I think it was like '85 when I was stationed in Germany (Army) a bunch of us took a trip (thru our unit morale office) to Lloret de Mar. It included a day trip to Barcelona. We all had a great time, though it was early in season and too cold to swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
I would love to see the set of my clan. We are proud Macleods, of Skye - our seat is Dunvegan Castle.
Very cool. I've heard most Scots typically don't care about that type of stuff when asked. There was a desk inside the Edinburgh Castle that looked up some family history stuff for people.
I took several years of Spanish in school, and living in L.A., I have lots of use for it. On both of my trips to Spain I had a great time conversing in Spanish, although it was sometimes difficult to understand what they were saying since they speak fast and I don't necessarily know all of the words being spoken. There were times, however, where I understood everything. I did receive a lot of compliments on my Spanish. I remember that on our last night there, we were in a restaurant, the waiter did not speak English and my wife does not speak Spanish. I was translating for both of them without any difficulty. That was really fun.
I went to Spain more than half a century ago, and my Spanish was almost non-existent, but when ordering coffee I knew enough to say "leche caliente". I was out taking photos in Madrid one day and went through an open gate into the courtyard of a building, not knowing that it was the main police station, and started taking photos. Two policemen with guns stopped me, and thinking I was in real trouble I offered them Canadian cigarettes which they enjoyed smoking (maybe doing so is some kind of universal friendly language) and they just walked me out.
desk inside the Edinburgh Castle that looked up some family history stuff for people.
I would love that. My grandmother gave me a lot of information when I was younger and told me she was going to leave me the information when she passed, but when she passed whoever cleaned out her house threw most of the stuff away. I have used what I wrote down from all those years ago to find out some history of my family.
Awesome photos EG. I had a co-worker once who was from Ireland. They were a blast to work with. Both their accent and terminology made them so much fun to be around.
Thank you. This the first year they have popped that much. My pinks have not budded yet. I have been keeping an eye on them. I am hoping they pop soon.
I was surprised to see the dragonfly. It has been quite awhile since I have had one that close.
For the next while, I'll not be posting photos from China, so you and whoever else has been there can display the magnificence and variety of what can be seen there, as you have been doing so well.
Thanks, Raven Wing. Yes, it does take a lot of work. I did about 30 versions and edits of the first picture, the montage, before finally getting one I was satisfied with. There were more than 15 versions of the horse. It's all fun, though.
That IS a big one. When I was a kid we just used to call them sunfish, and I don't remember ever catching one that big. We used to throw them back in - too bony for frying.
This photo was taken a few weeks ago by one of the photo club members in Stone Creek. The bird laid its eggs in the rock garden and you can see one of the chicks right in front of the mom.
These are an invasive species but harmless. The anoles native to florida are the green anoles but not nearly as plentiful as the brown invasive species.
They eat a lot of bugs which is good and we have hundreds of them around us and Wiki loves to chase them but in 4 years has only caught one.
The photo does look like a statue, but he’s the real deal. This is the first time I’ve seen him but I knew something was coming by and emptying the bird feeders.
Yes...the little fart furries are cute. When I was about 13 years old my Father bought as baby skunk from one of his fellow Police officers who raised them and had them de-scented. We had 2 Siamese cats and a dog at the time, so he had some willing playmates to have fun with.
And true, he did not smell....except......when he went poop, which he did not cover like the cats, much to their disdain, and when he got scared. We had him for some time, but, my Mother grew tired of waking up to skunk pew every morning and having to clean the litter box before she even had her morning coffee. So it got the point where she told my Father that he would have to wake up early in the morning and clean the litter box, or get rid of the skunk.
Well, my Father said he wanted to keep the skunk so he would clean the litter box each morning. That lasted about 4 days and my Father finally agreed to get rid of the skunk. So my Mother called the Zoo and asked if they would like to have our little stinker and they were happy to have him. So off we went to the Zoo. And that is another story.
Well...ok......We took little stinker out to the car and he jumped right in. He loved riding in the car, and after making the rounds from the front to back and back again, he picked out his observation spot, which happened to be on my Mothers left shoulder. From there he could watch her drive and see the passing cars, which were quick to do a whiplash second look at what they saw, and of course, made various visual signs about the skunk sitting on my Mother's shoulder, most of which were shaking their heads while holding their nose, as a way of asking if the skunk didn't stink. To which my Mother would simply smile and shake her head 'No'. We also got people mouthing such questions as "Where are you going", to which my Mother would mouth back, "To the Zoo."
About halfway to the Zoo a motorcycle police office pulled us over and asked where we were going, and of course my Mother said, "To the Zoo". All the while the window was down the little stinker was trying to play with the officer and kept grabbing his hand wanting to play, while the officer kept jerking his hand back thinking the stinker wanted to bite him. My Mother finally convinced the officer that we were OK and we resumed our trip. So for almost 45 min in our trip to the Zoo we got all kinds people starring in disbelief, funny faces, pantomimes of various questions about the skunk.
We finally arrived at the Zoo and had to chase down the little stinker as he did not want to leave the car. After we finally got his furry behind out of the car we headed inside to the main office, getting a variety of faces from people in the area as we made our way along. We finally found the person we had talked to about the skunk and the little stinker jumped right into her hands, without so much as as second look back and my Mother and I, who were hugely smiling as not only did stinker find a new friend and new home, with lots of others like him to play with, but, we were able to find a good home for him and could now go home. And no more stinking litter box to clean before Mother could even have her first cup of coffee. And THAT in itself was a great sacrifice.
You had to enjoy watching the effect it had on the other drivers and others who were not aware that "Little Stinker" was no longer a stinker. Good story.
The only skunk story I have is when I was young and preparing to go fishing I was on the next door neighbour's wet back lawn (they also backed up on a ravine, as we did) at night gathering dew worms. I happened to look up and saw ahead of me two beady little eyes looking at me. I raised the flashlight to shine on it and saw the tail go up - and I ran like hell. It never had a chance to spray.
You had to enjoy watching the effect it had on the other drivers and others
I was riding in the front seat as well and saw everything first hand, and I would have given anything if I had a camera to take pictures of the faces of those in the cars as they passed by. Mother and I laughed like crazy at some of them, especially those with dropped jaws, huge eyes of shock and the totally stunned faces...after they had passed by out of sight, of course. You'd think some of them had just seen a ghost, or alien being. It was really a visual riot!
It was something that my Mother and I never forgot in all the years afterwards, and we would laugh until we cried and almost too weak to breathe.
She is an elder woman on a reservation sitting quietly while smoking her pipe, and likely thinking of times she has seen over the many years of her life.
Many of the very elderly NA's have certainly seen many times of being spit upon, abused, lacking even a modicum of health care, lost their land, seen their children and their children's children taken from their families and forced into 'Christian' boarding schools where they were endlessly abused and met their deaths, and so much more to tear at their hearts.
Those were not fond times in the elderly ones lives to remember.
Honeybee drinking nectar from a hummingbird feeder.
I have three other wren houses besides the one I built this spring, and they're all full of chirping chicks at the moment. The one I built has a nest in it, but no chicks that I know of. The male that made the nest still visits and sings daily, so I guess there's still a chance.
Chipmunk.
Cottontail.
Orange ribbon snake, a variety of garter snake.
Common snapping turtle.
Latest project: A simple solar-powered bird bath fountain. It's just a large, plastic pot saucer on top of a large, plastic pot with no drainage holes in it, so it holds water and acts as a reservoir. I drilled holes in the saucer and installed several small bulkhead fittings – one in the center for the feed line from the pump, and 5 more around the perimeter for drains that allow about an inch of water to build up before it flows back down to the lower pot.
I'm not at all impressed with the flow rate of the cheap, little solar pump I ordered, but you get what you pay for, I suppose. It's good enough to agitate and circulate the water, which is really all I need. Movement and splashing sounds are supposed to help with attracting birds, and it does that, but just barely.
It's only been out there for a day, and I don't think any birds have discovered it yet. I'll try to shoot some video if they start showing up.
I find it fascinating that your beautiful creation so resembles a combination of an eastern religion mandala and the many four-season images created by Chinese artists. It's even more evidence that "We are all one."
Indeed it is, Buzz. The ancestors who migrated to the US and Canada brought with them many of the traditions, culture and Spiritual beliefs of where they came from, and many of them are still recognized today. And that includes their varied artwork, which can be seen in the many art caves across the US. Many of which are still being discovered even today.
So there is no doubt that there is a vast similarity between the many Native American Tribes and those of their Mother Land.
Florida has so many beautiful and interesting birds that call Florida their home. While California has a lot of beautiful birds, they are not as many or varied in species as Florida. So I really do enjoy seeing the photos you share with us here,
First-things-first.
Check the article at the link.
Butterflies - worth photographing, worth saving, worth posting, worth seeing.
Nothing new to post, so will piecemeal post again photos taken with the camera I loved the most, my Canon F1 film SLR. Today's choice:
The hills of Wales (circa 1974)
Early morning haze, Stone Creek Ocala, FL.
A few hours later.
Great photos, Kavika. The color of the clouds in the second one is awesome!
Vacation photo dump...
Traditional Irish music at the oldest thatched roof pub - the Crosskeys Inn
O'Brien Tower on the Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher
Kilronan Castle
Giant's Causeway
Nice little travelogue. Let's bring that top photo alive by listening to some traditional Irish pub music (LINK) ->
Ireland is beautiful. Nice photos, EG.
Ireland is on my dream list... That and Scotland. The home of my ancestors. Thanks for the pics. Makes me crave to go even more.
I always wanted to go to Spain for some reason.
My sister and I were planning to go, but things just creep up and plans get derailed.
Ireland is a great place to visit. I haven't been to Scotland yet. Maybe one of these times coming up.
Spain is fantastic and, for the most part, much less expensive than France or Italy. There is a lot of history in Spain and the food is awesome.
I am saving again, hopefully nothing goes wrong this year so I have to spend my savings.
Ireland was great. We missed all of the Scotland tour except Edinburgh. I really wanted to see the Highlands - maybe next time.
I think it was like '85 when I was stationed in Germany (Army) a bunch of us took a trip (thru our unit morale office) to Lloret de Mar. It included a day trip to Barcelona. We all had a great time, though it was early in season and too cold to swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
I would love to see the set of my clan. We are proud Macleods, of Skye - our seat is Dunvegan Castle.
I use to watch some Spanish television and try to learn the language. Heard some of the popular Spanish music.
I still cannot really speak it. I should have learned when I was young.
I think it would be a great starting point as well. From there hop to another country.
Very cool. I've heard most Scots typically don't care about that type of stuff when asked. There was a desk inside the Edinburgh Castle that looked up some family history stuff for people.
Yeah, me too. They didn't have any foreign language classes when I was in high school.
Once you are on the Continent everything in Europe is a train hop away. Even from the UK there are cheap air flights to everywhere in Europe.
I took several years of Spanish in school, and living in L.A., I have lots of use for it. On both of my trips to Spain I had a great time conversing in Spanish, although it was sometimes difficult to understand what they were saying since they speak fast and I don't necessarily know all of the words being spoken. There were times, however, where I understood everything. I did receive a lot of compliments on my Spanish. I remember that on our last night there, we were in a restaurant, the waiter did not speak English and my wife does not speak Spanish. I was translating for both of them without any difficulty. That was really fun.
I went to Spain more than half a century ago, and my Spanish was almost non-existent, but when ordering coffee I knew enough to say "leche caliente". I was out taking photos in Madrid one day and went through an open gate into the courtyard of a building, not knowing that it was the main police station, and started taking photos. Two policemen with guns stopped me, and thinking I was in real trouble I offered them Canadian cigarettes which they enjoyed smoking (maybe doing so is some kind of universal friendly language) and they just walked me out.
I would love that. My grandmother gave me a lot of information when I was younger and told me she was going to leave me the information when she passed, but when she passed whoever cleaned out her house threw most of the stuff away. I have used what I wrote down from all those years ago to find out some history of my family.
Outstanding, EG!
Awesome photos EG. I had a co-worker once who was from Ireland. They were a blast to work with. Both their accent and terminology made them so much fun to be around.
My front roses POPPED!!!
Your roses are really beautiful.
Thank you. Now I am just waiting for the pink ones to burst. Also the ones on the side of the garage are slow this year.
Those roses are a beautiful colour. Looking forward to seeing the pinks.
I never saw a dragonfly here, and dragons are a big deal here.
Thank you. This the first year they have popped that much. My pinks have not budded yet. I have been keeping an eye on them. I am hoping they pop soon.
I was surprised to see the dragonfly. It has been quite awhile since I have had one that close.
All beauties, Veronica. Anxious to see the pinks when they bloom.
I am getting anxious of them not blooming yet. But I did have a bloom on that bush in November (which in Western NY is amazing).
Being creative using some of my photos from China.
Montage © G. Gam
Horse, Nanjing © G. Gam
From the Window of the Bullet Train Traveling from Xi'an to Beijing © G. Gam
I like your sense of the abstract. Well done!
Thanks, Perrie.
For the next while, I'll not be posting photos from China, so you and whoever else has been there can display the magnificence and variety of what can be seen there, as you have been doing so well.
Those are all beauties, G. Your artistic creativity gets better every week. You make abstracts make it look like it's so easy, but, I know it's not.
Keep up the great work, G.
Thanks, Raven Wing. Yes, it does take a lot of work. I did about 30 versions and edits of the first picture, the montage, before finally getting one I was satisfied with. There were more than 15 versions of the horse. It's all fun, though.
Gone fishin’ - check in later.
This evening's catch - a Pumpkinseed Sunfish, and it's a big one!
© A. Mac/A.G.
That IS a big one. When I was a kid we just used to call them sunfish, and I don't remember ever catching one that big. We used to throw them back in - too bony for frying.
Nice fish Mac.
Throw him back! Throw him back!
Haha
I throw 'em all back!
A truly beautiful fish, Mac, and indeed a very big one. I've never seen that kind of fish before. Maybe it will pay you a visit again one day.
This photo was taken a few weeks ago by one of the photo club members in Stone Creek. The bird laid its eggs in the rock garden and you can see one of the chicks right in front of the mom.
Kind of a rocky start to life - that chick won't be a softie.
Blends in pretty good.
Brown anoles getting in some sun in Stone Creek
These are an invasive species but harmless. The anoles native to florida are the green anoles but not nearly as plentiful as the brown invasive species.
They eat a lot of bugs which is good and we have hundreds of them around us and Wiki loves to chase them but in 4 years has only caught one.
We get the little green ones. They can change color.
I put some peanuts out for the squirrels. Two minutes later this guy shows up.
Almost looks like a statue. A little guy.
The photo does look like a statue, but he’s the real deal. This is the first time I’ve seen him but I knew something was coming by and emptying the bird feeders.
Don't try to pet him, Hal.
Roger that. They terrify me. I’ve always said that I’d rather be killed by a tiger than a bear. At least the tiger kills you before he eats you.
How to you BEAR living in the wild?
Our deck is a popular spot today.
Better make sure you keep your doors locked.
It appears to be very polite in the top photo, sitting and quietly waiting for your permission to eat.
Amazing photos.
But they're so cute....LOL.
Yes...the little fart furries are cute. When I was about 13 years old my Father bought as baby skunk from one of his fellow Police officers who raised them and had them de-scented. We had 2 Siamese cats and a dog at the time, so he had some willing playmates to have fun with.
And true, he did not smell....except......when he went poop, which he did not cover like the cats, much to their disdain, and when he got scared. We had him for some time, but, my Mother grew tired of waking up to skunk pew every morning and having to clean the litter box before she even had her morning coffee. So it got the point where she told my Father that he would have to wake up early in the morning and clean the litter box, or get rid of the skunk.
Well, my Father said he wanted to keep the skunk so he would clean the litter box each morning. That lasted about 4 days and my Father finally agreed to get rid of the skunk. So my Mother called the Zoo and asked if they would like to have our little stinker and they were happy to have him. So off we went to the Zoo. And that is another story.
Well, THIS one was fun to read, so I'm sure there will be no complaints if you tell the "other" story.
Well...ok......We took little stinker out to the car and he jumped right in. He loved riding in the car, and after making the rounds from the front to back and back again, he picked out his observation spot, which happened to be on my Mothers left shoulder. From there he could watch her drive and see the passing cars, which were quick to do a whiplash second look at what they saw, and of course, made various visual signs about the skunk sitting on my Mother's shoulder, most of which were shaking their heads while holding their nose, as a way of asking if the skunk didn't stink. To which my Mother would simply smile and shake her head 'No'. We also got people mouthing such questions as "Where are you going", to which my Mother would mouth back, "To the Zoo."
About halfway to the Zoo a motorcycle police office pulled us over and asked where we were going, and of course my Mother said, "To the Zoo". All the while the window was down the little stinker was trying to play with the officer and kept grabbing his hand wanting to play, while the officer kept jerking his hand back thinking the stinker wanted to bite him. My Mother finally convinced the officer that we were OK and we resumed our trip. So for almost 45 min in our trip to the Zoo we got all kinds people starring in disbelief, funny faces, pantomimes of various questions about the skunk.
We finally arrived at the Zoo and had to chase down the little stinker as he did not want to leave the car. After we finally got his furry behind out of the car we headed inside to the main office, getting a variety of faces from people in the area as we made our way along. We finally found the person we had talked to about the skunk and the little stinker jumped right into her hands, without so much as as second look back and my Mother and I, who were hugely smiling as not only did stinker find a new friend and new home, with lots of others like him to play with, but, we were able to find a good home for him and could now go home. And no more stinking litter box to clean before Mother could even have her first cup of coffee. And THAT in itself was a great sacrifice.
End of story.
You had to enjoy watching the effect it had on the other drivers and others who were not aware that "Little Stinker" was no longer a stinker. Good story.
The only skunk story I have is when I was young and preparing to go fishing I was on the next door neighbour's wet back lawn (they also backed up on a ravine, as we did) at night gathering dew worms. I happened to look up and saw ahead of me two beady little eyes looking at me. I raised the flashlight to shine on it and saw the tail go up - and I ran like hell. It never had a chance to spray.
I was riding in the front seat as well and saw everything first hand, and I would have given anything if I had a camera to take pictures of the faces of those in the cars as they passed by. Mother and I laughed like crazy at some of them, especially those with dropped jaws, huge eyes of shock and the totally stunned faces...after they had passed by out of sight, of course. You'd think some of them had just seen a ghost, or alien being. It was really a visual riot!
It was something that my Mother and I never forgot in all the years afterwards, and we would laugh until we cried and almost too weak to breathe.
Something for today from a yesterday....
Such a sad face - could be thinking about the price of gas...
She is an elder woman on a reservation sitting quietly while smoking her pipe, and likely thinking of times she has seen over the many years of her life.
Then those times may not have been as joyful as one would have hoped.
Many of the very elderly NA's have certainly seen many times of being spit upon, abused, lacking even a modicum of health care, lost their land, seen their children and their children's children taken from their families and forced into 'Christian' boarding schools where they were endlessly abused and met their deaths, and so much more to tear at their hearts.
Those were not fond times in the elderly ones lives to remember.
Will be on the road all day tomorrow … so, saying "thank you" all tonight and will check in by phone if I can before tomorrow night or Monday.
Silver-spotted Skipper Butterfly, Deptford Pink Flowers
© A. Mac/A.G.
A little music to listen to while you're "On the Road Again" (LINK) ->
A real beauty, Mac.
Great spangled fritillary butterfly.
Lilies.
Honeybee drinking nectar from a hummingbird feeder.
I have three other wren houses besides the one I built this spring, and they're all full of chirping chicks at the moment. The one I built has a nest in it, but no chicks that I know of. The male that made the nest still visits and sings daily, so I guess there's still a chance.
Chipmunk.
Cottontail.
Orange ribbon snake, a variety of garter snake.
Common snapping turtle.
Latest project: A simple solar-powered bird bath fountain. It's just a large, plastic pot saucer on top of a large, plastic pot with no drainage holes in it, so it holds water and acts as a reservoir. I drilled holes in the saucer and installed several small bulkhead fittings – one in the center for the feed line from the pump, and 5 more around the perimeter for drains that allow about an inch of water to build up before it flows back down to the lower pot.
I'm not at all impressed with the flow rate of the cheap, little solar pump I ordered, but you get what you pay for, I suppose. It's good enough to agitate and circulate the water, which is really all I need. Movement and splashing sounds are supposed to help with attracting birds, and it does that, but just barely.
It's only been out there for a day, and I don't think any birds have discovered it yet. I'll try to shoot some video if they start showing up.
An absolutely amazing group of photos.
Fantastic, Dig.
You live in an amazing place and you seem to do a lot to make it even better.
Great photos, Dig, and love the new little bird bath. Such a clever idea, and using the sun to power it is using the energy the sun provides us.
All well done. Maybe the little male wren will find a mate soon and fill his nest with chicks.
Sunrise, Stone Creek, Ocala FL.
A beautiful sunrise, and its beautiful reflection on the lake below. A very peaceful and Spiritual scene. Thank you for sharing it with us, Kavika.
One day he is going to be surprised when we all show up to his house for a vacation... : )
You bet, Ender. And we can all bring our cameras and take lots of pictures of him, Red and Wiki to remember a truly great vacation.
(....Raven digging out her suitcases now....)
One for Sunday....
A Shaman's wheel with the animals that represent the 4 seasons of the year.
I find it fascinating that your beautiful creation so resembles a combination of an eastern religion mandala and the many four-season images created by Chinese artists. It's even more evidence that "We are all one."
Indeed it is, Buzz. The ancestors who migrated to the US and Canada brought with them many of the traditions, culture and Spiritual beliefs of where they came from, and many of them are still recognized today. And that includes their varied artwork, which can be seen in the many art caves across the US. Many of which are still being discovered even today.
So there is no doubt that there is a vast similarity between the many Native American Tribes and those of their Mother Land.
Looking for lunch at Lake Arlington, Stone Creek Ocala, FL.
Florida has so many beautiful and interesting birds that call Florida their home. While California has a lot of beautiful birds, they are not as many or varied in species as Florida. So I really do enjoy seeing the photos you share with us here,
Thanks to all; see you Thursday night.