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“Willy the Well Tank” leads “The King” departing Ramsbottom station on day two of the Small engines weekend at the East Lancashire Railway. 22.02.2026
"Between Two Pines:" "Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world"-- John Muir. I was taking in the views of the beautiful wildflowers in the hills near Flagstaff when suddenly I stopped in my tracks as I came upon these two very tall pine trees standing side by side, so close together that their branches were intertwined. As lucky timing would have it, the sun appeared to peek right between them, capturing my eye even further, and illuminating the symmetry of the trees appearing to cradle the glowing orb in their wooden arms.
Original horse design by Navajo artisan, Beverly Blackhorse, on a mug in a catalog.
Taken at The Regency, Laguna Woods, California. © 2014 All Rights Reserved.
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"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
~Edgar Allan Poe~
texture used from www.flickr.com/photos/pentaxeric/8655834816/
This photo of two tiny European Skipper butterflies was taken on 23 July 2015, at Darryl Teskey's property. These unusual butterflies have such large eyes : )
"The eyes of Skippers are different from those of other butterflies. They have a space between the cones and rods which allows light from each ommatidium to spill into neighbouring rods, effectively increasing their resolution and sensitivity. As a result Skippers can fly very accurately from one spot to another. This different type of eye structure is one of the reasons why taxonomists place them in a different super-family to all other butterflies - the Hesperioidea."
Source: www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Anatomy.htm
On this day, five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and W of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from Calgary). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I was invited to go - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. These Grouse were the rare rufous-morph, and we startled them when we were walking through the forest in their direction. Usually, you don't see Grouse because they are so well-hidden. When you get fairly close (sometimes very close) to them, they suddenly "explode" from the tangle of shrubs and plants of the forest floor, making ones heart beat fast! We were taken by surprise when we came across a nearby statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment. A nice idea, I thought.
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, many places treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour.
Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property, and we have a most enjoyable day.
Two Graceful white Swans swimming in the lake, swans in the wild. The mute swan, latin name Cygnus olor.
II
I took this as soon as I got back from school - the light was amazing, and it disappears really quickly so I raced out to the field to get some shots... golly it was chilly. Hopefully worth it though...
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In 1688 Fort Andross was established as a trading post here on the Androscoggin River. Eventually a mill was constructed and after a number of failures Cabot Mills was successful and in 1930 employed over 1100 workers in the two mills. By 1941 it was sold and soon closed. In 1986 It was purchased anew and has been converted into a multiple use facility. The bottom section here is a permanent flea market. In the three stories above there are a number of diverse uses. Included is John Bisbee, a sculptor who (until recently I think) worked almost exclusively using carpenters nails with which he construct his sulputures.
The rest of L shaped building is in the reflection.