Paula’s Black and White Sunday is Towering. Please click on images for a better view. The Hassan Tower in Rabat, Morocco was intended, in 1195, to be the largest minaret in the world along with a mosque, also intended to be the world’s largest. But the Sultan died and construction stopped. The tower reached 44 m (140 ft) only half of its intended height. The rest of the mosque was also left … Continue reading Black and White – Towers
Ailsa’s Travel Theme is History – please click images for a better view. The Chateau Laurier, a 660,000 square foot hotel in downtown Ottawa, was built for $2 million, between 1909 and 1912. When the hotel first opened, private rooms cost $2 a night; and only 155 of the 350 bedrooms featured a private bath. The great Memorial Anchor at the end of Nyhavn in Copenhagen is a … Continue reading Historical Tidbits
Please click on images for a better view. Tintern Abbey is in the beautiful Wye Valley in Wales, the River Wye forming part of the border between Wales and England. Founded in 1131, it fell into ruin after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. That was the process by which Henry VIII disbanded the Catholic monasteries and convents and effectively put … Continue reading Door/15 – Tintern Abbey
Ailsa’s challenge – Where’s my backpack – asked for some weather shots. Please click on images for a better view. Storm brewing on the road to Ottawa, Ontario … Squalls on the Firth of Moray, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland … Winter in the Eastern Counties, Ontario Summer rain in my garden … More rain, Florence, Italy … Glorious autumn weather on the Boulevard de Clichy, Paris And … Continue reading Weather, mostly rain
The Canadian Museum of History, formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization, is in Gatineau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill. We visited last spring, only taking in a couple of the exhibits. Please click on images for a better view. From the Horse Power Exhibition, this Cabriolet Sleigh represented Canada at the first world’s fair at London’s Crystal Palace Exibition in 1851. It … Continue reading Museum of History
Please click on images for a better view. In the Scottish countryside north of Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway one finds Drumlanrig Castle, the jewel of the 90,000 acre Queensberry Estate of the Buccleuch family who trace their family history back to 12th century Scotland. Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig, King Robert the Bruce’s right hand man, was the founder of what later became the Queensberry … Continue reading Castle/Drumlanrig
Drumlanrig Castle overlooks the Nith Valley in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. It was built between 1679 and 1689 from distinctive pink sandstone and it is the Dumfriesshire seat of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. This shot is an archway below the grand staircase of the main entrance. Please click on image for a better view. Norm’s Thursday Doors Continue reading Door/14 – Drumlanrig
Some days I spend so much energy fighting the loneliness and fear that I have nothing left. Combining my current state of grief with my pastimes of art and gardening has produced this series. Please click on the image for a better view. Continue reading Depleted
Please click on images for a better view. Ottawa’s Notre Dame Basilica, built in the mid-19th century, underwent a number of design changes before it was completed. Constructed over a period of five years, it was blessed August 15, 1846. However, the steeples, of which there are two, were not completed until 1858; the apse in 1862, and the primary work on the interior was … Continue reading Church/Notre Dame, Ottawa
Beyond the Brush 