Electrical & Infrastructure - Thematic Photography

Everywhere I go there seems to be someone working on our infrastructure, from 

Broadband

to 

Gas

and

Cable TV

Some things are just confusing

unless you can see

The bigger picture

But where would we be without Cartmells of Yarm, our

Sometimes an opportunity arises that is too good to miss especially if you are - 

A pigeon nesting inside a passage electric light

For more bright sparks and infrastructure insights check what others have found at Thematic-photographic-406.

Flying - Sunday Stamps II

I wondered when I would get the chance to post from both the DDR (East Germany) and West Germany at the same time. Today's the day with this 'Flying' theme.

DDR - Airmail -13 December 1957

And from the West a more colourful helicopter in an industry and technical series.

West Germany - 15 May 1975

For an earlier Airmail we have to fly over the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

China - 1 May 1951

The temple complex was constructed in the 1400s; it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. another one I will not get to see.

Now take off and get flying not forgetting to change planes at the links on Sunday-Stamps-II-119.

Wheels and Tyres - Thematic Photography

I tried to find something a bit different today.

First a shot that says I should have dusted it down before starting.

Of course it has four wheels although they do not go round.

So there is no chance of its tyres wearing out or them losing their - 

Inner Tyre

Others just give up when they have been -

Rejected or retired

But still require you to take their better side.

If its owner requires a new set then all he has to do is - 

at the local garage.

It's too early in the year yet to get all steamed up, so Albert has to wait to emerge from storage.

Meanwhile you can either go for a ride or get ready for a wheelbarrow race.

Unfortunately the bike is too small for me.

To see what other wheeler dealers have on offer cross over to the links at Carmi's Thematic-Photographic-405.

A-Z Challenge 2017 - The Great Reveal

My theme this year

This will be my 7th year for taking part in the A-Z Challenge and is likely to be my last.

My theme will cover houses in the UK - some real, some not.

We may visit fictional locations or real locations with links to fictional houses - Brideshead, Pemberley,and Wuthering Heights for example.

Regrettably this will limit the number of my own photographs that I will use.

However here is one house with which I am acquainted - as an appetiser.

A house that I knew well - but you will have to read my posts to find out where it is.

Flowers - Sunday Stamps II

I'm beginning to run short of flower stamps to show.

However I could not resist showing this block of four:

USA 5 October 1966

Cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial - appropriate today as the National Cherry Blossom Festival runs from 18 March - April 16th this year.

Can I claim to be a wise old sage for hitting the dates for it?

At least I can show some:

USA 7 April 2011

To pick other flowers today inspect those at the links on Sunday-Stamps- II-118.

Maps - Sunday Stamps II

In alphabetical and date order, I have three stamps to show.

From West Africa a map of of a Portuguese colony - 

Angola - 1955

Commemorating the Pan- American Road Conference in Quito -

Ecuador - 15 November 1971

I don't usually hang on to damaged stamps like that with the missing corner but the design with the white line passing through Quito on the equator is why I have kept it.

The Delta Works in the south west of the Netherlands has been called one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The dams, sluices, locks and storm surge barriers was the largest hydraulic engineering project in the Netherlands in the 20th century.

Netherlands - 16 February 1972

If you need other maps to find your way around the world, then visit Sunday-Stamps-II-117.

Take a walk - Thematic Photography

A high proportion of what I show each week are taken on my daily walk, so today will be no exception.

This winter/early spring has brought some strange things to our hedgerows.

Hawthorn branches covered in green lichen

Not that the riding school horses in the field are concerned - they just appreciate the grass.

Another of my favourite subjects every year still stands proudly against the sky.

Dead ash tree

Other trees make an arch for a distant copse.

My next shot is a bit of a disappointment as the sun distorted the shades of another dead tree,

That branch on the right has lost all its bark and is as white as snow.

However nothing can dim the colour of what could have appeared last week too.

Crocus - open to soak up the sun

Waiting for the bees and insects to come along.

If you visit Thematic-Photographic-403 you may take a walk with others.

Roosters or Chickens - Sunday Stamps II

I have something to crow about today thanks to my time in Norway. 

While I was there the Union of Bee and Poultry Keepers celebrated its 100th anniversary; a magnificent rooster appeared on a commemorative stamp.

Norway - 14 November 1984

Without this stamp I would not been able to show anything new this week for Sunday-Stamps-II-116.

Purple - Thematic Photography

I've heard of purple prose and people going purple when in a rage, but I never thought that I would contemplate writing a book called 'Fifty Shades of Purple'.

After last week's yellow I just had to return to the same roadside verge where yellow has been joined by -

Purple crocus

Again I'm continuing the flower theme - 

Purple pansies

These were taken on the first day of meteorological spring having survived the winter.

Other spring flowers are showing off different shades - 

Garden crocus

and 

Emerging primula

I saved my 'pièce de résistance' till last. I walked 2 miles to get a shot of an estate agents sign - 

Foiled again! Last week the selling agent had been 'Purple Bricks'!

For other purple patches please visit Carmi at Thematic-photographic-402,