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de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvey

www.unesco-welterbe.de/de/karolingisches-westwerk-und-civ...

Corvey ist eine ehemalige reichsunmittelbare Benediktinerabtei an der Weser. Corvey war ein bedeutendes karolingisches Kloster, es verfügte über eine der wertvollsten Bibliotheken des Landes, zahlreiche Bischöfe gingen aus der Abtei hervor. Heute noch erhalten sind die sächsischen Gesetze Karls des Großen, die fünf ersten Bücher der Annalen des römischen Historikers Tacitus sowie Schriften des römischen Schriftstellers und Philosophen Cicero.

Corvey besitzt das älteste und einzige fast vollständig erhaltene karolingische Westwerk weltweit (Bauzeit 873-885). Der zentrale, dreiseitig von Emporen umgebene Hauptraum im Obergeschoss greift in seiner Form und seiner ursprünglichen künstlerischen Ausstattung auf antike Vorbilder zurück. Die Ausstattung mit lebensgroßen Stuckfiguren, der farbigen Raumfassung mit architektonischen Gliederungen, ornamentalen Friesen und mythologischen Wandmalereien, die das einzig publike Beispiel von Wandmalereien in karolingischer Zeit darstellen, ist in wesentlichen Teilen erhalten. Die Fresken aus dem 9. Jahrhundert zeigen antike Motive der Odyssee.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Abbey_of_Corvey

Corvey is a former imperial Benedictine's abbey near the river Weser. Corvey was an important carolingian cloister, it disposed of one of the most valuable libraries of the country, and numerous bishops arose from the abbey. The Saxon laws of Charlemagne, books of Tacitus as well as writings of Cicero are received even today.

Corvey owns the oldest and only almost completely preserved carolingian westwork worldwide (construction time 873-885). The central, three-sided from lofts surrounded main space in the upper floor falls back in his form and his original artistic equipment on antique models. The equipment with full-size stucco figures, ornamental friezes and mythological mural paintings which show the only example of mural paintings in carolingian time, received in essential parts. The frescoes from the 9th century show antique motives of the Odyssey.

 

Corvey von Katharina K-S

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derwentwater

  

Derwentwater (or Derwent Water) is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria.

 

The lake occupies part of Borrowdale and lies immediately south of the town of Keswick. It is both fed and drained by the River Derwent. It measures approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) long by 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and is some 72 feet (22 m) deep. There are several islands within the lake, one of which is inhabited. Derwent Island House, an 18th-century residence, is a tenanted National Trust property open to the public on five days each year.

  

Derwentwater is a place of considerable scenic value. It is surrounded by hills (known locally as fells), and many of the slopes facing Derwentwater are extensively wooded. A regular passenger launch operates on the lake, taking passengers between various landing stages. There are seven lakeside marinas, the most popular stops being: Keswick, Portinscale and the Lodore Falls, from which boats may be hired. Recreational walking is a major tourist activity in the area and an extensive network of footpaths exists within the hills and woods surrounding the lake.

 

The Keswick—Borrowdale road runs along the eastern shore of the lake and carries a regular bus service. There is a lesser, or unclassified, road along the western shore connecting the villages of Grange and Portinscale.

 

Derwentwater gave its name to the Earldom of Derwentwater.

 

The lake is believed to be the last remaining native habitat of the vendace (Coregonus vandesius) fish from the 4 originally known sites: Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water in the Lake District and the Castle Loch & Mill Loch in Lochmaben.[2]

  

Etymology

  

'Derwent' is " '(River) with oak trees', traditionally explained from Brit." (i.e.: Brythonic Celtic) " 'derwā' 'oak' plus suffixes, hence of the same origin as other English rivers named Derwent, Darwen, Darent and Dart...The river gave its name to Derwent Water (which was also known as the 'Lake of Derwent', 'Keswick Lake', or 'Keswick Water' in the 18th-19th centuries)...".[3] Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'

  

Derwentwater's islands

  

There are numerous islands in Derwentwater, the largest being: Derwent Island, Lord's Island, St Herbert's Island, Rampsholme Island, Park Neb, Otter Island, and Otterbield Island. St. Herbert's Island is named after a C. 7th priest hermit, St. Herbert of Derwentwater.

  

it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_bruennichi

 

Il ragno vespa non è aggressivo, e attacca l'uomo solo se viene disturbato; in tal caso il suo morso, provoca bruciore e arrossamento della parte colpita, ma i suoi effetti svaniscono al massimo nell'arco di un giorno.

 

Una curiosità si ha nell'accoppiamento di tali aracnidi, infatti quasi sempre le femmine di questi ragni uccidono i loro pretendenti maschi, a meno che questi ultimi non riescano a fuggire prima; spesso nel tentativo di fuga il pene degli individui maschi si spezza all'interno delle femmine, non permettendo che altri ragni fecondino la stessa, e assicurandosi così il successo riproduttivo

 

Argiope bruennichi, ou Aranha Vespeira, é uma espécie distribuída em toda a Europa Central, Norte da Europa, Norte de África e partes da Ásia. Tal como muitos outros membros do género, mostra riscas amarelas e pretas no seu abdómen.

 

A aranha constrói uma espiral ao amanhecer ou entardecer no meio da vegetação, para atrair insectos. Quando uma presa é capturada na teia, rapidamente é imobilizada através do envolvimento em teia. De seguida a aranha pica-a, de forma a injectar um veneno paralisante.

 

O macho da espécie é muito menor do que a fêmea. Muitas vezes pode ser visto perto de uma dela, aguardando pelo momento em que ela atinja a maturidade sexual. Neste curto espaço de tempo, em que a fêmea está receptiva ao sexo, o macho pode aproximar-se sem risco de ser comido.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon

 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).

 

The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

 

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

 

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park

 

Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.

 

Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

 

Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"

 

(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"

 

(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"

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

 

RiverBrink Art Museum is located on the Niagara Parkway in the historic village of Queenston, Niagara-on-the-Lake. Open to the public since 1983, the museum is home to a unique collection of over 1,400 works by Canadian and international artists.

 

Along with paintings, prints, works on paper, and sculpture, the museum's collection includes decorative art, archival material, and rare books, assembled by Samuel E. Weir. An Ontario-based lawyer and avid art collector throughout his lifetime, Weir acquired the majority of the works in the museum, which continues to collect through donations and purchases. The location of RiverBrink had a profound influence on the art patron, as there are many depictions of Niagara Falls and the Niagara peninsula in the collection. In the RiverBrink collection are paintings by many of Canada's most significant artists, including Tom Thomson, Homer Watson, Marc Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Cornelius Krieghoff, Emily Carr, and members of the Group of Seven. The collection also contains artwork by well-known British, French, and American artists, such as Augustus John, Mary Cassatt, Armand Guillaumin, Grant Wood, and Edgar Degas, among others. The museum has a large collection of decorative arts, including English and Québec silver, clocks, antique furniture, Indian medals, coins, rugs and ceramics. In addition, RiverBrink's library and archives hold over 4,000 books, personal correspondence, maps, auction house records, and individual files of several hundred artists.

Heteronympha merope, the common brown butterfly.

A link to its wiki page, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronympha_merope.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon

 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).

 

The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

 

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

 

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park

 

Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.

 

Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

 

Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"

 

(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"

 

(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953:

 

From midday on 31 January 1953, water was driven from the northern reaches of the North Sea between Norway and Scotland by a strong north-west gale. A surge developed along the coast of the Netherlands, which coincided with a high spring tide, leading to many water levels on the Dutch coast on the morning of 1 February 1953 being higher than any previous recorded figures, particularly in the south-western areas of the country.

 

At 10:30 p.m. on Saturday evening 31 January, it was low tide. But this time the water remained high. The strength of the hurricane had broken the tidal movement.

 

On the night of 1 February 1953 around 3 a.m., many dykes in the province of Zeeland, the southern parts of the province of South Holland and the northwestern parts of the province of North Brabant proved unable to resist the combination of spring tide and a northwesterly storm. On both the islands and the mainland, large areas of the country were flooded.

 

At 4 p.m. on 1 February, the flood reached a second high. The water rose even higher than during the first flood, and more dikes broke. Many people who had survived the first flood died, as the houses on which they sheltered on the rooftops collapsed due to the persistent water pressure. At that time, the government did not yet know that Schouwen-Duiveland, Goeree-Overflakkee and Tholen were almost completely under water, and no large-scale rescue operations had yet taken place.

 

Only on Monday 2 February were fishermen the first to sail deep into the disaster area to save hundreds of people. Rescue operations from the air were hardly possible: the Netherlands had only 1 helicopter and had to wait until other countries offered help.

 

On Tuesday February 3, a large flow of people and relief supplies started. Planes dropped sandbags, dinghies, boots, food and water over the disaster area. At the same time, thousands of Dutch soldiers, administrators, aid workers and volunteers arrived to carry out coordinated actions in the disaster area. Tens of thousands of residents were being evacuated from the area to shelters elsewhere in the country.

 

Foreign helicopters and amphibious vehicles also came into action on Tuesday, but the vast majority of rescue operations had already been completed by then.

 

Donations and relief supplies were pouring in at the National Disaster Fund in The Hague. Other countries, including England, Sweden and Canada sent more than 61 million guilders in relief supplies.

 

Many people still commemorate the dead during the Herdenking Watersnoodramp on 1 February.

From the Wiki…

The Henize 70 Super Bubble is located approximately 170,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Seabream, and is within the Large Magellanic Cloud. A superbubble or supershell is a cavity which is hundreds of light years across and is populated with hot gas atoms, less dense than the surrounding interstellar medium, blown against that medium and carved out by multiple supernovae and stellar winds. The winds, passage and gravity of newly born stars strip superbubbles of any other dust or gas.

 

Thanks for looking, take care.

 

Hi res link:

live.staticflickr.com/65535/52413765376_596efd6ac8_o.jpg

 

Information about the image:

Center (RA, Dec):(85.856, -67.868)

Center (RA, hms):05h 43m 25.348s

Center (Dec, dms):-67° 52' 04.293"

Size:46.9 x 31.3 arcmin

Radius:0.470 deg

Pixel scale:0.733 arcsec/pixel

Orientation:Up is 17.7 degrees E of N

  

Instrument: Planewave CDK 12.5 | Focal Ratio: F8

Camera: STXL-11000 + AOX | Mount: AP900GTO

Camera Sensitivity: Lum, Ha: BIN 1x1, RGB: BIN 2x2

Exposure Details: Total: 21.33 hours | Lum: 20 x 900 sec [5.0hr], Ha: 31 x 1200 sec [10.33hr], RGB 16 x 450sec each [6.0hrs]

Viewing Location: Central Victoria, Australia.

Observatory: ScopeDome 3m

Date: Aug 2018 - Mar 2022

Software Enhancements: CCDStack2, CCDBand-Aid, PS, Pixinsight

Author: Steven Mohr

 

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji:

 

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, 'Temple of the Golden Pavilion'), officially named Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺, lit. 'Deer Garden Temple'), is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the most popular buildings in Kyoto, attracting many visitors annually. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site, a National Special Landscape and is one of 17 locations making up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which are World Heritage Sites.

 

The Golden Pavilion (金閣, Kinkaku) is a three-story building on the grounds of the Rokuon-ji temple complex. The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a shariden (舎利殿), housing relics of the Buddha (Buddha's Ashes). The building was an important model for Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion Temple) and Shōkoku-ji, which are also located in Kyoto. When these buildings were constructed, Ashikaga Yoshimasa employed the styles used at Kinkaku-ji and even borrowed the names of its second and third floors.

 

The pavilion successfully incorporates three distinct styles of architecture, which are shinden, samurai and zen, specifically on each floor. Each floor of the Kinkaku uses a different architectural style.

 

The first floor, called The Chamber of Dharma Waters (法水院, Hō-sui-in), is rendered in shinden-zukuri style, reminiscent of the residential style of the 11th century Heian imperial aristocracy. It is evocative of the Shinden palace style. It is designed as an open space with adjacent verandas and uses natural, unpainted wood and white plaster. This helps to emphasize the surrounding landscape. The walls and fenestration also affect the views from inside the pavilion. Most of the walls are made of shutters that can vary the amount of light and air into the pavilion and change the view by controlling the shutters' heights. The second floor, called The Tower of Sound Waves (潮音洞, Chō-on-dō ), is built in the style of warrior aristocrats, or buke-zukuri. On this floor, sliding wood doors and latticed windows create a feeling of impermanence. The second floor also contains a Buddha Hall and a shrine dedicated to the goddess of mercy, Kannon. The third floor is built in traditional Chinese chán (Jpn. zen) style, also known as zenshū-butsuden-zukuri. It is called the Cupola of the Ultimate (究竟頂, Kukkyō-chō). The zen typology depicts a more religious ambiance in the pavilion, as was popular during the Muromachi period.

 

The roof is in a thatched pyramid with shingles. The building is topped with a bronze hōō (phoenix) ornament. From the outside, viewers can see gold plating added to the upper stories of the pavilion. The gold leaf covering the upper stories hints at what is housed inside: the shrines. The outside is a reflection of the inside. The elements of nature, death, religion, are formed together to create this connection between the pavilion and outside intrusions.

 

The Golden Pavilion is set in a Japanese strolling garden (回遊式庭園, kaiyū-shiki-teien, lit. a landscape garden in the go-round style). The location implements the idea of borrowing of scenery ("shakkei") that integrates the outside and the inside, creating an extension of the views surrounding the pavilion and connecting it with the outside world. The pavilion extends over a pond, called Kyōko-chi (鏡湖池, Mirror Pond), that reflects the building. The pond contains 10 smaller islands. The zen typology is seen through the rock composition; the bridges and plants are arranged in a specific way to represent famous places in Chinese and Japanese literature. Vantage points and focal points were established because of the strategic placement of the pavilion to view the gardens surrounding the pavilion. A small fishing hall (釣殿, tsuri-dono) or roofed deck is attached to the rear of the pavilion building, allowing a small boat to be moored under it. The pavilion grounds were built according to descriptions of the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amida, intending to illustrate a harmony between heaven and earth. The largest islet in the pond represents the Japanese islands. The four stones forming a straight line in the pond near the pavilion are intended to represent sailboats anchored at night, bound for the Isle of Eternal Life in Chinese mythology.

 

The garden complex is an excellent example of Muromachi period garden design. The Muromachi period is considered to be a classical age of Japanese garden design. The correlation between buildings and its settings were greatly emphasized during this period. It was an artistic way to integrate the structure within the landscape. The garden designs were characterized by a reduction in scale, a more central purpose, and a distinct setting. A minimalistic approach was brought to the garden design by recreating larger landscapes in a smaller scale around a structure.

RIP - Oct 4, 2024

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malham_Cove

  

Malham Cove is a limestone formation 0.6 miles (1 km) north of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. The large, curved feature was formed by a waterfall carrying meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago. Today it is a well-known beauty spot within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A large limestone pavement is above the cove.

  

Geology

  

The cove was formed by a large Ice-age river that fell at this point as a cataract. The water drop was 80 m (260 ft) high and more than 300 m (980 ft) wide. The colossal amount of water flowing over the waterfall created the curved shape of the cove because the lip was more heavily eroded than the sides.

 

Today the water course is marked by a stream that flows out of Malham Tarn 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the cove. It becomes a subterranean stream at 'Water Sinks' about 1 mi (1.6 km) before the top of the cove. Another stream named Malham Beck emerges from a cave at the bottom of the cove. The two streams were once thought to be one and the same. However, experiments with dyes have shown that they are two separate waterways that go underground at different locations. Their paths cross without mixing behind the limestone cliff re-emerging a few miles apart. The experiments show that there is complex system of caves and tunnels within the limestone cliff. The system is estimated to be about 50,000 years old. Cave divers, entering the system through the cave at the base of the cove, have so far explored about 1 mi (1.6 km).[1]

 

The cave systems usually carry away any waters before they reach the fall; however, Malham Cove temporarily became a waterfall for what is believed to be the first time in centuries on 6 December 2015, after heavy rainfall from Storm Desmond.

  

History

  

The priest and noted antiquary, Thomas West described the cove in 1779 as, "This beautiful rock is like the age-tinted wall of a prodigious castle; the stone is very white, and from the ledges hang various shrubs and vegetables, which with the tints given it by the bog water. & c. gives it a variety that I never before saw so pleasing in a plain rock."[4]

 

On the west side of the 80 metre (260 foot) high cliff face are about 400 irregular stone steps: these form part of the route of the Pennine Way and lead to an uneven limestone pavement at the top.

 

Today the cove is very popular with climbers because of its number of climbing routes (many of which can be ascended in the rain). They include easy to hard traditional climbs as well as sport climbing. Due to the cliff's south face, it is a popular venue for rock climbing in winter, its aspect making it a sun trap; in summer, however, the rock face can become unbearably hot.[5]

  

Media appearances

  

The cove, along with nearby Gordale Scar, was featured in an episode of the BBC TV series Seven Natural Wonders as one of the natural wonders of Yorkshire.[6]

 

The Pavement was used as a shooting location for the 1992 film version of "Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights"[7]

 

The cove was also featured in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) as one of the places Hermione and Harry travel to. The scenes were filmed in November 2009.[8]

 

The limestone pavement and general location of Malham featured in an episode of The Trip starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon which aired on BBC2 on 29 November 2010.[9]

 

The cove is the bridgehead of an alien invasion in Charles Stross’ 2016 novel The Nightmare Stacks.

Gallische Feldwespe (Polistes dominula)

auch Französische Feldwespe oder Haus-Feldwespe

Link: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallische_Feldwespe

In Bezug auf die Aggressivität dieser Wespen habe ich über viele Jahre die Erfahrung gemacht, dass nur dann Stechen, wenn man sie ernsthaft bedroht. Von sich aus haben sie nie Angegriffen, selbst wenn man in der Nähe ihrer Nester stand und sie fotografierte.

Wie auch bei Bienen, soll man sich ruhig verhalten und sie nicht mit wildem Fuchteln versuchen in die Flucht treiben zu wollen.

Die Gallische Feldwespe stört hier auf dem Land in der Provinz Murcia (Spanien) auch nicht beim Essen. Sollte doch einmal ein Tierchen in die Nähe kommen, gebe ich ihr an einer Tischecke ein Stückchen Fleisch (Schinken, Aufschnitt, Steak, etc.). Gekochten Schinken bevorzugen sie ganz besonders.

Wir wohnen schon bald 20 Jahre hier und haben diese schönen Insekten noch nie als Plage empfunden.

Vielleicht verstehen sie unsere Philosophie: Leben und Leben lassen.

 

Paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

also named umbrella wasp

Link English: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_wasp

With regard to the aggressiveness of these wasps, I have made the experience over many years that only stinging when they are seriously threatened. They never attacked on their own, even if you stood near their nests and photographed them.

As with bees, one should keep calm and not try to drive them into flight with wild fluttering.

Here in the countryside in the province of Murcia (Spain), the Gallic field wasp does not interfere with food. If an animal should come nevertheless once into the proximity, I give it at a table corner a piece of meat (ham, cold cuts, steak, etc.). She particularly prefers cooked ham.

We've been living here for almost 20 years and have never found these beautiful insects to be a plague.

Maybe they understand our philosophy: live and let live.

 

Avispa cartonera (Polistes dominula)

Enlace: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes_dominula

Con respecto a la agresividad de estas avispas, he hecho la experiencia durante muchos años de que sólo pican cuando están seriamente amenazadas. Nunca atacaron por su cuenta, incluso si te parabas cerca de sus nidos y los fotografiabas.

Al igual que con las abejas, uno debe mantener la calma y no tratar de llevarlas a volar con sacudidas salvajes.

En el campo de la provincia de Murcia (España), la avispa de campo gala no interfiere con la alimentación. Si a pesar de todo un animal llega una vez a la proximidad, le doy en la esquina de una mesa un trozo de carne (jamón, embutidos, bistec, etc.). Prefiere especialmente el jamón cocido.

Hemos estado viviendo aquí durante casi 20 años y nunca hemos encontrado que estos hermosos insectos sean una plaga.

Tal vez entiendan nuestra filosofía: vivir y dejar vivir.

 

Danke für eure Hilfe, die Wespe zu Benamsen .. ;)))

Thank you all for your help to find the name of the wasp .. :)))

Gracias a todos por su ayuda para encontrar el nombre de la avispa .. :)))

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D_T%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D-g%C5%AB:

 

Nikkō Tōshō-gū (日光東照宮) is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

 

Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in the nomination. Five of them are designated as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties.

 

Tōshō-gū is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was initially built in 1617, during the Edo period, while Ieyasu's son Hidetada was shōgun. It was enlarged during the time of the third shōgun, Iemitsu. Ieyasu is enshrined there, where his remains are also entombed. This shrine was built by Tokugawa retainer Tōdō Takatora.

 

During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate carried out stately processions from Edo to the Nikkō Tōshō-gū along the Nikkō Kaidō. The shrine's annual spring and autumn festivals reenact these occasions, and are known as "processions of a thousand warriors". Cedar trees line the roadway, termed the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō.

 

Five structures at Nikkō Tōshō-gū are categorized as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties. Additionally, two swords in the possession of the shrine are National Treasures, and many other objects are Important Cultural Properties. Famous buildings at the Tōshō-gū include the richly decorated Yōmeimon (陽明門), a gate that is also known as "higurashi-no-mon". The latter name means that one could look at it until sundown, and not tire of seeing it. Carvings in deep relief, painted in rich colors, decorate the surface of the structure. The next gate is the karamon decorated with white ornaments. Located nearby is a woodcarving of a sleepy cat, "Nemuri-neko", attributed to Hidari Jingorō.

 

The stable of the shrine's sacred horses bears a carving of the three wise monkeys, who hear, speak and see no evil, a traditional symbol in Japanese culture that is derived from a quote in the Analects.

 

The original five-storey pagoda was donated by a daimyō in 1650, but it was burned down during a fire, and was rebuilt in 1818. Each storey represents an element–earth, water, fire, wind and aether (or void)–in ascending order. Inside the pagoda, a central shinbashira pillar hangs from chains[3] to minimize damage from earthquakes.

 

Hundreds of stone steps lead through the cryptomeria forest up to the grave of Ieyasu. A torii at the top bears calligraphy attributed to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. A bronze urn contains the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

 

In 2008, Yuri Kawasaki became the first female Shinto priest ever to serve at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derwentwater

  

Derwentwater (or Derwent Water) is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria.

 

The lake occupies part of Borrowdale and lies immediately south of the town of Keswick. It is both fed and drained by the River Derwent. It measures approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) long by 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and is some 72 feet (22 m) deep. There are several islands within the lake, one of which is inhabited. Derwent Island House, an 18th-century residence, is a tenanted National Trust property open to the public on five days each year.

  

Derwentwater is a place of considerable scenic value. It is surrounded by hills (known locally as fells), and many of the slopes facing Derwentwater are extensively wooded. A regular passenger launch operates on the lake, taking passengers between various landing stages. There are seven lakeside marinas, the most popular stops being: Keswick, Portinscale and the Lodore Falls, from which boats may be hired. Recreational walking is a major tourist activity in the area and an extensive network of footpaths exists within the hills and woods surrounding the lake.

 

The Keswick—Borrowdale road runs along the eastern shore of the lake and carries a regular bus service. There is a lesser, or unclassified, road along the western shore connecting the villages of Grange and Portinscale.

 

Derwentwater gave its name to the Earldom of Derwentwater.

 

The lake is believed to be the last remaining native habitat of the vendace (Coregonus vandesius) fish from the 4 originally known sites: Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water in the Lake District and the Castle Loch & Mill Loch in Lochmaben.[2]

  

Etymology

  

'Derwent' is " '(River) with oak trees', traditionally explained from Brit." (i.e.: Brythonic Celtic) " 'derwā' 'oak' plus suffixes, hence of the same origin as other English rivers named Derwent, Darwen, Darent and Dart...The river gave its name to Derwent Water (which was also known as the 'Lake of Derwent', 'Keswick Lake', or 'Keswick Water' in the 18th-19th centuries)...".[3] Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'

  

Derwentwater's islands

  

There are numerous islands in Derwentwater, the largest being: Derwent Island, Lord's Island, St Herbert's Island, Rampsholme Island, Park Neb, Otter Island, and Otterbield Island. St. Herbert's Island is named after a C. 7th priest hermit, St. Herbert of Derwentwater.

  

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon

 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).

 

The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

 

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

 

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park

 

Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.

 

Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

 

Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"

 

(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"

 

(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uckermark

  

The Uckermark, a historical region in northeastern Germany, currently straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau.

  

Geography

  

The region is named after the Uecker River, which is a tributary of the Oder; the name Uckermark means "March of the Uecker". The river's source is close to Angermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Oder River, forming the German-Polish border, bounds the region in the east. The western parts of the Lower Oder Valley National Park are located in the Uckermark.

  

History

  

Early history

  

In the Ice Age, glaciers shaped the landscape of the region. A climate change left a hilly area with several lakes formed by the melting ice, and humans started to settle the area. Megalithic-cultures arose, followed by Germanic cultures.

  

Ukrani, a Polabian tribe

  

From the 6th–12th centuries Polabian Slavs migrating from Eastern Europe moved westward into the later Uckermark. The Slavs settling the terra U(c)kera (Uckerland, later Uckermark) became known as Ukrani (Ukranen, Ukrer, Ukri, Vukraner).[1] Their settlement area was centered around the lakes Oberuckersee and Unteruckersee at the spring of the Uecker River. In this region, burghs with a proto-town suburbium were set up at Drense and on an isle in Lake Oberuckersee (near modern Prenzlau).

 

In 954, Margrave Gero of the Saxon Eastern March (the marca Geronis), aided by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I's son-in-law, Conrad of Lorraine, launched a successful campaign to subdue the Ukrani, who had come in reach of the Empire after the 929 Battle of Lenzen. After the 983 revolt of the Obodrites and Liutizians, the area became independent again, yet remained under permanent military pressure, especially from Poland and the Holy Roman Empire.

  

Pomerania, Ostsiedlung

  

In 1172 Pomeranian dukes, vassals of the Duchy of Saxony, later of the Holy Roman Empire, controlled the area. In the course of the medieval Ostsiedlung, the Ukrani were Christianized and Germanized by Saxons, who founded monasteries, castles, and towns; the Slavic heritage is reflected in the many regional towns whose names end with "-ow" and "-in". The early centers of the territory were the Seehausen (Gramzow) Premonstratensian monastery and the city of Prenzlau, developed and granted German town law by Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania, in 1234. Both the central city and the central monastery were set up beside the former Ukrani central burghs.

  

Pomerania and Brandenburg struggle for overlordship

  

The Margraviate of Brandenburg, holding claims on the Duchy of Pomerania, expanded north since the 1230s, taking her chances while the House of Pomerania was weakened. In the 1250 Treaty of Landin, Barnim I conceded the Uckermark to John I and Otto III, Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg. After the extinction of the Ascanians, the Pomeranian dukes reacquired a few border regions. Mecklenburg advanced into the Uckermark, but lost her gains in a 1323 war with Brandenburg. In the Pomeranian-Brandenburg War from 1329–33, Pomerania was able to defeat Brandenburg at Kremmer Damm. In the following years, control of the Uckermark was disputed by Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania.

  

Brandenburg

  

The first Peace of Prenzlau of 3 May 1448 established Brandenburg's control over most of the territory, except for the northern Pasewalk and Torgelow region, which was to remain in Pomerania and is not considered to be a part of Uckermark anymore. Though another Brandenburgian-Pomeranian war was fought in the area in the 1460s, Brandenburg's possession of most of the Uckermark was confirmed again in a second Peace of Prenzlau on 30 July 1472, which was renewed on 26 June 1479.

  

Prussia, and Huguenot settlement

  

The Uckermark became part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618, but was ravaged during the Thirty Years' War. Frederick William, the Great Elector, invited large numbers of French Huguenots to resettle the Uckermark and his other territories by announcing the Edict of Potsdam. These Huguenots helped to develop the economy and culture of the Uckermark. In 1701 the territory became part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley

 

Monument Valley (Navajo: Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, pronounced [tsʰépìːʔ ǹtsɪ̀skɑ̀ìː], meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.

 

Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Famed director John Ford used the location for a number of his Westerns. Film critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km2] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West".

 

Sourc: navajonationparks.org/navajo-tribal-parks/monument-valley/

 

History

 

Before human existence, the Park was once a lowland basin. For hundreds of millions of years, materials that eroded from the early Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediment which cemented a slow and gentle uplift, generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface, elevating these horizontal strata quite uniformly one to three miles above sea level. What was once a basin became a plateau.

 

Natural forces of wind and water that eroded the land spent the last 50 million years cutting into and peeling away at the surface of the plateau. The simple wearing down of altering layers of soft and hard rock slowly revealed the natural wonders of Monument Valley today.

 

From the visitor center, you see the world-famous panorama of the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte. You can also purchase guided tours from Navajo tour operators, who take you down into the valley in Jeeps for a narrated cruise through these mythical formations. Places such as Ear of the Wind and other landmarks can only be accessed via guided tours. During the summer months, the visitor center also features Haskenneini Restaurant, which specializes in both native Navajo and American cuisines, and a film/snack/souvenir shop. There are year-round restroom facilities. One mile before the center, numerous Navajo vendors sell arts, crafts, native food, and souvenirs at roadside stands.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"

 

(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"

 

(Utah) "يوتا" "犹他州" "יוטה" "यूटा" "ユタ州" "유타" "Юта"

 

(Monument Valley) "وادي النصب التذكاري" "纪念碑谷" "Vallée des monuments" "מוניומנט ואלי" "स्मारक घाटी" "モニュメントバレー" "모뉴먼트 밸리" "Долина Монументов" "Valle de los Monumentos"

22nd June 2017:

 

A Darkling Beetle ~ Lagria hirta. Take 1.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagria_hirta

 

I went out for a very pleasant walk this morning and found this on the main front door of the apartment block as I was leaving.

As it was on the outside I could easily get my camera lens right up close to the glass to get a macro view of the underside.

I also took a photo of its back too. See following photo or click on the link:

www.flickr.com/photos/44506883@N04/35079805500/in/datepos...

 

I could have just walked back upstairs to the apartment having got these two photos, but I'd have missed the Peacock Butterfly and a good chat with two friends I met at different places during my walk.

 

Better viewed large and thank you for your favourites. :O)

 

www.flickr.com/groups/2017_one_photo_each_day/

A gate that was crashed by the tanks from the military junta during Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973, more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Polytechnic_uprising

Paseando por Cracovia – Walking around Cracow

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracovia

 

Cracovia (en polaco, Kraków [ˈkrakuf] (?·i)) es la capital del voivodato de Pequeña Polonia (Województwo małopolskie) y una de las ciudades más grandes, antiguas e importantes de Polonia. Con una población de 760 000 habitantes (3 millones en su área metropolitana), está situada en las márgenes del río Vístula, lo que la convierte en la segunda ciudad en cuanto a población de Polonia.

Cracovia tradicionalmente ha sido uno de los centros económicos, científicos, culturales y artísticos del país. Durante gran parte de la historia polaca fue la capital del país. Por eso, todavía es el corazón de Polonia para muchos polacos. Actualmente, Cracovia es un centro muy importante del turismo local e internacional, con más de ocho millones de turistas al año. El centro histórico de Cracovia fue declarado, junto con el centro histórico de Quito, como Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en 1978. Fue Capital Europea de la Cultura en el año 2000.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w

 

Kraków (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkrakuf] listen (help·info)), also Cracow or Krakow (UK: /ˈkrækaʊ/; US: /ˈkrɑːkaʊ/),[2][3] is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska) region, the city dates back to the 7th century.[4] Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1795;[5] the Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846; the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1998. It has been the capital of Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999.

  

A nice cloud cover and very windy over the North see beach where shrimp fishing with Belgian horses tradition since the 1500 , Martin’s photographs , Oostduinkerke , now Koksijde , West Vlaanderen , West Flanders , Belgium June 8. 2019

 

( en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oostduinkerke)

  

Belgium

Belgie

Flags waving in the wind

Martin’s photographs

June 2019

Favourites

iPhone 6

shrimp fishing with Belgian horses tradition since the 1500

Koksijde

Oostduinkerke

West Vlaanderen

West Flanders

North see beach where shrimp fishing with Belgian horses

North see beach where shrimp fishing

Belgian horses

North see beach in Oostduinkerke

North see

Beach

Noord Zee kust

Shrimp

Belgian horses

Noord zee

Strandt

Beach huts

Beach changing huts

Heavy cloud cover

 

( en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oostduinkerke)

Commune : Lyon

Région : Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Pays : France

 

Lyon depuis la colline de Fourvière

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K11_Art_Mall:

 

K11 Art Mall is a seven-storey shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong located in The Masterpiece, developed by New World Development and completed in December 2009. It is near Tsim Sha Tsui and East Tsim Sha Tsui stations.

 

The K11 Art Mall has seven storeys (two underground, five above ground). The B1 and B2 storeys were opened on 27 November 2009, and the rest of the mall was opened on 5 December that year. Retail and restaurants accounted for 80 per cent and 20 per cent of the stores, respectively.

 

B2 is mainly international cuisine, women's fashion, shoes and cosmetics, with shops such as D-mop zone, Mousse, ISCOV, JILL SCOTT, Mirabell, and Milan. B1 is mainly daily necessities, including La Creation de Gute bakery, LensCrafters, AV Life, Dymocks bookstore, I Love Kitchen, Mannings, and Market Place by Jasons supermarket.

 

The ground floor has many high-end stores, including Longchamp, Tiffany by Soloman, Thann, the Italian brand Dormeuil, Y-3, D-mop, and Chow Tai Fook concept store. In the centre is a large plaza, called "The Piazza", that features a glass ceiling and a large LED screen.

 

Levels 1–3 have many boutiques, including AIGLE, KLASSE14, Laosmiddle, Levi's, Clarks, Fila, and mademoiselle. The mall also caters to Mainland customers, with several Mainland brand-name specialty stores such as Biba and imaroon.

 

There are restaurants on each floor of the mall, totaling over 20, including B2's Miso Cool and DALAT Vietnamese restaurant; The Piazza's Espressamente illy and awfully chocolate; and various others, such as AKU Japanese Restaurant, Al Pasha, Cool Gelato, Ginza Bairin and Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant.

9156 - MECONOPSIS BETONICIFOLIA

Visit : www.refordgardens.com/

Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford

From Wikipedia:

Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.

Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.

Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.

She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.

In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.

During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.

In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.

Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.

To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.

Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.

In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)

 

LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS

Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.

Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.

Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada

 

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This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.

The Zlatorog is a superb Slovenia folk beast/hero, who when shot by a hunter goes wild in rage and gores out a valley from rock.

 

A chamois or mountain goat, I kind of saw his determined, wild eyes and horns in the flow of the water. It's shot just downstream from this light painting at the Mala Savica stone bridge which I took last year.

 

If you get there early and work as the night falls, you forget how horrifically scary it is when it's dark. And by then you have to leave anyway. It's easy to understand how these folk tales, and grimmer ones, came to life in Central Europe. Walking along with a military spec LED and second torch to light my way is a thing of terror, even though there's nothing in the woods. Try that with whale oil in a sputtering lantern and bears, wolves, bandits, etc. lurking in the shadows.

 

Still - this was an experiment. The left is lit with feathered continuous light from an LED. The right is lit from below with a single 1/8 power zap from a Canon 600EX-RT. Without adding light the scene would have been black.

 

I started shooting long exposure in urban surrounds, looking for scenes with movement that could be blurred over ten minutes. As I started to shoot long exposure in the country, things looked flat. Movement being blurred, it turned out, isn't what appealed to me in the urban environments - rather it was the way that light sources were limited, and how that changed the mood.

 

The more I shoot rural long exposure, the more I find that means adding light to sculpt the scene to your vision - or you are left, to my mind, a little flat.

 

Hope everyone is having an incredible start to the weekend!

5461

Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggys_Cove,_Nova_Scotia

 

Peggys Point Lighthouse (also known as Peggy's Cove Lighthouse) is in Peggys Cove and is an iconic Canadian image. It is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive. The lighthouse marks the eastern entrance of St. Margarets Bay and is officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse.

 

Peggys Cove is a classic red-and-white lighthouse still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The light station is situated on an extensive granite outcrop at Peggys Point, immediately south of the village and its cove. This lighthouse is one of the most-photographed structures in Atlantic Canada and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world.

 

Visitors may explore the granite outcrop on Peggys Point around the lighthouse; despite numerous signs warning of unpredictable surf (including one on a bronze plaque on the lighthouse itself), several visitors each year are swept off the rocks by waves, sometimes drowning.

 

Peggys Cove is 43 kilometers (26 miles) southwest of downtown Halifax and comprises one of the numerous small fishing communities located around the perimeter of the Chebucto Peninsula. The community is named after the cove of the same name, a name also shared with Peggy's Point, immediately to the east of the cove. The village marks the eastern point of St. Margaret's Bay.(Wikipedia)

  

Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111

 

Swissair Flight 111

 

Swissair Flight 111 (SR111, SWR111) was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. This flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.

 

On Wednesday, 2 September 1998, the aircraft used for the flight, registered HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the tiny fishing and tourist communities of Peggys Cove and Bayswater. All 229 people on board died—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the second-highest of any air disaster to occur in Canada, after Arrow Air Flight 1285. This is one of only two hull losses of the passenger configured MD-11, along with China Airlines Flight 642.

 

The initial search and rescue response, crash recovery operation, and resulting investigation by the Government of Canada took over four years and cost CAD 57 million (at that time approximately US$38 million). The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's (TSB) official report of their investigation stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the crew, resulting in a loss of control and the crash of the aircraft.

 

Swissair Flight 111 was known as the "UN shuttle" due to its popularity with United Nations officials; the flight often carried business executives, scientists, and researchers

 

Aircraft

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, serial number 48448 registered HB-IWF, was manufactured in 1991 and Swissair was its only operator. It bore the title of Vaud, in honor of the Swiss canton of the same name. The airframe had a total of 36,041 hours. The three engines were Pratt & Whitney 4462s. The cabin was configured with 241 seats (12 six-abreast first-, 49 seven-abreast business-, and 180 nine-abreast economy-class). First- and business-class seats were equipped with an in seat in-flight entertainment system, installed at some point after initial entry into service. (Wikipedia) VC514B

  

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

 

Kyoto Tower (京都タワー, Kyōto-tawā) is an observation tower located in Kyoto, Japan. The steel tower is the tallest structure in Kyoto with its observation deck at 100 metres (328 ft) and its spire at 131 metres (430 ft). The 800-ton tower stands atop a 9-story building, which houses a 3-star hotel and several stores. The entire complex stands opposite Kyōto Station.

 

Kyoto Tower was proposed in the early 1960s, and it was planned to be constructed and completed in time to correspond with the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Construction began in 1963 on the former site of Kyoto's central post office and was completed near the end of 1964. Unlike many other towers (such as Tokyo Tower) that are constructed using metal lattice frames, Kyoto Tower's interior structure consists of many steel rings stacked on top of each other. The structure was then covered with lightweight steel sheets with a thickness of 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in). The sheets were then welded together and painted white. The intended overall effect was for the tower to resemble a Japanese candle.

 

Designed by modernist architect, Mamoru Yamada with the expert advice of Makoto Tanahashi, a doctor of engineering at Kyoto University, Kyoto Tower was built to withstand the forces of both earthquakes and typhoons. The head of the tower's business division, Tsuyoshi Tamura, claims it can withstand winds of up to 201 mph (90 m/s) and survive an earthquake of far greater magnitude than that of the Kobe or Tokyo earthquakes.

 

The tower was first opened to the public on December 28, 1964. Within its first year of opening, 1 million people visited the tower's observation deck. Throughout the years, the tower's draw as a tourist attraction has diminished. By 1999, observation deck ticket sales dropped to less than 400,000 a year, or about 1,100 a day.

The Maroon Bells is a mountain in the Elk Mountains that consists of two peaks, South Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak, separated by about a third of a mile. The mountain is on the border between Pitkin County and Gunnison County, Colorado, United States, about 12 miles southwest of Aspen. Both peaks are counted as fourteeners. Maroon Peak, at 14,156 feet, is the 27th highest peak in Colorado; North Maroon Peak, at 14,014 feet, is the 50th highest. The view of the Maroon Bells from the Maroon Creek valley to the northeast is one of the most famous scenes in Colorado, and is reputed to be the "most-photographed spot in Colorado" and one of Colorado's premier scenic overlooks.

 

A National Park Service sign on the access trail refers to these mountains as "The Deadly Bells" and warns would-be climbers of "downsloping, loose, rotten and unstable" rock that "kills without warning". Unlike other mountains in the Rockies that are composed of granite and limestone, the Bells are composed of metamorphic sedimentary mudstone that has hardened into rock over millions of years. Mudstone is weak and fractures readily, giving rise to dangerously loose rock along almost any route. The mudstone is responsible for the Bells' distinctive maroon color. The Bells got their "deadly" name in 1965 when eight people died in five separate accidents.

 

Maroon Lake (9,580') provides one of the most memorable scenes in the Rockies. The lake occupies a basin that was sculpted by Ice-Age glaciers and later dammed by landslide and rockfall debris from the steep slopes above the valley floor. (Wikipedia)

Northern bald ibis.

 

Thoth was one of the deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth)

Wiki: Die Forschungseinrichtung für experimentelle Medizin der Charité, ehemals Zentrale Tierlaboratorien der Freien Universität Berlin, ist ein wissenschaftliches Forschungsgebäude. Das Gebäude gehört seit 2003 zur Charité und beherbergte bis 2019 den Hauptsitz der gleichnamigen Zentraleinrichtung.[1] Umgangssprachlich ist das Gebäude als Mäusebunker bekannt.

Im November 2019 erklärte der Landesdenkmalrat, beide Gebäude stellten „unbestreitbar bedeutende bauliche Manifestationen ihrer Zeit dar“, und empfahl den Erhalt des Ensembles.

 

Rupert Sheldrake, a highly qualified biologist who also knows his quantum physics, has suggested that there might be a series of force fields, as yet as undetected as electricity was a couple of hundred years ago, that binds together every kind of unit in the universe, from the smallest particle to the universe itself - and not only objects, not only individual creatures, but communities - each field nested in the next largest, like Chinese boxes. It is an unproven theory, but it would explain a huge number of puzzles about ourselves and our world that are normally dismissed as not just insoluble but as too weird to worry about. It would also give a scientific basis to our sense of oneness, first with our family, then with our football team, then with our nation, then with the planet earth, and finally perhaps with the universe itself.

~ James Brabazon

Wiki: Teufelsberg Mountain) is a non-natural hill in Berlin. The hill is made of debris and rubble. During the Cold War, there was a U.S. listening station on the hill, Field Station Berlin.

In Pötzleinsdorf Palace Park, an English landscape garden on the outskirts of Vienna.

 

I'm looking forward to Lihua's delicious wild garlic jiaozi:-)))

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi

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