Roadside thistle, taller than me, ©voyager, all rights reserved
It’s another beautiful day in Southwestern Ontario so Jack and I took to the country for our outing. We had a lovely slow walk looking at all the growing things and finding everything healthy and big for this time of year. The corn is my eye high and even the weeds reach over my head. I love it when the plants are big enough to make you feel small and a bit like Alice through the looking-glass.
Click for full size.
A Tythe Pig No Bad Sight. Anonymous, 18th C, Engraving. Subject: Doctor’s Wealth, Tythe Laws.
A Tythe Pig No Bad Sight.
The well fed rich Doctor now Dinner is o’er,-
In his Arm Chair gives way to an Afternoon’s snore,
His Belly is fat, and his Countenance ruddy,
High living’s his practice, the Tythe Laws his study.
The Curate may starve; while to slumber inclin’d
He dreams of the Riches to Doctorship join’d:-
Farmer Hodge brings a Pig to avoid Tythe Law strife,
And presents little Squeak to the Doctor’s fair Wife.
To rouze him from sleep, and his Eyes to regale,
She tickles his Nose with the Young Grunter’s Tail;
Shou’d he start with her tickling & wake in a fright,
You’ll allow a Tythe Pig is not a bad sight.
From Giliell, click for full size!
© Giliell, all rights reserved.
Penguins from David, click for full size! David also sent along a link to video, but lost in chemorad space, managed to lose it.
© David Brindley, all rights reserved.
Trophies cartoon. France wins the World Cup in Moscow, Djokovic wins Wimbledon, and Putin wins over Trump in Helsinki. Image / Rod Emmerson. Source.
I think that pretty much sums it all up.
Roadside Lilies, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Wild lilies, ©voyager, all rights reserved
These lilies grow wild in this area and right now is the height of their season. You see them everywhere, lining the roadside, filling the ditches and marking the edges of most every field. I love their bright colour and tall sturdy stems that allow them to sway in the breeze. I’ve tried to cut some to bring home in the past, but they don’t last so now I just admire them where they live.
An amazing gift, from Marcus & Kestrel, who collaborated on this little slice of perfection. It wouldn’t be perfection to some one else, but it is to me – absolutely gorgeous, fantastically sharp, my favourite colours in that magnificent braiding, giving a wonderful grip, and the beauty of the blade. Fits my hand perfectly, and is properly sharp and lethal. Honestly, I was speechless when I opened this up, and I still just babble about it. I will cherish this, always. I couldn’t possibly come up with enough of a thank you to you both for your work, especially such finely done and thoughtful work. Thank you, thank you, thank you. She definitely needs to be named, but I have to spend more time with her to find what’s right.
Clickety for full size.
© C. Ford, all rights reserved.
ShabbyAdjective.
1: Clothed with worn or seeding garments.
2a: Threadbare and faced from wear. b: ill-kept: Dilapidated.
3a: Mean, Despicable, Contemptible <must feel shabby…because of his compromises – Nat Hentoff>
b: Ungenerous, unfair. c: Inferior in quality.
-shabbily, adverb.
-shabbiness, noun.
[Origin: obsolete English shab a low fellow.]
(1669)
“She stole a glance round the office – the office of the senior partner of the firm. It suited Walter Fane, she decided. It was definitely old-fashioned, the furniture was shabby, but was made of good solid Victorian material.” – Sleeping Murder, Agatha Christie.
We did not plant any sunflowers this year. This one was probably planted by birds.
©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
A comparison of the huge claws of Haast’s eagle with those of its close relative the Hieraaetus morphnoides, the “little” eagle. Image / Bunce M, Szulkin M, Lerner HRL, Barnes I, Shapiro B, et al.
With a wingspan reaching as wide as 3m and huge claws that could crush bone, the Haast’s eagle was one of the most fearsome creatures ever to stalk New Zealand’s prehistoric wilderness.
The largest eagle known to have existed anywhere, its demise quickly followed that of its much-larger prey, the moa, which was hunted to extinction by early Maori settlers around 1400 CE.
Now a top international scientist and Kiwi collaborators hope to shed more light on the lost giant, in an innovative study that could help conserve those endangered predatory birds that remain today.
An artist’s depiction of a Haast’s eagle attacking two moa. Image / John Megahan.
You can read more here, thanks to David for letting me know about this.
This sparrow really has a knack for dramatic poses. One can see the big spirit in that small body.
©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.