I see columns and some statues, so here's a statue and more columns outside Union Station in Toronto.

More columns and a statue:


This is King Frederick II of Prussia on Unter den Linden in Berlin.

Another statue - Hindu god Shiva

Lovely pic Shannon, that statue looks enourmous!

Another statue this time a local Newcastle hero Jackie Milburn centre forward for Newcastle United in the 1950s FA Cup winning teams.



The statue originally stood in the pedestrianised centre of the city in Northumberland Street but was moved to Milburn Junction on St James Boulevard the approach road to St James Park

A different type of sport... The Great Ball Court at Chichén Itza. The "goals" are the stone rings near the tops of the walls (about midway down the wall).

Thanks, Andrea. It's around 15 meters tall.

I'd love to see more shots of Chichén Itza, PDAZ.

Blue skies again.

My skies were not so blue.

Grey skies and the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Spain) in the background.

Mountains and sky in NC.

I can see trees so here's a betel (areca) nut plantation.

Nuts did you say? Well these are carvings of tagua nuts. Also called vegetable ivory, the nuts grow on palm trees in the Panama/Ecuador region.

Another scaly animal carved out of something which once grew:

Years ago, a workmate gave me this carved hen, folkart from his home in India.
Prophetic? I've since joined The Indian Gang and now enjoy my small flock of backyard hens!

Hens have feathers Here is a feather but the bird has flown

Someone wants his feather back...

Quills of a different sort:



I know it looks like this fella is having a good time sticking his tongue out at me, but that orange splotch in the middle is actually his two front incisors. Porcupine teeth are ivory (yup) but have a hard coating of enamel only on the front/outer side of the teeth. The enamel is naturally darker than the ivory but is also made more orange by the tannins in the trees the animals devour. The cool part about the two layers is that the ivory side wears away faster than the hard enamel, which means that with constant use, the incisors will develop a VERY sharp edge.

Another prickly thing:

A hedgehog cactus in bloom

Jake - Thanks for the info on porcupine teeth, apart that it is lovely pic.

This little guy lives in my friends garden.

A hedgehog walks through my garden quite often - I know this because he/she leaves a calling card on the path. Once a hedgehog hibernated in a pile of leaves at the foot of the ivy that used to grow up the house - one day when I went out to mow the grass I could hear him snoring, so I know that one was male.

Flopsy - LOL about the snoring!

Here's a less mobile hedgehog (who survived winter outside!) and his bunny friend.

Szabs: Well thanks, but that's absolutely the most wonderful picture I've EVER seen of a hedgehog! Wish I had one in my garden (but unfortunately, all I have are earthworms, ants and mosquitoes lol).

SpanishLiz: whew. thank goodness for the bunny segue (I was afraid I'd have to take a picture of our bootwasher to continue with the hedgehoggish look lol)

There are at least two of these critters living in my rock garden year round. They're cute (and very pretty in their white winter colours), but I'd like them alot more if they didn't eat my perennials along with the bark off the fruit trees lol

This is what was hanging out in the yard at work today... a Great Horned Owl. He flies down from the trees and waits for the drip water system to come on.

PDAZ - Where do you work that you have such lovely visitors, apart from posing so beautifully in order to have his picture taken?

Jake - That little hedgehog is very tame, as he was rescued by my friend a few years ago, so you can get get very close to him without any problems. Your hare looks very happy munching away .

We have many parakeets here in the wild, as the weather is perfect for them, and they can live quite well. They are not native to southern Spain, and in most cases they have escaped from homes and joined wild flocks that have been wild for many years. There is a greenbelt near to my home and I calculate that about 100 of them live in that area, mainly because of the noise they produce, but I get to see quite a few of them on my walks.

Taken at the lake side yesterday evening.

Since the duck is on a lake which could be fed by a river



The "River God Tyne" by David Wynne from Newcastle Civic Centre

Motherland statue, Kiev. Celebrating the Soviets' victory over the Nazis.

Statues - wars - tombs.



This is the tomb of John, Lord Cheney in Salisbury Cathedral. He fought with Henry Tudor against Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, 1485. If you look at the photo you can see graffiti etched on his effigy which possibly dates from the English Civil War; the Roundheads did a lot of damage to cathedrals, including Salisbury, and they were especially good at destroying things within easy reach. So whenever you lament the youth of today, remember that the youth of yesterday was also up to no good!