Showing posts with label orchids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orchids. Show all posts

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Signs of Spring? End of an Era?

February 2 was Groundhog Day. According to legend, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on Groundhog Day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.

The Huffington Post reported:

"Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, predicting early spring."
In Canada,
"Wiarton Willie, Canada's leading rodent prognosticator, also predicted an early spring" but
"Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam did see his shadow, so maybe some of us shouldn't put the parkas and winter boots away just yet."

The rabbit above was a bit shy, staying well within cover, and no shadow. But, definitely a shadow here, but this was in January:



We did have some sunshine and then some fog here on Ground Hog Day, so if there were ground hogs they may or may not have seen a shadow. No matter the days are getting longer and there are some signs of spring appearing.

These next pictures have shadows but are no indicator of whether the weather will improve sooner or later, since these lovelies are inside.







These were taken a few weeks ago, but there is still no shortage of activity at the backyard feeders:





But something is disappearing!

You no doubt are familiar with the statement "if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it does it make a noise?"

The penny, the one cent Canadian coin, is disappearing; did it cast a shadow or make a noise as it fell?



CBC News:
"The penny's days are numbered in Canada, as the Royal Canadian Mint has made its final one-cent coin.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and other government officials took part in a ceremonial coin strike Friday at the mint's coin production facility in Winnipeg, to mark the end of production of the penny.
"The humble one-cent circulation coin was a workhorse of Canadian commerce," Flaherty said, recalling the penny's introduction over 100 years ago. "Unfortunately…over time inflation eroded the purchasing power of the penny and multiplied its manufacturing cost.
The Royal Canadian Mint has stopped distribution of pennies, which means businesses will no longer receive rolls of copper coins from the bank.
And for customers, today marks the first day retailers are encouraged to round to the nearest nickel, though some may still accept pennies.
If it's a cash transaction and the total is $1.01 or $1.02, the retailer will round down. But if it's $1.03 or $1.04, it will be rounded up to the nearest 0.05.
Electronic transactions will not be affected by the disappearance of the penny.
This change has been coming since March 29, 2012, when federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced his government would phase out the penny.
Each penny cost the government 1.6 cents to produce, so Ottawa expects to save $11 million per year. The last Canadian penny was minted May 4, 2012."


The last pennies were minted in 2012, so these are some of them. Google had a picture of a 2013 penny on their web page, I guess they didn't look that up on Google??


From the "Globe and Mail" newspaper:
"Why is the penny being phased out?
Fifteen Canadians complained last year that having a lot of pennies was tearing their pants pockets. That’s pretty much it. Oh, and our penny-making machine is broken.
Where can I bring my pennies for redemption?
Six hundred penny-redemption hangars have been erected at strategic locations across Canada. Please seal each unwanted penny in a labelled envelope and take a number. We’ll be right with you."
Hey,  this is serious stuff!


Does this mean the end of penny candy; oh wait that's been gone for a long time.

What happens to sayings like "a penny for your thoughts", "penny wise and pound foolish" and "a penny saved is a penny earned".

What will penny pinchers pinch now?

Will "Penny" be told to change her name?

What do we put in "penny loafers" now?

These questions are weighing on my mind, I think I'll hang on to the rest of my pennies for a while yet.

I was busy setting up my art show at Pane E Formaggio this week so didn't really get anything finished. I'll have something for next week.

Thanks for dropping by, happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time .....................




Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Glorious Gardens 1

While we were in the UK we interspersed tours and museum visits with walks and visits to gardens. Today my post highlights two public gardens (one in Glasgow and one in London) next week my garden series will continue with two private gardens.

First there is the Glasgow Botanic Garden. Most of the flowers below were inside large glass conservatories to maintain ideal warmth and humidity: orchids, cacti and tropical plants. The day we visited the temperatures soared to the high 80's F (outside) so the temperature inside as I was photographing was quite a bit hotter than that; had I been a tropical plant I would have been quite happy but as a human photographer I was a bit warmer than I like to be.


You will notice that most of the visitors are outside on the lawns enjoying the good weather.


There was a beautiful collection of orchids






I think these are pitcher plants:







The last greenhouse I visited had a pond of koi and large statues:



Nubian Slave



Cain
King Robert of Sicily

And now on to London, where we visited Regent Park; OK not quite a garden but we saw beautiful plants and birds. Another beautiful hot day, so we walked around the lake, which was home to a variety of birds.

Heron

Greylag Goose, I think, but I also found this identified as a Pink Footed Goose

Mute Swan

Red Crested Pochard

Egyptian Goose


I know this is the second one but I loved the little pool of water on this one's back.
Baby coot (this one was on the far side of the lake, sorry not a great picture).


Coot

I thought these pigeons looked comical.

White Faced Whistling Duck

Heron

Pair of swans



Wood Pigeon

...and a litle bit of statuary to round this one out

More pictures than words today but I think I'll allow them to speak for themselves this week.

Last Saturday was the Brock House Fair, we had beautiful weather and had an excellent turnout; for volunteers such as myself though the preparation consumed a lot of my free time so I have had no time for art. I promise to get back at the "drawing board" this week.

Thank you for dropping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until week .......