Groten Eiland Marken

Didn’t Beatrix Potter have the most charming characters – the names and the accompanying illustrations.

Beatrix Potter Illustration – Jemima Puddleduck

A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette (1892) – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)

Rocky Mountain of Bongtoila Bhutan, 16,800 ft

The black tent is made out of yak hair.

Once upon a time I bought a sheep. I named her Julia. The idea was that what I really wanted was her fleece. She was to join an existing herd cared for by one of my nieces. That was the idea. In theory……. I’m not sure I ever got a fleece out of this “deal” – but I got a lot of fun out of the whole procedure. My very own sheep – “Julia”

Julia?

My niece and I and maybe a son or two went to a farm near Peterborough New Hampshire.. I purchased the selected sheep and brought her back to my sister and brother-in-law’s farm in Milford. Julia rode in the boot (trunk) of the car. Julia joined my niece’s existing herd of 8 or so sheep. Years passed and eventually the herd was sold (?) and I understood that Julia was given(?) to another family member who had a semi-farm in Massachusetts. I am rather vague as to Julia’s eventual fate.

Of course we were only visiting in New Hampshire at that time. We were on leave from Bangladesh.

Africa

American History

Animals

Bhutan

Boston Area

California

Canada

Caribbean

Cats and Dogs

Colleges

Covered Bridges

Elephant

England

Family Memories

Fiji

Fishing

France

Golf

Hawaiian Islands

India

Ireland

Kenya

Maine

Middlebury College

Nantucket, incl. Cape Cod

New Hampshire

Occupations

Ogunquit

St. Lucia incl the Caribbean

Paintings

Scotland

Seattle

Ships

Singapore

Skiing

Thailand

Vermont

Elspeth Huxley wrote many books about her life in Kenya in the early 1900’s. Possibly the most famous of her writing was The Flame Trees of Thika – a memoir of growing up in Thika (near Nairobi) in the early 1900’s.. I have read this book several times. In it she refers to the waterfalls nearby. I have lived in Kenya, both in the 19960’s and the 1990’s, but I have never seen these waterfalls. Now I have found a postcard of these falls. – that will have to do for now. Since Elspeth’s time, Nairobi has grown so much that Thika is now almost a part of Nairobi instead of being an outlier 30 hard trekked miles away.

Fourteen Falls, Thika

Reverse side

Hippopotamus in the Swamp

Hippopotamus in the Swamp. The hippopotamus is found in every river with water enough to cover him when he lies down, and in nearly every lake and marsh in the Uganda Protectorate, in which the Roosevelt party are now hunting. He isa serious impediment to navigation at the northern end of Lake Albert and on the Upper Nile. There is no immediate danger of his becoming extinct, for in the vast marshes he is hard to reach and for years to come is to a great extent safe from the white man’s bullets. This is a direct photograph, taken, as will be noticed, at close range, and shows the animal feeding in the swamp.

Rhinoceros at Rest

Rhinoceros at Rest. The Roosevelt photographer who took this picture of a rhinoceros sunning himself on his native belt, had a narrow escape. The animal charged him and he had to flee, leaving his camera. The rhinoceros is the most dangerous animal in the African wilds, as he has a very uncertain temper and will often charge a man without the slightest warning. He is, however, very stupid and almost blind and cannot see anything distinctly at a distance of ten yards. The recourse of the hunter is to remain still and the chances are very good that the rhinoceros will miss him in his charge. They have been known to have horns as long as 47 inches.

Busy wharf scene. Coastal boat landing fruit and vegetables at Castries St Lucia.