R's rue

 Some thoughts New Yorkers are friendly. Very helpful and kind.  Being a slow walker didn’t bother them.  The city is beautiful in unexpected ways Joy can be found in simplicity  I savored my time like a fine wine Disability is a pain sometimes, but I found ordinary strangers who lavished extraordinary kindness upon me for which I’m grateful.  from R's rue https://ift.tt/njJVG5a

  This is a "pot luck" quiz for once. No theme. Just ten typical general knowledge questions. I am not even providing multiple choice answers this time. You are on your own mate! Even so, I wish you good luck! Answers will be provided in the comments section but please - no peeping until you have finished! ⦿ 1) Name one of the two original "seven wonders of the world" that was in Egypt. 2) What is the capital of Kenya? 3) Who was the second president of the United States of America? 4) Who wrote "The Handmaid's Tale"? 5) A baby cat is a kitten but what is a baby  swan called? 6) What is the main unit of currency in Sweden? 7) In terms of land area what is the biggest Australian state? 8) Which British group had hits with "Get It On", "Metal Guru" and "I Love to Boogie"? 9) Who played Odysseus in this year's blockbuster film version of "The Odyssey"? 10) What is 0℃ on the Fahrenheit scale? How did you do? fr...

 Where in the world was I this last week. The answer DC and NYC. It was a time of challenge and refreshment. A time I won’t soon forget. Maybe I will share some photos. In the meantime, I’m glad to be back where I can watch the green grass grow.  from R's rue https://ift.tt/6xlpRGa

As a roving amateur photographer, it's very tricky to get portraits of strangers. Whenever I do happen to manage it, I am most grateful. Mostly I have to stick to scenery and the physical environment around me but - if the truth be known - I would love to have gathered hundreds more pictures of people. And I am talking about willing strangers - not secretly snapped pictures of unaware subjects. I know I am not alone in being fascinated by faces - reading what's behind the eyes, trying to see into someone else's otherness. Throughout my life, I have doodled and my doodles are almost exclusively of faces. Yes, I have created thousands of faces with pens and pencils but to acquire photos of faces sometimes seems taboo. Anyway, today Phoebe was keen for me to show her a pictures of me stroking a tiger. This happened in northern Thailand in April 2011 but I don't think Phoebe believed me. With a little scrolling through my archives I was able to locate the picture quite easi...

 I’m back after a girls’trip. Glad to be back with you all. Love you all.  from R's rue https://ift.tt/EkiXYyM

In the summer of 2011, a year after my brother Paul had died, I went back to Ireland to see the family over there. I stayed in County Clare for a few  days before heading down to Cork, staying over night in a B&B in Tipperary. On the way down south, I stopped to take perhaps fifty pictures in geographical squares that had not been bagged either by me or any other Geograph contributor. One stop I made was in the main square  of Mitchelstown - a small town in  northern County Cork. It was a case of stopping, taking a couple of pictures and jumping back in the hire car.  I didn't even know who the statuesque fellow was on the plinth. It turns out that he was John Mandeville (1849-1888). In 1887, he led an uprising of tenant farmers in the town - protesting about increased rents and evictions. Three men were killed by police that day in what is sometimes known as "The Mitcheltown Massacre". For his part in the unrest, John Mandeville was arrested, tried and imprisone...