shafts and 'dry' tunnels under the mine buildings, view the winding and pumping shafts, and see the electric winding engine.

Levant Mine offers a wonderful glimpse into the mining industry which did so much to shape Cornish history. This history has been recognized by the Unesco World Heritage scheme, and Levant Mine forms part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining World Heritage Site. A short walk along the cliffs leads you to another historic mine; Botallack Mine, also owned by the National Trust. We've taken the walk, and it took us about 20 minutes, passing through ruined mine workings and along the top of the cliffs with dramatic coast views.

The first Levant Mine was begun around 1743, but the current mine was founded in 1820 by a consortium under the directorship of Lewis Charles Daubuz and Mr John Batten. Levant Mine originally mined copper, but in 1835 a large tin deposit was discovered, and the mine expanded to include both substances. Between 1820 and 1930 the mine was highly successful in both copper and tin production, extracting over 130,000 tons of copper ore during that span.

The mine tunnels extend over a mile out under the Atlantic Ocean, and the deepest shaft is 350 fathoms below the sea. The clifftop ruins cover an area of 30 acres, another indication of the sheer scale of operations here.

The mines closed in 1930, and the beam engine fell silent for over 60 years until it was restored by a team of volunteers dubbed 'the Greasy Gang'.

WHAT TO SEE

Levant Mine is particularly well-known for its 'man engine', and ingenious steam-driven system for transporting miners up and down the shaft. The man engine was supported by a long rod, with platforms attached for miners to get on and off at different levels. Disaster struck in 1919 when the rod broke and collapsed down the shaft, killing 31 men. It was never repaired. The man engine shaft was closed and the miner's bodies never recovered. You can descend a set of steps to the man engine entrance and look down the shaft.

The Count House ruins

Near the entrance to the shaft are the remains of a miner's bath, set into the concrete surface of the ruined miner's dry. Miners could only work about 6 hours at a time in the depths of the mine shafts, in part because it took so long to reach the working face and return. When they did return, naturally enough they were covered in dust and dirt. They took it in turns to bath in the open tub, so you can imagine that by the time the last man got in the water was filthy.

Visitors can watch a short film on the history of the site and explore on your own, but I highly recommend taking one of the free tours led by a National Trust volunteer. Our guide was excellent, and really made the history of the mine and the life of the miners

come alive. The tour takes in the engine shaft, the Count House, Winding Engine House with its restored beam engine, Pumping Engine House, Count House, Miners Dry, and the area where girls and women worked above ground to break the ore into more manageable pieces.

Levant is famous for " The Greasy Gang " - but that is another story and for another picture !

Luxembourg this morning. I love the views from the terraces located near the Law Courts.

I wanted to try a new stitching software and so I took as many as 12 images using a 70-200mm zoom lens. I think the stitching was pretty good even though I hand held the camera. The final file was enormous, I have to see if I can produce something more manageable for my computer.

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© Sarah Allegra

My regular viewers will probably remember that May 12th is Invisible Illness Awareness Day, or ME Day, in my house, for short. It's a big day in the chronic illness community; it's our Superbowl. Getting a new photo shot for this May 12th was an enormous challenge and there were many times I was sure it wouldn't happen. I started planning this months ago, as I seem to always be scrambling at the last minute and I was determined to NOT do that this year. Then, eight weeks ago, I began getting a recurring fever which took up nearly all my already limited time. So I downgraded the first concept I had into something more manageable. And the fevers continued. This can't possibly last forever, I thought, and came up with another, simpler concept that would work with the time I had left. And the fevers continued.

So things went on until I was able to shoot this image just three days ago. Getting an image turned around, even one without heavy compositing, can take weeks for me. I crammed and pushed my body more than is probably wise considering the fragile state of my immunity, but I got it DONE. Hah! Take THAT, ME!

This self portrait is drawing from the historic plague doctors and the iconic masks they would wear. I recently finished re-reading a favorite book of mine, Doomesday Book by Connie Willis, part of which takes place during the bubonic plague of the middle ages. No mask-wearing doctors appear in it, but the thought was fresh in my mind. That combined with the current Covid-19 pandemic, the scarcity of masks, thinking about immune systems and how easily they can be gotten around by a determined germ... and this was the visual that came to mind.

Of course, a May 12th image wouldn't be complete without it tying in to my experience with having ME(short for myalgic encephalomyelitis; a debilitating neuro-immune disease with no treatment or cure). This year, I asked myself, how could I explain what it feels like to have an incurable illness to someone who's never experienced such a thing? For once, a large portion of the world has actually had a small taste of ME, due to Covid-19. The way Covid has forced you to stay inside, rarely see other people, isolate, protect yourself from any potential germs, taken away your livelihood, these are all hallmarks of nearly every chronic immune-compromised illness. Except that for us, social distancing will never end. Our isolation will never end. We will never go back to work. This is our reality for the rest of our lives.

This is not the life I want to live. No one wants to live forced into a cage, denied the things that make life meaningful and enjoyable. But still, this IS my life right now. Until a cure can be found. I'd gladly take even a treatment. But the medical world has almost nothing to offer me or the millions and millions of others with ME (not to mention all the other disabling diseases like MS, fibromyalgia, Crohn's, EDS and so many more). I cannot break this cage; I cannot pick the lock and let myself out to freedom. But I can scream inside it. I can shout and bang on the bars until someone notices; until enough people notice. And once they notice, they will start demanding freedom for us too.

And maybe, someday, I can actually leave behind this dirty, nasty, bug-infested prison and feel the sun on my face again before I die.

Our illnesses are invisible, but we often feel invisible too. When you drop out of society, only your close friends and family will notice. People who've never met you have no idea that there's a Sarah-shaped void where I used to be; they simply fill it. Chronic illness hides you in its shadows as you're unable to leave your house. I will not be kept secret; I will demand attention and action. ME is an iron mask and shackles, hiding my identity, my potential and my value as a human being. I will not be hidden anymore. The mask is coming off and there WILL be change.

If you would like to be a part of this change, please read my blog post for more information about how you can be the ally we desperately need! You can learn more about ME and other invisible illnesses, there's a petition you can sign, the Millions Missing campaign you can join, excellent documentaries you can watch for free, images you can use as your avatar for the day (or longer!), or, if you'd like, you can donate to ME Action, an organization doing great things for people with ME.

But if you do nothing else, I ask this of you: believe people when they tell you they're sick, even if they don't look like they are. Not every illness manifests outward signs. Just acknowledging that ME is real, despite me (and others) still looking "healthy" on the outside is a huge step forward. Every person in the world afflicted with these evil, insidious illnesses will thank you, starting with me. <3

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I decided to keep it a more manageable size for my first attempt at this pattern. I will definitely make a queen size quilt in this pattern in the future but with the colors more "controlled." This was so much fun!

C Level refers to the last of three levels which had been mined for coal on the east slope of Cascade Mountain before this area belonged to the park. It is rightly one of Banff's premier hikes, as it has views, flowers, animals, and a trail that is manageable for most.

Part of my Straight Out Of the Camera Series.

The ONLY editing I did was to reduce the size from the snapshot in SL (4000×3500) down to a 1024 size manageable for the blog and Flickr. There’s been no cropping, adjustments, or texturizing.

slicesoflifesl.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/sooc-inverness/

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Inverness%20City/54/130/22

Larry did this hike solo, as Ben had a soar knee from our last cross-country ski outing. In order to get to Mt Loder, you cross Doorjamb Mountain summit en route. The wind was up today, as it often is on this route. Thankfully it was just manageable, and Larry completed this double summit scramble in under 4 hours roundtrip.

Here is an opened orange Habanero Chile showing the seeds inside. This chile has formidable heat, concentrated mostly in the white placental material that surrounds the seeds. If you remove the seeds and the white material you can see running down the back of the pod, the heat is manageable. I usually eat them in the form of Marie Sharp's Habanero Pepper Sauce which is the salsa I've come to depend on - a proud product of Belize. This is my photo for the Macro Mondays group, with the theme of "Condiment". HMM! (San Marcos Pass, 15 April 2018)

Production: 1 of 159 (1931-1932).

During the 1920s and 1930s there were two coachbuilders with whom Alfa Romeo had the closest ties, Zagato and Touring, both of Milan. As the brand developed, it was these companies that could best interpret the chassis, and during this period they dressed the cars leaving the nearby factories with the most beautiful bodywork, akin to art forms of elegance. Touring has done very few “Coupe Royale” bodies on the 6c1750 GTC chassis of which this may be the only original survivor – the history of which has been known since 1949.

This supercharged Grand Touring supercharged Alfa Romeo offers a wide range of driving options, from the Concours lawns to long-distance touring, or the Mille Miglia in a comfortable, fully convertible form and inimitable style. As Luigi Fusi noted in his reference book on the brand: “This car was in high demand by an elite of amateurs who liked comfort combined with sporty touring characteristics.” Or as Henry Ford is said to have said: “If an Alfa Romeo passes by, I raise my hat”!

Source: www.metropole.nl/

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Dutch entrepreneur Frans van Haren has a classic car collection that has won prizes at prestigious national and international competitions. Since 2017, he has been presenting his impressive car collection to a wider audience in the futuristic-looking, former furniture showroom 'Metropole' in Druten, the Netherlands.

The collection includes some four hundred cars, trucks and motorcycles, making it almost the largest car museum in the Netherlands.

Metropole Museum

Druten, the Netherlands.

A slice of my life in Night City (Cyberpunk 2077).

I'm playing on PC with a decent computer, so the glitches are pretty manageable. The game itself is fantastic: well-acted, high-stakes dialogue in a vibrant, living world. It makes me want to get chipped with some preem chrome.

A poignant scene, in the ‘Con Yard’ on 31 October 1983, as a contractor appears to be in deep thought, pausing for an undoubtedly welcome breath of fresh air and rest from fulfilling his arduous task of reducing what appeared to be a former Class ‘40’ to manageable pieces of scrap metal. The 1959-built ‘whistling giant’, Class ‘40’ 40037, was standing next in line, awaiting similar treatment, which was fulfilled during the following month.

© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission

Started off sketching some flat serpent or snake designs on the left for my Aztek SHIP (this is a starfighter type, one or two seat style). I like the serpentine flow but if feels a little flat, I want a little bit more volume (not too much). So the right side was evolving the serpent into a lizard or alligator, small leg weapons. The bottom was a bird: very simple wing shapes but very colourful. The beak could be very long (40 suds) or maybe the tail is really long (like the real Quetzal bird). Either way, it helps break up the daunting, solid mass of a whole SHIP into smaller sections. As long as I can mount the wings and tail and make it secure, it makes everything else more manageable for me.

I imagine it'll have a tongue cannon, missiles under-wing and the cockpit maybe in the head or something.

Decided to take a stab at an HDR panorama for something a little different yesterday.

This is three separate 7 exposure HDR's merged in Photomatix Pro and stitched with ICE. It was about half an hour before sunrise and the light was quite a bit darker than it appears here.

Full size for reference: 7205 x 1890 or a more manageable 2048 x 537

The stitching worked reasonable ok. I think ICE got a little confused with the horizon line on the right, skewing the alignment a touch. I would've liked to fiddle with the Photomatix settings but just went with the preset output for uniformity. In the end it came together ok. Happy with the result for a first attempt.

So more HDR panoramas to come!

The house I grew up in is one of those little lights down there. When I was a younger chap, and after I'd learned how to drive, I would have come up here to soak in the night time views if ever I needed to get perspective on life. Much of my time was being spent down in those streets. All the worries and fears were being played out on this stage spread before me. Somehow looking down on them from above made them seem more manageable. And knowing that most of those lights were other homes, full of other people who themselves were dealing with things made me feel less alone. It's good to get a vantage point for life from time to time.

View large here: www.flickr.com/photos/luxvenit/8367909753/sizes/k/in/phot...

This is one of the three Cheetah brothers seen in Masai Mara.

Cheetah brothers normally form a coalition and stay together for life. The advantage of numbers are great and can easily take down bigger prey like Wildbeest and Impala. Whilst the lone female would rather go for a Thompson's gazelle which is smaller and more manageable.

View On Black

Exif data auto added by theGOOD Uploadr

Camera Model : Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Exposure : 0.004 seconds

Aperture : f/5.6

ISO Speed : 100

Subject Distance : 25.5 meters

Lens: Canon EF 300mm f2.8 IS L USM

Ready to fly back. Yes, a short visit but manageable in a weekend.

This is the NiSi S5 filter holder for filters of 150mm. It is the one I need to place filters in front of my ultra-wide angle, tilt-shift 19mm Nikkor lens (which I also used to take this photo). In addition, you need to buy a special attachment piece that is specially designed to fit onto the lens and it bulbous front element.

The filters are enormous and very costly, but the only solution when you need to use, say, a polarizer or and ND filter on that lens.

For all my other lenses, I use a V6 filter holder which hold 100mm filters —more manageable!

THE LUXURY CAR OF 2064- A rejected Motorland.com Article

After vast quantities of oil were found on the red planet, the only thing cheaper than gas became human life. Thus, The Comfort Industries are the main occupation for most. In this case, providing clean eco-friendly cycle power for the privileged few.

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Note The editor of a now defunct magazine found the above 'too negative...snarky...anti social ..."and refused to run it.

While my goal is always to provide 'innocent merriment", I apologize in advance to any wealthy Americans dwelling on Mars 50 years in the future who I might one day offend.

AP

Our Monarch’s Way walk yesterday was the muddiest so far! We squelched our way through loads of the stuff but no one got stuck... this was taken towards the end when we had managed to clean some off our boots, Hudson’s wellies had just had a good paddle through a puddle.

We are taking two years to walk the section between Stratford on Avon and Bristol in manageable chunks, this was walk twelve. As well as meeting up with friends and family we are also raising funds for Grassroots Suicide Prevention.

16/100

Designed and folded by me.

Medium: 32x32 cm^2 origamido-tissue

I know I have relatively recently posted a previous rendition of my Hermit Crab. However, this is more about a story I have with the previous rendition than it is about this one shown here.

This particular story will revolve around this hermit crab

here.

About two months ago, my club adviser invited me to show some of my origami designs to commemorate East Asian Studies 70th anniversary. Thus, I gave her some of my sea creature designs, eleven in total including the previously mentioned hermit crab. As she was not present at the time, I had to leave the bag containing all my works and the appropriate credits by her door before she received them shortly and exhibited them afterwards.

Fast forward a few weeks later, I came to collect back the works that were exhibited. All of my folds came back except for one - my red and white hermit crab. It was missing.

According to my adviser, she exhibited them out in the open, arranging them in order, but with no display cases, or any sign indicating "Do Not Touch". Thus, it is very likely someone in my university stole my hermit crab off the display table.

There is nothing that accurately portrays my disappointment towards the person who took this. This hermit crab design takes at least 4 hours to do properly, not including the time it takes to prepare the double tissue paper. When you fold something that is your design, you form a bond towards it - it's almost like the works you make are your own children, as you are involved with every step of its inception and creation. To steal something that I have devoted time and energy into is to destroy this bond I made, not to mention completely disrespectful towards the origami folders, origami designers, as well as the origami community. For something that had many hours invested in, a part of you feels missing when someone chooses to take it away from you.

In all fairness, my adviser was negligent in her duties to ensure a safe exhibition, as she has failed to take precautions against this sort of behavior by protecting them in cases, or putting up a "Do Not Touch" sign. Nevertheless, she should not be at fault for this, because all my contempt should go to the person who stole an origami piece. You might argue that because there was no sign stating "Do Not Touch" nor display cases, a person can just take it, believing it was an origami giveaway on a table where origami is offered for free, rather than a proper exhibition. However, I trust my adviser that the origami was arranged in a way to indicate this is an exhibition, rather than a giveaway. If it were a giveaway, all my work would be clumped together in one big pile rather than be organized. And I know for a fact that the origami was not dumped in a pile. Also, this was the only origami piece to be stolen. If it were the case that people confused this exhibition as a giveaway due to the lack of signs, then more of my work would have been stolen. Since this crab was the only one known to be gone, it is clear that to the rest of the university, this is an exhibition, and not a giveaway.

You may also say, "you can just fold another one!" And I can fold another one just fine, given this is a design I am familiar with. But no two renditions will be the same. Each rendition I do takes a personality of its own, because the shaping folds have no reference points and are often left to the folder's feelings and desire. To lose a hermit crab rendition, or any other rendition, is to lose something that expresses its own unique personality and fingerprint that can never be captured even if by trying to fold a thousand times.

Needless to say, this incident was such a depressing thing to go through for me. I was planning on taking the hermit crab, one of the designs I spent the most effort on, into OrigamiUSA's exhibition for something special. But because of the actions of one person unable to control his/her fingers, this dream was cut short. Words cannot express how much I was let down, and how ashamed I was at the ignorance of how much an origami folder goes through to make a single origami design. I have posted this to my university's lost and found group, but other than some likes and sad reactions, I did not get any leads. Because of this incident, it led me to rethink about my hobby, about whether people really do appreciate and understand the journey origami folders go through. It certainly was a long day during the day I discovered my work was stolen.

I really missed my 2nd origami hermit crab, so I folded this new one out of origamido backed with tissue paper for the white shell. I fixed the issue with the previous crab, where the shell did not cover all the way over the crab itself. Nevertheless, I feel the crab done in tissue paper was more manageable than the one in origamido, especially considering this design is very thick. I certainly hope that when I exhibit this in OUSA, nobody will deem this worthy of theft.

As a lesson to everyone who read this, please take the necessary precautions into protecting your works, especially in exhibitions where people are not familiar with origami! Get a display case, or prepare "No Touch" signs to make evident that origami works are to be respected as art pieces rather than "throwaway" things that don't take much effort. Be sure that the exhibitor is familiar with taking the necessary protections for origami pieces. For things like OrigamiUSA or JOAS, you can be confident that they take these precautions seriously - not to mention the primary audience consists of people who are familiar with and respect origami designers and will (almost) never take anything. I am focusing more on collegiate exhibitions, or any other organization not primarily involved with origami. I do not ever wish to see or hear anybody having to go through what I did.

Custom painted/modded Ak-47 GP-30

This is my second version of the AKGL, here I used an STG44 instead of the BW AK, and I used a spy pistol instead of a spy carbine(The spy carbine lines up much better, but the pistol was still manageable). All in all I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out, other than the slight alignments issue on the gp-30, but that's easily fixable next time by just going back to the spy carbine.

My First Version: [flic.kr/p/boNz5w]

An empty and ethereal Bryant Park covered in snow during winter storm Nemo in midtown Manhattan.

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Camera: Sony a99 | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

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I live for snowstorms in New York City. So you can just imagine how bummed I was last winter season when we barely got any snow. Growing up in New York City, I remember quite a few blizzards and its with fond nostalgia that I always wish for at least one great snowstorm during the winter. New York City is extra beautiful when covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

When I heard that winter storm Nemo (also known as the Blizzard of 2013, February snowstorm and other terms) was going to deliver some gorgeous white flakes from the sky I was more than ready for it. The photos in this set are not edited the way I would normally edit them. I just basically imported them into Lightroom and adjusted some contrast in a few cases from the RAW files. I will most likely go through the photos here plus others that I am not posting and give them the Vivienne treatment at some point. I am just floored at how incredible it was to shoot the snow with the Sony a99. I did go out of my way to protect it despite it being weather-sealed since it isn't technically my camera and since my lenses also needed protection. I must have been quite a sight in my ski-mask, enormous scarf, giant winter boots and a camera covered in plastic. :) It seemed like I had an easier time shooting in this snowstorm than in the two blizzards that I took photos in back in 2010 and 2011. I think it's because the wind was far more manageable and because I was out before the blizzard hit with full force. While the snow was heavy, the winds were easy to deal with in some respects since the gusts were few and far between.

I decided to walk from where I live on the Lower East Side all the way to Times Square since I do this particular walk frequently and know all of the spots I have always wanted to capture in the snow. I had a blast! The wind did get stronger and stronger as I got closer to Times Square and by the time I made my way home it was full-on blizzard conditions so I think I went at the optimal time. I somehow managed to take photos in the East Village, around Union Square, Chelsea (in truth, I had really hoped that the Empire State Building would be visible but it was completely hidden by the snow and lack of visibility), 5th Avenue, Midtown, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, Bryant Park (which was absolutely ethereal in the snow) and finally Times Square.

And so, the photos here are pretty much almost straight out of the camera save for a few tweaks to levels, no fancy tinkering (but I can't wait to do so!).

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the web says it was found in a garden in Lakenham in Norwich in 1794 ...so a very old apple variety indeed. Still going strong. Seems at home in 2021 in my garden.

For no good aesthetic reason, I am posting a bunch of pictures from today of some of the apples on the trees in our garden.

Nice time to look at them just now – mostly still quite small but swelling rapidly as we get to late summer.

My trees are on rootstock MM106 which is very common rootstock for non-dwarf trees and they are being grown as “half standards” (so first branch at 1.4M) which gives a tree big enough to produce a good crop but just manageable in a garden setting and reasonably easy to mow under with a ride-on. The trees are now 17 years old (planted as maiden whips in February 2004). I do tend to look at them a lot but don’t seem to photograph them as much as I might.

I have just registered for a 1-day course in cider making (along with 2 of my brothers) for late September down in Galway. So today looking at the apples with extra special interest. We need to bring 8kg of apples each to the course– so that is 24kg for the 3 of us. On looking around the trees this afternoon, I don’t think this will pose a challenge to achieve in 6 weeks’ time when the course is on.

The White Stripes - Jolene

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlULkwhgrc