They are building a new academy at Elgin, this is what it looks like at the moment.

This is the River Tay in Perth, Scotland. It's the longest river in Scotland, and has the largest discharge volume of any river in the UK. The park you can see is the North Inch, where there was a staged battle in 1396, called The Battle of the North Inch, not unsurprisingly!

Frosty today



Frosted Wild Grass

Nice view Reeshy and welcome Gees, I've never seen ice like that before. This is a typical London view over Cricklewood including a red bus which actually mainly left our roads for over a decade when they were privatised in the 80s but returned albeit minus the traditional Routemasters nowadays.

Aw, the River Tay -- so beautiful! And an awesome picture of the frozen grass

Here in Phoenix, we grow roses during the winter
This is a "Summer Fashion" rose -- I've had the rose bush for nearly twenty years now.

This poor fellow has presided over my garden for many years. He's a reminder of the days when daughter and I used to ramble in "the bush" and collect items of interest.
I never thought it bizarre until the day a plumber did a double-take when I asked him to put his toolbag on the laundry shelf next to the koala skull!

Thanks to those who enjoyed my River Tay picture. It took me a long time to appreciate the beauty that is right there in my hometown!

Gees, that picture of frozen grass is just beautiful!

Here's my offering for today:

It was taken in Glasgow this time, haha. It's been my laptop wallpaper for a while now and I'm not quite tired of it, so it's safe to say it's one of my favorite pictures I've taken!

EDIT: to add that it doesn't quite have the same impact at this resolution :P

Auntie, the skull is pretty cool!

Reeshy, Scotland seems just as beautiful as I've always imagined.

The first photo I took on my trip. I was testing what it was like taking a photo out of a bus window and this is looking at the Rakaia River railway bridge towards the Southern Alps in Canterbury, New Zealand on April 23, 2010.

Howie:
Congrats on figuring out the posting thing! And a very nice photo, I might add.

Also, you've even abided by the rules regarding size : )

New Zealand is one of my "dream destinations", so am looking forward to more pix from you : )

Wow, Howie! Very impressive for an "out of the bus window" picture! Beautiful

Well done Howie indeed!

I have meant to join this for a while, and now I have a new puppy, and have read the posting rules carefully, I hope this works!

Wow! Welcome ! He is gorgeous!What is his name?
You can always check the size after posting by a rt click and properties. It is fine Thanks

Thank you, Ren! His name is Butu and he is a Basenji. He's only 8 weeks old, but is Pretending To Be A Big Dog in this photo...

Oh, what a sweetheart! Welcome QuizBeagle and Howie!

awwwwwwwwwwwww QB : )

Those puppies, Butu and Mollie, are so appealing.

Reeshy, what is your plant with the beautiful red berries? Daughter and I are guessing at a Lonicera (honeysuckle) species.....



I have trouble with bird photography. They're usually too fast for me, but this Silver Gull was watching me at a street cafe, and wasn't going anywhere until I ate the last bite.

One good gull deserves another...

This fellow was in Monterey, California

I actually have no idea! It was growing out of the fence in a small park on my way to university, and I just took advantage of walking past once when my sister and I were going around Glasgow on a "nature photo shoot", haha! There were no flowers on it, so I've no idea if it's a honeysuckle or not. I'll have to have another look soon and perhaps get a bigger picture in case anyone knows what it is But I've no idea if it's still out with it being winter.

The gull pictures are amazing! I love magpies (everyone else seems to hate them!), but they never sit still long enough. Or they sit still until I've got my camera out and turn it on!

Yes, Lonicera, I am pretty sure. Very poisonous too!

Wow, good to know, thanks! I had no idea it was poisonous! I just like looking at the flowers around; perhaps I should try to learn something about them too?!

Hmm, if you had a list of top 100 poisonous plants, honeysuckle wouldn't be on it (at least not for humans). I'd put it somewhere in the "mildly" poisonous range (berries only). Besides the fact that the berries are usually completely tasteless (ergo you probably wouldn't WANT to eat more than one lol), a child would be sick to his/her stomach long before enough of them were ingested to be anywhere close to lethal. Asian varieties seem to be the "culprit" in this regard (they are also very invasive and choke out native plants if allowed). Native species, on the other hand (especially in North America) are not in the least poisonous.

No reason not to grow it as butterflies and hummingbirds are particularly attracted to the flowers. Birds have no problem eating honeysuckle berries. Honeysuckle flowers, buds and stems have been used for over 1000 years in herbal concoctions as a detoxifier and as an expectorant/cough syrup/fever suppressant. Also, Lonicera caerulea (which has blue berries) is fully edible and fairly good tasting.

All that being said, children should always be taught not to eat ANY berries (as with mushrooms) that they find growing wild.

A small appealing detail from Notre Dame

I suppose, in keeping with the last two pictures, I should have labelled it as a 'GarGull'. ;-)

lol QB, very clever.

What do you think he is holding? A bible perhaps?

QB - Butu is absolutely adorable!!!
PDAZ - all your animal pictures are just incredible.

A few more seagulls...

Welcome Howie and Quiz Beagle, glad the team is increasing
A curious horse near Leatherhead.

Now I have reached Auckland, a few days spent here before flying out of the country. This is the crater of the dormant volcano Mt Eden, with the Sky Tower and Auckland Harbour Bridge in the background.