The Barcelona Zoo is home top a colony of herons who happily steal fish from the penguins and whoever isn’t fast enough.
Ready for take off
© Giliell
Monday Mercurial
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
The Barcelona Zoo is home top a colony of herons who happily steal fish from the penguins and whoever isn’t fast enough.
Ready for take off
© Giliell
It’s our last day with Ice Swimmer’s series Harakka an Island and we’re back to the port preparing to leave. I’ve enjoyed this series immensely. It’s been like an old-fashioned travelogue and the moving perspectives helped bring the island to life. It’s been so nice to see things from more than one vantage point. I’m a bit saddened that we’re leaving already, but isn’t that just the way it is with any trip…too short and over too soon. Thank you Ice Swimmer. It’s been a great adventure and now I’ll let you lead the way home.
1. Crane, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
Now we’re back on the pier. The signal for the boat has been raised (not in the picture), but we have some time take a look at the crane. The other end of our boat trip is the white pier behind the crane.
2. Goodbye Harakka, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The boat is almost here, so all we can do is to take a last look, lower the signaling semaphore (again, not in the picture) and get aboard the boat.
This was our tour (mine in person and yours through these photos) of Harakka in July 2018. We saw some things, but there’s more to the island than this, but that is another story of things that have not happened yet. I actually went to Harakka on two different evenings for these pictures, and I haven’t been there since that. Another time of the day or a cloudy day would show the place in a different light.
(link to previous post, Harakka an Island: Chapter 9)
Admit it, you’ve been missing the tit pics.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
The tree is a “bird cherry”. They grow here en masse and the stains can only be removed with a pair of scissors.
Terracotta Park, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I are on the road heading home today, but that isn’t very scenic so instead we’ll share a last photo of Terracotta Park. By this time tomorrow we should be back in our own little house and I could jump up and down with joy.
©voyager, all rights reserved
The weather has cooled down and it has Jack feeling frisky. He’s been boing-boinging around the house like a puppy and he’s full of mischief and energy. Well, as full of energy as a lazy 10 year old dog can be. A good walk was definitely called for so we took ourselves to Terracotta Park for a frolic in the woods. A good time was had by all and now Jack is peacefully asleep.
We’re back to Arakka an Island and in this chapter Ice Swimmer takes us to see views east. Off we go…
1. Birches and Särkkä, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
From the front yard of Vellamo, we take another look at Särkkä, also seeing a few birches and the tower of the church in Suomenlinna. The church tower has a dual role as a lighthouse.
Fall is coming near and spiders are starting to gather in the house. I do not mind certain amount of spiders in the house, but the webs have to be cleaned up occasionally. So when there is too much webs (that is, when they start to be easily visible – I do not wait for them to hang so low that I have to wade through them) I collect as many spiders as I can into a glass and carry them outside, and then take a broom to the webs.
Bellow the fold you can see why I tolerate spiders in the house to a certain extent.
Little blue butterfly
Little blue butterfly with gossamer wings
For once my timing was good. This morning I was taking photos of our sedum turning pink and just as I had my camera ready, this little purple butterfly fluttered into frame and stayed long enough for me to take its picture. That almost never happens for me, mostly because of the impatient and snorfling dog by my side. Anyway, my photo of flowering sedum got an upgrade. I did quick search and I think it may be a female Eastern-Tailed blue butterfly.
It’s another chapter of Ice Swimmer’s Harakka an Island. We’ve climbed down from the top and we’re ready to go. Lead the way Ice Swimmer.
1. A Birch and Särkkä, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
A bit to the south of the crossroads, there’s birch and we can see the island Särkkä in the southeast. Särkkä is next to the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress and the fortfications in Särkkä were built to support the main sea fortress. Nowadays Särkkä is used by a yacht club as a base and there are two restaurants there.
2. Footprints or Whose Island Part 3, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
Also on the eastern shore, webbed feet are quite numerous.
3. Strawberries ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
Wild strawberry plants were plentiful, but there were very few berries.
4. Stone Ruin and Vellamo Cottage, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The Vellamo House/Cottage is a nature fairy tale house for kids featuring books and educational play facilities.
5. Entry, Ice Swimmer, ©all rights reserved
This mystery path through the bush starts next to Vellamo.
6. Duckboards or Pitkospuut, ©all rights reserved
The mystery path features duckboards, in Finnish pitkospuut (free translation: lengthwise planks of wood), to walk on. We don’t (or more like, I didn’t) want to get ticks so, we leave the mystery be a mystery.
Next, we’ll go to the front yard of Vellamo to take a look east.
(link to previous post, Harakka an Island: Chapter 7)
Bees and I share a passion for asters
Today’s Wednesday Wings is the other kind of wings, the one on insects. We’re having a wonderful September or a way too hot one, and at least the bees are enjoying it.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
Way too light. See the opposite of a black hole in shape of a butterfly
Can’t show you my face, I’m eating
Yes, we’ve got tons of golden rod here as well. The bees seem to like it
No easy picture taking as the wind was gently blowing
Bzzzzzzzzzz
What does the colour look like to a bee?
Nightjar has submitted absolutely gorgeous Bougainvillea pictures with a short story with a question at the end. To which my answer is YES.
I let Nightjar take from here:
Last week as I looked through the window I saw a lady that lives a few streets away from me pointing her phone at my front door, as if taking a picture. I was confused at first, but then I realised what was likely going on. Our Bougainvillea is putting on quite a show this year, hanging from the balcony and almost completely covering our front door in a ridiculous abundance of pink. In fact, there is no way she was taking a photo of anything else, because everything else is under that pink cover. So later that day, I decided to go out and take a few pictures myself. Now let me ask you, if you were passing by my house and saw this, wouldn’t you be tempted to stop for a few shots too?
©Nighjar, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Terracotta Woods, ©voyager, all rights reserved
It’s humid and overcast today, but thankfully the temperature is only in the mid twenties. Even so, neither Jack nor I do well when it’s humid so we took a short plod around the woods this morning and are now back home feeling exhausted.
These photos were sent in by Opus and were taken in a bristlecone pine grove near Lone Pine, California. I think they make a brilliant set. Their beauty is stark and tortured and they evoke feelings of tenderness and vulnerability in me. Well captured, Opus. I’m so glad you shared them. Thanks.
©Opus, all rights reserved
©Opus, all rights reserved
©Opus, all rights reserved