Dirty - Thematic Photography

This is a theme that  Carmi uses regularly. The best of my previous posts will always be here  from five years ago.

Today's few shots do not match up to those but here goes,

Same spot as last week's watery theme

Nature's dead tree dirt

Look closely for the rabbit's contribution

And if you decide to keep hens on what was once a pristine lawn -

This is their creation

If you revel in dirt then check out the shots to be reached by visiting Dirty - thematic-photographic-417.

A-Z Challenge 2016 - Wildflowers 'E'

My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few wild flowers that I know.


I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them may fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.

'E' - Eggs and Bacon, Elder

I was surprised when a flower that I've known since I was a boy and that has its name in the Oxford English Dictionary does not appear with that name in my wildflower books.

Eggs and Bacon (on Portrack Nature Reserve, Stockton)

The dictionary says that eggs and bacon is the name of any of a group of flowers marked with orange, red or brown suggestive of eggs and bacon, especially - 

Bird's-foot-trefoil (on a rocky shore)

The common name of this plant comes from the elongated seedpods - each with a hood at the tip, which resemble a bird's foot. Besides eggs and bacon, it has numerous folk names including granny's toenails and devil's claws.

Bird's-foot-trefoil is highly toxic to humans although it has been used in a compress to relieve inflamed skin.


A bush commonly found in woodlands and roadside hedgerows is the Elder which has flowers and berries that can be put to good use.

Elderflower

Elderberries

In June the clusters of white flowers have a heavy fruity fragrance and may be used to make tea or add a musky flavour to pies.

The berries are favourites with birds; their droppings help to spread the elder. You can recognise the droppings by the purple stain they leave behind. The black juicy fruits make a distinctive flavoured wine and may also be used in pies and jellies.

The elder thrives on rabbit warrens as rabbits find it distasteful. It may also be found around badger setts and below tall trees where starlings and pigeons roost.

The pith in elder twigs is easily hollowed out with the twigs being used for peashooters or whistles - not that I've seen these for years.

Elder stems develop hard white wood which among other things may be used for carving combs and chessmen.

Attribution:

• Bird's-foot-trefoil - 19 may 2008, ex geograph.org.uk, by David Baird, CC BY-SA 2.0 generic

Pets - Thematic Photography

Having just completed the A-Z Challenge with 26 posts about dogs I must try to resist showing more. 

My morning walk continues to be productive for thematic shots.

Tortoiseshell Cat waiting to be petted

It never has to wait long.

Friendly Cat and Dog

The dog, Skye, appeared on the A-Z but as she and the cat get on so well together she deserved to be in the shot.

Even larger pets get pampered in our neighbourhood.

Inca in her coat

We are still getting frost at night so that's why she is all wrapped up in the morning sunshine.

Going back in time our children only had one pet who has appeared on Thematic Photography before. She was the escape artist extraordinaire.

Deirdrie, the hamster

She could hang onto anything - the curtains or

Especially a treat.

We may have had only the one pet but that did not stop us from looking after others.

Hoppity in Andrew's arms

His escapes were more spectacular than Deirdrie's as he could run much faster.

Guinea Pig

Who owned this I do not remember, nor can I recall its name.

It is also so easy for pets to change into pests. After all, it is just a question of an extra 's'.

A pesky squirrel

It's the wild ones that cause all the trouble.

At least it's eating the grass

And the problem with rabbits, tame or otherwise, is that they multiply.

Add caption

I''m not sure what this lot get up to now as they are over 30 years old.

Still if they look out of the window from their perch on top of a wardrobe they can watch another 'pet' feeding itself.

Shooting pets, or pests, can be a lot of fun provided you use a camera. To see what others have done follow the links at Carmi's Thematic-photographic-293.

Caravans and Beasties - Sepia Saturday

I was in danger of going overboard when I saw this weeks prompt.

I knew I had some caravans from another North East fair that I had shown before.

Yarm Fair Caravans c 1949

Apart from goldfish I was a bit short on beasties until I remembered my sons at a seaside fair over 40 years ago.

Little Monkeys (No, not my sons)

When it comes to animals there is no need for me to go far from home. I just need to keep an eye on what moves in my garden,

Woodpile Inhabitant ( Frog or Toad?)

For some reason or another our bird feeder gets raided from time to time; if I am quick I can catch the culprit in the act.

Squirrel Attack - May 2008

I wouldn't mind if the beggar didn't bury his walnuts in the lawn.

Young rabbits also take liberties with our plants.

Rabbit eats its fill - July 2008

This year I have  different strategy for them.

Got the little blighter

Before I let it go I gave it a good talking to. I dropped it back over the wall you can see behind us - with strict instructions to warn its friends that "In that house they eat rabbits."

Having had an operation on my leg earlier this month I have not been very mobile. Today has been the first day for three weeks that I have been permitted to walk the two miles to the local garage to fetch a morning paper. This is what I met along the way.

Caravans in transit.

I was tempted to hitch a ride.

Now I suggest you do that a take a look at what other Sepians have done for Sepia-Saturday-179.

Run Rabbit Run - Sepia Saturday

 The song Run Rabbit Run written for the show “The Little Dog Laughed” and originally sung by Flanagan and Allen was very popular during WWII especially after they changed the lyrics to ‘Run Adolf, Run Adolf, Run, Run, Run.

The lyrics were a dig at the German Luftwaffe whose first raid on Britain had been on flying boats at Sullom Voe in Scotland. Supposedly, only two rabbits were killed by the bombs, although they may have actually come from a butcher’s shop.

As today is Friday perhaps I should remind you of the words:

On the farm, every Friday

On the farm, it's rabbit pie day.

So, every Friday that ever comes along,

I get up early and sing this little song

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Goes the farmer's gun.

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run.

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Don't give the farmer his fun! Fun! Fun!

He'll get by

Without his rabbit pie

So run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

However these rabbits in Australia obviously didn’t run fast enough.

The Rabbiter - ex The Powerhouse Museum- Tyrell Collection

(ex flickr)

I wonder why the Australians decided to call their national rugby union team ‘The Rabbits’ in 1907.

In cricket tail-enders not likely to score runs are also called rabbits. Still on a sporting theme my golf club used to have a Rabbits section for golfers with handicaps 18 and above.

Sticking with Australia I found an idyllic scene,

Rabbits around a waterhole at the myxomatosis trial enclosure on Warbang Island 1938

 National Archives of Australia

Myxomatosis was the disease introduced by man to try and contain the numbers of rabbits. It was a highly infectious and caused by a virus that leads to swelling of the mucous membranes and the formation of tumours leading to blindness and death. I can vouch for the horrific nature of the symptoms as during the 1950s, as a holiday job, I worked on cleaning out a stretch of the River Guash for a fishing syndicate. We spent our lunch breaks putting dozens a day out of their misery.

1950s 'portrait'

Prior to myxomatosis rabbits had been part of our regular meals, especially during WWII when those caught by our dogs supplemented the meat ration.

Polychronis Lembesis (1848-1913) - Child with Rabbits

 (Oil on canvas - National Gallery of Greece)

Rabbits appear in art, many films and literature; the White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit stories and in a favourite of mine, Watership Down by Richard Adams. In American popular culture there’s Brer Rabbit and Bugs Bunny that have fascinated us for years. Everyone knows who it is when you hear, “What’s up Doc?”

Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, Br'er Tarrypin, and some dream women from Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris. Illustrations by Frederick S Church and James H Moser

The "Encyclopedia of Superstitions" by E. and M.A. Radford, edited and revised by Christina Hole, Barnes and Noble Books, 1996. First published in 1948 has a lot to say about rabbits, "In some parts of Lancashire and the adjacent counties, it is unwise to shoot a black rabbit. This is because they were once believed to be ancestral spirits returning in that form. In Somerset, white rabbits are said to be witches. That anyone really believes this now is improbable; nevertheless, white rabbits are not popular as children's pets, and they are usually left severely alone, and are not shot. A luck-bringing custom found all over Great Britain is to say 'Rabbits' or 'White Rabbits' once or three times on the first day of the month. It must be said early in the morning, before any other word has been uttered, otherwise the charm loses its force. In some districts it is considered necessary to say 'Hares' or 'Black Rabbits' when going to bed on the night before, as well as 'Rabbits' or White Rabbits' in the morning. If, however, the speaker becomes muddled and says 'Black Rabbits' on rising, bad luck will follow. The looked-for result of all this is variously given as general good luck during the ensuing four weeks, or the receipt of a gift within a few days."

Many people believe that carrying a rabbit’s foot in your pocket will bring you good luck. Because of the rabbit's ability to reproduce, the rabbit's foot also became a symbol of fertility. Now we find that rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility and they have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. Additionally they have become Playboy symbols.

Playboy Bunnies

 Attribution :  © Glenn Francis, http://www.PacificProDigital.com - CC-BY-SA 3.0

After that I have probably rabbited on too long. All I can suggest now is that you visit others at Sepia saturday