Wordless Wednesday: Don’t be a llama’d by the bad hair day.

On the Bolivian shore of Lake Titicaca.

WPC: Letter overload

“The act of reading is so easily taken for granted, that we forget what an astounding feat it is. ” ~ Dr. Helen Smith

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge is ‘Letters’. Every day, we are bombarded with letters all around us. Sitting here at my desk, I’m staring at lots of letters, and quite often hit the wrong one.

Times Square NYC, is a place full of letters of all colours and sizes.

Some vehicles advertise exactly who’s inside.

Whilst other advertise what you could have if you had the money and the desire for whatever.

Shops have to proclaim their wares in order to get you to go inside. I’m not sure whether the guys would be more interested in this one or the previous one.

If you were to buy one of the above, you’d certainly need to take heed of this warning, or you could go flying right over those super-cool ape-hanger handlebars.

A more sedate form of transport would be this one.

But in order to buy either of these, you might need to be the offspring of this guy I spotted on the beautiful Isle of Capri.

I know the challenge only asks for one pic, but you know me; the more the merrier. I hope you’ve enjoyed my bit of fun today.

To see more entries, probably more serious than mine, just click on the badge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunsets, a Hummingbird, and Birthdays for Ailsa’s Theme.

Ailsa’s Travel Theme ‘Glow’, had me searching firstly for sunsets.

I really miss the rosy glow of a Florida sunset.

I was mesmerised by the orange glow of this sunset in San Antonio, Costa Rica.

Of course, this gorgeous blue Hummingbird we happened upon in the rain forest there, has a glow all of his own.

Then I thought of the luminous glow of youth, which is very hard to replicate as one gets older.

Taylor’s older sister had a beautiful glowing birthday cake last year.

Today is my daughter’s  birthday, and the glow of her smile can really light up a room. Here’s to you, Mandy!

To see more glowing entries for Ailsa’s theme, just click here.

 

 

 

 

If a tree falls in a forest……..

Seen in the rain forest in Costa Rica. (Click on image for a larger view, and tell me that you can also see an animal’s head here.)

Do you believe in Tree Spirits? I could feel that eye watching me.

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

 

Which bed would you choose?

The lady who made up the beds at our hotel in Costa Rica, obviously had a sense of humour.

One bed for love.

The other for ‘monkey business’.

Wishing you all a great weekend.

Oxcart Rounds in Sarchi for Ailsa’s Travel Theme

I see that Ailsa has also chosen ‘Round’ as her travel theme this week. I’ve already done Sue’s ‘Round’ Word a Week challenge, here, but have a few pics which I didn’t use yet.

Last year, we were in Sarchi, a charming artisan town in Costa Rica. It’s the country’s most well known art and craft centre, and is most famous for it’s colourfully painted ox carts and oxen yokes.

In one of the studios, and watched the artists at work. Those of you who saw my Silent Sunday ‘Colourful Eruption’, might guess that it was photographed in this studio.

This one was painting a lovely bird on an umbrella to be sold in the gift shop.

It must take a lot of concentration and precisions to paint something this beautiful and so very intricate.

The shop was full of beautiful souvenirs to purchase, but I decided that an oxcart was a bit big to fit into my suitcase.

Out in the garden, was an original oxcart, which would have been pulled by a pair of oxen, to transport coffee beans and sugar cane to market. In this mountainous country, these carts were the main mode of transportation. Each region of Costa Rica had its own particular oxcart design, and the driver’s origin could be identified by the patterns painted on his cart’s wheels.

Today, oxcarts play an important role in parades and religious celebrations. As were leaving the town, we passed by the ‘Worlds Largest Oxcart’, a huge brightly painted ‘Carreta’ that sits in the Parque Central in front of the church. This masterpiece was built in 2006 in order to get the town’s name into the Guinness Book of Records.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these colourful wheels for Ailsa’s challenge. To see more entries for the challenge, just click on the link.

I see that this is my 100th post on this blog. How should I celebrate?

 

 

 

Frothy Friday……..Have you ever?

So there I was, running my bubble bath, when I got the urge to just go and check on my blog and a few of your posts. Before I knew it, I had sat down on my chair, and got so engrossed, that I forgot about the bath water. Suddenly I remembered, and rushed through to the bathroom just in the nick of time before the water had quite reached the rim and started to trickle down the sides. Phew!! That was a narrow escape.

This isn’t the first time I’ve almost had a disaster because of my blogging addiction. I usually do the ironing next to my desk, so that I can have a quick squiz at my computer screen in between shirts and pillow cases. I have a burnt patch on my ironing board from when I just popped the iron down to read someone’s post, and promptly forgot about it.  I’ve had Banana Walnut Muffins that were in the oven for a little too long.

I’ve also had overdone Chocolate Brownies that were rather crisp around the edges. (These aren’t they, as I only photograph my perfect specimens).

I know you probably aren’t going to believe me, but as I was typing this, I smelled burning toast and raced downstairs to rescue my lunch before it totally incinerated. Have you ever had any near disasters because you’ve been focusing on your blog rather than on ‘more  important matters’? Do tell.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Floating Clouds

I couldn’t pass this wondrous scene without getting a few photos.

Click on photo for a larger image.

‘On Top’ of Table Mountain for the WPC

Table Mountain in Cape Town South Africa, was named in 2011 as one of the new ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’. From the top of this mountain, there are magnificent views of the Cape Town city centre, surrounding suburbs and the Atlantic Ocean.

One can also see Robben Island, some 6.9 kms off the coast in Table Bay. The island was declared a World Heritage Site, because it represents a critical chapter in South Africa’s path towards democracy. It was on this island that Nelson Mandela spent 18 of the 27 years he served as a prisoner of the Apartheid Government.

Table Mountain may look really flat from a distance, but it’s actually really rugged terrain. The easiest way to reach the top is by aerial cable-way, although some of the more intrepid, do the 3 km hike up, which can take from three to four hours.

Once on top of the mountain, you are 1,085 metres above sea level, and although as mountains go, it’s not that tall, it’s a truly iconic mountain, being a staggering 260-million years old. The original Khoi people  named it ‘Hoerikwaggo’, the mountain in the sea. The Nguni people, called it ‘Umlindiwengizimu’, the watcher of the south. They believed that it was placed there by Qamata their most prominent god, as the custodian to protect all of Africa.

The scrubby looking natural shrubland, known as ‘fynbos’ which covers Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula, is one of the richest and most diverse eco-systems in the world, and over 1,460 of the 8,200 plant species found in The Cape, grow on this mountain.

Being on top of Table Mountain is an experience you will never forget. I was lucky to go up there on a calm and clear day, but the mountain weather is legendary, and extremely changeable. There can be south-easterly winds of up to 130 km/hour, known as ‘The Cape Doctor’, which, as you can imagine, are very dangerous for anyone caught up there at the time.  In summertime, the top of Table Mountain is often not visible, as it’s covered by soft white cloud, known as ‘the table cloth’. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of this phenomenon, as we were there in early Spring.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my pics for the Weekly Photo Challenge. To see more entries, just click on the badge below.

 

Death by Chocolate Cheesecake

Yesterday lunchtime, my decadent chocolate cheesecake went down a treat. Those poor bunnies didn’t live to tell the tale. (Just click on the pic if you would like a bigger cheesecake.)

“Chocolate is the answer…..who cares what the question is?”  ~ anon.