French countryside

As a B&B host (not an Air BnB Superhost! no thanks) I get asked many questions: where to go, what to see, what's the weather going to do today, etc? Fortunately, having an interest in photography has helped me in that, as I regularly recce the area to check roads, where deer are, highland coos, etc, and taste the local whisky so that I know!

Sometimes I'm powerless to help. When people (French) travel from the south of France to the Scottish Highlands and then decide it's too far to go 25 miles to explore the end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Or they only bring white trainers and no walking boots with them as if expecting to only walk on city pavements and not across unspoilt and rugged Mother Nature. I despair sometimes with the lack of 'nous' or planning. Of course they also expect to get up late and then set off for a day trip of all of Skye....and haven't even thought to book a ferry in peak season.

Some, a few, arrive better prepared, some with teenage kids more interested in staying in the room and playing Call of Duty on the Playstation. To them, I might say, why not go far off the beaten trail out to Glendrian?

Your kids can get some lungfulls of pure, fresh highland air, some exercise and some education (why do people come here with big plastic bottles of Highland Spring water bottled from some drain near the Ochil Hills near Glasgow? How could it be more pure than what we have come out of the mountains around here? At least I'm reasonably confident our water hasn't already passed through several other human beings, and only filtered after flowing through the whole sewage system and chemically recycled).

Glendrian is an abandoned crofting township in the centre of the Ardnamurchan peninsula centred on grid reference NM480687. It is a Scheduled Monument, Historic Scotland describing it as “of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of post-medieval settlement and economy. Although only abandoned in the 1940s the settlement incorporates information for the earlier expansion and contraction of the community who lived here. The buildings are varied in date and style and contain evidence for the complex history of settlement on the site.”

Glendrian’s lands occupy the eastern half of the low land within the circle of hills formed by the main ring dykes of the Ardnamurchan Tertiary Volcanic Complex. Even in winter, when the vegetation has died back, the buildings are difficult to see.

But take your teenagers out there and ask them to imagine it was their home, completely isolated and cut off in the low land where there is total silence within the circle of hills formed by the main ring dykes of the Ardnamurchan Tertiary Volcanic Complex. There's no road to it. No electricity. The running water is in the form of a burn along the bottom of the shallow valley. No shops. And apart from feeding and tending to the animals kids still had to go to school in Kilchoan, six miles over the hills. And they didn't have modern water and windproof clothing to cloth them as they walked to school in winter darkness, and rain, hail and snow. And shock-horror: tell your teenagers they had no phone signal or wifi either!

People lived in Glendrian until the 1940's until the convenience of motorised transport links, shops and electricity lured them to living in towns and villages. 80 years on, if they were still alive would they move back, valuing the quality of life in Glendrian: no noise, no traffic, no crowds, no crime, no rape, no knife crime - a peaceful way of life? That's what 'civilisation' should be. Indeed the movement of people to live in towns and cities has heralded the end of civilisation! A visit to Glendrian can teach modern youth, and city and town folk a lot! I scuttled off home before the rain arrived.

A more comprehensive history of the settlement is here : heritageardnamurchan.co.uk/glendrian/

🎃. IRIE HALLOWE'EN PARTY 🎃.

ft DJ XENON & DJ TERESE

Superhost: MANDRY

Saturday 29th October 2022

From 11 AM til 2 PM 🎶

PRIZES FOR BEST IN HALLOWE'EN WEAR

Fun, Original, Freebie, Sexy ~ anything goes

('bits' must be covered).

📌 Irie Vibes maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreamworld%20Sapphire/221/...

Or...rather de-stressed. Staying at an Airbnb near Oxford, with great hospitality from the SuperHost. Using a digital lens for a change, a Sigma 30mm f1.4.

Pawel Freisler: Apples (ongoing)

Or..."would you like the last croissant before I eat it?"

Staying at an Airbnb near Oxford, with great hospitality from the SuperHost. Using a digital lens for a change, a Sigma 30mm f1.4.

Cefalu, Italy - Airbnb Superhost

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

~

Stock used with thanks to ..

Tree by Black Eden Design

Door by Painted on my Soul

Both purchased from PNGTubes com

Hill/treeline from Public Domain Images

Sky, grasses & path are my own.

My small traditional 8-inch Mego collection, spring 2009. Only a couple of these are vintage originals: Kirk, Spidey, Spock & Galen/Cornelius. The rest are reproductions of classic Megos, or customs.

I don't really consider myself an 8" Mego collector, but I do like to get them if they're a character I like, and the design is nice.

I'm really happy to have Ghost Rider - a MegoMeet special edition, and the Invisible Man - the exclusive from MegoCon.

My custom Superhost - featured in Cleveland Magazine - is there in the background! I have a custom Ultraman in the works.

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

~

Stock used with my thanks to:

Trees & Grass by Black Eden Design - Both from PNGTubes com

Textures and other images are my own

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

~

Stocks used with my thanks to:

Doorway by Black Eden Design

Tower by Emma Louise

Both purchased from PNGTubes com

Lone mountain (base) by zememz

Βραχυχρόνιες μισθώσεις ▪️Διαχείριση σπιτιών για airbnb ▪️ Διαχείριση διαμερισμάτων▪️ #travel #visitgreece #villa #mansion #billionaire #luxury #design #architecture #architect #interiordesign #interior #luxury #decor #furniture #interiordesigner #realestate #airbnb #airbnbhomes #airbnboftheday #superhost #madeeasy #homm #athens #greece #spetses

Created for Brenda’s Bounty ~ Challenge #16

Source image - Premade BG 59 by Brenda Starr

My thanks to all these amazing people for sharing their images.

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

Male elf by Loveit

Female elf by Emma Louise

Lanterns by Black Eden Design

Butterflies & Cat - Nakatoni

All are were purchased or gifts from PNGTubes com

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

Model by Grinmir-stock

Owl by winnu

Rat by xNickixstockx

Deer by stormsorceress

Moon by Petr Kratochvil

Texture 1 "BluesTraveler 7-29-2009 TOTD # 26" - SkeletalMess

Mushrooms & Texture 2 are my own

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

Stock credits with my thanks to:

Tree purchased from DREAMSTIME

Mushrooms by Black Eden Design and Door by Painted on my Soul - Purchased from PNGTubes com

Foreground, background and stairs are my own.

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Pre-made~

If you are looking for more stock images or texture please check out my group pool at

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

Bench purchased from PNG Tubes with thanks to Black Eden Designs.

As millions of people today, as I travelled with my wife from San Antonio to New Orleans, I booked apartments along the way via Airbnb, but, as practical as this company’s services may be, I couldn’t help but think something got lost along the way. It’s scary to say but I’m not that far from turning twice millennial. That comes with some experience. I remember Windows’95 making Internet accessible and how it changed things… slowly.

Our first internet bookings were done for a trip in France in the late nineties. We’d find an apartment in a French commune, send an e-mail to the local “Syndicat d’intiative’’ and wait for an answer by the people who offered rooms. Incredibly enough, in some cases, the reply came to Canada by form of a letter in the regular mail! It was a slow process but there was always a human being to greet welcome you when you got to the room you booked.

Now, between Google Map, Streetview and Airbnb, you can book a whole trip pretty safely in an evening and leave the next day but there has been a trade off: hospitality has largely given place to a strictly commercial transaction. If we hadn’t stumbled by fluke on the cleaning lady at the place we rented in San Antonio or on the owner of the apartment in Austin, we wouldn’t have met humans where we slept in these cities. Things got vaguely better in Houston but it still felt real nice to be greeted by humans at the front desk when we arrived at a no frills motel in Galveston.

Fortunately, things warmed up nicely when we crossed the Stateline to Louisiana. Our host in Lafayette was keen on entertaining his guests and making sure we had an idea of what to visit around town. Too bad we just stayed overnight.

And then, there was Sylvia in New Orleans.

Her welcome was warm and heartfelt and she went out of her way to make sure we didn’t lack of anything and enjoyed our stay in the double shot-gun house where she lives with her husband. Now that their children our gone, it has been divided in two and the second apartment can be found on Airbnb as “Annie’s Place” on Desire Street near St-Claude Avenue

It’s located in an area that was under many feet of water after the Katrina hurricane for weeks. Fortunately, they had a good insurance policy and while the neighborhood was flooded, her husband wasn’t out of work too long as he is employed in the French Quarter. The house had to be gutted to its structure but incredibly, the original cypress wood floors were saved.

Sylvia is clearly a resilient woman and proud of her city. One of the first things she said was that New Orleans isn’t only about Bourbon Street. She gave us a good idea of what we could find in nearby Bywater and also talked about life then and now in her neighboring community.

We walked a lot, used the buses and trams and eventually rented bikes in a nearby shop on St-Claude. After a few days of exploration on our own and daily chats with Sylvia, we felt we understood New Orleans a little better than the other cities we had visited on our way.

She truly helped making our stay worthwhile. We’d like to encourage you to consider her place if you want to spend some quality time in New Orleans in a quiet place.

Our stay was a pleasure!

fr.airbnb.ca/rooms/19240544?eal_exp=1519926015&eal_si...

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

~

Doorway purchased from PNGTubes with thanks to Black Eden Design

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images or texture please check out my group pool at

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

Archway purchased from PNG Tubes com with thanks to Black Eden Designs

This image is free to use in your creative works.

Please do not redistribute or make small changes and claim it as your own.

Please provide credit via a link under your work back to this image or to my account where possible.

I would love to see how you use my image, so please leave me a link or a small copy in my comment box below.

Thank you,

Brenda.

I belong to this set - ~Premade BGs~

If you are looking for more stock images and textures, please check out my group

"Brenda's Stock Resources".

~

Stock used with thanks to ..

Tree by Black Eden Design

Mushrooms Emma Louise

Reeds & door by Painted on my Soul

All purchased from PNGTubes com

All others are my own.

She is a super host who prepped everything hours in advance and spends the last hour before the guests arrive killing time with a hot coffee ☕️

Vancouver, BC - The Canucks for Kids Fund (CFKF), in partnership with Trevor Linden, is proud to give the Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship to four outstanding secondary school graduates from across British Columbia. The scholarship, consisting of $2,500 dollars, is awarded to students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership through a commitment to affecting positive change in their communities through various initiatives. Since the scholarship was first introduced in 2008, the Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship has awarded $80,000 to 32 graduating students throughout British Columbia.

"Every year we receive applications from students across BC, and every year I am so impressed by the incredible work these youth are doing in their communities," said Linden. "I am honoured that we are able to provide financial support to this year's scholarship winners as they pursue their post-secondary studies and the endless possibilities that lie ahead of them."

2017 Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship Recipients:

Luke Harris is a graduating student from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in North Vancouver. Luke is known for turning challenges he faces into opportunities for success. Facing his own adversities that began in grade three, Luke received the support he needed to guide him to academic success. Realizing the support he received is not accessible to everyone, Luke began to give back to those in similar positions as he was in. In 2016, Luke founded the Run 4 the Health of It initiative which works in conjunction with BC principals and BC Athletics calling for inclusion of high school para athletes on high school sports teams. Luke's work with his organization has been featured on various news outlets such as BCTV Sports and the North Shore News. In the fall, Luke will be starting in the UBC Engineering program, where he will pursue his degree with the purpose of one day inventing devices which will make life easier for those with special needs.

Myles Mattila is a graduating student from Prince George Secondary School. Myles has dedicated his time to organizations that work to reduce stigmas surrounding mental health. He started doing so after he experienced how difficult it is for teammates and friends to speak up about their own stories. Acknowledging that mental health initiatives are underfunded, he also aims to increase funding for those initiatives surrounding mental health. Myles developed Mindright.info with aims to create an open environment that encourages discussion of mental health issues. Myles is also a public speaker for Northern Balancing our Minds, Prince George Youth Action Team, MindRight.info, Talk Today, Mindcheck.ca and many more and also has recently joined the network team of Foundry BC. In the fall, Myles will be attending Okanagan College University of British Columbia Okanagan where he will pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Law and playing hockey for the Kelowna Chiefs of the KIJHL.

Elly Choi is a graduating student from R.E. Mountain Secondary School in Langley. Witnessing the effects that the poverty cycle has on the youth within her community, Elly instigated a movement that campaigns for a youth only homeless shelter in Langley (the first and only one in Langley). Elly has raised more than $20,000 through fundraisers to give impoverished youth the practical and immediate support they need. Elly received the Global Teen Leader award by the Three Dot Dash Association. She is also now in a mentorship program with mentors such as Chelsea Peters (Chief of Staff at UNICEF), Pamela Bell (Founding partner of Kate Spade) and Maurizio Vecchione (Senior Advisor to Bill Gates) and in an effort to expand the impact of her initiatives. She was also recently chosen as a delegate for the 2017 United Nations Youth Assembly in New York City. In the fall, Elly will be pursuing her Bachelors of Science, majoring in Biology. Elly clearly understands the importance of being a catalyst for change, as well as sharing her same passion for education and activism with other youth.

Sonya Kung is a graduating student from École Alpha Secondary in Burnaby. Throughout her high school years, Sonya learned that making a positive impact in her community begins with having the courage to take initiate and make use of every opportunity in front of you. Sonya is the co-chair of the social justice club Offence, which raises awareness of humanitarian issues such as poverty. She also implemented the district-wide Do it Green Conference which connects environmental experts with over 300 students through a variety of interactive experiences that explore environmental sustainability. Sonya understand the effects of leadership and its' ability to make a positive impact on people's lives. Furthering her passion for athletics, in the fall Sonya will be pursuing her Bachelors of Sciences, majoring in Biomedical Physiology.

The Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship is one of the numerous Canucks for Kids Fund's educational initiatives that resources are dedicated to. Other education programs that the Canucks for Kids Fund supports include the Canucks Family Education Centre, Fin's Friends, Power PLAY, Future Goals - Hockey Scholar and Seventh Generation Club. The Canucks for Kids Fund also generously supports its signature beneficiaries including the Canucks Autism Network, Canuck Place Children's Hospice and BC Children's Hospital Foundation. Since its establishment over 32 years ago, the Canucks for Kids Fund has granted more than $56 million to these and numerous other charities. For more information, please visit www.canucks.com/cfkf.

My superhost wife, Esther, and I, enjoying discussion with Brian Chesky at the Airbnb HQ cafeteria in SF...

When I was a kid, I LOVED Superhost on Saturday afternoons on WUAB channel 43 from Cleveland. I wasn't much into Mego super-hero figures when I was young (just some TV Star Trek and Planet of the Apes figures), but 'Supe would have made a perfect Mego! So I made this custom figure (with cape and trunks courtesy of my wife's sewing skills). The head isn't too much like Marty Sullivan, but maybe I can have someone sculpt a better likeness for me someday.

This figure was featured in the 2008 yearly "Best Of" issue of CLEVELAND MAGAZINE, which is quite an honor!

www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=Arts...

If anyone else out there is a Supe' fan, please drop me a note or add a comment!

Photography by Rennell Salumbre

Photography by Tup Yingsirirat

Photography by Carlina Teteris

El Gobernador Rafael Moreno Valle afirmó que la eficiencia en prestadores de servicios, seguridad al visitante, nueva infraestructura y la promoción, serán decisivos para que Puebla se convierta en uno de los principales polos turísticos del país y del mundo. Tras recibir la certificación internacional que el organismo Superhost México otorga a la primera ciudad, en Latinoamérica, como Puebla por su compromiso de ofrecer al turismo la mejor atención, el Mandatario subrayó que el Tianguis Turístico abre para la entidad importantes ventajas competitivas que deben aprovecharse.

Or so says the welcome sign when you're driving into town. This one looks like a super host to me.

The Seneca Hotel serves San Franciscans exiting homelessness, providing 204 units of permanent supportive housing. Volunteers from airbnb and Hands on Bay Area spent the day cleaning, painting and repairing the lobby and kitchen.

HandsOn Bay Area

Non-Profit Org

1504 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 541-9616

El Gobernador Rafael Moreno Valle afirmó que la eficiencia en prestadores de servicios, seguridad al visitante, nueva infraestructura y la promoción, serán decisivos para que Puebla se convierta en uno de los principales polos turísticos del país y del mundo. Tras recibir la certificación internacional que el organismo Superhost México otorga a la primera ciudad, en Latinoamérica, como Puebla por su compromiso de ofrecer al turismo la mejor atención, el Mandatario subrayó que el Tianguis Turístico abre para la entidad importantes ventajas competitivas que deben aprovecharse.

Βραχυχρόνιες μισθώσεις ▪️Διαχείριση σπιτιών για airbnb ▪️ Διαχείριση διαμερισμάτων▪️ #travel #visitgreece #villa #mansion #billionaire #luxury #design #architecture #architect #interiordesign #interior #luxury #decor #furniture #interiordesigner #realestate #airbnb #airbnbhomes #airbnboftheday #superhost #madeeasy #homm #athens #greece #spetses

This is the Cleveland Magazine "Best Of" 2008 article about my Superhost figure.

El Gobernador Rafael Moreno Valle afirmó que la eficiencia en prestadores de servicios, seguridad al visitante, nueva infraestructura y la promoción, serán decisivos para que Puebla se convierta en uno de los principales polos turísticos del país y del mundo. Tras recibir la certificación internacional que el organismo Superhost México otorga a la primera ciudad, en Latinoamérica, como Puebla por su compromiso de ofrecer al turismo la mejor atención, el Mandatario subrayó que el Tianguis Turístico abre para la entidad importantes ventajas competitivas que deben aprovecharse.

El Gobernador Rafael Moreno Valle afirmó que la eficiencia en prestadores de servicios, seguridad al visitante, nueva infraestructura y la promoción, serán decisivos para que Puebla se convierta en uno de los principales polos turísticos del país y del mundo. Tras recibir la certificación internacional que el organismo Superhost México otorga a la primera ciudad, en Latinoamérica, como Puebla por su compromiso de ofrecer al turismo la mejor atención, el Mandatario subrayó que el Tianguis Turístico abre para la entidad importantes ventajas competitivas que deben aprovecharse.

Photography by Rennell Salumbre

Esther San Miguel, my super wife, and superhost of our Airbnb studio.

Photography by Rennell Salumbre

Photography by Rennell Salumbre