I can not emphasise how amazed I still am by this doll. I just spent SO many nights absolutely being frustrated by her and hated how difficult she was to work on in terms of sculpt and colour.

 

But I’m just so utterly amazed, I finally was able to *work* with her sculpt, and I can really appreciate her gorgeous cheekbones and her strong jaw and nose.

 

I ended up cutting her ultra long hair to just under her butt so it’ll be manageable but otherwise I’m happy I took the plunge to recustomize her.

Design by Shuki Kato

Fold by Travis Nolan

 

1 square sheet of biotope paper, 70 cm to a side. Dry-folded, no cuts or glue.

 

This design is fantastic. This is my second time folding it, each fold took about sixteen hours. Twenty-four teeth, and the layers were still manageable. The detail is incredible. I have been looking forward to folding this model ever since I first saw Shuki's fold. Possibly my favorite design ever.

 

As if the original wasn't complicated enough, I opted for the optional steps to separate fingers on the arm. It was tricky but rewarding, I think.

Today was the annual Melbourne Doll show and usually it’s mostly antique/reborn/doll house miniatures but there’s also a scant few fashion dolls for me to pick over like a vulture and this year was no exception.

 

I first found this jointed Skipper sized boy. The seller said the character is from the TV show Lassie. I’ve never seen any doll like this but I recognised his hand sculpting was similar to a GI Joe knock off so I got him. I also found two Topper Dawn dolls. One is a standard Dawn while the other is a Longlocks with uncut hair. They all need a bath though lol.

 

Funny that I was looking into Generation Girl dolls recently and I found Nichelle for cheaper than a MH doll. Her box is a time capsule of the late 90s but I knew I needed to put her head on a different body…

 

And there was an incident that made me wanna leave but I glad I looked once more since I found one of my holy grail dolls! African American Malibu Ken was in a very tattered box and it was obscured by other dolls so I assumed it was just the white version but my friend noticed him as well so I took a closer glance and my heart nearly fell out my butt.

 

His price tag was so manageable and I knew I had to get him as soon as possible.

 

He came with his swim trunks but my friend @nxleeandherfavouritethings and I bought a Twilight Emmett doll and split him since he was super cheap lol. My Malibu Ken got the clothes and she got the hunk.

The ferret (Mustela furo) is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (Mustela putorius), evidenced by their interfertility. Physically, ferrets resemble other mustelids because of their long, slender bodies. Including their tail, the average length of a ferret is about 50 cm (20 in); they weigh between 0.7 and 2.0 kg (1.5 and 4.4 lb); and their fur can be black, brown, white, or a mixture of those colours. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males being considerably larger than females.

 

Ferrets may have been domesticated since ancient times, but there is widespread disagreement because of the sparseness of written accounts and the inconsistency of those which survive. Contemporary scholarship agrees that ferrets were bred for sport, hunting rabbits in a practice known as rabbiting. In North America, the ferret has become an increasingly prominent choice of household pet, with over five million in the United States alone. The legality of ferret ownership varies by location. In New Zealand and some other countries, restrictions apply due to the damage done to native fauna by feral colonies of polecat–ferret hybrids. The ferret has also served as a fruitful research animal, contributing to research in neuroscience and infectious disease, especially influenza.

 

The domestic ferret is often confused with the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), a species native to North America.[1]

 

Etymology

The name "ferret" is derived from the Latin furittus, meaning "little thief", a likely reference to the common ferret penchant for secreting away small items.[2] In Old English (Anglo-Saxon), the animal was called mearþ. The word fyret seems to appear in Middle English in the 14th century from the Latin, with the modern spelling of "ferret" by the 16th century.[3]

 

The Greek word ἴκτις íktis, Latinized as ictis occurs in a play written by Aristophanes, The Acharnians, in 425 BC. Whether this was a reference to ferrets, polecats, or the similar Egyptian mongoose is uncertain.[3]

 

A male ferret is called a hob; a female ferret is a jill. A spayed female is a sprite, a neutered male is a gib, and a vasectomised male is known as a hoblet. Ferrets under one year old are known as kits. A group of ferrets is known as a "business",[4] or historically as a "busyness". Other purported collective nouns, including "besyness", "fesynes", "fesnyng" and "feamyng", appear in some dictionaries, but are almost certainly ghost words.[5]

 

Biology

 

Skull of a ferret

Characteristics

 

Ferret profile

Ferrets have a typical mustelid body-shape, being long and slender. Their average length is about 50 cm (20 in) including a 13 cm (5.1 in) tail. Their pelage has various colorations including brown, black, white or mixed. They weigh between 0.7 and 2.0 kg (1.5 and 4.4 lb) and are sexually dimorphic as the males are substantially larger than females. The average gestation period is 42 days and females may have two or three litters each year. The litter size is usually between three and seven kits which are weaned after three to six weeks and become independent at three months. They become sexually mature at approximately 6 months and the average life span is 7 to 10 years.[6][7] Ferrets are induced ovulators.[8]

 

Behavior

Ferrets spend 14–18 hours a day asleep and are most active around the hours of dawn and dusk, meaning they are crepuscular.[9] If they are caged, they should be taken out daily to exercise and satisfy their curiosity; they need at least an hour and a place to play.[10] Unlike their polecat ancestors, which are solitary animals, most ferrets will live happily in social groups. They are territorial, like to burrow, and prefer to sleep in an enclosed area.[11]

 

Like many other mustelids, ferrets have scent glands near their anus, the secretions from which are used in scent marking. Ferrets can recognize individuals from these anal gland secretions, as well as the sex of unfamiliar individuals.[12] Ferrets may also use urine marking for sex and individual recognition.[13]

 

As with skunks, ferrets can release their anal gland secretions when startled or scared, but the smell is much less potent and dissipates rapidly. Most pet ferrets in the US are sold descented (with the anal glands removed).[14] In many other parts of the world, including the UK and other European countries, de-scenting is considered an unnecessary mutilation.

 

If excited, they may perform a behavior called the "weasel war dance", characterized by frenzied sideways hops, leaps and bumping into nearby objects. Despite its common name, it is not aggressive but is a joyful invitation to play. It is often accompanied by a unique soft clucking noise, commonly referred to as "dooking".[15] When scared, ferrets will hiss; when upset, they squeak softly.[16]

 

Diet

Ferrets are obligate carnivores.[17] The natural diet of their wild ancestors consisted of whole small prey, including meat, organs, bones, skin, feathers and fur.[18] Ferrets have short digestive systems and a quick metabolism, so they need to eat frequently. Prepared dry foods consisting almost entirely of meat (including high-grade cat food, although specialized ferret food is increasingly available and preferable)[19] provide the most nutritional value. Some ferret owners feed pre-killed or live prey (such as mice and rabbits) to their ferrets to more closely mimic their natural diet.[20][21] Ferret digestive tracts lack a cecum and the animal is largely unable to digest plant matter.[22] Before much was known about ferret physiology, many breeders and pet stores recommended food like fruit in the ferret diet, but it is now known that such foods are inappropriate, and may in fact have negative consequences for ferret health. Ferrets imprint on their food at around six months old. This can make introducing new foods to an older ferret a challenge, and even simply changing brands of kibble may meet with resistance from a ferret that has never eaten the food as a kit. It is therefore advisable to expose young ferrets to as many different types and flavors of appropriate food as possible.[23]

 

Dentition

 

Ferret dentition

Ferrets have four types of teeth (the number includes maxillary (upper) and mandibular (lower) teeth) with a dental formula of

3.1.4.1

3.1.4.2

:

 

Twelve small incisor teeth (only 2–3 mm [3⁄32–1⁄8 in] long) located between the canines in the front of the mouth. These are used for grooming.

Four canines used for killing prey.

Twelve premolar teeth that the ferret uses to chew food—located at the sides of the mouth, directly behind the canines. The ferret uses these teeth to cut through flesh, using them in a scissors action to cut the meat into digestible chunks.

Six molars (two on top and four on the bottom) at the far back of the mouth are used to crush food.

Health

 

Male ferret

Ferrets are known to suffer from several distinct health problems. Among the most common are cancers affecting the adrenal glands, pancreas and lymphatic system.

 

Adrenal disease, a growth of the adrenal glands that can be either hyperplasia or cancer, is most often diagnosed by signs like unusual hair loss, increased aggression, and difficulty urinating or defecating. Treatment options include surgery to excise the affected glands, melatonin or deslorelin implants, and hormone therapy. The causes of adrenal disease speculated to include unnatural light cycles, diets based around processed ferret foods, and prepubescent neutering. It has also been suggested that there may be a hereditary component to adrenal disease.[24]

 

Insulinoma, a type of cancer of the islet cells of the pancreas, is the most common form of cancer in ferrets. It is most common in ferrets between the ages of 4 and 5 years old.[25]

 

Lymphoma is the most common malignancy in ferrets. Ferret lymphosarcoma occurs in two forms—juvenile lymphosarcoma, a fast-growing type that affects ferrets younger than two years, and adult lymphosarcoma, a slower-growing form that affects ferrets four to seven years old.[26]

 

Viral diseases include canine distemper, influenza and ferret systemic coronavirus.[27][28][29]

 

A high proportion of ferrets with white markings which form coat patterns known as a blaze, badger, or panda coat, such as a stripe extending from their face down the back of their head to their shoulder blades, or a fully white head, have a congenital deafness (partial or total) which is similar to Waardenburg syndrome in humans.[30] Ferrets without white markings, but with premature graying of the coat, are also more likely to have some deafness than ferrets with solid coat colors which do not show this trait.[31] Most albino ferrets are not deaf; if deafness does occur in an albino ferret, this may be due to an underlying white coat pattern which is obscured by the albinism.[30]

 

Health problems can occur in unspayed females when not being used for breeding.[32] Similar to domestic cats, ferrets can also suffer from hairballs and dental problems. Ferrets will also often chew on and swallow foreign objects which can lead to bowel obstruction.[33]

 

History of domestication

 

Women hunting rabbits with a ferret in the 14th-century Queen Mary Psalter

In common with most domestic animals, the original reason for ferrets being domesticated by human beings is uncertain, but it may have involved hunting. According to phylogenetic studies, the ferret was domesticated from the European polecat (Mustela putorius), and likely descends from a North African lineage of the species.[34] Analysis of mitochondrial DNA suggests that ferrets were domesticated around 2,500 years ago. It has been claimed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate ferrets, but as no mummified remains of a ferret have yet been found, nor any hieroglyph of a ferret, and no polecat now occurs wild in the area, that idea seems unlikely.[35] The American Society of Mammalogists classifies M. furo as a distinct species.[36]

 

Ferrets were probably used by the Romans for hunting.[37][38] Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, is recorded as using ferrets in a gigantic hunt in 1221 that aimed to purge an entire region of wild animals.[3]

 

Colonies of feral ferrets have established themselves in areas where there is no competition from similarly sized predators, such as in the Shetland Islands and in remote regions in New Zealand. Where ferrets coexist with polecats, hybridization is common. It has been claimed that New Zealand has the world's largest feral population of ferret–polecat hybrids.[39] In 1877, farmers in New Zealand demanded that ferrets be introduced into the country to control the rabbit population, which was also introduced by humans. Five ferrets were imported in 1879, and in 1882–1883, 32 shipments of ferrets were made from London, totaling 1,217 animals. Only 678 landed, and 198 were sent from Melbourne, Australia. On the voyage, the ferrets were mated with the European polecat, creating a number of hybrids that were capable of surviving in the wild. In 1884 and 1886, close to 4,000 ferrets and ferret hybrids, 3,099 weasels and 137 stoats were turned loose.[40] Concern was raised that these animals would eventually prey on indigenous wildlife once rabbit populations dropped, and this is exactly what happened to New Zealand's bird species which previously had had no mammalian predators.

 

Ferreting

Main article: Rabbiting

 

Muzzled ferret flushing a rat, as illustrated in Harding's Ferret Facts and Fancies (1915)

For millennia, the main use of ferrets was for hunting, or "ferreting". With their long, lean build and inquisitive nature, ferrets are very well equipped for getting down holes and chasing rodents, rabbits and moles out of their burrows. The Roman historians Pliny and Strabo record that Caesar Augustus sent "viverrae" from Libya to the Balearic Islands to control rabbit plagues there in 6 BC; it is speculated that "viverrae" could refer to ferrets, mongooses, or polecats.[3][41][42] In England, in 1390, a law was enacted restricting the use of ferrets for hunting to the relatively wealthy:

 

it is ordained that no manner of layman which hath not lands to the value of forty shillings a year shall from henceforth keep any greyhound or other dog to hunt, nor shall he use ferrets, nets, heys, harepipes nor cords, nor other engines for to take or destroy deer, hares, nor conies, nor other gentlemen's game, under pain of twelve months' imprisonment.[43]

 

Ferrets were first introduced into the American continents in the 17th century, and were used extensively from 1860 until the start of World War II to protect grain stores in the American West from rodents. They are still used for hunting in some countries, including the United Kingdom, where rabbits are considered a pest by farmers.[44] The practice is illegal in several countries where it is feared that ferrets could unbalance the ecology. In 2009 in Finland, where ferreting was previously unknown, the city of Helsinki began to use ferrets to restrict the city's rabbit population to a manageable level. Ferreting was chosen because in populated areas it is considered to be safer and less ecologically damaging than shooting the rabbits.

 

As pets

 

A ferret in a war dance jump

In the United States, ferrets were relatively rare pets until the 1980s. A government study by the California State Bird and Mammal Conservation Program estimated that by 1996 about 800,000 domestic ferrets were being kept as pets in the United States.[45]

 

Regulation

Australia: It is illegal to keep ferrets as pets in Queensland and the Northern Territory;[46] in the Australian Capital Territory a licence is required.[47]

Brazil: Ferrets are allowed only if they are given a microchip identification tag and sterilized.

New Zealand: It has been illegal to sell, distribute or breed ferrets in New Zealand since 2002 unless certain conditions are met.[48]

United States: Ferrets were once banned in many US states, but most of these laws were rescinded in the 1980s and 1990s as they became popular pets.

Illegal: Ferrets are illegal in California under Fish and Game Code Section 2118;[49] and the California Code of Regulations,[50] although it is not illegal for veterinarians in the state to treat ferrets kept as pets. "Ferrets are strictly prohibited as pets under Hawaii law because they are potential carriers of the rabies virus";[51] the territory of Puerto Rico has a similar law.[52] Ferrets are restricted by some municipalities, such as New York City,[52] which renewed its ban in 2015.[53][54] They are also prohibited on many military bases.[52] A permit to own a ferret is needed in other areas, including Rhode Island.[55] Illinois and Georgia do not require a permit to merely possess a ferret, but a permit is required to breed ferrets.[56][57] It was once illegal to own ferrets in Dallas, Texas,[58] but the current Dallas City Code for Animals includes regulations for the vaccination of ferrets.[59] Pet ferrets are legal in Wisconsin, however legality varies by municipality. The city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for example, classifies ferrets as a wild animal and subsequently prohibits them from being kept within the city limits. Also, an import permit from the state department of agriculture is required to bring one into the state.[60] Under common law, ferrets are deemed "wild animals" subject to strict liability for injuries they cause, but in several states statutory law has overruled the common law, deeming ferrets "domestic".[61]

Japan: In Hokkaido prefecture, ferrets must be registered with the local government.[62] In other prefectures, no restrictions apply.

Other uses

Ferrets are an important experimental animal model for human influenza,[63][64] and have been used to study the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) virus.[65] Smith, Andrews, Laidlaw (1933) inoculated ferrets intra-nasally with human naso-pharyngeal washes, which produced a form of influenza that spread to other cage mates. The human influenza virus (Influenza type A) was transmitted from an infected ferret to a junior investigator, from whom it was subsequently re-isolated.

 

Ferrets have been used in many broad areas of research, such as the study of pathogenesis and treatment in a variety of human disease, these including studies into cardiovascular disease, nutrition, respiratory diseases such as SARS and human influenza, airway physiology,[66] cystic fibrosis and gastrointestinal disease.

Because they share many anatomical and physiological features with humans, ferrets are extensively used as experimental subjects in biomedical research, in fields such as virology, reproductive physiology, anatomy, endocrinology and neuroscience.[67]

In the UK, ferret racing is often a feature of rural fairs or festivals, with people placing small bets on ferrets that run set routes through pipes and wire mesh. Although financial bets are placed, the event is primarily for entertainment purposes as opposed to 'serious' betting sports such as horse or greyhound racing.[68][69]

A very small experimental study of ferrets found that a nasal spray effectively blocked the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19.[70]

Terminology and coloring

 

Typical ferret coloration, known as a sable or polecat-colored ferret

Most ferrets are either albinos, with white fur and pink eyes, or display the typical dark masked sable coloration of their wild polecat ancestors. In recent years fancy breeders have produced a wide variety of colors and patterns. Color refers to the color of the ferret's guard hairs, undercoat, eyes and nose; pattern refers to the concentration and distribution of color on the body, mask and nose, as well as white markings on the head or feet when present. Some national organizations, such as the American Ferret Association, have attempted to classify these variations in their showing standards.[71]

 

There are four basic colors. The sable (including chocolate and dark brown), albino, dark-eyed white (DEW, also known as black-eyed white or BEW) and silver. All the other colors of a ferret are variations on one of these four categories.

 

Waardenburg-like coloring

 

White or albino ferret

Ferrets with a white stripe on their face or a fully white head, primarily blazes, badgers and pandas, almost certainly carry a congenital defect which shares some similarities to Waardenburg syndrome. This causes, among other things, a cranial deformation in the womb which broadens the skull, white face markings, and also partial or total deafness. It is estimated as many as 75 percent of ferrets with these Waardenburg-like colorings are deaf.

 

White ferrets were favored in the Middle Ages for the ease in seeing them in thick undergrowth. Leonardo da Vinci's painting Lady with an Ermine is likely mislabelled; the animal is probably a ferret, not a stoat (for which "ermine" is an alternative name for the animal in its white winter coat). Similarly, the ermine portrait of Queen Elizabeth I shows her with her pet ferret, which has been decorated with painted-on heraldic ermine spots.

 

The Ferreter's Tapestry is a 15th-century tapestry from Burgundy, France, now part of the Burrell Collection housed in the Glasgow Museum and Art Galleries. It shows a group of peasants hunting rabbits with nets and white ferrets. This image was reproduced in Renaissance Dress in Italy 1400–1500, by Jacqueline Herald, Bell & Hyman.[72]

 

Gaston Phoebus' Book of the Hunt was written in approximately 1389 to explain how to hunt different kinds of animals, including how to use ferrets to hunt rabbits. Illustrations show how multicolored ferrets that were fitted with muzzles were used to chase rabbits out of their warrens and into waiting nets.

 

Import restrictions

Australia – Ferrets cannot be imported into Australia. A report drafted in August 2000 seems to be the only effort made to date to change the situation.[73]

Canada – Ferrets brought from anywhere except the US require a Permit to Import from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Animal Health Office. Ferrets from the US require only a vaccination certificate signed by a veterinarian. Ferrets under three months old are not subject to any import restrictions.[74]

European Union – As of July 2004, dogs, cats and ferrets can travel freely within the European Union under the pet passport scheme. To cross a border within the EU, ferrets require at minimum an EU PETS passport and an identification microchip (though some countries will accept a tattoo instead). Vaccinations are required; most countries require a rabies vaccine, and some require a distemper vaccine and treatment for ticks and fleas 24 to 48 hours before entry. Ferrets occasionally need to be quarantined before entering the country. PETS travel information is available from any EU veterinarian or on government websites.

New Zealand – New Zealand has banned the import of ferrets into the country.[75]

United Kingdom – The UK accepts ferrets under the EU's PETS travel scheme. Ferrets must be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies, and documented. They must be treated for ticks and tapeworms 24 to 48 hours before entry. They must also arrive via an authorized route. Ferrets arriving from outside the EU may be subject to a six-month quarantine

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

 

Today however we are northwest of Lettice’s flat, in the working-class London suburb of Harlesden where Edith, Lettice’s maid’s, parents live in a small, two storey brick terrace house which opens out directly onto the street. Edith’s father, George, works at the McVitie and Price biscuit factory in Harlesden, and her mother, Ada, takes in laundry at home, although with her husband’s promotion as a Line Manager, she no longer needs to do it quite so much to supplement their income. Whilst far removed from the grandeur of Lettice’s Mayfair flat, the Harlesden terrace has always been a cosy and welcoming home for Edith and her seafaring brother, Bert.

 

It’s Sunday, and whilst Edith usually spends the day either with her beau, grocery delivery boy Frank Leadbetter, or her best friend and fellow maid Hilda, today both have other plans. Frank has gone to a trade unions meeting down near the London docks, and Hilda has gone to her beloved knitting group at Mrs. Minkin’s haberdashery shop in Whitechapel. This leaves Edith with no definite plans, but luckily for her, unlike many young servants who would rather do anything than spend time with their parents, Edith has a wonderful relationship with Ada and George, and with her Sunday free until four, she has decided to spend it with them. Edith has spent a lovely morning helping her mother prepare a steak and kidney pie for their midday meal whilst George spends some time at his beloved allotment nearby, and Edith has also helped Ada by darning a few pairs of her father’s well worn socks. It’s now getting close to half past one according to the solemnly ticking wall clock hanging on the kitchen wall, and Edith and her mother have long since finished taking tea and cleared away the tea things, mending, and the midday meal preparations from the kitchen table. George is running late. Just as Ada mutters something about her pie getting spoiled in the warming oven where it bides it time before being served, both women hear a familiarly cheerful whistle in the garden as the latch rattles before the back door is opened.

 

“Well, if it isn’t his nibs* home at last.” Ada remarks to Edith as George’s familiar footfall can be heard stepping into the scullery. “You took your merry time, George Watsford!” Ada calls out to her husband.

 

“Sorry Ada love.” George replies as he walks into the kitchen through the open scullery door carrying a wooden crate containing the last of his allotment’s lettuce for the year.

 

“Luckily I put our tea in the warming oven.” Ada replies as she stands up with a groan as she presses her worn hands onto the arms of her Windsor chair and foists herself from its comfortable, well worn seat.

 

“Of course you did, Ada love.” George replies with a chuckle, knowing that in spite of the reprimand, his wife isn’t cross with him for being a half hour later than he had planned. It isn’t uncommon for George to lose track of the time as he tends to the vegetable and flower gardens of his allotment.

 

Edith looks her father up and down as he enters the warm kitchen which smells of baking pastry and savory meat. George dressed in his usual Sundays at home garb, rather than the more formal Sunday best** suit of black barathea*** that he wears to church. Instead, he is in a white shirt and dark muddy green tie*****, his heavy wearing chocolate brown corduroy trousers affixed by braces beneath his argyle pattern****** vest of warm mustard and rich golden brown. A flat reddish brown workman’s cap sits atop his head, and from the crook of his elbow, Edith sees a small wicker basket swinging.

 

“Ah-ah!” Ada scolds as she eyes her husband’s footwear. “Don’t you dare come tramping your muddy boots all over my nice clean flagstones!” She points at George’s black outdoor boots caked in mud around the soles with an accusational finger. “I only washed the floors on Friday. Get them off!”

 

“Yes love.” George agrees, gratefully sinking into his own favourite Windsor chair drawn up in front of the hearth. He slips into the seat and starts to unlace his boots. He glances up at his daughter. “Edith love, fetch my slippers from our bedroom, will you.”

 

“Yes Dad!” Edith replies cheerfully, always happy to be of any help to either of her parents during her frequent visits.

 

Edith smiles, gets up from Ada’s kitchen table and scurries out of the room and upstairs to her parents’ bedroom, where she finds her father’s worn, yet comfortable plaid felt slippers sitting on the rag rug******* made of brightly coloured old fabrics next to his side of the old cast iron bed he and Ada share. By the time she returns down the narrow, creaking staircase and back into the warm kitchen, George has finished removing his boots, and they sit in front of the hearth, steaming slightly as the heat of the coal fire dries their damp leather.

 

“So, what’s for tea… err… dinner, then?” George asks as he accepts his slippers from his daughter, correcting his choice of words, knowing how Edith has taken to improving herself with her words, having learned finer language choices from Lettice. Edith smiles indulgently at her father and silently nods her approval at his self-correction.

 

“It’s a steak and kidney pie.” Ada remarks as she bustles behind her husband’s back as she boils some carrots and peas on the old blacklead coal range.

 

“I helped make it for you, Dad.” Edith says proudly.

 

“That must be why it smells so good.” George smiles beatifically as he inhales the rich smell of spiced meat that permeates the air around them.

 

“You’re a godsend, cutting the onions up for me, Edith love.” Ada remarks gratefully as she stirs the saucepan of peas. “Even when soaked in water********, I still weep when I cut onions.”

 

“Ahh, you’re a good girl, helping your mum like that, Edith love.”

 

“Yes, but Mum made the pastry.” Edith admits with a shy smile after her father’s praise. “She’s better at it than me.”

 

“Well, she’s had more practice than you have, hasn’t she, Edith love?”

 

“No-one makes pastry as good as Mum.”

 

“Oh, you’ll get there, Edith love,” Ada remarks encouragingly, glancing over her shoulder and looking earnestly at her daughter. “You’re already mostly there anyway. It‘s just I’m a bit quicker is all.” She turns her attention to her husband. “And luckily for you George Watsford,” She taps him on the shoulder with her wet wooden spoon as she withdraws it from the saucepan of peas, leaving a small damp patch on his woollen vest. “The crust isn’t burnt even though it’s been sitting in the warming oven for the last quarter hour.”

 

“You know, you should get old Widow Hounslow to replace the range, Mum.” Edith remarks disparagingly of Mrs. Hounslow, her parents’ landlady, as she automatically goes to the dresser and starts to take down some of her mother’s beloved mismatched china, obtained from local flea markets over the years, from the big dark wood Welsh dresser that dominates almost an entire wall of the kitchen. “It’s so old fashioned and dirty.”

 

Edith snatches a pretty blue and white floral edged plate off the shelf a little too roughly as she thinks of Mrs. Hounslow, almost allowing the plate to slip from her fingers as she does. Edith worked for the doughy widow when she first went into service. The old woman is most certainly middle-class, and mean to boot, treating poor Edith very shabbily throughout her tenure as the woman’s toiling cook and maid-of-all-work. Her wealth comes from the property portfolio acquired by Mr. Hounslow before he died. Edith’s parents are just two of the many tenants Mrs. Hounslow has, renting out the houses she now owns, charging moderately, but not excessively, yet spending as little as possible on the upkeep of them, never mind modernising them.

 

“What?” Ada spins around and looks aghast at her daughter with wide eyes, as though the young girl has just sworn at her. “Get rid of my old lady? Never!” She turns back and runs her hand lovingly over the ornate lettering of the range’s brand situated just over her head over the open fire. “She may be old fashioned, but she’s served me well.”

 

“You know as well as I, Mum, that that penny-pinching old woman can well afford to take that old iron monster out and install a much more up-to-date gas cooker for you.” Edith remarks as she stacks the plates on the kitchen table. “She could put you on the mains whilst she was at it.”

 

“You know how your mum feels about electricity, Edith love.” George remarks, looking askance at his daughter.

 

“Don’t be so blasphemous!” Ada balks. “Eletrickery is more like it.”

 

“See.” George folds his arms akimbo in his seat.

 

“No,” Ada turns back and opens the warming oven, just to check on her steak and kidney pie, gratified to see her pastry top golden brown and not burned as it sits on its wire rack. “This old lady and I have been working together longer than you’ve been alive for, Edith love. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

“Miss Lettice has a lovely gas stove in Cavendish Mews, Mum.” Edith insists. “It’s ever so modern and easy to use: like those ones we saw at the British Empire Exhibition*********. It has a thermostat so there’s no need for me to stick my hand in the oven to gauge the temperature the way you have to.”

 

“That’s lazy cooking, that is.” Ada scoffs with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Every girl in service should know how to gauge an oven’s temperature with her hand.”

 

“No it’s not, Mum.” Edith retorts. “You saw at the British Empire Exhibition that they say it’s a way to ensure perfect cooking every time.” She goes on. “And because its gas, it doesn’t need coal, so it’s much cleaner. To use”

 

“What would I do with a gas stove and oven at my age, Edith love? I wouldn’t know how to use it, even if Mrs. Hounslow did install one for me. I’m too set in my ways and habits to go changing with all this new-fangled gas cookery. No!” She bangs the blacklead heartily. “I know her as well as I know the back of my own hand, Edith love. A gas stove might be alright for the likes of you, working for such a fine lady as your Miss Chetwynd, but I’m content with my old girl. We rub along well together, even if we do have our differences some days. Thank you all the same.”

 

“Well, I still think old Widow. Hounslow is a mean old landlady, Mum. She never spends a penny she doesn’t have to on this old place to make things easier or more comfortable for you and Dad.”

 

“Oh Edith! Poor old Mrs. Hounslow’s a widow.”

 

“I know, Mum. You’re like one of Miss Lettice’s gramophone records.”

 

“What do you mean?” Ada gasps, looking aghast at her daughter.

 

“Well, when Miss Lettice gets a new gramophone record, she plays it over and over again.”

 

George snorts and chuckles quietly in his seat at his daughter’s cheeky remark, which rewards him with a rap from his wife, who does so without even looking at him.

 

“You’re always using Mrs. Hounslow’s status as widow as a defence for her poor behaviour.” Edith goes on. “And it’s a poor excuse. I’ve grown up hearing about how poor old Widow Hounslow’s husband died a hero in the siege of Mafeking in the Boer War.” She releases an exasperated sigh as she turns back to the dresser and noisy fossicks through the cutlery drawer looking for knives and forks for them to eat their pie and vegetables with. “But he left her well off enough with plenty of houses like this to let out to the likes of you who pays more than you probably should for it, as well as a fine house of her own. I should know.” She snorts derisively. “I worked in it for long enough with no thanks, so I know how comfortably she has it, widow or not!”

 

“Shame on you Edith!” Ada says with hurt in her voice as she wags the wooden spoon at her daughter. “I helped you get your very first position with Mrs. Hounslow.”

 

“I know you did, Mum, and I’m not ungrateful to you for helping me get it.” Edith lets out another exasperated sigh as she returns to the kitchen table and starts to set three places for them. “All the same, I’ve never heard or seen Mrs. Hounslow have to scrape or work hard for anything, and it breaks my heart to see you slave over that old range and blacklead it, week after week, when you could have something so much nicer that wouldn’t put old Widow Hounslow into the poor house.”

 

“Now, you know I won’t have a bad word said about her, Edith.” Ada says, turning back to her pots on the range. “She’s helped pay for many a meal in this house with her sixpences and shillings over the years, paying for me to do her laundry.” She stirs the pot and angrily taps her wooden spoon noisily on its edge. “So let that be an end to it.” She nods emphatically.

 

George remains silent in his chair, arching his eyebrows as he looks helplessly at his daughter.

 

“Anyway, enough about Mrs. Hounslow.” Ada remarks. “George, where were you that it took you so long to come back from the allotment?” She leans down and sniffs near his mouth. “Well, you evidently haven’t stopped by the pub on the way home.”

 

George seizes his chance and leans forward and kisses his wife lovingly on the lips. Surprised by this unexpected intimate token of affection, Ada gasps and blushes as she stands upright again. She raises her right hand to her lips where a smile has formed, her frustration about her daughter’s dislike of Mrs. Hounslow forgotten. From across the table, Edith beams with delight as she pauses with a fork in her hand. Silently as she watches them, she hopes that she and Frank will be as contented in their marriage as her parents are in theirs.

 

“No, I haven’t, Ada love.” George replies with a cheeky smile.

 

“Then where were you, Dad?” Edith asks. “We were getting worried.”

 

“Well, I might not have stopped at the pub, but I did pop in to Mr. Pyecroft’s on the high street on the way home.”

 

“Mr. Pyecroft the ironmonger**********?” Edith queries.

 

“The very same.” George replies.

 

“But it’s Sunday***********, George love,” Ada observes. “What were you doing there on a Sunday?”

 

“Well I ran into Pyecroft when I was at the allotment, and he told me that he had some new Webbs************ seeds in stock, so I went home with him to get some.”

 

“What did you get, Dad?” Edith asks excitedly. “What are you going to grow?”

 

“Hopefully more carrots*************.” Ada remarks matter-of-factly as she slips past her husband carrying the heavy metal saucepans of carrots and peas, one in each hand, and proceeds to drain them in the small sink in the corner of the kitchen. “I prefer your home-grown ones to anything Mr. Lovegrove’s grocers can provide. They are so much tastier.”

 

“Well thank you, Ada love! That’s because I grew them for you.” George says over the noisy rush of water and the clang of saucepans and the vegetable strainer in the enamel sink. “With love in every turn of the sod.”

 

“Pshaw!” Ada flaps her hand at her husband distractedly as she laughs good naturedly. “Oh you!”

 

“I did get some carrots as a matter of fact,” George goes on, fishing a packet featuring a drawing of three good looking carrots on its front out of the wicker basket which now sits on the floor at his feet. “And some cauliflowers too.” he adds, withdrawing a packet depicting a fluffy white cauliflower surrounded by a halo of healthy green leaves.

 

“Oh good!” Ada enthuses as she pours peas into a plain white bowl sitting in readiness on the wooden draining board by the sink. “We might have caulis for Christmas this year, then!”

 

“We may will, Ada love.”

 

“I thought it was getting too cold to grow cauliflowers, Dad.” Edith opines as she fetches glasses to finish setting the table for them. “Aren’t they a summer vegetable?”

 

“You can plant them in spring, or in autumn, Edith love.” George replies knowledgably. “I also bought some runner beans,” He fishes out another packet from the basket. “But they won’t survive the winter frosts, so I’ll keep them aside in the bottom of the pantry with my other spring plantings.”

 

“Are you going to grow marrows again for the Roundwood Park************** Harvest Festival next April, Dad?”

 

“Try and stop him, Edith love.” Ada laughs before lifting the remaining saucepan over the sink and draining the carrots. “There hasn’t been a year, except for the war, when your dad hasn’t submitted a marrow to the festival.”

 

“I’m determined to win the coveted prize of best marrow from Mr. Johnson.” George says with steely determination. “I don’t know what he uses in his fertiliser, but he says it isn’t anything special.”

 

“Have you tried to work it out, Dad?”

 

“Has he ever!” Ada rolls her eyes to the soot-stained ceiling above as she speaks. “I’d be richer than Mrs. Hounslow if I received a penny for every after-tea conversation on a Sunday I’ve had with your Dad about the secret ingredient in Mr. Johnson’s fertiliser, after he gets back from the allotment.”

 

“You never complain.”

 

Ada smiles to herself as she slips the carrots into a bowl. “Of course I don’t, love. I don’t mind. I can’t say I understand half of what you talk about, I’ll admit that. But I know gardening makes you happy, and that makes me happy.” Ada picks up the bowls. “Here, put these on the table will you, Edith love,” She passes the bowls to her daughter. “Whilst I fetch out the pie from the warming oven.”

 

“Dinner is served!” George chortles, as he gets up and drags his chair over to the table.

 

Ada removes the steak and kidney pie from the warming oven and places it on the kitchen table between the three of their place settings. The crust glows golden brown, its decorative puffed edges raised to perfection as steam and the delicious aroma of meat, herbs and onion arises from it through the holes made in its top by Ada. She sighs with satisfaction, whilst her husband and daughter both sniff the air appreciatively.

 

“I seem to remember you used to grow flowers and vegetables in the back garden, Dad.” Edith remarks a little while later as she enjoys her meal of piping hot steak and kidney pie, boiled peas and carrots with her parents.

 

“Goodness! Fancy you remembering that!” George gasps. “You were only a toddler, back then!”

 

“Bert was still in his pram the last time you pulled a marrow from its vine out there.” Ada adds before taking a mouthful of her own meal.

 

“So, I wasn’t imagining it, then?” Edith ventures. “I thought I might have.”

 

“No, you weren’t, Edith love.” George acknowledges.

 

“I can’t imagine you growing anything out there,” Edith adds. “Grass barely grows out there in that miserable, gloomy yard.”

 

“Well, it wasn’t always like that, Edith love.”

 

“Your dad made a lovely garden out there: small, but manageable before you were born when we first came to live here.”

 

“I did!” George agrees, a wistful lilt in his voice as he remembers. “I had a small vegetable garden, and I grew asters, pinks, phlox and pansies too. Remember Ada love? You used to pick flowers to put in here.”

 

Edith smiles happily as she listens to her father.

 

“You used to pick flowers too, Edith love.” Ada adds. “Do you remember?”

 

“No, Mum. Did I?”

 

“Oh yes!” Ada explains. “You used to have your own little floral painted vase that I bought for a penny at a local flea market for you. You used to pick flowers close to the ground and put them in it.”

 

“You would have stripped my garden bare if I hadn’t stopped you.” George laughs.

 

“What happened then, to the garden?” Edith asks.

 

“Well, you’ve seen it out there, Edith love.” George replies as he cuts into his slice of pie, spraying tiny flecks of Ada’s golden pastry across his plate and onto the kitchen table’s bare surface as he does. “It’s too shady there now to grow much of anything.”

 

“Then what happened to make it like that, Dad?”

 

“Why the terrace of houses behind us, of course!” her mother remarks. “They cast the yard into shadow for too much of the day for any plant to really take root and grow.”

 

When Edith looks quizzically between her parents, George goes on, “It’s Mrs. Hounslow, again.”

 

“Now George.” Ada remarks warningly as she purses her lips and cocks her eyebrow as she eyes her husband at the table next to her.

 

“It’s alright, Ada love. I’m not speaking out of turn about Mrs. Hounslow. I’m only telling the truth.”

 

“What’s old Widow Hounslow to do with our back yard, Dad?” Edith asks. “Besides her owning it, that is?”

 

“Well, when you were born, the two-up two-down*************** terrace of houses wasn’t there. There were a couple of old, single storey cottages back from the time when Harlesden was still a village, on the next street.”

 

“They must have been a good hundred years old, or more, and they weren’t terribly well built in their time, and were in a shocking state of disrepair,” Ada pipes up, interrupting her husband. “No-one could live in them.”

 

“But the land was owned by Mr. Hounslow.” her father goes on. “But he never knocked the cottages down. Anyway, a little while after he died, Mrs. Hounslow had the old houses pulled down and she constructed the two storey terrace that’s there now. When there were just the cottages there, we had plenty of light for a garden, but now,” George shrugs. “Oh well.”

 

“That awful old Widow Hounslow knows how to spoil everyone’s fun.” Edith grumbles.

 

“What did I say about disparaging Mrs. Hounslow, Edith?” Ada remarks warningly as she eyes her daughter.

 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that old Mrs. Hounslow was all bad, Edith love.” George remarks.

 

“How so, Dad?” Edith asks before taking a drink of water from her glass, swallowing her mouthful of steak and kidney pie.

 

“Well, you might not believe this, Edith love, but it’s Mrs. Hounslow that Mr. Johnson, Mr. Pyecroft and all the working men like me have to thank for even having an allotment.”

 

Edith chokes on her mouthful of water. “Really?” she splutters. “Old Widow Hounslow?”

 

“Well, it is her land. She could have developed it and put some terraces on it, like this one, or the ones she built behind us, but she didn’t. She recognsied that we men wanted nice gardens, so she arranged the allotment for us.”

 

“Which you have to pay for.” Edith quips.

 

“No he doesn’t, Edith.” Ada ventures.

 

“Your Mum is right, Edith.” her father agrees. “I have to pay for my plants and fertiliser, but I don’t have to pay for my plot. They were gifts in perpetuity to the men and women gardeners of Harlesden to help provide some cheer, and make the lives of her tenants just a bit nicer.”

 

“In perpetuity?” Edith queries.

 

“That’s right. It means that she will never turn the site of the allotments over to any other purpose, and if Bert wants it when I die, he can take over the allotment.”

 

“And if he doesn’t?” Edith asks, doubting whether her seafaring brother will ever want to settle down in Harlesden and grow carrots, peas and cauliflowers, entering marrows in the local flower and vegetable show to try and win prizes, like her father.

 

“Then it goes to the next person on the waiting list. We have a list of men and women from hereabouts who would like a plot of their own, so the allotment committee decided that should anyone move away and leave their plot, or should someone without children pass on, or should the children of an allotment owner not want the plot, that it would be offered to the next person on the waiting list.”

 

“Is that right, Dad?” Edith asks a little more brightly.

 

“It is, and that’s why when Miss Bunting the organist at All Souls**************** died last winter of influenza, Mr. Corrigan of Ashdon Road was given her allotment. And we’re very grateful, as he has a better green thumb than she had in her later years, and he brought in a bumper crop of pears from her tree this year.”

 

“Did he now?” Edith asks.

 

“And he’s very generous with his produce,” Ada adds. “And I for one, am not too proud, and am really most grateful to accept a few of his Comice pears***************** to stew or put into a pie.”

 

“So, you see, Edith love, whatever you may think of Mrs. Hounslow and her penny-pinching ways, she’s really not all bad.”

 

*Meaning a person in authority, he origin of “his nibs” is obscure, but it might have come from the slang term “my nabs,” meaning “my gentleman” or “myself.” The word “nab,” refers to a head or a coxcomb (a fop or a dandy).

 

**One’s Sunday best is a term used for a person’s finest clothes. This expression, coined in the mid Nineteenth Century, alludes to reserving one's best clothes for going to church; indeed, an older idiom is Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes ( meeting here meaning “prayer meeting”).

 

***Barathea wool is a tightly woven fabric that is resistant to snagging and tearing, making it an ideal choice of fabric for suits, which were often the most expensive item in a man’s wardrobe in the 1920s. Due to its coarse texture, the fabric has natural recovery abilities and quickly returns back to its natural shape, barathea was popular to make suits from as working men usually only has one suit.

 

****Although it sounds formal in today’s society, in the 1920s, a respectable man would seldom be seen without a tie, thus differentiating himself from a common labourer who would have gone about without a tie. Perhaps the sporting arena was one of the few exceptions to the rule, meaning that a respectable man would have worn a tie even when relaxing at home or following more leisurely pursuits, like doing gardening.

 

*****The argyle diamond pattern derives loosely from the tartan of Clan Campbell of Argyll in western Scotland, used for kilts and plaids, and from the patterned socks worn by Scottish Highlanders since at least the Seventeenth Century (these were generally known as "tartan hose"). Modern argyle patterns, however, are usually not true tartans, as they have two solid colours side-by-side, which is not possible in a tartan weave (solid colours in tartan are next to blended colours and only touch other solid colours at their corners). Argyle knitwear became fashionable in Great Britain and then in the United States after the First World War. Pringle of Scotland popularised the design, helped by its identification with the Duke of Windsor. Argyle patterned socks, pullovers and vests were common sights across all classes throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

 

******A rag rug is a rug or mat made from rags. Small pieces of old fabric from damaged or worn clothes are recycled and are either hooked into or poked through a hessian backing, or else the strips are braided or plaited together to make a mat. Other names for this kind of rug are derived from the material or technique. Other names for this kind of rug are derived from the material (clippy or clootie rug) or technique (proggie or proddie rug, poke mats and peg mats). In Britain, these thrift rugs were popular in the Nineteenth Century and during the Great War in working class homes seeking to reuse precious material. The hessian back may have come from a food sack, whilst the fabrics could have been shirts, trousers or frocks that were too far gone to mend.

 

*******Soaking onions in cold water is an old fashioned remedy to help prevent crying when cutting onions. A cold water bath chills the onion, which slows down the production of the chemicals that cause our eyes to water.

 

********The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park, on the site of the pleasure gardens created by Edward Watkin in the 1890s. A British Empire Exhibition had first been proposed in 1902, by the British Empire League, and again in 1913. The Russo-Japanese War had prevented the first plan from being developed and World War I put an end to the second, though there had been a Festival of Empire in 1911, held in part at Crystal Palace. One of the reasons for the suggestion was a sense that other powers, like America and Japan, were challenging Britain on the world stage. Despite victory in Great War, this was in some ways even truer in 1919. The country had economic problems and its naval supremacy was being challenged by two of its former allies, the United States and Japan. In 1917 Britain had committed itself eventually to leave India, which effectively signalled the end of the British Empire to anyone who thought about the consequences, while the Dominions had shown little interest in following British foreign policy since the war. It was hoped that the Exhibition would strengthen the bonds within the Empire, stimulate trade and demonstrate British greatness both abroad and at home, where the public was believed to be increasingly uninterested in Empire, preferring other distractions, such as the cinema.

 

*********An ironmonger is the old fashioned term for someone who sells items, tools and equipment for use in homes and gardens: what today we would call a hardware shop. Ironmongery stems from the forges of blacksmiths and the workshops of woodworkers. Ironmongery can refer to a wide variety of metal items, including door handles, cabinet knobs, window fittings, hinges, locks, and latches. It can also refer to larger items, such as metal gates and railings. By the 1920s when this story is set, the ironmonger may also have sold cast iron cookware and crockery for the kitchen and even packets of seeds for the nation of British gardeners, as quoted by the Scot, Adam Smith.

 

**********Although by the mid 1980s, many shops, particularly larger department stores, flouted the law, Sunday trading only became legalised in the United Kingdom and Wales in 1994. Sundays were always considered sacrosanct, although small High Street businesses selling essentials, such as bakers, were allowed to open for a short period on Sundays. The Shops Act legislated that large shops were to remain closed on Sundays. Goods were not allowed to be shipped on Sundays, and many shops also had a half-day where doors would close early on a certain weekday, as decided by each local council.

 

**********Edward Webb and Sons, known more commonly simply as Webbs, were an English seed merchants or seedsmen, dating back to around 1850 when Edward Webb started a business in Wordsley, near Stourbridge. By the 1890s, Webb and Sons had been appointed seedsmen to Queen Victoria, and had become a household name around Britain. Fertilisers being crucial to the nursery industry, the Webbs in 1894 took over Proctor and Ryland, a well-known bone manure works in Saltney near Chester, and considerably expanded its activities, becoming Saltney's second largest business. Edward Webb and Sons were awarded a Gold Medal at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show in 1914. During World War II the firm was the primary supplier of grass seeds and fertiliser for airfields, both under the Air Ministry and local municipalities. The seeds used for this purpose were chosen to withstand heavy aircraft traffic. Webb and Sons also assisted in the camouflage of landing strips.

 

***********Carrots grow best in cool weather, so they are usually planted in early spring for an early summer harvest, or late summer for an autumn and early winter harvest. They are easy to grow from seed.

 

************Roundwood Park takes its name from Roundwood House, an Elizabethan-style mansion built in Harlesden for Lord Decies in around 1836. In 1892 Willesden Local Board, conscious of a need for a recreation ground in expanding Harlesden, started the process of buying the land for what is now Roundwood Park. Roundwood Park was built in 1893, designed by Oliver Claude Robson. He was allocated nine thousand pounds to lay out the park. He put in five miles of drains, and planted an additional fourteen and a half thousand trees and shrubs. This took quite a long time as he used local unemployed labour for this work in preference to contractors. Mr. Robson had been the Surveyor of the Willesden Local Board since 1875. As an engineer, he was responsible for many major works in Willesden including sewerage and roads. The fine main gates and railings were made in 1895 by Messrs. Tickner & Partington at theVulcan Works, Harrow Road, Kensal Rise. An elegant lodge house was built to house the gardener; greenhouses erected to supply new flowers, and paths constructed, running upward to the focal point-an elegant bandstand on the top of the hill. The redbrick lodge was in the Victorian Elizabethan style, with ornamented chimney-breasts. It is currently occupied by council employees although the green houses have been demolished. For many years Roundwood Park was home to the Willesden Show. Owners of pets of many types, flowers and vegetables, and even 'bonny babies' would compete for prizes in large canvas tents. Art and crafts were shown, and demonstrations of dog-handling, sheep-shearing, parachuting and trick motorcycling given.

 

*************Two-up two-down is a type of small house with two rooms on the ground floor and two bedrooms upstairs. There are many types of terraced houses in the United Kingdom, and these are among the most modest. The first two-up two-down terraces were built in the 1870s, but the concept of them made up the backbone of the Metroland suburban expansions of the 1920s with streets lined with rows of two-up two-down semi-detached houses in Mock Tudor, Jacobethan, Arts and Crafts and inter-war Art Deco styles bastardised from the aesthetic styles created by the likes of English Arts and Crafts Movement designers like William Morris and Charles Voysey.

 

**************The parish of All Souls, Harlesden, was formed in 1875 from Willesden, Acton, St John's, Kensal Green, and Hammersmith. Mission services had been held by the curate of St Mary's, Willesden, at Harlesden institute from 1858. The parish church at Station Road, Harlesden, was built and consecrated in 1879. The town centre church is a remarkable brick octagon designed by E.J. Tarver. Originally there was a nave which was extended in 1890 but demolished in 1970.

 

***************The Doyenné du Comice pear originated in France, where it was first grown at the Comice Horticole in Angers in the 1840s. The Comice pear is large and greenish-yellow, with a red blush and some russeting. Its flesh is pale, melting, and very juicy. Because the skin is very delicate and easily bruised, it requires special handling and is not well suited to mechanical packing. The Comice pear has received great acclaim. The London Horticultural Journal in 1894 called it the best pear in the world. It is the most widely grown pear tree variety in the United Kingdom today because of its cropping reliability, good disease resistance and self-fertility.

 

This cheerful domestic scene is not all it seems to be at first glance, for it is made up of part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection.

 

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

 

George’s basket, which comes from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering, is full of and surrounded by delightful little vegetable seed packets. These seed packets are 1:12 size miniatures made by the British miniature artisan Ken Blythe. Ken Blythe is better known for his miniature books. Most of the books I own that he has made may be opened to reveal authentic printed interiors. In some cases, you can even read the words, depending upon the size of the print! I have quite a large representation of Ken Blythe’s work in my collection, but so little of his real artistry is seen because the books that he specialised in making are usually closed, sitting on shelves or closed on desks and table surfaces. This however does not extend to these packets, whose graphics are on full display for all to see. Like his books, the vegetable seed packets are copies of real packets of Webbs seeds. To create something so authentic to the original in such detail and so clearly, really does make this a miniature artisan piece. Ken Blythe’s work is highly sought after by miniaturists around the world today and command high prices at auction for such tiny pieces, particularly now that he is no longer alive. I was fortunate enough to acquire pieces from Ken Blythe prior to his death about four years ago, as well as through his estate via his daughter and son-in-law. His legacy will live on with me and in my photography which I hope will please his daughter.

 

To the right of the basket of seeds is a rather worn and beaten looking enamelled jug in the typical domestic Art Deco design and kitchen colours of the 1920s, cream and green. Aged on purpose, this artisan piece I acquired from The Dolls’ House Shop in the United Kingdom.

 

Behind the basket of seeds and jug, standing on the hearth is a wooden crate from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures, which contains a bunch of lettuce. The leaves of lettuce are artisan made of very thin sheets of clay and are beautifully detailed. I acquired them from an auction house some twenty years ago as part of a lot made up of miniature artisan food.

 

George’s high black gardening boots I acquired from Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire, who are better known for their wonderful array of authentic packaged food stuffs, but also do a small line of shoes and shoe boxes.

 

George’s Windsor chair is a hand-turned 1:12 artisan miniature which came from America. Unfortunately, the artist did not carve their name under the seat of either chair, but it is definitely an unmarked artisan pieces.

 

The large kitchen range which serves as a backdrop for this photo is a 1:12 miniature replica of the coal fed Phoenix Kitchen Range. A mid-Victorian model, it has hinged opening doors, hanging bars above the stove and a little bass hot water tap (used in the days before plumbed hot water).

 

The worn old kettle comes from an online stockists of miniatures on eBay.

 

The brooms and brushes in the background from a mixture of places including Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures, Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop and Beautifully Handmade Miniatures. The tiny mousetrap also comes from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls’ House Shop.

I'm experimenting with variation in lighting for my figure study stuff as the setup I usually used gave results I really liked, but induced a ton of flare. This is the basic lighting setup I used for the last batch of figure study work. I tweak it according to each pose and add a light or two with grids or on-axis fill where needed, but this shot should give you a good starting point. Its a little more flare-manageable compared to what I used to do, but does not result in quite the same look compared to the older basic setup:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/68672503@N00/3799744705/

 

Oh, well. I'll keep tweaking.

it's already october again… breast cancer awareness month… v&i did this photo shoot in 2007 as a reminder for folks to do their monthly breast self exams and get their mammograms… and to honor all of our friends and family who have been touched by the disease… then a year later, v was diagnosed with breast cancer… thankfully v practiced what she preached… early detection made the cancer manageable… and now just under one year, a double mastectomy, 4 rounds of chemo, 20 some odd rounds of radiation, and a breast reconstruction later… v is cancer-free… only an 8% chance of reoccurrence over the next 10 yrs.… v&i both feel like a 10 ton weight has been lifted off our shoulders… i think i'm even standing up straighter… it's truly a blessing to be able to look out in the future and not see a surgery or a nasty procedure like chemo looming on the horizon… man… the lightness is exhilarating!

 

please follow the fine example of the cookie mom and keep up with your breast self exams… and mammograms… and finally give what you can to one of the fine breast cancer charities… our favorite is susan g. komen for the cure… it started locally here in dallas and is now worldwide…

This blend is always a beautiful display but particularly this time around. It has a very nice manageable size of 5' tall that does not need to be staked.

 

This one opened super dark but will turn a gorgeous dark red in a couple of days.

 

My Garden 2014

This mammoth build had be up til the early hours this morning, as I did it all in one sitting, from some strange wave of inspiration that hit. I don't know if I'll actually be able to build this, with its 5k+ roster of parts, but it's sure fun to look at. It's sort of Belville doll scale, god forbid anyone tries it with Scala! I'm working on a minifig scale one that's much more manageable.

 

The only thing I am still unsure of is the coloured panels. I know in the real structure, these are meant to be flat plates with a stud facing outward, but I couldn't find a way to do that and keep them stable without rotating freely.

  

DISCLAIMER

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Towards the end of WWII, large, piston-engined flying boats had been used exctensively in th bepatrol and bomber role, but with the advent of the new jet engine technology, engineers in several countries started to explore the new propulsion type's potential in different areas - including seaborne usage.

Towards the end of WWII and the far-stretched conflict theatre in the Pacific, the flying boat as well as float planes still had a large appeal due to their independence from airfields. This offered a lot of tactical flexibility. On the other side, the jet engine promised (much) higher speeds, but with the relative higher weight of early jet-driven aircraft (more fuel was needed, and more engines, as thrust was relatively low) a seaborne type would also avoid the need for a prepared and long airstrip to operate.

 

The United Kingdom was one nation that looked seriously into this kind of aircraft, and Saunders Roe presented in 1943 the proposals for a plane that should actually make it to the hardware stage: the SR.1/A, which made its maiden flight in 1947. The Soviet union also undertook some studies, but fighters remained just proposals. Eventually OKB Beriev would produce several sea-borne, jet-powered patrol bombers (e .g. the R-1 experimental plane, and later the Be-10 flying boat), which actually entered service.

 

In the USA, studies for a jet-powered fighter fyling boat gained momentum during the final stages of WWII. Convair developed the 'Skate' for the US Navy, a heavy night fighter, and Boeing designed a competitive concept. In parallel, and towards the end of the forties, heavier flying boats for maritime patrol were requested by the Navy - and with them a lighter, single-seat fighter that could escort them, or be used as an interceptor to defend improvised forward maritime bases. Using this type as a fast, ship-borne reconnaicssance aircraft was also envisioned.

This fighter was to be capable of a similar performance to land-based fighters in this class, like the F-80 or the F-86. The dsuccessful evelopment of the SR.A/1 in the UK had been keenly observed, and the concept of a jet-powered flying boat fighter appeared feasible and appealing.

 

One company to respond to the USN request was Curtiss, who already had experience with float planes like the Model 82 (SOC) and the Model 97 (SC 'Seahawk') - both rather pathfinder aircraft than true combat types, though. Curtiss designed its Model 101 around two J47-GE-11 jet engines, each rated at 2.359 kN (5.200 lbf) of thrust.

 

The Model 101's layout was rather concentional, with a deep, single step boat hull that would house a huge amount of fuel for the requested long range escort capability. The J47-GE-11-engines (the same which powered the B-47 bomber) were placed in nacelles, at the highest point of the gull wings.

As an innovative step, the Model 101 featured swept wings - the first time ever that this was tried on a flying boat. On the tips of the wings with a 35° sweep, slats and large flaps, fixed stabilizer floats were mounted. The large fin was swepts as well, and the horizontal stabilizers were placed as a T-tail high on the fin, clear of any jet turbulence or spray water.

 

The pilot sat in a pressurized cockpit under a bubble canopy, which offered good view, even though the massive engine nacelles blocked much of the side and rearward field of view.

The Model 101 was armed with four 20 mm (0.79 in) M3 autocannons in the nose section, with 200 RPG. An A-1CM gunsight which used an AN/APG-30 radar to automatically compute the range of a target was housed in a small radome in the nose tip. Under its inner wings, just outside of the engines, hardpoints allowed an external ordnance of up to 4.000 lb (1.816 kg), including bombs of up to 1.000 lb calibre, eight HVAR missiles, drop tanks or even two torpedos.

 

Curtiss received a go-ahead and two prototypes were built during 1948. First taxi runsd tok place in late 1947, the maiden flight of prototype #01 was on February 6th 1948, the second aircraft followed only three weeks later on 1st of March 1948 - and the tests were soon halted. Both aircraft suffered from severe purpoising at 80% of the take-off speed, and this problem almost resulted in the loss of prototype #01. This was a new problem, as such high take-off speeds had never before been encountered on water, and the phenomenon was called the 'hydro-dynamic instability barrier': essentially it was unstable aquaplaning.

 

First attempts to solve the problem were elevator compensation and tailplane incidence angle adjustments. This helped, but the aircraft remained unstable during take-off and landing - it was not before November 1948 that modifications were made to the planing bottom of prototype #02.

This brought the purpoising to a manageable level, but did not fully cure it. Disaster struck on February 12th 1949, when the still unmodified first prototype was lost in a starting accident: the aircraft started purpoising during take-off, hit a wave with the left side stabilizer swimmer, suddenly veered off towards the left, pitching down with the nose and toppling over at more than 120mph, ripping off the left wing and the whole tail section. Miracuously, test pilot Simon Pritchard escaped alive from the sinking wreck (even though heavily injured), but the XFC-1 #01 had to be written off and any high speed ground tests were suspended..

 

Flight tests were resumed in June 1949 after a bottom step venting system had been introduced, and this measure finally cured the instability problem. In the meantime, two more airframes had been built: one with more powerful J47-GE-23 engines (with 2.631 kN/5.800 lbf each, these were introduced to the other two prototypes during 1950, too) and another one for static tests.

 

Further trials followed during 1950 and in early 1951 the re-engined machine #02 even became supersonic in a dive. While the Model 101 (which received the USN designation XFC-1 and was christened 'Oceanhawk') was up to the original specifications it was clear that it could not compete with land-based aircraft - essentially, it offered a similar performance to the land-based F-86, but the XFC-1 needed two engines for that, was much less agile and still needed a complex infratsructure to operate properly. Its independence from land bases was still its biggest selling point, though, so the development was kept up.

 

At that time, the USN issued a specification for a supersonic flying boat, and NACA understook a study that a Mach 2 aircraft would be feasible until 1955. This rendered the Oceanhawk more or less obsolete, as it could not keep up with this requirement, and the XFC-1 program was finally closed in 1953. Eventually, the Convair XF2Y Sea Dart would be the next (and final) step on the way to a seaborne jet fighter.

 

Anyway, the remaining two XFC-1 prototypes were not scrapped but allocated to the USN's test squadrons. Prototype #02 and #03 were handed over as UFC-1 to Air Development Squadron VX-4 "Evaluaters" at Point Mugu, California, together with the static airframe #04 which was used for spares. Both aircraft were used as chase planes, observation platforms and target tugs. Machine #02, for instance, took part in the evaluation program of the Martin P6M SeaMaster flying boat in 1955, and was then modified for several tests with hydroski installations under the fuselage. On the other side, machine #03 was used in the development of remote drone and target tug control equipment, being re-designated DFC-1.

 

After serving in these second line roles, both aircraft were finally scrapped in 1965 and replaced by land-based types.

  

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 14.11 m (46 ft 6 1/3 in)

Wingspan: 12.46 m (40 ft 9 1/2 in)

Height: 4.10 m (13 ft 5 1/4 in)

Empty weight: 9.265 kg (20.408 lb)

Loaded weight: 16.080 kg (35.418 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× J47-GE-23 engines, rated at 2.631 kN/5.800 lbf each

 

Performance

Maximum speed: 932km/h (577mph/503nm) at sea level

Range: 2.092 km (1296 ml)

Service ceiling: 13.450 m (44.040 ft)

 

Armament

4× 20 mm (0.79 in) M3 autocannons with 200 RPG.

Eight underwing hardpoints for a total external ordnance of up to 4.000 lb (1.816 kg), including bombs of up to 1.000 lb calibre, eight HVAR missiles, drop tanks or two torpedos.

  

The kit and its assembly:

This model is a complete fantasy aircraft, inspired by a TV documentation about sea plane projects in the USA and USSR after WWII. Among others, the Martin P6M SeaMaster and the Saro SR.1/A made an appearance, and I wondered how an escort fighter for the P6M would have looked like in USN service? Well, let's build one...

 

Making a flying boat is pretty tricky, and the whole thing was built from scratch and with lots of putty.

 

Basically, the following went into it, all 1:72 unless stated otherwise:

● Fuselage and cockpit from a Hobby Boss F-86E

● Floating bottom is the lower half of a Matchbox Heinkel He 115 swimmer

● Wings come from another Hobby Boss F-86E, but this time a Batch 30 aircraft with extended wing tips

● Vertical stabilizer comes from an Academy MiG-21F

● Horizontal stabilizers come from a 1:100 Tamiya Il-28 bomber

● Stabilzer swimmers come from a vintage box scale Revell Convair Tradewind kit

● Engine intakes and exhausts are resin parts from Pavla, replacements for a Hasegawa B-47 kit

● A massive beaching trolley, which actually belongs to the A-Model Kh-20M missile kit

 

Assembly went from fuselage over the wing roots, the improvised engine nacelles, outer wings and stabilizer swimmers, step by step. I had a vague idea of what the aircraft should look like, but the design more or less evolved, depending from what I had at hand.

For instance, the Il-28 stabilizers were late additions, as the original F-86 parts turned out to be much too small for the massive aircraft.

 

The cockpit was taken OOB, just a pilot figure was added and the canopy cut into two pieces, so that it could be displayed in an open position.

Around the hull, small mooring hooks made from wire were added, gun nozzles made from hollow needles, as well as some antennae, since the whole kit was rather bleak and simple.

 

The trolley was puzzled together from the parts supllied with A-Model's Kh-20M (AS-3 'Kangaroo') kit, but was modified (e. g. with different wheels) and adapted to the flying boat's hull. It fits perfectly in shape and design, though!

  

Painting and markings:

Nothing fancy, as a jet-powered flying boat fighter is unique enough. Design benchmark was again the P6M, and AFAIK these aircraft were painted in just two tones: FS16081, a very dark grey, with white undersides and a wavy waterline. They were definitively not blue of any sort, as one might think in the first place.

 

I started with the lower side - white is always difficult to apply, and in order to avoid any trouble I used stpray paint from a rattle can and used a very light grey instead of pure white. The latter has two benefits: it covers the surface much better than white, and the contrast is not so harsh - the grey still leaves 'room' for some dry-brushing with white.

 

Next step was the dark grey - I used Humbrol's 32, which is FS36081 and looks very good. Dry-brushing with Humbrol 79 (Dark Blue Grey) was used for some counter-shading, and after a black ink wash I also painted some panel lines with a mix of black and matt varnish onto the hull. That turned out to be a little much, but finally, when the decals were applied (wild mix from various aftermarket sheets and the scrap box), the overall impression became much better.

 

The trolley was simply painted in yellow and makes a nice contrast to the dark aircraft on top of it.

 

Both aircraft and trolley were additionally weathered with some dry-brushed rust and grinded graphite, and finally received a coat of matt varnish.

Sophie in her new, too long wig. I'm getting her wig cut to a more manageable length tomorrow.

Google Maps, you need to step up. Occasionally navigating me to the back side of Walmart is manageable, but putting me on a spot (Rich Mountain Road : F744), back side of the water falls, where there is no potential trail and telling me to walk the reminder of the way, not cool :) Luckily, I was able to assess and get to the Hwy 28S and located the trail head.

 

I generally love waterfalls, but some are just really enchanting. This is one of them - Yellow Branch Falls ! The hike to Yellow Branch Falls is a backtrack hike over moderate terrain that ends at a beautiful waterfall with many individual cascades. Give enough time to get to the falls with regular breaks and u can call this an easy hike & fun hike.

 

On the route you pass through groves of dignified hardwood and meander across a number of streams. But the highlight of the hike is the 50 foot multi tier cascade, that awaits you at the end :)

  

When​ you are treated with views like this, all the huffs & puffs from the strenuous hike magically disappears :)

This is a partial revision of an earlier post, with elements changed in the upper section. The base section is adapted from Hieronymus Bosch's presentation of the motif - but not to scale - and with added elements from Jan Steen's The Egg Dance (Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London).

 

The paper cut-out above, "Dance around the Doodlesack," was made by a former student, Stef Plichta, and was inspired by a detail from the Hell scene of Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, ca 1490-1510 (Prado, Madrid). Hard to resist its allure against the colors of the setting sun.

 

There is perhaps an irony in the fact that I made this revised version while sitting quietly in Maria's hospital room, as she sleeps and dozes, trying to recover from recent setbacks. It is an irony because it is the absolute antithesis of everything Italian that she likes, artistically, yet close to my lifelong love for the earthiness of Dutch & Flemish art! Besides, I had to work from the components available to me on my laptop, and manageable, in Photoshop, on the small screen of a laptop.

Minolta AF 200mm & 300mm f2.8 G APO High Speed plus 1.4X & 2X TC II APO. This is a very powerful setup in terms of IQ and reach, yet, it is very compact in size and weight for the 200mm. The 300mm is larger and heavier, but is still manageable shooting hand-held. With the 1.4X TC attached, sharpness is basically as good as without the 1.4X TC, if the aperture is closed down to f/4.5 or f/5 from f/4.0. For the 2X TC, it is better to close down to f/7 or f/8. Picture taken with Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 on Sony A77.

I decided to jump before I was pushed.

 

I start chemotherapy to treat breast cancer in two weeks, so I have had my hair chopped down to a manageable length before it all comes out.

 

I have also been on a hat shopping spree.

 

[Photographically, I wanted to take the second picture in the same spot as the first, but it's really chucking it down outside.]

March 23, 2019

Tofte, Minnesota

 

Julia and I set a goal for 2019 to hike the entire 310 mile Superior Hiking Trail that goes from just south of Duluth to just south of the Canadian border. While it would be a blast to be able to take a couple of weeks off of work and hike it straight through, that's not feasible for us. So, we will be hiking the entire distance broken up into manageable day trips. Who wants to place a bet on how many sprained ankles I will suffer?

 

This morning, we decided to do a warm-up hike since, with the warmer weather, the cross country trails looked a bit slushy. We hiked the quick 2.3 mile Oberg Loop that is an off shoot of the SHT. It's mileage is not included in the 310 total. The trail offered stunning scenic overlook views of Lake Superior. Fingers crossed the actual trail will be just as beautiful.

 

This evening, we went to the Dessa concert at Lutsen Mountain. The sound at the venue wasn't great, but it's always fun to see Dessa. In addition to her incredible voice and smart lyrics, she has such a charisma on stage.

©2015 ned walthall

 

I have been chasing this light for a good part of September and October, really since I got back from Cape Cod after Labor Day. I had been going out day after day, moving around the lake a little bit: I tend to shift to the northern side in the Fall because from there the sun becomes a bit more manageable, given that it seems to come up at a much lower angle.

 

One of things that is different about shooting in the fall is that because of the lower angle, once the sun pops upover the horizon, it is pretty much game over, especially if you are facing East, much more so, it seems to me at least, than in the summer. The trees just immediately become a strip of black.

 

But there is this compensation, at least I think there is--it could be my imagination. The classic hour before sunrise that every landscape guy knows and loves gives you just a tad more light to work with, so the trees, arrayed in all that color, peak out from the shadows in ways they don't in the summer. That and of course there is that mysterious, glorious pinkish, violet sheen in the clouds if there are any. It comes and goes at odd intervals; I am convinced now that it puts on two shows, one early and one late. I know this because I have seen the earlier instance fad away and cursed myself for being late, only to discover, as if to mock me, that it comes back at about 15 minutes prior to sunrise, depending on the clouds.

 

So when October came around I was stoked, but I could not get the look I wanted. And this bothered me a lot. I even found myself wondering if I had changed a setting on my camera by accident. Or had I developed a bad habit, was I underexposing the trees too much to get the sky, and then making a mess of the trees when I tried to bring back some detail in post processing.?Maybe I needed new editing software. Maybe I needed to go back school. Maybe I should sit at the foot of someone who actually knows what they are dong.

 

And then of course I went out on Friday morning, and there it was. And here is the odd thing: as I was shooting, I was thinking to myself, well actually two things: (1) Don't screw this up and (2) THIS is how I REMEMBER it.

 

Those of you who have followed this blog for a long time know that I am an image locavore: with a few exceptions--New York, Philadelphia, Cape Cod--I take pictures of places close to where I live and work. I worry that they are the same but of course they are never the same--except that they are. When you do landscape photography in this way, when you bind your imagination to a particular place, after awhile you are not only taking a picture of something new that is in front of you, you are taking a picture of something you remembered having taken before.

 

And you realize that part of what you are doing is simply remembering, or, on a more fundamental level, responding to your need to remember. This is a huge relief to me, because it gives me a rejoinder to the voice in my head that says, "You know you have taken that picture before." I have, and that is precisely why I need to take it again.

My 2013 Classic Ariel Doll has been completely deboxed. She is standing, supported by a Kaiser doll stand (not included with the doll), and is photographed from various angles.

 

The 2013 Classic Ariel mermaid doll has many differences from the 2012 model, and is a greatly improved doll. She is both more attractive and more movie accurate. The major changes are to her head and face, her hair, her tail and her legs. There is a minor change to her shell bra. The only features that haven't changed are her torso and arms. I think that overall, she is the best doll in the new class of Classic Princess dolls from the Disney Store. That is fitting, as this is the year of the Diamond Edition release of her movie, The Little Mermaid.

 

Her head has been redesigned to be rounder than the previous models, thus more accurate by the shape alone. Her forehead is lower, her cheeks are fuller and her cheekbones are more prominent. Her cute button nose, open mouth smile and small angular chin seem to be same as the previous model. So her head is not as long, and her face is not as flat.

 

Her face is similar to last years, but with many small changes. Her eye molds appears to be the same shape, but the corners of her eyes are more rounded, so overall the eyes are slightly smaller but rounder. Her big round blue green eyes are wide open, and glancing to her right. They are darker, the pupils are significantly larger, and the glance is more severe than the 2012 doll. It makes for a more lively and adorable expression. She has four short thick curving black lashes over each eye, in the same pattern as last year, and black eyeliner under them that is thicker and darker than before. She has silver eyeshadow as before, but the thick eyeliner partially obscures the eyeshadow. Her rust colored eyebrows a little thicker and darker than last year, and are closer to her eyes. The rouge on her cheeks are much darker than last year, when it was barely visible, if it was there at all. Her mouth is the same, but her lips are a dark pink (as opposed to last year's pastel pink), and her upper lip is painted thinner, and her lower lip is painted fuller. Her face is very beautiful, youthful, lively and much more movie accurate than before.

 

Her waist length red hair is mostly straight and soft, but it ends in large stiff curls. The area around her face is also stiffened with gel to keep it off her face, which works very well to make her face much more open than the 2012 doll. Her volume of hair is much less than before. Her hair is much more manageable, neater, and movie accurate than before. But her part is still on the wrong side of her head, and the large curving front bangs of the movie character are still missing from this doll.

 

Her tail is a dark blue green color, with green glitter forming a scale pattern that is fetching. However her upper and lower fins are made of light blue green tulle that looks much less realistic and movie accurate than the 2012 model. Her purple shell bra is a little darker and a little more accurate than before. It also seems to fit better.

 

Her body is fully articulated in the arms, but now has the rubber legs of 2011 and earlier dolls, which has internal knee joints and fixed angled feet. Her hip joints allow her to sit down with her legs together and her back straight up, unlike the 2012 doll with the fully articulated but defective legs. Her angled rubber feet also make her about 1/4 inch shorter than the 2012 doll. I'd say that the rubber legs are definitely a big improvement for Ariel over the fully articulated hard plastic legs of 2012.

 

The packaging for the dolls is much improved. The box art has been completely redesigned, with beautiful decorations unique to each Princess (actually for each movie), and a cameo of the animated movie character. The boxes are the same height and width, but are 1/2'' flatter, making them smaller and lighter.

 

The 2013 Disney Princess Classic Doll Collection, released on June 10, 2013. They consist of 11-12'' articulated dolls of the 11 official Disney Princesses, from Snow White to Merida, as well as Princes, Villains and Sidekicks. I now have all 11 Princesses, Queen Elinor, Charlotte and Gaston. I will photograph them boxed, during deboxing and fully deboxed. I will also post reviews and comparative photos.

 

Classic Disney Princess Ariel Doll - 12''

US Disney Store

Released online June 10, 2013.

Purchased online June 13, 2013.

Received June 24, 2013.

$14.95 (was on sale for $10 at time of purchase).

 

Sigh. Did I ever mention something about a weekend without an agenda?

This weekend was quite a twirl for me too! Am I glad for peaceful mondays with manageable agendas :D

 

Hope you all did have a great weekend.

 

The skirt was made for a fancy dress a while back from some leftover fabric. A similar tutorial would be here. Exception is that here, the 3 tiers are not connected to each other but to a single lining skirt beneath.

With busy lives, many gardeners are looking to keep gardening tasks to a manageable level.

Decided that I'm going to the A Doll A Week challenge this year :) I think the 365 is a bit ambitious for me (I'm a major procrastinator) so hopefully this one will be manageable!

Oh, and YAY for my first picture of the new year! :D

Not sure what it is she's got but it looks more manageable than other spider meals i've seen lately :P

Haven't seen one of these spiders quite so orange before either.

lovely apple - basically a less problematic (easier) and more productive Cox's Orange Pippin. A triploid apple and very vigorous.

  

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 thois afternoon, I don’t think this will pose a challenge to achieve in 6 weeks’ time when the course is on.

 

Ash - Jack Names The Planets

www.youtube.com/watch?v=46KSWI8mBZs

Now amazing Capture One pro 10 is out, and for Sony users the express version is free.

The Capture One 9.4 before it was simply outstanding RAWC, much better than anything from Adobe or Raw Therapy.

 

Unfortunately, the free version of C1 does not handle Canon, Nikon or Olympus RAW, only Sony or DNG(Pentax and Leica).

 

So I guess It is another big reason for many of us to choose Sony over anything else. If you use Sony, you can get a full copy of Capture One pro 10 for just 50 USD.

AS far as I am concerned, this is an incredible deal, great Christmas gift for us from Phase One, the greatest company in Photography ever.

 

I think both Capture One 10 Pro and DXO 11 produce a bit better color than LR CC or LR6 for Sony, Canon,Olympus, or Nikon.

 

I suspect that Adobe programs are optimized for Canon but even for Canon CR2 files, LR6 and CC are not good enough, never produce the amazing amount details that Capture One 10 or DXO 11 does.

 

Seriously C Oen 10 pro for just 50 US is an amazing deal. nothing beats it for that price.

Capture One 10 is a much better more serious program than the LR crapware, and the biggest deal here is not need to deal with the Adobe subscription stuff. Many many Adobe users used the license and repaid it to re-activate it, it is really terribly unstable. I had one time could not use it when I was editing my images on site in a mountain area and they say my account is just trial although I paid it for full CC version.

So after coming back from the mountain, I decided to cancel all Adobe CC crap, and I just got Capture One express 8.32 for Sony free,then later in the same month (last April)I upgraded it to the pro version. I could not be happier.

Now, also DXO is offering me a copy FULL copy of DXO 11 Pro version for just 99 USD. I will get that too.

Honestly, there are still times we need Photoshop but I do have full copy of CS6, so I do not need CC anymore, and I've found life without Adobe CC crap is really much more relaxing and easier.

So in the long run, may Sony E mount be the most expensive system out side of the Leica SL and MFDBs arena?

 

Well it seems like that considering terribly expensive Sony service charge and repair price, and of course their lens prices.

 

As far as lenses are concerned, I can only compare the lenses that have been tested scientifically. Now please keep in mind that these tests were done with the A7R not version 2, but when Nikon introduces their higher resolution camera this will increase the final numbers for Nikon system as well, and Canon already have even higher resolution camera than both Nikon and Sony, but oddly enough DXO and most of others refuse to use the high resolution Canon body for testing their new gen lenses.

Sony 35 2.8, Nikon 35 1.8, Canon 35 2.0 tested with A7R, D810, 5DIII, oddly DXO refuses to test Canon lenses on the 5DS.

Anyway though,the Sony Costs $800, Nikon Costs $600, despite the Sony having less resolving power and a full stop slower than the Nikon. So we see how expensive Sony system actually is already here at the very first comparison below.

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-AF-S-NI...

To be fair to Sony, there is also the Loxia 35 mm f2,which I recently sold off for some new macro lens for my Olympus. The Loxia 35 is a fairly good lens but not an amazing lens, not exceptionally sharp, not extremely well corrected either. It has a bit of serious coma issue at f2 and on, though it is still a better lens than the Sony 35 mm f2.8 in the areas of center resolution and longitudinal CA and Vignetting. But the Loxia is worse than the Sony 35 mm f2.8 in some significant areas such as coma, edge/corner sharpness and focus accuracy at infinity.

So in Sony 35 mm Full frame world , there is no value 35 mm prime at all.

Now move on to value 28 mm primes: Sony 28 2.0, Nikon 28 1.8, Canon 28 2.8, they are close enough to say the difference is irrelevant in real life use.

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-FE-28mm-...

 

So move on to 70-200 mm f4: Of Sony 70-200 f4, Nikon 70-200 f4, Canon 70-200 f4, the Sony again is the most expensive despite the Nikon having more resolving power if we are to trust DXO lens rating. I personally do not trust their lens tests although I trust their sensor tests and I think their sensor test results pretty much mirror my own findings quite often.

But in case of the 70-200 mm f4 lenses, many other sites like SLRgear, lenstip tested and came to the same or identical conclusion to the DXO comparison. I also tested them at my work place with my own copy of DXO analyzer and got the same results.

If I have to pick the winner here, I would pick the Nikon for its obviously better resolution at 200 mm f4 setting. But it is more complicated than just optical quality, since the latest generation body IS of Sony is much more effective than most of in-lens VR or IS I tested.

So, while the Nikon is a bit better lens optically, I doubt that in real life handheld photography we see the better resolving power of the Nikon. The Sony 70-200 mm f4 comes with an excellent tripod collar that would cost 120 US if we buy it separately. Canon and Nikon do not include a tripod collar in their respective 70-200 mm f4 shipping package.

So maybe, is the pricing of the Sony actually reasonable?

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-FE-70-20...

 

Now move on to 35 mm f1.4 lenses comparison:Sony 35 1.4, Nikon 35 1.4. Interestingly in this test the Sony did a little better in resolution to the Nikon although its 22mm longer and 30 grams heavier than the Nikon and 26mm longer and 50 grams heavier than the Canon, so not so compact for a compact system any more.

What this fact tells us about is if you ask ultimate resolution in any current FF system, regardless of your camera body size, your lens must be big and heavy, thus your system won't be small or cheap or light at all.

 

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-FE-Carl-...

But in case of this 35 mm f1.4, we have to consider the extremely bad copy to copy sample variation issue of the Sony. The biggest issue of the DXO and the other typical online lens test sites is that they test only one copy supplied by the company.

But there is a great man testing literally 10-100 of copies of each lens and reporting his results most of times.

www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/10/sony-e-mount-lens-sharpn...

 

Personally, I take Roger's opinion much more seriously than any other lens test site's so-called review. I work at a mall which also sell cameras and I have tested many returned lenses before sending them back to the respective manufactures, we found that the copy to copy variation is much more significant than many people online think, it is sometimes even more pronounced than lens A to lens B difference.

So testing one copy of each lens is not enough, definitely in the case of any super complex modern optics such as this FE 35 mm f1.4.

I know the best copies of it is a fantastic lens, but about 75 percent of times you get a bad one or just an ok kind of one. It is really really deplorable, sad.

But no one so-called review site besides Roger's report it, and I smell something very fishy here.

 

Now move on to 50 mm -55 mm value primes: the Sony 55 1.8 vs the Nikon 50 1.8 vs the

Canon 50 1.8 STM

 

The Sony beats out the Nikon and obviously the Canon because of the limited megapixels, but the interesting thing is when you compare pricing...$1000 for the Sony, $219 for the Nikon. Weight was another thing with the Sony coming in at almost 100 grams heavier than the Nikon and the Canon. In terms of Absolute resolution, the Sony is quite a bit better, though if you care about the money, then the cheap Nikon gets you about 90 percent of the expensive Sony performance at 1/ 5th of the Sony price.

 

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-FE-Carl-...

 

now finally move on to 90-105 mm macro lens:

The Sony 90 mm macro is reported to be a better lens by likes of DXOmark, but according to Roger Cicala's extensive optics bench testing with many many copies of it, it is not as good as we all once thought it must be because of the DXO result for it below.

www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-FE-90mm-...

But it is obvious if you get a good copy of the Sony FE 90 mm f2.8 G lens, it is sharper than anything else in the market, actually it even beats the over-sized over priced not much useful awkward brand lenses like the Zess Otus 85 mm f1.4 APO or the Zeiss 135 mm f2 APO Sonnar,which I sold as soon as I found it useless in real life application ,especially for travel photography and street work. I loved it for studio work, but for that use I do not need to actually own any lens, just rent it from my boss's studio.

Anyway, my point here is if you get a decent Sony Fe 90 or 55 mm then it even beats the super-heavy ,awkward no compromise in design kind of d-SLR lens that priced about 4 times more than the Sony lenses.

The 90 macro is a cheap lens for what it is, there is no comparison to that lens in that relatively modest range of it.

 

So while I agree that Sony has made some very positive moves in recent years,it has come at a cost in pricing, f/stop and in the compactness to the system.Even then, the Sony lenses are not necessarily the best, especially when you take the fact that the Nikon/Canon Lenses often out resolved the Sony equivalents with faster f/stops for less money into serious consideration. The Canon lenses were at a deficit due to megapixels, and even with the obvious sensor resolution disadvantage, quite a few Canon lenses actually still out-resolve Sony Nikon equivalents, it was,to me,quite amazing.

So, I think if you need the ultimate best for now or the absolute best, most promising tech into foreseeable future, then the Sony system makes real sense here, but if you just need 90 percent of what the A7RM2 can do at the 1/4 of the Sony system price, then Nikon still makes better sense(value).

In my area it is even more glaringly clear, the A7RM2 body alone costs about 378000 yen, the Nikon D810 kit with the AF-S24-120 mm f4 VR costs 321000 yen,the Sony does not seem to be a great value although it may well be the absolute best camera in current camera market.

And most of people just go with the almost 95 percent as good as the absolute best kind of system that costs much less than the absolute best.

I chose the Zeiss Batis 85 over the Zeiss Otus 85 although I knew the Otus would beat the Batis in resolution(at a lab)..........but for me the much more manageable size and the weight saving, and more importantly the better overall practicality/usability of the Batis beat the absolute tripod resolution of the Otus. I think the same logic applies for choosing the right camera system.

Although, IMO, Canon still has the edge in lens line, flash,etc, and as a company most stable and profitable with a lot of key-core patents in this ILC technology, I personally never consider any of current Canon cameras seriously. The 5DS is just simply too overpriced, the 6D is just too long in the tooth, the 5D3 is about to be replaced, so no current Canon cameras make great value.

The 5DS-R costs 2 times more than the D810 and I think it is just too crazy, and that makes it absolutely the worst value camera for me. The 5DS at least a bit cheaper than the A7R2 to really justify its market position since it does not have the IBIS of the Sony, the 4k capability of the Sony, the high ISO performance of the Sony.

In the end, after comparing the prices of the lenses I need for the 3 systems carefully, I kind of realize that it is most logical to just stay with my current Sony system, just because I already have it. I guess I will hold on to my A7, A7M2, A7R for as long as I can, and see if Canon, Fuji or Samsung will answer to the a7R2.

The above logic just works for me, but I think for more budget minded people the Nikon may still hold the value king title with the D750..

The D750 is really attractive for event photography on a tight budget, and it is very very cheap now in the many many areas of the world, especially in my area.The Nikon D750 or D810 based system is at least 30 percent cheaper than the A7M2 or the A7RM2 based system with a few primes and a couple of zooms. But if you are a kind of person always wanting to shoot with a Otus or similar IQ lens and always carefully manually focus it, then Sony would suddenly become a much more logical choice for you.

The FE 55 mm f1.8 is sharper than the Otus 55 mm f1.4 at 1/4 of the Otus weight.

I do not have problem paying the Otus price for a great lens but the weight is.

The Sony FE 90 mm f2.8 G (assuming you get a decent copy) beats the both Otus and Batis in resolution and a few more areas.

I know the greater resolution alone does not make it a better lens than the Otus since Otus beats in the areas of CA, distortion and coma at wide open,etc.

But to me the better resolution of the Sony at 1/3 or the weight of Otus is very attractive.

The Batis 85 mm f1.8 is a great lens, honestly it is a bit different kind of lens than the Otus is with a bit more CA, a bit more distortion,etc, but it has the unique Zeiss look as with the other great Zeiss primes, and it is definitely sharp enough for its obvious intended use.

For landscape type of corner to corner sharpness, it may not be able to match the best primes in that focal range such as the FE90 mm f2.8 G , the Otus 85 mm f1.4 and the Leica 90 mm f3.5 APO, but still it handily beats all zooms and most of primes ever made in that specific focal range.

Many people compare the Batis 85 mm to the Nikon AF-S85 mm f1.8 G just because they both share f1.8 f numbers, but are they really comparable in quality?

Actually, in terms of sheer resolution and optical quality the cheap plastic Nikon may be comparable to the Batis. But it is weaker in a few key areas compared to the Batis.

The Nikon has much worse Lo-CA, much worse weaker flare resistance, a bit more distorted.

But the Nikon is smaller, lighter comes with 62 mm filter thread rather than the big 67 mm one on the Batis, it has a bit lower distortion and seems to have a bit lower amount of light fall off.

So it is actually closer match than we once thought it would be, and I see many many people mostly shooting all AF prefer the Nikon over the Zeiss in this case.

But unfortunately for me, the Batis is a better looking lens for my type of shooting since I am a manual focus kind of person, seldom use AF and having good MF ring is very important to me. So as my old man always said when I was a kid, it is always horses for courses, there is no one absolutely better camera system for all of us.

 

Finally as a side note, many many people guessing a lot of the technology inside the Leica SL seems to be from Panasonic.

I think Leica/Panasonic are testing the waters, with their first FF CSC with modern design more sophisticated UI than that of the Sony A7X.

I wouldn't be surprised, if less than a year from now, Panasonic makes a shot directly at Sony A7 series with a cheaper and more practical version of the Leica SL.

If Canon and Nikon don't come up with competitors in the meantime, Sony-Panasonic will be pushing this market very hard very far so that the old leaders will find themselves 7 laps behind all of a sudden. It may be easy for Canon to come up with something similar since they have all the tech needed to make something similar to the Leica SL, but is Nikon still safe, some how able to manage it to survive?

I know many Japanese Mega camera dealers that think in a matter of a several years Nikon won't be around in this market.

If they are correct, I wonder if the new Tokyo Nikon camera museum was actually built by Nikon as their own camera indoor cemetery?

 

UPdate : now, Canon has just announced its new sensor development policy. Canon seems to have built a new sensor plant in Mie prefecture of Japan. It seems like Canon is going on new 65nm process rule and all upcoming Canon sensors will be produced at there.

I think the 1DX2 and the 80D sensors are processed at the new plant.

Sony is still leading the CMOS imaging industry, but giants like Samsung are in close pursuit. Also big players like Panasonic are forming joint ventures with the likes of TowerJazz to offer 12-inch wafer fabrication with state-of-the-art quantum efficiency and dark current performance at 65 nano meters, and additional 45nm digital technology, and added available capacity of approximately 800,000 8-inch wafers per year in three manufacturing plants in Japan, according to TowerJazz.

 

The stakes are huge. The CMOS image sensor market will reached the historic $10 billion milestone in 2015, according to Yale, and with new applications popping up in automotive, medical and surveillance, while smartphones begin adopting high-definition front facing cameras, the industry is likely to hit the $16 billion mark by 2020. So nobody is just sleeping and Sony has to consolidate its position ASAP, or probably Sony will lose it again just like its short-lived TV business.

 

UPDATE2:Another serious issue all the camera makers will have to face but I did not really realize before is that all ILC cameras are big to most of NORMAL non-photographer people, and they are very intimidating to most of NORMAL people(I mean regardless of mount type or sensor type).

I never realized it before but while walking around down town Fukuoka with one of my long time friends here forced me to understand it. A friend of mine told me that he thinks all interchangeable lens cameras are huge and intimidating to most of average people regardless of sensor size or format, it's just simply annoying!

I guess a big lens scares or annoys people more than a big body......I never saw it his way but I got his point and I decided to carry my tiny Canon G5X when I just walk around the city area with other people. If I am alone shooting something, then I usually carry my big camera, and I think it does not matter it's a m43, a FF, an APS-C, it is all big to most of NORMAL people, anyway.

Then why not just go all the way up to FF or MFDB, or at least APS-C?

 

So maybe the one really doomed is not Nikon F or Pentax K or Sony A but m43?

Nikon and Pentax have historically had very enthusiastic and even fanatic core shooters and they are usually too old to adapt themselves fast to new EVF based gear even if they understand it is the more logical thing for them as they are aged. So D-SLRs may survive as antique cameras, but m43 or Nikon One?

 

UPDATE3: Nikon has just announced a new sensor fab development with Toshiba and it seems like their new sensor design uses very similar AF tech to the DP AF of the Canon EOS M5 sensor without losing almost no amount of light getting into the sensor.

 

Canon also patented a few new curved sensor designs with Toshiba. Toshiba seems to work as a special sensor designer for many companies rather than producing it themselves now.

 

And it found out that the Sony's old curved sensor patent is no longer effective, and it was originally a Toshiba patent.

So if Sony really lost the patent to Toshiba , then Sony would have a big problem since Sony would not be able to use the curved sensor tech for their FF camera lines that helps them to design smaller and sharper lenses for the FE system.

 

UPDATE4: Now, I've just confirmed that Nikon DL series actual shipment date would be next January 17th as planned in last Nikon conference at Nikon D5600 launch. But it may delay even further to next CP+ show in Yokohama Japan(in Feb 2017).

 

So it is already promised to be a failed product line before the actual launch. I think Nikon is really stupid, I mean I don't think phones or mirrorless killing Nikon but itself, it obtuse marketing killing it.

 

With engines roaring in full reverse thrust, Virgin Australia's late-model Boeing slows to a manageable speed... This was the reason for our being at Wellington Airport; one of our daughter's and her partner were returning home from Los Angeles (via Brisbane) after a wonderful three week holiday in California! (And yes: in spite of the name emblazoned on the side of the aircraft, the company has rebranded itself...).

 

Parts of this route were a very challenging scramble, so much so, we didn't get any photos! Another challenge was the wind, steady all day with the some very strong gusts. But all-in-all, it was a fine hike/scramble, and we were thrilled to see up close a some Rocky Mountain Sheep, and even a Grey-crowned Rosy-finch!

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'.

  

So I feel really lousy.

I was going to try and keep this a secret but I'm feeling down and I thought rambling about my doll news might cheer me up a bit.

 

I had a toothache last night and it took 6 Tylenol just to get it to a manageable pain level, but it left with me with a hell of a stomach ache. Now I can't decide if I'm hungry or I want to throw up :(

but... that's not why I'm posting a pic, that's just my explanation for not being as excited as I would normally be.

 

I did something super impulsive yesterday, I ordered a new doll :D

Ya, I had no plans to order a doll when I woke up, like none, not a single thought in that direction, but then, someone on Tumblr posted about a sale at Mirodoll and I went and looked.

I spent the whole day trying to convince myself not to order a body, then went home and ordered one within minutes.

I was going to put off ordering her head until I got paid, but since I was putting it on my card anyway I decided that was silly and I should just order her all at once so I went from no doll plans, to new doll coming in less than a day 0-o

 

She's a Supia girl on a Mirodoll body, I'm not gonna tell you the sculpt (guess if you want ^-^)

 

I came up with her basic character last night, nothing is 100% but I think her name is going to be Katrina.

She's a RIOT agent like Knox and Lin. You would think like 90% of the RIOT agents are girls, but actually it's more like 10%, I just happen to be obsessed with that 10% XD

 

From what I've seen, the Mirodoll body looks ok except for the hands and feet. The feet I can ignore (I hate Raggy's too) but the hands I'll have to switch. At the moment I'm thinking I'll give her the Supia hands Raggy came with, and then look into other options down the road.

 

I haven't ordered her eyes or a wig. I have several spare pairs of eyes that have built up as I've sold dolls so I'm hoping one of those pairs will work for her.

For her wig, she's listed as wearing 8-9, but so is Raggy and she wears a 7-8 so I'm not sure what her actual head size is yet. If she does wear 8-9 I know exactly which wig I'm putting on her, it's a long blonde one Supia gave me with Raggy, if she wears 7-8 she'll be wearing something out of Knox's collection.

 

Since she was totally impulse, I don't really have the money to buy her anything of her own as far as clothes go, but I wanted her to have something that's just hers so I got her a pair of glasses. I like them, they remind of Rei's from Free!

 

I'm really excited for her! :D

 

(Knox isn't going to be, but I am XD)

This is my first panoramic photo.. ever? I just never wanted to deal with "stitching". Anyways, this is a total of 14 vertical 85mm shots. Almost clipped the Columbia Tower! I had started from Left to Right and didn't check my height but luckily I just made it over the tower. I'll upload the full color later. Just thought I would accentuate Century Link field as it was the first year they lit up the stadium in celebration of Pride weekend. Enjoy! Thanks for Looking!

 

Oh in case anyone was wondering, original file size was 600mb Took the computer a half an hour just to crop it! Yikes. Once cropped, I dropped the image size down to something more manageable.

A group of us descended on the Severn Valley Railway 40’s event on Saturday. A days travelling and then the Big Band Show in the evening. A fabulous day, the weather held, it was warm but just about manageable in the uniform. We bumped into old friends and performers , Kitten Von Mew and The Ronnies, fabulous as usual. Too many photos to chose from so hard luck, you’ve got several to look at.

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

 

The RM proved to be a pain in the butt if I'm honest with things going wrong that were not expected with something this big and expensive (no, I did NOT pay full price - I may be crazy, but …..!)

 

However, the finished model is well worth the effort when seen in the flesh, in spite of the blood and tears!

 

So I now have two 1/24 scale models and frankly, that's enough for me. Back to the 1/76 manageables!

Lame title I know but...

I live on the other side of the city, and don't often see this view, With the sky and reflection I could not resist a shot. So in a way the title is appropriate in more than the obvious way. I was intrigued by the different point of view, and also how small the skyline looks from this angle. Philadelphia is one of the larger cites in the country, but center city is not all that big. It is manageable. I like that.

I took this shot, while riding on a dog sled going over an ice highway. If you check out the GPS coordinates for this photo (69.239444, -50.546111), you'll see I'm smack dab in what should be a body of water. The flat ice is a much more manageable terrain for the dogs and sled to traverse.

 

Read the rest of this entry at the Aisle Seat Please blog.

These sandals with the boards underneath were thought most likely for to compress the soap and to smooth out before it was divided into blocks, and finally stamped portioned into manageable pieces.

 

When I was young, I had the same sandals, but without boards. ;-)

 

Soap museum - متحف الصابون

Saida Old City / صيدا المدينة القديمة - Saida / صيدا - Lebanon / لبنان

Hooray! We got outside for our first day of spring clean up. It has been so cold and windy we have barely been outside. My husband brought home 6 bags of composted manure to prepare our raised veggie bed. My older son and I prepped the bed, made the trellises from sticks, and then my sons and I planted peas.

 

It is still weeks away from our area being frost free, but I heard from a garden expert in my area that now is the time to plant peas, so we are giving it a try.

 

We had good luck with peas last year so we are hopeful. They were so delicious that none made it into the house. We ate them right beside the garden bed. We doubled the amount we planted this year so we are hoping for more delicious peas.

 

You can see Barbie's little garden area and her small trellises. I'll eventually need that space for a tomato plant.

 

Our veggie garden is small but manageable and we ate from it all summer last year. Besides peas, we plan to plant onions (to eat the greens), lettuce, 2-3 cherry tomatoes, a few herbs, a potato for my classroom demos, and a few carrots for fun.

Not the best of pictures sorry, but another from the era of stripes. NBC subsidiary Midland Red it may be recalled, was broken up into four different operating arms prior to privatization under the last Conservative government in order that they might be sold off more manageably. Here at Blackpool's erstwhile Colosseum coach station we can see PHA 330M a dual purpose Leyland Leopard with BET style bodywork about to depart with a summer express service to Rugby. To me, this less gaudy version of the 'Venetian blind' livery style permitted latterly by the NBC, doesn't look too bad.

For enthusiasts of the North Staffordshire bus scene, the coach to our left of the subject with the curious amalgam of Plaxton and Duple front end (RWM 582T) latterly worked with the Mc Cready incarnation of Pooles Coachways. The ex Seagull of Blackpool coach always affectionately referred to as 'Big T'.

BOX DATE: 1989

MANUFACTURER: Mattel

RELEASES: separately sold; doll gift set

MISSING ITEMS: 6 horse shoes, 2 saddle medallions, head piece, 6 hair medallions, bridle medallion

 

PERSONAL FUN FACT: I remember that fleeting feeling of excitement when I spotted this Sun Runner at the local flea market. It was sometime in 2012, when I happened upon 1989 Western Fun Barbie and her horse. I recall that they were at a table right near the start of one of the aisles (in the location near where we acquired the "Lagoona Bin" the following season). I was intrigued by the immaculate condition of the pair. I am a sucker for anything 1980s Barbie. But I was particularly intrigued by this duo, because of the horse. Sun Runner was in near perfect condition. Only her mane and tail were slightly messed up. I loved collecting Barbie horses since I was very small. I think I may have owned some of my horses before the dolls themselves. As a kid, I would have been over the moon to find such a beautiful, complete specimen. I don't recall what we paid...but it was cheap for both the horse and Barbie. I'm not sure if my horse came with the doll, or was one of the gift set versions. There isn't a difference between the separately sold stuff or the gift set (sometimes Mattel adds things or there are slight variations). Over the years, this horse has been maintained. I boil washed all her hair so it was completely straight and more manageable. She's displayed on a bookshelf with my other horses, in the basement (specifically in my parent's old bedroom...which has now become "Babyland" for my Cabbage Patch Kids).

 

The X509 near its highest point. This was a rough dirt road, hardly manageable on bicycle, 10 years ago. Now it's a welcome connection between two beautiful valleys and a nice challenge to ride.

Cliche, I know, but I couldn't believe the science museum was in such an amazing building. Anyone who has any love for science NEEDS to go here. I was enthralled by the model mine, the old locks and keys, and the meteorological station. The photography area was pretty cool too. Only some displays had English, but at least that made the museum more manageable to take in.

BOX DATE: 2020

MANUFACTURER: Mattel

DOLLS IN LINE: Emberly; Bashley; Tella

BODY TYPE: 2020; GXP15; molded panties; articulated wrists, elbows, & knees

HEAD MOLD: 2019 "Emberly"; pierced ears

 

PERSONAL FUN FACT written by my sister: Talk about your 80s throwback!!! I mean, first of all, the style and loud colors are totally 80s. Also, her big hair is super 80s. Shelly opted to do with Emberly what she did with Courtney--instead of depoof the hair, she opted to use crimps to keep it big but make it more manageable (crimps stay intact better than curls). Speaking of my Courtney doll, Emberly's style, colors, and packaging reminded Shelly of Courtney right away. Plus, she smells like Courtney--because Shelly used the same heat protectant to crimp her hair. Emberly also reminds me of Style Magic Barbie--another very 80s girl. I mean, it's clearly a fun party dress with a scrunchie, sized for people, that doubles as a fashion wrap for a doll. Scruchies are also super 80s (and also remind me of Courtney, who they sell a Caboodle with scrunchies for--side note, totally would love to have it some day). Emberly is probably my favorite Cave Club character--there is something extra innocent and charming about her, not that all Cave Club dolls aren't innocent and charming. She is the first of this line that we managed to get. We had her and Bashley ordered on Amazon for months--definitely since June or July of 2021--and the stocking of both kept getting delayed and they kept giving us the option to cancel. We agreed to keep saying we still wanted them, on the off chance that they finally came into stock. Truthfully, for months we weren't even sure these dolls existed--though we thought people were getting them abroad. At the same time Emberly finally came into stock and Bashley began to look like a set date for her to be in stock had also happened, at least one person Shelly was talking to online got a hold of their Bashley. At time of writing, our Bashley is scheduled to arrive soon. People in other countries have Tella, who comes with a big dinosaur! Fernessa is currently a mystery--not sure at the moment whether she's an actual doll who is or will be in production or one of those dolls, like Color Splash Kocoum, who is on the back of the box but never actually produced. Here's to hoping she's real!

here are the 120 Colonist's units in my 3rd attemp at making it a more manageable size to build my ship arround lol. Here is the LDD File : www.dropbox.com/s/wod8ls39a4dtinh/Cryo-Sleep-Room-3-Colon...

Graffiti and snow in Chelsea during winter storm Nemo in NYC.

 

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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.

Green fly - Was not getting any bug to photograph on this particular day and was unhappy... Then saw this little creature... on the leaf. Above my head's height. Stretched my tripod and kept elbow on it and tried to shoot.. Leaf was moving due to slight wind... but got a manageable shot.. The bug looked too good through the lens :-) Hope you enjoyed the shot... Kenko extension tubes + 100mm macro lens .

The ONLY editing I did to the pictures was reducing them from the size I shoot in SL (4000×3500) down to a 1024 size manageable for the blog and Flickr. There’s been no cropping, no liquifying, no adjusting contrast or color balances or any of the other Photoshop tools I use on a regular basis.

 

slicesoflifesl.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/sooc-the-void-par...

 

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA27/108/113/2006

  

Sometimes in life whilst turning a corner, and on this occasion on the lookout for a animal, a much different and a very unexpected one altogether stands before you (and luckily behind a very strong 5 bar gate!) I managed a few bursts and continued on around the corner that I should have taken!! So…. it set me off when I got home to find out more about what I had seen as I had never heard of them nor had I ever met them: “Heck Cattle!! —- and by heck!! they were certainly big”! So here is the Fascinating history (it was for me - so I hope I don’t bore you!) of the Heck Herd!!

 

The aurochs is the ancestor of all cattle and thereby a most important animal in the history of mankind. It is also a keystone species for many European ecosystems, but was hunted to its extinction in 1627. They have not been in Britain since the Iron Age more than 2000 years ago. The only real reason why the aurochs disappeared was because man hunted it to extinction. First for meat, but when man later brought in domestic cattle, it was also an intentional extermination because of grazing competition from the aurochs.

However, its DNA is still alive, but distributed among a number of the ancient original cattle breeds. “The Tauros Programme” 2009 aims to bring back the aurochs as a functional wild animal, by back-breeding the closest relatives of the original aurochs. In order to graze the landscapes of Europe to help maintain biodiversity. The final goal of the programme, to be met in some 20 years, is the presence of the Tauros as a self-sufficient wild bovine grazer in herds of at least 150 animals each in several rewilding areas in Europe.

The Heck Cattle were the forerunners of the Tauros Programme initiated in the 1930’s by the German Heck brothers who independently cross bred auroch genetically linked cattle.

There is only one Heck herd in Britain and is owned by the conservationist Derek Gow who initially imported the herd from Europe consisting of 4 bulls and 9 cows. They bred successfully and the herd grew to 20. However, the unpredictable and very aggressive aspect in their genes caused the herd to endanger staff and all but a few cattle tried to kill anyone entering their environment. Therefore culling of the most aggressive and dangerous members of the herd was done. Since then the herd is growing again and although not domesticated is manageable.

(My words - a précis of the sourced material/information found on the internet)

 

A Youtube link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=28wUB3kgWoA

 

Aurochs were immortalised in prehistoric cave paintings and admired for their brute strength and "elephantine" size by Julius Caesar.

  

Aurochs are also depicted in ochre and charcoal in paintings found on the walls of cave galleries such as those at Lascaux in France Photo: ALAMY

 

Three vultures and one alligator are in a an all day standoff along the bank.

 

The smaller alligator carcass in the big gator's mouth is much too big to swallow whole, and he's unable to tear it up into manageable chunks without risking losing a piece.

 

We we're too far away to make out the intricacies of life and death struggle clearly, but I imagine the vultures are secretly plotting and trying to negotiate.

 

American Alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

Black Vultures

Coragyps atratus

 

La Chua Trail

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

Alachua County, Florida, USA

 

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus M.75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II

christina was opening tonight for maria taylor, the amazingly talented vocalist for azure ray. dirty on purpose played between the two of them. all the artists were really exceptional. regrettably i needed to leave during maria's set because my sinuses can't handle the smoke of orlando's downtown scene. christina and maria are both playing again tonight in st. augustine with apollo sunshine. $7, non-smoking venue... i'm so there.

 

on a photography note, the lighting was much more manageable during maria's set (obviously the venue uses more lights for a band than for a single person). i left the camera at 1600 anyway just to get a good feel for it. shutterspeed jumped up to 1/125 sec though... still f/1.4. i'm pleased.

 

View 'maria taylor at the social' against solid black