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In specific, Holy Week is the week just before Easter that extends from Palm Sunday until Holy Saturday and marks the last week of Lent. It has earned the name 'Holy', according to the Orthodox Church, due to the significant events that take place for Christianity in regard to the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
Saturday evening is filled with the anticipation of celebrating Easter Sunday. In some areas, people begin to gather in the churches and squares in cities, towns and villages by 11pm for the Easter liturgies. A few minutes before midnight, all the lights are turned off and the priest exits the altar holding candles lit by the Holy Light, which is distributed to everyone inside and outside the church. At midnight, the priest exits the church and announces the resurrection of Jesus. Many people carry large white candles called lambada, and the church bells toll as the priests announce “Christ is Risen!” at midnight. Each person in the crowd replies with a similarly joyous response.
Used on specific slag ladle duties on tracks with tight radius curves at Anshan steelworks in Liaoning Province, and not easy to catch in action, just sitting around not doing a lot at the blast furnaces for much of the time, 'PL2' Class 2-6-2 'Prairie' No.244 positioning empty slag ladles on 19th March 1997. The 'PL2' Class was closely related to the 'YJ' Class 2-6-2 and shared all the characteristics of Japanese design, and may well have been rebuilds of examples originally built in Japan around 1935, although information is sketchy. This one carried a 1958 builder's plate. It is believed that No.244 continued to work until around February 2000, when its duties were displaced by diesel, and was the last member of the class to remain in service at Anshan. The last active specimen in China was No.232, seen working at Baotou steelworks in 2002.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
One of the advantages of modern phones is the ability to download applications.
One such app is the Stagecoach bus tracker.
This enables one to track specific vehicles via live information, providing the journey details have been entered into the ticket machine.
To this end I determined that 47617, the first Lillyhall based Solo to receive the new livery, was operating the Keswick - Seatoller 78 service.
Lockdown meant that there was no way I could get to phot' it in the fabulous sunlit scenery of The Lakes but I was able to formulate a salvage mission.
With a reduced service meaning that one bus worked the day's entire diagram it was possible to determine what time it would return to the depot at the end of its shift by referencing the duty sheet of the driver who was working its last run. I was able to do this using a second app' rolled out for Stagecoach employees by the company.
Returning to the depot 47617 would pass within a mile or two of my house and so I would be able to plan my daily exercise to allow me to intercept it on the A595 at Winscales.
An extra bonus was that the driver did not sign out of the ticket machine in Keswick, choosing to wait until his return to Lillyhall, meaning that I could actively track it and set off on my bike at exactly the right time.
Bingo!
I understand that the manufacturer who supplies the fleetname transfers is currently closed.
A short essay on historical archeology.
A 3 bracketed exposures hdr processed through Photomatix. The color version looks natural and realist, but personally I believe that with some exceptions bw fits better this specific genre. Not exactly my comfort zone, and probably it will not be my most popular image, but I can very well live with that.
Tech: ISO 200, f/9, 12mm.
Another serious clone shot. During these busy times, these shots are the easiest for me to capture. I hope you don't mind a few more these next couple of uploads; if y'all wanna see something specific, just let me know ^_^
Thunbergia mysorensis, also called Mysore trumpetvine[2] or Indian clock vine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. A woody-stemmed evergreen, this vine is cultivated in Spain (south) and native to southern tropical India.[3] The specific epithet mysorensis is derived from the city of Mysore.[3] Other vernacular names include brick & butter vine, lady's slipper vine, and dolls' shoes[4] due to the flower shape and large size. Courtesy Wikipedia
Name: Unknown
Alias: Timepiece
Allegiance: Villain
Powers: Full control of time. Able to speed up and slow down time for specific people, able to travel through time, able to stop time, erase people from time, and exist in all alternate timelines at once.
Backstory: Timepiece is the Celestial of Time. He has existed for several millennia observing the human race. He never interfered with the humans, until one man lived longer that his time allowed. That man was Sir Cumfrence, and he had lived far longer than he was supposed to. To fix the timeline, Timepiece attempted to erase Sir Cumfrence from time, but was unable to due to some kind of magic that was protecting Sir Cumfrence. Since he could not kill him in the past, Timepiece set out to kill him in the future. In 1966, Sir Cumfrence had formed a new team of heroes that fought in WWII and were now fighting crime around the world. He saw this as an opportunity to destroy Sir Cumfrence once and for all. When he made his attempt, Sir Cumfrence’s team stood in his way. Timepiece, reluctantly, killed them all in order to get to Sir Cumfrence. Sir Cumfrence defeated Timepiece, and vowed to avenge his fallen friends. Timepiece still exist to this day and is still looking for a way to correct the timeline.
So what do you guys think? It’s been a while since I’ve posted and OC, so I decided to go big on this one. His story will be more explored in the Saviors Comic Book series.
-Totally Awesome
Edited to add an explanation specific to this photo:
SpaceX Crew-7 nebula: After main engine cutoff, the Falcon 9 1st stage booster begins its trip home, while the 2nd stage rocket ignites to get the Crew Dragon to orbit; sometimes this "nebula" happens & it's magical.
What's especially ? There are 4 humans in this picture.
At 3:27 am (EDT) on Saturday, August 26, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending a Crew Dragon spacecraft to space. The spacecraft is named Endurance, and an international crew of four representing four countries was onboard. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will dock at the International Space Station after a 22-hour journey.
Eight minutes after the launch, SpaceX returned the Falcon 9 first-stage booster to Cape Canaveral, where it will be readied for reuse and a future flight.
This specific pose is often adopted on hot mornings to help the animal cool down by spreading its body out
PORTRAIT / PHOTOSHOOT : Sophie and Rose
That specific shot reminds me of Rose Dewitt Bukater (kate winslet) in James Cameron's TITANIC, and more specificaly, the first time we see her in 1912 (with her hat) ! ... I find it very elegant! :)
More pictures on my Blog! :o)
Sebastien LABAN - Photographe
The specific time and sun position gets the rainbow formed.
Dry Falls, also known as Upper Cullasaja Falls, is a 65-foot (20 m) waterfall in the Nantahala National Forest, northwest of Highlands on the Cullasaja River. It is part of a series of waterfalls on an 8.7-mile (14.0 km) stretch of the river that eventually ends with Cullasaja Falls. Dry Falls flows over an overhanging bluff that allows visitors to walk up under the falls and remain relatively dry when the waterflow is low, hence its name. Visitors will get wet if the waterflow is high. The falls has been called Dry Falls for a long time, but has also gone by a few other names, including High Falls, Pitcher Falls, and Cullasaja Falls.[22] Dry Falls is located on the side of U.S. Highway 64 3.1 miles (5.0 km) north of Highlands (Macon County, NC). There is a parking area on the side of the road, where visitors can park before walking the short path with stairs to the falls. During 2008-2009 the Forest Service made improvements to the parking area, which included renovation and expansion and the addition of bathroom facilities. A new walkway and overlook were also constructed adjacent to the parking area (reference:-Wiki).
What just happened, I wondered? This was a HIGH-level tactical mass bird warfare strategy to drive fish to a specific area.
SN/NC: Hibiscus Tiliaceus, Malvaceae Family
Hibiscus tiliaceus, commonly called sea hibiscus or mahoe, is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is native to tropical regions of Asia where it is often found growing along coasts and in low moist areas. It is now grown as an ornamental in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. Flowers last only one day, opening in the morning as lemon yellow with dark maroon throats, but turning dull red by evening when they drop to the ground. Simple, heart-shaped leaves (to 8"long and 6" wide) with pointed tips are bright green above and hairy gray-green beneath. Fruits are brown ovoid dry capsules. Roots and flowers have medicinal value. In Asia, mahoe is harvested for the fiber in its trunk which is made into rope. Genus name is the old Greek and Latin name for mallow.
Specific epithet comes from tilia, the genus of basswood/linden, in reference to leaf similarity.
Hibiscus tiliaceus, gewoonlijk zeehibiscus of mahoe genoemd, is een groenblijvende struik of kleine boom die inheems is in tropische regio's van Azië, waar hij vaak langs kusten en in vochtige gebieden groeit. Het wordt nu gekweekt als sierplant in tropische en subtropische gebieden over de hele wereld. Bloemen gaan maar één dag mee, openen 's ochtends als citroengeel met donkere kastanjebruine kelen, maar worden' s avonds dof rood als ze op de grond vallen. Eenvoudige, hartvormige bladeren (tot 8 "lang en 6" breed) met puntige uiteinden zijn heldergroen aan de bovenkant en harig grijsgroen aan de onderkant. Vruchten zijn bruin eivormige droge capsules. Wortels en bloemen hebben geneeskrachtige waarde. In Azië wordt mahoe geoogst voor de vezels in de stam die tot touw worden verwerkt. Geslachtsnaam is de oude Griekse en Latijnse naam voor kaasjeskruid.Specifieke bijnaam komt van tilia, het geslacht van basswood / linde, met betrekking tot bladgelijkenis.
Hibiscus tiliaceus es una especie de árbol perteneciente a la familia Malvaceae, originaria de los trópicos del Viejo Mundo. Conocida con el nombre de majagua común de Cuba o majahua. Su epíteto se refiere al parecido de sus hojas con las de los tilos.
La madera de H. tiliaceus tiene un peso específico de 0,6. Se ha utilizado en una variedad de aplicaciones , como la construcción de canoas, leña, y tallas de madera. Con su resistente corteza se puede hacer en duradera cuerda, para el sellado de grietas en los barcos. La corteza y raíces se pueden hervir para hacer un té para enfriar fiebres y con sus jóvenes y frondosas brotes se pueden comer como verdura. Los nativos de Hawái utilizan la madera para hacer Iako (palos) para Wa'a (canoas), mouo (redes de pesca flotantes), y 'au ko'i (asas de azuelas)
Uma das mais lindas flores. Tem semelhança com o quiabo e o algodão e só dura 24 horas e já cai do pé. De raríssima beleza e muito delicada. O algodoeiro-da-praia, algodoeiro-da-índia ou majagua é uma árvore que atinge até 08 metros de altura, da família das malváceas, também conhecida pelos nomes de aguaxima-do-mangue, baru, embira, embira-do-mangue, guaxima-do-mangue, ibaxama, manhoco, quiabo-do-mangue e uacima-da-praia. Madeira frágil usada para embalagens delicadas e também para canoas já que é uma madeira flexível. Em algumas áreas é considerada invasiva. Na Ásia se usa muito para fazer cordas, já que é muito forte para isso.
Hibiscus tiliaceus, comunemente chiamato ibisco di mare o mahoe, è un arbusto sempreverde o piccolo albero originario delle regioni tropicali dell'Asia dove si trova spesso a crescere lungo le coste e in zone a bassa umidità. Ora è coltivato come ornamentale nelle aree tropicali e subtropicali di tutto il mondo. I fiori durano solo un giorno, aprendosi al mattino come giallo limone con gola marrone scuro, ma diventano rosso opaco la sera quando cadono a terra. Le foglie semplici a forma di cuore (lunghe fino a 8 pollici e larghe 6 pollici) con punte appuntite sono verde brillante sopra e grigio-verde pelose sotto. I frutti sono capsule secche ovoidali marroni. Radici e fiori hanno un valore medicinale. In Asia, il mahoe viene raccolto per la fibra nel suo tronco che viene trasformata in corda. Il nome del genere è l'antico nome greco e latino della malva.L'epiteto specifico deriva da tilia, il genere di tiglio / tiglio, in riferimento alla somiglianza delle foglie.
Hibiscus tiliaceus, communément appelé hibiscus de mer ou mahoe, est un arbuste à feuilles persistantes ou un petit arbre originaire des régions tropicales d'Asie où il pousse souvent le long des côtes et dans les zones peu humides. Il est maintenant cultivé comme plante ornementale dans les régions tropicales et subtropicales du monde entier. Les fleurs ne durent qu'un jour, s'ouvrant le matin en jaune citron avec une gorge marron foncé, mais devenant rouge terne le soir lorsqu'elles tombent au sol. Les feuilles simples en forme de cœur (jusqu'à 8 "de long et 6" de large) avec des extrémités pointues sont vert vif au-dessus et poilues gris-vert en dessous. Les fruits sont des capsules sèches ovoïdes brunes. Les racines et les fleurs ont une valeur médicinale. En Asie, le mahoe est récolté pour la fibre dans son tronc qui est transformé en corde. Le nom du genre est l'ancien nom grec et latin de la mauve.L'épithète spécifique vient de tilia, le genre de tilleul / tilleul, en référence à la similitude des feuilles.
Hibiscus tiliaceus, allgemein als Seehibiskus oder Mahoe bezeichnet, ist ein immergrüner Strauch oder kleiner Baum, der in tropischen Regionen Asiens heimisch ist und häufig an Küsten und in Gebieten mit geringer Feuchtigkeit wächst. Es wird heute als Zierpflanze in tropischen und subtropischen Gebieten auf der ganzen Welt angebaut. Die Blüten halten nur einen Tag und öffnen sich morgens zitronengelb mit dunkelbraunen Kehlen, färben sich aber abends matt rot, wenn sie zu Boden fallen. Einfache, herzförmige Blätter (bis 8 "lang und 6" breit) mit spitzen Spitzen sind oben hellgrün und unten haarig grau-grün. Früchte sind braune eiförmige trockene Kapseln. Wurzeln und Blüten haben medizinischen Wert. In Asien wird Mahoe für die Faser in seinem Stamm geerntet, der zu einem Seil verarbeitet wird. Der Gattungsname ist der altgriechische und lateinische Name für Malve.Spezifisches Epitheton stammt von Tilia, der Gattung der Linde / Linde, in Bezug auf die Blattähnlichkeit.
الكركديه tiliaceus ، المعروف باسم الكركديه البحري أو mahoe ، هو شجيرة دائمة الخضرة أو شجرة صغيرة موطنها المناطق الاستوائية في آسيا حيث توجد غالبًا تنمو على طول السواحل وفي المناطق الرطبة المنخفضة. يزرع الآن كزينة في المناطق الاستوائية وشبه الاستوائية حول العالم. تدوم الأزهار يومًا واحدًا فقط ، وتفتح في الصباح بلون أصفر ليمون مع حلق كستنائي داكن ، ولكنها تتحول إلى اللون الأحمر الباهت في المساء عندما تسقط على الأرض. أوراق بسيطة على شكل قلب (حتى 8 بوصات طويلة و 6 بوصات) ذات أطراف مدببة تكون خضراء زاهية من الأعلى وخضراء رمادية مشعر أسفلها. الثمار عبارة عن كبسولات جافة بنية بيضاوية الشكل. الجذور والزهور لها قيمة طبية. في آسيا ، يتم حصاد الماهو للألياف الموجودة في جذعها والتي تتحول إلى حبل. اسم الجنس هو الاسم اليوناني واللاتيني القديم للملوخية.صفة محددة تأتي من التيليا ، جنس الزيزفون / الزيزفون ، في إشارة إلى تشابه الأوراق.
U-BOOT TYP VII C - 1/38 (minifig) scale with full interior.
~ 177 CM (~70 INCH) LONG
~ 15.000 PARTS
~ 4.5 YEARS OF WORK
GOALS
The model was supposed to represent a ship from the initial period of the war.
It does not show a specific copy, but it should resemble uboots such as U-69 or U-96 (known from the classic Das Boot movie).
I wanted to get a fairly good representation of both the curves of the hull and as many pieces of internal equipment as possible.
MODEL CHARACTERISTICS
It consists of 6 modules that naturally represent the 6 sections of a real ship:
1. The forward torpedo room and crew compartment [Bow: ~ 3600 parts]
2. Officers', radio and listening room [Front mess: ~ 2000 parts]
3. Control room with conning tower [Control room: ~ 2700 parts]
4. Petty Officers' romm and galley [Rear mess: ~ 1700 parts]
5. Diesel engines room [Diesels: ~ 2400 parts]
6. Electric engines and aft torpedo room [Stern: ~ 2800 parts]
In each module, the port and / or starboard can be removed.
So the entire model can represent the ship from the outside or with an open interior.
The target configuration is with the starboard closed and the port open.
I finally made two photo sessions of the entire model - in a fully closed configuration and with a closed starboard and open port side.
Adittionally I have prepared presentation of individual modules separately.
[b][CONSTRUCTION][/b]
The construction was planned to be made in sections and I started from the control room.
Each module was first designed in LDD (first the hull, then the interior) and then built in reality.
The modules were created in this order:
3. Control room
2. Front mess
1. Bow
4. Rear mess
5. Diesels
6. Stern
Designing started on 26.12.2017.
[b][PHOTOS][/b]
I invite you to view photos.
I'm sorry that there are so many, but I couldn't resist.
(it took me about 3 months to photograph and post-process them)
Flickr albums (part of the photos):
0. Overall: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300082599
1. Bow: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300077412
2. Front mess: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300086873
3. Control room: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300082694
4. Rear mess: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300082699
5. Diesels: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300086878
6. Stern: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300077462
0-6. Alltogether: www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/albums/72177720300076411
BS (all photos):
0. Overall: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584704
1. Bow: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584706
2. Front mess: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584707
3. Control room: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584708
4. Rear mess: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584709
5. Diesels: brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=584710
Each one is a tool, with a specific purpose in mind. Take the Perspective Control lenses of focal lengths 85mm, 45mm, 35mm, and 28mm. No other lens can do that. Or, the Nikon 16mm with its 180° Viewing Angle. Or, the Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D lens that has a minimum focusing distance of 1 foot 4.08 inches. While the Nikon 300mm f/2.8D costs about $10,000USD new, I paid about $2,000USD for my Nikon 300mm f/4.0D, that is one of the sharpest lenses I own . . . I paid 1/5th of the cost for the 2.8D, which is only 1EV faster or the difference between setting 400 ISO versus 200 ISO . . . So, there are very practical decisions made for each lens purchase. I usually study the various lenses before I make my purchase. Please bear in mind, these were acquired over many years. I could not afford them, if I had to purchase them all at once. You will note each lens is in mint condition. I store all of my camera equipment in 3 dehumidifying boxes, to reduce the chances for fungus.
Be Specific ship Union Pacific
Built in 1936. Stitched Panorama from 10 original photos.
Located at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum.
Perris, CA
This is NASA imagery. NASA gives permission for anyone to use it non-commercially.
I will post more about NASA and their wonderful imagery shortly.
Site-specific перформанс Ірини Плотнікової "IceDora" на фестивалі сучасного мистецтва Гогольфест 2016, Київ, Україна © repor.to/popenko
As befits such an ancient system, the ownership is also feudal, the foreman run a hereditary guild and the workers pass down their specific jobs from generation to generation
Taken @Fez El Bali, Morocco, North Africa.
An elevator crew is using GMTX #2676 to load a grain train at the MAC elevator in Newaygo, during the summer of 2007. The Geep was left by Marquette Rail's Z151 the night before along with the empties. #2676 was one of two extended cab GP38-2s the railroad had leased from GATX.
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
If you are interested in specific locomotives, trains, or freighters, please contact me. I have been photographing trains and ships for over 15 years and have accumulated an extensive library!
Specific region of Birdoswalt Roman Fort - fun area with museum, live performances of guards, etc. Great views of the wall's ruins. Fun tourist attraction...
All Rights Reserved ©
Previously Rhacophorus norhayatii, now Rhacophorus norhayatiae.
The specific epithet norhayatiae honours Professor Dr Norhayati Ahmad of the National University of Malaysia (Chan & Grismer, 2010).
Location: Peninsular Malaysia.
Distribution: Across Peninsular Malaysia, it also occurs in the extreme south and a small area of west-central Thailand, near the border with Myanmar (Dring, 1979; Chan-ard, 2003).
Habitat: Lowland pristine rainforest and hill forests up to 550 m elevation (Chan & Grismer, 2010). Basically an arboreal species, living on forest canopy, only descend onto forest floor during breeding season.
This is a blue-gray gnat catcher. A lifer for me (i.e. I've never seen one before) Cute little guy. I was slightly proud of myself for having properly identifying it as a gnat catcher without even referencing my bird app. Thanks to Lora and Muriel for helping me confirm the specific species.
Every year around this time, the so-called "meninas" are placed in specific places in Madrid.
These, let's say, colorful sculptures are dedicated to various themes that change every year.
This year, in addition, a menina has been placed in the Plaza de Colón that is decorated with the official flag of the Valencian region, and that the people of Madrid are dedicating to all the victims of the flood that unfortunately occurred on October 29, 2024, and not only in the Valencian region but in other regions as well.
At the moment, a total of 230 dead and 4 missing have been recorded, as well as tens of thousands of people affected with thousands of ruined houses.
The photo also shows the so-called "Columbus Towers", which have changed their name and exterior design several times since they were built between 1967 and 1976.
Also visible in the photo is the monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus, which was erected between 1881 and 1885, and which gives its name to this square.
And just behind the head of the "Valencian" menina, you can see an angel that is part of the night lighting in Madrid at Christmas time.
Originally, the "meninas" (or meninos) were "young women (or men) from noble families who entered the court to serve the queen or her children."
In fact, "las meninas" is an expression that became famous as a result of the nickname given to a painting by the famous painter Diego de Veázquez, which is actually called: "The Family of Philip IV" in reference to the family of that king of the dynasty of the House of Austria (Habsburg Spain dinasty), which was completed in 1656 and is considered a masterpiece for various reasons. (Source: Wikipedia)
DEDICADO A LAS VICTIMAS DE LA RIADA, 2024
Todos los años por estas fechas, se colocan en lugares determinados de Madrid las llamadas "meninas".
Estas, digamos, coloridas esculturas, están dedicadas a temas variados que van cambiando cada año.
Este año, además, en la plaza de Colón se ha colocado una menina que está adornada con la bandera oficial de la región valenciana, y que los madrileños está dedicamos a todas las víctimas de la riada que desgraciadamente ocurrió el pasado 29 de octubre de 2024, y no sólo en la región valenciana sino en otras regiones también.
De momento se contabilizan un total de 230 fallecidos y 4 desaparecidos, amén de decenas de miles de personas afectadas con miles de casas arruinadas.
En la foto, además, se ven las llamadas "Torres de Colón", que han cambiado de nombre y de diseño exterior varias veces desde que se construyeron entre 1967 y 1976.
También se ve en la foto el monumento dedicado a Cristóbal Colón, que fue erigido entre 1881 y 1885, y que da nombre a esta plaza.
Y asímismo, justo detrás de la cabeza de la menina "valenciana" se ve un ángel que es parte de la iluminación nocturna de Madrid en fechas navideñas.
En origen, las "meninas" (o meninos) eran "jóvenes de familia noble que entraban en la corte para servir a la reina o a sus hijos".
En realidad "las meninas" es una expresión que se hizo famosa a raíz del sobrenombre que se dio a un cuadro del famoso pintor Diego de Veázquez, que en realidad se llama: "La familia de Felipe IV" en referencia a la familia de ese rey de la dinastía de la Casa de Austria, que fue terminada en 1656 y es considerada una obra maestra por diversos motivos. (Fuente: Wikipedia)
Giandomenico Tiepolo (Venice, August 30, 1727 - Venice, March 3, 1804) - rooms of Pulcinella di Zianigo - Museum of the Venetian Eighteenth Century Ca 'Rezzonico, Venice
In queste sale si possono ammirare gli affreschi eseguiti da Giandomenico Tiepolo nella villa di famiglia a Zianigo. Strappati nel 1906 per essere venduti all’estero, furono acquistati dalla città di Venezia e trasferiti nel 1935 a Ca’ Rezzonico dove sono stati posti in piccoli ambienti che ripropongono la collocazione originaria.
Compiuti in un periodo di tempo assai lungo, fra il 1759 e il 1797, costituiscono senza dubbio uno dei momenti più affascinanti e singolari di tutta la pittura veneziana.
Non si tratta di opere eseguite per uno specifico mecenate ma per il piacere dell’artista stesso e dei suoi congiunti nella dimensione privata della propria dimora. Proprio questa circostanza rende il pittore libero da convenzioni tematiche e figurative e gli consente di assecondare la propria intima natura che lo porta a descrivere con sarcasmo il mondo che lo circonda.
In these rooms you can admire the frescoes painted by Giandomenico Tiepolo in the family villa in Zianigo. Torn off in 1906 to be sold abroad, they were purchased by the city of Venice and transferred in 1935 to Ca' Rezzonico where they have been placed in small rooms that reproduce their original location.
Completed in a very long period of time, between 1759 and 1797, they are undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and singular moments of all Venetian painting.
They are not works executed for a specific patron but for the pleasure of the artist himself and his relatives in the private dimension of his own home. It is precisely this circumstance that makes the painter free from thematic and figurative conventions and allows him to indulge his intimate nature that leads him to describe with sarcasm the world around him.
Chapel of the Magi (1459) - Medici Riccardi Palace, Florence - frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli (Benozzo di Lese di Sandro 1411-1488)
Situato al piano nobile del palazzo, rappresenta il capolavoro del pittore fiorentino Benozzo Gozzoli, allievo di Beato Angelico.
Nelle tre pareti maggiori è raffigurata la Cavalcata dei Magi, che fa da pretesto per rappresentare un preciso soggetto politico che diede lustro alla casata dei Medici, cioè il corteo con papa Pio II Piccolomini, e numerose personalità, che arrivò a Firenze nell'aprile del 1458, diretto a Mantova. In tale città il pontefice aveva chiamato principi e autorità ecclesiastiche a partecipare ad un incontro per progettare una crociata in difesa della cristianità contro l'avanzata turca in Europa. Pio II fu preceduto da vari principi italiani che sostarono a Firenze per unirsi al seguito papale: fra gli altri, anche Galeazzo Maria Sforza, il figlio quindicenne di Francesco duca di Milano, e Sigismondo Malatesta, signore di Rimini, alleati dei Medici, che appaiono ritratti all'interno della scena.
Gli affreschi eseguiti nel 1459, si dispiegano scenograficamente attorno allo spettatore e si ha l'impressione di ammirare il corteo senza interruzioni, dall'interno di una curva del suo percorso. L'opulenza e l'esotismo dei dignitari bizantini sono qui ben rappresentati e ci possono dare una misura dell'impatto sorprendente che ebbe sulla popolazione fiorentina, compresi i numerosi artisti attivi in quel periodo a Firenze.
Nella straordinaria complessità delle scene si riconosce la raffinatezza della tecnica esecutiva di Benozzo: la pittura prevalentemente a buon fresco è integrata con alcuni dettagli eseguiti a secco che hanno consentito al pittore di lavorare con cura meticolosa i preziosi gioielli, i sontuosi tessuti, le bardature dei cavalli ma anche gli alberi carichi di frutta, i prati con fiori, il variopinto piumaggio degli uccelli, e le ali multicolori degli angeli. Per produrre tale effetto di magnificenza, l’artista utilizzò materiali rari e costosi, quali il lapislazzuli destinato ai fondali azzurri, le lacche lucenti e le foglie di oro puro che brillavano al buio, nella penombra delle candele.
Located on the main floor of the palace, it represents the masterpiece of the Florentine painter Benozzo Gozzoli, a pupil of Beato Angelico.
On the three main walls is depicted the Cavalcade of the Magi, which is the pretext to represent a specific political subject that gave luster to the Medici family, namely the procession with Pope Pius II Piccolomini, and numerous personalities, who arrived in Florence in April 1458, heading to Mantua. In that city the pontiff had called princes and ecclesiastical authorities to participate in a meeting to plan a crusade in defense of Christianity against the Turkish advance in Europe. Pius II was preceded by several Italian princes who stopped in Florence to join the papal retinue: among others, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the fifteen-year-old son of Francesco, Duke of Milan, and Sigismondo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, allies of the Medici, who appear portrayed within the scene.
The frescoes, painted in 1459, unfold scenographically around the viewer and one has the impression of admiring the procession without interruption, from within a curve of its path. The opulence and exoticism of the Byzantine dignitaries are well represented here and can give us a measure of the surprising impact they had on the Florentine population, including the many artists active in Florence at that time.
The extraordinary complexity of the scenes highlights Benozzo's sophisticated technical ability. Indeed, the predominantly wet fresco painting includes various details added after the fresco had dried, allowing the artist to work with meticulous care on the rendering of the precious jewels, sumptuous fabrics, horse trappings, fruit-laden trees, blossoming meadows, vibrant plumage of birds and multicoloured wings of angels. To achieve such magnificent effects, the artist used rare and costly materials such as lapis lazuli for blue deep waters, gleaming lacquers and pure gold leaves that shone in the darkness and candle-lit half-light.
liverwurst/pate spread onto a buttered cream cracker and sprinkled with fresh thyme next to butter sealed jars of liverwurst/pate. made yesterday, first attempt, spooned into jars this morning
i cobbled together various liverwurst/pate recipes for my recipe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverwurst i couldn't find one specific recipe that suited me. either i didn't have all the equipment eg canning equipment or all the ingredients eg dried milk powder and bread. i found all recipes had certain basic ingredients. other ingredients were personal preference or great if you have them but the liverwurst/pate would still be ok without them
this is one of the liverwurst/pate recipes/video that i found helpful mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGqQwCCTZGpkzGPdJhqQ...
my liverwurst/pate recipe below, not recommending, but was ok for me
ingredients
1/3 chicken liver (i didn't have any pork liver)
1/3 lean pork
1/3 pork fat (removed from a joint i cooked the other day)
herbs/spices (personal choice) cardamon, whole black peppers, cayenne pepper, sage, thyme and rosemary
1 large onion diced
salt
equipment
*meat grinder to mince the meat and fat (or buy already minced)
food processor to blend the raw meat, fat, onion, herbs, spices
nutribullet millet blade to mill the spices (or pestle and mortar)
meat thermometer www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCraft-Stainless-Steel-Meat-Thermo...
**meat pouch of square muslin, folded in half as a triangle, i stitched down one side to look like a pointed pouch. the stitching should be small enough so as no meat will get out from the side when pushed into the pouch (ready made pouches can be bought, but i didn't have one so used the muslin that i did have)
*i bought an old fashioned meat grinder 'spong 25' for £7 from an antique and collectables shop. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334464667774?chn=ps&norover=1&... i happened to see the red handle sticking out from a box, took a look and knew it was exactly what i needed for the next recipe. once home i took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together and attached it to my work surface ready for mincing
method
i put the lean pork and pork fat through the meat grinder*
i put the minced lean pork in a food processor with salt
blended until smooth (see video recipe above)
chicken liver added (this had not been minced)
blended until smooth (see video recipe above)
minced pork fat added
lean pork, pork fat and chicken liver all blended until smooth (see video recipe above)
added the diced uncooked onion
(add uncooked onion and the liverwurst/pate will be light in colour add cooked onion and the liverwurst/pate will be dark in colour)
added the herbs and spices
all blended until smooth (see video recipe above)
placed the bowl of blended meat, fat, onion, herbs and spices in the fridge to rest and become more flavoursome
removed the blended ingredients from the fridge and spooned into the **muslin pouch, pushing down towards the point of the pouch leaving no air pockets.
when all the blended ingredients were in the pouch i tied it tightly at the top
i placed the full pouch in the slow cooker and covered with water
(i used cold water but to save on cooking time i should have begun with hot water)
'low' setting
cooked for 6 hours
i used the meat thermometer to make sure the meat was cooked - very important www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCraft-Stainless-Steel-Meat-Thermo...
i removed the pouch of cooked meat from the slowcooker and
allowed the cooked meat to rest overnight
this morning i spooned the liverwurst/pate into jars, pressing down using a teaspoon to make sure there were no air pockets
warm butter poured over the top to seal
when the butter had cooled and set the jars were closed and placed in the fridge
ps i'm not recommending any of these cookery adventures. they suit my personal taste. photographing to encourage myself to eat more healthily
www.flickr.com/groups/cooking_is_my_hobby/ helps to gather ideas and encourages me to continue with healthy eating by learning from others if you're interested in cooking, sometimes or a lot, or enjoy the cooking of others, you're always welcome ...
"100 x: The 2022 Edition","100x:2022","Image 74/100"
Becoming Marni is a site-specific installation conceived as the concluding act of the whole Marni Prisma program. It consists of one hundred wooden sculptures created by Brazilian self-taught artist Véio, distributed around the cloister and inside the rooms of the Abbey, drawing an ideal landscape of organic forms. The sculptures are installed in different groups, indoors and outdoors, their presence marked by a tactile path, the color of Venice’s water, drawn on the floor: an irregular surface with translucent spots, creating continuity between the outside and the inside. A small cabinet in the cloister housed Véio’s workshop, enabling him to create artworks on site. Furthermore, as the San Gregorio Abbey is usually closed to the public, this exhibition presented an opportunity to enjoy a unique space.
Consuelo and Carolina Castiglioni discovered Véio at a collective exhibition in Paris. Through Galeria Estação, which exclusively represents him, they entered in contact with him and Carolina tracked him down to Nossa Senhora da Gloria, the small village in the north East of Brazil where he lives and works. Here Véio creates his enigmatic sculptures by giving new life to pieces of wood, clogs and branches he finds along the river. He immediately identifies a being in each piece – an animal, a resting human, a fantastic bird. By a process of artistic transformation – clipping, shaving, adding a final layer of color – he makes the same beings visible to the public, removing them from the raw material and thereby restoring to the wood a meaning that exceeds pure physicality.
This is the complete album of the photos of my visit. --- --- --- www.flickr.com/photos/136891509@N07/albums/72157661202999340
Site-specific перформанс Ірини Плотнікової "IceDora" на фестивалі сучасного мистецтва Гогольфест 2016, Київ, Україна © repor.to/popenko
I'm in love with this aircraft. Not just the H-21, but this specific airframe. It's in a far corner of the restoration yard at the Pima Air and Space Museum, and it's the aircraft I find myself wanting to photograph more than any other bird they have on display there. Unfortunately, since it's in the restoration yard, it's off-limits to the public, and ESPECIALLY off-limits during the night photoshoots we're lucky enough to occasionally have out there.
I used to hate photographing derelict or stored aircraft. "Dead airplanes bum me out" was my rationale.
When you look at an in-service aircraft, you see a living, breathing machine. You see vitality and capability. You see fresh paint and even fresher oil stains underneath it. You smell all the smells of an aircraft in the prime of its life - oil, metal, rubber, and holy crap the jet fuel. At least for me, I'm too busy be awestruck by everything that a modern aircraft is right at this moment to think about what it has done or who has flown it.
With a 'dead' aircraft, there's nothing but memory. They're still impressive, especially considering some of the limitations designers and manufacturers faced in terms of contemporary design standards and material sciences and powerplant technology. Yes, they're impressive, but it's not immediate.
I don't know what it is about this H-21, but I look at it and I get contemplative. I think about whether any of the silver-haired Air Force veterans who flew or crewed this aircraft are still alive, and if they are, if they ever think about it. Like, when was the last time anyone asked them what they flew? Do they still have start-up and shut-down procedures committed to memory? Where did their careers go after the H-21 was retired? Did they stay in the Air Force? Did they fly professionally as civilians? Did they ever fly at all ever again? Whenever they hear a helicopter, do they close their eyes and imagine their days cruising over a beach or through a mountain pass in an H-21, wishing they could experience that feeling all over again?
I look at this old, broken, rusted hulk of a helicopter, and I want to know how it lived and about the men who gave it life.
And damn do I ever want to take its picture.
“La nostra esperienza sulla terra è spesso definita da un dualismo tra forze contrapposte, una situazione in cui l'esistenza o l'identità di una cosa dipende dalla coesistenza di almeno due condizioni tra loro opposte, ma dipendenti l'una dall'altra e che si presuppongono a vicenda. È forse proprio nel superamento di queste categorie che possiamo trovare crescita ed evoluzione sia come individui che come collettività, mi riferisco ad un campo di tensione tra queste polarità che sia in grado di comprenderle e superarle in una logica di crescita e nuova visione del mondo”. Partendo da questa riflessione, l’artista Patrick Tuttofuoco ha immaginato una forma che fosse in grado di unire in un unico campo espressivo istanze apparentemente opposte - oriente/occidente, femminile/maschile, Kali/Dioniso – che diventano la materia base per riflettere sul superamento dei confini legati al genere e all'abbattimento di stereotipi, etichette e categorie, nel tentativo di dirottare attenzione e luce sull'identità dell'individuo, sulla sua essenza, e non sulla sua apparenza.
L'intervento luminoso site-specific, che raffigura due volti che richiamano alla cultura ellenistica e a quella asiatica, occupa parte della facciata del MAO di Torino, e più precisamente l'angolo le cui facce si rivolgono rispettivamente verso est e ovest, generando anche spazialmente l'unione tra queste due polarità.
L’opera è realizzata in collaborazione e con il supporto di Wonderglass. La sezione Costellazione comprende le Luci d’Artista realizzate dalle principali istituzioni torinesi. Si tratta di una sezione da sempre centrale nella vita di Luci d’Artista e avrà un ruolo cruciale per gli sviluppi della manifestazione sia all’interno della città di Torino, sia, in futuro, in chiave nazionale e internazionale.
There's no specific story for this picture other than I'm sick of cold and ready for summer. But here, it isn't riding weather until mid-May.
I hope you like it.
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SN/NC: Luffa aegyptiaca, Syn. Luffa cyllindrica, Cucurbitaceae Family
Bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) is a tall vine of the cucurbit family, and as belonging to the Luffa genus it is sometimes called simply by Lufa or sponge gourde. It has palm-lobed leaves, yellow flowers, bursts of green, and obovated, oblong berries, up to 45 centimeters similar to cucumber. Some varieties can reach more than 1.2 meters. The loofah is native to the tropical regions of the so-called "Old World".
Despite having a specific restriction "aegyptiaca", which may lead you to think that it is native to Egypt, it is believed to be native to India and Pakistan. When the species was described, it was known in Europe as "Egyptian cucumber".
It is a sub-spontaneous plant, also cultivated in other tropical regions for its medicinal uses, sprouts and edible green fruits (not to be confused with buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), which is toxic). The loofah is cultivated especially by the fibers of the dried fruit, which are used mainly as a bath mop, and can also be used as insole and loofah for shooting, among other functions.
Bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) é uma trepadeira alta da família das cucurbitáceas, e como pertencente ao gênero Luffa é por vezes chamada simplesmente por Lufa. Possui folhas palmatilobadas, flores amarelas, rajadas de verde, e bagas obovadas, oblongas, de até 45 centímetros semelhante ao pepino. Algumas variedades podem atingir mais de 1,2 metro. A bucha é nativa das regiões tropicais do chamado \"Velho Mundo\".
Apesar de ter como restritivo especifico \"aegyptiaca\", que pode levar a pensar que é nativa do Egipto, acredita-se que seja nativa da Índiae do Paquistão. Quando a espécie foi descrita, era conhecida na Europa como \"pepino do Egipto\".
É uma planta subespontânea, também cultivada em outras regiões tropicais por seus usos medicinais, brotos e frutos verdes comestíveis (não confundir com a buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), que é tóxica). A bucha é cultivada especialmente pelas fibras do fruto seco, que são usadas principalmente como esfregão de banho, podendo também ser usadas como palmilha e bucha de carga para tiro, entre outras funções.
A bucha também é conhecida como bucha-dos-paulistas, bucha-dos-pescadores, bucha-de-cerca, bucha-de-parreira, esfregão, fruta-cocta, fruta-dos-paulistas, gombô-grande, mamalongo e quingombô-grande. Em outros idiomas, conhecida como: spongo (Esperanto), pashte (Guatemala), susemi (Coréia), loufa (França), musú (República Dominicana) e paste (El Salvador).
Bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) is een hoge wijnstok van de komkommer familie, en als behorend tot het Luffa-geslacht wordt het soms eenvoudigweg door Lufa genoemd. Het heeft palmlobbige bladeren, gele bloemen, uitbarstingen van groen en omgekeerd langwerpige bessen, tot 45 centimeter vergelijkbaar met komkommer. Sommige soorten kunnen meer dan 1,2 meter bereiken. De luffa komt oorspronkelijk uit de tropische streken van de zogenaamde "Oude Wereld".Ondanks dat er een specifieke beperking "aegyptiaca " is, die u kan doen denken dat het inheems is in Egypte, wordt aangenomen dat het inheems is in India en Pakistan. Toen de soort werd beschreven, stond hij in Europa bekend als "Egyptische komkommer". Het is een subspontane plant, ook gekweekt in andere tropische regio's vanwege zijn medicinale toepassingen, spruiten en eetbare groene vruchten (niet te verwarren met buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), die giftig is). De luffa wordt vooral gekweekt door de vezels van het gedroogde fruit, die voornamelijk als badmop worden gebruikt, en kan ook worden gebruikt als inlegzool en luffa voor onder andere schieten.
La bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) es una enredadera alta de la familia de las cucurbitáceas y, como pertenece al género Luffa, a veces se la llama simplemente Lufa. Tiene hojas con lóbulos de palmera, flores amarillas, ráfagas de verde y bayas obovadas y oblongas, de hasta 45 centímetros similares al pepino. Algunas variedades pueden alcanzar más de 1,2 metros. La esponja vegetal es originaria de las regiones tropicales del llamado "Viejo Mundo".A pesar de tener una restricción específica "aegyptiaca", que puede llevarlo a pensar que es originaria de Egipto, se cree que es originaria de India y Pakistán. Cuando se describió la especie, en Europa se la conocía como "pepino egipcio".Es una planta sub-espontánea, también cultivada en otras regiones tropicales por sus usos medicinales, brotes y frutos verdes comestibles (no confundir con buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), que es tóxica). La esponja vegetal se cultiva especialmente por las fibras de los frutos secos, que se utilizan principalmente como fregona de baño, y también se puede utilizar como plantilla y esponja vegetal re-lleno de cartuchos para tiro en caza, entre otras funciones.
Bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca ; Luffa cyllindrica) est une grande vigne de la famille des cucurbitacées, et comme appartenant au genre Luffa, elle est parfois appelée simplement par Lufa ou gourde éponge. Il a des feuilles palmées, des fleurs jaunes, des éclats de vert et des baies obovales et oblongues, atteignant 45 centimètres semblables à celles du concombre. Certaines variétés peuvent atteindre plus de 1,2 mètre. Le luffa est originaire des régions tropicales de ce qu'on appelle le « Vieux Monde ».
Malgré une restriction spécifique "aegyptiaca", qui peut laisser penser qu'elle est originaire d'Égypte, on pense qu'elle est originaire d'Inde et du Pakistan. Lorsque l'espèce a été décrite, elle était connue en Europe sous le nom de « concombre égyptien ».
C'est une plante sub-spontanée, également cultivée dans d'autres régions tropicales pour ses usages médicinaux, ses pousses et ses fruits verts comestibles (à ne pas confondre avec la buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), qui est toxique). Le luffa est cultivé notamment à partir des fibres des fruits secs, qui sont principalement utilisées comme vadrouille de bain, et peuvent également être utilisées comme semelle intérieure et luffa pour le tir, entre autres fonctions.
Bucha (Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) ist eine hohe Rebe aus der Familie der Kürbisgewächse und wird manchmal einfach Lufa oder Schwammkürbis genannt, da sie zur Gattung Luffa gehört. Sie hat palmengelappte Blätter, gelbe, grüne Blüten und verkehrt eiförmige, längliche Beeren, die bis zu 45 Zentimeter lang und gurkenähnlich sind. Einige Sorten können mehr als 1,2 Meter erreichen. Der Luffa ist in den tropischen Regionen der sogenannten „Alten Welt“ beheimatet.
Obwohl es eine spezifische Einschränkung „Aegyptiaca“ gibt, die den Eindruck erwecken könnte, dass es in Ägypten beheimatet ist, wird angenommen, dass es in Indien und Pakistan beheimatet ist. Als die Art beschrieben wurde, war sie in Europa als „Ägyptische Gurke“ bekannt.
Es handelt sich um eine subspontane Pflanze, die auch in anderen tropischen Regionen wegen ihrer medizinischen Verwendung, Sprossen und essbaren grünen Früchten angebaut wird (nicht zu verwechseln mit Buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), das giftig ist). Der Luffa wird vor allem durch die Fasern der Trockenfrüchte kultiviert, die vor allem als Badewischer verwendet werden, unter anderem aber auch als Einlegesohle und Luffa beim Schießen verwendet werden können.
La Bucha (Luffa a Egyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica) è un'alta pianta rampicante della famiglia delle cucurbitacee, e in quanto appartenente al genere Luffa è talvolta chiamata semplicemente Lufa o spugna gourde. Ha foglie palmate lobate, fiori gialli, sprazzi verdi, e bacche obovate, oblunghe, fino a 45 centimetri, simili al cetriolo. Alcune varietà possono raggiungere più di 1,2 metri. La luffa è originaria delle regioni tropicali del cosiddetto “Vecchio Mondo”.
Nonostante abbia una restrizione specifica "a Egyptiaca", che potrebbe portare a pensare che sia originaria dell'Egitto, si ritiene che sia originaria dell'India e del Pakistan. Quando la specie fu descritta, era conosciuta in Europa come "cetriolo egiziano".
È una pianta subspontanea, coltivata anche in altre regioni tropicali per usi medicinali, germogli e frutti verdi commestibili (da non confondere con la buchinha-do-norte (Luffa operculata), che è tossica). La luffa viene coltivata soprattutto dalle fibre della frutta secca, che vengono utilizzate principalmente come spazzolone da bagno, e possono essere utilizzate anche come soletta e luffa per la pulizia, tra le altre funzioni.
ブチャ（Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa cyllindrica）はウリ科の高性つる植物で、ヘチマ属に属するため、単にヘチマまたはヘチマと呼ばれることもあります。 ヤシの葉状の葉、黄色い花、緑のはじけた果実、そしてキュウリに似た最大45センチメートルの倒卵形の長方形の果実を持っています。 品種によっては1.2メートルを超えるものもあります。 ヘチマは、いわゆる「旧世界」の熱帯地域が原産です。
「aegyptiaca」という特定の制限があるため、エジプト原産であると思われるかもしれませんが、インドとパキスタン原産であると考えられています。 この種が記載されたとき、ヨーロッパでは「エジプトキュウリ」として知られていました。
これは亜自生植物であり、他の熱帯地域でも薬用、新芽、食用の緑色の果実として栽培されています（有毒なブチンハ・ド・ノルテ（ヘチマ）と混同しないでください）。 ヘチマは特に乾燥した果実の繊維を利用して栽培されており、主にバスモップとして使用されますが、その他にも中敷きや射撃用のヘチマなどにも使用されます。
a؛ Luffa cylindrica) هي كرمة طويلة من عائلة القرعيات، وباعتبارها تنتمي إلى جنس Luffa، يطلق عليها أحيانًا ببساطة اسم Lufa أو الجوردة الإسفنجية. لها أوراق مفصصة من النخيل، وأزهار صفراء، ورشقات نارية من اللون الأخضر، وتوت مستطيل الشكل، يصل طوله إلى 45 سم يشبه الخيار. يمكن أن تصل بعض الأصناف إلى أكثر من 1.2 متر. اللوف موطنه الأصلي المناطق الاستوائية لما يسمى "العالم القديم".
على الرغم من وجود قيد محدد "aegyptiaca"، مما قد يدفعك إلى الاعتقاد بأن موطنها الأصلي هو مصر، إلا أنه يعتقد أن موطنها الأصلي هو الهند وباكستان. وعندما تم وصف هذا النوع كان يعرف في أوروبا باسم "الخيار المصري".
إنه نبات شبه عفوي، يُزرع أيضًا في مناطق استوائية أخرى لاستخداماته الطبية، وبراعمه وفواكهه الخضراء الصالحة للأكل (يجب عدم الخلط بينه وبين بوشينها دو نورتي (Luffa operculata)، وهو سام). تتم زراعة الليفة بشكل خاص بواسطة ألياف الفاكهة المجففة، والتي تستخدم بشكل أساسي كممسحة حمام، ويمكن استخدامها أيضًا كنعل داخلي وليفة للتصوير، من بين وظائف أخرى.
The Disconcerting
Part 1
Midnight Shadows
Maybe is because of the specific role-play games my twin and I grew up playing. Maybe it’s also because of My love of dressing up in elegant attire and the wearing of jewellery. Or just maybe I am one of those mystic magnets of a soul that attracts this sort of thing to happen?
I had actually written this one out a year after it happened because someone suggested to me to do so, but wish now I had done so right after it happened so I would have a more descriptive memory of it.
It’s brief because the actual incident as it played out, happened so fast that it all was such a blur, there are no real recollections as far as detailed descriptions go.
Not even sure if it fits in with this collection of stories based on role play and similar games from youth and young adulthood.
For it may have been a game, but it certainly was not one of ours.
££££££££££
This rather harrowing experience occurred on the evening of a fancy dress Girl’s only party I attended some years ago.
My twin brother I were 22 years old at the time, as was my best friend Ginny.
The party mentioned was a BAFTA themed get together held in the nearby city.
Ginny and I were both attired for the party as though we were attending the real thing, which was the idea. And we were not alone in dressing up like that.
For at this annual party held by a university chum’s older sister, everyone attending was mandated to dress up like an actress attending the awards ceremony.
Ginny, as always when she does fancy proper, was drop-dead gorgeous.
She looked smashing, poured into her shimmering, off one shoulder gown of thin silk, silver with copper threads woven in. The gown really had a nice sexy fluid flow as she moved. Long elbow-length gloves of a dark copper satin, finished the effect.
She was wearing her good earrings. A pierced ear style set with real diamonds(1/2 Carat diamond with a dangling a pear-shaped 1 1/2 carat diamond), a diamond rhinestone choker, a matching rhinestone bracelet, and two cocktail rings. The 2 carat earrings and one of her rings were real, the rest good quality antique rhinestones.
Her silky hair, a darker natural red than mine, was worn up with an elegant bun held with a long silver clip on one side. Several strands purposely fell alongside her freckled face, adding a rather far too cute effect.
Myself, I was wearing a pretty party dress of Mum’s. One that I (and Papa) felt she looked breathtakingly beautiful wearing it on a night out.
It was a solid coloured sky blue taffeta dress that shone with a tight sleekness down along my figure. Maybe a bit too tight for it outlined my every curve, making me look sexier than I knew I was. The skirt was higher in front( touching just below my knees) than in the back where it swished a few inches above my ankles and my deep blue silk stiletto heels. The neckline of the dress was of a long open scoop and had wavy ruffles running along with its opening, the sleeves went to my elbows, ending in ruffles. With it, I was also wearing deep blue 3/4 length satin gloves.
For jewellery, I wore mum’s full set of enticingly sparkling rhinestones. The pricey imitation diamonds that Papa teased he needed sunglasses to look at her whenever Mum wore them out, which was a lot.
The centerpiece of the set was undoubtedly the long glittery necklace that looked like an upside-down,loosely attached, elongated pyramid filled with blazing diamond-like stones.
This eye-catcher hung down low along the open neck of the dress, swaying a few inches up from my (small)cleavage.
The set also had a matching bracelet, long earrings, and a ring. I added two more of my real gemstone rings for effect.
My own freshly washed long, naturally red hair was pulled back in a plait and I had a thin diamond chip encrusted silver Tiara to hold it all in place.
Please get a good mental picture of how Ginny and I were dressed up for the affair before reading on( and I hope you will read on) it should add a little clarity to the story.
Part 2
Midnight Ball (Faux)
To fit in with the party theme my twin brother actually was able to again borrow papa’s friend’s elegant antique car. An old dark purple Rolls Royce.
My brother dressed the part as a chauffeur( at Ginny and my puppy-eyed request), wearing a suit, formal shirt, and bow tie. He refused to wear the white gloves or hat though.
He thoroughly was into playing his role, opening the door for each of us as we were helped into the back, with him sitting alone upfront.
The party was at a house 30 minutes away in the city, with about 25 guests expected to attend.
All of whom had gone wild with their fancy dress ideas.
Gowns and formal dresses, many of which were old bridesmaids affairs, flowed, shined, and shimmered along with our fellow guest's youthful female figures.
Copious amounts of Gemstones, mostly rhinestone with more than a few real ones, were glittering with amazing brilliance from their mistresses.
As you can imagine, I was really into that atmosphere and it was really for me, a quite enjoyable and engaging experience.
The party itself was a lot of fun and very enjoyable for all in attendance. This was the pre-cell phone era, so we all were quite focused on the party.
On and off we watched the awards show, but the main attraction was the drinking and guessing games we played.
We also had a fashion show with a makeshift red carpet that everyone did a catwalk along.
My mum’s rhinestone attracted a lot of notice, they sparkled so much.
And yes, once when mum was wearing them out a lady actually asked if they were real. We all had a good laugh over that.
My brother and even Ginny commented on how they would sparkle in the city street lamps as we drove under them on the way in.
By the time the party was winding down we all
were feeling pretty well lit, and very huggy.
All too soon it was time to go.
After my twin brother had dropped us off, he waiting for us at the riverside pub named Poet and the Peasant.
He told us to call at the pub and then wait inside the house for him to arrive. The neighborhood was nice enough, but still, it was the city, so he felt more comfortable if we were to not be out wandering.
He would honk the Roll’s horn at the curb to let us know when he was there.
We called from the house after midnight when ready and he told us he’d be there in about 15 minutes after leaving the pub where he was playing darts with a few lads.
We had told others about the Rolls Royce, and some had asked to see it. So, ignoring my brother’s request, we all gathered outside to wait.
Twenty minutes later my brother drove up, spying our group he honked the horn as he pulled up curbside.
Playing the part in front of so many well-dressed ladies, my brother was in his glory as helped each of us slip into the back seat of the rolls Royce, closing our doors like a gentleman, before hopping back in the driver's seat to take us home. Honking the horn again to the few remaining jealous admirers who waved us on.
We felt like real movie stars at that.
And like real movie stars, we soon had a following.
Part 3
Midnight Followers
It was after my brother turned off the street where the party house was located, that he first noticed the red auto behind us.
He was not sure where it had come from, but, something he could never put a finger on, made him think that it was a deliberate appearance
The red auto, keeping about two car lengths behind, began to match my brother’s turns as he began to take his usual way home. The car never signaled its turns he noticed.
Not saying anything to us chattering away in the back leather seats, he turned off into a side street at random to see what would happen. The auto turned down the same street following, again no turn signal.
My brother then turned down another street and pulled the Rolls over midway along it, stopping at the curb directly in front of a house, so the auto could pass if he also turned In behind.
It did come around the same corner, but instead of passing the parked Rolls, the red auto ominously pulled to the curb about three houses behind us, leaving its lights on.
Ginny and I had been chatting happily in the back seat, my brother stopping the Rolls Royce first drew our attention that something was up.
When asked what’s going on, he said that he thinks someone in an automobile is following us.
We laughed at him, thinking he was trying to play games with us.
On the way to the party, he kept teasing us on how sparkly our jewels were in the rearview mirror when illuminated by street lights.
I had snickered saying
“it’s a good thing your here to protect us then Luv.”
He had looked back at me with a wicked smile in his eyes. “Ah, true lass, but what if I was a thief in disguise?”
So now we both thought he was just trying to put a scare into us playing off on those remarks.
Not smiling at our taunts, he sternly told us to just turn around and watch the auto parked down the road with the headlights on.
Part 4
Midnight Apprehension
We both turned in our seats, surprised to see that he was right.
“Who do you think it is?” Ginny asked reasonably.
“Really don’t know, Luv?” He answered putting the Rolls in gear.
He pulled away, and after a few seconds so did the auto with the headlights on.
My brother then took two more random turns down roads and we realized he was really telling the bloody truth.
We knew then it wasn’t something my brother had dreamed up as role-play with his lads. He would not stoop this low and besides, to tell the truth, he was not all that good of an actor to pull it off.
The auto kept pace, matching
us turn for turn.
I would think by then whoever was in the red Auto knew that we realized they were tailing us. But they still kept following.
I remember as we watched from the back, Ginny and I turning to look at each other, both of us not really knowing what to do if even there was anything we could have done?
I can also clearly recollect how Ginny’s diamond earrings were glimmering as I looked into her concerned face. But bit my tongue.
I did not want to alarm her with my thoughts. Knowing how expensive her earrings were. That, plus the fact most of the jewellery I was wearing belonged to Mum, really gave me worries. Still, I knew Ginny was also harboring similar unsaid concerns.
Neither of us daring to give voice to those worries, lest it became a reality.
But two elegantly clad young ladies being driven around inside a Rolls Royce with a chauffeur at the wheel could say the least, easily attract notice. Something we had not given any thought to as we planned out this evening.
Inviting attention, both when arriving in the city, and as well as when they were leaving it.
Both of us turned back to look out the window.
Again watching the bright headlights, I shuddered at another thought that popped into my head.
What if the occupants of the red auto had followed us in, and while we were enjoying the party, had been waiting patiently for us to leave it?
That really creeped me out and I shivered.
My brother, silent with unspoken worries of his own, was keeping to the well lit, residential streets while trying to think of how to get out of this if he needed to.
It could be just two joyriders doing this on a lark after all.
A second issue was that the big Rolls Royce was a lumbering beast not made to outspeed pursuit.
Then there was a third issue: He also did not want to lead our shadowers near to where Ginny or we both lived.
We still lived in a rambling country cottage with my parents. Ginny lived a few houses over in the old stone house that had once been a summer home for a large, prewar, estate owner.
Not voicing any of these concerns to his passengers, my brother stayed in the city, which he knew quite well.
Turning up a boulevard he saw a traffic light ahead.
We pulled up to it and the Red Auto stopped about a car length back.
We could make out the shadowy figures of two unmistakable males, talking to each other as they were pointing fingers.
They were not just pointing at us, but past us. That gave me the creeps as I told my brother what the occupants were doing.
The light turned green, and without signaling, he turned the Rolls to the right, entering a Main Street.
The red auto did the same, not signaling either.
Approaching another light as it was turning red, my brother ran it, cutting off a lurching double-decker just coming into the intersection.
As we received a blast of horns for our transgression, my brother shifted into a higher gear and forced the whining old Rolls into its top speed.
All I remember at that point, was thinking we were not going fast enough at all.
But this maneuver held up the red auto only long enough for us to turn down an alley between two businesses about 3/4 of a block past the red light. I was watching our rear and I knew the red auto, just leaving the intersection, had seen us turn.
My brother knew that the alleys on this street all let out onto a road that ran along the grounds of a rugby stadium.
There were street lamps on the opposite side of the road from the stadium. There were no lights on at all on the stadium side, making the area darker at night than India ink.
We pulled out of the alleyway without seeing any following headlights yet coming in behind us.
“There is usually a patrol car parked along the stadium at night, “my brother said.
“Keep an eye out”
But of course, tonight was the exception, no cars were parked there.
I was looking back at the alleyway we had left and I saw headlights casting along the brick walls.
I gave warning, but it came out as a girlish shriek.
“I see it.” My brother said, he had killed the headlights and was already turning into the exit end of the stadium’s long parking lot
My twin pulled the Rolls under the shadows of some trees that lined the inner side of the parking lot, facing the way we had come.
We all scrunched down and waited.
Part 5
Midnight Escape
A few very long seconds later, the red auto, driving slowly, appeared at the end of the alley and stopped.
Then, without signal,
it slowly turned off onto the street and started going in the opposite direction, at a crawl.
Looking For our Rolls Royce we probably rightly suspected.
Our hearts were pounding and I believe we were all holding our breaths with disquieting
trepidation.
The red auto went down past that end of the stadium.
My heart leaped into my throat as I put a hand to my beating breasts, watching it turn up the next street leading back to the intersection with the red light we had blown through.
My brother put in the clutch, keeping the headlamps off, he slowly turned the auto around.
Ginny and I sat up and watched behind us.
We turned off the parking lot went back the opposite of where our pursuers had gone.
Once in the street my brother turned on the headlamps and gave the old engine some gas. We turned up the next street and then some side streets.
Nervously we watched the streets behind us. But only saw a few headlights coming on the road, and they were all false alarms.
Finally circling around we made it back to the Main Street that led to the highway turnoff.
Nervously all three of us scanned the cars parked along both sides of the streets. But no one pulled out behind us that seemingly going on forever stretch of road.
Apparently, we had lost our shadower’s in the red auto.
We made it to the turnoff without further mischief befalling us and went onto the highway and headed back home.
We never saw the red auto again.
Ginny and I were spending the rest of the weekend in her basemen bedroom at her house, her parents bring out of town.
Neither of us was ashamed to admit we accepted my brother’s offer to spend the night upstairs.
When we got to her place, Ginny helped us raid Uncle’s small bar in the basement. We sat up for the rest of the early morning, still fully dressed, talking it over.
We all believed was no lark, hoax, or a joke being played on us. The occupants of that red auto seemed all too intent on something.
To this very day, none of us have any real idea of what that intent may have been, just only our speculation.
I do remember that we had come up with a whole gauntlet of theories before turning in.
But we are all quite ok with not finding out which theory was the correct one that night.
And Like me, I’m sure we all finally drifted off to sleep considering what may have played out if...?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Would love to hear thoughts on this in the comments below. Especially if anyone has ever had a similar experience.
@algonquinoutfit : Want to know what's open at @ArroPark check their @OntarioParks website for a Dec 30th update… t.co/d37iw3y0eA (via Twitter twitter.com/algonquinoutfit/status/814865812716683264)
A specific, creative struggle is going on at the moment.
It's true. I admit. It is a panging question.
What's next?
How does artistic progression occur without redundancy?
Does this happen to you?
Creating images is so very important to me. It feeds both my wants and needs of expression and communication. I believe that when you are shy or introverted, in particular, photography offers a voice; a presence with proof that all, sometimes socially awkward, inconveniently timid, and the often meek can be not only heard but expressive. Photography gifts this not only to myself but to many others.
Without the use of words, an image can resonate with another human like nothing spoken. Images gift the viewer an opportunity to interpret a soulful message specific to their needs. A communicative conduit through which the viewer receives precisely the emotion that at he/she needs or wants. Be it sadness, peacefulness, happiness, positivity, negativity, love, etc ... Isn't that amazing?
Think about it.
I do.
It's huge.
As 2019 begins, I wish to transform my photography fetish and move forward into sharing a more stimulating and creative forum. I am not a goal-oriented human, but perhaps it is time to structure a few things. I am struggling to make headway in the creative direction that my heart wishes to travel. It is frustrating.
I want to try something new; such as, write a novel and or a book of poetry, teach a class, offer online workshops, hold a photography retreat, open a studio, and more.
I even start a 365 on January 1st, eyes rolling, knowing I have much more important, challenging photography things to accomplish. I have done a 365 previously, four years ago. Why revisit it? Do I find ways to procrastinate creating obstacles to reaching my true wants? Hmmm.
What is the "thing" you are struggling to uncover or explore? As we move into another year of our lives, in which we so very much want to be productive not only for ourselves but for others, what is yours?
For me, the first step is going to be clearing away the fog, the obstacles that are requiring my time which is inhibiting my ability to do the things of creative choice. Prioritize I suppose, would be most specific. Seems like a great place in which to begin.
xo
_________
Panging by Angie Lambert
There is a want
and a need
to be inspirational.
Stealthy,
a blur reveals.
Teasing with clarity
and snippets of precision,
it feeds.
What is next?
I do hear you.
Mind and body hungry,
needing less of the blur
rather than more,
the pang continues.
Site-specific by Giuseppe Stampone | The Invisible Dog Art Center a Brooklyn, New York
Ordinary Love is the title of the new single of U2 composed for the soundtrack to the biography Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, a film directed by Justin Chadwick.
The music video for Ordinary Love, directed by Mac Premo and Oliver Jeffers, has as its location the installation "Caronte" by Giuseppe Stampone which is located in the spaces of The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Ordinary Love è il titolo del nuovo singolo degli U2 composto per la colonna sonora del film biografico Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, pellicola diretta da Justin Chadwick.
Il video musicale di Ordinary Love, diretto da Mac Premo e Oliver Jeffers, ha come location l'installazione site specific "Caronte" di Giuseppe Stampone che si trova negli spazi di The Invisible Dog Art Center a Brooklyn, New York.
others mod on the pic:
Specific perfection ENB www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/62978/?
Verdant www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60220/?
Site specific interactive artwork in a public plaza. The artwork was designed and intended to allow people to climb up and down. Unfortunately four people jumped––to their death. It is now closed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_swallow
The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world.[2] It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.[2] In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".[3]
There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia.[2] Its huge range means that the barn swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats.
The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight.[4] This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration.[5] The barn swallow is the national bird of Estonia.
Description
The adult male barn swallow of the nominate subspecies H. r. rustica is 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) long including 2–7 cm (0.79–2.76 in) of elongated outer tail feathers. It has a wingspan of 32–34.5 cm (12.6–13.6 in) and weighs 16–22 g (0.56–0.78 oz). It has steel blue upperparts and a rufous forehead, chin and throat, which are separated from the off-white underparts by a broad dark blue breast band. The outer tail feathers are elongated, giving the distinctive deeply forked "swallow tail". There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail.[4] The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.[2]
The song of the barn swallow is a cheerful warble, often ending with su-seer with the second note higher than the first but falling in pitch. Calls include witt or witt-witt and a loud splee-plink when excited (or trying to chase intruders away from the nest).[4] The alarm calls include a sharp siflitt for predators like cats and a flitt-flitt for birds of prey like the hobby.[6] This species is fairly quiet on the wintering grounds.[7]
The distinctive combination of a red face and blue breast band render the adult barn swallow easy to distinguish from the African Hirundo species and from the welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena) with which its range overlaps in Australasia.[2] In Africa the short tail streamers of the juvenile barn swallow invite confusion with juvenile red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida), but the latter has a narrower breast band and more white in the tail.[8]
Taxonomy
The barn swallow was described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Hirundo rustica, characterised as H. rectricibus, exceptis duabus intermediis, macula alba notatîs.[9] Hirundo is the Latin word for "swallow"; rusticus means "of the country".[10] This species is the only one of that genus to have a range extending into the Americas, with the majority of Hirundo species being native to Africa. This genus of blue-backed swallows is sometimes called the "barn swallows".[2][3]
The Oxford English Dictionary dates the English common name "barn swallow" to 1851,[11] though an earlier instance of the collocation in an English-language context is in Gilbert White's popular book The Natural History of Selborne, originally published in 1789:
The swallow, though called the chimney-swallow, by no means builds altogether in chimnies [sic], but often within barns and out-houses against the rafters ... In Sweden she builds in barns, and is called ladusvala, the barn-swallow.[12]
This suggests that the English name may be a calque on the Swedish term.
There are few taxonomic problems within the genus, but the red-chested swallow—a resident of West Africa, the Congo basin and Ethiopia—was formerly treated as a subspecies of barn swallow. The red-chested swallow is slightly smaller than its migratory relative, has a narrower blue breast-band, and the adult has shorter tail streamers. In flight, it looks paler underneath than barn swallow.[8]
Subspecies
Six subspecies of barn swallow are generally recognized. In eastern Asia, a number of additional or alternative forms have been proposed, including saturata by Robert Ridgway in 1883,[13] kamtschatica by Benedykt Dybowski in 1883,[14] ambigua by Erwin Stresemann[15] and mandschurica by Wilhelm Meise in 1934.[13] Given the uncertainties over the validity of these forms,[14][16] this article follows the treatment of Turner and Rose.[2]
H. r. rustica, the nominate European subspecies, breeds in Europe and Asia, as far north as the Arctic Circle, south to North Africa, the Middle East and Sikkim, and east to the Yenisei River. It migrates on a broad front to winter in Africa, Arabia, and the Indian subcontinent.[2] The barn swallows wintering in southern Africa are from across Eurasia to at least 91°E,[17] and have been recorded as covering up to 11,660 km (7,250 mi) on their annual migration.[18]
H. r. transitiva was described by Ernst Hartert in 1910. It breeds in the Middle East from southern Turkey to Israel and is partially resident, though some birds winter in East Africa. It has orange red underparts and a broken breast band.[2]
H. r. savignii, the resident Egyptian subspecies, was described by James Stephens in 1817 and named for French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny.[19] It resembles transitiva, which also has orange-red underparts, but savignii has a complete broad breast band and deeper red hue to the underparts.[6]
H. r. gutturalis, described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1786,[13] has whitish underparts and a broken breast band. Breast chestnut and lower underparts more pink-buff.[20] The populations that breed in the central and eastern Himalayas have been included in this subspecies,[21] although the primary breeding range is Japan and Korea. The east Asian breeders winter across tropical Asia from India and Sri Lanka[22] east to Indonesia and New Guinea. Increasing numbers are wintering in Australia. It hybridises with H. r. tytleri in the Amur River area. It is thought that the two eastern Asia forms were once geographically separate, but the nest sites provided by expanding human habitation allowed the ranges to overlap.[2] H. r. gutturalis is a vagrant to Alaska and Washington,[23] but is easily distinguished from the North American breeding subspecies, H. r. erythrogaster, by the latter's reddish underparts.[2]
H. r. tytleri, first described by Thomas Jerdon in 1864, and named for British soldier, naturalist and photographer Robert Christopher Tytler,[13] has deep orange-red underparts and an incomplete breast band. The tail is also longer.[20] It breeds in central Siberia south to northern Mongolia and winters from eastern Bengal east to Thailand and Malaysia.[2]
H. r. erythrogaster in Washington State, US
H. r. erythrogaster, the North American subspecies described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783,[13] differs from the European subspecies in having redder underparts and a narrower, often incomplete, blue breast band. It breeds throughout North America, from Alaska to southern Mexico, and migrates to the Lesser Antilles, Costa Rica, Panama and South America to winter.[7] A few may winter in the southernmost parts of the breeding range. This subspecies funnels through Central America on a narrow front and is therefore abundant on passage in the lowlands of both coasts.[24]
The short wings, red belly and incomplete breast band of H. r. tytleri are also found in H. r. erythrogaster, and DNA analyses show that barn swallows from North America colonised the Baikal region of Siberia, a dispersal direction opposite to that for most changes in distribution between North America and Eurasia.[25]
Behaviour
Habitat and range
The preferred habitat of the barn swallow is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, preferably with nearby water. This swallow avoids heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. The presence of accessible open structures such as barns, stables, or culverts to provide nesting sites, and exposed locations such as wires, roof ridges or bare branches for perching, are also important in the bird's selection of its breeding range.[4]
It breeds in the Northern Hemisphere from sea level to typically 2,700 m (8,900 ft),[26] but to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the Caucasus[4] and North America,[27] and it is absent only from deserts and the cold northernmost parts of the continents. Over much of its range, it avoids towns, and in Europe is replaced in urban areas by the house martin. However, in Honshū, Japan, the barn swallow is a more urban bird, with the red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica) replacing it as the rural species.[2]
In winter, the barn swallow is cosmopolitan in its choice of habitat, avoiding only dense forests and deserts.[28] It is most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago it is described as being particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane.[7][29][30] In the absence of suitable roost sites, they may sometimes roost on wires where they are more exposed to predators.[31] Individual birds tend to return to the same wintering locality each year[32] and congregate from a large area to roost in reed beds.[29] These roosts can be extremely large, one in Nigeria had an estimated 1.5 million birds.[33] These roosts are thought to be a protection from predators, and the arrival of roosting birds is synchronised in order to overwhelm predators like African hobbies. The barn swallow has been recorded as breeding in the more temperate parts of its winter range, such as the mountains of Thailand and in central Argentina.[2][34]
Migration of barn swallows between Britain and South Africa was first established on 23 December 1912 when a bird that had been ringed by James Masefield at a nest in Staffordshire, was found in Natal.[35] As would be expected for a long-distance migrant, this bird has occurred as a vagrant to such distant areas as Hawaii, Bermuda, Greenland, Tristan da Cunha the Falkland Islands,[2] and even Antarctica.[36]
Feeding
The barn swallow is similar in its habits to other aerial insectivores, including other swallow species and the unrelated swifts. It is not a particularly fast flier, with a speed estimated at about 11 m/s, up to 20 m/s and a wing beat rate of approximately 5, up to 7–9 times each second.[37][38]
The barn swallow typically feeds in open areas[39] 7–8 m (23–26 ft) above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects, but it will occasionally pick prey items from the water surface, walls and plants.[4] In the breeding areas, large flies make up around 70% of the diet, with aphids also a significant component. However, in Europe, the barn swallow consumes fewer aphids than the house or sand martins.[4] On the wintering grounds, Hymenoptera, especially flying ants, are important food items.[2] When egg-laying, barn swallows hunt in pairs, but will form often large flocks otherwise.[2]
The amount of food a clutch will get depends on the size of the clutch, with larger clutches getting more food on average. The timing of a clutch also determines the food given; later broods get food that is smaller in size compared to earlier broods. This is because larger insects are too far away from the nest to be profitable in terms of energy expenditure.[40]
Isotope studies have shown that wintering populations may utilise different feeding habitats, with British breeders feeding mostly over grassland, whereas Swiss birds utilised woodland more.[41] Another study showed that a single population breeding in Denmark actually wintered in two separate and different areas.[42]
The barn swallow drinks by skimming low over lakes or rivers and scooping up water with its open mouth.[27] This bird bathes in a similar fashion, dipping into the water for an instant while in flight.[32]
Swallows gather in communal roosts after breeding, sometimes thousands strong. Reed beds are regularly favoured, with the birds swirling en masse before swooping low over the reeds.[6] Reed beds are an important source of food prior to and whilst on migration; although the barn swallow is a diurnal migrant that can feed on the wing whilst it travels low over ground or water, the reed beds enable fat deposits to be established or replenished.[43]
Breeding
The male barn swallow returns to the breeding grounds before the females and selects a nest site, which is then advertised to females with a circling flight and song. The breeding success of the male is related to the length of the tail streamers, with longer streamers being more attractive to the female.[4][44] Males with longer tail feathers are generally longer-lived and more disease resistant, females thus gaining an indirect fitness benefit from this form of selection, since longer tail feathers indicate a genetically stronger individual which will produce offspring with enhanced vitality.[45] Males in northern Europe have longer tails than those further south; whereas in Spain the male's tail streamers are only 5% longer than the female's, in Finland the difference is 20%. In Denmark, the average male tail length increased by 9% between 1984 and 2004, but it is possible that climatic changes may lead in the future to shorter tails if summers become hot and dry.[46]
Males with long streamers also have larger white tail spots, and since feather-eating bird lice prefer white feathers, large white tail spots without parasite damage again demonstrate breeding quality; there is a positive association between spot size and the number of offspring produced each season.[47]
The breeding season of the barn swallow is variable; in the southern part of the range, the breeding season usually is from February or March to early to mid September, although some late second and third broods finish in October. In the northern part of the range, it usually starts late May to early June and ends the same time as the breeding season of the southernmost birds.[48]
Both sexes defend the nest, but the male is particularly aggressive and territorial.[2] Once established, pairs stay together to breed for life, but extra-pair copulation is common, making this species genetically polygamous, despite being socially monogamous.[49] Males guard females actively to avoid being cuckolded.[50] Males may use deceptive alarm calls to disrupt extrapair copulation attempts toward their mates.[51]
As its name implies, the barn swallow typically nests inside accessible buildings such as barns and stables, or under bridges and wharves.[52] Before man-made sites became common, it nested on cliff faces or in caves, but this is now rare.[2] The neat cup-shaped nest is placed on a beam or against a suitable vertical projection. It is constructed by both sexes, although more often by the female, with mud pellets collected in their beaks and lined with grasses, feathers, algae[52] or other soft materials.[2] The nest building ability of the male is also sexually selected; females will lay more eggs and at an earlier date with males who are better at nest construction, with the opposite being true with males that are not.[53] After building the nest, barn swallows may nest colonially where sufficient high-quality nest sites are available, and within a colony, each pair defends a territory around the nest which, for the European subspecies, is 4 to 8 m2 (43 to 86 sq ft) in size. Colony size tends to be larger in North America.[27]
In North America at least, barn swallows frequently engage in a mutualist relationship with ospreys. Barn swallows will build their nest below an osprey nest, receiving protection from other birds of prey that are repelled by the exclusively fish-eating ospreys. The ospreys are alerted to the presence of these predators by the alarm calls of the swallows.[27]
There are normally two broods, with the original nest being reused for the second brood and being repaired and reused in subsequent years. The female lays two to seven, but typically four or five, reddish-spotted white eggs.[2] The clutch size is influenced by latitude, with clutch sizes of northern populations being higher on average than southern populations.[54] The eggs are 20 mm × 14 mm (0.79 in × 0.55 in) in size, and weigh 1.9 g (0.067 oz), of which 5% is shell. In Europe, the female does almost all the incubation, but in North America the male may incubate up to 25% of the time. The incubation period is normally 14–19 days, with another 18–23 days before the altricial chicks fledge. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest. Occasionally, first-year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood.[2]
The barn swallow will mob intruders such as cats or accipiters that venture too close to their nest, often flying very close to the threat.[45] Adult barn swallows have few predators, but some are taken by accipiters, falcons, and owls. Brood parasitism by cowbirds in North America or cuckoos in Eurasia is rare.[4][27]
Hatching success is 90% and the fledging survival rate is 70–90%. Average mortality is 70–80% in the first year and 40–70% for the adult. Although the record age is more than 11 years, most survive less than four years.[2] Barn swallow nestlings have prominent red gapes, a feature shown to induce feeding by parent birds. An experiment in manipulating brood size and immune system showed the vividness of the gape was positively correlated with T-cell–mediated immunocompetence, and that larger brood size and injection with an antigen led to a less vivid gape.[55]
The barn swallow has been recorded as hybridising with the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the cave swallow (P. fulva) in North America, and the house martin (Delichon urbicum) in Eurasia, the cross with the latter being one of the most common passerine hybrids.[45]
Status
The barn swallow has an enormous range, with an estimated global extent of 51,700,000 km2 (20,000,000 sq mi) and a population of 190 million individuals. The species is evaluated as least concern on the 2007 IUCN Red List,[1] and has no special status under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants.[27]
This is a species that has greatly benefited historically from forest clearance, which has created the open habitats it prefers, and from human habitation, which have given it an abundance of safe man-made nest sites. There have been local declines due to the use of DDT in Israel in the 1950s, competition for nest sites with house sparrows in the US in the 19th century, and an ongoing gradual decline in numbers in parts of Europe and Asia due to agricultural intensification, reducing the availability of insect food. However, there has been an increase in the population in North America during the 20th century with the greater availability of nesting sites and subsequent range expansion, including the colonisation of northern Alberta.[2]
A specific threat to wintering birds from the European populations is the transformation by the South African government of a light aircraft runway near Durban into an international airport for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The roughly 250 m (270 yd) square Mount Moreland reed bed is a night roost for more than three million barn swallows, which represent 1% of the global population and 8% of the European breeding population. The reed bed lies on the flight path of aircraft using the proposed La Mercy airport, and there were fears that it would be cleared because the birds could threaten aircraft safety.[61][62] However, following detailed evaluation, advanced radar technology will be installed to enable planes using the airport to be warned of bird movements and, if necessary, take appropriate measures to avoid the flocks.[29]
Climate change may affect the barn swallow; drought causes weight loss and slow feather regrowth, and the expansion of the Sahara will make it a more formidable obstacle for migrating European birds. Hot dry summers will reduce the availability of insect food for chicks. Conversely, warmer springs may lengthen the breeding season and result in more chicks, and the opportunity to use nest sites outside buildings in the north of the range might also lead to more offspring.[46]
Relationship with humans
The barn swallow is an attractive bird that feeds on flying insects and has therefore been tolerated by humans when it shares their buildings for nesting. As one of the earlier migrants, this conspicuous species is also seen as an early sign of summer's approach.[63]
In the Old World, the barn swallow appears to have used man-made structures and bridges since time immemorial. An early reference is in Virgil's Georgics (29 BC), "Ante garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo" (Before the twittering swallow hangs its nest from the rafters).[64]
Many cattle farmers believed that swallows spread Salmonella infections, however a study in Sweden showed no evidence of the birds being reservoirs of the bacteria.[65]
In literature
Many literary references are based on the barn swallow's northward migration as a symbol of spring or summer. The proverb about the necessity for more than one piece of evidence goes back at least to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: "For as one swallow or one day does not make a spring, so one day or a short time does not make a fortunate or happy man."[63]
The barn swallow symbolizes the coming of spring and thus love in the Pervigilium Veneris, a late Latin poem. In his poem "The Waste Land", T. S. Eliot quoted the line "Quando fiam uti chelidon [ut tacere desinam]?" ("When will I be like the swallow, so that I can stop being silent?") This refers to the myth of Philomela in which she turns into a nightingale, and her sister Procne into a swallow.[66] On the other hand, an image of the assembly of swallows for their southward migration concludes John Keats's ode "To Autumn".
The swallow is cited in several of William Shakespeare's plays for the swiftness of its flight, with "True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings" from Act 5 of Richard III, and "I have horse will follow where the game Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain." from the second act of Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare references the annual migration of the species in The Winter's Tale, Act 4: "Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty".
In culture[edit]
Further information: Birds in culture
Gilbert White studied the barn swallow in detail in his pioneering work The Natural History of Selborne, but even this careful observer was uncertain whether it migrated or hibernated in winter.[12] Elsewhere, its long journeys have been well observed, and a swallow tattoo is popular amongst nautical men as a symbol of a safe return; the tradition was that a mariner had a tattoo of this fellow wanderer after sailing 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi). A second swallow would be added after 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at sea.[67] In the past, the tolerance for this beneficial insectivore was reinforced by superstitions regarding damage to the barn swallow's nest. Such an act might lead to cows giving bloody milk, or no milk at all, or to hens ceasing to lay.[5] This may be a factor in the longevity of swallows' nests. Survival, with suitable annual refurbishment, for 10–15 years is regular, and one nest was reported to have been occupied for 48 years.[5]
It is depicted as the Martlet, Merlette or Merlot in heraldry, where it represents younger sons who have no lands. It is also represented as lacking feet as this was a common belief at the time.[68] As a result of a campaign by ornithologists, the barn swallow has been the national bird of Estonia since 23 June 1960.