ABC Wednesday - O

O
is for

OWL

My husband gave me this lovely OWL pendant.

O is also for OGHAM
which is an ancient script used a very long time ago in Ireland.

The horizontal line in this illustration was originally the edge of a piece of wood or stick. Messages could be carried this way from place to place.
Further information can be found here.

For more posts on the O theme, visit Mrs Nesbitt who hosts ABC Wednesday.

Have fun!

FIND ZOEY - Update - FOUND!!!

Editing this post to say that Zoey is safely back home with tnchick at last. I'm so glad to be able to report this!

WELCOME HOME ZOEY!

This beautiful dog has been missing in
Franklin, Kentucky, USA
since 22nd April 2008.
Her owners are heartbroken.
If you or anyone you know sees her, please contact
her owners.
Lets try to find Zoey and fetch her home.

Odd Shots On Monday

I'm posting this early, as I'll be away most of tomorrow.

I've been trying to capture some of the wonderful grain in the wood I see around.

This particular shot makes me think of a big grin.

Odd Shots is hosted by Katney.
It's well worth visiting her to find all the other participants - there are many fascinating photos to see!

Saturday PhotoHunt - Uniqe/Funny Signs.

First I must send my best wishes to TNChick, who hosts this meme.
She isn't able to participate this week, as her beloved dog has gone missing.
We all hope you find her soon, TNChick.

Today's theme - Unique/Funny Signs - is a hard one for me.
I had the occasional idea, but no chance to go looking.

So I'm offering two shots from my files.

This first is of the sign above my favourite butchers' shop here in town.
Nothing strange about that, you might think, but look at the way the young tree covers part of the B of Bros, making it look as if it says Eros.
Funny name for a butchers' shop!

This second shot is of when youngest son first went out on his very new scooter.
The sign he's passing is a road-sign in Irish warning against passing or overtaking.
If you look at it quickly, without taking notice of the spelling, and possibly if you screw up your eyes ...
Anyway, I think it looks a bit as if it's saying "No Scooter".

OK, I know I'm really stretching things here, but I didn't want to miss a week unless it was absolutely necessary.
So there it is.

In spite of TNChick's inability to participate this week, the Hunt is still hosted at her site. Go there to see how other participants have fared.

Happy Hunting.

ABC Wednesday - N

Wednesday again, and time to search the dictionary for the letter

N

Though this week the dictionary had a rest, as I wanted to share one of my favourite new authors.

Now, this may come as a surprise to you, (!) but I have to admit to liking dragons just a little bit. So when Hubby read a review of a new dragon book, I had to try it.
The author's name is

Naomi Novik

The book is about a naval captain in the time of Napoleon who inadvertently becomes a dragon rider and therefore part of the Air Force.
(Yes, this is a fascinating alternative history.)

I loved this book so much that I went on to the next two as they became available.

The fourth - Empire of Ivory - is now out in paperback, so that's next on my shopping list as soon as I can get it.

I love discovering new authors that become favourites!

For more N posts and participants, visit Mrs Nesbitt, and have a great Wednesday!

Odd Shots On Monday

Striped dog!

For more Odd Shots, visit Katney!

Have a good Monday.

Malus

I went out into the garden late this afternoon, and this is what I found.

This decorative crabapple was bought and planted by my youngest son about two years ago. It has lovely deep pink flowers, as you can see, and the leaves have a purplish tinge too.
Soon it will be covered with beautifully scented blossom.
Lovely!

Saturday PhotoHunt - Thirteen (13)

Time for the PhotoHunt again, and this week the theme is
THIRTEEN (13)

This photo contains thirteen different dragons
(well, what else would you expect from me?)

If you want to check, click on the photo to enlarge it.
There are 7 china dragons,
1 brass dragon,
a dragon clock,
a tin with a dragon picture,
a Welsh mug with a red dragon (Y Ddraig Goch),
a large metal dragon,
and,
at the back,
a tiny fossilised dragon (I wish!).

For more takes on this theme, visit TNChick.

Happy Hunting!

My thirteenth comment came from YTSL. I'm no good at screen-shots so I can't show you her blog, but it's worth a visit!

Thanks to Hootin' Anni for the link, and for this lovely award.

ABC Wednesday - M

Today's letter is M

M is for

MABINOGION

The MABINOGION is a collection of very early Welsh legends and folk-tales.
Two of the above books are beautifully illustrated.
One of them is in Welsh.

I'll pick just one of these, sit down, and drink a nice

Mug of Mocha

For more ABC Wednesday participants, visit Mrs Nesbit.
Don't forget to read her post - it's hilarious!

Happy Wednesday!

Odd Shots On Monday

So there I was, walking the dog again, when I saw this strange bit of blue plastic on a fence.

Closer examination proved it to be a large blue plastic clothes-peg.

Is that odd?

For more Odd Shots, visit Katney - it was all her idea!

Happy Monday!

Saturday PhotoHunt - Twist(ed)

Time for Saturday PhotoHunt again, and this week's theme is Twist or Twisted.

I found a lot of twists in and around the house, but I'll only show you three today.

First, the twisted treats beloved by Badger (my dog), two kinds, each made up of two flavours twisted together.

Secondly, the twisted handle of my fruit basket.

The third photo is of part of the staff given to me by a friend some years ago. This wonderful piece of wood came from near a holy well about 15 miles away from here. As you can see, it has a very twisted surface.

There you have my three photos for the twisted theme.

To see more twists, visit Tnchick.

Happy Hunting.

Testing!

I'm trying out draft.blogger's scheduled posting.
I hope this works!

This is the Pieris I planted last year.
It's flowering well at the moment, and it should soon have bright red new leaves.

Have a good day.

ABC Wednesday - L

It's Wednesday again, and time for ABC Wednesday hosted by Mrs Nesbitt.

This week the letter is L.

L is for Local Lake.

I stopped to take these photos yesterday, on the way to the supermarket to buy metal polish (my brass needs cleaning!)

The Punts (Local name for smallish rowing boat, not a flat-bottomed 'Oxbridge' conveyance) are still high and dry, but they'll be in the water soon.

Another photo, showing the road with my patient hubby waiting in the red car.

So there I was, cleaning some brass, when I realised that I was cleaning a
Little Lantern!

I've no idea how old this is.
It's about 7 inches tall (about 18 cm)
We were given this by some friends who had two daughters and a horse-drawn gypsy caravan.
Actually, the two girls gave it to our children.
We were moving to our Irish island, with no electricity, and they felt it would be a safer nightlight than an open candle.
It served well for years.

Shining in the dark.

Happy Wednesday to you all.

Book Meme

I've been tagged by Rosebud with the 123 book meme. According to her, you grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, write down the first five sentences, then tag 5 other people.

OK then, ,here goes.

At the moment I'm re-reading Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" books. I know they're children's books, but I like them a lot.

The book to hand is "The Tombs of Atuan"
Page 123 is the start of Chapter 10 - The Anger of the Dark

When she said that, the man named Ged put his hand over hers that held the broken talisman. She looked up startled, and saw him flushed with life and triumph, smiling. She was dismayed and frightened of him. "You have set us both free," he said. "Alone, no one wins freedom.

And that's the end of five sentences!

Now I have no idea what idea any of you will make of that! It stops in mid-conversation, and you don't know what went before or what happens next.

I don't want to pressure anyone, so I'm not tagging. I'll just leave it for you to pick up if you're interested.

Thanks Rosebud for thinking of me.

Odd Shots On Monday

While walking my dog I frequently pass this way. I think I must often walk with my eyes closed, because I only noticed this last week.

There's a garden and a lawn just visible at the top of the bank, which rises beside the track I walk. The lawn is at my eye-level. Some hedge-trees grow along the edge, with roots hanging down. I think they may be holding the bank together!

For more Odd Shots, and for the rules, visit Katney.

Have a good Monday.

Strange Dragons

A while ago I shared "Archie's Golden Sky Dragon" with you.

Now I'd like to point you to another Sky Dragon, this time showing itself to Petunia.

Do go and have a look, it's well worth viewing.

Dragon lovers should also have a look at The "Trogdor" Tree. A wonderful draconic tree, photographed by Jen.

"Where There's Life . . . "

About a month ago, in 'Saturday PhotoHunt - Different', I posted a photo of a tiny plant forcing its way through the tarmac. Here it is again, as a reminder.

I've checked the plant whenever I've passed, and yesterday I found this.

Yes, it's a hard-working daisy!

It may be another day or two before the flower really holds its head up high, but it's there.

As the old saying goes - "Where there's life, there's hope."

There's certainly life there!

Saturday PhotoHunt - Glass

It's Saturday again, and this week the theme is

GLASS

I love glass, and have vases, bowls, ornaments, so my only difficulty was to decide which to share with you all today.

The slightly strange-looking item below was given to me some years ago by my eldest son and his lovely lady.
It's an ornamental glass item, made in Ireland and intended as a spirit-burning lamp, although I'm sure it would give a poor light.
That doesn't matter, as it's lovely to look at.

My family knows I love Celtic knotwork - I've used some simple designs myself - so this was bound to be a successful gift.
Thank you both.

For more glass pictures, and to join in the fun, visit tnchick who started the whole thing.

Happy Hunting!

ABC Wednesday - K

Although I'm very late, it's still Wednesday!

This week the letter is K

K is for KNIFE

This is my box of Kitchen Knives.

I bought them over five years ago, and I don't know where I'd be without them.


If you look closely at the Knives you can see a name -
Kleeneze!

When I was young, the Kleeneze man would come around selling household items like dusters, polishes, and brushes.
I loved watching him taking things out of his magical suitcase for my mother to see.

Now a lady leaves a catalogue and comes back in a few days to take your order.

The catalogue has many more esoteric things than dusters, polishes, and brushes.
It even has Kitchen Knives.

How times change.

To view more K pictures, visit Mrs Nesbit who started the whole idea.

Happy Wednesday (what's left of it!)