Sometimes, when it all seems to be going wrong, it is okay to go by faith... But to do that, sometimes you need to shut your eye of reason.

 

Shot inside the 1000 pillars temple at Warrangal.

I love that I feel comfortable leaving some photos unedited. This was taken when I cycled the whole way to work, the best one so far, a wonderful, long, magical, misty sunrise commute. The blurry bits are the fence, somehow I actually like it.

Harry Wilson is a dear friend. We have had many adventures on the road. Here's one:

 

I have come to this cabin to sort my thoughts. Through the window I see huge white clouds tumbling over the buttes - the same weather as four nights ago, before the storm, before we lost Jimmy at the top of the hill. But that's getting ahead of myself.

 

Every year, spring or fall, sometimes both, Harry and I outfit Jimmy and head for the hills. Jimmy is a 1963 GMC one ton complete with a shack bolted to the frame. It's a home on wheels, with most of the comforts of a Winnebago, but that's where the similarity ends. Jimmy is powered by a straight block six banger that's never missed a beat; a big flywheel gives it the strength of an ox. The shack is as high, wide and long as the legal limit, constructed of two by fours and plywood, insulated, with tin sheeting over the roof. Hitched behind is the trike, part Triumph motorcycle and part VW beetle. We park the truck, call it home, and tour on the trike. The rig is an as-you-build-it, and Harry can repair most anything by the side of the road. He's changed brake lines, a muffler, and re-routed the wiring. A journey in Jimmy is like a poem to self-sufficiency.

 

This is the second time we've stayed in Dorothy. The first time was two years ago, and I've canoed past twice. This cabin once belonged to a homesteader named Arthur Peake, it's part of a small collection of historical artefacts gathered at the mouth of Circus Coulee. Dorothy lays below: four residences scattered about the town site; the blacksmith's shop and a grocery, windows boarded, porches rotted long ago; two churches, one United, the other Catholic, both derelict; an abandoned grain elevator; a large modern house and several ranch buildings about a half mile south, toward the river, home of Norm Pugh and his daughter, one-time queen of the Drumheller Rodeo.

 

Beside this cabin sits a community hall and a schoolhouse, joined by a common door and a hallway. Decorations still hang from the last time the buildings were used, for the Pugh family reunion. A sign over the entrance to the schoolhouse annex reads: Pughville Saloon. A quarter bottle of Lemon Hart rum sits on the bar - a murky, golden concoction full of dead flies. The piano still carries a tune.

 

Jimmy is parked in the community campsite, up against a hedge that runs the length of a two-acre parcel of land on the edge of town. Once owned by George T. Proudfoot, honorary mayor, the land was bequeathed to the town of Dorothy on condition it remain a campsite. Harry and I came to Dorothy to relax and play cribbage. Two friends, a deck of cards, and some stories. Even the coffee cup I drink from has a story. Harry picked it up in Georgia back when he was trucking. The nameplate from his old rig hangs by the door: Purple Hayes. (And, yes, the truck was made by the Hayes Company, and it was purple.) Harry is proud of those miles: "to the moon and back twice," he says; and then points out, "almost everything in this world once rode on a truck."

 

But his trucking days are over. Five years ago, he fell asleep at the wheel outside Carberry, Manitoba, hit the ditch and broke his back. It was an ignoble way to finish all those proud miles, and I tease him about it if he gets too far ahead in our card tournament. We laugh, but it's not funny.

 

The town site of Dorothy lays on bottom land in a bend of the Red Deer River, mostly badlands, sparse grasses and sage, as green now as they ever get. There's a bridge connecting the north-south road. There used to be a ferry. Norm Pugh tells how people would wait together on the bank and swap stories. Now there's only the sound of occasional traffic across the bridge. A stretch of the east-west road used to be the rail bed along which steam engines hauled loads of coal from the East Coulee mines; but all that remains of Dorothy are the relic buildings, small and weather-beaten; and the grain elevator, which can be seen from almost anywhere in the valley.

 

I first came through Dorothy many years ago, on a southern swing through the prairies with a friend. I barely remember the day, but I do remember noting the grain elevator. Years later, with the same friend and several members of my family, I canoed past Dorothy. We pulled to shore a few canyons downstream, at the mouth of Crawling Valley. My brother, David, erected his tent on top of a sandy knoll, and then sat by a small campfire watching the full moon lift over a near rise. It was only month since he'd tried to kill himself with whiskey and pills; but he seemed happy by his campfire under the moon, as if he'd finally shucked his demons. But he died soon after the canoe trip, hit by a car while crossing a street. So, two years ago, I came to Dorothy with Harry and canoed to that spot above the river to honour the memory of my brother.

 

Now there's an even deeper bond with this place, between Harry and I. Like brothers, we've returned. Strange how a place not home gets into the blood. Sitting in Jimmy, playing our 40th game of cribbage, catching up on our lives - the cards and the game board become like talismans that we touch to waken our memories. The game board is placed in the centre of the table, the cards are dealt over it, and the tales begin. Were runes ever cast more purposefully? So, here's another one for the memory-bank, a story to tell our grandchildren - concerning a dark tower, a dream, and an ordeal.

 

Our first evening in Dorothy was one of scattered clouds, warm but windy. After dinner and a few games of cards we walked the road to the elevator. There was no moon and the stars shone in a wide, clearing sky. The elevator rose, a form dominating the landscape, taller and taller as we approached. Dorothy's only two streetlights, about 60 yards away, partly illuminated the back and one side, but the wall facing the road was hollow black. We imagined a giant head and shoulders taking shape in that blackness, and we joked a bit about how sinister the elevator appeared. Harry dubbed it the grain reaper, and we agreed that neither of us would want to spend a night inside. The elevator struck some ancient chord in each of us: like two peasants standing beneath a medieval lord's castle. We walked away, uneasy, back to Jimmy, and dealt another hand.

 

The next day I found myself staring at the grain elevator a lot. It appeared anything but sinister, a relic, barely standing. The wind rose all day and by evening a ridge of cloud shadowed the valley. The rain came at dark. Thunder cracked and rolled through the valley. It gave Jimmy a good jolt, violent enough to make us sit up and exclaim. Then we went back to our game and listened to the rain falling hard on the tin roof. Every so often thunder broke in the near distance. That night Harry had a dream: there was a violent storm and Jimmy shook so badly that the tool shed fell off the back of the truck. He mentioned the dream over cards in the morning, but we thought nothing of it. Who pays any attention to dreams these days? Rain continued through the morning, and we continued our tournament, Harry gaining ground, at least seven games ahead. We played until early afternoon, and then decided it was time to go into Drumheller for supplies.

 

The roads were muddy, so we left the trike and took Jimmy to town - about 14 miles over slick clay and though water-filled potholes. Two steep grades, one up and one down. We were on the last leg of highway 573, where it meets highway 10, cruising in fourth over the crest of the hill. Harry looked at me and asked if I remembered that time when the brakes failed. "How'd you like it if they went right here?" And they did. Just like that. He rammed the pedal to the floor three times. "Holy shit," he blurted. "I'm not kidding. We haven't got any brakes." I looked up from rolling a cigarette and realized that he wasn't joking.

 

Harry found third gear and the truck howled. He hugged the first steep corner along the railing, in hopes that the thick mud might slow the truck. But his eyes were searching far down the hill for a place to ditch. Jimmy swerved towards the bank and bogged a bit in the soft shoulder. Harry slammed the gearshift into second, and then quickly into first. Jimmy screamed. But finally came to a halt at the last bend before the highway. All the way down, I'd been rolling a cigarette - bad for the health but in this case certainly an optimistic act. I lit the damn thing and we stared at each other for a long time, taking deep breaths and shaking our heads.

 

Harry drove carefully into Drumheller, at least as carefully as one can drive with no brakes. Our problem turned out to be the same brake line that we'd fixed previously: the newest one on the truck, cracked at the flange where it met the nipple on the wheel. A mechanic re-flanged it and Harry replaced the line. Sounds easy, but the road was running with water, it was cold, and Harry had to change clothes three times. We mailed our letters, went to a bank machine, bought some grub - including $27 worth of sweets, nachos and potato chips - and then we headed back to Dorothy. On the way, Harry told me about how, whenever he screwed up or did something daring, his grandfather would start a reprimand with, "Mein Got im Himmel". That night Harry wore his grandfather's sweater.

 

I've been replaying the events for a couple days, and the only thing I'm sure of is that I'll never be the same. I don't know anyone but Harry who could have stopped Jimmy from crashing over the steep bank, or careening across the highway. And that makes our friendship deeper. He's back at the truck ready to play another round of cards. We'll face each other across the crib board and play until we can't play anymore. For years to come, we'll make jokes about escaping from the grain reaper. And every time we climb into the shack, we'll pat the long scrape on the side panel, where Jimmy touched the railing. We'll laugh, but it's not funny.

"Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.

You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today."

  

(Press L)

Wirrabara.

A Kaurna Aboriginal name meaning “gum trees with running water” was used to name the town when it was proclaimed in 1874 although the local Aboriginal people were the Ngadjuri tribe. Before 1874 the land was firstly leased by Samuel and Frederick White from 1844 who named their run Charlton. A small and not very successful copper mine, the Charlton mine, was established in the 1850s on this run just north of the present town site. The Charlton Mine was run by the Australian Mining Company from 1854 for just a few years. White’s leasehold was purchased by Charles. B. Fisher in 1861 who renamed the property Wirrabara instead of Charlton but Charles White retained his old homestead and some acreage around it. When Surveyor General George Goyder visited Fisher’s Wirrabara run in 1864 he estimated it was carrying 50,000 sheep. In 1866 the Wirrabara run was taken over by Alexander Borthwick Murray and his three sons of Mt Crawford as a sheep stud for their Murray Merinos. When parts of the run were resumed in 1872 for closer settlement Alexander Borthwick Murray used his employees to purchase extensive areas of freehold land in a system known as dummying. The Murray family built a homestead in 1872 on the property called Avonmore shown because they then had freehold to the property. When Alexander Scott Murray married in 1874 he extended and remodelled it into a grand ten roomed house with marble fireplaces and cedar architraves and it became his family home. There is a fine stone memorial to Alexander Scott Murray near the railway station with its silo art. He was only 34 years old when he died of ill health and he was the highly respected manager of Wirrabara Station. He had a large public role and apart from supporting local organisations he did public works like laying the foundation stone of the Laura Institute etc. On his death he left a wife and four children under five years of age. The memorial was unveiled in February 1882 two years after Alexander Scott Murray’s death in 1880. After Alexander Scott Murray’s death his brother John took over Avonmore but he too died of health issues in 1884 aged 35 years. Alexander Borthwick Murray and his remaining son Malcomb of Avonmore also had lands northwards along the ranges. In 1885 A.B. Murray had some of these lands surveyed and put up for sale as a private town named Murraytown after himself. Up to 50,000 sheep were shorn on the Wirrabara run in the late 19th century which by then occupied 20,700 acres freehold. But then son Malcom Murray committed suicide in April 1900. Malcom Pulteney Murray was known for his pranks, drunkenness and rash behaviours and his depressions. Alexander Borthwick Murray died in 1903 and his estate trustees managed Avonmore and the lands at Murraytown. The 20,700 acre Wirrabara Estate was sold as part of Alexander Borthwick’s estate in 1910 for over £141,000. At that time it was known for its fruit orchards, grain paddocks and lucerne flats. It was subdivided into 47 farms.

 

Apart from pastoralism forestry has been a major industry in the region even after grain farmers arrived in 1874. Some individual foresters were cutting timber and selling it from around 1865. Good quality straight posts were sold by them for the erection of the telegraph line to Melrose and Port Augusta in 1865. The first plantation forest in Australia was established by the SA government in 1875 at Bundaleer near Jamestown. The second forest was declared at Wirrabara in 1877. The government had resumed almost 50,000 acres in 1875 which was set aside as the Wirrabara Forest Reserve. A Forester’s residence and a Nurseryman’s residence were soon erected. The most drought resistant of the pine trees the Aleppo Pine from Syria was planted here in 1878. Tasmanian blue gum and other exotic and native trees were planted at Wirrabara. Most of the lands of the forest were about 1,700 feet above sea level (518 metres) and about 20 small leasehold farm blocks were created in it for fruit growing. The horticulturists were known as the Wirrabara Blockers. In these early years Wirrabara forest was also used to produce seedlings for plantings at Bundaleer. The first saw mill began in 1880 with another in 1902 to mill the Aleppo pines. In 1881 the Wirrabara Forest School opened as so many people lived in this area. A second Forest School was built in 1910. Forestry and saw milling remained an industry until the Bangor bushfires of 2014 destroyed large areas of the forests which the then current Labor government decided not to replant. The native trees along the ranges remain as forest or as conservation parks. Thus it is not surprising that the theme for the Wirrabara grain silo art is the forestry worker and the native birds of the forests like the red capped robin. The King Tree or Eucalyptus camaldulensis (usually called River Red Gum) is one of the main trees of the native forests. By 1889 the Blockers were under the control of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and some purchased their farms freehold. Most Blockers grew vines or fruit trees. Some blocks were sold by the government as soldier settler farms after World War One but this was not successful with farmers deserting their blocks by 1932.

 

The town began to emerge overnight in 1874 with many buildings being erected by 1875. The first stores in the town were opened by Melrose storekeepers. They were followed by a baker, a butcher, a saddler and the hotel. In fact the Wirrabara Hotel was licensed in 1875 and the fine sandstone building opened shortly thereafter. A government school followed the Free, Compulsory and Secular Education Act for 1875 by opening in 1879. It was replaced with a larger red brick school building in 1921. The Post Office started in 1880 and the Institute foundation stone was laid in 1884. Once open it was used for Anglican and Lutheran church services. It still runs a library service, the only independent library service left in SA. In 1912 a new local Wirrabara stone institute or hall was built and opened by the Governor Sir Day Bosanquet. The War Memorial in front of the Institute was unveiled in 1921. The first courtroom operated in Wirrabara from around 1880 with a temporary police station. One of the biggest events in the town growth was the arrival of the railway line from Laura in 1910 as it pushed northwards to Booleroo Centre. Public meetings in Wirrabara had called for this from 1901. Parliament approved the line in 1908 and the work was finished to Wirrabara in 1910. In 1923 the government bought a block of land in Fifth Street for a new police station but this was not erected until 1929. Apart from industry and commercial premises the town soon churches.

 

The Wesleyan Methodists opened their church in 1876 being the first in town. The Bible Christians Methodists opened theirs soon after. The Anglicans held early services in the first Institute until St Margaret’s Church opened in 1909 on the corner of Second and Fifth Streets. The old or first Institute was left vacant for some time after 1912 and then in 1920 it was taken over by Manning’s Furniture Store. In the early 1940s the Anglican began planning for a new and larger church. When Manning’s Furniture store came on the market in the first institute the Anglicans purchased that and it was consecrated in 1964 with the old foundation stone on the front. The Lutheran church opened in 1921. The foundation stone of Catholic Church was laid on 1 June 1930 by the Bishop of Port Augusta with the church opening in February 1931.

 

Wirrabara received an $80,000 federal government grant through the Fund My Neighbourhood program to have their silos painted. The Mount Remarkable Council conducted a local survey to select the artist and the theme of the painting. The most favoured artist was Sam Bates, alias Smug, of Melbourne and he was awarded the task. The most popular theme voted for was forestry and woodcutters. The woodcutter depicted on the silos is Dion Lebrun of Tumby Bay and the beautiful bird is a red capped robin. Since the closure of the forests the silo art is just one of a number of measures the locals are taking to keep their town alive. A farmers’ market is held once a month on a Sunday morning, they maintain a community website, the volunteer staffed craft shop distributes tourist information and some locals still grow apricots, peaches and nectarines and one enterprising horticulturist is now growing Manuka bushes to produce Manuka honey in a few years’ time.

 

by the Beatles

When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness

She is standing right in front of me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be

Let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

 

And when the broken hearted people

Living in the world agree

There will be an answer, let it be

For though they may be parted

There is still a chance that they will see

There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be

Yeah, there will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be

Let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

 

Let it be, let it be

Let it be, yeah, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

 

And when the night is cloudy

There is still a light that shines on me

Shine on until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

 

Taken in Heaton Park - Manchester

Walking through the crowd at Blackpool Pride I noticed this girl. Having explained what I was doing regarding my Strangers photography project Rhianna from Berwick-on-Tweed was more than willing to pose for me. I would have loved to create more dof, but when you are in a packed crowd you have to go with the flow. I had some full figure shots but I did not like them.

 

This picture is #030 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com

 

Take in the big Sunshine

 

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be a friend

A poster but ruined as a cloud image.

 

NASA does this all the time - takes a pale deep space image and enhances it to look spectacular. Takes an image of the surface of the sun in Xrays and people believe that that is what one would see if one was there. Not so. I am disappointed with many of the images on the web of clouds that have, to my eye, been over cooked like this one. I do try not to do this to mine, to just try to render the image as close as I can to what I saw, but the temptation is very strong.

when one brother is sleeping, a good way to wake the foot-ticklish fellow up is for the other brother to rub his hair on the former's foot.

 

okay, that was wordy.

Pennsylvania | Beaver

When I photographed this last year, the correct front nearside door was fitted.

 

Spectating the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Purley, Surrey

2nd November 2014

Stay away from those people who only talk to you when they need you

-- Delivered by Feed43 service

Olkhon (Ольхон, also transliterated as Olchon) is the third-largest lake-bound island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of 730 square kilometres (280 sq mi). Structurally, it acts as the southwestern margin of Academician Ridge. The island measures 71.5 kilometres (44.4 mi) in length and 20.8 kilometres (12.9 mi) in width.

 

Olkhon has a dramatic combination of terrain and is rich in archeological landmarks. Steep mountains line its eastern shore, and at 1,276 metres (4,186 ft) above sea level, Mount Zhima is the highest point on the island, peaking at 818 metres (2,684 ft) above the water level of Lake Baikal. The island is large enough to have its own lakes, and features a combination of taiga, steppe and even a small desert. A deep strait separates the island from the land.

The island's appearance is a result of millions of years of tectonic movement resulting in the hollowing of the channel between the land (Small Sea Strait) and the block of stone forming the island. The steep slopes of the mountains show the vertical heave of the earth.

 

The population of the island is less than 1,500 and consists mostly of Buryats, the island's aboriginal people.

 

There are several settlements and five villages on the island: Yalga, Malomorets, Khuzhir, Kharantsi, and Ulan-Khushin. The village of Khuzhir is the administrative capital of Olkhon, designated as such in April 1987, when the Soviet government issued a comprehensive decree protecting Lake Baikal. Khuzhir is home to about 1,200 residents and boasts a museum of local nature and history.

 

Most residents are fishermen, farmers, or cattle-ranchers. Due to an increasing number of tourists from all over the world, many residents work in this sector as well, and tourism has become an important part of the economy in Olkhon.

 

The indigenous Buryats, adherents of shamanism, believe the island to be a spiritual place; one of the groups of deities adhered to in Buryati yellow shamanism is called the oikony noyod, the "thirteen lords of Olkhon. On the western coast, close to Khuzhir, is Baikal's most famous landmark, the Shamanka, or Shaman's Rock. Natives believe that Burkhan, a modern religious cult figure of the Altai peoples, lives in the cave in this rock. The rock is one of nine Asian Most Sacred Places. Olkhon is considered a centre of Kurumchinskay culture of 6th-10th centuries.

The museum at Olkhon, named after Revyakin, exposits on the nature and ethnography of the island, including pipe-smoking and a samovar collection.

 

The island has a long history of human habitation. The original indigenous people were the Kurykans, forefathers of two ethnic groups: the Buryats and Yakuts.

Russian explorers first visited during the 17th century.

 

One of the most important ecological problems of Olkhon Island is the disposal of household waste. At present, the waste is disposed of in large piles in forestry near the village of Khuzhir. The dump is unenclosed, and the tipping process is uncontrolled. Moreover, with recent increases in tourism on the island, new sources of hard rubbish have begun to appear.

 

Another ecological concern affecting the island is the illegal felling of timber by local inhabitants. A complicated net of forestry roads in the areas adjacent to Khuzhir lead to woodland areas on the mountain slopes. Timber is brought out of the forest at night time, and the deforestation is taking its toll on the area.

   

Il Lago Bajkal (in russo: О́зеро Байка́л, Ozero Bajkal, ['ozʲɪrə bʌj'kɑl],in mongolo ed in buriato Dalai-Nor, Mare sacro) è un lago della Siberia meridionale, diviso fra i territori dell'oblast' di Irkutsk e della repubblica di Buriazia. È stato posto sotto la tutela dell'UNESCO come patrimonio dell'umanità nel 1996. Fa parte della lista delle Sette meraviglie della Russia.

 

Il lago Bajkal si estende su una superficie di 31.722 km², che ne fa uno dei maggiori laghi al mondo per superficie; si allunga per 636 km da nord a sud (è il secondo del mondo per lunghezza dopo il lago Tanganica), con una larghezza media di 48 km (massima 79,4 km). La profondità media del lago è di 744 m, con una massima di 1.642 m nella parte centrale. Questi valori ne fanno contemporaneamente il lago d'acqua dolce più profondo del mondo e quello con il volume maggiore (23.615 km3). Contiene un volume d'acqua pressoché equivalente a quello dei cinque grandi laghi americani messi assieme. Si stima che contenga circa il 20% delle riserve d'acqua dolce del pianeta (esclusi i ghiacciai e le calotte polari).

Il lago Bajkal si estende in una zona geologicamente molto tormentata; occupa una zona di sprofondamento (fossa tettonica) molto profonda (la criptodepressione arriva a quasi 1.200 m sotto il livello del mare, dato che il pelo dell'acqua del lago è a circa 450 m s.l.m.), ed è circondato da piccole catene montuose che si allungano tutto intorno alle sue coste: monti del Bajkal, monti del Barguzin, monti Primorskij, monti Chamar-Daban, monti Ulan-Burgasy e, all'estremità settentrionale, l'Altopiano Stanovoj.

 

Il Bajkal riceve le acque di 336 immissari, i maggiori dei quali sono il Selenga (che nasce in Mongolia), il Barguzin, la Verchnjaja Angara (Angara Superiore), la Turka e la Snežnaja; possiede per contro un solo emissario, l'Angara, tramite il quale il lago tributa allo Enisej. Il bacino imbrifero del Bajkal si estende su una superficie di circa 557.000 km².

 

Il Bajkal si trova in una regione dal clima molto duro, con fortissime escursioni termiche fra le stagioni estreme; il lago, con la sua enorme massa d'acqua, esercita una forte azione di mitigazione delle temperature, con il risultato di avere inverni meno freddi ed estati più fresche e umide delle zone circostanti. D'inverno il lago è interessato da un esteso congelamento delle acque superficiali; questi ghiacci, per via della inerzia termica data dalla gran massa d'acqua, tendono a formarsi piuttosto tardi (dicembre) e a fondere completamente solo verso maggio.

Il lago è frequentemente battuto da un forte vento che viene chiamato "sarma" dalle popolazioni locali, che può toccare i 150 km/h.

 

Il lago Bajkal è caratterizzato da un ambiente atipico per un lago: le sue acque sono molto ricche d'ossigeno (soluzione satura al 75%) e anche il punto più profondo è popolato da forme di vita, mentre in altri laghi profondi in varie parti del mondo le forme di vita macroscopica scompaiono oltre i 300 m a causa dell'anossia.

Il lago Bajkal è sede di svariati endemismi.

Nel 1962 erano state censite nel lago e nelle sue vicinanze 1.220 diverse specie animali e vegetali, nel 1978 il numero era cresciuto a 1.400 e da allora ogni anno nuove forme di vita continuano ad essere scoperte. Ad oggi le nuove specie scoperte in loco sono oltre 2.500, di cui il 60% di tipo animale ed il 15% di tipo vegetale. Nel lago vi sono 250 specie di crostacei e ben 52 di pesci, di cui 27 endemiche del Bajkal.

Una delle specie più caratteristiche è la nerpa, la foca del Bajkal (Pusa sibirica), specie endemica di taglia piccola, dal manto grigio scuro, si nutre di pesci, ed è all'apice della catena alimentare del lago Bajkal. Alla fine del secolo scorso la caccia ne aveva drasticamente ridotto il numero, oggi risalito, grazie ad una politica di tutela, ad oltre 75.000 individui.

All'altra estremità della catena alimentare c'è un piccolo crostaceo filtratore del genere Epischura, che costituisce il 97% del plancton e raggiunge una biomassa pari a circa 4 milioni di tonnellate. Questo gamberetto non sopporta una temperatura più elevata di 12 °C, e quindi necessita di una elevata concentrazione di ossigeno, né sopporta una concentrazione salina anche solo leggermente superiore a quella (molto bassa) del lago Bajkal, ossia 100 mg di sali per litro d'acqua.

Alcuni ricercatori ritengono che soprattutto le specie endemiche più piccole si siano evolute dall'antica fauna di un immenso lago salmastro che sembra ricoprisse quasi l'intera Asia centrale agli inizi del Terziario (65 milioni di anni fa). Più tardi, 30 milioni di anni fa, il predetto lago si era frammentato in tanti piccoli laghi salmastri circondati da foreste di tipo tropicale. Una serie di importanti sconvolgimenti tettonici (ancor oggi in loco si verificano oltre 2.000 scosse ogni anno) dovuti alla collisione tra il continente euroasiatico con il sub-continente indiano, formarono una profonda frattura nella crosta terrestre la quale venne progressivamente riempita dalle acque convogliate dalla vasta pianura circostante, il volume d'acqua raccolto equivale alla massa d'acqua trasportabile da tutti i fiumi del pianeta nell'arco di un intero anno.

La fossa di frattura del Bajkal è una delle tipiche strutture geologiche estensionali, particolarmente vistosa perché superficiale, che si formano perpendicolarmente alle catene orogeniche (la catena orogenica in questo caso è quella himalayana).

Alcuni pesci, come la golomjanka (Comephorus baikalensis), e la suddetta foca del Bajkal sembrano essere arrivati in queste acque in epoche più recenti, forse dall'Artico attraverso gli immensi fiumi siberiani.

Nei pressi del lago esiste una riserva naturale nella quale vivono gli zibellini, specie a rischio di estinzione che oggi viene protetta, ed il cui allevamento è monopolio dello Stato russo.

 

Le acque del lago, mai più calde di 14 °C, lasciano filtrare lo sguardo fino a più di 40 m di profondità. Tale purezza è stata a più riprese posta a rischio da svariati eventi:

negli anni settanta, con il progetto per la costruzione della Ferrovia Bajkal-Amur, voluta da Leonid Brežnev per aprire la Siberia allo sfruttamento delle sue materie prime;

attraverso la nascita della città di Severobajkal'sk, 600 km a nord del lago;

riversando nel Bajkal gli scarichi delle industrie di Ulan-Ude (capitale della Buriazia, 350 000 abitanti), attraverso il fiume Selenga;

costruendo, proprio a Bajkal'sk, ad un centinaio di metri dalla riva, un grande impianto di trasformazione del legno e di lavorazione della cellulosa, peraltro contestato dalle popolazioni locali.

Fin dagli anni settanta, a protestare contro l'inquinamento del lago vi fu il biologo Grigorij Galazyj, membro dell' Accademia delle Scienze, ed allora direttore dell' Istituto di limnologia di Irkutsk, successivamente direttore del Museo del Bajkal. Secondo Galazyj "Nessuno dei molti decreti e progetti varati per proteggere il Bajkal è stato messo in atto, ed ogni giorno l'impianto per la lavorazione del legno riversa nel lago 250.000 l di acque di scarico, oltre a consumare 500.000 m³ di legno l'anno".

 

Sulle sponde del lago si sono insediate comunità di credo differente; le religioni principali sono tre: lo "sciamanesimo tibetano", il "buddhismo" ed il cristianesimo ortodosso che fu portata dai russi dopo che Kurbat Ivanov scoprì le acque del lago Bajkal nel 1643.

Il territorio della Buriazia, che è bagnata dal Bajkal per il 60% della linea costiera e la sua gente, i Buriati, furono annessi allo stato russo dai trattati del 1689 e del 1728, quando le terre intorno al Bajkal furono separate dalla Mongolia. Dalla metà del XVII secolo all'inizio del XX il numero di Buriati aumentò da 27.700 a 300.000.

Dopo l'annessione della Buriazia alla Russia la cultura buriata subì le influenze del buddhismo tibetano e della Chiesa Cristiana Ortodossa. I Buriati furono per lo più sottoposti ad un processo di integrazione ad usi e costumi tipicamente russi che li portò ad abbandonare progressivamente il nomadismo unitamente all'agricoltura itinerante, mentre i Buriati dell'est (Transbajkal) subirono l'influenza mongola (ancora oggi diversi gruppi vivono in yurta e sono in gran parte buddhisti). Nel Settecento fu costruito il primo monastero buddhista buriato.

 

Il nome "Buriati" è menzionato per la prima volta in un'opera mongola: infatti costoro sono i discendenti diretti dell'antico popolo nomade dei mongoli ed ancora oggi vivono lungo le sponde del lago; una leggenda locale asserisce che la madre di Gengis Khan fosse nata nel villaggio di Barguzin, sulla riva orientale del lago. I buriati d'inverno sono soliti attraversare il lago ghiacciato (quando la crosta è spessa 1 metro) con i camion poiché in tal modo la distanza fra le città di Irkutsk ed Ulan Ude si accorciano di molto, anche se questa pratica è molto pericolosa.

I Buriati sono soliti pescare l'"omul", specie endemica piuttosto pregiata, unitamente ad altre 52 specie presenti nel lago e svariati tipi di crostacei.

Un'antica credenza popolare afferma che esistono due demoni maligni abitanti delle acque profonde intorno all'isola di Olkhon: "Burkhan" e "Doshkin Nojon", pronti a prendersi le anime dei pescatori durante le tempeste.

Una piccola consuetudine è quella di collocare dei nastrini colorati portafortuna detti "semelga" sopra gli arbusti.

 

La Roccia dello Sciamano.

Trattasi di un masso enorme che spunta appena dalle acque proprio laddove l'Angara lascia il Bajkal.

La Roccia dello Sciamano è protagonista di una leggenda che i buriati imparano a conoscere già in tenera età. Secondo tale leggenda il Grande Uomo Bajkal giunse in questa regione con le sue 337 figlie e decise di fermarsi; mentre dormiva una delle figlie, alla quale i gabbiani avevano raccontato le prodezze di Jenisej, decise di fuggire per correre verso l'uomo-fiume di cui si era innamorata; svegliatosi, il Bajkal scagliò verso la fuggitiva una pietra, la Roccia dello Sciamano appunto.

Chi era sospettato di un crimine veniva posto la sera al di sopra della roccia. Se al mattino era ancora lì e la corrente non l'aveva portato via, costui era innocente e veniva liberato. Tuttavia pare che ciò accadesse di rado, in quanto il fiume Angara possiede delle acque tanto rapide ed irruente che è l'unico fiume della regione a non gelare d'inverno.

 

(from wikipedia.org)

...being a Grey Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) and honeybee. A must view in the large size.

 

Good morning. A single posting of a photo I took this past summer and found on file by accident recently. What I especially like about this is you can get a good perspective for the small size of the butterfly due to the honeybee. And for a better view of a Grey Hairstreak see below link:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/pieceoflace/1471944712/in/set-72157...

 

Take care...and I hope everyone has a great Friday and upcoming weekend.

 

Lacey

 

ISO200, aperture f/5.8, exposure .004 seconds (1/250) focal length 300mm

“A totally underrated thing about girlfriends is that they make great hostages. Not in the sense that you should threaten to neutralize one per hour if your demands aren’t met, but rather that they’re forced to come along and suffer through any event with you, no matter how long or boring it is or how many guitar solos J Mascis is allotted. As long as you buy the tickets and furnish the requisite number of drinks, they’re legally obligated to stick it out. (Torts of negligence can and have been filed.) But unlike someone in an actual hostage situation, your detainee is expected to have fun — or at least do a convincing impersonation of someone having fun — unless you, yourself, are not, in which case the table is open for freedom negotiations. Having an indentured plus-one around all the time, though, is something that people in relationships take for granted. It’s only after a breakup that you come to fully appreciate the convenience of the arrangement you once had. When you’re single, the act of making plans becomes a complex structure, puffed up full of variables, threatening to collapse at any moment like a soufflé — except rather than delicious pastry cream, it tastes like fear.” —Joe Berkowitz & Joanna Neborsky

 

theawl.com/my-superpower-is-being-alone-forever-party-of-...

 

POISON IVY — DO NOT TOUCH

 

“LEAFLETS THREE, LET IT BE"

I wonder what Mother Nature was thinking when she creat this orange :)

And when it rains

Will you always find an escape?

Just running away

From all of the ones that loved you

From everything

-Paramore

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Oooooooooooooo, looky! I finally got around to trying out frankensteining! So here I give you a random rainy day seen, that I made! Yay, hmmm about 5 layers or so... it was a lot of fun but quite time consuming...

Brockdish is one of three parish churches within about a mile that can be seen from the A143, but only the top of the tower is visible when heading north, and only fleetingly. THe only other clue is the truncated Church Lane which cuts across the main road, the name of which indicates the nearby church.

 

I came here at about eleven in the morning, having visited Oulton in Suffolk earlier, and wasn't expecting to find it open to be honest. But I heard the bells being rung, or at least pealing in intermittent intervals, the reason being some people were being given lessons.

 

Three cars were parked in the lane beside the church, which you reach by traveling up a green lane north out of the village before taking the track to the church.

 

The door to the tower, where the bellringers were being taught was ajar, and I could have gone up, but instead I go to the porch to try the door, and finding it open, I go inside lest someone comes and closes it.

 

Soon I am joined inside by the warden who is surprised, but pleased, to find a visitor: she is there to make teas for the ringers, and would I like one?

 

My breath had already been taken away by the tiles in the chancel, which are of exceptional quality. Tiles are something easily overlooked, and indeed many were clearly bought from catalogues, and so many are similar, but when more attention to detail was given, when extra quality was installed, it shines through.

 

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

 

When I first visited this church in 2005, it was with something of a sinking heart to arrive at the third church in a row that was locked without a keyholder notice. Today, nothing could be further from the truth. In the south porch there is a large notice now which reads Come in and enjoy your church! Fabulous stuff.

The trim graveyard includes some substantial memorials to the Kay family, including one massive structure with an angel under a spire which would not look out of place opposite the Royal Albert Hall. No expense was spared by the Victorians here at Brockdish. The rebuilding was paid for by the Rector, George France, who also advised architect Frederick Marable on exactly what form this vision of the medieval should take. The tower above is curiously un-East Anglian, looking rather unusual surrounded by Norfolk fields. All around the building headstops are splendid, and fine details like faux-consecration crosses on the porch show that France was generally a man who knew what a medieval church should look like.

 

It will not surprise you to learn that St Peter and St Paul is similarly grand on the inside, if a touch severe. France actually devised a church much more Anglo-catholic than we find it today; it was toned down by the militantly low church Kay family later in the century. They took down the rood and replaced it with a simple cross, painting out the figures on the rood screen as well. When I first visited, the very helpful churchwarden who'd opened up for me observed that Brockdish is the only church in Norfolk that has stained glass in every window, which isn't strictly true (Harleston, three miles away, has as well) but we can be thankful that, thanks to the Reverend France's fortunes, it is of a very good quality. The glass seems to have been an ongoing project, because some of it dates from the 1920s. In keeping with low church tradition, the glass depicts mainly Biblical scenes and sayings of Christ rather than Saints, apart from the church's two patron Saints in the east window of the chancel. There are also some roundels in the east window of the south aisle, which appear to be of continental glass. They depict the Adoration of the Magi, the deposition of Christ, what appears to be Paharoah's daughter with the infant Moses, and the heads of St Matthias, St John the Evangelist, and Christ with a Crown of Thorns. However, I suspect that at least some of them are the work of the King workshop of Norwich, and that only the Deposition and the Old Testament scene are genuinely old.

 

If this is rather a gloomy church on a dark day, it is because of the glass in the south clerestory, a surprisingly un-medieval detail - the whole point of a clerestory was to let light reach the rood. The glass here is partly heraldic, partly symbolic. The stalls in the chancel are another faux-medieval detail - there was never a college of Priests here - but they looked suspiciously as if they might contain old bench ends within the woodwork. Not all is false, because the chancel also contains an unusual survival from the earlier church, a tombchest which may have been intended as an Easter Sepulchre.

 

Above all, the atmosphere is at once homely and devotional, not least because of the exceptional quality of the tiled sanctuary, an increasingly rare beast because they were so often removed in the 1960s and 1970s, when Victorian interiors were unfashionable. Brockdish's is spectacular, a splendid example that has caught the attention of 19th century tile enthusiasts and experts nationally.

 

Also tiled is the area beneath the tower, which France had reordered as a baptistery. The font has recently been moved back into the body of the church; presumably, whoever supplies the church's liability insurance had doubts about godparents standing with their backs to the steps down into the nave.

I liked Brockdish church a lot; I don't suppose it gets a lot of visitors, but it is a fine example of what the Victorians did right.

 

Simon Knott, June 2005, revisited and updated July 2010

 

www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brockdish/brockdish.htm

 

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Is the next adjoining town eastward, through which the great road passes to Yarmouth; on the left hand of which, stands the church, on a hill by itself, there being no house near it but the parsonage, which joins to the east side of the churchyard. The advowson always belonged to the Earl's manor here, with which it now continues.

 

In Norwich Domesday we read, that the rector had a house and 30 acres of land, that it was then valued at 15 marks, and paid as it now doth for synodals 1s. 9d. procurations 6s. 8d. and 12d. Peter-pence. It stands in the King's Books thus:

 

10l. Brokedish rectory. 1l. yearly tenths.

 

And consequently pays first-fruits, and is incapable of augmentation. The church stands included in the glebe, which is much the same in quantity as it was when the aforesaid survey was taken. It is in Norfolk archdeaconry, Redenhall deanery, and Duke of Norfolk's liberty, though he hath no lete, warren, paramountship, or superiour jurisdiction at all in this town, the whole being sold by the family along with the manors of the town.

 

In 1603, there were 103 communicants here, and now there are 50 families, and about 300 inhabitants; it was laid to the ancient tenths at 4l. but had a constant deduction of 14s. on account of lands belonging to the religious, so that the certain payment to each tenth, was 3l. 6s.

 

The Prior of St. Faith at Horsham owned lands here, which were taxed at 2s. 6d. in 1428.

 

The Prior of Thetford monks had lands here of the gift of Richard de Cadomo or Caam, (fn. 1) who gave them his land in Brokedis, and a wood sufficient to maintain 20 swine, in the time of King Henry I. when William Bigot, sewer to that King, gave to this priory all the land of Sileham, which from those monks is now called Monks-hall manor, and the water-mill there; all which Herbert Bishop of Norwich conveyed to his father, in exchange for other lands, he being to hold it in as ample a manner as ever Herbert the chaplain did; and in Ric. the Second's time, the monks bought a piece of marsh ground in Brokedis, to make a way to their mill, which being not contained in the grant of Monks-hall manor from Hen. VIII. to the Duke of Norfolk, William Grice, Esq. and Charles Newcomen, who had a grant of such lands as they could find concealed from the Crown, seized on this as such; and upon their so doing, the owner of the mill was obliged to purchase it of them, by the name of Thetford-Mill-Way, and it hath ever since belonged to, and is constantly repaired by the owner thereof.

 

Rectors of Brockidish.

 

12 - - Robert

 

12 - - Sir Ralf de Creping, rector.

 

1313, Sir Stephen Bygod. The King, for this turn.

 

1324, Nic. le Mareschal. Tho. Earl of Norfolk and Marshal.

 

1326, Mathew Paumer, or Palmer. Ditto. He changed for Canefield-Parva in London diocese with

 

Master Robert de Hales. Ditto.

 

1333, John de Melburn. Ditto.

 

1355, Roger de Wombwell. Lady Eleanor and Thomas de Wingfield, attorneys to Sir John Wingfield, Knt.

 

1356, John Knyght of Exeter. Mary Countess-Marshal, widow of Tho. de Brotherton, who recovered the advowson by the King's writ, against Sir J. Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, and so Wombwell was ejected.

 

1357, John de Esterford. Mary Countess-Marshal. He resigned in

 

1367, to John son of Catherine de Frenge, and he in

 

1368, to John Syward. Sir Walter Lord Manney.

 

1382, John de Balsham, who changed for Stowe St. Michael in Exeter diocese, with

 

Bartholomew Porter. Margaret Marshal, Countess of Norfolk.

 

1405, Sir John Dalyngho of Redcnhall. Eliz. Dutchess of Norf. in right of her dower.

 

1417, he exchanged with Thomes Barry, priest, for the vicarage of Berkyng church in London. John Lancaster, Ric. Sterisacre, and Rob. Southwell, attorneys to John Duke of Norfolk, EarlMarshal and Notyngham, who was beyond the seas. Barry resigned in

 

1422, to Sir Thomas Briggs, priest, who died rector. Ditto.

 

1454, Sir Hen. White, priest. John Duke of Norf. Earl-Marshal and Notingham, Marshal of England, Lord Mowbray, Segrave, and Gower. He resigned in

 

1455, to Sir Thomas Holm, priest. Ditto. And he in

 

1478, to John Nun. The King, as guardian to Richard Duke of York and Norfolk, and Lady Ann his wife, daughter and heir of John late Duke of Norfolk.

 

1491, John Mene; he had a union to hold another benefice.

 

1497, John Rogers, A. M. Eliz. Dutchess of Norfolk. He resigned in

 

1498, to Sir John Fisk, priest, chaplain to the Dutchess. Ditto. At whose death in

 

1511, Sir Robert Gyrlyng, chaplain to Thomas Earl of Surrey, had it of that Earl's gift: he was succeeded by

 

Sir William Flatberry, chaplain to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, who presented him; he resigned in

 

1540, to Sir Nic. Stanton, chaplain to his patron, Tho. Duke of Norf. Lord Treasurer and Earl-Marshal, and was succeeded by

 

William Hide, priest. Ditto. He resigned, and the Duke presented it in

 

1561, to Sir John Inman, priest, who was buried here Aug. 1, 1586.

 

1586, Aug. 4, Master Richard Gibson was instituted, who was buried Oct. 1, 1625; he was presented by Robert Nichols of Cambridge, by purchase of the turn from William le Grice, Gent. and Hester le Grice, wife of Charles le Grice, Gent. true patrons.

 

1625, William Owles, who held it united to Billingford. John Knapp of Brockdish, by grant of this turn. He was succeeded in

 

1645, by Brian Witherel, and he by

 

Mr. James Aldrich, who died rector Nov. 10, 1657, from which time somebody held it without institution, till the Restoration, and then receded, for in

 

1663, May 14, Sir Augustine Palgrave, patron of this turn, in right of Catherine his wife, presented George Fish, on the cession of the last incumbent; he was buried here Oct. 29, 1686.

 

1686, Thomas Palgrave, A.M. buried here March 24, 1724. Fran. Laurence, Gent.

 

1724, Abel Hodges, A.B. he held it united to Tharston, and died in 1729. Richard Meen, apothecary, for this turn.

 

1729, Richard Clark, LL. B. was instituted Dec. 3, and died about six weeks after. Mrs. Ellen Laurence of Castleacre, widow.

 

1730, Alan Fisher. Ditto. He resigned in

 

1738, and was succeeded by Robert Laurence, A. B. of Caius college, who lies buried at the south-east corner of the chancel, and was succeeded in

 

1739, by Francis Blomefield, clerk, the present rector, who holds it united to Fresfield rectory, being presented by Mrs. Ellen Laurence aforesaid.

 

The church is dedicated to the honour of the apostles St. Peter and Paul, and hath a square tower about 16 yards high, part of which was rebuilt with brick in 1714; there are five bells; the third, which is said to have been brought from Pulham in exchange, hath this on it;

 

Sancta Maria ora pro nobis.

 

and on the fourth is this,

 

Uirgo Coronata duc nos ad Regna beata.

 

The nave, chancel, and south isle are leaded, the south porch tiled, and the north porch is ruinated. The roof of this chancel is remarkable for its principals, which are whole trees without any joint, from side to side, and bent in such a rising manner, as to be agreeable to the roof. The chancel is 30 feet long and 20 broad, the nave is 54 feet long and 32 broad, and the south isle is of the same length, and 10 feet broad.

 

At the west end of the nave is a black marble thus inscribed,

 

Here lyeth buried the Body of Richard Wythe Gent. who departed this Life the 6 of Sept. 1671, who lived 64 Years and 4 Months and 9 Days.

 

This family have resided here till lately, ever since Edw. the Third's time, and had a considerable estate here, and the adjacent villages. See their arms, vol. iv. p. 135.

 

Another marble near the desk hath this,

 

Near this Place lays Elizabeth Wife of John Moulton Gent. who died Oct. 31, 1716, aged 32 Years. And here lieth Mary the late Wife of John Moulton, who died March 20, 1717, aged 27 Years. And also here lyeth the Body of John Moulton Gent. who died June 12, 1718, aged 38 Years.

 

Moulton's arms and crest as at vol. iv. p. 501.

 

In a north window are the arms of De la Pole quartering Wingfield.

 

In 1465, Jeffry Wurliche of Brockdish was buried here, and in 1469 John Wurliche was interred in the nave, and left a legacy to pave the bottom of the steeple. In 1518, Henry Bokenham of Brockdish was buried in the church, as were many of the Spaldings, (fn. 2) Withes, Howards, Grices, Tendrings, and Laurences; who were all considerable owners and families of distinction in this town.

 

The chapel at the east end of the south isle was made by Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. whose arms remain in its east window at this day, once with, and once without, a crescent az. on the fess, viz. az. a fess between two chevrons arg.

 

His altar monument stands against the east wall, north and south, and hath a sort of cupola over it, with a holy-water stope by it, and a pedestal for the image of the saint to which it was dedicated, to stand on, so that it served both for a tomb and an altar; the brass plates of arms and circumscription are lost.

 

On the north side, between the chapel and nave, stands another altar tomb, covered with a most curious marble disrobed of many brass plates of arms and its circumscription, as are several other stones in the nave, isle, and chancel. This is the tomb of John Tendring of Brockdish-hall, Esq. who lived there in 1403, and died in 1436, leaving five daughters his heirs, so that he was the last male of this branch of the Tendrings. Cecily his wife is buried by him.

 

On the east chancel wall, on the south side of the altar, is a white marble monument with this,

 

Obdormit hìc in Domino, lætam in Christo expectans Resurrectionem, Robertus, Roberti Laurence, ac Annæ Uxoris ejus, Filius, hujusce Ecclesiæ de Brockdish in Comitatû Norfolciensi Rector, ejusdem Villæ Dominus, ac Ecclesiæ Patronus, jure hereditario (si vixîsset) Futurus; Sed ah! Fato nimium immaturo abreptus; Cœlestia per Salvatoris merita sperans, Terrestria omnia, Juvenis reliquit. Dec. 31°. Anno æræ Christianæ mdccxxxixo. Ætatis xxvo. Maria, unica Soror et Hæres, Roberti Frankling Generosi Uxor, Fraterni Amoris hoc Testimonium animo grato, Memoriæ Sacrum posuit.

 

1. Laurence, arg. a cross raguled gul. on a chief gul. a lion passant guardant or.

 

2. Aslack, sab. a chevron erm. between three catherine-wheels arg.

 

3. Lany, arg. on a bend between two de-lises gul. a mullet of the field for difference.

 

4. Cooke, or, on a chevron ingrailed gul. a crescent of the field for difference, between three cinquefoils az. on a chief of the second, a lion passant guardant of the first.

 

5. Bohun, gul. a crescent erm. in an orle of martlets or.

 

6. Bardolf, az. three cinquefoils or.

 

7. Ramsey, gul. a chevron between three rams heads caboshed arg.

 

8. as 1.

 

Crest, a griffin seiant proper.

 

Motto, Floreat ut Laurus.

 

On a flat stone under this monument, is a brass plate thus inscribed,

 

Sacrum hoc Memoriæ Roberti Laurence Armigeri, qui obijt xxviijo die Julij 1637, Elizabeth Uxor ejus, Filia Aslak Lany Armigeri posuit.

 

Arms on a brass plate are,

 

Lawrence impaling Lany and his quarterings, viz. 1, Lany. 2, Aslack. 3, Cooke. 4, Bohun. 5, nine de-lises, 3, 3, and 3. 6, Bardolf. 7, Charles. 8, on a chevron three de-lises. 9, Ramsey. 10, Tendring. 11, on a fess two coronets. 12, Wachesam, arg. a fess, in chief two crescents gul. 13, a lion rampant. 14, Lany.

 

There is a picture of this Robert drawn in 1629, æt. 36. He built the hall in 1634; it stands near half a mile north-east of the church, and was placed near the old site of Brockdishe's-hall; the seat of the Tendrings, whose arms, taken out of the old hall when this was built, were fixed in the windows. The arms of this man and his wife, and several of their quarterings, are carved on the wainscot in the rooms.

 

On the south side of the churchyard is an altar tomb covered with a black marble, with the crest and arms of

 

Sayer, or Sawyer, gul. a chief erm. and a chevron between three seamews proper.

 

Crest, a hand holding a dragon's head erased proper.

 

To the Memory of Frances late the wife of Richard Tubby Esq. who departed this Life Dec. 22, 1728, in the 60th Year of her Age.

 

And adjoining is another altar tomb,

 

In Memory of Richard Tubby Esq. (fn. 3) who died Dec. 10th. 1741, in the 80th Year of his Age.

 

There are two other altar tombs in the churchyard, one for Mr. Rich. Chatton, and another for Eliz. daughter of Robert and Eliz. Harper, who died in 1719, aged 8 years.

 

The town takes its name from its situation on the Waveney or Wagheneye, which divides this county from that of Suffolk; the channel of which is now deep and broad, though nothing to what it was at that time, as is evident from the names of places upon this river, as the opposite vill, now called Sileham, (oftentimes wrote Sayl-holm, even to Edw. the Third's time) shows; for I make no doubt, but it was then navigable for large boats and barges to sail up hither, and continued so, till the sea by retiring at Yarmouth, and its course being stopt near Lowestoft, had not that influence on the river so far up, as it had before; which occasioned the water to retire, and leave much land dry on either side of the channel; though it is so good a stream, that it might with ease, even now, be made navigable hither; and it would be a good work, and very advantageous to all the adjacent country. That [Brod-dic] signifies no more than the broad-ditch, is very plain, and that the termination of ò, eau, or water, added to it, makes it the broad ditch of water, is as evident.

 

Before the Confessor's time, this town was in two parts; Bishop Stigand owned one, and the Abbot of Bury the other; the former afterwards was called the Earl's Manor, from the Earls of Norfolk; and the other Brockdishe's-hall, from its ancient lords, who were sirnamed from the town.

 

The superiour jurisdiction, lete, and all royalties, belonged to the Earl's manor, which was always held of the hundred of Earsham, except that part of it which belonged to Bury abbey, and that belonged to the lords of Brockdishe's-hall; but when the Earl's manor was sold by the Duke of Norfolk, with all royalties of gaming, fishing, &c. together with the letes, view of frankpledge, &c. free and exempt from his hundred of Earsham, and the two manors became joined as they now are, the whole centered in the lord of the town, who hath now the sole jurisdiction with the lete, belonging to it; and the whole parish being freehold, on every death or alienation, the new tenant pays a relief of a year's freehold rent, added to the current year: The annual free-rent, without such reliefs, amounting to above 3l. per annum. At the Conqueror's survey the town was seven furlongs long, and five furlongs and four perches broad, and paid 6d. to the geld or tax. At the Confessor's survey, there were 28 freemen here, six of which held half a carucate of land of Bishop Stigand, and the others held 143 acres under the Abbot of Bury, and the Abbot held the whole of Stigand, without whose consent the freemen could neither give away, nor sell their land, but were obliged to pay him 40s. a year free-rent; (fn. 4) and if they omitted paying at the year's end, they forfeited their lands, or paid their rent double; but in the Conqueror's time they paid 16l. per annum by tale. There were two socmen with a carucate of land, two villeins and two bordars here, which were given to Bury abbey along with the adjacent manor of Thorp-Abbots, but were after severed from that manor, and infeoffed by the Abbot of Bury in the lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, with which it passed ever after. (fn. 5)

 

Brockdish-Earl's Manor, or Brockdish Comitis.

 

This manor always attended the manor of Forncet after it was granted from the Crown to the Bygods, along with the half hundred of Earsham, for which reason I shall refer you to my account of that manor at p. 223, 4. It was mostly part of the dower of the ladies of the several noble families that it passed through, and the living was generally given to their domestick chaplains. In 3 Edward I. the Abbot of Bury tried an action with Roger Bigod, then lord and patron, for the patronage; (fn. 6) pleading that a part of the town belonged to his house, and though they had infeoffed their manor here in the family of the Brockdishes, yet the right in the advowson remained in him; but it appearing that the advowson never belonged to the Abbot's manor, before the feofment was made, but that it wholly was appendant ever since the Confessor's time, to the Earl's manor, the Abbot was cast: notwithstanding which in 1335, Sir John Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, owners of Brockdishe's manor, revived the claim to the advowson; and Thomas de Wingfield, and lady Eleanor wife of Sir John Wingfield, presented here, and put up their arms in the church windows, as patrons, which still remain; but Mary Countess Marshal, who then held this manor in dower, brought her quare impedit, and ejected their clerk; since which time, it constantly attended this manor, being always appendant thereto. In 15 Edw. I. Roger Bigot, then lord, had free-warren in all this town, as belonging to this manor, having not only all the royalties of the town, but also the assise of bread and ale, and amerciaments of all the tenants of his own manor, and of the tenants of Reginald de Brockdish, who were all obliged to do suit once a year at the Earl's view of frankpledge and lete in Brockdish; and it continued in the Norfolk family till 1570, and then Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, obtained license from Queen Elizabeth to sell it; it being held in capite or in chief of the Crown, as part of the barony and honour of the said Duke, who accordingly sold the manor, advowson, free-fishery, and all the place or manor-house, and demean lands; together with the lete, view of frankpledge, liberty of free warren, and all other royalties whatsoever, free and exempt from any jurisdiction or payment to his half hundred of Earsham, to

 

Charles le Grice, Esq. of Brockdish, and his heirs, who was descended from Sir Rorert le Grys of Langley in Norfolk, Knt. equerry to Ric. I. and Oliva his wife, whose son, Sir Simon le Grys, Knt. of Thurveton, was alive in 1238, and married Agnes daughter and coheir to Augustine son of Richard de Waxtenesham or Waxham, of Waxham in Norfolk, by whom he had Roger le Grys of Thurton, Esq. who lived in the time of Edward I. whose son Thomas le Grice of Thurton, had Roger le Grice of Brockdish, who lived here in 1392; whose son Thomas left John le Grice his eldest son and heir, who married a Bateman, and lies buried in St. John Baptist's church in Norwich; (see vol. iv. p. 127;) but having no male issue, William le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. son of Robert le Grice of Brockdish, his uncle, inherited; he married Sibill, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Singleton of Wingfield in Suffolk, and had

 

Anthony le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 7) who married Margaret, daughter of John Wingfield, Esq. of Dunham, who lived in the place, and died there in 1553, and lies buried in the church, by whom his wife also was interred in 1562. His brother Gilbert Grice of Yarmouth, Gent. (fn. 8) first agreed with the Duke for Brockdish, but died before it was completed; so that Anthony, who was bound with him for performance of the covenants, went on with the purchase for his son,

 

Charles le Grice aforesaid, (fn. 9) to whom it was conveyed: he married two wives; the first was Susan, daughter and heir of Andrew Manfield, Gent. and Jane his wife, who was buried here in 1564; the second was Hester, daughter of Sir George Blagge, Knt. who held the manor for life; and from these two wives descended the numerous branches of the Grices of Brockdish, Norwich, Wakefield in Yorkshire, &c. He was buried in this church April 12, 1575, and was found to hold his manor of the hundred of Earsham, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite; and Brockdishe's-hall manor of the King, as of his barony of Bury St. Edmund in Suffolk, which lately belonged to the abbey there, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite, and

 

William le Grice, Esq. was his eldest son and heir, who at the death of his mother-in-law, was possessed of the whole estate; for in 1585, William Howard, then lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, agreed and sold it to this William, and Henry le Grice his brother, and their heirs; but Howard dying the next year, the purchase was not completed till 1598, when Edw. Coppledick, Gent. and other trustees, brought a writ of entry against John son of the said William Howard, Gent. and had it settled absolutely in the Grices, from which time the two manors have continued joined as they are at this day; by Alice, daughter and heiress of Mr. Eyre of Yarmouth; he left

 

Francis le Grice, Esq. his son and heir, who sold the whole estate, manors, and advowson, to

 

Robert Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 10) who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard, son of Edmund Anguish of Great-Melton, by whom he had

 

Robert Laurence, Esq. his son and heir, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Aslack Lany, who survived him, and remarried in 1640, to Richard Smith, Gent. by whom she had one child, Eliz. buried here in 1641: he died July 24, 1637, and lies buried by the altar as aforesaid: he built the present hall, and had divers children, as Aslak Laurence, Robert, born in 1633, buried in 1635, Samuel Laurence, born in 1635, Ellen, born in 1635, Elizabeth, who married William Reynolds of Great-Massingham, Gent. and

 

Francis Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. his eldest son and heir, who married Ellen, daughter of Thomas Patrick of Castle-acre, Gent. widow of Mathew Halcote of Litcham, Gent. who survived him, and held Brockdish in jointure to her death, which happened Jan. 6, 1741, when she was buried in the nave of Litcham church: they had Frances, and Elizabeth, who died infants; Mary, who died single about 1736, and was buried in the vestry belonging to Castleacre church; Jane, married to Mr. Thomas Shin of Great Dunham, by whom a Thomas, a son, &c. she being dead; Ellen, now widow of Thomas Young of Oxboro, Gent. who died Oct. 1743, leaving issue, the Rev. Mr. Thomas-Patrick Young of Caius college in Cambridge, Benjamin and Mary, and

 

Samuel Lawrence, Gent. their second son, is now alive and single; and

 

Robert Lawrence, Esq. their eldest son and heir, is long since dead, but by Anne daughter of John Meriton, late rector of Oxburgh, his wife, he left one son,

 

Robert Laurence, late rector of Brockdish, who died single, and

 

Mrs. Mary Laurence, his only sister, who is now living, and married to Robert Frankling, Gent. of Lynn in Norfolk, is the present lord in her right, but they have no issue.

 

Brockdishe's-Hall Manor,

 

Belonged to Bury abbey as aforesaid, till the time of Henry I. and then the Abbot infeoffed

 

Sir Stephen de Brockdish in it, from whom it took its present name; he was to hold it at the 4th part of a knight's fee of that abbey: it contained a capital messuage or manor-house, called now Brockdishe's-hall; 105 acres of land in demean, 12 acres of wood, 8 of meadow, and 4l. 13s. 10d. rents of assise; he left it to

 

Jeffery de Brockdish his son, and he to

 

William, his son and heir, who in 1267, by the name of William de Hallehe de Brokedis, or Will. of Brockdish-hall, was found to owe suit and service once in a year with all his tenants, to the lete of the Earl of Norfolk, held here. He left this manor, and the greatest part of his estate in Norwich-Carleton (which he had with Alice Curson his wife) to

 

Thomas, his son and heir, and the rest of it to Nigel de Brockdish, his younger son; (see p. 102;) Thomas left it to

 

Reginald, his eldest son and heir, and he to

 

Sir Stephen de Brockdish, Knt. his son and heir, who was capital bailiff of all the Earl of Norfolk's manors in this county; he was lord about 1329, being succeeded by his son,

 

Stephen, who by Mary Wingfield his wife, had

 

Reginald de Brockdish, his son and heir, (fn. 11) to whom he gave Brockdish-hall manor in Burston, (see vol. i. p. 127, vol. ii. p. 506,) but he dying before his father, was never lord here; his two daughters and heiresses inheriting at his father's death, viz.

 

Alice, married to William de Lampet about 1355, and Catherine some time after, to William son of John de Herdeshull, lord of North Kellesey and Saleby in Lincolnshire, who inherited each a moiety, according to the settlement made by their grandfather, who infeoffed Sir John de Wingfield, Knt. and Eleanor his wife, and Thomas his brother, in trust for them; (fn. 12) soon after, one moiety was settled on Robert Mortimer and Catherine his wife, by John Hemenhale, clerk, and John de Lantony, their trustees; and not long after the whole was united, and belonged to

 

Sir William Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. and Margaret his wife, daughter and coheir of Sir Will. Kerdeston of Claxton in Norfolk, Knt. who were succeeded by their son and heir

 

Sir John Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. who jointly with Agnes his wife, settled it on

 

Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. one of their younger sons, who built the old hall (which was pulled down by Robert Lawrence, Esq. when he erected the present house) and the south isle chapel, in which he and Alice his wife are interred; his son,

 

John Tendring of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord here and of Westhall in Colney, (see p. 5,) and was buried in the said chapel, with Cecily his wife, died in 1436, and left five daughrers, coheiresses, viz.

 

Cecily, married to Robert Ashfield of Stowlangetot in Suffolk, Esq.

 

Elizabeth, to Simeon Fincham of Fincham in Norfolk, Esq.

 

Alice, to Robert Morton.

 

Joan, to Henry Hall of Helwinton.

 

Anne, to John Braham of Colney.

 

Who joined and levied a fine and sold it to

 

Thomas Fastolff, Esq. and his heirs; and the year following, they conveyed all their lands, &c. in Wigenhall, Tilney, and Islington, to

 

Sir John Howard, Knt. and his heirs; and vested them in his trustees, who, the year following, purchased the manor of Fastolff to himself and heirs; this Sir John left Brockdish to a younger son,

 

Robert Howard, Esq. who settled here, and by Isabel his wife had

 

William Howard of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord in 1469; he had two wives, Alice and Margaret, from whom came a very numerous issue, but

 

Robert, his son and heir, had this manor, who by Joan his wife had

 

William Howard, his eldest son and heir, who died in 1566, seized of many lands in Cratfield, Huntingfield, Ubbeston, and Bradfield in Suffolk; and of many lands and tenements here, and in Sileham, &c. having sold this manor the year before his death, to the Grices as aforesaid; but upon the sale, he reserved, all other his estate in Brockdish, in which he dwelt, called Howard's Place, situate on the south side of the entrance of Brockdish-street; which house and farm went to

 

John Howard, his son and heir, the issue of whose three daughters, Grace, Margaret, and Elizabeth, failing, it reverted to

 

Mathew, son of William Howard, second brother to the said John Howard their father, whose second son,

 

Mathew Howard, afterwards owned it; and in 1711, it was owned by a Mathew Howard, and now by

 

Mr. Bucknall Howard of London, his kinsman (as I am informed.)

 

The site and demeans of the Earl's manor, now called the place, was sold from the manor by the Grices some time since, and after belonged to Sir Isaac Pennington, alderman of London, (see vol. i. p. 159,) and one of those who sat in judgment on the royal martyr, for which his estate was forfeited at the Restoration, and was given by Car. II. to the Duke of Grafton; and his Grace the present Duke of Grafton, now owns it.

 

the benefactions to this parish are,

 

One close called Algorshegge, containing three acres, (fn. 13) and a grove and dove-house formerly built thereon containing about one acre, at the east end thereof; the whole abutting on the King's highway north, and the glebe of Brockdish rectory west: and one tenement abutting on Brockdish-street south, called Seriches, (fn. 14) with a yard on the north side thereof, were given by John Bakon the younger, of Brockdish, son of John Bakon the elder, of Thorp-Abbots; the clear profits to go yearly to pay the tenths and fifteenths for the parish of Brockdish when laid, and when they are not laid, to repair and adorn the parish church there for ever: his will is proved in 1433. There are always to be 12 feoffees, of such as dwell, or are owners in the parish, and when the majority of them are dead, the survivors are to fill up the vacancies.

 

In 1590, 1 Jan. John Howard, Gent. John Wythe, Gent. William Crickmere and Daniel Spalding, yeomen, officers of Brockdish, with a legacy left to their parish in 1572, by John Sherwood, late of Brokdish, deceased, purchased of John Thruston of Hoxne, Gent. John Thruston his nephew, Thomas Barker, and the inhabitants of Hoxne in Suffolk, one annuity or clear yearly rent-charge of 6s. 8d. issuing out of six acres of land and pasture in Hoxne, in a close called Calston's-close, one head abutting on a way leading from Heckfield-Green to Moles-Cross, towards the east; to the only use and behoof of the poor of Brockdish, to be paid on the first of November in Hoxne church-porch, between 12 and 4 in the afternoon of the same day, with power to distrain and enter immediately for non-payment; the said six acres are warranted to be freehold, and clear of all incumbrances, except another rentcharge of 13s. 4d. granted to Hoxne poor, to be paid at the same day and place

 

In 1592, John Howard of Brockdish sold to the inhabitants there, a cottage called Laune's, lying between the glebes on all parts; this hath been dilapidated many years, but the site still belongs to the parish.

 

From the old Town Book.

 

1553, 1st Queen Mary, paid for a book called a manuel 2s. 6d.; for two days making the altar and the holy-water stope, and for a lock for the font. 1554, paid for the rood 9d. 1555, paid for painting the rood-loft 14d. At the visitation of my Lord Legate 16d. To the organs maker 4d. and for the chalice 26s. 1557, paid for carriage of the Bible to Bocnam 12d. for deliverance of the small books at Harlstone 15d.; the English Bibles and all religious Protestant tracts usually at this time left in the churches for the information and instruction of the common people, being now called in by the Papist Queen. Paid for two images making 5s.; for painting them 16d. for irons for them 8d. But in 1558, as soon as Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, all these Popish, images, &c. were removed out of the church. Paid for sinking the altar 4d.; carrying out the altar 5d.; mending the communion table 3d.; 1561, paid for the X. Commandments 18d.; for pulling down the rood-loft 14d.; paid Roger Colby repairing the crosse in the street 26s. 8d.; for a lock to the crosse-house, &c.; 1565, for digging the ground and levelling the low altar, (viz. in the south chapel,) and mending the pavement. For makyng the communion cup at Harlston 5s. 4d. besides 6s. 2d. worth of silver more than the old chalice weyed. 1569, paid to Belward the Dean for certifying there is no cover to the cup, 8d. 1657, layd out 19s. 4d. for the relief of Attleburgh, visited with the plague. Laid out 17s. for the repair of the Brockdish part of Sileham bridge, leading over the river to Sileham church. This bridge is now down, through the negligence of both the parishes, though it was of equal service to both, and half of it repaired by each of them. In 1618, the church was wholly new paved and repaired; and in 1619, the pulpit and desk new made, new books, pulpit-cloth, altar-cloth, &c. bought.

 

From the Register:

 

1593, Daniel son of Robert Pennington, Gent. bapt. 13 July. 1626, John Brame, Gent. and Anne Shardelowe, widow, married Sept. 2. 1631, John Blomefield and Elizabeth Briges married May 30. 1666, Roger Rosier, Gent. buried. 1735, Henry Blomefield of Fersfield, Gent. single man, and Elizabeth Bateman of Mendham, single woman, married Feb. 27.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol5...

When I'm Five - David Bowie

For TOTW: lyrically inspired.

 

Day 174 of 365: Cristal is four and an utter goof ball. She loves to pose for photos. In fact, I nearly chose to use the song "Nag Nag Nag Nag" by Art Brut.

When you're a head, stay ahead!!

.......in a hairdresser's shop in Duing Lan, Vietnam.

CAMERA: ZENIT 122 - ILFORD HP5 ISO 200 - HELIOS 44M-6

...and it's Angels come forth.

"When snow falls, nature listens."

Antoinette van Kleef

 

"The very fact of snow is such an amazement."

Roger Ebert

  

texture thanks to PaintedWorks.

When darkness looms on the horizon, make sure you are carrying a candle..!

When

It was raining from the first

And I was dying there of thirst

So I came in here

And your long-time curse hurts

But whats worse

Is this pain in here

I cant stay in here

Aint it clear that..

I just cant fit?

Yes, I believe its time for us to quit...

When we meet again

Introduced as friends

Please dont let on that you knew me when

I was hungry and it was your world.

Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do

You make love just like a woman, yes, you do

Then you ache just like a woman

But you break just like a little girl....

 

-bob dyllan

 

When “Madame-Sir” made it in a male world

A trail blazer in Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service, Manel Abeysekera speaks to Chandani Kirinde of many memorable moments now recalled in her new book

When Manel Abeysekera arrived in the Thai capital Bangkok to take up duties at the Sri Lanka Embassy as chargé d’affaires in 1970, she was greeted by the driver who had come to the airport with the words "Welcome, Madame-Sir”. The driver, no doubt, unaccustomed to seeing a lady diplomat had hence instantaneously coined this novel greeting. It’s this unique phrase that Mrs. Abeysekera, Sri Lanka’s first woman entrant to the Foreign Service (then Ceylon Overseas Service), has chosen as the title of her memoirs due to be released shortly.

  

“Madame-Sir”, a Stamford Lake publication will be launched on November 30

Her entry into the Foreign Service in 1958 came at a time when the public service was an exclusively male domain and was quite accidental. Her eye had caught a gazette notification that appeared in the newspaper that year calling for applications to join the Overseas Service, which also carried a sentence stating that “married women who apply must get special permission of the Public Service Commission”.

 

“Being an unmarried woman, I thought I might have a better chance and sent an application,” Mrs. Abeysekera recalls. She was called for an interview with three Permanent Secretaries chairing the panel who welcomed her as the first woman to face such an interview. But what annoyed her was the question that came next. “What if we take you and train you and then you decide to get married,” one of them had asked. Her quick thinking answer put an end to that line of questioning. “I am sorry Sir, but I don’t think there is anything in the application to say that if you get married you have to leave. What about a man? Do they leave when they get married?’ she retaliated.

 

The answers to the questions on international affairs which followed came easily to her and she secured herself a place in the Overseas Service, along with seven male applicants.

 

The foundation for her trailblazing career in the foreign service was laid in her school years at Methodist College, Colombo which she describes as the “number one girls’ college”. She secured the all island second place in her SSC (Senior School Certificate) and later gained admission to read history at Peradeniya. But being a female was an impediment to her pursuance of a higher education.

 

“I was a home bird. I had never been away from home a single day and was literally tied to my mother’s apron strings. She did not want me to go the 72 miles to Kandy and then I decided I would not study anymore,” she says.

 

But her father, a civil servant and later Senator, E.W. Kannangara, was keen that she pursues her higher education and suggested she do an external degree from the U.K. She enrolled for a course in Wolsely Hall in Oxford, did the first exam well, but lost interest thereafter. “I am not a person who can sit and study. I need company. I am a gregarious type. I like competition and challenges,” Mrs.Abeysekera says with a laugh.

 

That may have been the end of her academic career if not for her brother, who was studying at Oxford at the time, suggesting that she seek a place there to follow a degree course. Her parents then asked her to go to Peradeniya which she did not want to do as her classmates had already finished their first year.

Thereon she went on a tour with her parents and sister to several European countries which was very “educational in nature” and upon her return to the country, again prompted by her brother, applied to Somerville College at Oxford where she went to study modern history.

 

“I always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps. He was in the first batch to join the Ceylon Civil Service. He was my hero.” As fate would have it, instead of the Civil Service, she was selected to the Foreign Service in 1958, and was sent to London to study languages- Italian being the choice for her.

 

Before proceeding to London for training, Mrs. Abeysekera recalled the new recruits being taken to meet the then Prime Minister S.W.R.D Bandaranaike. “Before we left my father warned me that the Premier would be in a bad mood that day due to certain political problems that had cropped up with the Federal Party (FP). Being the only woman, my colleagues would have expected me to sit next to the Prime Minister but instead I chose to sit away from him. He turned to one of the boys and asked, “What is my foreign policy?” While he fumbled for an answer, he asked the same question from the rest and having not received a satisfactory response turned to his secretary and asked him to tell the recruits to study his foreign policy and come back.’

  

Thus ended their first meeting with Mr. Bandaranaike but before the new recruits went on their overseas training, they met with him again. “This time my father said Mr. Bandaranike would be in a good mood as he had sorted out his political differences with the FP. And he was prophetic as the Premier was in an expansive mood that day and noted that a woman too had been recruited.”

 

Tragically Mr. Bandaranaike was assassinated while she was away on her overseas training and when she assumed duties at the Ministry of External Affairs, his widow Sirima Bandaranaike was Prime Minister and was someone Mrs. Abeysekera was to work closely with.

 

One of her most memorable experiences in the Foreign Service was the role she played as Chief of Protocol during the Non-Aligned Summit in 1976 which was attended by 92 heads of state and government.

 

She along with her team of officials from the External Affairs Ministry as well as assistance from the members of the Police and armed forces rehearsed for two years to see the successful conclusion of the biggest event of this nature the country had hosted. “I had allocated seven minutes for each of the VIPs to inspect the guard of honour and speak with the President and the Prime Minister and it went off perfectly. We had a lot of camaraderie and team work.”

 

Mrs. Abeysekera feels that the reason for the smooth conduct of the NAM summit was that there was a single chain of command at the time with the Prime Minister also being the Minister of Defence, External Affairs as well as in charge of economic affairs. “Mrs. Bandaranaike was someone who took quick decisions. It was a real pleasure to work with her.”

 

The other momentous event in her career took place when Mrs. Abeysekera was serving as Ambassador in Thailand when Sri Lankan national Sepala Ekanayake hijacked an Italian airliner with 169 passengers on board and threatened to blow it up on the tarmac of the Bangkok airport.

 

“I was in the Alitalia office in Bangkok for 38 hours negotiating with the hijacker. It was like a miracle but he did as I asked. We managed to settle the matter without anyone getting hurt,” she says.

In her memoirs, Mrs. Abeysekera deals with the “career and dilemmas of the first woman diplomat in the Sri Lankan Foreign Service” and says her belief that “God would help me in my challenges” and “my parents legacy” were the important aspects that helped her face them.

 

“If you overcome and meet the dilemmas and challenges, it strengthens your character; Just plain sailing without problems never strengthens you.” Her career in the Foreign Service spanning 35 years saw her in the close company of royalty, presidents and prime ministers. She recalls with fondness the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi whom she first met in 1962 when the former visited Sri Lanka with her father Jawaharlal Nehru, who was then premier, and opened the Ayurveda Hospital at Nawinna. They met again when Mrs. Gandhi attended the NAM summit in Colombo in 1976. Another such leader was the one time Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.

 

A hallmark of her success was not being afraid to advise politicians when required to do so and not letting anything stress her out. “Our job is to be advisor and if they want they can take it and if they don’t want to, they won’t,” she says candidly.

 

One politician with whom she says she had quite a few arguments with was A.C.S. Hameed (Foreign Minister from 1977-89). However after her last protocol job, when she met with him, he had quipped, “Manel tells me lots of things I don’t want to hear but when I ponder I realize it’s for my own good,” to which she promptly replied, “Sir, that is the best compliment an official can have from a politician.”

She still keeps in touch with the driver in Thailand whose words became the inspiration for the title of her memoirs.

 

“When he used to drive me around when I was in Bangkok, people used to come up to him and ask him, ‘Why are you flying the flag for the ambassador’s wife?’ only to have him tell them proudly, ‘She is the Ambassador’.”

 

It’s such interesting anecdotes that Mrs. Abeysekera recalls with fondness as she reminisces her long career as a diplomat, a path she trod in her own forthright, humorous and affable style that made her a worthy pioneer in her chosen field.

 

Sunday Times (21/11/2010)

This is how they keep the checkouts confidential. There is a big ledger book with everyone's name written in and assigned a number [I took a photo of that too but I can't anonymize it enough]. When you check out a book, they write your number on the card.

When time flies, enjoy each moment of it...

 

♪ Copyright © D. Lau / D1-Xenotime - All rights reserved

The photograph is publish to be viewed freely. Modification & Commercial Distribution is strictly forbidden.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

  

Like any other college town, Bloomington, Indiana, has its share of bars and taverns where you can drink while cheering on your alma matter on the field or court. Just a couple of blocks from the west edge of Indiana University is Nick's English Hut, an establishment that has been around since 1927.

In the days when it was 3ft gauge

 

Check out my other miniature railway pics on Flickr:

www.flickr.com/photos/trainsandstuff/collections/72157625...

 

As you have probably seen I have changed my Flickr screen name. From "peaceful girl" to "Irina!" -exclamation mark in the end means that there are so many Irinas on Flickr that another one differs from the rest with exclamation mark :)))))))

The name seems easier but still preserving the meaning:)

“When I was young, my mother always told me happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they don’t understand life.” John Lennon

 

I hiked up Soapstone mountain on Saturday morning, at the top there is an observation platform, from which one can look north over the hills to Massachusetts.

 

The platform is covered in graffiti. I was unable to get all the words in the top right corner into the shot, hence the quote in full, above.

 

I often wonder, if those whose artistic genre is graffiti, go everywhere with a couple of cans of spray paint, or did they wake up one morning and say, "I feel my creative juices flowing, I think I'll go to top of Soapstone Mountain and spray some graffiti.

This was shot by kids learning photography and who came here on an outing to learn about outdoor photography at Jijamata Udhyan our local zoo.. And their teacher Mr Malushte my photo guru would invite me to come and pose for them as a model.. I dress differently I look different and so the kids got a model hands-down.. and I always obliged as we have to teach our kids , and photography is an essential tool to see a world upside down down side up.

 

What I learnt from my 3 gurus and most of you on Flickr I taught my two granddaughters , those photographers who visited my house also added to the knowledge quotient of my grandkids ,, and there were many who came to my house , some I met on the streets and bought them home to use the Internet or the washing room as there are hardly any clean toilets in Bandra .. the stench the filth would drive you insane and toilets in Mumbai is a separate topic by itself at Allahabd during the Maha Kumbh the first class waiting room had the ladies toilet inside the gents loo and urinal.. at Murud Bus depot there is no ladies toilet and in a way I think women in India are second class citizens ..and I must tell you Mumbai folks are insensitive if a woman is being harassed in the bus or train all will watch from a distance but do nothing.. they avoid getting into a station where the cops will make them wait hours for their statement and God save you from Indian police stations ,,the only place where you have to prove your innocence before you commit a crime and sadly barring a few good officers most of the cops in India are badly outsourced have no compassion humanity and sometimes nothing in the head as the criteria for becoming a cop is your chest size your height and your weight ,

 

And I hope changes come soon even our cops are overworked , long hours no proper housing , and than we grumble when we read about cops taking bribes .. and this is where Swach Bharat should be applied and not taking a broom stolen from the Am Admi party to remove the litter on the roads .

 

And religion has done more harm than good , very few religions talk of humanity , one religion god wants another religion gods followers to be killed and than I say to myself despite all this we are better of than in Nigeria Pakistan or the ISIS held Arab territories ,, we have not allowed that sectarian poison to enter our DNA.

 

Photography should be taught to kids from the day they enter a playschool and I can assure that the kids who take a camera in their hands will change the way we see the world ,, and the camera is the most feared tool among temples police stations and in the offices of our politicians and I will not talk about Fabindia ..there camera backfired on them .. but does it matter ,,

 

First we shot pictures , showcased them now we shoot pictures and blog our inner angst , we become voluble we become writers though we never knew how to hold a pen I type with one finger so you can imagine how I have abused this overworked part of my anatomy ,,when I set out to become a photographer it was an alternative for having been an alcoholic for a very long time during the film shooting era and learning unlearning on slides BW .It was a great intoxication those early days now if I dont shoot pictures I will survive using an image from my archive , tweaking it trough Aviary , saving a new copy and than changing the EXIF data to present date and I have a new photoblog a new story a new thought and a new outlet for the dissipation of my thoughts ,,,

 

And as a blogger you can talk about so many other things beside the picture you shot and as a photo blogger you shoot your own pictures , it is called Original Content .An inveterate photoblogger wont rob another photographers picture ..he will shoot his own and with the mobile phone the subject is only a click away..

 

Although a still photographer catering to the Internet and without making a dime as an amateur photographer , the only reason why my old lady gets a short fuse ,,I think photography made me a tea drinker a teetotaler .. and I think a good humanbeing I dont rob steal or fornicate ,,Photography gave me a reason to add a smile on a beggar childs face ..Photography point and shoot helped me capture some great moments of various faiths including my own Shia Faith .. the Maha Kumbh the transgender and instilled an empty vessel with 10000 poems .. juggling with words within the soul of my pictures and I met some great folks like you .. and finally without Humility all the camera lenses is zilch.. Humility Simplicity and Sincerity and moderating your images before you post them so as not to hurt another mans faith or his beliefs ,, but still that does not save you from Trolls and Spams ,,And Flickr changed me completely ,, it made me Human.. irrespective of the Favorites and number of Views on My images ,,

Thank you all those I follow those who follow me and those who accidentally end up reading me cosmically .. you can only read or see pictures you were destined to see .. and you can only shoot what you were destined to shoot ,,

  

When I look at this, it gives me hope that one day, I'll be a great photographer. #vscocam #vsco #vscogrid #vscokeys #beautiful #kid #boracay #igersmanila #pinoy #philippines #itsmorefuninthephilippines #tbt #tyrataughtme #antm #kid #stolen #real #sand #beach #holiday #travel #findyourcoast #📷oftheday

 

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mackysuson: #travel_official

 

mackysuson: Hdr_europe

 

mackysuson: #hdr_europe

 

nightingaleksls: Chill! @iBeachLife

  

Isabel and I went on a wonderful daytrip to Paris. We explored the beautiful city with perfect weather conditions and we experienced nothing but kindness from the Parisians. The bustling energy of this city inspired me so much! I'm sure to be back soon...

 

Blogspost about the trip:

tosendestille.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/when-in-paris/

Digital ID: TH-64627

 

Source: Billy Rose Theatre Collection photograph file / Productions / When Women go on the Warpath (cinema 1913) (more info)

 

Repository: The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division.

 

See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.

Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-64627

 

Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)

Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active

-Edith Hamilton

When inspiration does not come to me, I go halfway to meet it.

 

°And sorry I have no idea where her hands are.

 

youtu.be/MFa-SbxUp18

Fotós: Fairy

Modell: Réka Ez a kép a kedvencem még, olyan bájos :)