That is absolutely amazing, Pam. What a beautiful animal, what a gorgeous scene and what an exquisite piece of photography my friend 🤩👍🏼
This is the day we first discovered Michael J Fox’s favorite napping place in our garden. 🦊🩶🧡🌱
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnusualEncounters
#ECK
#Foxes
#GrayFox
If only I had that spring in my step Sabine lol 😂
The tale of the little toad in the poster.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
#photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
Beautifully rich colours, lighting and details and the #AltText is wonderfully written Sabine 🤩👌🏼
Stone Guardian of the Crypt.
St. Michael at Dom St. Peter und Paul in Brandenburg an der Havel.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #cathedral #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
Super interesting shot Sabine and as usual, your #AltText is amazing!! 🤩
The electrical palace.
For the story about these simple switches discreetly hidden see alt text.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #electricity
#photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
Absolutely love this shot Sabine 🤩 and I hope you didn’t lose your head taking this one 😉👌🏼
The Executioner’s House in Werder (Havel), Germany
#UrbanGaze
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
#UnusualEncounters
#Photography
One among many unusual encounters.
A life size mastodon at Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs, California.
Button groundcover, Cotula duckittiae (Buttons) and Cotula 'Tiffindell Gold' (Creeping Gold Buttons)
This ground cover in the botanic garden caught my eye last summer. If it were not for the glistening rain drops I would not have noticed it. (Previously posted in a video).
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #Photography #MobilePhotography
An image of red-eared slider turtles in a pond within the National Garden in Athens, Greece. The dark green reptiles have bright yellow markings and with red stripes down either side of their heads. In the middle of the frame a grouping of four turtles looks directly at the camera. Two sit on rock which is nearly (but not quite) large enough for them to sit side by side. A third turtle is partially on top of the one of the right and tilted downward reaching for the next rock over. The fourth turtle is the current champion of the ongoing battle for top turtle. It sits astride turtles one and two with a foot dominantly planted on each. Various limbs and shells of the many, many residents of the pond and other rocks are out of focus behind the main grouping. The pond is absolutely teeming with this invasive species. There is a large rock pile at the center and being as high as you can get in the pile is clearly the ultimate goal. Standing on others (and shoving them off) is encouraged.
It's turtles all the way down.
Pond of slow motion reptile stacking chaos in the National Garden of Athens.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #UrbanGaze #ColorADay #YellowThu #AlphabetChallenge #WeekLForLayers #GreenSpace #Wildlife #Photography #ArtYear #ECK #Travel #Greece
A Song Thrush examines a bush in the rose garden at Emmetts National Trust property near Westerham in Kent … or more likely it was looking for grubs and worms in the soil next to the grassy lawn. Beyond the bush is a paved path and another border with more rose bushes. Camera: iPhone 15 Pro
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #speckled birds and @alan678.bsky.social set the bar high with his Song Thrush. I felt like giving up but then saw this chap while in a National Trust garden today, looking for a #PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters shot.
Unusual serendipity.
#photography #ECK
A photograph of a water feature in a fountain covered in ferns. The underlying structure is barely visible beneath all the plant coverage. A small sculpture of a woman sits at the very top. She holds an urn in her right hand which is pouring out a small stream of water to a pool outside the frame. In the background, a metal structure that's somewhere between a gazebo and a pergola is seen. It surrounds the little fountain. Beyond is a more forested section of the park. The National Garden in Athens, Greece.
The National Garden in Athens is full of tucked away surprises. This metal pergola holds a tall fern covered planter/fountain combo. The water pours out of the urn and into a little pool filled with fish below.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #UrbanGaze #GreenSpace #Travel #Photography #ECK
A topiary camel stands in front of Rough Point, a Gilded Age mansion of Newport RI completed in 1892 by Frederick W. Vanderbilt. The most recent owner was the late Doris Duke (d. 1993), who actually kept two pet camels on the premises. The mansion is now a museum, open for public viewing since 2000 and owned by the Newport Restoration Foundation.
A mansion known as "Rough Point", Newport RI 🏛️
📷Nikon P7700 (2015)
#PalacesandGardens, #UnusualEncounters, #ArtYear, #Photography, #ECK, #PhotographersofBluesky, #RhodeIsland
1950s chocolates, a copy of Country Life from 1958, old newspapers and an ashtray with cigarette ends at the Jacobean Chastleton House in the Cotswolds.
#PalacesandGardens
#UnusualEncounters
#HistoricHouses
#Photography
Love these Alina, fabulous captures!! 🥰💙👍🏼
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
The Matthias Fountain at the Buda Castle in Hungary depicts a dog (part of the king's hunting party) drinking the flowing water of the fountain.
#ECK #MatthiasFountain #Dogs #Fountain #Budapest #Hungary #Sculpture
A pigeon is perched on the edge of an ancient urn along a street in Paris. There are bare branches twisting in the background and an old street lamp peeking in from the right.
A pigeon pays no mind to the birdbath being an ancient urn.
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnusualEncounters
#Paris
#ECK
#UrbanGaze
Closeup of a hunting hound sculpture with longish ears stooped drinking the water that running down the stones of the fountain. The fountain is made of stone; the sculpture is metal with a turquoise patina. Located in the forecourt of the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It depicts the king of Hungary's hunting team.
Broader view of a hunting hound sculpture with longish ears stooped drinking the water that running down the stones of the fountain. The fountain is made of stone; the sculpture is metal with a turquoise patina. Located in the forecourt of the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. In this image you can see a second hound standing behind the drinking dog as well as people behind the dogs, one holding a smaller dead animal by its feet.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
The Matthias Fountain at the Buda Castle in Hungary depicts a dog (part of the king's hunting party) drinking the flowing water of the fountain.
#ECK #MatthiasFountain #Dogs #Fountain #Budapest #Hungary #Sculpture
The image shows a relief sculpture depicting Czechoslovak soldiers flanking the national coat of arms of Czechoslovakia, located on a building on Kollárovo Square in Bratislava, Slovakia. Their uniforms are a rust color and their helmets and the coat of arms are gold. The faces and hands of the soldiers are a whitish grey. There are two soldiers on one side of the coat of arms, and two on the other side facing each other. They seem to have surprised or outrage in their expressions, and the hands (clinched, showing the backside of the palm) look like they are "clutching their pearls" while they bicker about who did what or who is at fault (just my silly interpretation!).
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
Whenever I see this I think that the soldiers are "clutching their pearls" while they bicker about who did what or who is at fault (just my silly interpretation!).
#ECK #Bratislava #Slovenia #ReliefSculpture #Soldiers #CoatOfArms
New York Botanical Garden
The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle
#orchids #flowers #NewYork #Bronx #photography #ECK #EastCoastKin
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
#ColorADay #YellowThu #flowerart #PhotographersOfBluesky
The tale of the little toad in the poster.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
#photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
Colours, detail and textures, this has it all June!! 🤩💛🧡🖤👍🏼
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnexpectedEncounters
#UnusualEncounters
#YellowThu
#Photography
#EastCoastKin
#PhotographersofBlueSky
Beautifully taken June my friend 🤩👌🏼
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnexpectedEncounters
#UnusualEncounters
#Photography
#EastCoastKin
#PhotographersofBlueSky
Photo of a gray fox resting on a basic rock sculpture in the garden, with green trees and shrubs surrounding the area.
This is the day we first discovered Michael J Fox’s favorite napping place in our garden. 🦊🩶🧡🌱
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnusualEncounters
#ECK
#Foxes
#GrayFox
A bright green statue of a frog on two legs and wearing pants and a top hat stands in a floral arch.
Brick turrets rise beside a brick manor house on a lawn. A red brick arched bridge spans a body of water. Green trees cover the background.
For #PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters, I’m came across this rather whimsical guy in an alcove at #GrootBijgaardenCastle. As cute as he is, he looked a bit…incongruous here. #photography #ECK
A thistle placed on the yellow floral-patterned velvet of an antique chair to prevent visitors from sitting on it
#PalacesAndGardens
#UnexpectedEncounters
#UnusualEncounters
#YellowThu
#Photography
#EastCoastKin
#PhotographersofBlueSky
In the crypt of Brandenburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter und Paul), a remarkable Romanesque stone capital crowns one of the ancient pillars. Carved from sandstone around 1220–1240, it depicts a crowned, winged figure bearing a shield and weapon, iconography associated with St. Michael the Archangel in his role as heavenly warrior. The broad, scaled wings, the circular shield adorned with a rosette, and the commanding posture are hallmarks of medieval ecclesiastical sculpture brought east of the river Elbe by craftsmen from the Magdeburg workshops. These capitals were not originally made for the crypt itself. Scholars believe they were imported pieces, likely procured for the cathedral’s cloister buildings and later relocated into the crypt during the 15th century. Today they are considered the finest ensemble of Romanesque architectural sculpture in the entire state of Brandenburg, an unexpected treasure hidden beneath the cathedral’s nave, bathed in warm light between painted brick vaulting that frames the stone as though it were an altar. The cathedral’s crypt dates back to the first building phase of 1165–1173, making this space and the roughly 800-year-old carvings within it among the oldest and most significant medieval artistic remains in the Brandenburg-Havel region.
Stone Guardian of the Crypt.
St. Michael at Dom St. Peter und Paul in Brandenburg an der Havel.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #cathedral #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
When Kaiser Wilhelm II made the Neues Palais his primary residence in 1888, the magnificent Rococo palace still relied entirely on oil lamps, petroleum lanterns, and wax candles for light, just as it had since its completion over a century before. Wilhelm drove an ambitious modernization campaign, installing central heating, an elevator, and over 40 bathrooms, but electrification had to wait until Potsdam built its first municipal power plant. It was only in 1911 that the palace was finally connected to the city’s power grid, and wiring was installed in stages: the imperial apartments and state rooms first, the servants’ quarters in the attic not until 1915. Kaiser Wilhelm, his wife Empress Auguste Viktoria, their children, and the household staff were the first to use the new electric installations. The small panel of four circular switches, nestled just below the gilded ornamental molding, tells this layered history at a glance. The white porcelain toggle switch on the left is a classic early-20th-century fitting, almost certainly original to the 1911 electrification. Porcelain was the material of choice at the time, non-conductive, heat-resistant, and durable, and this switch would have controlled the room’s electric lighting, replacing candles or gas lamps. The two brass rotary switches in the middle are of a similar age or possibly even earlier design; one or both likely served not as light switches but as electric servant call buttons, used to summon staff, a standard feature in any imperial household. Finally, the round two-pin socket on the right is clearly the odd one out: a practical 1950s or 1960s addition, almost certainly installed during the GDR era when the palace was repurposed for museum use, with little regard for the gilded Rococo surroundings into which it was so matter-of-factly embedded.
The electrical palace.
For the story about these simple switches discreetly hidden see alt text.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #electricity
#photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
The Executioner’s House is the oldest building on the mainland of Werder (Havel), with roots stretching back over 400 years. In 1610, the Brandenburg executioner Hans Möller received permission from Elector Johann Sigismund to construct a house on open land outside the town, near the vineyards along the road to Brandenburg. Dated to around 1640, it stood near the town’s Gallows Hill and was at the time the only dwelling outside the inhabited island of Werder. The executioner’s duties went well beyond carrying out sentences. He also served as a knacker, responsible for collecting and processing dead livestock from Werder and approximately 30 surrounding villages, a privilege granted by the electoral court that remained in local hands until 1696. By around 1710, the property had grown into a substantial farmstead with sheds, stables, and outbuildings. As the town expanded, complaints about the stench grew, and by 1889 authorities relocated the operation outside the city limits; the knackery tradition finally ended in 1930. The complex was extensively renovated between 1997 and 1999, and now houses a restaurant.
The Executioner’s House in Werder (Havel), Germany
#UrbanGaze
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #ECK
“Design in collaboration with Alex Grey based off his painting "Blessed". Inspired by the Christ Pantocrator. The most common translation of Pantocrator is "Almighty" or "All-powerful" or "Sustainer of the world".” https://www.majestixdesign.com/gallery#/blessed-cosm-2017/ The artwork is part of the outdoor art installations on the CoSM grounds that visitors can explore.
Blessing Hand
by Hoodie Salinas (design by Alex Grey)
#UnusualEncounters #PalacesAndGardens
#Abstractia #Symbols (see Alt text)
#WeekKLforLayers #AlphabetChallenge #ThickTrunkThursday
#ECK #Photography #NaturePhotography #CoSM
Looking westwards along the remains of Hadrian's Wall. The image shows a colourful art installation at Housesteads Roman Fort, Northumberland, England. Created by artist Morag Myerscough, it reimagines the original Roman gatehouse. The installation, titled "The Future Belongs To What Was As Much As What Is," was part of the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival in 2022, marking 1900 years since the wall's construction began. It is a contemporary interpretation of the original Roman gatehouse, built using scaffolding and brightly painted wooden placards created by local communities. It was open to the public from July to October 2022. Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years. Construction began on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It took three legions consisting of 5,000 men as little as, perhaps, a decade to build. It runs for 73 miles from coast to coast (Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway) to with a 25 mile extension south through Cumbria.
The image shows a colourful art installation at Housesteads Roman Fort, part of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. Created by artist Morag Myerscough, it reimagines the original Roman gatehouse. The installation, titled "The Future Belongs To What Was As Much As What Is," was part of the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival in 2022, marking 1900 years since the wall's construction began. It is a contemporary interpretation of the original Roman gatehouse, built using scaffolding and brightly painted wooden placards created by local communities. It was open to the public from July to October 2022 Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years. Construction began on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It took three legions consisting of 5,000 men as little as, perhaps, a decade to build. It runs for 73 miles from coast to coast (Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway) to with a 25 mile extension south through Cumbria.
The image shows a colourful art installation at Housesteads Roman Fort, part of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. Created by artist Morag Myerscough, it reimagines the original Roman gatehouse. The installation, titled "The Future Belongs To What Was As Much As What Is," was part of the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival in 2022, marking 1900 years since the wall's construction began. It is a contemporary interpretation of the original Roman gatehouse, built using scaffolding and brightly painted wooden placards created by local communities. It was open to the public from July to October 2022 Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years. Construction began on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It took three legions consisting of 5,000 men as little as, perhaps, a decade to build. It runs for 73 miles from coast to coast (Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway) to with a 25 mile extension south through Cumbria.
Looking eastwards along the remains of Hadrian's Wall. The image shows a colourful art installation at Housesteads Roman Fort, Northumberland, England. Created by artist Morag Myerscough, it reimagines the original Roman gatehouse. The installation, titled "The Future Belongs To What Was As Much As What Is," was part of the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival in 2022, marking 1900 years since the wall's construction began. It is a contemporary interpretation of the original Roman gatehouse, built using scaffolding and brightly painted wooden placards created by local communities. It was open to the public from July to October 2022 Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years. Construction began on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It took three legions consisting of 5,000 men as little as, perhaps, a decade to build. It runs for 73 miles from coast to coast (Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway) to with a 25 mile extension south through Cumbria.
#PalacesAndGardens #UnusualEncounters
Art installation at Housesteads Roman Fort,Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland (Aug 2022)
Created by artist Morag Myerscough, it reimagines the original Roman gatehouse from 1900 years ago
See Alt for more
#northumberland #hadrianswall #art #photography #eastcoastkin
Good morning friends! Happy #PalacesandGardens #UnusualEncounters, #UrbanGaze, & #HumansOfBlueSky Thursday. How are you?🙋♂️
It’s about 6:30am 🕡 EDST here & ☁️, so I’m making our rich & aromatic #BlueBrew coffee. Who’d like a cup?☕️
Please do stop by & say hello!👋
We close at 10:30am 🕥 EDST😊
#ECK
