“Life, like fishing, is about patience, persistence, and learning to shake off the setbacks.”

Calçada Da Barra Inclined, also known as the Great Wall, is located in the south-west streets of Macau from the start to the Ma Kok Street, Ma Temple to date, belong to the wind along the parish.

History

Barra Inclined is the former "Christchurch" part of the block, Guanying near the former residence in Macau Mandarin's House,Guanying is a famous modern Chinese writers and thinkers, known as the "Golden Age threats I," a book,Guanying then repeated setbacks due to official business, spent physically and mentally, it is relegated to Macau, and devote themselves to this book as "Prime threats I," a book, then he left Shanghai Macau want to switch to focus on education, died in 1922.

Mandarin's House in the 1950s has sub-let, the title has changed hands several times, has abandoned a time, inside some of the artifacts also become targets of thieves, followed by the Macao SAR government in 2001 successfully received the Mandarin's House of Industry right renovated for protection.

媽閣斜巷（Calçada da Barra），又稱萬里長城，是位於澳門西南面的一條街道，由媽閣街起始至媽閣廟前地為止，屬於風順堂區。

歷史

媽閣斜巷屬於昔日的「基督城」街區的其中一部分，附近有鄭觀應於澳門的故居鄭家大屋，鄭觀應是中國近代著名的文學家及思想家，著名作有《盛世危言》一書，當年鄭觀應因公務屢遭挫折，身心俱疲，故退居澳門，並潛心於此地著成《盛世危言》一書，後來他離開澳門轉赴上海專注教育事業，於1922年逝世。鄭家大屋於1950年代曾分租，業權曾多次易手，亦曾荒廢一時，屋內的一些文物亦成為賊人的目標，其後澳門特區政府則於2001年成功接收了鄭家大屋的業權，重新整修以作保護。

另外正位於媽閣斜巷的尚有港務局大樓，此一大樓建成於1874年，亦被稱為「嚤囉兵營」或「水師廠」，原為澳門印度籍警察的營地，後來改作港務局和澳門水警稽查隊的辦公地點。建築風格屬於歐洲式與阿拉伯式建築的融合，既有典型的葡式建築風格，亦有如穆斯林式的穹頂建築。現時港務局的辦公地點已遷往林茂塘的海港樓，但港務局大樓以及鄭家大屋則被納入澳門歷史城區的一部分而成為世界文化遺產之一。

現時的媽閣斜巷並不算相當繁華的街道，街道四周多為住宅，但亦有一些遊客慕名而來於港務局大樓拍照留念。

- Leo Buscaglia.

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One of the biggest advantages of being a consultant by profession is the small breaks you get while you are in between projects. Only this time we had some personal setbacks and I had to be out of country for nearly a month. So when I was back we had a week before my new project started and decided to head to northern California for a quick road trip.

One of the places I really wanted to visit Mossbrae falls near Dunsmuir, CA. It's one of the difficult hikes to do as the path is an active railway track and they will give out a ticket if they catch you parked near the tracks you most certainly will get a ticket. So we had to park pretty far away and did the hike in the early morning to get to the waterfall. This was one of the prettiest waterfalls I have ever been to. And the sheer size of it and the noise the river makes was pretty impressive. Hope you all like this pano shot I made of the entire waterfall. Thanks again for visiting.

Explore 14 August 2020

Sailing north of Viña del Mar Zaandam passed the condo development adjacent to La Punta de Concón sand dune field. The start of the sand dunes is on the photo left.

Condo development here has not occurred without a lot of opposition regarding incursion into the dunes.

The Punta de Concón sand dune field is on the coastal road connecting the development to Viña del Mar.

The dunes are on a marine terrace 30 meters above sea level, whose geological origin dates from the Quaternary period, when wind erosion shaped the rocky surface of the shoreline depositing sand below the rugged cliffs.

In 1993 the La Punta de Concón dune field was declared a Chilean Nature Sanctuary for constituting a landscape unit of great scenic, tourist and scientific value.

The following year, the protected area was reduced to 45 hectares allowing development of real estate projects in part of the dune field.

In 2006 thanks to the initiative of the community, 21.8 hectares were incorporated into the protected area.

13 August 2020 from Elmostrador, Santiago:

The Supreme Court dealt a new setback to the building in Campo Dunar de la Punta de Concón that despite being a Nature Sanctuary, continues to be threatened by the construction of real estate projects.

The Supreme Court declared, illegal the works being carried out by the company Sociedad Urbanizadora Reñaca Concón SA, (Reconsa) in the sand dune field of Concón.

The court ordered the projects must enter the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) and process an Environmental Impact Study.

The ruling confirms the company is in breach of current environmental legislation.

Central Maine & Quebec's Job #1 is seen here pulling uphill through Bodfish, ME on an excellent late March morning. Everything started perfectly for this chase, a big train, lots of power, left early for good shooting on the Moosehead... however as the story would soon unfold an unforeseen setback would delay the train nearly 5 hours as a trailing car of wallboard took a little tumble off the tracks up around Greenville. No injuries, minimal risk to anyone or anything and the railroad was on top of it the moment it happened -- handled very professionally. As is life, unfortunate events occur that sometimes just can't be controlled.

> Credits Here <

Thank you everybody for your support!!! Kiss ♥

Video Song ♪♫

And here is one more Steam Sunday bonus for today sticking with the theme of my recent trip to Texas to chase this beauty 500 miles to the Mexican border.

One thing I really wanted to accomplish was capturing a sense of place to illustrate how far from home this steam engine had traveled and the entirely new and unique territory she was traversing for the first time. The shot at Tower 87 and Englewood certainly offered a nice bit of that as did the shots further east in Beaumont and Liberty but my major goal was something in the heart of Houston, America's fourth largest city. Thanks to Chris Parma who graciously provided me with pins and let me follow him I scored by far THE best light of the trip and captured some of the unmistakable Houston skyline as a backdrop.

Here again is CPKC train B40B, the Final Spike special operating over CPKC's ex Kansas City Southern territory on Union Pacific trackage rights. They are seen here west of downtown as they approach the TC Jester Blvd. crossing at MP 365 on modern day UP's Houston Subdivision, the former Sourhern Pacific (T&NO) Sunset Route mainline.

Dominating the background about three miles to the east are some of Houston's tallest buildings. On the left is the #1 tallest in the city, the JPMorgan Chase Tower. Built in 1982 it is 1002 ft tall and the tallest in Texas, the 21st tallest in the US and interestingly the tallest five-sided building in the world. The shimmering green building to the right is #2, the 992 ft Wells Fargo Bank Plaza built in 1983. Also dating from 1983 and ranked #4 immediately above the locomotive is the 780 ft TC Energy Center with its three segmented tower setbacks, each with a steeply pitched gabled roofline that is topped off with spires. The last building of note, the boxy light colored one is One Shell Plaza. At 714 ft it was the tallest when built in 1970 but now ranks down at #12 in the city's impressive skyline.

Houston, Texas

Saturday May 25, 2024

A person, who values the beauty of nature and ambient the world is far richer and happier than those, who not notices this.

Thank you to everyone who stopped to watch, leave a comment, award, an invitation to the group! :)

Thanks to those who gave just smile and admiration and those who remained

dissatisfied! :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr3qQLzrqSs

SOURCE

If you suffered a setback,

If unable to dispel melancholy,

Then autumn soft and autumn a quiet

Go out quickly to my source.

Russia has left us.!

Song by hieromonk Roman performs Jeanne Bichevskaya.

Unfortunately I can't show this photo on the world map, I don't know what they did on Flickr again, sorry, these aren't improvements, just another setback! But maybe I'm just too stupid for that, I'm happy to be corrected!!!

======================================================

Leider kann ich dieses Foto nicht auf der Weltkarte anzeigen, ich weiß nicht, was die da wieder auf Flickr gemacht haben, tut mir leid, das sind keine Verbesserungen, nur ein weiterer Rückschlag! Aber vielleicht bin ich auch einfach zu blöd dafür, ich lasse mich gern korrigieren!!!

In a few days my youngest daughter goes off to college and the next phase begins for me. Like a river that don't know where it's going (with acknowledgement to Bruce for the lyrics), parenthood is a ride with many unforeseen twists and turns, and it leaves you cold, wet, gasping for air and simultaneously wanting it to stop and wanting it to go on forever. Like the river, I don't think it ever really does stop, it just changes. I'm here for the changes, and any time you kids need an extra paddler or someone to bail (just metaphorically I hope), I'll be there.

Life's been a bit rocky these last 6 months, so I've been noticeably absent from Flickr. Nothing too serious, and I've everything to be grateful for, and no hard setbacks I can blame. Just sometimes the water gets rough and there's nothing for it but to put your head down and paddle like hell. Though I've tried to catch up here and there, my apologies to all my old Flickr friends whose great posts I've missed.

But this here is no river, 'tis the North Atlantic Ocean, the coast of Nova Scotia to be specific. After driving 1200 miles and dropping my oldest daughter off in Halifax NS to finish up her last year of College (we hope!), I got up early in the morning to visit the fantastic rocky beach at Lawrencetown Beach Provincial Park not far east of Halifax. It was one of those days where I gave myself what I thought was a decent buffer before sunrise and then the sky started blowing up almost 40 minutes before actual sunrise, I thought for sure I'd miss it. Thankfully it was one of those delightful sunrises that just keep on going, shifting from dark orange to pinks and yellows. Didn't have much time to scout so I just set the tripod down by the nicest collection of rocks I could find near the entrance and started shooting, being mindful not to get swamped by an errant wave. Escaped with only minor soaker and the equipment still dry, so a successful outing.

This was the first landscape shooting I'd done in several months and now hopefully my inertia is broken and I can hit up Flickr more regularly.

Edit: anyone who's followed me for a while knows that Nova Scotia is one of my favorite places on earth, in no small part because the people are wonderful (mostly) and very friendly. But the Maritimes approach to the pandemic was to try to keep out non-residents as much as possible, using heavy restrictions to prevent the import of Covid cases from outside. This lead to this wonderful bit by the comedy show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes":

youtu.be/K2IWafjn9p0

Thankfully no one told me to Frig Off this time around. Hopefully things are able to return to their normal welcoming ways in the near future.

HFF!

"Life is not about chasing perfection or adhering strictly to a set plan. It's not about reaching a final destination or ticking off a list of achievements.

Instead, life is about embracing the journey, finding meaning in the small moments, and growing through experiences.

It's about learning from setbacks, celebrating successes, and understanding that the path is often as valuable as the destination." - Balt Rodriguez

.

Beaucoup de neige déjà est tombée

des jours de Noël au Nouvel Année

les gens doivent alléger le poids

de la neige sur les toits des maisons.

La neige toujours tombe en flocons.

Ne laissez pas les petits soucis,

les petits revers ou

les petites frustrations

s'accumuler sur le toit de votre tête.

Petit à petit, ça pèse beaucoup !

Soyez attentif, soyez sage, mes amies.

Bonne Année à tous !

Votre ami

: ]

Ivan

------------------------------------------------------

The snow always falls in flakes.

A lot of snow has already fallen

from Christmas days to New Years,

people have to lighten the weight

of the snow on the roofs of the houses.

The snow always falls in flakes.

Don't let little worries,

little setbacks, or

little frustrations

pile up on the roof of your head.

Little by little, it weighs a lot !

Be careful, be wise, my friends.

Happy New Year to you !

Your friend

: ]

Ivan

Easter and a temporary setback with snow. Gettlinge gravfält, Ironage graveyard, Öland, Sweden.

When you start living the life of your dreams, there will always be obstacles, doubters, mistakes and setbacks along the way. But with hard work, perseverance and self-belief there is no limit to what you can achieve.

The Light in the Heart

Miss Potter

Book / Magic Art Photography / Facebook / Instagram

Bahnhofsfest 2024 in Raeren!!

eisenbahnfreunde-grenzland.de/bahnhofsfest-2024-raeren/

eisenbahnfreunde-grenzland.de

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Unfortunately I can't show this photo on the world map, I don't know what they did on Flickr again, sorry, these aren't improvements, just another setback! But maybe I'm just too stupid for that, I'm happy to be corrected!!!

======================================================

Leider kann ich dieses Foto nicht auf der Weltkarte anzeigen, ich weiß nicht, was die da wieder auf Flickr gemacht haben, tut mir leid, das sind keine Verbesserungen, nur ein weiterer Rückschlag! Aber vielleicht bin ich auch einfach zu blöd dafür, ich lasse mich gern korrigieren!!!

Excerpt from www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Picton-Main-S...:

Heritage Attributes of the Character Areas

Main Street West

• Its role as the western gateway to Main Street and the Down- town Core.

• The predominance of 19th century residential buildings, in particular on the north side of the street, many of which have been adapted to accommodate commercial uses.

• The 2 to 2½ storey heights of the buildings.

• The varied and deeper setbacks of the buildings and larger lots, than are found elsewhere on Main Street.

• The remaining mature trees, grassed verges and front yards, creating a softer character in selected areas.

• The cenotaph and surrounding parkette.

Downtown Core:

• The consistent street wall created by the 2 and 3-storey commercial blocks.

• The punctuation of the street wall by landmark buildings, including the Regent Theatre, the Carnegie Library, the Armoury, the Royal Hotel and the North American Hotel.

• The “civic centre” created by the Armoury, the Carnegie Library and former Post Office building, and the community activities and functions that they accommodate.

• The pedestrian connections and views to adjacent streets and residential neighbourhoods created by the mid-block laneways.

• The visual coherence created by the consistent (2 and 3 storey) height, massing, parapets, roof forms, regular pattern of fenestration, materials (most commonly brick), detailing and setbacks of the buildings.

• The pattern of ground-floor storefronts.

• The quality of the pedestrian realm created by the intimate scale, sense of enclosure and street amenities.

"I want to surround myself with people who teach me, challenge me, and push me to be my best self."--Action Photog member

A few days ago, I received a heart-warming email with the above quote from one of our Action Photogs. When we met her, she had been stuck at a low point of her life for quite a few years. Multiple personal setbacks took a toll on her physical health as she gained significant weight that limited her mobility. She became more withdrawn from her community and started suffering depression. By word of mouth, she joined our Winter Horse Ranch adventure under the big skies of Montana. The rejuvenative energy of nature and inspiration from the Action Photog community gave her a renewed sense of purpose. She completely reset her life and is in a much healthier place a year later. She is enjoying life again and is working towards her best self!

Everyday, I feel privileged to work with wonderful folks in our Action Photog community. What an honor it is to have been part of this transformation.

It's heart month so this is dedicated to my very good friend Tina, we share the same heart issue called MVP, or mitral valve prolapse which is common in women. It is a heart problem in which the valve that separates the upper and lower chambers of the left side of the heart does not close properly. She recently had a setback with hers and spent some time in the hospital and I wanted to wish her all the best. LYLAS my friend!

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

Canna (or Canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of approximately twenty species of flowering plants.[1][2] The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc

Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. Such a family has almost universally been recognized by taxonomists. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.

The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered, brash, bright and sometimes gaudy, garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant

Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they can enjoy about 6 hours average sunlight during the summer. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.

The name Canna originates from the Celtic word for a cane or reed

he plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock. The broad, flat, alternate leaves, that are such a feature of this plant, grow out of a stem in a long narrow roll and then unfurl. The leaves are typically solid green but some cultivars have glaucose, brownish, maroon, or even variegated leaves

The flowers are composed of three sepals and three petals that are seldom noticed by people, they are small and hidden under extravagant stamens. What appear to be petals are the highly modified stamens or staminodes. The staminodes number (1–) 3 (–4) (with at least one staminodal member called the labellum, always being present. A specialized staminode, the stamen, bears pollen from a half-anther. A somewhat narrower, 'petal' is the pistil which is connected down to a three-chambered ovary

The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles (thyrses). Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds and bats. The pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialized. Pollen is shed on the style while still in the bud, and in the species and early hybrids some is also found on the stigma because of the high position of the anther, which means that they are self-pollinating. Later cultivars have a lower anther, and rely on pollinators alighting on the labellum and touching first the terminal stigma, and then the pollen

The wild species often grow to 2-3+ meters but there is a wide variation in size among cultivated plants; numerous cultivars have been selected for smaller stature.

Canna grow from swollen underground stems, correctly known as rhizomes, which store starch, and this is the main attraction of the plant to agriculture, having the largest starch particles of all plant life.[3]

Canna is the only member of the Liliopsida Class (monocot family) in which hibernation of seed is known to occur, due to its hard, impenetrable seed covering.

The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southern United States (southern South Carolina west to southern Texas) and south to northern Argentina

Although all cannas are native to the New World, they have followed mankind's journeys of discovery and some species are cultivated and naturalized in most tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Canna cultivars are grown in most countries, even those with territory above the Arctic Circle, which have short summers but long days, and the rapid growth rate of Cannas makes them a feasible gardening plant, as long as they get their 6 hours of sunlight each day during the growing season and are protected from the cold of winter.

The first Cannas introduced to Europe were C. indica L., which was imported from the East Indies, though the species originated from the Americas. Charles de l'Ecluse, who first described and sketched C. indica indicates this origin, and states that it was given the name of indica, not because the plant is from India, in Asia, but because this species was originally transported from America: "Quia ex America primum delata sit"; and at that time, one described the tropical areas of that part of the globe as the Western Indies;[8] English speakers still call them the West Indies.

Much later, in 1658, Pison made reference[9] to another species which he documented under the vulgar or common name of 'Albara' and 'Pacivira', which resided, he said, in the shaded and damp places, between the tropics; this species is Canna angustifolia L., (later reclassified as C. glauca L. by taxonomists).[1]

Without exception, all Canna species that have been introduced into Europe can be traced back to the Americas, and it can be asserted with confidence that Canna is solely an American genus. If Asia and Africa provided some of the early introductions, they were only varieties resulting from C. indica and C. glauca cultivars that have been grown for a long time in India and Africa, with both species imported from Central and South America. Canna is an American genus, as pointed out by Lamarck were he argues that "Cannas were unknown to the ancients, and that it is only after the discovery of the New World, that they made their appearance in Europe; Since Canna have very hard and durable seed coverings, it is likely that seed remains would have survived in the right conditions and found by archaeologists in the Old World. If the soils of India or Africa had produced some of them, they would have been imported before the 1860s into European gardens.

* Some species and many cultivars are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes, they are also grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental cultivars have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, tropical plantings, and as a patio or decking plant.

* Internationally, cannas are one of the most popular garden plants and a large horticultural industry depends on the plant.

* The canna rhizome is rich in starch, and it has many uses in agriculture. All of the plant has commercial value, rhizomes for starch (consumption by humans and livestock), stems and foliage for animal fodder, young shoots as a vegetable and young seeds as an addition to tortillas.

* The seeds are used as beads in jewelry.

* The seeds are used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.

* In remoter regions of India, cannas are fermented to produce alcohol.

* The plant yields a fibre - from the stem - it is used as a jute substitute.

* A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making paper. The leaves are harvested in late summer after the plant has flowered, they are scraped to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking. The fibres are cooked for 24 hours with lye and then beaten in a blender. They make a light tan brown paper.

* A purple dye is obtained from the seed.

* Smoke from the burning leaves is said to be insecticidal.

* Cannas are used to extract many undesirable pollutants in a wetland environment as they have a high tolerance to contaminants.

Wild Canna species are the Cannas unaffected by mankind. There are approximately 20 known species, and in the last three decades of the 20th century, Canna species have been categorised by two different taxonomists, Paul Maas, from the Netherlands and Nobuyuki Tanaka from Japan. Both reduced the number of species from the 50-100 that had been accepted previously, and assigned most to being synonyms.

The reduction in numbers is also confirmed by work done by Kress and Prince at the Smithsonian Institution, however, this only covers a subset of the species range.

Cannas became very popular in Victorian times as a garden plant and were grown widely in France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

As tender perennials in northern climates, they suffered severe setbacks when two world wars sent the young gardening staff off to war. It took many years for the frugalities of war and its rationing subsequences to change to the more prosperous times of the late 20th century. We have recently experienced a renewed interest and revival in popularity of the Canna genus.

There were once many hundreds of cultivars but many of these are now extinct. In 1910, Árpäd Mühle, from Hungary, published his Canna book , written in higher German. It contained descriptions of over 500 cultivars.

In recent years many new cultivars have been created, but the genus suffers severely from having many synonyms for many popular ones. Most of the synonyms were created by old varieties re-surfacing without viable names, with the increase in popularity from the 1960s onwards. Research has accumulated over 2,800 Canna cultivar names, however, many of these are simply synonyms.

See List of Canna hybridists for details of the people and firms that created the current Canna legacy we all enjoy.

In the early 1900s, Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey defined, in detail, two garden species (C. x generalis and C. x orchiodes) to categorise the floriferous Cannas being grown at that time, namely the Crozy hybrids and the ‘orchid-like’ hybrids introduced by Carl Ludwig Sprenger in Italy and Luther Burbank in the USA, at about the same time (1894) The definition was based on the genotype, rather than the phenotype, of the two cultivar groups. Inevitably, over time those two floriferous groups were interbred, the distinctions became blurred and overlapped, and the Bailey species names became redundant Pseudo-species names are now deprecated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants which, instead, provides Cultivar Groups for categorising cultivars

The Canna Agriculture Group contains all of the varieties of Canna grown in agriculture. Canna achira is a generic term used in South America to describe the cannas that have been selectively bred for agricultural purposes, normally derived from C. discolor. It is grown especially for its edible rootstock from which starch is obtained, but the leaves and young seed are also edible, and achira was once a staple foodcrop in Peru and Ecuador

Many more traditional varieties exist world-wide, they have all involved human selection and so are classified as agricultural cultivars. Traditionally, Canna 'edulis' has been reputed to be the variety grown for food in South America, but there is no scientific evidence to substantiate the name. It is probable that edulis is simply a synonym of C. discolor, which is grown for agricultural purposes throughout Asia.

Cannas grow best in full sun with moderate water in well-drained rich or sandy soil. Cannas grow from perennial rhizomes but are frequently grown as annuals in temperate zones for an exotic or tropical look in the garden.[2]

The rhizomes are marginally cold hardy but may rot if left unprotected in freezing conditions. In areas which go below about −10 °C in the winter, the rhizomes can be dug up before freezing and stored in a protected area (above +7 °C) for replanting in the spring. Otherwise, it is recommended that Cannas are protected by a thick layer of mulch overwinter.

Cannas are largely free of pests but in the USA plants sometimes fall victim to the Canna Leaf Roller and the resultant leaf damage can be most distressing to a keen gardener.

Slugs and snails are fond of Cannas and can leave large holes in the leaves, preferring the tender young leaves that have not yet unfurled. Red Spider Mite can also be a problem for Cannas grown indoors or during a very hot, long summer outdoors. The Japanese Beetles will also ravage the leaves if left uncontrolled.

Canna are remarkably free of disease, compared to many genus. However, they may fall victim to canna rust, a fungus resulting in orange spots on the plant's leaves, caused by over moist soil. Cannas are also susceptible to certain plant viruses, some of which are Canna specific viruses, which may result in spotted or streaked leaves, in a mild form, but can finally result in stunted growth and twisted and distorted blooms and foliage.

The flowers are sometimes affected by a grey, fuzzy mold called Botrytis. Under humid conditions it is often found growing on the older flowers. Treatment is to simply remove the old flowers, so the mould does not spread to the new flowers.

Seeds are produced from sexual reproduction, involving the transfer of pollen from the stamen of the pollen parent onto the stigma of the seed parent. In the case of Canna, the same plant can usually play the roles of both pollen and seed parents, technically referred to as a hermaphrodite. However, the cultivars of the Italian Group and triploids are almost always seed sterile, and their pollen has a low fertility level. Mutations are almost always totally sterile.

The species are capable of self-pollination, but most cultivars require an outside pollinator. All cannas produce nectar and therefore attract nectar consuming insects, bats and hummingbirds that act as the transfer agent, spreading pollen between stamens and stigmas, on the same or different inflorescence.

Since genetic recombination has occurred a cultivar grown from seed will have different characteristics to its parent(s) and thus should never be given a parent’s name. The wild species have evolved in the absence of other Canna genes and are deemed to be ‘true to type’ when the parents are of the same species. In the latter case there is still a degree of variance, producing various varieties or minor forms (forma). In particular, the species C. indica is an aggregate species, having many different and extreme varieties and forma ranging from the giant to miniature, from large foliage to small foliage, both green and dark foliage and many different coloured blooms, red, orange, pink, and yellow and combinations of those colours.

Outside of a laboratory, the only asexual propagation method that is effective is rhizome division. This is done by using material from a single parent, and as there is no exchange of genetic material such vegetative propagation methods almost always produce plants that are identical to the parent. After a summer’s growth the horticultural Canna can be separated into typically four or five separate smaller rhizomes, each with a growing nodal point (‘growing eye’). Without the growing point, which is composed of meristem material, the rhizome will not grow.

Micropropagation, or tissue culture as it is also known, is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a large number of progeny plants. Micropropagation using in vitro (in glass) methods that produce plants by taking small sections of plants and moving them into a sterile environment were they first produce proliferations that are then separated from each other and then rooted or allowed to grow new stem tissue. The process of plant growth is regulated by different ratios of plant growth regulators or PGRs, that promote cell growth. Many commercial organizations have attempted to produce Canna this way, and specifically the “Island Series” of Cannas was introduced by means of mass produced plants using this technique. However, Cannas have a reputation of being difficult micropropagation specimens.

Note Micropropagation techniques can be employed on specimens infected with Canna virus and used to dis-infest plants of the virus, it is possible to use a growing shoot tip as the explant, the growing tip is induced into rapid growth, which results in rapid cell division that has not had time to be infected with the virus. The rapidly growing region of meristem cells producing the shoot tip is cut off and placed in vitro, with a very high probability of being uncontaminated by virus, since it has not yet had contact with the sap of the plant which moves the virus within the plant. In this way, healthy stock can be reclaimed from virus contaminated plants.

The structure is just across the street from my agency's office at 231 W 29th in Manhattan'Garment District. The structure was built in 1925 and designed by brother architects George (1870-1928) and Edward (1867-1944) Blum who have designed some of the city's most elegant and creative buildings.Both,born in Paris France,studiesd at the École des Beaux Arts.

Jökulsárlón ice beach, Iceland

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

Wochenende auf der Baustelle

=========================

Unfortunately I can't show this photo on the world map, I don't know what they did on Flickr again, sorry, these aren't improvements, just another setback! But maybe I'm just too stupid for that, I'm happy to be corrected!!!

======================================================

Leider kann ich dieses Foto nicht auf der Weltkarte anzeigen, ich weiß nicht, was die da wieder auf Flickr gemacht haben, tut mir leid, das sind keine Verbesserungen, nur ein weiterer Rückschlag! Aber vielleicht bin ich auch einfach zu blöd dafür, ich lasse mich gern korrigieren!!!

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

With the threat of riots looming if president Trump loses,there was a strong police presence outside of one of Trump's buildings,Trump Tower,on 5th Avenue in New York City yesterday.

Enville

South Staffordshire

The park and garden at Enville Hall retain the imprint of over 700 years of human activity and the grounds are listed as a Grade II* landscape on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. The Hall and some of the buildings within the grounds are also listed.

Enville is the home of the Grey family who originated in Leicestershire and built Bradgate Park, once the home of Lady Jane Grey. A minor branch of the family moved to Staffordshire in the late 15th century and acquired through marriage the manor of Enville. Thomas Grey built a new red brick house with turrets and crow-stepped gables beside a deer park in the 1530s. The Leicestershire branch survived in spite of the setback when a large number of the family were executed in the early part of 16th century. In 1620 the 2nd Baron Grey of Groby married Anne Cecil, the youngest daughter and co-heir of William Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter. Through his wife, Henry inherited the castle, borough and manor of Stamford and in 1628 was created Earl of Stamford. The title was at first held by the Bradgate branch until the death of the 2nd Earl when it descended to his cousin Harry who lived at Enville. His son, also Harry, who became the 4th Earl decided to make Enville his main home. The Bradgate house was bricked up and the park there kept for hunting and game

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_Kwun:

Tai Kwun, or the Former Central Police Station Compound (CPS Compound) includes three declared monuments in Central, Hong Kong: the former Central Police Station, the Former Central Magistracy, and the Victoria Prison. Surrounded by Hollywood Road, Arbuthnot Road, Chancery Lane, and Old Bailey Street, the compound underwent a heritage revitalisation and reopened to the public on 29 May 2018[1] as Tai Kwun (Chinese: 大館), a centre for heritage and arts.

The Former Central Police Station Compound (FCPSC), built between 1841 and 1925, comprises 16 historic buildings grouped under the former Central Police Station, the Former Central Magistracy, and the Victoria Prison. Most of the city's historic colonial architecture had been bulldozed for development before the British government handed it back to China in 1997.

The first building in the FCPSC is the Magistrate's House, with jail blocks, which were built in 1841. In 1899, the former Central Prison was renamed to Victoria Prison (or Victoria Gaol). The site underwent numerous expansions and reconstruction over the next century. In 1862, the number of prisoners increased to 650, and the government decided to develop the land nearby. The series of compounds hence formed Tai Kwun. Victoria Prison was decommissioned in 2006.

In 2008, the government of Hong Kong partnered with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to conserve and revitalise the complex, which turned into one of the most significant and expensive revitalisation projects in the territory, costing HK$1.8 billion; work began in 2011.

The conversion was completed in phases. Work faced a setback when a wall and roof collapsed in 2016. The Buildings Department prosecuted a subcontractor it deemed responsible for the accident, which was reportedly triggered by the failure of a brick pier that had been structurally undermined. Tai Kwun partially reopened to the public in May 2018.

A Former Central Police Station (CPS) Revitalisation Project was established to conserve and revitalise the heritage site for reuse. The project was operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and took eight years and HK$3.8 billion or about US$480M in 2018.

Tai Kwun, named after the historical colloquial name of the compound, is a mix of heritage and contemporary architecture. 16 heritage buildings have been restored for reuse. An additional two new buildings have been constructed, featuring designs inspired by the site's historic brickwork.

As early as the 1880s, the name Tai Kwun has been recorded in news articles in reference to the Former Central Police Station.

In 2018, Time listed Tai Kwun in its "World's Greatest Places 2018" list.

In 2019, Tai Kwun was awarded "Award of Excellence" from the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

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Grab this tattoo by Addicted to Ink @ Twe12ve Event until Sept. 30th. maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Brewery/79/200/21

We can't avoid all the pain and heartaches...but these setbacks have a larger purpose. They make you stronger. They make you--YOU! xoxo

Le marché central de la ville de Valence, en Espagne, est un édifice conçu en 1914 par les architectes barcelonais Alexandre Soler i March et Francesc Guàrdia i Vial, tous deux formés à l'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona et collaborateurs de Lluís Domènech i Montaner (notamment concepteur du palais de la musique catalane), qui est caractérisé par un style propre dans les lignes du Art Nouveau valencienne.

Le projet du marché central prétendait concilier l'usage des grandes structures de fer dépouillées caractéristiques de l’Art nouveau. Après quelques inconvenues et modifications apportées au projet initial, les travaux furent terminés en janvier 1928 sous la direction d'Enric Viedma i Vidal

D'une surface de plus de 8 000 mètres carrés, il est riche d'allusions décoratives relatives aux produits des potagers, vergers et jardins de Valence. Sa structure, constituée de colonnes de fer rappelant la Tour Eiffel, de faïence et de vitraux, en fait une attraction architecturale à ne pas manquer.

Cette agora de la gastronomie valencienne compte plus de 1 200 stands dans lesquels se distinguent les fruits et légumes frais, avec comme protagonistes l'orange, la tomate et les haricots, puis les viandes, fromages, poissons et fruits de mer.

The Central Market (Valencian: mercat central; Castilian: mercado central) in the city of Valencia, Spain, is a building designed in 1914 by Barcelona architects Alexandre Soler i March and Francesc Guàrdia i Vial, both trained in 'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona and collaborators of Lluís Domènech i Montaner (especially designer of the Palace of Catalan Music), which is characterized by its own style in the lines of Valencian Art Nouveau.

The central market project claimed to reconcile the use of the large, bare iron structures characteristic of Art Nouveau. After some setbacks and modifications to the initial project, the work was completed in January 1928 under the direction of Enric Viedma i Vidal

With a surface area of ​​more than 8,000 square meters, it is rich in decorative allusions relating to products from the vegetable gardens, orchards and gardens of Valencia. Its structure, made up of iron columns reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, earthenware and stained glass, makes it an architectural attraction not to be missed.

This agora of Valencian gastronomy has more than 1,200 stalls in which fresh fruit and vegetables stand out, with orange, tomato and beans as protagonists, then meat, cheese, fish and seafood.

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

The beautifully lit gold roof of the Cass Gilbert Designed New York Life Insurance headquarters located on 51 Madison Avenue, just northeast of Madison Square Park actually were completely replaced back in 1994 to celebrate the 150 anniversary of the New York Life after 66 years since its opening. The company today known as New York Life insurance started out as Nautilus Insurance Company in Lower Manhattan in 1845 and has grown to be a major insurer in the United States with over 249 offices nationwide. Cass Gilbert a disciple of McKim, Mead and White started designing the new headquarters for New York Life in 1919 by New York Life president Darwin Kingsley to replace the headquarters at 346 Broadway that coincidentally had been designed the same firm of McKim, Mead and White in 1894-1899 . So Gilbert’s firm began earnestly work on the project while Kingsley worked on location. As it turns out, New York Life had assumed the mortgage in 1912 for a very famous building by the name of Madison Square Garden which declared bankruptcy in 1917. This was in fact the second Madison Square Garden at this location designed by Stanford White replace the original Madison Square Garden which had replace P.T. Barnum’s Hippodrome which replaced the Union Depot of the New York & Harlem Railroad and New York & New Haven Railroad which had first occupied the site in 1837. New York would also acquire the building in the northeast corner of Madison Square. In 1923, this was chosen as the site of the new headquarters and down went MSG #2 and other building. Gilbert’s design would encompass an entire city block. Cass Gilberts original design was presented and approved in 1924, excavation began as the design incorporated the then recently adopted NYC regulations regarding tall buildings requiring setbacks in design to not completely block out light. With over 60 percent of the excavation complete in 1925, Gilbert was ordered halt and abandons the design because of the extremely high bids on construction costs far surpassed what was expected. Cass Gilbert went to work redesigning and was able to resume construction in 1926 and in December of 1928 the building was dedicated. The end product, a marvelous 40 story Gothic topped by a pyramidal gold gilded roof the overlooks Madison Square Park and before the current surge of tall edifices in Manhattan could be seen from miles in New Jersey. Like I stated in the beginning of this essay, in 1994 to celebrate the company’s 150 anniversary the roof was completely redone as years of weather damage had taken away the pyramid’s shine. So the 88 foot high octagonal gold tile element was stripped of its worn tile by Nicholson & Galloway of Glen Head, L.I. and repaved the 25,000 22-carat gold baked tiles gilded in the same fashion as china which were in turn individually numbered. The 57 foot lantern which doubles as exhaust and its spire got new cooper linings and got releafed in gold as well. The end product with in now carefully maintained, is a beautiful gold reflection that gives a unique shine which you see here in this image. This was the last major high rise that Cass Gilbert worked on in New York City who also designed Woolworth’s Towers down by city hall. Incidentally, Gilbert’s grand-daughter does tours of the Woolworth Building.

Taken on Olympus E-5 with Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 70-300mm F4.0-5.6 on Benro Tripod, 4 images HDR blending Photomatix Pro and cleaned up Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

www.newyorklife.com/newsroom/history-home-office/

Autumnal view from the D1B (the Alsace Wine Route) roadside between Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr, with the little village of Zellenberg in the distance, Alsace, France

Some background information:

Zellenberg is a French village in the French department of Haut-Rhin in the Grand Est region. It has a population of roughly 330. The village is situated on a small hill in the Upper Rhine Plain at the edge of the Vosges Mountains, surrounded by vineyards on the Alsace Wine Route between Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr. Zellenberg is part of the Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park.

Since 1252, Zellenberg was a fief under the control of the Bishopric of Strasbourg. On the hill of the village, where a hermit had previously lived in a small hermitage, Count Walther of Horburg had a fortified castle built in the 13th century. In front of the castle’s gate, a settlement developed on the plateau, which was later surrounded by a town wall. In 1324, the castle came into the possession of the Bishopric of Strasbourg, and in 1332, it passed to the Counts of Rappoltstein.

In 1525, the residents of Zellenberg lost their town rights because they had sided with the peasants during the Peasants' War. By around 1780, the castle had fallen into ruin. Zellenberg was one of the eight administrative centers under the rule of the Rappoltstein family. The last lord of Rappoltstein, who lost his rule during the French Revolution, was Max Joseph, who would later become the King of Bavaria.

By the third decade of the 19th century, the castle ruins were no longer standing, and the village had only one gate and a single main street. By the 19th century, The wine-producing village of Zellenberg was already known regionally for the white wine produced and marketed there. From 1871 until the end of World War I, Zellenberg belonged to the German Empire as a part of the Alsace-Lorraine region and was assigned to the Rappoltsweiler district in the Upper Alsace region.

In the Alsace region al lot of wine is produced. It is primarily white wine. The Alsace is the only Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée region in France to produce mostly varietal wines, typically from similar grape varieties to those used in German wine. Along with Austria and Germany, it produces some of the most noted dry Rieslings in the world as well as highly aromatic Gewürztraminer wines. Wines are produced under three different AOCs: Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand Cru AOC for white wines from certain classified vineyards and Crémant d'Alsace AOC for sparkling wines. The Alsace region is both renowned for its dry and sweet white wines.

Vines are grown in 119 villages on altogether almost 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres) and every year almost 111.3 million litres of wine are produced, corresponding to 148.4 million bottles of 750 ml. 25% of the production is exported. The five largest export markets for still Alsace wine in terms of volume are Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the United States.

The history of winegrowing in the Alsace region dates back to pre-Roman times, as wine was already produced there by the Celts. Under Roman rule, viticulture flourished for the first time. A second heyday came in the Early Middle Ages under the influence of different monastic orders. An important influence in the history of Alsace wine has been the repeated changes of nationality of the Alsace region, which passed from France to Germany and vice versa several times throughout history. In the 16th century, wine was produced in an area that was twice as large as today’s cultivated area.

The Thirty Years’ War that brought nothing but destruction, hunger and plague, put a temporary end to winegrowing as almost all areas under vines cultivated were destroyed. However after the war, viticulture recovered quickly, interrupted by some setbacks caused by the vine pest and mildew.

The geography of the wine growing area in Alsace is determined by two main factors, the Vosges mountains in the west and the Rhine river in the east. Most vineyards are concentrated in a sunny narrow strip, running in a roughly north-south direction, on the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges. But there are also some vineyards in narrow valleys of the Vosges. Alsace's geology is quite varied, with many different kinds of soils like slate, granite, marl or volcanic soil represented in the vineyards.

The Vosges are a range of low mountains, which form the western boundary of the Upper Rhine Plain, while the German Palatine forest forms its eastern boundary. The Vosges’ highest peak is the Grand Ballon at 1,424 m (4,672 feet), followed by the Storkenkopf and the Hohneck. Two nature parks lie within the Vosges: the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park and the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park. The Northern Vosges Nature Park and the Palatinate Forest Nature Park on the German side of the border form the cross-border UNESCO-designated Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve.

NS C65 with NS 911 “Honoring Our First Responders” in the lead cruises towards industry, PA, with the massive Shell Ethylene Cracker plant in the background. Setbacks in construction led to the plant coming online only in the recent months, with the COVID-19 Pandemic contributing to a lot of the setbacks.

IMG_1287r1

The Montmartre cemetery, just west of its namesake hill, holds graves bearing such names as Stendhal, Zola and Berlioz. Once a quarry, the site became a mass grave during the Revolution, and as cemeteries in Paris had already reached saturation, its position as a burial place was soon formalized. In 1825, it was massively expanded to become one of several large cemeteries outside the city walls.

In 1860, during Haussmann’s famous renovation of the city, it was subsumed into Paris in the annexation that created today’s boundaries. Haussmann’s far-reaching work included introducing new roads like the rue Caulaincourt, a sort of bypass of the Montmartre hill. To complete this new street, a viaduct would have to be built across the cemetery, on piers which would displace existing graves. Not surprisingly, this was unpopular with impacted families – some of whom were reportedly worried it would stop souls from reaching heaven – and the children of interred admiral Charles Baudin took their complaints to the Senate, which in May 1861 voted 50-38 to cancel the project.

Despite this setback, the bridge was reconsidered and approved in 1867, and finally built in 1888, standing on six cast-iron Doric columns.

(source: fabricofparis.com)

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldred_Building:

The Aldred Building (French: Édifice Aldred; also known as Édifice La Prévoyance) is an Art deco building on the historic Place d'Armes square in the Old Montreal quarter of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Completed in 1930, the building was designed by Ernest Isbell Barott, of the firm Barott and Blackader, with a height of 96 metres (316 ft) or 23 storeys. Built at a cost of $2,851,076.00 (equivalent to $54,622,444 in 2023), Barott endeavored to design a modern building which would, at the same time, fit with the square's historic surroundings. The building's setbacks at the 8th, 13th, and 16th floors allow more light on the square and create a cathedral-like massing, reflecting the adjacent Notre-Dame Basilica. The building uses limestone, common to other buildings in the area. The Aldred Building also attempts to address both Place d'Armes and Notre-Dame Street which do not meet at right angles, aligning with both streets until the third floor, where it then steps back and becomes square to Notre-Dame. The odd angle is small and not immediately noticeable from street-level.

The building resembles New York's Empire State Building, completed the same year, and was built for John E. Aldred of New York.

Barott began work on the Aldred Building around 1927, with original design for the building only 12 storeys tall, as building heights were limited to 130 feet (40 m) in Montreal until the passing of a bylaw allowing taller buildings provided they made use of setbacks to reduce their overall mass, similar to one in New York City.

Barott was able to take advantage of a 1929 clause in the bylaw that allowed buildings on public squares to exceed the then maximum height by up to 200 feet (61 m), if certain restrictions were adhered to. The building's total floor area is 238,946 square feet (22,198.8 m2).

Perspective on the façade of the wonderful Florin Court - a residential building on the eastern side of Charterhouse Square in Smithfield, London, UK.

The building is an example of 'streamline moderne', an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s.

It was built in 1936 by Guy Morgan and Partners and features a beautiful, curved façade with projecting wings, a roof garden, setbacks on the eighth and ninth floor and a basement swimming pool.

Being fans of Agatha Christie and actor David Suchet, we visited because in the LWT television series 'Agatha Christie's Poirot', the building was used as Whitehaven Mansions, the fictional London residence of private detective Hercule Poirot.

© All rights reserved.

Built in the late 19th Century, these Queen Anne and Second Empire-style buildings stand along Scott Boulevard in Covington’s Eastside neighborhood. The house, now clad in tarpaper faux brick, features a cornice with brackets, a corner turret over the tuscan porch, and a semi-circular stained glass window on the side. The duplex, stands at the rear of a deep setback, creating a courtyard-like space in the front yard, which steps back at the northern half of the building, and features a mansard roof, dormers with Queen Anne-style wooden trim, heavy window hoods, and a cornice with orthogonal details. They are contributing structures in the Helentown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Looking north-west from the Empire State Building's observation deck across Manhattan towards Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea and the Hudson River just under 2 km away in the distance.

The roads stretching out from either side of the ESB are W 33rd and W 34th Streets.

The black tower in the centre of the image is One Penn Plaza. The skyscraper was designed by Kahn & Jacobs and completed in 1972. It reaches an altitude of 230m with 57 floors. The tower has three setbacks, at the 7th, 14th, and 55th floors.

The much-lower circular structure partially-hidden to its left (above) is, of course, Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers and New York Knicks. Immediately beyond it is Pennsylvania Station, the busiest railway station in New York City.

A lot of new, tall structures have appeared since I took this photo 25 years ago!

There can't be that many places in the world where you can sit on a hillock at the edge of a small town car park and gaze northwards towards a horizon filled with mountains and glaciers as you cradle a cup of hot coffee in your hands. If that's the sort of thing that appeals to you, Hofn in South East Iceland is one such place.

Lee and I arrived here as the weather began to show the first signs of breaking after more than twenty-four hours of worsening conditions. The day before, we'd driven for what seemed like an eternity from Husavik in the far north of the country in a clockwise direction as far as Hvalnes, where we parked in front of the Eystrahorn mountain range. Even now I shudder to think how many delights we missed, both in our sense of purpose to keep to our itinerary and the grey pervading mist which left fjord after fjord in the far south east more or less invisible. At Eystrahorn the stunning vista I'd watched Mads Peter-Iversen and Nigel Danson produce some of the most inspiring shots imaginable remained hidden more or less entirely by cloud. Eventually I gave up and took a grumpy shot across the black sand into the disappearing mist.

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From Eystrahorn we moved along the coast the following morning to the famous Stokksnes, where the iconic Vestrahorn range reaches down to the sea. Many of you have made wonderful images of it and shared them with the rest of us in these pages. We saw nothing, the entire bulk of the range left to our imagination as it hid under a shroud of grey. I don't believe a morning has ever brought quite so much disappointment, although ironically it delivered my most viewed image of this year when I posted it in the spring. Maybe you liked the story all about Brian the Snail, our accommodation and transport for the week. Perhaps it's because it's not your usual composition from Stokksnes.

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And so we ended up at the small town of Hofn, almost 300 miles from Reykjavik, where we stocked up on pasta and Haribo before pulling up at a patch of unpaved ground at the edge of the sound, which served as a car park. It was the first town we'd stopped in since Husavik, also almost 300 painstaking miles distant, yet in the opposite direction. All of this was coming at the end of an especially forgettable twelve months in my life, so putting the disappointment of our morning setbacks into perspective came easily. After the non stop travel of the last few days the simple pleasure of pulling a camping chair out of the van and sitting in the open air drinking coffee and gazing across the water at this view seemed both novel and refreshing.

As I write this I can't really account for why we didn't double back to Vestrahorn now that the sky was beginning to clear. It was only a short drive away. Perhaps we weren't on speaking terms with it - we needed some time before we'd forgive it for hiding from us. Maybe we were just looking at our watches in the knowledge that time, our ever present enemy was against us and the glacier lagoon of Jokulsarlon and Diamond Beach were next on the agenda. There's another story, and a much happier one too.

I would love to return and spend much longer in Iceland, but sadly it's not the sort of place where the budget will hold out for too long. How long for and when remains impossible to answer for now, but one day I'm going to stand in front of those two mountain ranges and gawp at them open mouthed as I wonder where to plant the tripod first.

Viewed from The Empire State Building

At 1,046 feet (319 m), it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930.Originally a project of real estate developer and former New York State Senator William H. Reynolds, the building was constructed by Walter Chrysler, the head of the Chrysler Corporation. The construction of the Chrysler Building, an early skyscraper, was characterized by a competition with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to become the world's tallest building. Although the Chrysler Building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for its construction and never owned it; Walter Chrysler decided to fund the entire cost personally so his children could inherit it. An annex was completed in 1952, and the building was sold by the Chrysler family the next year, with numerous subsequent owners.

When the Chrysler Building opened, there were mixed reviews of the building's design, ranging from views of it as inane and unoriginal to the idea that it was modernist and iconic. Perceptions of the building have slowly evolved into its now being seen as a paragon of the Art Deco architectural style.

The Chrysler Building is considered a leading example of Art Deco architecture.It is constructed of a steel frame in-filled with masonry, with areas of decorative metal cladding. Approximately fifty metal ornaments protrude at the building's corners on five floors reminiscent of gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals.

The Chrysler Building uses bright "Nirosta" stainless steel extensively in its design, an austenitic alloy developed in Germany by Krupp (a German acronym for nichtrostender Stahl, meaning "non-rusting steel"). It was the first use of this "18-8 stainless steel" in an American project, composed of 18% chromium and 8% nickel.Nirosta was used in the exterior ornaments, the window frames, the crown, and the needle.The steel was an integral part of Van Alen's design, as E.E. Thum explains: "The use of permanently bright metal was of greatest aid in the carrying of rising lines and the diminishing circular forms in the roof treatment, so as to accentuate the gradual upward swing until it literally dissolves into the sky...."

The Chrysler Building is renowned for, and recognized by, its terraced crown, which is an extension of the main tower.Composed of seven radiating terraced arches, Van Alen's design of the crown is a cruciform groin vault of seven concentric members with transitioning setbacks, mounted one behind another. The entire crown is clad with Nirosta steel, ribbed and riveted in a radiating sunburst pattern with many triangular vaulted windows, reminiscent of the spokes of a wheel. The windows are repeated, in smaller form, on the terraced crown's seven narrow setbacks. Due to the curved shape of the dome, the Nirosta sheets had to be measured on site, so most of the work was carried out in workshops on the building's 67th and 75th floors. According to Robinson, the terraced crown "continue[s] the wedding-cake layering of the building itself.

This is all I need. After Kayla's diagnosis of a brain tumor this summer and a big setback just a few weeks ago I've been given the gift of another Christmas with her.

View On Black

Another one of the Senior images from a recent shoot, kids have just started going back to classes and have the option of studying online, most opted to be present versus home,,hoping all are well, stay blessed ...praying for cooler weather and for all of the setbacks some people are struggling through to be over..

Amargosa Valley, NV - This star trail attempt had its challenges (as they often do). I should have used a wider lens; 24mm was not wide enough for the shot I was going for. The camera angle was not high enough to compose Polaris (the North Star) the way I wanted to. Despite these setbacks, it was still fun to take the shots.

One thing I did not consider was the dew point. After a few hours, my camera and lens looked like they had gone through a shower, and the lens was fogged up. Thank you, Canon, and your weather sealing.

The sky was dark during a new moon; however, as you can see, there were numerous planes and several satellites that shot across the frame.

On a technical note, this is a composite of 365 photos (30-second exposure each shot). Post-processing, I used a free program called StarStax, it's available for PC and MAC.

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Another upload from last month's London Flickr Group Photowalk.

Although I'd walked the route I chose for the Photowalk many times before there was still much for me photograph as changing lighting conditions mean that there's always something photogenic. Here abstract reflections of the Lloyds of London building are created by the curved glass facade of the Willis building.

We're just starting to plan another London Photowalk for October, click here for more details : www.flickr.com/groups/londonflickrgroup/discuss/721577198...

From Wikipedia, "The Willis Building is a commercial skyscraper in London named after the primary tenant, Willis Group. It is located on Lime Street in the City of London financial district.

The building was designed by Norman Foster and developed by British Land. It stands opposite the Lloyd's building and is 125 metres (410 ft) tall, with 26 storeys. It features a "stepped" design, which was intended to resemble the shell of a crustacean, with setbacks rising at 97 m (318 ft) and 68 m (223 ft). In total, there are 475,000 square feet (44,128.9 m2) of office floor-space, most of which was pre-let to the insurance broker Willis."

© D.Godliman

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

This is the recently-opened Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, an addition to the Royal Ontario Museum designed by architect Daniel Libeskind and Bregman + Hamann Architects; The final cost of the project will be $270 million CAD.

The Libeskind design, selected from among 50 entrants in an international competition, saw the Terrace Galleries torn down and replaced with a Deconstructivist crystalline-form clad in 25 percent glass and 75 percent aluminium. The building is named after Michael Lee-Chin, who donated $30 million towards its construction.[5] It houses the new main entrance to the museum, a gift shop, a restaurant (C5 Restaurant Lounge), seven additional galleries and Canada's largest exhibition hall in the basement.

The Crystal's canted walls do not touch the sides of the existing heritage buildings, save for where pedestrian crossing occurs and to close the envelope between the new form and the existing walls. Although designed to conform to existing height restrictions and maintain sight lines along Bloor Street, the Crystal, at certain points, cantilevers over the setback and into the street allowance.

Toronto, CANADA

Excerpt from www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=3928&...:

Description of Historic Place

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Steamship Terminal is a two-and-one-half storey, Neo-Classical stone and concrete building situated in a prominent waterfront location overlooking Victoria's Inner Harbour. It is articulated by large Ionic columns and Ancient Greek iconography, and creates a significant counterpoint to the historic Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel nearby.

Heritage Value

The CPR Steamship Terminal, constructed in 1924, is valued as one of the most important buildings in Victoria's historic Inner Harbour Precinct. The primary heritage value of this historic place lies in its association with the Canadian Pacific Railway, its monumental architecture and association with prominent British Columbia architects Francis Mawson Rattenbury and Percy Leonard James, and in its locational, spatial, and historic relationships with the nearby British Columbia Legislature, the Empress Hotel, and the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM).

The association of this building with the Canadian Pacific Railway is significant because it survives as a reminder of the important role of the CPR in Victoria's and British Columbia's history. Having been the portal to western Canada for thousands of visitors and immigrants arriving here on CPR steamships, this historic place is a valuable reflection of the prestigious image of Victoria as the provincial seat of government and centre for tourism in the early twentieth century.

The architecture and construction methods of the CPR Steamship Terminal contribute greatly to its heritage value. As the earliest local example of the use of on-site pre-cast concrete techniques, this building conveys the status of the CPR and the city in the early 1920s through its technologically advanced construction, and almost exaggerated temple-like Neo-Classicism, which is unique in Victoria. It is also significant that architects Rattenbury and James utilized iconographic decorative imagery on the exterior of this prominent landmark to acknowledge both its maritime function, and its direct physical connection to the waterway which was the historic lifeblood of Victoria's economy and development.

The CPR Steamship Terminal holds a key position within the Inner Harbour, and together with the other major works of architecture nearby represents an excellent example of classical city planning. The prominent waterfront location, set back siting, and temple-like massing exemplify Rattenbury's vision for a provincial capital renowned for its imperial modernism and monumental buildings.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the CPR Steamship Terminal include:

-Its prominent waterfront location.

-Its juxtaposition to, and relationship with, the B.C. Legislature, the Empress Hotel, and the Royal British Columbia Museum, seen in the axial relationships in plane and proportional relationships in elevation, as laid out by Francis Mawson Rattenbury.

-Its temple-like massing and situation on its waterfront lot, as seen in such elements as the setbacks at the sides and rear, and massive corner piers, and hipped roof.

-The Neo-Classical architectural elements, such as the facades lined with Ionic peristyles, which reinforce the image of grandeur and importance.

-All surviving interior and exterior elements relevant to its 1924 design by F.M. Rattenbury and P.L. James.

-The Ancient Greek iconography, including dolphins, crowns, crosses, and heads of Poseidon, which associate the original function of the building with the sea.

-The association of the building with the Canadian Pacific Railway, as seen in exterior elements such as the CPR cartouche.