Nature Pics

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Elen even felt the need to say it twice.

[Elentári]

That's bizarre! I certainly didn't make two attempts to post...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Well, I appreciate the thought.

Well, I appreciate the thought.

[Primula Baggins]

Now, now.

[Jude]

Queen Street Gardens is a "private" garden in Edinburgh - which means that you can apply for a key to it only if you live in the designated area (a very posh neighbourhood in the New Town). When I actually lived here I would peep over the gate between the trees and admire its tranquil beauty, but never had a chance to actually go in.

Until now. I actually chose the flat I'm renting for the fact that it has access to Queen Street Gardens - it's on Dublin Street, just around the corner from the actual gardens.

And, just in case you never get the chance to visit them, I'm giving you the vicarious opportunity to enjoy them as well.



I created a whole album for it in my flickr account: link to album (14 pictures)

(Let me know if that link doesn't work)

Here's the view from outside that I had to be contented with for so many years:

[Elentári]

Lovely - I'd be so frustrated if I could only peer over the gate and never be able to go in! I guess in another month there'll be more colour... I suppose it's hardly surprising we're further into Spring down on the south coast! My garden is starting to look beautiful with all the snowdrops, crocuses and early narcissus coming into bloom...

[Lalaith]

That looks very nice!

[Jude]

I made an extra post on the TORC365 blog: Ducks, geese, swans, and even a dove in Blackford Pond, Edinburgh. There are also a couple of nice shots from the top of Blackford Hill.

Trivia note: my mom was once attacked by a swan in Blackford Pond. Don't let their stunning good looks and casual grace fool you: swans are all bastards

(In case you're wondering, my mom was fine)

[Primula Baggins]

Glad to hear it! Though I've always thought it was the geese that were, er, illegitimate.

And wild turkeys can be tiresome when they must flock in the Safeway parking lot.

[Maria]

We just got back from a vacation in northern California. That's me waving in the picture. Even if you could zoom in on the original 3.5 MB photo, my face pixilates out before you can tell it is me.

[yovargas]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Primula Baggins]

What a great way to make the scale of those trees clear!

[Maria]

We took hundreds of pictures trying to show the scale, but this one is the best. My husband spotted the opportunity watching some hikers ahead of us further down on a switchback. He asked me to go down there and got me to stop right between those two big ones while he took a few pictures from slightly different angles.

[Impenitent]

Maria, those trees are so majestic! You look quite hobbit-like amongst them.

Jude, the gardens are very beautiful and tranquil. The images are, hm, not exactly misty, but muted. Is that a quality of the light in Edinburgh, or just the weather of the day?

[Jude]

They were taken in the very early spring - I would guess it would be because of the weather of the day.

[Primula Baggins]

I'll post some here if I figure out how, but anyone on Instagram should check out stationcdrkelly (Mark Kelly), the American astronaut who is in the middle of spending a full year on the International Space Station. He's publishing a series of photos taken from space, and one series, hashtag #EarthArt, is vivid color photos of Earth landscapes taken directly from above that look like beautiful abstract paintings rioting with color. They are just astonishing. I have never seen anything like them anywhere.

These aren't space art; they are pictures of Earth. Just from a previously impossible angle.

[yovargas]

Gee, Prim, at list post a link, eh?

https://instagram.com/stationcdrkelly/?hl=en

Fascinatingly, some of them look like microscopic pics of some organic thing or another.

[Primula Baggins]

Sheesh, yov, you are so demanding!

Thanks for posting an example. There are others that are more easily identifiable for what they are, but they're all beautiful.

[Inanna]

I checked out the link - they are awesome...