Tuesday; the little prince;

Rose, you are the most beautiful. You are not  empty, as the little Prince said, your scent is alluring, warm and lingering, always more then you  want to give.  You welcome sunshine and rain  on your dark red silk,  raindrops like tears attracting all the smiles you can get. Are you boasting or complaining, no I think the little Prince is sometimes a little superficial in his judgement, because he thinks he owns you. No one owns You,  You  are so quiet, your beauty taken as it  fades.

©Photo/Changed Text/ Ts Titania Everyday

Photo/Rose my garden.

The Little Prince

Book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Little Prince, first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat, writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 

Monday, bookshelf;

The Bookman's Tale, a book to keep, to read again.

The Bookman's Tale: A Novel of Obsession: Charlie Lovett ...

Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman’s Tale is a former bookseller’s sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature’s most tantalising mysteries. 

I enjoyed  to read this book.

Sunday; trust;

If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost.

Barack Obama

Very true, Mister Obama, is this a satire, or are you the best actor in the white house? Ts

The only white man you can trust is a dead white man.

Robert Mugabe

Bad, Mister Robert Mugabe, you must talk from experience, but then you are a black man and your history tells, you can't be trusted either.  That makes two! Ts

I trust no one, not even myself.

Joseph Stalin

Bad, Mister Joseph Stalin, glad you have expired, you were one of the worst not to be trusted.

Unfortunately, I must say, there are still plenty of people like you around, as bad as you were, but with time they will expire too and will be history like you. Not remembered with gratitude but with disgust. Ts 

Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow.

Horace

Horace, you were the leading Roman lyric poet during Augustu’s time.  You were born 65 BC

an awful long time ago. You know the world has changed a lot but not the people, they are still the same.

So,  I accept, carpe diem and do not trust tomorrow, you knew exactly why you said it. Ts

We are all selfish and I no more trust myself than others with a good motive.

Lord Byron

Lord Byron,  you were a romantic, a fine poet. You  travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere you as a national hero. You died young at age 36.

You were the  most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics,  actually 

you were selfish and a spoilt brat, no more to say. Ts

©Photo/Text/ Ts/Titania Everyday

Sepia Saturday 194, flags;

The Australian Aboriginal Flag is a flag that represents Indigenous Australians. 

It is one of the official "Flags of Australia", and holds special legal and political status, but it is not the "Australian National Flag". It was designed in 1971 by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, who is descended from the Luritja people of Central Australia and holds intellectual property rights in the flag's design. The flag was originally designed for the land rights movement, and it became a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia.

The symbolic meaning of the flag colours

Black: Represents the Aboriginal people of Australia

Red: Represents the red earth, the red ochre and a spiritual relation to the land

Yellow: Represents the Sun, the giver of life and protector

The flag was first flown on National Aborigines' Day in Victoria Square in Adelaide on 12 July .

The decision in 1995 by Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags should be given the status of national flags was opposed by the Liberal Opposition at the time, Opposition Leader John Howard stating that "any attempt to give the flags official status under the Flags Act would rightly be seen by many in the community not as an act of reconciliation but as a divisive gesture".

Nonetheless, since Howard became Prime Minister in 1996 and under subsequent Labor governments, these flags have remained national flags.

The National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at Stadium Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics.

 SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at Olympic venues. The flag was flown over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the march for reconciliation of 2000, and many other events.

On the 30th anniversary of the flag in 2001, thousands of people were involved in a ceremony where the flag was carried from the Parliament of South Australia to Victoria Square. 

Since 8 July 2002, after recommendations of the Council's Reconciliation Committee, the Aboriginal Flag has been permanently flown in Victoria Square and the front of the Town Hall.

 I would like to see this flag flying for all Australians.

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Courtesy wikipedia

Friday; this is spring;

Dendrobium Orchid

Wisteria

Heartsease (Viola tricolor) springs up everywhere from seed.

© Photos Ts My Garden.

Tuesday; found;

Walking down to the mailbox I found this tiny odd coloured Nasturtium bloom,  smaller than the usual flowers of the Nasturtium plant. Intriguingly it was flowering and growing  lonesome in  a tangle of  rough
grass.  A small freak of nature's bounty, quite cute its tiny different coloured petals.

©Photo/Text Ts

Sunday; beautiful weeds;

Do not tell me this is not absolutely beautiful!

A weed is a plant a flower... seed

In my wild garden Ageratum makes a blue carpet, food for many insects.

I can not say they are unloved.

I do not mind weeding; on the knees one gets very close to the soil. It feels a bit like being part of it.

A tiny bug with big feelers scuttles quickly out of the way, I hear myself talking to it;  I wonder what Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis would be...seriously!

©Photos my garden/Text Ts

Sepia Saturday 192; Jazz;

The prompt his week is Jazz; my all time favourite, Louis Armstrong. He is unforgettable!

La vie en rose;

Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Born: August 4, 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Died: July 6, 1971, Corona, New York City, New York, United States

I don't have to add more!Wikipedia has it all 

Here

...and please visit Sepia Saturday 

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Monday; amazing;

Abandoned House in the Woods Taken Over by Wild Animals

Finnish photographer Kai Fagerström presents unique photo series, where he captures wild animals making themselves comfortable in abandoned houses in the woods of Finland. Titled The House in the Woods, the photo series is set in cottages near Kai’s summer house, which were abandoned by their tenants after the owner of the place died in a fire. Award-winning photographer noticed how the place was slowly being reclaimed by the nature, and what started as a few snapshots, ended up being a book, published in Finnish, German, and English.

Just delightful!

http://www.boredpanda.com/abandoned-house-animals-kai-fagerstrom/

Thursday; glam for the kitchen;

I had this antique chandelier  for more then 50 years. It has been packed up in a box for many years. The electrical cables  had all deteriorated and had to be replaced. I cleaned all the crystal prisms, which have a slight lavender tinge. It is quite beautiful in its simplicity. Along the cooking area I have strong led lights on the ceiling.

My kitchen is very simple, no gleaming cupboards and the latest self opening drawers and shelves! I like my kitchen it is compact, contains everything I need and easy to keep clean. I like it a lot because I love...

cooking...using vegetables in brilliant colours from my garden, picking fresh herbs  and enjoying for a moment  the sight and scents of the herb garden.

I opted for open shelves, as I like the look of it. In my mothers kitchen was a big open shelf, which contained her crockery and always a bunch of flowers.

Memories of the farm animals;

In my view the kitchen is the most important place in the home. Good food is essential  in our life. In the home kitchen, culinary cooking traditions continue,  health and contentment of the family has its roots.

©Photos/Text Ts

Monday; vintage;

The correct usage of the word vintage must be used with a year.

So in common use, the undated term describes something that is old enough to be in fashion again.

These hand embroidered small towels are vintage between 1940 and 1950.

They are all in very good  condition. On a couple are tiny blemishes from age. To me this does not matter it adds to their charm.

 I love the idea that someone has taken the time to produce small every day items of beauty. I use them as placemats, randomly never the same colours together. They add old world chic to a table setting.

Beautifully hand embroidered, appliqué technic and crochet border.

White and yellow embroidered and crochet.

A French armoire with home linens arranged in a traditional manner, 

with embroidered dust covers over the shelves.

The first known household linens were made from thin yarn spun from flax fibres to make linen cloth. 

Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Phoenicia all cultivated flax crops. The earliest surviving fragments of linen cloth have been found in Egyptian tombs and date to 4000 BCE. Flax fibres have been found in cloth fragments in Europe that date to the Neolithic prehistoric age.

Cotton is another popular fiber for making  household linens. Its use in cloth-making  dates back to prehistoric times, in India, China, Peru and Egypt.

 India was  well known for high quality cotton cloth as early as 1500 BC. Linen was an especially popular cloth during the Middle Ages in Europe, and the tradition of calling household fabric goods "linens" dates from this period.

 According to Medieval tradition, which survived up until the modern era, a bride would often be given a gift of linens made by the women in her family as a wedding present, to help her set up her new married home.

 In France this was called a trousseau, and was often presented to the bride in a wooden hope chest.

The Industrial Revolution brought changes to cloth manufacturing. The rise of European colonialism at the same time helped support the rapid growth of cloth production by creating many cheap sources of raw materials. 

British cloth manufacturers would import raw cotton from America and the British West Indies to Ireland, where it would be spun into yarn. The yarn would be imported into England, where mechanized factories employed thousands of workers, who would weave cloth on industrial looms. In 1781, a cloth producer from Manchester testified about his business to a committee of the House of Commons in the British Parliament. He stated that he employed 6000 workers, who would print and stamp 60,000 yards of cotton and linen fabric a year. Other European countries manufactured and traded their own types of household linens as well, and mass manufacturing techniques and trade competition gradually made affordable household linens common.

©Photos/Text Ts

Some excerpts courtesy Wikipedia

Thursday; Bookshelf;

A beautifully written book, highly recommended for people with an interest in plants and history. These sort of books are my favourites and a must have in my library.

The Knot by Jane Borodale;

 The story about a remarkable man, Henry Lyte; 

This is a story about dreams, about the fragility of human achievements and the restorative and destructive powers of nature.

Anno 1565. Across Europe.a new era of natural science is dawning. In a remote corner of Somerset, a pioneer is working to change the course of English Botany. Passionate, private, meticulous, Henry Lyte has begun to neglect his other responsibilities in the pursuit of knowledge. This has happened before with disastrous results.

The good and vertuous Physition, whose purpose is rather the health of many, than the wealthe of himselfe, will not, I hope mislike this my enterprise, which to this purpose specially tendeth, that even the meanest of my countrymen (whose skill is not so profound, that they can fetch this knowledge out of strange tongues, nor their abilitie so wealthy, as to entrtaine a learned Physition) may yet in time of their necessitie have some helps in their owne, or their neighbors fields and gardens at home.

Henry Lyte, a Niewe Herball 1578

Tuesday; complete or finished;

No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between these two words: complete and finished.

In a recently linguistic competition held in London, England, and attended by the best in the world, Samsundar Balgobin, a Guyanese man from Bachelors Adventure, was the clear winner with a standing ovation which lasted over 5 minutes.

The final question was: How do you explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy  to understand.  

 Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED.

Here is his astute answer .... when you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE. When you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED.   And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!

Monday; phoshene;

Phosphene

The lights you see when you close your eyes and rub them;

 Physiology .

a luminous image produced by mechanical stimulation of the retina, as by pressure applied to the eyeball by the finger when the lid is closed.

---

Origin:
1870–75;  < French phosphène,  irregular < Greek phôs  light (contraction of pháos ) + phaínein  to show, shine

A phosphene is a phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye. 

Phosphenes are flashes of light, often associated with optic neuritis, induced by movement or sound.

Courtesy Wikipedia

Wednesday; silk & science;

 GENETICALLY MODIFIED SILK IS STRONGER THAN STEEL

At the University of Wyoming, scientists modified a group of silkworms to produce silk that is, weight for weight, stronger than steel. Different groups hope to benefit from the super-strength silk, including stronger sutures for the medical community, a biodegradable alternative to plastics,

 bbc.co.uk


Photo Courtesy of Indigo Moon Yarns.

Tuesday; musica; GIANGOL - La Lüna

Arrivederci Ticino!

Giangol (Switzerland)

Giangol,  from an antique game that children played in our valleys in times gone by ( dialectal name from Val Cavargna) to a new group whose intent is to have fun and to entertain. Made up of musicians who for some time have shaken the Ticino and international folk scene presenting popular songs from Tessin, Lombardy, Piedmont, and the Venetian region in a modern and pleasurable way, without compromising the musical quality and the personalisation of their tracks.

With Davide Zoppellari ( vocals, guitar), Leo Canepa (vocals, accordion), Katia Albertoni (vocals, percussions), Stefano Fedele (violin, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy), Patrick Botticchio (djembe, cajon).??

Sunday; au·toch·tho·nous;

< Greek autóchthon  of the land itself,   the earth, land,

Ecology, one of the indigenous animals or plants of a region.

Banksia integrifolia; or simply coast Banksia;

Notice the white underside of the leaves.

© Ts Photos my garden.

Banksia integrifolia, commonly known as Coast Banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed Banksia species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a broad range of habitats, from coastal dunes to mountains. It is highly variable in form, but is most often encountered as a tree up to 25 metres. Leaves have dark green upper surfaces and white undersides.

It is one of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carolus Linnaeus the Younger's original description of the genus. 

A hardy and versatile garden plant, B. integrifolia is widely planted in Australian gardens. It is a popular choice for parks and streetscapes, and has been used for bush revegetation and stabilisation of dunes. Its hardiness has prompted research into its suitability for use as a rootstock in the cut flower trade.

It was known to Indigenous Australians,  the Gunai people of Gippsland called it Birrna.

Because of its wide range it would have a name in a number of other indigenous languages, but these are now lost. In 2001, a search of historical archives for recorded indigenous names of Victorian flora and fauna failed to find a single name for the species.

Tuesday; rescue;

Kookaburra, still a youngster;

Saturday morning I went to the back garden, Billy as always at my side. I was looking around and just noticed a flurry of feathers, in haste I said:" Billy stop", but it was not Billy, because he never touches any wildlife in the garden.The Kookaburra above was wedged between a fork of three small branches and he could not move forwards or back. His beak was wide open, quite exhausted from trying to get free. I think when Billy past it, it flapped its wing, one was caught as well. Luckily I could prise the branches apart and with some luck it came free. He was fairly numb from his ordeal. I checked  that nothing was broken and let him recover. After a couple of hours he was sitting on a nearby tree. Perhaps he was chased or chased something, and was caught in this unfortunate situation.

This time all is well for this youngster.

My grand children liked to sing this song;

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,

Merry merry king of the bush is he.

Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,

Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,

Eating all the gum drops he can see.

Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra

Save some there for me!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,

Counting all the monkeys he can see.

Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra

That's not a monkey, that's me!

©Ts Photo/Text

Sepia Saturday 187; old books;

Before the PC arrived,

there were books nothing but books;

Before PC's there were just books to learn from, like these old, leather bound books for electrical Engineers.

I have learned to read at an early age  and since then I have been fascinated by books. Both these old books have shaped my life. They were already old when they found their way into my bookshelf.
The one on the left is bound into fine, soft suede, which shows now  bad signs of old age. It is an encyclopaedia which was full of knowledge for a hungry child. The other a very old book about biology, botany which opened up my love and interest in plants at an early age.

Encyclopaedia;

Botany;

...for more old books or such...

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