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A hugely important report has been released by Allianz, a leading global financial service provider, and WWF, a leading global environmental NGO. Both do work (commercial and conservation respectively) in India. The report is titled: ‘Major Tipping Points in the Earth’s Climate System and Consequences for the Insurance Sector‘.

What is a ‘tipping point’ and how does it apply to India and our agriculture? The phrase ‘tipping point’ means that a small change can make a big difference for some systems – which for our project is the agro-ecological systems inhabited by our farming households. In addition, the term ‘tipping element’ has been introduced to describe those large-scale components of the Earth system that could be forced past a ‘tipping point’ and would then undergo a transition to a quite different state. That’s the context in which the drought of 2009 can be examined.

You can find the report and more information here. I’m quoting the short summary of the report’s chapter on the Indian monsoon:

Indian Summer Monsoon – shifts in hydrological systems in Asia as a result of hydrological disturbance of monsoon hydrological regimes (particularly Indian Summer Monsoon) combined with disturbance of fluvial systems fed from the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan glaciers (HKHT)

Overview – The impacts on hydrological systems in India under a ‘tipping’ scenario are expected to approximately double the drought frequency (2) and effects from the melting of the Himalayan glaciers and reduced river flow will aggravate impacts.

Drought costs – Extrapolating from the 2002 drought using a simple calculation would suggest that the future costs (in today’s prices) might be expected to double from around $US 21 billion to $US 42 billion per decade in the first half of the century. However, a range of other factors are likely to act to increase these costs and consequences in the same period. The most significant of these are likely to be the combined effects of:

• decreasing probability of consecutive ‘non-drought’ years from which to accumulate surpluses (the probability of two consecutive ‘non-drought’ years is halved from 64% to 36% and for three consecutive years reduced from 51% to 22%);
• the pressures of increasing population on food and food surpluses (identified as equal to an increase in production by >40% by 2020 and continuing thereafter); and
• impacts of climate change on irrigation (with up to a 60% reduction in dry season river flows).

The effect of all of the variables is to increase the likelihood, severity and exposure of populations and the economy to potentially devastating conditions within the first half of this century with implications for water resources, health, and food security, and major economic implications not only for India but for economies regionally and worldwide.

Insurance aspects – The potential scale of drought losses could abort the initiatives to extend insurance more widely into the rural sector. The wider repercussions of drought through an economic slow-down and deterioration in public finances would impact insurers strongly, through the liquidation of private savings and the impairment of investments in public sector securities.

Morrita al 100

weno casi xD

Hi everyone!  Here we are starting another new week with just a few days left until Thanksgiving.  I am constantly amazed at how quickly time passes.  To me it feels like November just began, and now in less than a week, I’ll be bringing home a Christmas tree. Life moves fast.

Today marks the last day of the Webster’s Pages 12 Days of Christmas Crop.  I hope you’ve had a chance to check out the beautiful projects.  I missed yesterday’s peek since I was out celebrating my birthday, but never fear.  Amy Tara’s beautiful gift wrap project is still up at inspireME for all to play along.  As a matter of fact, all 12 projects will remain up in the forum for quite some time.  Here is a little peek.

To see the full project and to view all the information about the crop, please go here.

We are closing out the crop with a very special project from guest designer Karola Witczak that you are going to love!  It is truly amazing.  Here is a little peek at her chipboard winter house.  You need to pop over to at least check out the photos of the inside!  Stunning!

To see Karola’s full project, please go here.

It has been a very cool and rainy day here today.  I’ve been spending time snuggled up on the couch looking at all my pretty Thanksgiving decorations.  I figure I need to really enjoy them since they will soon be packed away for another year.  I’ve of course added to my collection since last year. What a surprise, huh?   I have a new set of pilgrims and a new garland that are gracing my living room mantel.

I found the garland at a deep discount at Hobby Lobby, of all places. 85% off!  I practically giggle every time I look at it thinking about my amazing score.

I also have a few things on the coffee table in front of the mantel.  The dried grass arrangement was lovingly created by my sweet Nik, and we found the baby pine cones that are under the cloche together on one of our walks.  These are the kinds of things that really make me smile.

So what are your plans for Thanksgiving?  I’ve decided to stay home this year and cook.  Haven’t done that in about a decade!  Wish me luck, ok?

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

So, I dunno about everyone else, but, I have a thing for basics. I like the things that you can wear with anything; because of that, I decided to add some basic turtlenecks to my clothing collection for both men and women.  I also released a version that is a little more risque for anyone wanting to turn up the heat or…if you just want your man to look at you and see how cold it is outside.

For women, I released a version that I think looks pretty soft.  My friend said it looked like cashmere so it kinda got that as its name.  It comes in a wide assortment of colours to meet everyone’s taste (I hope).  It also comes in all layers with sculpted neck and sleeve attachments.

Since I make so many colours, I introduced colour packs at my store with this last release; since fatpacks of like, 20 colours can be a bit much for the inventory to handle.  Now you can get 4 colour Plump Packs of my newest female items and hopefully, some of the older ones in the near future.

I didn’t forget about the guys either.  I also released a set of turtlenecks for men.  It comes in not as many colours, simply because I don’t see many men running around in doll pink, peach or pale yellow.  It happens, just not often.  To make things a little better for the guys, I included two sleeve types, one that is long sleeved and the other that is slightly rolled up.  Again, they come in all layers for wear with jackets or as sleeves underneath tee shirts, etc. and have sculpted sleeve and neck attachments.  I also introduced colour packs for guys, all colours are available in the Husky Pack or get a set of 3 colours in the Lil Chub Packs.

Last but not least, the something risque…While I was working on the turtlenecks, a thought came to mind.  Winter = female built in thermostats.  I giggled a bit and made this crop.   Then I thought, hey, I never saw piercings done in SL under shirts.  They may have them but I’ve never seen them.  Well, the other two versions of this happened next.  This top also comes in like a gazillion colours and each colour has three options.  One for pierced with hoops, one for pierced with barbells and the last, non-pierced.  As always, all layers.

STYLE NOTES:

Photo 1 (from left to right)

1: Zarabella Ming

Skin: Redgrave (info coming soon) http://slurl.com/secondlife/REDGRAVE%20Womens%20Fashion/242/231/23

Hair: *SHOP SEU* –sexy hair [ black ]– http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shiradin/215/225/3330

Pants: *BOOM* Fall Tweeds (Forrest) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: (info coming soon)

Top: *BOOM* It’s Nipply (green) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Top2: *BOOM* The Cashmere (purple) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

2: Claire Dallin

Skin: Cake-Bella Skin http://slurl.com/secondlife/FNKY%20Cake/129/76/26

Hair: Truth -Gabby http://slurl.com/secondlife/Truth%20Hair/107/26/25

Pants: *BOOM* Gettin Low V2 Blue http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Top: *BOOM* The Cashmere (dark blue) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: Miel Janes -mono  http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Deck/73/58/21

Glasses: Miel (I think) http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Deck/73/58/21

3: Aranel Ah

Skin: FS Skin – Fiona (Red Gloss) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Inizio/189/180/26

Hair: >TRUTH< Trina – espresso http://slurl.com/secondlife/Truth%20Hair/107/26/25

Pants: *BOOM* Seaman Pants -Mud http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Jacket:**DP** yumyum tweed jacket -brown http://slurl.com/secondlife/itutu/116/108/1001

Top: *BOOM* The Cashmere (cream) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: Redgrave  BOOTS-smoke http://slurl.com/secondlife/REDGRAVE%20Womens%20Fashion/242/231/23

Photo 2:

1/2&3: Trallion Suen

Skin: <TheAbyss> [ SKIN ][ Adam Crius_Origin ] http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Abyss/96/136/237

Hair: *SH* Magnoria-I Hair(Black) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Reishi/80/31/23

Jeans: *BOOM* Gettin Low Jean med v2 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Top: *BOOM* Basic Turtleneck versions (m1) and (m2) in (grey) & (cream) and (black) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: TonkTastic – Short Combat Boots http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rhododendron%20Island/222/230/2004

Pants: {Gisaci} Ruvido Slacks – Cioccolato http://slurl.com/secondlife/Armidi/135/127/26

Jacket: Armidi – (m) Classic Pinstripe Blazer [Chocolate] http://slurl.com/secondlife/Armidi/135/127/26

Photo3: (left to right) -

Pose Set:  Slash Me Poses  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/182/86/21

1. Claire Dallin

Skin: Cake-Bella Skin http://slurl.com/secondlife/FNKY%20Cake/129/76/26

Hair: Maitreya (info coming soon) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Maitreya%20Isle/178/175/23

Top: *BOOM* It’s Nipply Barbells – black http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Pants: *BOOM* Gettin Low V2 Indigo http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: (info coming soon)

Necklace: (info coming soon)

2. Aranel Ah

Skin: Lelutka Eclat Light - http://slurl.com/secondlife/LeLutka/250/108/23

Hair:  fri. – Neva – Cynical Black http://slurl.com/secondlife/Friday/155/129/32

Top: *BOOM* It’s Nipply -hoops- (pink) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Pants: *BOOM* Gettin Low V2 Blue  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Shoes: Redgrave BOOTS -smoke  http://slurl.com/secondlife/REDGRAVE%20Womens%20Fashion/242/231/23

Earrings:  [[SHADE THRONE]] over drama earrings  http://slurl.com/secondlife/tamalou%20island/201/204/25

Tattoo:  Addict -swack-  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Golden%20Eye/215/57/26

Side photos show: *BOOM* It’s Nipply in Red (non pierced), Teal (barbells) and Pink (hoops)    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Evening everyone!  Isn’t it lovely that it’s the start of another weekend already?  And this isn’t just any ol’ weekend, either.  Oh, no.  This is a special weekend.  It’s my birthday on Sunday! And as far as Nik is concerned, I’m having a big birthday this year.  I’m having a palindrome birthday.  Nik had her first palindrome birthday this year.  I’m not exactly having my first one, though.

How she thinks about these things is beyond me, but if she thinks this year is extra special, well, that’s ok with me.

I have a bunch of fun things planned for the weekend.  Time with friends and family, perhaps a movie on Sunday and dinner out, and a crop to go to tomorrow.  How fun is that?  And speaking of crops, we are still going strong with our 12 Days of Christmas Crop over at inspireME.  Today’s project is “1 design, 3 ways” by design team member Terri Hayes.  Here is a little peek for you.

To see Terri’s complete project and to view all the details on the crop, please go here.

Thought I would share with you all a few more of my Thanksgiving decorations since we are less than a week away now.  It won’t be long before they will come down and Christmas will start going up.  Incredible how quickly time flies.  Here is my dining room table with a few of my favorite things.

There’s my big turkey, Mr. 2008.  And the Mr. and the Mrs. from 2007.  A beautiful glass candle holder I got for my birthday last year (thank you, Kathie!)  A bit of ribbon, a few round glass ornaments, some scattered crepe paper leaves, and even a few junk store finds.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a fabulous Friday evening!

If Santa can make a list & check it twice, so can you!

You’re makin’ your list, you’re checkin’ it twice… when you wonder, “How will I do all this and still have time to scrapbook?” Oddly enough, that’s just what we were thinking here at Key Lime.

So to spread some holiday cheer and help us check off our goal to scrapbook through the holidays we have a present just for you! Download a FREE Quick Crop Sampler – scaled back to make it easy to host a quick crop.

Our “Have Some Fun & Get It Done” party includes both a printable invitation and a digital invite. We also have instructions for a fun twist on a traditional holiday party game. Encourage friends to bring any project they are working on that needs to be finished before the holidays; like making or addressing cards or finishing a handmade gift. Keep it Simple and make some memories with friends while you check off that to do list!
Life is sweeter when you celebrate it with friends! This crop is our way to say thanks for all the friends we have made this year and for your support!

Merry Christmas
Susan & Meredith

Hi everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Today is day 8 of our 12 Days of Christmas Crop over at Webster’s inspireME site.  I hope you’ve had a chance to check out some of the fabulous projects and be inspired by the amazing gallery.  Today’s project has me completely drooling.  I need to figure out a way to get Hilde to send her project to me.  I promise to take really good care of it!

Here is a little peek of her countdown calendar.

To see Hilde’s full project and to view all the details of the crop, please go here.

As for me, I thought I would share with you some of my homemade Thanksgiving treasures.  These have all been gifts that I’ve received over the years, mostly by my sweet daughter, and they bring me much happiness.  They are simple projects that you can make at home, and would be great for kid’s crafts, too.

These first guys are a set of pom-pom turkeys that Nik made me for my birthday last year.  They don’t sit up too well, so I had to get a little creative with their display.

A little white glue, some pom-poms, feathers, and pipe cleaners go a long way in this house. Nik glued a small red pom-pom onto a medium sized brown pom-pom, added a couple of feathers in the back, some googly eyes, and a beak and wattle made from pipe cleaners.

This next trio was made by a good friend of mine when she hosted Thanksgiving dinner several years ago.  These were her place card holders.

They have pine cone bodies and pipe cleaner legs and heads.  She created simple construction paper fans for the tails which she stapled together at the bottom and then hot glued to the backs.  She then made name cards which were stuck in the top of the pine cones.  We all got to take our turkeys home as party favors.

The last turkey is another version of the pine cone turkey.  Nik made this for me several years ago at school.

Pine cones, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and fun foam.  SO cute, huh?  Now you know why we were searching for pine cones the other day.

Hope these give you some ideas for fun turkey crafts you can make at your home.  I’d love to hear about it if you try these out, or if you have other ideas to share!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hey everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!  I’m very excited because today is my day to share my project for the Webster’s Pages 12 Days of Christmas Crop.  It’s been a long time in coming.  I’ve been waiting ever so patiently, and now it’s finally here!

One of my favorite things to do this time of the year is decorate my home for the holidays.  Every year, I slowly add to my collection of pretties with a combination of store bought items and hand-made projects.  And although I completely love my purchased goodies, it’s the home-made treasures that really warm my heart.  So for my 12 Days project, I made an altered wooden snowflake wall hanging that you, too, can make to brighten your homes this holiday season.

To see the full instructions for making this project, and to view all the details on the 12 Days of Christmas Crop, please go here.

And, I will be hosting a live chat at inspireME today at 5 pm EST.  Hope to see you all there!

COPYRIGHT BABETTE DE JONG

Evening everyone!  I hope by now you have all had a chance to check out the fabulous and fun crop going on over at Webster’s Pages’ inspireME site. 12 days of great projects and inspiration to jump start the holidays.  Today’s project makes a wonderful holiday gift idea, or a fantastic everyday project, too.  Here is a peek of design team member, Jaz’s acrylic mini album.

I absolutely adore how she did her cover.  You all NEED to check it out!  Here is the link to see the complete instruction to today’s project.

I am up tomorrow with my special project.  So excited to share it with you.  I’ll also be hosting a live chat at the inspireME site tomorrow at 5 pm EST.  I hope to see you all there!

I’ve been busy lately creating a few things for my Etsy site.  Here’s a fun altered project I’ve been working on.

I found this wooden reindeer cut out at my local craft store.  It measures approximately 11″ x 12″.  Covered it with some cheery BoBunny holiday paper.  I added reins using blue pompom trim from Webster’s Pages and then added a poinsettia die-cut from K&Co. for the “saddle”.  To give the poinsettia a bit of strength and stability, I layered it on some chipboard first.

Lastly I added a multi-layered bow at the neckline using several ribbons and tulle.  Added a K&Co. rub-on directly to the sheer ribbon.  Also added a piece of a holiday pick, a blue snowflake eyelet with gemstone center, and some baker’s twine.

This guy was so much fun to make.  I’ve really been loving the altered projects lately.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow to seek some peeks of the altered project I did for the Webster’s crop.

Have a great evening everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Friends here we come up with another write up on “Commodity Corner Series”.

Here we would touch upon the importance of Maize crop in Indian commodity market and its relevance in the context of Indian Scenario

CORN………. “The Un-discovered Legend”

Maize, also known as corn, is a cereal which is an important crop after rice and wheat.

The domestication of maize has been dated back as far back as 12,000 years ago. Today, maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, in a greater size with top producing countries like United States, China, Brazil, France, Indonesia, India and South Africa.

Indian Scenario:

Andhra Pradesh is now the largest producer contributing around 21% of annual maize production.

India ’s area harvested of maize and yield have risen by mainly on account of rising production of single cross hybrids seeds, its demand and increasing acceptability among farmers.

In India, its cultivation extends from the hot arid plains of Rajasthan and Gujarat to the wet hills of Assam and Bengal.

There are three distinct seasons for the cultivation of maize:

the main season is kharif;

next is Rabi in Peninsular India and Bihar and

in spring in northern India.

Normally, higher yields have been recorded in the rabi and spring crops.

Over 85 per cent of the maize acreage is sown under rain-fed conditions during the monsoon when over 80 per cent of the annual rainfall is received.

However, this year due to the erratic monsoon production has been affected, as a result of which maize prices have been in uptrend since the withdrawal of monsoon from the country.

During 2008-9, Indian exported 3 million tonnes of maize and 12,000 tonnes of maize seed worth of Rs 2,400 crore and Rs 2,000 crore respectively.

Stay Tuned for more on this.

In next blog we would touch upon the issues like Potential source of demand for Maize crop, Industrial Demand and PVO (Price-volume-open Interest) of MAize crops.

Note : For More Latest Industry, Stock Market and Economy News and Updates, please click here

The critique session. This is a common thing to do in photography circles. Photographers bring samples of their work and a panel of “experts” or maybe just other photographers look them over and give suggestions for improvement. The critique can be in person or there are dozens of online photo forums where members post their work for review by other members.

I think that this is mostly a photography thing. Maybe since I’m not a sculptor or a painter I’m just not in the loop, but I’ve never heard of such a thing for other art forms. What is it about photographers?

Anyway, until the other night I had never participated in a critique. I figure I’ve been taking photos for longer then I care to admit and have read a wee too many photography books for my own good so if I haven’t figured out the rule of thirds or how to use an exposure meter by now it is a lost cause. Plus, if I have got the basics down and I’m to the point that I’m flaunting “the rules” with strange, twisted, evil compositions and exposures to fit my personal vision of the world, then there is no point in asking someone else to judge what I’m doing with an eye toward some sort of improvement - I do what I do and some people will like it and some won’t.

Well, I decided to go to an “open critique for photographers” at the BookSmart Studio. It sounded pretty informal and was a chance for photographers to get together, show off their latest experiments, and swap ideas for a while. I don’t know a lot of other photographers so I thought what the heck.

There was a lot of  “I would crop it here” and “what if you darkened this area up a bit”, but for me seeing what the other photographers were doing and learning why they were doing it was the really good part. It was like going to a gallery and having the artist available for questions.

Oddly enough this leads me to my subject for today – Japanese ink painting or Sumi-e (pronounced like: sue me, eh). I’d like to apologise beforehand for my butchering of this subject. I’m no art scholar and no expert in Asian culture so please bear with me as I do my best to cover a subject that seems so simple on the surface and yet runs as deep as the human soul.

You can read about the history of Sumi-e in the wiki link above. It is an old old art form originating in China in the first century and eventually migrating to Japan around the fourteenth century.  Technically the term Sumi-e refers only to Japanese ink painting, but very often the term is used to cover many similar styles from other regions of Asia. The basics come down to the use of solid sticks of black ink ground on a stone and mixed with water in various concentrations to create subtle shades of grey applied to rice paper or silk using traditional brushes. I have included an image of a work by Shubun from the fifteenth century. Search Google images for more examples.

I’ll bet many of us have seen Sumi-e, but haven’t thought much about them. They have a distinctive look that at first glance seems very simple and sparse. Subjects are reduced to bare essentials. Often there is writing in the open areas. Westerners think they are quaint, but not very interesting.

One of the things I have always read about Sumi-e is that space is as important or perhaps more important than the objects. An intriguing idea, but what does it mean? Most descriptions of Sumi-e stop there – no explanation of how or why empty space is important. Often I think this is because the writer does not have the foggiest why; they are just repeating what others have written. This has always bothered me and recently I decided to dig a little deeper.

To a westerner, empty space is often referred to as “negative” space.

“…as defining a general composition the negative space is the area that is not the primary subject. The primary subject or object is defined by the negative space surrounding it.” – Roland Lee Art Gallery

So space is merely anything that is not the primary subject. It is just a throw away – not exactly the important point we’re looking for here.

A more significant use of “negative” space can be seen in works of M.C. Escher as birds morph into fish or whatever depending on where one focuses attention. Many of his drawings blur the distinction between positive and negative space. The white areas can be negative thus defining the edges of the black areas or vice-versa. Still at any given moment we are just using one to outline the other.

One key point that is often overlooked is that ink painting is more that just a style of art. It is an excercise in meditation deeply tied to Zen Buddhism and is used as a method to teach Zen principles.

“…ink paintings are done using precise techniques … that originated among the monks of Zen Buddhist China as an alternative form of meditation, supplemental to the traditional practice of sitting, as well as an exercise in observation and poetry.” - The Japan Center

“…illusory boundaries between self and others are dissolved. The core of existence is revealed to be nonexistence, the “essence” of all things non-essence or nothingness. The recognition and acceptance of the truth of this nothingness is essential to the ability to attain enlightenment. If recognition of the empty nature of all things is a principle tenet of Zen, this view must have some effect on the ways in which practitioners of Zen perceive the world around them. Certain aesthetic qualities would be found appealing to someone who is striving to embrace emptiness. Clutter and embellishments would be less attractive to a person who sees the void as ideal. Instead, a Zen mode of thought would lead to the appreciation of empty spaces and simplicity. It follows that another aspect of the Zen aesthetic may find beauty in unfilled space. “ – Rachael Dubin

Now we are getting somewhere. Space in Sumi-e is not just what’s left over after the main subject is drawn. It does not merely outline. It is something in itself. Empty space can be beautiful. It is a place to clear the mind of clutter and explore the essentials of existence.

Whether one is into Zen or not, an appreciation of emptiness can bring a much needed perspective on life. Look up into a clear night sky -  there is an awful lot of emptiness in the universe; maybe we should to get used to it. The deep desert and the far ocean are places that many find uncomfortable. I think there can even be a kind of emptiness in a deep forest.

We avoid space and emptiness whenever we can. We clutter our houses with “stuff”. We clutter our lives with activities. We fill lulls in conversation with mindless chatter…

And we always fill our photographs with the main subject. The Kodak rule is to always move in close and fill the frame. People don’t want to see space. It makes a photograph difficult to understand. We like our images plain and simple with a solid obvious subject front and center and a clear title just to be sure we don’t miss the point.

Certainly there are times when some judicious cropping is in order, but I think it is often a knee jerk response. Being a technologically derived art form, photography often leads to formulaic approaches both in the creation and in the viewing. We crop because it is a rule of good photography. All open areas are automatically cut away without a thought. After all, this is just negative space and serves no purpose other than to define the positive objects, right?

The image at the top of the post is one that I took last winter. I had printed it for a show and didn’t use it so I grabbed it and hung it up at the critique. The first response of the other photographers was to crop the space off the top – not a second’s hesitation. It may be hard to tell from a web based image rather than the hard print, but I felt that the cropping changed the image immensely. I have included a cropped version for comparison.

The acid test was to ask my wife which she preferred. She normally never agrees with me on anything artistic, but this time she did. She felt that removing the darkness at the top took away a sense of height that pulled the building upwards. The cropped version makes the building look short and squat.

I would take it further. The building in the photo is a call box/control booth at the local canal lock at night during the winter. The place was quiet, dark, cold, and deserted. The canal is drained and shut down during the winter. The only sound was a small unseen stream of water lightly hissing through a gap in the lock doors. Ice covered what little open water lay in the bottom of the canal. No one was there to man the controls. No one was going to call from their boat to have the locks opened. The huge gears sat silent - frozen in more ways than one.

I feel that the black sky above the building not only adds an element of height, but also is an essential element of the place. Quietness, rest, poise, balance, isolation, anticipation, flight can all be found in that blank space. The original image is really about the space and the feel of the place. It is the experience that I felt being there.

The cropped version is about the building. The building is nothing. It is just a building. It might still be a nice photo, but it doesn’t convey anything beyond the colors and the geometric shapes.

Maybe showing a single photo was not a fair test. Maybe if I had put up several that I took that night a theme would have emerged. The final image is another that I took of that building (so to speak). Maybe I should have added even more space to make the point more obvious.

MDW

I don’t recall the puzzle being this large – not sure if this guy is doing a puzzle or drawing his own laptop. One of those new flat, electronic paper versions…

Alright, before we get into the feathered fun, I just want to say thanks to the people of WordPress.com for featuring me it made me very happy. ta.

Anyways, moving on. As it turns out, I still have AT LEAST three more of the critter posts to do after this one! I hope you’re as pleased about that as I am. As to what they are, you’ll just have to wait and find out!

Aves

Madagascar has a multitude of birds, a number of which are found nowhere else. Whole genera in fact. Amongst the most famed perhaps are the Paradise Flycatchers, Terpsiphone mutata. These beautiful birds were actually very common around camp and up in Montagne d’Ambre. It was great to see and hear them flitting about. The males are spectacular. Unfortunately however, I only got shots of the females, and these have been quite heavily cropped. I really missed the 300 out there.

Terpsiphone mutata

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/2.8

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/320s f/2.8

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/2.8

One of my favourite birds however is the Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher, Ceyx madagascariensis. It is elusive, small, but friendly and very cute. We got extremely lucky one night at camp, and found one sleeping just above the path. Then later in Montagne d’Ambre one of the members of the group noticed that others had walked right by one. It was a unique opportunity to shoot a fascinating and difficult to find species at very close range:

Ceyx madagascariensis

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/8

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/5.6

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.0

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3

In Montagne d’Ambre, we also got to see the Amber Mountain Rock Thrush, Monticola erythronotus. These are common, small birds, but their level of comfort with humans is impressive.

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/2.8

By far the most enchanting moments however were spent with owls. Much like the kingfishers, it seems the owls have very little experience with humans. They’re not sure how to react. They’re also rather common. They afforded me some of my favourite pictures from the whole trip, and a special photographic moment I will never forget:

Madagascar Scops Owl, Otus rutilus

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3.2

D300 + 105mm VR @ 1/30s f/3.2

And in Montagne d’Ambre, again we got a short opportunity to do some owl shots. Same species, just a grey-er morph. The bright spot in the background is the moon. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to shoot again with a smaller aperture.

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/2.8

Wahey, and that’s it for the birds. We saw dozens more species, but the absence of a nice long lens meant that they could only really be appreciated by sight and through binoculars. None quite so stunning as the Blue Vanga. But sunbirds aplenty and such like. Next time, I’ll bring the monster and do it right. Promise.

Next time on Shutters and Technicalities, Frogs!

Hope you enjoyed, and are looking forward to the froggies. I am.

Miembro de la Guardia Suiza del Vaticano. Recorte del original.

By John Phillips 

“You can make from $395 to $6,000 per year from a daylily bed that’s only 16-feet long and 12-feet wide” says Helen Wheeler Boykin of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

In a small daylily bed that size, you can plant 79-double fans of daylilies in the early spring. The following spring those daylilies should double. Then you can sell the increase, generally one-half of your crop, and get your money back in one year’s time. When the late spring of the third year of your daylily crop arrives, your daylily crop again will have doubled, and you once more can sell one-half of your crop and make a profit this time.

“You’ll still have some of your original stock of daylilies from which to grow more daylilies,” Boykin explains. “Daylilies can provide a reliable, extra income as well as color and beauty for your home and garden. Many types of daylilies, usually a double fan, sell for only $10, but some daylilies sell for up to $300 per double fan. Your customer base will determine the price of daylilies you sell the most.”

Today many families earn $1,000 and more each year by selling not only daylily plants but also daylily seeds.  Daylilies are beautiful annual flowers that multiply quickly, don’t require much upkeep and are drought-resistant. They can grow in almost any part of the United States and southern Canada and come in thousands of varieties of shapes, colors and sizes.  

Daylilies for College

With the rising costs of college educations, some families have begun raising and selling daylilies and putting the monies made into college funds for their children. Here’s another twist on that idea. Jason Berryhill of Birmingham, Alabama, planted daylilies to help finance his college education once he started to college.

“I helped someone with a daylily garden set up his computer system, so I received my initial stock of daylilies without having to take any money out of my pocket,” Berryhill says. “From what I’ve read, studied and learned from the daylily growers I’ve talked with, I expect to make from $3,000 to $8,000 a year from the 1/4-acre of raised beds of daylilies I’ve planted.”

To learn how to raise, grow, care for and sell daylilies, go to www.hunterstorch.com where you can see photos of hundreds of daylilies and learn about them. Click on “Garden Tips” to receive free tips for raising daylilies.

John Phillips

John Phillips is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily Internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. He is also the president of Nighthawk Publications, Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama and the owner of Hunter’s Torch Daylily Garden.