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Managed to get a bit closer to one of the Svalbard reindeer which are a paler colour and shorter in the leg. With no natural predators other than man and polar bears they tend to be solitary animals of in small groups; not in large herds like on the mainland.
Managed to make it to Leeds First Friday November meet up - had the time of my life hanging out with some absolutely amazing ladies.
Managed to have a very fine day!!!!! Let myself play with the Ziller Acrylic Ink Sampler (12 - aprox .5 oz samples in a wooden base) that I received from John Neal Booksellers last night. They included a catalog that has lots of cool things like altered Parallel Pilot pens, lots of nibs, calligraphy inks, books AND good photos of nibs- (I get them confused and need my optivisor to see the writing on my nibs, some of which are rusted. I have quite a few from who knows when and where...)
My intent was to fill a page of playing. Tried out the 12 samples- text on naked paper and over a wash, Ziller North Wind white (WATERPROOF) verses Dr Martin diluted bleed proof white (NOT so WATERPROOF). The Yellow does not show up well on this Strathmore series 400 toned paper, BUT does so over the black ink, and on white paper. I chose this paper because I wanted to play with the white ink. Love this ink. Lettering is not the same as sketching. The next step is to sketch, probably just one ink at a time.
Johanna and I saw this bike and both noticed that it was a very special compostion by Mother Nature. How was it that the ocean was able to prop her up so imperfectly like this? Lodged between rocks, brought in by the surf. On our way to the apparently disappeared Wreck of the Dominator, she left us this ruin as consolation.
-Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles
Managed to finish the decals off today but was low daylight when took the pics so appologies for the "grainy-ness" of them. I may try to take some more to replace these in better light, but not sure when I'll get chance.
Hopefully these are good enough to give the general impression of the model, though they really dont do it justice.
Happy enough to call it finished now, just need to paint...er, brass chrome the whistle ;)
Wanted to try a "fez" for the pressure dome, but managed to somehow lose the only one I had, so this'll do for now.
Looks lovely running, will try and get some video of it in action at some point, but spare time is very limited at the mo due to work.
The clock by the door signifies that the resident was a watchmaker.
There is no subject of greater interest than the study of how the early settlers managed to build their houses and fit them with chimneys, windows, glass, locks and other furniture so difficult of acquisition in those days. The pioneers, however, appear to have laughed at difficulties; for none of them thought it a matter worth recording. Their trials, struggles and disappointments have been buried in oblivion. There is no record of their heroism.
It was to be expected that immigrants coming from a country where stone was the chief building material, should have built clumsily and defectively with wood. The first houses were draughty, cold and uncomfortable. No sheathing paper or matched board was used in the early days, and as a result, the high winter winds forced themselves through the chinks and made the houses ice boxes. The early settlers did not seem to realise the great amount of cold that can enter a house from beneath the floor. None of them seem to have adopted the modern system of excluding draughts from underneath the floors. Beneath the floors the goats rested from the mid-day sun in summer and the homeless dogs found there some shelter in winter nights. The continuous rush of cold air beneath the floor drew away the heat from the rooms above. The open fireplaces and wide chimneys also allowed the heat to escape. Floors were single. The single uncanvassed floor was another factor in allowing heat to escape. Storm sashes were unknown. One guard against cold they adopted; they screened their beds with canopies. In building, there was no attempt to place the posts on bedrock. The result was that the houses were continually heaving with the winter frosts. Often, at night, the occupants were aroused suddenly from their sleep by the noise of nails bending or breaking in boards forced from their usual places by the heaving of the house. This alternate heaving and falling of the house had the effect of rendering it more draughty from year to year.
It was fortunate that plenty of wood could be procured; for with open fire places enormous quantities of wood were consumed in heating and cooking. Cod-oil and candles were the illuminants till the introduction of the kerosene lamp in the year 1870. Stoves, floor-canvas and lucifer matches came into use about the same time. The comfort and conveniences introduced by these three domestic improvements were marvellous The old wide chimneys were closed up, the back of the chimney whitewashed, and the large irregular flags of the hearth replaced by bricks which were reddened every Saturday afternoon with powdered brick and water. The sand was swept off the floor and the gayly-flowered canvas put down. The evil-smelling cod-oil lamp was thrown on the garbage heap and the glass kerosene lamp with its bit of red flame in the bottom to add colour, was hung by the wall. The tinder box followed the cod-oil lamp.
Friendly intercourse from house to house was more common than it is to-day. Winter brought with it certain brief periods of leisure during which the men assembled in knots and discussed the events of the day. Visiting neighbours was a relief from the monotony of outport life. No one thought of knocking before entering; you simply lifted the latch and went in. If you were not welcome you soon found this out; the silent greeting warned you that your presence was not desirable. The election year was always an inexhaustible source of discussion and the prospective weddings a delightful theme for the women and girls at the quilting and matting parties.
Besides the frequent dances there were raffles for some poor widow or other charitable object. There was a great variety of indoor games to fill in the long nights such as, Forfeits, Hide the-button, Hunt-the-slipper, Ride-the-gray-Mare, Start-the-cask-out-of-the-Cargo, and My-man-John.
Christmastide was anticipated keenly by young and old. It was mummering time. Long before Christmas, considerable time was spent on designing costumes and fantastic rigs. Christmas Eve ushered in the mummering period, and for a whole fortnight, the night air was tortured by the inarticulate cries peculiar to "jannies". The mummers went around in groups of various numbers touring the village from one end to the other. There was a heroic folk-play brought by the Irish immigrants from the "Old Country" that used to be performed by the young men during the Christmas holidays. The actors personated of the great heroes of history, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander, Doctors Faustus, Sir Isaac Newton, St. George, St. Patrick. But times have changed. To-day, the tidy housewife will not admit nine or ten roughly shod boys on her red-and-white chequered canvas. In the olden days, the sanded floor could stand consid goat-skin head. The cymbals were two pot covers. The triangle was a pair of tongs, and the tambourine was a tinpan or a metal tray. One Christmas Eve night, Stephen Ryan of Broad Cove played the tambourine. The night being chilly, and his hands exposed, they lost their sensitiveness, and when the parade was over, his knuckles were a mass of mangled flesh and blood. The incident is trivial; but it shows the hilarious fervor of the amusements of the olden days.
This violin band made itself prominent on other occasions. When Bishop Carfagnini of Harbour Grace made his first episcopal visit to King Cove in May 1873 the violin band greeted him on his approach from Trinity. The band accompanied by the whole populace, went out three miles on the Trinity road expecting to meet His Lordship at that point; but there was a delay and they proceeded two miles further. At the signal of the Bishop's arrival, there was a deafening salvo from dozens of sealing guns, and when the report died away, the Violin band sent forth the lively strains of "The White Cockade" and the "Rakes of Mallow." The latter air was hardly appropriate to greet two dignitaries of the church; but it must be remembered that in these early days the band's repertoire of music suitable for triumphal processions was undoubtedly limited. Tradition has remembered only four of the musicians who took part in that demonstration, namely: P. Murphy, R Lawton, M. Lawton and Jim Costello. It formed the orchestra at the theatrical performances and some of its members accompanied the Choir at Benediction at Sunday evening Service.
The chief dances of the old days were the cotillion, eight-handed red, single step and kissing dance. After the cotillion was finished, it was an unwritten law that each couple should dance a single step. The reel was an intricate and laborious dance and necessitated some preliminary practice in order to master its involutions. It was long and sweat producing and the male performers uniformly sought the outside air after each performance, while the female performers fanned themselves in a cool corner. The generation now passing were youngsters then; but they can recall the glamour which the dances at the "Big House" (as Big Allie's house was called) used to throw around them on a fine summer night when the gay dancers came out on the long front gallery to cool off, and we saw them through the trees saunter back and forth across the lighted windows. Looking back one is reminded of Byron's lines on the festivities at Belgium's capital. For Mrs. Murphy was indeed a chieftain, and the end of all the gay dancing in the "Big House" was as tragic as the end of Bunswicks's fated chieftain.
If the habitues of the modern dance halls were compelled to go through a cotillion or a reel of the olden days, they would be prostrated for weeks thereafter. The dancers disdained ballroom etiquette when choosing a partner for a dance. They simply walked over to the damsel and without speaking, took her hand She, silently acquiesced and took her place on the floor. When the dance was finished, her partner dropped her like a hot potato, without a word of thanks or any other ceremony, and left her to find a seat as best she could.
The cotillion was less laborous than the reel; and also less interesting. It was an inartistic dance. Its chief characteristics were an alternate time-beating by the men and their partner in the centre of the ring, followed by a violent swinging and a grand chain. This was repeated ad infinitum or as long as the participants could hold out. In the single-step dancing every dancer danced to his own favorite air; and the fiddler was expected to respond to the individual demands made upon his musical repertoire. The most frequent calls were for "The Wind That Shaked the Barley", and "The Rakes of Kildare."
Dancing was followed by singing. Those who could sing had to sing; no excuses were admissible. The songs were mostly of the sentimental type, and depicted the woes of the rejected lover.
There was usually some incident to add spice and variety to a ball of the olden days. As the ceilings were low,-not much over six feet-and the second floor beams were exposed, a tall man had to do most of his dancing between the beams, and had to maintain a stooping position during the "grand chain." As one of the rules of the cotillion was that the final beat of the last bar of the music should be accompanied by the dancers bringing down both feet together with as loud a "whelt" as possible, it was not unusual for one or more dancers to break through the single floor. An incident of this kind compelled the suspension of the dance till a new piece of board was procured; but instead of being considered an annoyance, it enhanced the terpsichorean notoriety of the dancer. Occasionally, those who were not invited to the dance, vented their displeasure by throwing one or more dead cats down the open chimney.
Occasionally, too, a good-looking girl was the source of an amorous jealousy which in the early hours of the morning disrupted the whole proceedings, and sent the jealous wooers out in the road to argue or fight the matter out. The most spectacular of these love comedies happened in the winter of 1872 at a dance held by the dramatic troupe in Pat Dwyer's old house. A certain young lady who was openly catering to the dalliances of an amorous swain, declined the offer of a dance from another ardent admirer. This aroused a violent jealousy in the latter. Sparks began to fly and as the adversaries glared at each other, the worst was feared. There was an ominous rush towards the door; for notwithstanding the comparative primitiveness of these days, there was an instinctive respect for the sanctity of their patron's house. Moreover it was considered that the open air was the proper place for the settlement of disputes of this kind. So there in front of Tom Brown's old house. in shirt sleeves and bare heads in the raw humid dawning of a March Sunday morning, the two adversaries argued till the onlookers, standing around on the snowBankss became bored and wearied by the incessant repetition of childish recrimination, quitted the scene to go home to breakfast. The drizzly atmosphere had a cooling effect on the protagonists who soon sought their homes also.
In McBraire's time horse-racing in winter on the harbor-ice was a favourite sport. The course was from Western Point to Sampson's Rock. Mr. Hartery, McBraire's, book-keeper was usually the winner. He was the champion so often that he was nicknamed "Chiffeney"-from the famous English jockey of that period.
There were times when provisions ran short, and the spectre of starvation was staring people in the face. The winter following the failure of Munn & Carroll was a gloomy one. Munn's vessels had taken away the summer's catch and no provisions had come back in return. No flour was obtainable in King's Cove that winter and one was lucky to get Indian meal. In our own day of plenty one looks back with sadness to these old days when five or six men had to tramp eighteen miles to Trinity for a barrel of yellow corn meal, and haul it through snow-Bankss with ropes over their shoulders. It was a pioneer's life,-stern, hard and reletent less. It is presumed that there was some good flour in these days, but we in the outports saw none of it. The most of the flour was yellow and bitter; accidentally one may happen to get a barrd that was palatable. The necessity of testing the flour before buying was acknowledged by the manufacturers; for they provided a small wooden stopper or "tester" about an inch and a half in diameter in the head of every barrel. It was an interesting sight to see crowds of fishermen getting their winter's supply of flour, each smoothing out a spoonful of flour on the palm of his hand with his pocket knife and testing it frequently. If the flour did not satisfy the intending purchaser, he replaced the "trier" and began to test another barrel.
On one occasion the ice remained in late in the Spring and provisions ran short especially in Broad Cove. The Broad Cove men heard there were some provisions in Catalina. They marched to Catalina in a body,-a distance of twenty-five miles-and asked the owner to give them some provisions till they would catch fish to repay him. He refused. The men then took a large boom and broke in the door. Every man took a half bag of hard bread on his back and walked back to Broad Cove, covering a distance of fifty miles in the one day. The Government later compensated the storekeeper for the goods taken.
Broad Cove-three miles from King's Cove-was in the early days inhabited solely by Irishmen. It was a picturesque sight to see them riding on horseback to Mass at King's Cove on Sunday mornings. Arriving at King's Cove, they threw their bridles over the chapel fence palings and greeted the King's Cove Irishmen with many a "Cead Mille Failtha"-a hundred thousand welcomes. The Wexford men spoke in English; but the Cork and Kerry men used Irish
Whilst the fisheries were good, times were prosperous. But towards the "sixties" symptoms of widespread depression began to show themselves. The old-time seal fishery had gone out and the cod fishery was gradually failing. Population was increasing, and the economic resources of the country were not developing proportionally. Bad times were looming ahead; something had to be done. In the Legislative Session of 1860 Governor Bannerman urged the Government "that no pains be spared to give encouragement to the development of Agriculture in order to prevent as far as possible the labouring classes resorting to pauper relief."
From this time on, the people were exhorted to go in for land cultivation and take in arable land wherever available. The slogan in King's Cove and other near-by settlements was "You can't starve on potatoes and herring."
Meanwhile, the Government, fearful of the continuation of these lean years of meal and molasses, sent a delegation to Ottawa to discuss with the Canadian Government the question of confederating with the Dominion. The Newfoundland people however, rejected the idea in the 1869 election as noted elsewhere.
The effect of the depressed times was that the young men were getting restless. One by one they were leaving for Boston and British Columbia where better opportunities awaited them. The young women began to follow their example and the once thriving village of King's Cove became only a shadow of its former self. The old King's Cove is gone; the best we can do is to give a picture of it in its balmy days.
Like most other settlements in Newfoundland. King's Cove has had its tragedies. The earliest recorded was the loss of the sealing schooner "John" with all hands,-a crew of forty-two. She was never heard from; how and where she went down remains a mystery.
An event which cast a gloom for many years over King's Cove was the loss of the schooner "Edward" in 1876. She was owned by Michael Murphy and Sons and had the following crew: Michael McGrath (father of the late Bernard McGrath); his son Jim; Jimmy Flynn (father of the late M. T. Flynn of Marystown); his son Dan; William Doyle (father of the late Capt. Tom Doyle) and a boy named Skeffington. The schooner left St. John's on the afternoon of December 16th, 1876 with a load of provisions for King's Cove and has never been heard from since.
In April 1869 John and Richard Kennifick and John Sullivan of Broad Cove were drowned at St. Croix near Keels, and the following day Larry Walsh was drowned at Knight's Cove Point. All of them were on the ice seal-hunting and went down through the broken ice.
An event which cast a gloom over the village was the drowning of Richard Handcock of Knight's Cove on the 15th of August (Lady Day) 1877. It is customary for parishioners to donate their catch of fish on the 15th of August (the Feast of the Assumption) to the Church. Handcock and Billy Ricketts were in the same boat and were returning with a good catch when a sudden squall overturned the boat and Handcock was drowned; Ricketts kept himself afloat till he was rescued by his brother who was not far off at the time of the accident. Father Veitch felt the tragedy keenly and on the following Sunday referred to it in regretful terms.
In the Fall of 1829 the "Agnes" was chartered at St. John's to load fish at King's Cove for a foreign market. Thomas McGrath who was at St. John's at the time, was engaged as pilot to take her to King's Cove. Between Western Point and Southern Head something gave out aloft and the mainsail had to be lowered. It was near nightfall and before repairs could be effected, night came on bringing with it a blinding snow storm and a north-west hurricane which lasted several days. The vessel never reached King's Cove. During the winter a vessel reached Trinity and reported having encountered the "Agnes" in mid-ocean with her spars cut away and no crew on board. There was no further news of her till the following May when Thomas McGrath arrived in King's Cove. He then told the story of his adventure. As they were nearing King's Cove, the north-west gale drove them outside the Grand Bankss. The ballast shifted and the "Agnes" was thrown on her beam ends. The spars were cut away and she righted. The ballast was replaced but she began to leak badly, and for 17 days they laboured night and day to keep her free. At the end of that time they sighted a vessel from Miramichi lumber-laden and bound for Liverpool, England. The shipwrecked crew were taken on board this vessel and landed at Liverpool. McGrath went to Waterford, Ireland in which port he was fortunate in finding a vessel ready to sail for King's Cove.
The following year-1830-Thomas McGrath commanded the sealer "John" at the icefields and a crew of nineteen. The "John" never returned. It is presumed that she went down in the heavy storm which occurred on April 15th of that Spring. Her loss was a terrible tragedy for a small hamlet like King's Cove. Long into the sunny days of May and even June the anxious eyes of distraught wives scanned the horizon from Western Point for a glimpse of the overdue sealer; but in vain. No doubt some of them hoped that a passing ship may have picked up the missing crew; but even that hope died out when with the superstitious credulity of these early days they listened to old Mrs. Barrett of 'Longshore' tell how she saw the crew of the "John" one night walk down the harbor in single file and disappear in the sea below her house. And Thomas McGrath who had left the green hills of Clonmel to fight the battle of Life, found his resting place in the turbulent waters of the North Atlantic.
Another marine tragedy connected with the history of King's Cove was the loss of the "King's Cove" in the early part of the 19th century. She left King's Cove with a cargo of fish in drums for Brazil. She never reached her destination. It was reported at one time that she had been captured by pirates and the crew murdered; but there was never any confirmation of this report.
An event which brought sorrow to the Murphy family was the tragic death of Bernard Murphy on a beautiful January Sunday morning in 1872. There was no priest in King's Cove at this time, and the chapel bell was ringing for the reciting of the Rosary by the school teacher, when the news spread that Bernard Murphy's house was on fire. A large crowd soon collected and buckets of water rushed along; but the building soon became a mass of flame. An attempt was made to pull down the house by putting a rope around it; but this proved ineffectual. Meanwhile anxiety as to the safety of the owner became general; for he was nowhere to be seen. It was known that he had gone on the attic with a bucket of water but whether he came down seemed to be uncertain. This uncertainty was however allayed for a time by a rumour that he had been seen running up the harbor in his shirt sleeves shortly after the alarm of fire was given. All doubt was set at rest a few hours later when his charred body was found in the burning debris. He was a brother of Pat Murphy for many years postmaster at King's Cove.
Tragedy seemed to dog the steps of Bernard Murphy's widow. She was Miss Elizabeth Gould, daughter of Michael Gould of Carbonear. She had been married previously to Arthur Thomey of Harbour Grace. Her first sorrow came to her when after a few brief months of married life, she had to hear the news of her husband's death by drowning at the ice-fields. The following summer, she happened to become acquainted with Mrs. Murphy-"Big Allie"-who invited her to spend the summer at King's Cove. There she met and married Bernard. After the latter's death she removed to Harbor Grace. Her daughter, Alice, died of consumption and her two grandchildren, Ron and Tom McGrath met untimely deaths-the former being killed in the Great War and the latter, who was a marine engineer, fell in the hold of his ship and was killed. Her third husband, John Thomey of the Harbor Grace Customs died suddenly on the Custom House steps not withstanding all her troubles she lived to the good round age of eighty-three years.
Her name deserves to be recorded in the annals of King's Cove. She was the leader of the first Catholic choir established by Father Veitch. In these early days, hymn books had not yet reached King's Cove, and the choir leader found it difficult to obtain music for the few hymns that were found necessary for the church services. The difficulty was surmounted by adopting well-known airs such as the "Meeting of the Waters", "Tara's Hall" and others to the hymns.
There are certain spots in and around King's Cove that will always fill a part of the King Covian exiles' dreams. Though nothing big or momentous happened at these spots, the thoughts and feelings that centered around them in boyhood will hallow them for ever in their memories. What King's Covian will ever forget Sampson's Rock? It was the village "Swimmin' Hole". To the young King's Covian in his untravelled days it seemed of immense breadth and depth. Today there seems to be scarcely enough of water in it to wash one's feet. But we can recall with what a thrill of pleasure and even heroism we ventured for the first time to dive off the "Rock" and swim across to the opposite Banks, a distance of seven or eight feet.
And who will forget "Gully Pond"? During the summer holidays we went there at least once a day. It was a mile or so outside the village. Those who had mastered the difficulties of Sampson's Rock had to be initiated into the hazards of Gully Pond. There was a small boulder about thirty feet from the shore. You passed your second degree in swimming when you could swim to that rock without faltering. You were given your third degree when you showed courage enough to dive off the lower rail of a stage head. You received your unwritten diploma when with a swaggering nonchalance you stepped on the top rail and buried yourself in the sparkling water below.
The "Oak Gulch" held a mystery for the boys of King's Cove into a cleft in the cliff at the water's edge had been driven a piece of oak scantling twenty-five or thirty feet long. It fitted the cleft so snugly that it was inconceivable how it had been driven there It had evidently been there for generations and a few superstitious tales grew up around it. Recently Austin Lawton braved the superstitious fears connected with the stick, crawled into the cleft and with chisel and saw removed the piece of scantling bit by bit.
The Pond-a small lake separating the north side of King's Cove from the south side-at times, especially at night-adds to the picturesqueness of the village by its various changes of mood. These changes are described by the local poetess-Miss Bertille Tobin in another chapter.
Sarah Brien's Hill will always be the landmark for which the homecomer will eagerly scan the horizon. It is an irregular plateau overlooking the village and sheltering it from the south-west gales. Before the fire of 1892 it was a beautiful hill thickly clothed to the summit with spruce, birch and fir. To-day, its granitic sides are bare of vegetation.
But still the exiled Kingscovian's pulses beat fast when he catches the first glimpse of Sarah Brien's Hill which looms up as the harbor is approached. For it has sheltered King's Cove from the south-west storms during the ages. And no wonder some sympathetic local poet has adapted the following lines to its memory:
"Oh Sarah Brien, loved Sarah Brien, how oft I dream of thee;
And of the days when by your side I wondered young and free;
Full many a land I've seen since then
Through Pleasure's flowery maze;
But never could find the bliss again
I felt in those sweet days."
An interesting event was the annual haul of wood for the priest and parson. On the appointed days, gangs of men started off to the woods-some with axes and others with dog-slides. All day long the woods resounded with the jingle of axes, the barking of dogs and the shouting of youngsters who had seized the opportunity to make a gala day of it. Several loads were brought out during the day. This hard days work of tramping and hauling through the woods was done in no niggardly or bargaining manner; for the day was to end up in an outburst of music and jubilation, as befitted the occasion. Was not the clergy man the light of the village-not only spiritually, but to many, a helper in their mundane affairs.
As the last loads came out, the slides were decorated with flags, and all the available violinists were ordered to take their places on the tops of the loads. As the long stream of dogs and horses passed in to the clergyman's backyard, he stood at the gate and greeted with radiant smiles the bustling haulers with oft repeated "Well done my brave fellows, well done."
There are only two religious denominations in King's Cove- the Church of England and the Roman Catholic. From the earliest history of the place, the greatest harmony and co-operation have existed between these two denominations. Both parties have contributed mutually to the erection of their school and church buildings. An example of this liberality of spirit was evidenced when the late Bishop Carfagnini made his first episcopal visit to King's Cove in 1873. Mr. J. C. Sheares-a prominent Church of England business man of the town, erected an arch at his own expense opposite his place of business.
An earlier instance of this friendly feeling is evident from the bantering way in which old William Brown (whose business career we have already noted) and Father Scanlan-the parish priest accosted each other. Here is a sample of their frequent encounter:
William Brown: Ha, you got your pockets full of dues now, I suppose, from the poor people."
Father Scanlan: "Ha, you old rascal, you never sent me the punt you promised me to paint the church."
"Well then" agreed William. "by the livin'man, you'll have it fo-morrow."
"By the livin'man" was his familiar expletive.
Within recent history, King's Cove was threatened by fire three times. On June 16th, 1828, a forest fire broke out on Plate Cove Road-west of the settlement-and fanned by a smart breeze. soon swept down towards "Steady Water" valley about half a mile west of the harbor. As night set in, immense volumes of smoke and fire shrouded the sky, and as the night advanced, a wall of fire illuminated the village. Nobody went to bed that night. All household goods and fishing gear were removed to the water's edge. But about half past one o'clock that night, the wind veered to the South-west, carrying the fire away from Steady Water on to Broad Cove-three miles to the north of King's Cove The houses on the north side of King's Cove barely escaped. The change of wind was so sudden that King's Cove escape seemed miraculous.
The fire struck the houses at Broad Cove and destroyed all of them except one-that of Thomas Carew. By 8 p.m. that evening, everything was in ashes stores, stages and flakes. John Skeffington lost a store full of Bummer fishery supplies. A heavy rain followed the fire next day and the residents were enabled to begin again the rebuilding of their homes.
How the Broad Cove people managed to survive this tragedy, with all their belongings reduced to ashes at the commencement of the fishing season, no one seems to have left a record. But such misfortunes were the constant lot of the early settlers, and we must come to the conclusion that our forefathers were men of grit and indomitable courage.
Since that time, King's Cove has had two narrow escapes from destruction by forest fires. In 1869, a huge fire swept down towards the village from the south-west; but fortunately only reached the outskirts. In 1892-the year of the St John's fire- the village was threatened again. Sarah Brien's hill which had from time immemorial been covered from its summit to its base with spruce and fir, became a prey to the devouring monster, which blackened its granitic sides and it has never since fully recovered its pristine beauty.
Previous to 1871 no photographer had visited King's Cove and there are no extant photographs of the residents who died before that date. In that year a photographer named Campbell spent several months in the village. He had his "dark room" in a corner of the "oilstore" of Michael Murphy & Sons. All his photos were of the "tintype" process. Mr. Campbell afterwards became a clerk in the General Post Office, St. John's. A few years later a Mr. Chisholm from Nova Scotia came to King's Cove and spent some time photographing. His work was of the modern "dryplate" type.
Managed to tweak another shot of the Ruff at Shapwick. Long shot, big crop. Didn't know it as amongst the Godwits otherwise I would have waited in the hope it came nearer. Let's hope a female turns up and he can give us a display.
Managed to get this picture of Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn 82 (aka 187 010) just before a WestFalenBahn rushes through track 1 in Dedensen/Gümmer, on November 28, 2019, 15:19. The train is 95028 (Sachsendorf - Rheine), consisting of Railco Faccns wagons marked BELog-Rail.
These are two shots from sequences I managed to take during Mercury's rare transit. I will be posting some more once I have had time to process the rest of my data. My home observatory was clouded out so I grabbed my portable kit and travelled across the country to Lincolnshire to find clear skies for nearly all the transit, although I lost the last hour to cloud and the low horizon by then. I had some technical diffclties setting up so my first image on the left here was taken at 13:04 BST, 12:04 UT.
The second image really shows how tiny Mercury appears against the Sun's features, with the two bright areas in the lower part of the image and the hint of a filament betweeen them, all dwarfing Mercury in comparison.
Peter
Equipment used:
Basler Ace mono CCD, Quark Chromosphere, 70mm refractor, iOptron mount for cameras and small scopes.
Managed to get out today for a few hours after a late start. I had a bit of a duck fest. I prefer woodland birds, but I thought I would try and make the most of the ducks on the lagoons. I like the reeds reflected on the water as much as the birds. This is one of my favourite native ducks.
I've never managed to take a usable shot of an ant before,until now! I've always been fascinated by these little creatures. I marvel at how well their society is structured (It is better organized than ours I feel!)
Ants
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 140 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants.
More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified.
They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.
Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals.
Larger colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups.
Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" (aner) and one or more fertile females called "queens" (gynes).
The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.
Ants have colonized almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in most ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass.[11] Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their social organization and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships.
Ant societies have a division of labor, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems.
These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study. Many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication, and rituals. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents.
Their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings.
Some species, such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis Invicta), are regarded as invasive species, establishing themselves in areas where they have been introduced accidentally.
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Managed to hunt down a full set of vol. 5 of this SW vehicle collection. As this collection has the most ones I like :) X-Wing and the Millennium Falcon is my favorite so I decided to add some detailing and weathering myself. I'm just starting to learn this stuff so I hope the result is not too bad...
When I realized this is the Red Leader and not the Red Five that Luke piloted, I thought about customizing it to be a Red Five, but then I found the toy is too small and fragile it'd be very difficult to add the stripes and in fact Red Five has a few other places that are different, it'd be too much work so I had to give up... :P
I managed to pull off this unique paint job when attempting to paint it gold but the spraypaint was running low & this is the result. I love the effect.
I may have many mocs already given the Metallix treatment via Folkart Metallic hand paint and Testors spraypaint. Krylon too. And now having tried Tamiya. My mocs look better then new with a fresh new coat of premium quality paint. Sprays on thin and smooth with an excellent crystal shine for an Ultimate Upgrade.
Lets have some crossover fun, lets say a normally infected/rusted kanohi is a low level hollow or slightly higher depending on the wearer and the master that created them and the corrupted kanohi is Espada rank.
the one responsible for contaminating a sacred kanohi was Miserex himself. his own Toa & species of Kraata that strongly resemble its master, taking on the physical form of a dragon. stronger, faster, smarter and more deadly than Makuta's breed of kraata
This month, I managed to get into Collabor88 and it was worth the trying!
SL name: huntressmoon Darkmatter
Hair: Tableau Vivant \\ Twist hair - Fades at Collabor88
Glasses: Intrigue Co. - Jewel Be in My Heart Shades: Purple at Collabor88
Top: Vinyl - Thea TOP Pak HOLOGRAPHIC at Collabor88
Accessories
Necklace: **RE** Rebel Vampire Ankh Necklace by Real Evil Industries
I really love the rings from Real Evil and it has been in my current favourite daily wear for a few weeks now. Plus it has been apart of my avatar look! Keep on inspiring Real Evil designer.
Rings: **RE** Dark Queen Rings - TMP - Maitreya - Belleza by Real Evil Industries
Managed to get out on my local patch this morning after my recent op...got a pic of this kestrel with its prey.
I finally managed to identify this caterpillar that usually only shows up accidentally in my photos of the wingstem flower, and that I have been looking for on purpose ever since it started to bloom. Generally it is tended by an ant, as here. I gently brushed the ant off with a blade of grass to get some photos of just the caterpillar--hopefully that wasn't a bad thing to do. It is pretty well camouflaged, and the ant didn't go far and had plenty of chance to return.
We managed to check cherry blossoms out in Roihuvuori but they were already gone so we decided to go anemone woods in Laajasalo island. Trip with Janne Parviainen: www.flickr.com/photos/jannepaint/. Laajasalo, Helsinki.
Designer unknown (佚名)
1960, April
Managing
Guan (菅)
Call nr.: BG D82/297 (IISH collection)
More? See: chineseposters.net
Managed to catch this at Mare Street/Hackney Central station, looks like a Holloway Stowaway(or more) has been borrowed for the route as other MCV EvoSetis are either still being delayed or limited number vehicles are set for the route, I dunno but we'll see, won't we...
Route 30
Metroline London
VWH2093
Wright Gemini 3 MK1
LK15 CWP
Picture Taken with Samsung S7 Edge
I managed to string together a few minutes without rain, more or less aligned the cameras, and shot some comparative video of four thermal cameras.
This comparison is flawed for all sorts of reasons I'll explain as I go along, but it does give some rough idea of the comparative video.
Top left is a Argus 2 fireman's camera, which I think is based on a Raytheon core. Resolution is 320 x 240 and I believe the frame rate is 15Hz.
Top right is a MSA Evolution 4000 fireman's camera, again 320 x 240 but this time 30Hz and I think it's a VOX core. There is some kind of issue with drift, which is why the pictures flicker.
Bottom left is an eVet camera with a 320 x 240 BST core at 15Hz. Surprisingly, it actually has pretty much the best performance of the 320 x 240 cameras, although it looks like there was a DC problem with the video link to the Quad. I suspect it wasn't seeing a proper 50Ω load but I wasn't able to hook up an outboard load to test this. The key to the eVet is that it has a big f/0.8 lens - great for sensitivity, but poor for depth of focus. I'm not sure I got the focus right here.
The Therm-App camera, bottom right, was set up slightly differently. The basic imager is 384 x 288 and I have the 8.7Hz version. It was connected to a Nexus 10 tablet, whose HDMI video output was converted to NTSC, which was then connected to the Quad. Because the tablet outputs 16:9 video that isn't compensated for by the HDMI-to-analogue converter, the picture is squished. I used a 13mm f/1 lens. The standards conversion was generally quite unkind to the Therm-App, but it doesn't surprise me that it came out like that.
All of the cameras were set to their defaults. Only the Therm-App had a noticeable automatic gain control action, with the picture levels altering significantly when the hot engine exhaust manifold is in view.
The video outputs of the cameras were fed into a quad processor and then recorded on a laptop via an EasyCap USB dongle. The de-interlace artefacts are quite obvious on moving items, causing raggedy edges.
I found the results interesting. The side by side comparison certainly does show just how terrible an 8.7Hz frame rate looks, even in comparison to 15Hz.
What does anyone else think? (Apart from the fact that I shouldn't try becoming a film director anytime soon).
Seagahan is a brown trout stocked fishery, located between the City of Armagh and Markethill. ... Armagh Fisheries Ltd manages this fishery for the Department of Agriculture
Managed to finish the decals off today but was low daylight when took the pics so appologies for the "grainy-ness" of them. I may try to take some more to replace these in better light, but not sure when I'll get chance.
Hopefully these are good enough to give the general impression of the model, though they really dont do it justice.
Happy enough to call it finished now, just need to paint...er, brass chrome the whistle ;)
Wanted to try a "fez" for the pressure dome, but managed to somehow lose the only one I had, so this'll do for now.
Looks lovely running, will try and get some video of it in action at some point, but spare time is very limited at the mo due to work.
Managed to see and photographed this skittish bird a little nearer this time as I was shooting handheld with the new lightweight Nikon Z7 with IBIS coupled with the 200-500mm. Previously, had I bought the tripod along, by the time I set up my gears, this bird would have long flown off.
Managed to capture him in one of his more peaceful moods
his mate had an injured foot and he was very protective toward her.
February 8, 2019
Orlando, Florida
Day two in Florida was spent at Universal Studios, from open to close. As a huge Harry Potter nerd, I've wanted to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park ever since it was originally announced as in development. Today, I finally got to check it off of the bucket list and pretend to be a wizard.
We had butterbeer, ate at the Leaky Cauldron, rode both of the Harry Potter rides, explored Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and took the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 & 3/4. It was magical. The level of detail that Universal put into creating an immersive environment is pretty astounding. I now want to reread the books.
In addition to Harry Potter world, we rode the Incredible Hulk roller coaster (perhaps my favorite roller coaster I've ever been on), the original ET ride, a cool King Kong ride, drank a Duff beer at Moe's Tavern, explored the Jurassic Park world, and rode a roller coaster that had a literally straight up incline. Somehow we managed to fit in everything that I had wanted to do at Universal & Island of Adventure in just one day.
It was an exhausting, but very fun day. Julia's Fitbit counted 16,000 steps taken (and much more time on our feet that was not counted standing in lines, ha).
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets Alberto Fernández, the President of Argentina
IMF Photo/Kim Haughton
19 September 2022
New York, New York, United States
Photo ref: KH220919058.jpg
Somehow I managed to spot this young man and young lady as Vivienne and I were walking back to our hotel. I could feel the picture, I knew I just had to wait for it to happen (and get it in focus through the crowd). I didn't have to wait very long. Summer 2017; I suspect the green plywood hording is now gone and the wall is a shopfront again.
www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/
Fujifilm X-Pro1
XF18mmF2 R
ƒ/3.2 18.0 mm 1/125 800
Puisque je vous l'dis, quand on y est, elle est bonne !
Auto-portrait appareil tenu a bout de bras hors de l'eau (yes this really is a self-portrait and yes, I managed to keep the camera out of the water ;) ).
Managed to get out for an hour before work yesterday to make some use of the sunny weather as was treated to this close fly by.
Charing Cross,[5] also known as London Charing Cross,[6] is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail[7] and all regular trains serving it are operated by Southeastern. It is the fifth busiest rail terminal in London.[8] The office and shopping complex above the station is formally known as Embankment Place.
The station takes its name from its location next to the central London road junction of Charing Cross. The front of the station faces the Strand, while at the other end is the northern end of Hungerford Bridge, which is crossed by all trains serving the station. Ticket barriers control access to all platforms, although the bridge entrance has no barriers it is only open to passengers during the morning peak hours. Therefore, there are regular ticket inspections carried out on the bridge.
Charing Cross is the London terminus of the South Eastern Main Line. All regular services are operated by Southeastern which provides the majority of commuter/regional services to South East London and Kent.
The original station building was built on the site of the Hungerford Market by the South Eastern Railway and opened on 11 January 1864. The station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, with a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. It is built on a brick arched viaduct, the level of the rails above the ground varying from 13 feet (4.0 m) at the north-east end to 27 feet (8.2 m) at the bridge abutment at the south-east end. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, opened on 15 May 1865 and gave the station an ornate frontage in the French Renaissance style.
Contemporary with the Charing Cross Hotel was a replica of the Eleanor Cross in Red Mansfield stone, also designed by Edward Middleton Barry, that was erected in the station forecourt. It was based on the original 13th-century Whitehall Cross that had been demolished in 1647. Distances in London are officially measured from the original site of the cross, now the statue of Charles I facing Whitehall, and not from this replica cross.
The condition of the cross deteriorated until it was in such a vulnerable condition that it was placed on the English Heritage At Risk Register in 2008. A ten-month project to repair and restore the cross was completed in August 2010. This work included recreating and attaching almost 100 missing ornamental features including heraldic shields, an angel, pinnacles, crockets and finials; securing weak or fractured masonry with stainless steel pins and rods and re-attaching decorative items which had previously been removed after becoming loose.
A 77-foot (23 m) length of the elegant original roof structure, comprising the two end bays at the south of the station, and part of the western wall collapsed at 3:45 pm on 5 December 1905. A gang of men were employed at the time in repairing, glazing and painting the section of roof which fell. Shortly after 3:30 pm, the roof emitted a loud noise, which was when someone noticed that one of the main tie rods had broken and was hanging down. Part of the roof began to sag and the western wall began to crack.
It was another 12 minutes before the collapse occurred, which enabled trains and platforms to be evacuated and incoming trains to be held back. The roof, girders and debris fell across four passenger trains standing in platforms 3, 4, 5 and 6, blocking all tracks were. The part of the western wall that fell had crashed through the wall and roof of the neighbouring Royal Avenue Theatre (now the Playhouse Theatre) in Northumberland Avenue, which was being reconstructed at the time. Six people died (two workmen on the roof, a W.H. Smith bookstall vendor and three workmen on the Royal Avenue Theatre site).[10]
At the Board Of Trade Inquiry into the accident expert, witnesses expressed doubts about the design of the roof, even though the cause of the failure was attributed to a faulty weld in a tie rod. Consequently, the South Eastern and Chatham Railway decided not to repair the roof but to replace it. An enormous travelling timber gantry had to be constructed to take the remainder of the station roof down safely. The replacement was a utilitarian post and girder structure supporting a ridge and furrow roof. The curve of the original roof design can still be seen on the interior brickwork. The station was re-opened on 19 March 1906.
Following bomb damage in the Second World War, the hotel received extensive repairs in 1951, ten years after being bombed. In general, this consisted of a whole new set of top floors. The elaborate Mansard roof of the upper floors of the hotel was rebuilt in a plain neo-Georgian white brick.
In 1990 most of the area over the British Rail platforms was covered by Embankment Place, a post-modern office and shopping complex designed by Terry Farrell and Partners. This development led to the replacement of almost the whole of the 1906 roof. The rear two spans of this structure – immediately adjacent to the existing concourse roof – were retained as part of an enlarged waiting area. In addition the original retaining side walls of the station which once supported it remain in near complete condition.[11] Most of the Embankment Place complex is currently occupied by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In April 2014, the station held a celebration to mark the station's 150th anniversary which included a Kentish farmers market, staff in period costume, a guided walking tour and the unveiling of the new waiting room mural, produced by a local school.
I managed to find this one in my stash for FDT.
life is v hectic - hope it calms down soon so i can play properly and catch up on some projects!
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass participate in The Way Forward: Responding to Global Shocks in a Time of Uncertainty at the World Bank.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
19 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH220419051.arw
Managing the seed swap for the Reading Food Growing Network. This is what arrived in the post this morning for the seed swap.
Managed to get my own shot of this famous, picturesque hotel in the Swiss Alps in between all the sports cars and bike and cyclists with only the absolute minimum of Photoshop.
It really took a while before this model was done. Actually I wanted to present it at LEGO World 2013 but didn't manage to get it ready. It was shown at LEGO World 2014 in Copenhagen but afterwards I still had to do some minor changes.
Anyhow; the model. In July 2011 I was visiting the UK for my job and I had the opportunity to do some sightseeing. Just before heading for the UK I saw a couple of pictures of NYR's immaculate Kenworth K100E Aerodyne in "B.J. & the Bear: outfit. A couple of months before they imported one for the States and converted it into a heavy recovery vehicle by fitting a Century Rotator 1140. I took a lot of pictures at their yard (and of course I was very please it was there!). Back home I started to find more details about the K100 and Century Rotator and start building a chassis and cab.
I didn't use chrome before and had to start a collection of chrome pieces. I discovered it's rather expensive and I was hesitating whether I should continue the project or not. Mid 2011 I still had the old Scania 141 with Holmes and when I removed the cab of that one and placed the K100 cab onto the chassis I thought it might be better to start with a smaller truck with some chrome parts. And that's how I start building the K100 with Holmes twin boom; www.flickr.com/photos/51102529@N07/sets/72157631712541786/
But I had to continue with the NYR truck. The other K100 did turn out very well and the Aerodyne would be even better (red, white and black are always good to combine). So I continued early 2013. In a meanwhile Brickonwheels started to build his Pete 379 with Century Rotator 1750; www.flickr.com/photos/bricksonwheels/sets/721576345065103...
From a truck photographer I received some very useful pictures of the century rotator, even a few production pictures. He I really could see all details which enabled me to build quite an exact replica. At a heavy recovery show in Belgium in June 2013 I had a closer look to a few examples of Century Rotators which where there.
The model has a full detailed chassis with drive shafts, air suspension, axle stabilizers, etc. etc. When I was building the chassis I recon it would become long, very long. Without the body should say there wouldn't come an end to the chassis … Nice challenge to get it straight without bending. The cab is tilted with an accurate Cummins 6 cylinder in line engine underneath. This one has some chrome touches. The cab interior differs a bit from the old K100; this one is from a later generation, on of the last produced in 2003.
The body work I had to align with the cab (especially with the striping). As I wouldn't change anything to the design of it (it was perfect) I had to modify the body work quite some times. I think I rebuilt it seven of eight times. The body work consist of one center part at the front and two mirrored sections on each side. These are merged to the chassis with traverse beams. On the truck chassis there's a heavy subframe for the crane. I used a classic turn table to attach the crane base. The crane base also was quite a challenge to build; I wanted to have the shapes correctly. While there aren't any blueprints available of the rotator I really had to study all pictures I took. When building the crane I discovered the truck chassis was a bit too short; I disassembled the chassis and stretched it with three studs. It really was a lot of work but otherwise it wouldn't be right.
The boom has three stages and I chose to use panels, brackets and tiles to make these section. In reality there's a little space between the boom and crane base. The outer section is just less than six studs wide, the middle section four studs and inner section a little more than three studs. I was quite expensive to collect all these pieces but I thought it would fit better.
The truck has three winches; two on top of the crane base and one in the body work.
I spent a lot of time on detailing, like the fuel tanks, air compressor, light bar, support legs, storage cabinets etc. etc.
It's my largest solo vehicle so far, apart from the huge Liebherr cranes I built many years ago. In a time span of two and a half years I spent many hours on it. Mostly it really was fun and exciting to build but sometimes quite frustrating. Patience is the magic word!
Managed to capture two rolls of b/w snapshots during a recent family holiday on the South Coast of NSW, Australia.
Olympus Trip 35 with Kodak BW400CN 400 film