Sepia Saturday 149;

Aptly described as ‘gifts from the earth’, thermal springs occur in many parts of New Zealand. Most are scattered throughout the Taupo Volcanic Zone in the central North Island, but some are in areas of extinct volcanic activity such as Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula and the Bay of Plenty. Others lie in non-volcanic areas, along faultlines, particularly in Westland and North Canterbury. They are formed when rainwater seeps down through rock towards the heat source deep beneath the surface and then rises again. The hot water dissolves minerals in the rock, and the mineral content as well as the temperature of hot springs varies according to locality.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/thermal-pools-and-spas

 Mud is bubbling;

Water Steaming;

Hot sulfurous lake;

©Photos/ Ts Rotorua, New Zealand;

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Thursday; Sunrise in the valley;

Morning sings in glowing pink;

Photo/Text Ts

Links

 Lavender and Vanilla;

Poetic Takeaway's; a trivial world of words;

Tuesday; nibble; Jaboticaba fruit.

  JABOTICABA

(Myrciaria cauliflora)

The Jaboticaba is  a tree native to Brazil. Fruits are formed directly on the stem and branches. The fruit has a fairly thick purplish black skin, with a sweet white flesh inside. It  is best eaten  fresh or can be used to make jellies and drinks.

A multi-branched evergreen tree, the jaboticaba  is a decorative although slow growing tree. Up to four times a year, the small yellow-white colored flowers followed by the fruit, appear directly from the trunks, limbs and large branches of the tree.  Jaboticabas might begin to bear fruit anytime from 4 to 10 years old

Jaboticaba trees are mostly raised by seed. The seeds are polyembryonic each seed giving rise to 3-4 seedlings.

For more info click

http://www.fruitsinfo.com/Jabotacaba-Exotic-fruits.php

Pop the fruit into your mouth, squeeze out the fruit pulp and discard the skin;

©Photos/Text Ts.

Sepia Saturday 148; Native Mounted Police;

Native Police Rockhampton, Queensland, 1864

The Native Police Forces were established in Port Phillip in 1842 in New South Wales and 1859 in Queensland. The force was built up of young Aboriginal men who were sent to kill Aboriginal people of different language groups. This was a vital contribution to the defeat of the Aboriginal resistance.

Australian native police like units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command usually of a single white officer, existed in several Australian colonies during the nineteenth century. Yet there were really only two forces formerly budgeted, organized and deployed at the frontier by the government for long term use. The first was the Native Police Corps established in 1837 in the Port Phillip District of the then Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria) and the second was deployed in the northern districts of New South Wales, the later colony of Queensland in 1848. However, the latter force, known predominantly simply as the "Native Police Force" (sometimes called the "Native Mounted Police Force") of Queensland, was by far the largest, most notorious and longest lasting of them all. It existed from 1848 to at least 1897.  Other native police like systems were also occasionally used both in New South Wales and in the colonies of South Australia, Western Australia and in Northern Territory (then part of the colony of South Australia), but with the exception (it seems) of a small unit briefly existing in South Australia, they were informally organized often private initiatives, not formerly established and deployed as a government financed frontier force.

More to read  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_native_police

Please go and look what others are up to...here Sepia Saturday 148;

Wednesday; Good Luck;

Ladybird a symbol of good luck;

Bona Fortuna;

Luck is merely a name we give to events after they occur which we find to be fortuitous and perhaps improbable.

Cultural views of luck vary from perceiving luck as a matter of random chance to attributing to luck explanations of faith or superstition.

The Romans believed in the embodiment of luck as the goddess Fortuna. 

Lucky symbols are popular worldwide.

The English noun luck appears comparatively late, during the 1480s, as a loan from Low German,  luk, a short form middle High German gelücke.

Luck is a way of understanding a personal chance event. 

Luck can be good or bad

Luck can be accident or chance

Examples of luck:

Break a leg

You correctly guess an answer in a quiz which you did not know.

Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate or luck, was popular as an allegory in medieval times, and even though it was not strictly reconcilable with Christian theology, it became popular in learned circles of the High Middle Ages to portray her as a servant of God in distributing success or failure in a characteristically "fickle" or unpredictable way, thus introducing the notion of chance.

Rationalists  feel the belief in luck is a result of poor reasoning or wishful thinking. To a rationalist, a believer in luck who asserts that something has influenced his or her luck commits the "post hoc ergo propter hoc" logical fallacy: that because two events are connected sequentially, they are connected causally as well. 

A definition of good destiny is: enjoying good health, having the physical and mental capabilities of achieving set goals in life, having good appearance, has happiness in mind and is not prone to accidents. 

There is also a series of spiritual, or supernatural beliefs regarding fortune. These beliefs vary widely from one to another, but most agree that luck can be influenced through spiritual means by performing certain rituals or by avoiding certain circumstances.

Luck is a form of superstition which is interpreted differently by different individuals. Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity, which he described as "a meaningful coincidence".

Christianity, in its early development, accommodated many traditional practices which at different times, accepted omens and practiced forms of ritual sacrifice in order to divine the will of their supreme being or to influence divine favoritism. The concepts of "Divine Grace" or "Blessing" as they are described by believers closely resemble what is referred to as "luck" by others.

Mesoamerican religions, such as the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas, had particularly strong beliefs regarding the relationship between rituals and the gods.

In these cultures, human sacrifice,  as well as self sacrifice by means of bloodletting, could possibly be seen as a way to propitiate the gods and 

earn favor for the city offering the sacrifice. 

Many traditional African practices, such as voodoo and hoodoo, have a strong belief in superstition. Some of these religions include a belief that third parties can influence an individual's luck. Shamans and witches are both respected and feared, based on their ability to cause good or bad fortune for those in villages near them.

Luck is an important factor in many aspects of society.

Games

A game may depend on luck rather than skill or effort. 

Many countries have a national lottery. Individual views of the chance of winning, and what it might mean to win, are largely expressed by statements about luck. For example, the winner was "just lucky" meaning they contributed no skill or effort.

"Leaving it to chance" is a way of resolving issues. For example, flipping a coin at the start of a sporting event may determine who goes first.

Numerology

Most cultures consider some numbers to be lucky or unlucky. This is found to be particularly strong in Asian cultures, where the obtaining of "lucky" telephone numbers, automobile license plate numbers, and household addresses are actively sought, sometimes at great monetary expense. Numerology, as it relates to luck, is closer to an art than to a science.

Buddhism

Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, taught his followers not to believe in luck. The view which was taught by Gautama Buddha states that all things which happen must have a cause, either material or spiritual, and do not occur due to luck, chance or fate. The idea of moral causality, karma  is central in Buddhism. 

Ex mea sententia; Luck is mere Luck!

©Photo/Text Ts

Tuesday; thoughts...

Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, As You Like It

©Photo Ts

Monday; Ladybirds; are garden buddies;

Everyday when I get the lettuce from the garden I find these tiny visitors in the leaves.

Gently they are transported back into the garden. 

Ladybirds  are generally loved and cherished by many. Also called ladybird beetles, ladybeetles and ladybugs. They are  a spot of bright, cheerful colour amongst the leaves of plants in the garden. 

They are very welcome in the garden, as they will eat up all your aphids, adults consume 2,500 aphids during their lifetime,  scale insects, mites and other enemies of your plants. Ladybirds also eat flower nectar, honeydew from aphids, or plant material including fungus.

©Photos/ my garden Ts

To attract ladybirds to your garden you need to provide them with food. Avoid using chemicals to control garden insects as ladybirds will arrive to do it for you.

Australia is home to over 500 species of ladybirds. The familiar ones are bright orange or yellow with patterned shells but there are also many other varieties that are black or brown and hairy! Ladybirds are most active in warm weather, and adults can fly long distances to find food or a mate. Ladybird copulation typically lasts for 15-60 minutes but can extend for a few hours or even days.

Ladybirds start life as an egg, go through three larval stages, turn into a pupa and finally become an adult. Some species may have two, three or more generations per year. Ladybird larvae look very different to adults and are confused with other bugs or even scale. Leave little unknown bugs in the garden as they could grow up to be gorgeous ladybirds.

To escape from predators such as birds or even curious humans, ladybirds slide to the edge of the leaf and drop to the ground. If you put your hand under the leaf as you approach, the ladybird could land into your hand. It will hide its legs and antenna under its body, but once it feels safe it will walk around on your hand or fly away.

Many different varieties of Australian ladybirds - they come in lots of different colours and pattern variations. Top to bottom, left to right: Traverse Ladybird, Southern Ladybird, Traverse Ladybird, Common Spotted Ladybird, Tortoise-shelled Ladybird, Fungus Eating Ladybird. Photos, left to right, top row: Arthur Chapman, Donald Hobern, Bill and Mark Bell. Bottom row: All John Tann.

TIP

Lure ladybirds to your garden by making a concoction of honey, water and brewers yeast. Spread it in the garden and ladybirds will come to visit.

The scientific family name for ladybirds is Coccinellidae - which is probably derived from the diminutive of the Latinized Greek word 'Kokkos', meaning a seed or berry (like their rounded shape!). Or it could also come from the Latin Coccinus, meaning scarlet colour.

Link  http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au