Monschau Christmas 2011

Another free slideshow by Smilebox

Feeling a little bit guilty about this now... but the link below makes me long to travel
http://some-landscapes.blogspot.com/2011/12/winter-journey.html

Carbon Credits... good or bad?

This article has six reasons against
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=544

and this one lists the pros and cons
http://www.greenmuze.com/climate/travel/327-carbon-offsetting-pros-a-cons.html

China and Green Cat Economy...

Couldn't sleep and watched an interesting programme about China and China's Premier Wen Jiabao looking for ways to turn a black cat into a green cat and putting plans in motion to bring prosperity to all in China. Pig farming being one way for small holders to generate Biogas and earn money from Carbon Credits. But problems need to be resolved to make more efficient use of heat generated and also connecting to the local power grid

http://enterprisechina.net/node/396

Looking to Scandinavian countries where local Combined Heat and Power plants and District Heating might be a way forward for these small communities off the grid. Maybe this would be cheaper than investing in infrastructure to connect to the grid. But niggling concern also about impact of huge amounts of piggy methane being released and Global warming..

"Last year, Hu Angang, Director of Tsinghua University's Center for China Studies in Beijing stirred a great deal of excitement with his “green cat thesis.” Referencing Deng Xiaoping's famous quote, “Whether it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat,” Hu advised: “China should bid farewell to its 'black cat' form of economic growth, and focus on becoming a 'green cat.'” Economic development others have taken a decade to achieve, China has accomplished in two to three years.." (China Post September 27th 2010)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akTY3qa5Gm4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc81F9Ir4EQ&feature=related

Westmeston.. think this may be the path from Black Dog Hill

stormy night outside, gusting winds and chairs falling over in the dark...

Noticed this morning huge part of favorite apple tree has broken off but enough left to start a new tree in the spring and huge part of chestnut tree next door lying on the ground, in both cases fell away from the buildings next to them

admiring the full moon and feeling fruz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxaHE6mLLag&feature=related

Streetscape Art

http://www.radfordart.ca/index.htm

..days like this

Simpsons

Last night a little terrier rushed out of the darkness, leaping
and sniffing at anything,, wagging its tail like it was trying
to take off :)

Even later there was a mighty rustle in some bushes and
felt a little frightened and something small and compact
rushed across the garden.. thought for a moment it might
be a deer.. but little terrier bouced back.. looked at the collar
for idea what to do and her name was Marge

mysteriousness of life.. got up in early hours, with wind rustling the last few leaves on the trees to look for falling stars.. clouds drifted away and saw the stars all around and finally one by one, four shooting stars crackled across the night sky, the last one low on the horizon as somewhere in the almost morning, a rooster welcomed in the morning

thinking it is a litle cold tonight, then remembered night in the ice hotel, and its really toasty here..

unbelievable -25 degrees that night and retreated to a warm room during the night.. :)

Owls hooting away and its 11.11.11

wondering if something significant will happen today

Out walking, noticed a deer in the middle of the field in the mist,
completly still, looked again and there was nothing there

probably small significant things happen all the time
just need to slow down to see them

Bella's Lullaby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdiDOC5YgA0&feature=related

An asteroid is passing very close to Earth tonight within 202,000 miles of our planet and within the moon's orbit. That sounds pretty close to me in the scheme of the Universe.

secret squirrel

Kingston Parakeets

Looking for a German shop in Ham near Kingston and stopped in a park just over the river and heard strange squawks from the branches above and reallised these came from small green birds above us. thought maybe someones birds had escaped but talked to someone walking through the park and seems there are 50,000 of these birds around here and one story is that they escaped during the filming of the African Queen being made in nearby film studio.

Drove afterwards through Richmond Park to Richmond Gate and looked down at the river near the Star and Garter.. so beautiful. Many deers in the park. Leaves on the trees and underneath and felt almost the air around, golden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_parakeets

little pig on the right with radar ears

Another night its late and i should be asleep, but.. today, well yesterday we travelled down to Brownsea Island to see red squirrels. everbody told us they were everywhere. the leaves were all crackly in the autumn sunshine and every now and then you could hear something run across the leaves or the funny noise they make chattering their teeth from above in the branches but im sure they were hiding when they saw us coming, although before we left we did see two

and on the way home we cruised around the islands in Poole harbour in a small yellow ferry with... a red squirrel on it :)

This little piggy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPgUaaagnN4

"no you can't have another piece of cake"

Homer Simpson

Yetis in Siberia and Big Ben leaning ...hmmmm

Got this picture of someone taking time out in a fairly remote place to think about meaning of life, who hasn't got around to changing their clothes, shave or wash and maybe a bit sensitive about how they look and runs away when someone comes, who knows

friends are like the stars, you don't always see them
but its nice to know they're there

High Arctic

http://some-landscapes.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

Tom on the Black Water, Southern Ireland
Summer 2011
Pharoh (the dog) is in the cabin

yesterday my son was hankering to see his grandparents and nearby village, one of those sleepy deserted sussex villages with a few old flint houses, a pub, church, the ruins of an old manor house with a few ghosts probably, a small lake with a boathouse, watermill and at the top of the village, the magic playground.. where he went with his omi.. a swing, a slide underneath a big oak tree and carrying on further through a small wood and over the field our home. sitting there on this late sunny september afternoon, wished could rewind time. didnt occur to me at the time, how beautiful it was, it was just home

Seagulls are flying

Been watching Brighton play Liverpool tonight, Congratulations Liverpool for winning but think Brighton played their hearts out and showed no fear. wondering why one of the players didnt have a number on his shirt

Dancing in the rain

http://positiveadaptation.blogspot.com/2009/05/learning-to-dance-in-rain.html

smoke signals maybe

About a week ago, spent four days in Southern Ireland to see the tall ships beginning their race across to Scandinavia from Waterford. The countryside was beautiful and people very welcoming. Dropped my camera thou, so memories in mind and heart. The park around the Blarney Castle was so green and purple dragonflys buzzed around us. Never reallised so many castles. We went on a small boat up the Blackwater river.. and saw so many huge gannets fishing from the river's edge and the ruins of an abbey where one of the knight's templar is buried. A little dog called Pharoh came along for the ride.

We visited Cobh where the Titanic sailed from - wernt expecting the busy town with a large cathedral clinging to the end of the peninsular overlooking the widest estuary where the river flowed down from Cork

We drove over the Wicklow mountains and then watched life go by in the harbour in Wicklow.

Before we flew home we walked beside the river in Mount Usher gardens and more dragonflys, blue ones buzzed us. Then we waited in a chocolate lounge in Dublin airport, where all kinds of chocolate wizzed around on a conveyor belt and watched the planes being prepared for take off and small trucks toeing them across the tarmac with the blue Wicklow mountains in the distance before flying home in a small green plane with a shamrock on the side.

midsummer's eve and...

driving back from Ikea early evening with some beautiful material that looks almost like it could be made into a kimono, thought the way cars rushing home almost like life, wizzing by from one lane to another, with little time to think or be aware of what they are going past, on autopilot almost.. but later scent of roses in the dusk in our slightly overgrown garden and rain falling softly, moment peaceful and timeless

Native American Wisdom quotes
http://www.sapphyr.net/natam/quotes-nativeamerican.htm


What is life
It is the flash of a firefly in the night
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime
It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator 1830-1890

Garden birds - how to help them

http://www.dt4u.com/dtsystems/birdbox.php

Zazzle Store

http://zazzle.co.uk/frostysnowbear

Promoting positive mental health
http://www.boltonmentalhealth.org.uk/thinkpositive/

The region appeared to be smiling

http://some-landscapes.blogspot.com/2011/05/region-appeared-to-be-smiling.html

Like drops of rain
a birds sweet trill
softly stirs the morning air

Note by note
this mountain flute
seems to introduce the rest

and as the night drifts away
from all around
an orchestra of sound
fills the sweet morning air

m joy

Ninfa Gardens

http://tracks.vagabondo.net/lazio/giardini-di-ninfa

Cartwheeling Verger

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/royal-wedding-video/8484006/Royal-wedding-video-Verger-cartwheels-down-Westminster-Abbey-aisle.html

Flowers fill Westminster Abbey

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381134/Royal-Wedding-2011-Westminster-Abbey-turned-50k-fairytale-forest.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html

Ornais and Dooneys Gate, Knut the Polar Bear, Paul the Octopus and Keiko the Icelandic Orca

Just a few of the animals, sea creatures in our care, famous and no longer here. Keiko went home and swam 1000 miles to a Norwegian fjord and joined wild whales where he was cared for but was free to come and go of his own choice. http://www.keiko.com/history.html

White clouds and gusty winds blowing the blossom off the trees. Noticed huge seas of primroses on the road banks and in woodier parts- anemonies, celandines and violets. Blossom time in Japan too.. unimaginable what they are going through and how they keep things togethor. Wonder why people in Libyia dont reflect on this and just get a move on and sort things out

Winston Churchill's Studio

March 18th, rainy day at Chartwell we ran across the wet lawns to look at the studio on the left side that looks over the lake behind. On the right is a kitchen garden with a wall that Churchill helped to build as this helped him to relax. Inside the house are the 'Golden Rose Book', his Nobel Prize for Literature in Swedish, his hats and big furry coat he went to go racing and beautiful cut glass from Russia. Winston Churchill said 'A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted" but seems there were many days away

More Winston Churchill quotes http://jpetrie.myweb.uga.edu/bulldog.html

Stardust

look at the stars at night and wonder how far away they are, and try not to think that what i am looking at.. isnt there anymore

remember somewhere in France in a Plantatarium a voice in the darkness saying that every single atom from our bodies has come from these dead stars - that have travelled through billions of years through space and time to create each one of us - recycled stardust

www.thegreatstory.org/Stardustbackground.html

K9

Purring pussycat in Brighton Museum

Some time ago remember this cat sitting in the entrance to the Brighton museum, then it looked very big - now a little smaller - have been wondering where it had gone

Now its purrs is a little softer when you put money inside, before a voice used to say 'Help help i am trapped inside this cat, only your money can help me... purrr purrr'

Discovered it is the museum mascot and is paper mache replica of two similar cats wearing a kimono in the museum by Emile Galle c1880

Aurora

This winter we cannot travel to look for the northern lights but because of the huge power of our Sun am amazed they may be coming to us

Hatchi, A Dogs Tale

watched this and felt very sad.. worse that it is based on a true story

Think the story is meant to be about the loyalty and intelligence of these Japanese dogs but wonder how anyone could leave him outside in all weathers for many years. i would build him a kennel while he was alive rather than a statue when he was gone but perhaps the difficult question is whether freedom of will to choose his path was the right thing or if this was neglect

Brrrns Night

my sister had a dog called Haggis and my son is a quarter Scottish, dont know which part thou and love the music, the neaps, tatties and bagpipes but eating Haggis in a darkened room... just see a sweet little Highland terrier with big eyebrows

Marmalade time

Several lots of oranges but finally have a batch that set althou noticed the peal was a little tougher maybe because boiled little longer...well twice, never cook well when things on mind

Found a Delia Smith recepe which turns whole thing on its head - you boil the whole orange first then leave overnight to complete the sugar part next day... advantage maybe long process broken down so less formidable and muslin bag with pith has chance to cool so not tooo hot for squeezing out the pectin

http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/preserves/how-to-make-marmalade.html

11-1-11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAAlDoAtV7Y&feature=related

Recycling

Life is funny... finally organised myself to dig out old magazines that have been collecting in a dark corner during last year, put them in the recycling box and took them in the wheelbarrow in the dusk up to the road ready for tomorrow and just as walked away feeling good... there was a loud crunch as a car came round the corner and drove over the recycling box

made us laugh what Fluffy must think we are doing in his eyes, unzipping our fur every night and going to bed, then getting up and zipping it on next day

within our home, a house of trus except for me, our cats have territories.

while its been cold, kenny has the bedroom and fluffy snoozes infront of the fire, behind the pc and next to the radiators. kenny has a favorite spot on the sofa for watching birdys out the window or snuggles up beneath a throw beside the sofa and if you dont know hes there, we soon find out as he hisses and nibbles your ankles

outside kenny has a favorite fir tree he sits under in the rain or in the summer, some heather he sits in the middle of waiting for us to get home and all the cats, even Damian, a neighbours black one, love to stretch out togethor at the top of the garage stairs soaking up the sun

Christmas Tea

Few days ago visited Newick Park for Christmas tea.. the snow had almost gone and thou the days are getting longer, it was 4 and almost dusk. inside log fires, comfy sofas, beautiful views and wonderful tea

Outside more than 200 acres of parklands and a walled garden where organic vegetables supply the kitchen, snowdrop woods and an ice house ...activities include tank driving :)

www.newickpark.co.uk