From back to being a young child I have always marvelled at the beauty of the monarch butterfly, so magnificently depicted by you above. Of course, back then, they were much more numerous.
A truly awesome photo of a Monarch butterfly. I have always had a deep respect and admiration of the Monarchs. Their beauty, grace and what they represent is totally unsurpassed.
That is a fantastic photo you found, shona. As I look at it, it's as if I can see the sun slowly rising. Thank you for sharing it with us to also enjoy.
I once lived only 4 blocks from the shore of the Atlantic ocean, and the summer sunrises were not only beautiful, but, truly mesmerizing to see. The bright rays of the sunrise upon the vast ocean water was almost otherworldly.
Where I live now I an inland of the Pacific ocean, so I don't get to see the sunsets. But, I can see the beautiful sunrises over the tops of the nearby mountains. In the summer there is often a bit of mist hanging around the mountain tops, and the glow of the rising sun is truly Father Sky's gift to the human world.
1. Around the corner from where we live there is a big pond where in the Spring a mass of lotus flowers grow. I have some great shots of them myself, but here I saw a man focusing in on one just about to open up from being a bud.
.
2. Way back, when we were living in Zhengzhou which is a lot farther north (and a lot cooler than the 45 degrees C we are experiencing these days) we liked to spend time in Zijingshan Park, where I saw this girl photographing flowers.
.
3. Across the road from where we live now is the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts, and I assume from seeing this happening while we were enjoying a walk through its beautiful campus that it has courses in photography. They were taking photos of a model.
.
4. While we were in a big water park in Chongqing I saw these girls taking a "selfie" with the fountain in the background.
.
5. Back to the lotus pond at the same time as the first photo above, a girl is taking photos of the lotuses with her phone camera.
.
6. And finally, the pièce de résistance . A few years back (BC = before covid) while waiting to be seated at the annual Chongqing Thanksgiving Dinner for Expats this idiot tried to take a photo of me, so I took one of him.
Great photos, Buzz. The ones of the Lotus are wonderful. The Lotus is one of my favorite flowers. Not only are they beautiful flowers, but, their aroma is really pleasant.
Thanks, Pat. The juggler/hand stander is the same person. He was performing in a plaza in Granada, and I took a few photos of him. You are correct that the blue architecture is Moorish. It is a photo that I took of the Alhambra, also in Granada. I extracted the juggling image and superimposed it and the handstand photo on the photo of the Alhambra to create the final image.
A great photo, Kavika. A real contrast between the beautiful essence of the setting sun, and the threat of the approaching storm clouds. However, the two of them together makes for a very lovely image.
I got her from Craigslist for free. I would personally never have a cat declawed but she was already declawed and didn’t get along with the previous owner’s other cat. She was a great find, perfectly healthy and sweet.
Wasps built this nest in the corner of my garage door opening. It’s a door I don’t open often and they weren’t bothering anyone so I just left them alone rather than murder them all with spray. Apparently they didn’t like it when I eventually had to open the door, so they abandoned it. It was pretty cool to take down and look at it closely. I have no idea how they make these but they are a real work of art, and a cool subject for photo editing.
Visions of slicing it open and four trillion sleeping wasps pouring out
Understood. And I don't blame you. Although I thought it had been abandoned and you had already taken down. Not sure why I thought of that, but, curious minds tend to wander at times.
I don't know how you do it. I wouldn't be to happy with that hanging around. I have never seen one like that. Here we get either the ones that make a single dirt nest and/or the ones with the open cone nests.
Pics from internet.
I always called them dirt daubers.
That nest is really cool looking though. Looks like it could house a lot of them.
Great photo, shona. Thank you for sharing it with us. We are looking at triple digit temps all next week, several days of 104 temps, and at least two days of 106 degrees. However, those temps are not unusual for our area this time of year. We've had days when the temp is 110 to 115 degrees. But, when there is a lot of humidity it makes it seem hotter. Things can change one way or the other, which is also not unusual.
We are at Daytona Beach waiting for the launch of Artemis from Coco Beach. They are having some troubles with one of the four engines so the 8:33 am launch may be delayed. It's very cloudy here in Daytona with a few flashes of lightning. We are 70 miles north of the launch area so the weather may not be a factor there.
20 some years ago I was on vacation in florida staying in a hotel on cocoa beach. the most horrific glass rattling roar woke me from my sleep in the morning and I ran to the balcony to see what was going on. it wasn't until breakfast that I figured out there had been a launch of a rocket. later we traveled on to see the world's largest overpriced gift shop, disney world.
When my daughter was a little kid her favourite story was The Velveteen Rabbit, and I took my family on a trip to DisneyWorld, where we contrary to my common sense went into one of its "Tiffany" class gift shops, and there was a velveteen rabbit hand puppet that my daughter saw and yelled "IT'S MY VELVETEEN RABBIT!!!" that was priced to compete with the Hope Diamond and I wasn't going to buy it, so she started to cry and scream and everyone looked at me in a way to say you cheap miserly S.O.B. so I was forced into buying her her velveteen rabbit.
In 2016, I took my father to National's Spring Training. We stayed at Cocoa Beach. I saw that the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo vessel was scheduled for a night launch and we went in the early evening evening to the end of the pier to the Rikki Tiki Tavern to get seats, The launch occurred after 11:00 so it was good that our hotel was close by. A spectacular sight as Canaveral is about 5 miles away.
First things first … Check the Article at the link below.
From back to being a young child I have always marvelled at the beauty of the monarch butterfly, so magnificently depicted by you above. Of course, back then, they were much more numerous.
A truly awesome photo of a Monarch butterfly. I have always had a deep respect and admiration of the Monarchs. Their beauty, grace and what they represent is totally unsurpassed.
Arvo... Sunrise over the harbour ..
Summer where are you??...
Not my photo..
That is a fantastic photo you found, shona. As I look at it, it's as if I can see the sun slowly rising. Thank you for sharing it with us to also enjoy.
Anoon Raven...yes I do love where I live in my part of the world...
No matter what time of the year the sea and sunrises never disappoint...
I once lived only 4 blocks from the shore of the Atlantic ocean, and the summer sunrises were not only beautiful, but, truly mesmerizing to see. The bright rays of the sunrise upon the vast ocean water was almost otherworldly.
Where I live now I an inland of the Pacific ocean, so I don't get to see the sunsets. But, I can see the beautiful sunrises over the tops of the nearby mountains. In the summer there is often a bit of mist hanging around the mountain tops, and the glow of the rising sun is truly Father Sky's gift to the human world.
I get both, my house faces East and West...
So I get the sunrises and sunsets... and all the houses are single storey so other than gumtrees nothing blocks the view..
Lucky you! You get the beauty of both sunsets and sunrises. My apt faces East and doesn't have any back windows, so all I get to see are sunrises.
Hot off the press...taken now by me down the harbour..a grey winters day .
Wish I could send some of the excess heat we're getting your way.
Evening..yes just reading you are in a spot of bother in your city.... article on the 9 news site..
You are in Chongqing?
Yes. It's my wife's home town. Some home town - a population almost the same as all of Canada.
Photos I Took of People Taking Photos
1. Around the corner from where we live there is a big pond where in the Spring a mass of lotus flowers grow. I have some great shots of them myself, but here I saw a man focusing in on one just about to open up from being a bud.
.
2. Way back, when we were living in Zhengzhou which is a lot farther north (and a lot cooler than the 45 degrees C we are experiencing these days) we liked to spend time in Zijingshan Park, where I saw this girl photographing flowers.
.
3. Across the road from where we live now is the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts, and I assume from seeing this happening while we were enjoying a walk through its beautiful campus that it has courses in photography. They were taking photos of a model.
.
4. While we were in a big water park in Chongqing I saw these girls taking a "selfie" with the fountain in the background.
.
5. Back to the lotus pond at the same time as the first photo above, a girl is taking photos of the lotuses with her phone camera.
.
6. And finally, the pièce de résistance . A few years back (BC = before covid) while waiting to be seated at the annual Chongqing Thanksgiving Dinner for Expats this idiot tried to take a photo of me, so I took one of him.
Great photos, Buzz. The ones of the Lotus are wonderful. The Lotus is one of my favorite flowers. Not only are they beautiful flowers, but, their aroma is really pleasant.
These are my favourite lotus photos, taken at that same lotus pond:
.
Those are really beautiful Lotus blossoms, Buzz.
Buckle up it's getting ready to rock and roll and did it ever. Rolling thunder and an inch of rain in an hour.
Those clouds look like they really mean business.
Looking a tad rough over there Kavika...
Batten down the hatches...
Just a question notice a lot of houses don't seem to have fences. See it in a lot of movies etc as well.. doesn't that cause problems?
There is a saying...high fences make good neighbours.. it's one of the first things that go up when building here...
In our community the only fences are 4-foot high wrought iron fences. It' usually people that have dogs that put up fences.
the lots in newer subdivisions are pretty small now and most HOA's feel that privacy fences detract from the illusion of openness.
Can you send some of that rain over here?
A Thursday contribution.....
A Representation of A Few Spirit Guides
A superb image.
Thank you, Buzz.
Lurking turkey enjoying a bit of morning sunlight
Never heard of a lurking turkey. Wild Turkey I have both in feather and a bottle.
It's out looking for a place to hide for when Thanksgiving approaches.
"Hey....I'm a chicken, not a turkey! That thing on my nose is just an illusion, donchaknow."
(sorry, I couldn't resist)
The Juggler, Granada, Spain
© G. Gam
Excellent, G! Great editing in image and coloring.
Thank you, Raven Wing.
spring 1972, late morning, something very exotic in my '58 F100 in the student parking lot prior, me in ms goodroad's advanced theater class.
You were doing handstands and juggling glass balls?
I was trying to hang on to the tile floor.
Very nice, when I first saw the seated figure I thought Buddha. The blue architecture looks Moorish.
Is the red hand stander the same person ?
Thanks, Pat. The juggler/hand stander is the same person. He was performing in a plaza in Granada, and I took a few photos of him. You are correct that the blue architecture is Moorish. It is a photo that I took of the Alhambra, also in Granada. I extracted the juggling image and superimposed it and the handstand photo on the photo of the Alhambra to create the final image.
Alhambra is on my bucket list as is Hagia Sophia in Turkey and Petra in Jordan.
Don't miss Petra if you can help it. Here I am walking on the road into Petra.
A fun memory is seeing kids gathering stones from the ground and putting them on a table and selling them to the tourists.
The Alhambra is awesome. I have more photos I will be posting sometime.
Hagia Sophia and Petra are on my list, too.
Thanks for sharing it, Buzz. It looks like a very interesting, and a lot of history to see.
Wow!!!
Thanks!
Really cool photo, G. I love the effect and the theme.
Thank you, Perrie.
A Friday new one....
There's nothing like a campfire.
Thank you, Pat.
Beautiful.
Thanks Buzz.
Very peaceful and spiritual, Raven. Well done!
Thank you, Perrie. I'm very glad you like it.
Early evening, Stone Creek, Ocala FL.
That is some sky Kavika. Was there a storm?
Yes, there was. We received about an inch of rain in an hour.
A great photo, Kavika. A real contrast between the beautiful essence of the setting sun, and the threat of the approaching storm clouds. However, the two of them together makes for a very lovely image.
Beautiful sunset.
It's National Dog Day. Part of the gang at our dog park today.
Where is Wiki?
Wiki is basking in her own glory. LOL
My Dawg Gracie
© A. Mac/A.G.
She is just the cutest thing ever.
No Dog holiday would be complete without sweet little Gracie.
Always a pleasure to see her.
Wiki Warrior Wonder Weiner.
Where's the cone-shaped hat?
She said it wasn't her style.
Awww. Adorable.
LOL
Wiki has her own style, and walks to her own beat. No comparison.
There ya go! Wiki has class, and knows how a lady should be treated.
My new cat.
Oh my...that really is a very beautiful cat, Hal. It is sheeping so peacefully!
That ain't no kitten. Is it a rescue cat?
I got her from Craigslist for free. I would personally never have a cat declawed but she was already declawed and didn’t get along with the previous owner’s other cat. She was a great find, perfectly healthy and sweet.
Thank you for taking her in, Hal. You are a true blessing for her.
Wasps built this nest in the corner of my garage door opening. It’s a door I don’t open often and they weren’t bothering anyone so I just left them alone rather than murder them all with spray. Apparently they didn’t like it when I eventually had to open the door, so they abandoned it. It was pretty cool to take down and look at it closely. I have no idea how they make these but they are a real work of art, and a cool subject for photo editing.
LOL! Great photos Hal. That last one really looks very surprised.
Have you looked inside of it yet? It would be interesting to see how they lived inside of their large nest.
I was not that adventurous. Visions of slicing it open and four trillion sleeping wasps pouring out …
Understood. And I don't blame you. Although I thought it had been abandoned and you had already taken down. Not sure why I thought of that, but, curious minds tend to wander at times.
Mars Wasp Nest Attacks!!!
I don't know how you do it. I wouldn't be to happy with that hanging around. I have never seen one like that. Here we get either the ones that make a single dirt nest and/or the ones with the open cone nests.
Pics from internet.
I always called them dirt daubers.
That nest is really cool looking though. Looks like it could house a lot of them.
Anoon...do they sting you or kill you or do something exciting?
If not wouldn't even rate here..🤣🤣
Interesting construction though..
Stone Creek, Ocala, FL. photos by the SC Photo Club.
Beautiful photos, Kavika. I am very grateful to your Photo Club members for sharing their photos with us.
On my way to the fishin' hole today … others to come.
© A. Mac/A.G.
How cute is that! Looks like it might be hoping for a fish treat from you. LOL!
Be careful - a very protective mother could be close.
One for Saturday.....
And this evening's BLUE RIBBON WINNER!
Thank you very much, Mac. I'm very glad you like it.
Mesmerizing - hypnotic eyes.
Thanks Buzz.
Thank you, dev.
Arvo. Come on Summer...
LOL. You can have some of mine - thankfully It's starting to cool down tomorrow, and finally we'll get some rain.
Great photo, shona. Thank you for sharing it with us. We are looking at triple digit temps all next week, several days of 104 temps, and at least two days of 106 degrees. However, those temps are not unusual for our area this time of year. We've had days when the temp is 110 to 115 degrees. But, when there is a lot of humidity it makes it seem hotter. Things can change one way or the other, which is also not unusual.
Rock formations..
Where the bush meets the sea...
Great pics, shona.
Bear with me … from yesterday on the way to the fishin' hole.
© A. Mac/A.G.
looking for picnic baskets...
Great photo, Mac. Those two cuties look like they are out for some fun.
Okay, you've got bears, so where are the lions and tigers, oh my.
One for Sunday .......
I liked it before, and now, seeing it again, I like it even more now.
Thank you very much, Buzz.
We are at Daytona Beach waiting for the launch of Artemis from Coco Beach. They are having some troubles with one of the four engines so the 8:33 am launch may be delayed. It's very cloudy here in Daytona with a few flashes of lightning. We are 70 miles north of the launch area so the weather may not be a factor there.
NASA just scrubbed the launch.
The next opening for launch is September 2nd.
Did you take the trip specifically to see the launch?
No, we were coming here for some down time and it matched with the lift off, which was not a lift off.
20 some years ago I was on vacation in florida staying in a hotel on cocoa beach. the most horrific glass rattling roar woke me from my sleep in the morning and I ran to the balcony to see what was going on. it wasn't until breakfast that I figured out there had been a launch of a rocket. later we traveled on to see the world's largest overpriced gift shop, disney world.
When my daughter was a little kid her favourite story was The Velveteen Rabbit, and I took my family on a trip to DisneyWorld, where we contrary to my common sense went into one of its "Tiffany" class gift shops, and there was a velveteen rabbit hand puppet that my daughter saw and yelled "IT'S MY VELVETEEN RABBIT!!!" that was priced to compete with the Hope Diamond and I wasn't going to buy it, so she started to cry and scream and everyone looked at me in a way to say you cheap miserly S.O.B. so I was forced into buying her her velveteen rabbit.
Sunrise in Daytona Beach.
This is one of the reasons that the launch was scrubbed. Rain and lightning.
Even if rain and lightning it's still a stunning skyscape.
Although the ominous storm clouds and rain pose threat, they do present a very beautiful picture against the glow of the early morning sunrise.
Bear with me one more time.
© A. Mac/A.G.
good thing you catch and release...
The big question is whether mama bear believes in 'catch and release'.
In 2016, I took my father to National's Spring Training. We stayed at Cocoa Beach. I saw that the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo vessel was scheduled for a night launch and we went in the early evening evening to the end of the pier to the Rikki Tiki Tavern to get seats, The launch occurred after 11:00 so it was good that our hotel was close by. A spectacular sight as Canaveral is about 5 miles away.
Thanks for another good week; will close it down shortly.