20/02/2016;

Man's best friend...

 ..the dog is my theme for Sepia Saturday this week. I have  many, many pictures with dogs. we always had dogs and they were always part of the family. Don't  be scared I will show only a few. 

I am happy to have this old photo of my grandmother , (mother of my father) and her dog Bläss. Two helpers I don't know their name. My mother mentioned that she was a very kind and loving person.






My dad and his dog Molly.

(I might have shown these photos before. I do so like these two photos.)








Rural bliss; My dear, lovely sister now 82 and I with Lumpi. In the late 1950s. We were wearing black for half a year as it was custom then, because our father had died.




My girls, puppy Dolly and I





Cleaning up the property around 1974.  There was a fire and everybody had to help, all were dirty and happy afterwards.



Jacquei and Boy; it was a good life and childhood for the girls.






They grew up together and were always good friends

Ali alias Ali Ben Ali Ben Jussef but just called Ali and Tomy was a Manx cat, he could not climb a tree because he did not have a tail just a little flap. There was a time when I could not imagine a life without them.  I remember every four legged friend with love and also with some sadness that life is so short.


I left the photos in black and white  and also those in colour as they have a certain charm as it is.

Photos Text Ts

Friday, early morning visitors...

....a flock of yellow tailed cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funereus) flew into the garden, to settle high up into different tall trees, but their eye was on the tall Alexandra Palm.  I was wondering what they had in mind. Knowing cockatoos it must be something mischievous. Not long and they were tearing at the palm leaves, broke them with their strong beaks and threw them down accompanied by raucous laughs and chatter at the poor, little human standing far down gazing up at them. It was hard to take photos as they were constantly moving and hiding behind the big leaves. Displaying a very playful mood, flying to and fro, tearing here and there bits of again and throwing them down at me.

A portrait of this playful, beautiful bird.  Everyday I see them fly past with lots of chatter. Sometimes they settle on the highest Araucaria in my garden, perhaps when the cones are ripe to crack.

(courtesy photo Leila Jeffreys)





One of them at work...

Courtesy photo birdlife org.au



...can you see some? On every leaf is one or two gnawing. My guess is also they eat some starch from the thick leaf rib. The seed is not yet ripe and I have never seen the cockatoos going for the seed berries as other birds come in droves to have a feed.

Araucaria cunninghamii and Alexandra palmtree.



©Photos/Text Ts 

Reclaimed by time...

Abandoned; neglected; decayed; destroyed; 



Libraries  all over the world have been deliberately  destroyed or badly damaged. Many libraries are or were on purpose destroyed as a form of cultural cleansing.

When a country became  or becomes war ravaged, libraries were always the first to be destroyed.One of the greatest libraries the world has known was the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; A fire ravaged the library at the time of Julius Ceasar 2000 years ago. Yet most of the work were spared. One of the greatest cultural vandals was Pope Theophilus in 391 AD, he regarded the books as heretical and had all of the books destroyed. The library was an oasis of culture and wisdom. Alexandria was the center of the world for scientific and intellectual learning.

Abandoned Detroit book depository...

How can  a beautiful home/ library get to this abandoned stage. What happened that people were in such a hurry to leave their home and left it to decay, books furniture etc. . I  would fight tooth and nail to keep a place like this. 

Here, another beautiful home  and books left to decay. Once it must have been a proud home looking at the carved panels and delicate colours. In the panel it looks like carved scrolls of paper and a pair of compasses and some other tool. 






Syria is an unstable place now, plundered of its many treasures. Stolen and sold to the highest bidder, to be hidden in private bank vaults. The Az-Zahiriya Library of Damascus was established in 1277. Around  22000 Books and manuscripts in this library date back to the first millenium.

The ancient world had many and great  libraries, per example in Greece, 

• Kos Library, (Kos) (100 A.D.)

The library was a local public library situated on the enclave Kos known as a crossroads for academia and philosophical faculties. A record of individuals who were supposedly responsible for the establishment of the library are acknowledged in an inscription near the monument.

or...

• The House of Wisdom (Baghdad) (9th-13th centuries)

Text Ts

Monday; Books and more books...BOOK of the DEAD.

If you want Horror ...here it is

When a massive sinkhole opens up and swallows a retired couple from Iowa it seems like a freak occurrence. But it's not the only one. Similar sinkholes are opening all over the world, 

Do not read it if....there is thunder and lightening...or a harvest moon...or you are scared of the dark...or you believe everything! Ts.