Bird of Paradise

I think that every week should start with flowers. They’re cheerful and they have the power to make you stop for a second or two and maybe even take a deep breath before heading into a new week. Our flowers on this Monday come from DavidinOz and they are indeed breathtaking.

Bird of Paradise and Sturt Desert Pea. The pea is the Floral emblem of South Australia. SA exports a lot of flowers, but we cannot sell the desert pea to Japan as the Japanese think the “eye” is watching them.

Thanks David. We all appreciate the blast of colour and cheer.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 5

I’m not quite sure what the term for such a body of water is. It’s not a pond, but it fills quickly with water after rain.

The birds knew exactly that I only had the 250mm lens with me…

And the wide angle lens.

This concludes the morning walk on the 26th, tomorrow we’ll see what we did in the afternoon.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 4

Some flowers, showing off their new “bloom”.

Icicles growing in an old Roman quarry.

Let’s call the “The Lovers”. As you can see, the right side tree didn’t fall onto the other one but started to its left, and then grew all around it.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 3

Yesterday we saw the hair ice, today it’s needle ice. I had never seen that before either, and Mr still didn’t because he stomped past it without noticing. But I made sure he saw it the next day.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I found this beaver chewed tree at the end of the trail today. We looked around a bit, but couldn’t find any other signs of beaver activity. This tree tells me that they’re here, though, and once the ground is frozen and less boggy we’re going to walk closer to the river to see what we can see. I’ve never seen a beaver in the wild so this is all very exciting. What could go wrong?

Caine’s Horses

In Memory of Caine (front of card),

Over the holidays I received a very special package from Giliell. It’s one of Caine’s painted horses, in miniature on a background of silver and set in clear resin. It came with a beautiful handmade card reading In Memory of Caine. The note inside was even more beautiful. Giliell has made many resin horses and, together with the card, has sent them out to as many members of our Affinity community as she could gather addresses for.

Giliell’s gift to the Affinity community

The resin pendant is beautiful and Giliell’s artistry is obvious. The silver shimmers and catches the light and Caine’s horse is spirited and full of running energy The pendant is also meaningful and I cherish it already. I love the thought that these wee horses now reside in places all over the world and that my horse is one link in a chain that stretches far and wide. I love the reminder of Caine’s energy and talent. I love the way such a small work of art makes me feel connected and how it reminds me of my good fortune to be a part of this community.

Resin pendant with one of Caine’s horses, made by Giliell

In memory of Caine (back of card)

I don’t want to catch Giliell unawares, but if you are part of our family and are feeling left out please drop a note to our in-box at [email protected].

Giliell, I’m a bit verklempt and can’t quite find the right words, but thank you for such a thoughtful and meaningful gift. (I did get a few other goodies from Giliell which I’ll share in another post, but this gift needed a post of its own.)

Friday Feathers

Today’s image is from Lofty, and I think it creates a nice counterpoint to my winter weather.

I love both the design of the “paper boat” and the birds sitting on it like they need a boat.

Also shout out to the blurry bird in the background, I hope you caught whatever you were hunting.

Jack’s Walk

Our day started with sunshine peeking through the drapes, but by the time we were up and about the sky was thick with heavy and listless gray clouds. The whole world looks gray and listless in this light and it was tough to get ourselves out the door today. As motivation, we decided to make the short journey to our favourite wee forest hoping we might find a bit of an adventure. Alas, we did not, but we might have heard a few pixies giggling and I’m almost certain I saw a fairy dart into this hollow stump and just disappear. Poof, and he was gone. Not even a whiff of breath left behind. Jack tried to follow, but wisely decided he couldn’t fit and gave up the chase. We made our way around the rest of the trail slowly, and heard nothing more than the creak of the grandmother trees in the wind and the lonely caw of a single crow.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 1

This is going to be picture heavy and more than one post, but they’re all so magical.

We didn’t get snow, but some serious hoarfrost which created the most wonderful things.

First shot is what happens when you forget to switch your camera from “artificial indoor light” to “natural light”, though I do like the blue tint it produced.

Erica blooming in pink and white

Jack’s Walk

I occasionally put a triangle scarf on Jack to accentuate his rugged good looks. Sometimes I even put him in a coat if the weather is seriously cold or heavily raining. What I don’t do, however, is dress him up in outfits or costumes. Jack thinks such things are unnecessary and undignified. His sister, Lucy, used to love being dressed up. She’d pout when it was time to take off her coat or her scarf after an outing and on Hallowe’en she’d prance around in her costume and pose for pictures. Lucy was a comedian and she loved anything that made people oooh, aaah or laugh. Not my Jack, though. Jack is a straight man and he does not like to look silly so when I recently attempted to take a few photos of him in a Santa hat he made his displeasure known. I gave it my best try, but Jack was having none of it. Click-through if you’d like to see a few shots of Jack’s increasing frustration. (Sorry, Bubba. I won’t do it again.)

[Read more…]

Jack’s Walk

Happy, Merry, Joyous Whatever from Jack and I. We both thank you for all the times this year that you stopped by to say hello.

Tree Tuesday

Today, we have something even better than a Christmas tree. Avalus has sent us an absolutely enchanting forest photo for this Christmas Day Tree Tuesday. Thanks so much, Avalus.

Zauberwald means magic forest.

Hiking an a misty morning last fall on a path in the Odenwald suddenly the sun appeared between the trees. I think the slight misfocus adds to the “magic forest” feel I had that moment.

A December Rose for Christmas

Nightjar sent in some wonderful photos of flowers from her December garden, including this rose that I saved for today. Thanks Nightjar, it’s a lovely gift for everyone.

Affinity

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Loneliness, 2

The Dead Hand

My talk on "The Death of Free Will"

Self-Sustainability Tangent – Part 5 - Storage

The Probability Broach: Shame, shame

Estimating true ratings

Hello! I'm not dead!

A reminder there is no arc

Bird of Paradise

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 5

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 4

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 3

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Jack’s Walk

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Caine’s Horses

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Friday Feathers

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Jack’s Walk

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland, part 1

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Jack’s Walk

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Jack’s Walk

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Tree Tuesday

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A December Rose for Christmas

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