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Todd

صورة
  A week ago, I wandered through the charming little Lincolnshire village of Little Ponton. In such places, the most interesting and certainly the most historical building is likely to be the parish church. No wonder then that in my countless country rambles I have taken very many pictures of country churches. The church in Little Ponton is dedicated St Guthlac of Crowland who was a hermit and spiritual example to others in the early eighth century. Never before had I visited a church dedicated to Guthlac and in fact I have just learnt that there are only nine parish churches in England that bear his name. None are in Yorkshire or Derbyshire.  The photograph directly above was taken last week - with the gates of the churchyard invitingly open. I popped the picture into Microsoft Image Creator - a popular AI facility and requested a version in "oil paint" and the picture that emerged is the one shown at the top of this blogpost. As I sat on the only churchyard bench there was,...

Lord

 Lord I need You More than I can say Adequately These days The Presence The Peace I need it all Every day All day from R's rue https://ift.tt/bKGR2rM

Crassness

صورة
Woke, liberal leftie, communist, intelligent, anti-racist, trans-loving, book reading people like me have been appalled by the current President of The United States of America since he first stepped across the threshold of The White House on January 17th 2017. When you think he simply cannot go any lower, he goes lower. His crassness is now legendary and many of his diehard supporters accept it with knowing smiles. Last week, the BBC's North America correspondent interviewed typical Republican supporters in Iowa. One of them, the wife of a farmer, said "We knew he was no choirboy!" - as if to say, we can forgive him his human failings and moral stumbles as long as he is getting on with the job of being president. I think the entire connected world knows about the tragedy that occurred in The Yorkshire Wildlife Park on October 10th. A young man with a long history of mental illness scaled two fences to enter the tigers' compound. And there, very sadly, he died. By th...

Thoughts

 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

Quiztime

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  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...

Hi

 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

Portraits

صورة
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...