In Greenland's frigid high arctic around the settlement of Savissivik, icebergs flow into Baffin Bay. One would be foolish to try to pass through this blue archway as you never know when the iceberg might split or turn.

I thought a bright flower might be in order for Sliders Sunday, especially for those of you who live in northern climates like I do. HSS!

Edited with an impressionism filter and colour adjustments in Topaz Studio.

Thank you for your visits and comments! Have a wonderful day!

©Copyright - Nancy Clark - All Rights Reserved

might not win the race, but it will get you there alive....Winter commuting 101

Here is what's happened.

Lunch with friends, I spot this cat jumping from the far left of the outer wall, grab the camera of a friend and block camera with this frame. After a few secs the furry animal jumps into the frame and i click.

"I might as well be in a garden

I said, ah

A smell in the air is a dripping rose

(You could be the one for me)

Another soul to meet my void then

Of anything bare that's made of gold

A physical kiss is nothing without it

And you close your eyes to see what it's done

The body that lies is built up on looking

Cause all that remains before it's begun"

- Chet Faker, Gold

______

Where to shop ▸ chloedakota.com/2016/09/28/anything-bare-that-is-made-of-...

Might be some not too far away from the Isle of May.

Caithlin might not look as a striped cat, but actually ruddy Somalis are tabby and the stripes are clearly seen in the forehead.

Posted for the "Happy Caturday" theme "Owner's choice".

Dushara Cathal Caithlin (Somali cat), 08.04.2021.

Olympus OMD EM5 Digital Camera

For some, this time of year might be pleasantly warm, even hot. Yet for others, this is probably the coldest time of the year.

When is the Midpoint of Winter? Many people think the midpoint of winter is always Groundhog Day, but it varies. If you check the latest edition of the Farmers' Almanac, you'll see that it's Thursday, February 3, 2022—the exact halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.

This bit of info was taken from the Farmer' Almanac!

I haven't had much time to visit SIMs these past months, one of them being Nelipot, always so beautiful. I'm so glad I had the chance to see it before the snow melted away ; )

Photo Location ~ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Safe%20Haven/18/92/22

Flickr Group ~ www.flickr.com/groups/14758902@N20/

It's so embarrassing

All of the things I need living inside of me

I can't see it

It's so embarrassing

All of the love I seek living inside of me

I can't see, I'm blind

♫

I might take you home with this

I might give you all of it

Come get your dose of the sweetest pie

♫♪♪Tunes ♫♪♪

Puffin on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

It might have been a tranquil sunset to enjoy, but mosquitoes began to swarm us from the marsh. . .so we did not linger to enjoy the fading rays of gold. . .

⛧⛧⛧"You really might know what it's like, to have to lose."⛧⛧⛧

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☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

DON'T DUP "Spotlighted Event Item" By: Cobra Takeda

☠ Glasses - O ... 70's Glasses GACHA (Rare) • EXCLUSIVE @ DON'T DUP

( Available @ Man Cave Event June 17, 2022 - July 11, 2022)

☠ Tattoo - Sphinx Head of the Dead Tattoo @ DON'T DUP

☠ Moth - Death's Head Moth Pet Animesh @ DON'T DUP

>> MAN CAVE EVENT << Tomorrow June 17, 2022

LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Match/162/128/46

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

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Additional Items in Photo UnSpotlighted

☠ Earrings - Neo Gothic Piercings @ SixFeetUnder SFU

☠ Breath - Durch_Breath @ T r a u m e

☠ Eye cut - Metropole Eye cut @ Landgraff

☠ Hair - Jasper Hairbase @ Volkstone

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#macromondays

#highkey

Late in the game again with a photo that is a pure act of desperation. Really. I didn't want to skip "High Key", because it is pretty much out of my comfort zone so I wanted to meet this challenge. But I wasn't sure what to photograph. At the end (which means today) a tiny, shiny miniature crown that once graced a pencil bought at the museum shop of the Deutsches Historisches Museum (I've already used this crown in another photo which you can find in the first comment) and another watch (a Casio which you might have already guessed) came to the rescue. But does this image make any sense? I don't think so. Except maybe for the fact that a tiny crown is reflected in the glass of a digital watch that doesn't have a crown, only pushers. Oh dear ;)

OK, so let's skip my unsuccessful attempt at trying to make sense of an image that doesn't make any sense and get to the technicalities: The glass of this watch is double-coated (on the outside and on the inside). Seen at the right angle (light from above aka sunshine works best) it lets the dial shimmer in lovely pastel rainbow colours. But the glass also works as a mirror. So I simply placed the crown in front of it, illuminated the glass with a single LED light so the rainbow colour coating would work its irresistible iridescent magic on the crown's reflection, and took a single handheld shot. Which had to do, because I was running out of time. The bokeh in the lower right corner is the golden crown itself. Processed in DXO PL6, Color Efex, and Viveza.

HMM, Everyone, and have a nice week ahead!

...City

While Rome is the Eternal City one might call Berlin the eternal building site. Or The Unfinished City. Construction cranes are as prominently featured in Berlin's skyline as sights. And it can happen that, if you haven't visited a place in a longer while ("easy" in pandemic times), you'll find old, familiar buildings gone, while new buildings seem to pop up out of nowhere everywhere. I've taken this image last week after a visit to the Futurium (a "House of the Future", opened in 2019 – I'll post images from there soon); in the foreground you can see the river Spree, and the glass building on the left is Berlin's Central Station, the Hauptbahnhof (HBF). Noteworthy: The HBF's upper platforms aren't fully roofed, because the Deutsche Bahn (DB; the German Railway Company) wanted to open the HBF in time for the 2006 World Football Championship by all means, and it would have taken until 2008 to finish the roof. The irony: All the construction parts needed to finish the roof were already manufactured. To this date these parts are stored on the premises of Berlin's East Station. Will the roof ever be finished? Who knows... The construction site you see in front of the HBF has nothing to do with the HBF's roof. It is that of the new S 21 suburban railway line, which is scheduled for completion in 2022. Allegedly...

At first, I wanted to process this as a monochrome, because the scene is rather busy. But I liked all these colours. So I thought "embrace the chaos, embrace the construction site and all those cranes", and do it in colour ;) The final image is an HDR made from three images (in HDR Efex), with further processing / sliding steps in Color Efex.

Happy Sliders Sunday, Everyone, stay safe and healthy, and take care!

Die Unvollendete

Rom ist ja bekanntlich die Ewige Stadt. Und Berlin könnte man getrost als die Ewige Baustelle bezeichnen. Oder auch als Die Unvollendete. Baukräne gehören zur Berliner Skyline wie seine Sehenswürdigkeiten. Gerade in Pandemiezeiten, wenn man manche Orte schon lange nicht mehr besucht hat, kann es dann auch passieren, dass alte, vertraute Gebäude plötzlich verschwunden sind, während allerorten Neues entsteht. Dieses Foto des Hauptbahnhofs mit einem Seitenarm der Spree im Vordergrund habe ich vergangene Woche nach einem Besuch des Futuriums (2019 eröffnet, Fotos von dort zeige ich demnächst) gemacht. Die Baustelle am Europaplatz, die Ihr hier seht, bedeutet allerdings nicht, dass die Deutsche Bahn nun doch das Dach für die oberen Bahnsteige des Hauptbahnhofs verlängern würde. Die dafür nötigen Bauteile, längst fertiggestellt, lagern weiterhin (hoffentlich gut verstaut) am Berliner Ostbahnhof. Diese Baustelle gehört zur neuen S-Bahnlinie S21, für die ein unterirdischer Bahnsteig gebaut wird. Geplante Fertigstellung: 2022. Warten wir's ab.

Ich wollte das Foto erst als SW / getöntes Monochrom bearbeiten, weil hier ja ganz schön viel los ist. SW sah mir aber zu trüb aus, weshalb ich bei Farbe geblieben bin. Das Foto habe ich in HDR Efex aus einer 3er-Belichtungsreihe erstellt und für Sliders Sunday in Color Efex noch den einen oder anderen Filter (ich weiß wirklich nicht mehr, welche Filter genau) angewendet.

Habt einen guten Wochenstart und passt weiterhin gut auf Euch auf!

#InternationalWomensDay

#March8

Not a ladybird which might have been a slightly more appropriate "supermodel" for International Women's Day because of its name, but an equally pretty Cryptocephalus bipunctatus. The whole supermodel thing is a relic of the past anyway, but unfortunately, we still haven't freed ourselves from questionable beauty "ideals" that often come across as beauty dictates. Social media and "influencers" don't make it any easier, especially not for the younger generation that is exposed (and exposes itself) to what one might call the "daily dose of beauty brainwash", recently taken to the next level with the all-new "beauty filters".

In Berlin (and in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of Germany's Northern federal states), March 8 is an official holiday, but not (yet?) in the other 14 of our 16 federal states. So this Wednesday – where all shops, schools, etc. are closed (and the weather is too ghastly to go outside – winter made a snowy-wet, cold reappearance) – feels like a very quiet, lazy Sunday, and I have too much time for writing rants instead of simply letting you enjoy this adorable, brightly orange beetle, a member of the so-called "Fallkäfer" (Cryptocephalinae) subfamily of the leaf beetle family. The name "Fallkäfer" (a beetle that falls or drops) derives from their distinctive habit of dropping abruptly when disturbed. This image also is a true oldie, I've taken it back in June 2017 at the beautiful public park Britzer Garten. The focus is ever so slightly off and more on the plant than on the beetle itself, but I think it's still sharp enough in general.

Wishing all of my female Flickr friends a Happy International Women's Day!

Hello my amazing Flickr friends !

Today is an orange day at Color my World Daily and the theme at Crazy Tuesday is « single ». So you will understand that Mr. Teddy Bear couldn’t be with us this week since he isn’t single anymore… However, Mr. Teddy Bear has a very good friend who happens to be single: Mr. Dino. That is why he is the hero of today’s picture. Mr. Dino is truly a nice guy but some of his personal characteristics make it very difficult, for him, to find love. First of all, Mr. Dino has a very, very high voice. People constantly call him « madame » while on the phone. He has very short arms which makes difficult to pick stuff from the floor… Also, being blue isn’t appropriate for all the decors… And you surely don’t want to repaint your house at the very beginning of a relationship. Also, he has a very scary looking shadow, which might scare a few potential candidats. All those details are the reasons for Mr. Dino being single. But who knows, maybe after today’s picture he will find love…

Mucho, mucho amor for you all !!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments / favs/ general support / happy thoughts!! Stay safe and well!!

COVID numbers are continuing to rise around the world. So many people are in lockdown and not able to get out, many have been sick and have had loved ones die, and so many, including me, who haven't been able to hug their families since the beginning of this pandemic. And we have no idea when the end is in sight, or if things will ever get back to "normal."

When I saw this little vine wrapped around a post in a nearby garden, I thought of how much all of us need a hug right about now. So I'm sending out a virtual hug to all of you.

Here's a song from one of my favourite bands, Walk of the Earth, that I think might give you a smile:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCb4yRPYpiI

Ah the goldrims, when raising these beauties you never know how long you might have them in protective custody. My past experience with them has been that they take their time eating, they are very messy and they will emerge on their own time.

I have had them eclose (hatch) anywhere between fourteen days to ten months after pupation. When they stick around they take up a lot of space. Therefore, I chose not to raise any last season. Instead, I ended up releasing the hold over's from the season before.

Reluctantly, this season I have decided to give them a boost. So, I brought in several clusters of eggs when I saw them on the vine. The eggs have hatched and the caterpillars are munching away in protective custody. Now, if they will only eclose within a couple of weeks instead of several months, I shall be a happy gardener.

Have a terrific Thursday and happy snapping.

DIANA KRALL - THIS DREAM OF YOU

This Dream of You

Bob Dylan

There's a moment when

All old things become new again

But that moment might have come and gone

All I have and all I know

Is this dream of you which keeps me living on

#sliderssunday

Explored 23 May, 2021

You might wonder about the title. Well, what you see in the photo is the river Spree taking one of its many bends across Berlin, and this particular area that you can see on the opposite river bank is also called "Spree-Bogen", "Spree bend". This area used to be the home of the Meierei C. Bolle (dairy farm C. Bolle) that was founded in 1879 during one of Berlins particularly strong periods of growth. The two glass towers belong to an U-shaped building ensemble that was the (rented!) seat of our Federal Ministry of the Interior from 1999 - 2015.

This is one of the images that needed time to "develop". I've tried several different processing approaches over the past months, and I was never really happy with any of the results, because I always found the sky too blue, the image too bright, the clouds not nice enough... I once even replaced the sky in Luminar, but didn't like that, either. So back to the original sky, and just the other day, when I gave it another go, I finally stumbled upon the solution. In a first new version I had processed the image in HDR Efex, kind of liked it, but still found the image too bright. Just for fun, and for comparison purposes, I decided to also process the image in Aurora HDR, tried a few of my favourite presets that I use as starting point in Aurora, and... Bingo! In the "Dramatic" preset collection, there's a preset called "Sleepy Drama" which desaturates the blue tones and adds a darker look to any image – and that did it, at least for me. I still tweaked the preset's settings to my liking, and, in Color Efex, added some Brilliance and Warmth. I hope you like the image :)

Happy Sliders Sunday, stay safe and healthy, and take care!

Bolle reiste jüngst zu Pfingsten...

Blick auf das Spree-Bogen-Areal, gelegen an einem von sehr vielen Spreebögen durch Berlin. Auf diesem Areal wurde 1879, während einer besonders starken Wachstumsphase Berlins, die Meierei C. Bolle erbaut, deren Gründer Carl Bolle allerdings nichts mit dem bekannten (und so lustig wie hintergründig makabren) Bolle-Lied zu tun hat, dessen gesamten Text (bitte alle Strophen lesen, es lohnt sich) Ihr hier finden könnt: STRG/CTRL+ de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolle_reiste_jüngst_zu_Pfingsten. Es passt nur gerade so schön zu Pfingsten ;)

Die beiden Glastürme sind Teil des U-förmig gestalteten Spree-Bogen-Gebäudes, das von 1999 bis 2015 das Bundesministerium des Innern beherbergte (zur Miete!). Diese Bild hat sprichwörtlich Zeit zum Entwickeln gebraucht, ich habe über die Monate immer mal wieder diverse Ansätze ausprobiert, aber es hatte bislang nie richtig "Klick" gemacht, immer war mir der Himmel zu blau, das Bild zu hell, die Wolken nicht schön genug... Einmal habe ich sogar in Luminar den Himmel ausgetauscht, was mir aber auch nicht gefallen hat und sowieso nur eine Notlösung sein sollte, weshalb ich schlussendlich doch beim Original-Himmel geblieben bin.

Kürzlich habe ich dann noch einmal einen Anlauf in HDR Efex gestartet, was mir schon recht gut gefiel, mir aber immer noch zu hell war. Nur aus Spaß und auch zum direkten Vergleich habe ich mich dann noch durch meine Lieblings-Presets in Aurora HDR geklickt. Meistens nehme ich in Aurora eines der "Dramatic"- oder "Artistic"-Presets als Ausgangspunkt für die weitere Bearbeitung. Hier war es das "Sleepy Drama", das – endlich – den Knoten löste. Für den "sleepy" Look werden die Blautöne entsättigt und für das "Drama" wird die Tonwertkurve in Richtung Tiefen korrigiert. Ich habe dann noch eigene Anpassungen vorgenommen und abschließend in Color Efex etwas "Brilliance and Warmth" hinzugefügt. Mit dem Ergebnis bin ich recht zufrieden, zufrieden genug jdf., um es Euch zu zeigen. Ich hoffe, das Bild gefällt Euch auch :)

Ich wünsche Euch schöne Pfingsten, passt weiter gut auf Euch auf und bleibt gesund!

House wrens are heading south now after nesting here in the summertime. It is rare to see any house wrens remaining here after October 1st. This one might end up somewhere in south Texas for the winter.

It might not be the most exciting image but I like it. It's not something I would typically find. It's not really fog but really low clouds. I waited for the thick layer to drift over and compressed it with my 70-200mm lens with a diopter (Canon 500D).

Picture might be available without watermark for free, just DM.

⮚ Website ⮘ | 500px | most faved | ⮚ the best ⮘

After 5 weeks, I am back at the park with my beloved squirrels. I'm not sure who this is. It might be P. Diddy :D (Squirrels-2021-6180.jpg)

… incidentally that might also be the name of my autobiography, if I ever write one. (I won‘t!)

My attempt at the "Looking Close... on Friday" theme "Sunny Yellow".

Shot with a Konica "Hexanon EL 90 mm F 5.6" (enlarging) lens on a Canon EOS R5.

Thought this might make a good Valentine's Day card when the time comes.

A mixture of photo editing used - I couldn't reproduce this if I wanted. I must thank Kerstin Frank for her texture. Thank you Kerstin !

Photo - my own.

Thank you, Bob Seger, for the inspiration for my title.

They might be going where there are no snapping turtles. The one in the lead has already had a good part of its tail bitten off. Another possibility is that it lost its tail to a raccoon or an otter, a family of which I've watched in this wetland.

Thank you again for helping me, Liv. I had a blast. ♥♥

Details ♥

It's been a sad weekend for so many reasons. A last volunteering session for some time, new lockdown rules meaning my chances of seeing my daughters and Granddaughters have disappeared this christmas, no deal on Brexit, and just to cap it all off a new strain of Covid, and bans on transport to the Eu and consequent implications. It's amazing in a year how this tiny virus has wreaked havoc around the world. It will obviously keep evolving, so I suppose was to be expected. We Might As Well Be Strangers is quite appropriate and is by Keane.

More snow has arrived up North and more is forecast for here, so I might as well post more snow pictures. This one from the beginning of January.

I was about to leave this spot when the lamp came on, so I had to take picture.

One might think that the beaches and such stalls as indicated on the sign would be empty because of the pandemic. This is deceptive...the island is still full of people and it is difficult to keep the necessary distance. Unless you find beach sections like this one.

Man könnte denken, die Strände und solche Buden, wie sie auf dem Hinweisschild angezeigt werden, wären leer wegen der Pandemie. Das täuscht...die Insel ist immer noch voller Menschen und es fällt schwer den nötigen Abstand zu wahren. Ausser man findet solche Strandabschnitte wie diese hier.

Sunshine on my forelegs makes me happy.

🎶🎶🎶

remember how it used to be

when the sun would fill up the sky

remember how we used to feel

those days would never end

those days would never end

remember how it used to be

when the stars would fill the sky

remember how we used to dream

those nights would never end

those nights would never end

it was the sweetness of your skin

it was the hope of all we might have been

that fills me with the hope to wish

impossible things

but now the sun shines cold

and all the sky is grey

the stars are dimmed by clouds and tears

and all i wish

is gone away

all i wish

is gone away

all i wish

is gone away

*many thanks to my dear friend Tre Meldazis, that allowed me to work in this peaceful and gorgeous SIM to take the pic :)

**pose made by me... :))

at La Vie in Second Life

You might say this male American goldfinch is going for the gold as his bright yellow feathers begin to grow in for the approaching breeding season. Right now he's about halfway to the finish line!

A friend of mine from Montana is arriving here in the Driftless region tomorrow to do some fly fishing for trout, and I'll be out on the streams with him and then visiting during the down time so I don't plan to be back on Flickr until early next week. Since 99.99% of fly fishers head to Montana to trout fish on their time off, this Iowa trip is a really sweet switch.

might start with their shirt sleeves ;-)

Garth Henrichs

HPPT!!

rose, 'Dream Come True', little theater rose garden, Raleigh, north carolina

Surely, one might think this lonely place,

a frozen wasteland filled with silent echoes.

The myth quietly concluded from illusion of surface.

One simply need only peer inside the texture of ice.

Within crevices and cracks, a strange inner world of life

slowly breathing, beating, swimming and swirling.

For seeds of dissent spring loudly within the frozen shore.

Continuing the "Nature on Ice" series. Having late night fun with more experimentation inspired by the effects of ice, colored light and perhaps my recent efforts into oil painting.

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Thanks for the favs and kind compliments. They are much appreciated!

Before the Thunderstorm

I thought the Pelicans might have left during the cold front but they are still here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Someone might like this little commercial done in our town.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EywHgVgtG4

My stats are not the same any more. Numbers way off from where they used to be. I wish flickr would tell us when they are going to change stuff.

Happy Slider Sunday

might as well snap a photo. Had to take off my gloves and capture the scene I was seeing while I was down. Always thinking "photos" LOL

I was asked by someone yesterday if I really had gone bike riding, so I just thought I'd show you a picture my daughter took of me after one of my falls along the trail through the marshmallow field. I'm not sure how many marshmallows I crushed here but I also took out a small tree.

a pic of my daughter April in first comment box below

One might wax eloquent on the migratory powers of our Hoverfly! It has been found flying over the Ocean more than 200 km from the coast. But even more interesting is a discovery made in 2015 in Spain by Antonio Robledo, head of research&development of Biobest Sistemas Biológicos. Researching pest control on paprika in greenhouses, he found that Eupeodes corollae is an excellent natural assistant to farmers. Its larvae feed on the aphids that terrorise those pepper plants. And besides the adult Hoverfly is an excellent pollinator for the flowers that will yield the peppery fruits. A dual purpose insect and eco-friendly, too. In 2019 Robledo's discovery began to be implemented on an industrial scale.

In the photo Eupeodes is not 'working' - perhaps on migratory holiday from Spain - but indulging on Oxalis articulata, Pink Sorrel, in the Amsterdam Hortus.

Ƈяєɗιтѕ Hєяє ♥

Might as well take a landscape on the way lol

I love the area of the store, Pushin' Daisies, and when I went to pick up their new shape, I had to do this picture there, so cute!

shape - my own

mesh head - Lelutka - Avalon 3.1

makeup, mushrooms and lipstick - Soliac - Mushroom *new in mainstore

hair - Moon - Felt Emo Might Delete

top - Valentine - Tuesday

pose - Sapa Poses - # 176 (plus the pose of holding the mushrooms)

Picture might be available without watermark for free, just DM.

⮚ Website ⮘ | 500px | most faved | ⮚ the best ⮘

Bodnant House, one week ago...before the weather turned more towards Winter...as it certainly has today.

Glad I don't have to go out today...my wig might blow off...not a cool look for a Milk Tray Man.