Great photos .. the stormy sky is stunning, Gees and that's a great story of the coat of arms LOL

"Who's that trip-trapping over my bridge?".



These are growing in my "nature strip" (grass verge) and are begging to be harvested and cooked in butter and garlic. As is a similar clump within my front garden.

Years ago, when Husband and I, with young daughter, used to go mushrooming in farm paddocks, specimens like this would have been grabbed with delight. Daughter and I survived thus far, and Husband's passing was not attributed to mushroom poisoning.

I don't have a mycologist on tap, so I'm just not brave enough to eat this "wild food". The mushroom growers lobby has warned us not to eat anything not grown by them.

I think that's a toadstool rather than a mushroom. Whether it's edible or not I wouldn't say (most toadstools aren't). I can say though that they are an indication of too much thatch (decaying vegetative matter) in your lawn. That environment is conducive to insects which feed on green growth and carry grass killing pathogens with them. You might want to de-thatch that lawn. If you can reach your fingers down to the soil level and pinch and come up with anything more than a quarter inch in depth of dead clippings, there's too much thatch. Some is good as it shades the soil and helps water intrusion into the soil without it washing/exposing the grass roots but too much is more burden than the poor poas (blue grass) can handle.

A couple of giraffes

Thanks BallyK, besides the actual countryside beyond London there is quite a bit hidden round the fringes as well so have a selection of both. This is the view from a hill in Oxhey which is just north of the border (London not Scotland...).

QB, I love giraffes! Where was your photo taken?

I couldn't resist posting this one. My photo was taken at the Canberra Zoo in 2009. Maynooth and I did a tour called "Walk on the Wildside" where you get the opportunity to get up close and personal with many of the animals. This is a photo of me (well, my hand) feeding the giraffe. Note the blue-black tongue.

[P.S. Ren, I know we are only supposed to post photos we have taken ourselves but Maynooth took this with my camera; Maynooth is also a FT member and I have his permission, so I hope that's close enough!]

Well, if we are doing giraffes, here's one at Toronto Zoo last September. I didn't get quite as close as you did, MotherGoose!

Did someone say Giraffe?
This one is a Rothschild's Giraffe photographed at Melbourne Zoo in 2010.

ALL the giraffe pictures are absolutely beautiful!!, but I would have loved to be in your shoes Mothergoose .

To keep the theme going...
This picture is not very clear, but it's a Maasai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi). You can see its distinct spots - they kind of look like trees! This was in Tanzania in 2008. I think actually I have better pictures of giraffes from the Safari Park here in Scotland, but they're not Maasai giraffes of course.

Still in San Francisco, looking at the remains of Fort Baker from the Golden Gate Bridge. Now used mostly as a marina.

The Royal College of Physicians in Regents Park

Thanks for posting that one Satguru - in the course of my previous job, I have had a bit of communication with the Royal College of Physicians!




This statue/artwork of Percy Button is found in the Hay Street Mall in the middle of the City of Perth (Western Australia) and it is one that I have always liked.


The inscription plate for the statue reads:

"Percy Button was a local street entertainer and one of Perth's best known faces from the 1920s to the 1950s. Performing somersaults and handstands, Percy entertained people for a few shillings while they waited to see films, newsreels and theatrical performances at the theatres that were concentrated in what is now the Hay Street Mall, the Theatre Royal, the Ambassador and His Majesty's Theatre. Percy was reknowned for his grubbiness and in November 1929 local newspaper, The Mirror, dressed Percy up in a long-tailed suit and ran a front page competition asking readers to guess the identity of the cleaned up man. The Mirror offered a guinea's worth of goods for the first opened letter giving the man's name. The newspaper later asked Percy to write the 1929 Centenary Christmas Message. This artwork celebrates the spirit of the street."


I found this additional information in the internet:

"Little is known about why Percy took to the streets of Perth to become a vagrant, but at some stage he began performing to bystanders who were waiting outside theatres and shops. With a battered old hat and not so clean clothes, Percy entertained the public with somersaults and tricks. The public reponded in kind, by throwing coins into his hat. Even the police had a soft spot for him, arresting him occassionally for vagrancy so he could get a good feed and a warm bed for the night. He was often referred to as "Percy the Unwashed" and liked to dabble in a bit of gambling (without much luck). Sadly, as time passed, Percy had to give up the acrobatics and began playing the mouth organ. Living on the streets became hard, especially during the Depression and World War II, but the familar face continued to entertain. A savage attack by a thug in the late 1940's left him close to death and eventually sent him on a downward spiral. In 1951 arrangements were made for Percy to be placed in an Old Men's Home. Three years later he was dead. The Repatriation Department paid for his funeral. It seems only fitting that a statue was erected in his honour on the very location where he performed and where he can still bring a smile to a passerby."

Can anyone tell me what the speed limit really is?

This is posted as you are traveling west on W. Plano Pkwy coming off the Preston Rd. (TX Hwy 289) intersection in Plano, Texas.

This is a bunya nut, the seedpod of the Bunya pine tree. There is a normal-sized pen in the foreground for comparison. We have a few trees growing at work, and they have to be roped off for safety reason. The pods weigh about 15 kgs (over 30 lb), and it is rumoured that people have died from being hit when they fall off the tree.

Apparently they are edible, but I have never tried one.

ozzz2002, your picture is the "cone" of the Bunya-bunya pine,(Auricaria bidwillii)
which is a relative of the recently re-discovered Wollemi Pine.
Each segment of the cone encloses one Bunya nut. I have eaten them, lightly toasted. They resemble a chestnut in texture, but with a faintly resinous flavour. Could possibly substitute for pine nuts in an Aussie Pesto.
Not really to my taste, but I'm sure they are nutritious, worth remembering if you or I are ever stranded in the bush!

My daughter has a small collection of novelty teapots.
I love this one, representing The Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
Thankfully, there is no Dormouse being dunked in the brew.

A new building in Panama City, Panama

@MotherGoose - the (relatively) new giraffe enclosure at the Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Now for an African Hunting Dog (wildlife park in Tunisia)

What a lovely teapot, Auntie

And bhs, what an unusual building, wow!! Looking at it kind of makes you dizzy

The famous crooked part of Lombard Street in San Francisco, my friend drove us down there but not very quickly.....

Some pretty leaves.

This is Gardenia thunbergia, which has just begun to flower after several seasons in the garden. The flowers are showy and fragrant, but don't seem suited to humid weather.