Avalus has a real knack for photographing the small creatures in our world and today he’s found a fine bee for us to admire.
Hummel; a bumblebee feasting on a European columbine.©Avalus, all rights reserve
Bees!
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Avalus has a real knack for photographing the small creatures in our world and today he’s found a fine bee for us to admire.
Hummel; a bumblebee feasting on a European columbine.©Avalus, all rights reserve
Opus has a new philosophy for photographing flowers and the result is stunning. I couldn’t be more delighted to share them with all of you.
…the spring and early summer has been very good for macro plant photography. I have started thinking of these as plant portraits, rather than just macro photography. …Hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.
Clover, ©Opus, all rights reserved
Wild Carrot, ©Opus, all rights reserved
Barrie, James Matthew, My Lady Nicotine A Study in Smoke, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1890
A book written by the author of Peter Pan about his love affair with smoking. He had quit smoking when he wrote the book and had become contemptuous of it, but the series of 33 essays speak wistfully of his fond remembrances of the days when he enjoyed his pipe. The essay titles include, “His Wife’s Cigar,” “How Heroes Smoke.” and “The Perils of Not Smoking.”
The Lily Pond, ©voyager, all rights reserved
This is going to be a strange year for Jack and I. Usually, at about this time of year we pack up the car and head down the highway to the east coast where we spend our summers by the sea, but this year we’ve decided to stay home. My mother’s health has been deteriorating and even though she lives in a nursing home I still worry. I’m an only child so I don’t have a sibling to call on for help. I begged for a brother or sister when I was young, but to no avail. Too bad, an extra pair of eyes and hands would be nice at this stage of life.
When we’re down east in Perce we stay with Mr. V’s mum who is 93 and has been living alone. This mum is still a going concern. Well into her 90’s now she still manages everything well and on her own. She shops and cooks and still bakes cookies because who wants store-bought. She also still drives, irons, gardens and has just found herself a rather nice, very old-fashioned and sweet boyfriend who will be spending the summer with her. He’s just a kid at 78. That means just a bit less worry for us. Our east coast mum will have a wonderful summer even if we can’t be there to share it with her.
Jack hasn’t ever spent a whole summer in Ontario so I’m going to see if I can find a few new trails to keep him engaged. Me too. I like to be outside and I don’t what I’m going to do with myself without my annual hunt for seaglass.
Lang, Andrew. The Book of Romance. New York, Longmans, Green & co, 1902
This is one of the best-loved book of stories about the Legend of King Arthur. The cover is gorgeous, but there are some pretty sweet interior plates as well. The whole book is available at the link below if you’re interested.
via: The Internet Archive
Our tree his week is a bit odd, but I like that in a tree and, obviously, so does Avalus.
The Corkscrew, ©Avalus, all rights reserved
©voyager, all rights reserved
It’s been an overcast and humid day here, but at least it didn’t get overly hot. Still, neither Jack nor I like the humidity so we went out early to avoid the warmest part of the day. We just went to our familiar forest, but a pack of 4 shaggy, black and white springer spaniels livened things up a bit. They bounded up at us from behind, ran a few circles around Jack – all going in different directions and then bounded off down the path without stopping to take a breath. It all happened so fast that Jack didn’t get a chance to say Hi or Bye and he loves to say both. I think he felt cheated so I gave him an extra milk-bone and soon enough the world was right again and off we went.
Today’s book comes from Anne, Cranky Cat Lady and it’s absolutely charming. I’m pretty sure it’s a rare first edition and it looks to be in good shape for a book that’s 119 years old.
James Gall. An Easy Guide to The Constellations With A Miniature Atlas of The Stars. Gall and Inglis, London, 1900.
Mondays are always better with flowers and Avalus has sent us some gorgeous Iris to help us start the week.
There was a beautiful patch of irises that attracted many visitors.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Like this bumblebee, just caught while taking off…
©Avalus, all rights reserved
And this leaf bug.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Moses Wolcott Redding. Standard Ahiman Rezon and Blue Lodge Guide. New York : Redding & Co., 1889 — Source.
Old French Fairy Tales by Comtesse De Segur; illustrated by Virginia Frances Sterrett; 1920; The Penn publishing company, Philadelphia.
I’m not sure why, but Saturdays seem like a good day to showcase Fairy Tales. Perhaps because I spent every Saturday with my grandparents when I was young and my Opa loved to tell me stories.
Today’s story book is a classic of the Art Nouveau period and was illustrated by the incomparable Virgina Sterrett. Sterrett was only 20 when she received the commission to illustrate Old French Fairly Tales and the art she created is rich and full of colour and delicate details. Sterrett was diagnosed with tuberculosis shortly after the completion of this book and her failing health limited her ability to work. She did go on to complete the illustrations for two other books before her death at the age of 30. I will be showcasing those books over the next 2 Saturdays so make sure to tune in. But now, let’s just enjoy a few of the wonderful illustrations of Sterrett’s first book, Old French Fairy Tales.
The book comes to us from the Public Domain Review, but the entire book can be accessed at The Internet Archive.
Roslie saw before her eyes a tree of marvellous beauty
She threw her arms around the neck of Bonne-Biche
They were three months passing through the forest
A part of the wall crumbled with a terrible noise
They walked side by side during the rest of the evening
“Ah, ha! you are at last in my domain, little fool!”
Violette consented willingly to pass the night in the forest
©voyager, all rights reserved
©voyager, all rights reserved
I was off helping a friend today, so Jack and his daddy had a boys day without me. They are well-trained scouts, though, and upon my return I was told that the poppies are blooming at the end of the street. I grabbed my camera and set out to take a few shots. There are about a dozen flowers in total, but today only one was fully blooming. The rest look set to open tomorrow and I’ll definitely be back to take another look. I can’t resist those blood orange petals or their pompons of purple chenille.
©voyager, all rights reserved
Andrew Lang. The Book of Dreams and Ghosts. London; New York; Bombay,: Longmans; Green, 1897.