February 2023 Favourite Uploads

[gvallee]

2 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

looks idyllic!....from a miserable rainy Uk!

 

 

That was at Christmas. Now the monsoon season has started in earnest and I bet the downpours beat the rain in the UK. The swimming pool is overflowing!

[Martin L]

Great placard held by this lady during the protests in Paris against raising of the retirement age last week

I'll leave you to translate but even if you don't, you probably get the gist  

 

[Russell Watkins]

After a bit of an enforced break away from photography, I've started snapping & uploading again

 

My wife and dog in our village

 

 

 

 

Damaraland in Namibia a few years ago:

 

 

 

and Sossusvlei

 

 

 

 

Kolmanskop ghost town

 

 

 

[Allan Bell]

15 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Nope. Our particular visa would not allow it. Plus there are other complications I won't bore you with.

 

 

😔   Sorry.

 

Allan

 

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Russell Watkins said:

After a bit of an enforced break away from photography, I've started snapping & uploading again

 

My wife and dog in our village

 

 

 

 

Damaraland in Namibia a few years ago:

 

 

 

and Sossusvlei

 

 

 

 

Kolmanskop ghost town

 

 

 

 

You took me back to Namibia. I don't think I could manage that walk into Dead Vlei now. It seemed every time we finally reached the top of a sand dune we were presented with another one. I have such memories of those trips.

 

Paulette

[Russell Watkins]

11 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

You took me back to Namibia. I don't think I could manage that walk into Dead Vlei now. It seemed every time we finally reached the top of a sand dune we were presented with another one. I have such memories of those trips.

 

Paulette

 

It's incredible. Should be on everyone's bucket list. We did Dead Vlei at sunrise and then the rest of Sossusvlei at sunset.

[Steve Hyde]

A recent weekend away in Dartmouth, Devon ended in a walk on Dartmoor before heading home. The route took us past this Cairn, a Bronze Age burial chamber

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Steve Hyde

[John Mitchell]

February is a gloomy month in Vancouver. However, when the sun does make an appearance, there can be some really dramatic lighting around sunset.

 

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, John Mitchell said:

February is a gloomy month in Vancouver. However, when the sun does make an appearance, there can be some really dramatic lighting around sunset.

 

 

Great cityscape John!

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, gvallee said:

 

Great cityscape John!

 

Thanks. Just happened to be at the right place as the sun was sinking into the sea. It's a city I barely recognize now. Who the heck lives on all those shiny towers? 🤔

[gvallee]

23 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Thanks. Just happened to be at the right place as the sun was sinking into the sea. It's a city I barely recognize now. Who the heck lives on all those shiny towers? 🤔

 

Hubby's two sisters live in Vancouver. Not in the towers I presume.

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Hubby's two sisters live in Vancouver. Not in the towers I presume.

 

If they've been here a long time, then probably not. Vancouver is built on a relatively small patch of land hemmed in by mountains to the north, so the only direction to grow is up. Also, the city is bent on increasing density to the max in order to provide more badly needed housing.  A lot of younger people seem to enjoy living in the clouds. However, I prefer being closer to Mother Earth. That said, those towers can look quite pretty in the right light.

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, John Mitchell said:

 

If they've been here a long time, then probably not. Vancouver is built on a relatively small patch of land hemmed in by mountains to the north, so the only direction to grow is up. Also, the city is bent on increasing density to the max in order to provide more badly needed housing.  A lot of younger people seem to enjoy living in the clouds. However, I prefer being closer to Mother Earth. That said, those towers can look quite pretty in the right light.

 

They've been there a lifetime but I wouldn't know where exactly, we've never visited. I only know they have flats. The hubby of one of them was the pilot of the garbage barge.

[Betty LaRue]

A support dog.

 

Fancy false nails in Ulta

 

A couple of years old image I recently discovered on my Sony 100m3. Can’t believe I hadn’t used it for so long. My daughter standing in line to pay in Penny’s store. (I’d already paid for my loot)

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[Ed Rooney]

 

 

On the current World War 1 theme.

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

On the current World War 1 theme.

 

Love it.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

 

 

World War One was a terrible and fearful thing, Paulette. But all wars are. Last night I watched All Quite on the Western Front. I read the novel long ago and saw the first film. This is not entertainment. It cuts into the soul. 

[Michael Ventura]

32 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

World War One was a terrible and fearful thing, Paulette. But all wars are. Last night I watched All Quite on the Western Front. I read the novel long ago and saw the first film. This is not entertainment. It cuts into the soul. 

 

Hey Edo, I watched the film last night too!  I watched with my daughter...being a hospital nurse, even she had a hard time with some of the gruesome scenes.  I agree, not entertainment but good to watch.  It does make you think about all the young lives being wasted over in Ukraine and just how awful war is.  The cinematography was brilliant and I could see it picking up an Oscar for that...I think it is nominated for a bunch of Academy Awards.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Sadly, I have to agree with every point you made, Michael. It a superior film and should clean up at the Oscars. I'm going to get Apple TV tomorrow and watch that Irish film. 

[cbimages]

Got time to do a small number of my waiting bugs.

Orange Tortoise beetle

 

Male Spiny Leaf Insect



Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly caterpilla. When disturbed, the caterpillars are inclined to rear up at the front, and briefly evert a red forked osmeterium from behind the head. I didn;t know about until it happened!

[Michael Ventura]

18 minutes ago, cbimages said:

Got time to do a small number of my waiting bugs.

Orange Tortoise beetle

 

Male Spiny Leaf Insect



Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly caterpilla. When disturbed, the caterpillars are inclined to rear up at the front, and briefly evert a red forked osmeterium from behind the head. I didn;t know about until it happened!

 

Absolutely incredible critters!

[gvallee]

32 minutes ago, cbimages said:

Got time to do a small number of my waiting bugs.

Orange Tortoise beetle

 

Male Spiny Leaf Insect



Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly caterpilla. When disturbed, the caterpillars are inclined to rear up at the front, and briefly evert a red forked osmeterium from behind the head. I didn;t know about until it happened!

 

Fascinating. Great shots, as always Carol.

I haven't done any macro for some time. Yesterday I spotted a beautiful golden-orb spider in the garden but it was not easily accessible. I asked hubby to put his hand next to it to give a sense of its enormous size but it ran away on top of its web. Way too high to photograph properly. 

[cbimages]

3 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Fascinating. Great shots, as always Carol.

I haven't done any macro for some time. Yesterday I spotted a beautiful golden-orb spider in the garden but it was not easily accessible. I asked hubby to put his hand next to it to give a sense of its enormous size but it ran away on top of its web. Way too high to photograph properly. 

Last week we went out bugging for a while. I broke my 4th toe a couple of weeks ago and also just had cortisone into my hip bursa (and both shoulders). The bone pain from my cancers meds is pretty bad too. I'm having to be careful about walking. So.....I am wandering slowly over uneven ground, head down in case of holes, ruts, sticks etc and BAM.......walked into a orb weavers web built between two trees. I felt so bad, she would have spent days building it. Within 5 minutes, I had wandered into 2 more webs and had an almost golden sheen to my very grey hair. It was fun to comb out when we got back home. I love the spiders, just don't want them getting inside my clothes, so had to stand an get hubby to inspect me each time.

[gvallee]

4 minutes ago, cbimages said:

Last week we went out bugging for a while. I broke my 4th toe a couple of weeks ago and also just had cortisone into my hip bursa (and both shoulders). The bone pain from my cancers meds is pretty bad too. I'm having to be careful about walking. So.....I am wandering slowly over uneven ground, head down in case of holes, ruts, sticks etc and BAM.......walked into a orb weavers web built between two trees. I felt so bad, she would have spent days building it. Within 5 minutes, I had wandered into 2 more webs and had an almost golden sheen to my very grey hair. It was fun to comb out when we got back home. I love the spiders, just don't want them getting inside my clothes, so had to stand an get hubby to inspect me each time.

 

Oh my! Carol, you must be in excruciating pain. I had hip bursa once, I was screaming, holding on to the wall. The doctor gave me an injection at the inflamed spot and joked that he was running away before I insulted him. And that was without all the other pains you are suffering from! 

They are sticky those webs aren't they? I guess you know they are so strong that spider silk is used in surgery. Nature is amazing.

[cbimages]

3 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Oh my! Carol, you must be in excruciating pain. I had hip bursa once, I was screaming, holding on to the wall. The doctor gave me an injection at the inflamed spot and joked that he was running away before I insulted him. And that was without all the other pains you are suffering from! 

They are sticky those webs aren't they? I guess you know they are so strong that spider silk is used in surgery. Nature is amazing.

It can a bit much sometimes, but I am still here, and still managing on over the counter meds - panadol. Still doing what I can. Seems I can tolerate pain pretty well. Right shoulder done for. 5 cancer surgeries, no lymph nodes underarm and  many gone under collarbone too, lots of muscle gone (boobs long gone of course). You can fit a fist into the hole in my chest, it's not pretty. Also a full course of "normal" breast cancer radiation followed by another course of "intense" radiation therapy to try to kill off the cancer that had broken through my chest and back. The scarring is awful, bigger than a dinner plate. It hurts. And recently left shoulder given up. I'm left handed, Recent x-ray & ultrasound show severe degenerative changes, osteoarthritis, tendonitis and bursitis. I broke a rib last year, oncologist told me it showed on a scan, asked was I sore. I said yes, hard to hang clothes on the line and make the bed, figured something not right.

 

We're off to Bali end of next week for 2 months diving. May be the last trip though, cancer meds failing. Told to go "now while you can". I told oncologist to "find something else to keep me going". I will not give up. Hubby turns 83 in August, he's overweight and has a metal hip and knee. He still dives. He will not give up either.

Edited February 22, 2023 by cbimages