A Night at the Opera

A foggy, winter night at The Opera House, Oslo, Norway

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Sunday's Psalm--29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;

the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.


The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;

the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.


Though your servant is careful of them,
very diligent in keeping them,

Yet who can detect failings?
Cleanse me from my unknown faults!

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.


From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant;
let it not rule over me.

Then shall I be blameless and innocent
of serious sin.

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.


Psalm 19: 8, 10, 12-13, 14
All photos taken on our Alaska trip.

Bits of Alaska -- 6 -- More critters from The AWCC

You've already seen this bear a few posts back. The day we were at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center he seemed rather bored with it all. His life had not always been so calm. Take a look at the circumstances of the adoption of the three brown bears at the center.

If you click these forms they should enlarge so you can read them.

Living with wildlife is a fact of life in Alaska. You have to know how to cope with bears and moose, even in the cities. Of course, remember that Alaska's cities aren't quite what you find in other metropolitan centers. Alaskans live close to the elements even in "urban" areas. The circumstances of the bears' adoptions at the center are sad facts of life.

This bear was having a bit more fun that day with a nice swim and somethig to chew on. We never did figure out what the something was, but he was definitely working it over.

Some other critter portraits from the Center.

Caribou

The porcupine was a bit anti-social. Does he bring the "tribble" to mind here?

Musk Ox

A pair of young black bears.

Hey, Daryl. They wait impatiently in small Alaska towns, too. (Alaska bits 5)

Just so you know.

Waiting pups in Talkeetna, Alaska.

Daryl posts dogs waiting impatiently in New York City regularly. Dogs are dogs everywhere.

Beauty and the Quirky - a wander around Kalk Bay

Little fishing boats bobbing in Kalk Bay harbour

At the risk of causing you all to fall off your chairs in shock – yes, yes, it’s true, another blog post! The second in one week. Gasp! I know, it may yet snow at the equator! Stranger things have indeed happened.

It was a public holiday on Thursday and D decided to take Friday off as well – as did most of South Africa. Bah! sucks! humbug! to productivity, right? Given that it was a lovely day yesterday, though rain was threatened, we decided to wander down to Kalk Bay.

Harbour Lights - do you know your port from your starboard?

Fishing boats

The railway line runs from the city, through the suburbs and all the way down the coast

I suppose you might call it a village, but for us it’s just another suburb of Cape Town – quite far south and a bit out of the way, but a quirky little seaside place. The name means Lime Bay in English, though it’s never been called that - the name having been given to it by the early Dutch settlers. (Kalk means lime – and no, not limes as in citrus fruit, but as in the stuff you quarry.) The history of the place is quite interesting, it was variously a mini port for the Dutch East India Company and later became a small whaling station and then became home to a growing population of Filipinos. You can read more about the history and take a “tour” on the official Kalk Bay website.

The view from the harbour wall, looking across to Simonstown in the far distance

Mucking around in boats

For the past few years, it’s been quite a trendy, quirky spot, with lots of generally overpriced (yes, we know how to mug tourists in more ways than one) junk/bric-a-brac and antique shops and several decent restaurants. It’s very touristy in summer, and getting there and back in the high season can be a real nightmare. The narrow main road gets clogged with traffic moving at pace which would make a snail proud. I noticed though, as we wandered around yesterday, that a lot of the shops have closed down and new whacky boutiques have opened – sign of the times, or recession, who knows.

The "branding" at Quagga Trading

Kalk Bay Trading Post - all the junk you never knew you needed

Of course you always wanted a broken gumball machine. Of course you did!

And an old garden chair

And horns and horseshoes. Oh go on, admit it, you can't resist such a purchase!

I shouldn’t comment on the food, given I’ve nothing polite to say about it. Suffice it to say we opted for fish and chips down at the harbour – and have both been struck by very unhappy guts. There you go, another bad review for me to write (I’ve been making a habit of it of late…).

Filleting fish, fresh off the boats

Still, before the bug struck it was lovely wandering around in the mild spring sunshine, camera in hand, snapping the beauty and the quirky.

The wall of sweets at the general dealer/postal service/bait shop

The general dealer's sign, all things to all men - and women.

The local nursery, oozing colour

And because I just know you love to go "oooh" and "aw", some local residents...

Cape Fur Seals, only too happy to pose, in the hope you might throw them a fish!

A bit of Alaska -- 4 --Mooooooooooooooose

Now this fella has a pretty nice rack on his head. Know how much those things weigh? A lot! We visited him at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Girdwood. It is a wildlife rescue center, and the animals there have been ill or injured, given proper care, but for one reason or another are unable to return to the wild.

This fella, on the other hand, was a bit scruffy of antler, having quite a bit of velvet still hanging in bits and snatches. He was quite congenial to watch through the fence, and the fence wires were wide enough that I could stick the camera through to get a view without crossed wires impeding it.

You do gotta be careful, though!

...and keep an eye on what is happening on the other side of the fence. rather than watching the  tourists...                                                                                              

...or noticing that you have just missed feeding time in the nursery. Is that a mooooooooostache?

Look at Junior's little chin tuft!

Though I haven't myself seen one there, it is not uncommon to see a moose wandering in the streets of downtown Anchorage. They are big! The largest member of the deer family. This is just to separate the pictures above from the one below. "Stand here and smile, Honey." (He had no idea what I was up to.)

The conquest of a Norwegian Mountain

Wednesday this week we planned to conquer the summit, Høgevarde, elevation 1459m (4787 ft) known for its vast view (estimated 40,000 km²) over eastern Norway. The sunrise at 6.25 am gave no indication of weather condition, but the dark heaven yesterday night indicated strong wind at the Norefjell Mountain Range.
Leaving the modern cottage (thanks to cousin Kittan and family for their hospitality) as posted earlier in August we took the car up to Gulsviksseteren - with the beautiful of old houses,and started climbing. The hillside was steep, and we felt climbing a staircase, almost 30% right up.
However, nature in full Autumn blooming gave some confort against short breath and pain in leg muscles.
I have learned not to aim for the summit, only for the next step, tall stone, hillside or imaginative resting places. Take one step at the time. Look at the total distance as intervals and accept there is no shame to stop and turn back. Know your own strength. Remember you have a simultaneous heart and kidney transplantation history, total AV-block and are 100% dependent of a two-chamber continuous pacing pacemaker.The view from my ending point towards the west and Hallingdal is magnificent.Due to the strong wind, fatigue and accepting my limitations, my tour stopped at a plateau (1420m) above the Høgevarde Mountain Cottage - run by The Norwegian Tracking Assosiation But Tullen did it. She reached the Summit - 1459m.and she celebrated as every other "conquestadores."
If you are interested in other photos from our Mountain holiday, go to My Gallery.