Copago - That is one of the most photographed streets in Marbella, and it is actually very hard to get a picture with no one in it.

QB - Being a very avid Snoopy fan I loved your snow beagle.

This is one of the many lookout towers along the Mediterranean coast in this part of Spain as we are very close to the straight of Gibraltar, and Africa is just a few kilometres away.

I drove that coast in the fall of '73. Stopped in a roadside pastry shop one morning West of Malaga and the proprieter gave me an 1886 American silver dime as change along with my few pesetas. Ergo, I love the region and can always tell people I have seen three continents because of that African view from there. Gorgeous and I'm jealous and want to return. The Atlas Mountains seem so close you could touch them.

Mehaul - great story, all what you say about the African view is so true, on a clear day it can be quite breathtaking. The unfortunate part is that you wouldn't recognize this coast, throughout the years so much building has gone on, especially as it is such a prominent tourist destination, saying that it still is a wonderful place to live - with a great climate, that is why they call it the "Sun Coast". I only moved here in the late 80's, but used to come on holidays in the 70's.

Flyover City Arizona, or Staples Corner in Cricklewood

Hazel catkins or lambs' tails

Panama City, Panama skyline

Jess

My 8 year old had great fun making (and especially eating) some cupcakes recently:

I took this with my phone so it's a bit grainy but I liked the way the clouds were moving across Willen Lake in Milton Keynes.

Wow! Flopsy, that's incredible!

USS Eisenhower (?) in the Bay of Naples. Not a brilliant picture, but it was a long way away and I identified it...



(and I don't mind if I misidentified it and someone wiser corrects me - I did identify it when I took it, but I might be misremembering it now! :-D)

European Wasps at the entrance to their underground burrow.

I normally adopt a laissez-faire policy to whatever comes to my garden, but this was unacceptable! A group of these had attacked and hospitalised my elderly neighbour in the past.
Under cover of night, swathed from top to toe, and carrying a torch (flashlight) filtered with red cellophane, I dealt the death blow: a full container of wasp powder
straight down the entrance hole.

I had to do that once when a colony set up house in my garden. Local councils here will remove them for a fee but the man who came round advised half a can of Jeyes fluid in half a bucket of water... tip that down the entrance hole at dead of night and there they are, deaded. I felt full of derring do, especially as I hate wasps and usually won't go near the things - I've never understood why they insist on coming near me! That's a great photo, you're very brave to have got that close to three of them.

I hope you used the zoom to take that picture! Taking a photograph would have been the last thing on my mind.

That picture of the wasps is such fine detail. You can see the shadows of their legs and antennae. And I see a bit of a fourth one, middle left, just above and off a tad right of the lower left one. Looks like just the final few segments of the abdomen stripes are visible. Must be crawling under the litter to the entrance.

Be assured, without the Zoom there would have been no photograph! I wanted to be certain of what they were before deciding to use chemicals.
They were nesting about 9 feet from the front door, in the base of a tunnel formed by the house wall and an overhanging plant. It was in deep shadow and there was a steady stream of arriving and departing wasps. My first shots were blurred and dark, but once I introduced the flash, I got a better result. I then (speedily) left the scene.

Tree frog - Panama

We have lots of frogs at the moment - I'll find some friends for yours Bhs!


IN that splash behind the biscuit is my son.

Great to see there are frogs around. They are supposed to be an indicator of a healthy environment.

Copago, hope your son has come up for air by now!

I guess the swimming lessons were a success then, copago?

Ugggh, I shuddered when I saw that picture of the wasps!


This was taken in Perth, Scotland, by the riverside walk. I apologize if I've posted this or something similar before - I'm beginning to forget what I've already put up!

Fatehpur Sikri built by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar in honour of a Sufi saint who foretold the birth of his son.

The idiot on the left of this picture is me. It's called a 'Flying Fish'. If you think it looks fun, it emphatically isn't - the fact that the girl on the ride before mine came off streaming blood Should Have Been A Clue....

QB your "Flying Fish" looks anything but fun, more like some form of punishment

A Cygnet