Odd Shots On Monday

I was out with my camera last week, walking around, looking for some new black and white shots.
This wall struck me as odd.
I've never before seen a wall in a cage!
It looks as is someone put a lot of work into building a dry-stone wall, and was then afraid it might be damaged.

Whoever it was could well have been right. If you look carefully along the top edge in the centre of the picture, you might be able to see where the cage has been pulled apart a bit!

Odd Shots on Monday is hosted by Katney.
You can find more participants in her sidebar or through the comments on her post.

More Togetherness

The weather today has been terrible. Admittedly we've had lovely spells of sunshine, but the wind has been vicious and we've had a lot of thunder, lightning, hailstones and rain.

The rather fuzzy nature of the above photo is due to the fact that
(a) it's taken through my kitchen window, and
(b) it's absolutely - er - pouring with rain!
Two little sparrows are using the tap under our oil tank to shelter from the aforementioned rain.

Saturday PhotoHunt - Together.

This week the prompt for TNChick's Saturday PhotoHunt is
TOGETHER

I took this quick shot through my kitchen window one rainy day a few weeks ago.
Eating out together is much more fun than eating alone!

If you want to see more together photos, or if you want to join the fun, please visit TNChick.

Happy Hunting!

ABC Wednesday - P

ABC Wednesday, hosted by the lovely Mrs Nesbitt, has reached the letter P for the third time.
I've been showing gemstones and jewellery recently, so I thought the obvious thing was to show a string of pearls I've had since the early '60s.
(If, for any reason, you want to read about pearls, here is a link!)

But as you know by now, I rarely do the obvious!

Below is an interesting mineral that also begins with P,
PYRITE.

This is the stuff that has been called "fool's gold".
My specimen was once a single pebble, but it's broken down over the years into this rather sandy-looking mess. If you look closely you can see the shiny, yellowish metal flakes. You may also be able to see brownish and even green or blue marks, caused by the iron in this mineral.
Pyrite often occurs as cubic crystals, and there are some nice pictures of this here. Maybe I'll get a bigger sample one day!

For plentiful P posts, see the ABC Anthology or the Linky page.
You may even wish to participate!

Odd Shots On Monday

This lost glove seems to be holding on to a stone!

Odd Shots on Monday is hosted by Katney.
Other entries can be found through the comments on her blog or the blog-roll in her sidebar.

Monochrome Monday

I've seen motorbikes in several places today, and sadly it was the last World Superbike race of the year, so I have motorbikes on my mind.

So my monochrome this week is of Eldest Son on his motorbike.

Monochrome Monday is hosted by Aileni, and more Monochrome Maniacs can be found on the dedicated Linky page.

Have a good week.

Baby Dragons

OK, so you all know by now that I'm a sad old woman - well, maybe not old, not really. Not yet.
I've seen dragon eggs on a couple of blogs, but I never got involved - not until Jonna set up her nursery! So off I went to steal my own eggs.
Now I have four pretty hatchlings.
According to the records, young dragons are relatively defenseless. Their scales don't grow in until right before they mature, and they have almost no strength. Once a hatchling's wings grow in, it marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are usually left alone by their mother and begin to hunt and survive on their own.

Let me introduce you to my babies.


Name: Seren Ddu (or Black Star)
Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals.


Name: Tan Gwyllt (or Wild Fire)
There's something strange about its eyes.


Name: Lleuad Fioled (or Violet Moon)
I think it's a girl, although I won't know until she's older.


Name: Glaswelltyn (literally a blade of grass, but my grandmother used the name to refer to the day-lilies she grew.)
It's a cute baby dragon...except for the tangle of dangerous-looking vines surrounding it...

So there you have my dragon family. It's going to be a lot of hard work to care for them until they grow, and they could still sicken and die, so I'll still be glad of your helpful clicks!

Have a good Sunday.

Saturday PhotoHunt - Blue.

This week's subject for the Saturday PhotoHunt is
BLUE

This was taken one glorious December day at our local fishing port.

For more blue photos, or to join the fun, visit our host TNChick.

Happy Hunting!

ABC Wednesday - O

The third round of ABC Wednesday has reached the letter O this week.

In keeping with my love of rocks and gemstones,
O
is for
OBSIDIAN

Funnily enough, obsidian isn't strictly speaking a rock. It's a naturally occurring glass, formed in volcanos.
More details here.
Although it can appear brown and even appear to have a metallic coating, obsidian is generally thought of as black. Being a glass, it takes a very sharp edge, and was used by the Incas in ceremonial knives.

My samples are a variety known as Snowflake Obsidian because of the whitish included crystals which can look like snowflakes.

These are tumble polished fragments, almost completely black.

The above photo shows slightly larger tumbled stones, some with good snowflake markings.

This last photo includes a much larger natural (unpolished) stone. You may be able to see some ripples in the surface, caused when the piece broke off a larger lump.

ABC Wednesday was started by Mrs Nesbitt. More O posts can be found on the Anthology Page and through the Linky site.

Odd Shots On Monday

I found this funny little hairy-faced man in the firewood. How could I burn him?

Odd Shots was Katney's idea. To see more, please check the comments on her post or the blogroll in her sidebar.

Have a good week.