Public display

It's carnival time in our area.  Everyone is making sure they look their best for being out in public.

 Some greet the public with a new coat of paint, hastily applied the day before (yesterday it was grey).

  The butterflies absorb sunlight along with the atmosphere

Some individuals survey the public from a safe distance and with a certain disdain.

Most make sure of a good vantage point ...

... for the public firework display on the beach.

So, if you'd like to meet the public in the Photo Hunt, pay a visit to TNchick's site where you can find out more.

Hanging around

When we decided to visit Prague, I realised I knew little about the city or the Czech Republic.  I did do some research before I left but there were all sorts of things that surprised me when I was there to see for myself, and among them, marionettes.  They were hanging everywhere.

On the market stalls they were with the postcards.  This row had a great family resemblance - all out of the same mould. :)

You could even buy them with your carrots and onions.

But elsewhere you could go to see a performance in what is reputed to be the world's oldest marionette theatre.  I don't know what, if any, symbolism is intended in the sign hanging over the entrance.

This was one of the more elaborate hanging figures.  Some of them seemed quite "dark".

The history of marionettes in the area goes back to the 18th century when travelling puppeteers would tour through the Czech lands.  The marionettes were made from lime wood by professional wood carvers who often carved church statues too.  Later amateur puppeteers became widespread.  Almost every town and village had their own.  The movement became associated with Czech history and national pride and is a remarkably interesting subject.

So, if you'd like to hang around with other people in the Photo Hunt, pay a visit to TNchick's site where you can find out more.

24 hours

I've been confined indoors for a while but it hasn't stopped me looking out of the window and seeing how changeable the scene is.

The 24 hours started with a thunderstorm followed by a rainbow.

Dawn brought clearer weather. Well, not quite dawn but about 6.00 am.

But there was a haze around and on the horizon it settled into a yellowish smog.  Is that from France?  From the shipping?  I can only assume it's as bad looking in the other direction.

Later the sun came out and I was watching this father and son playing with the kite.  Well the father was playing with the kite while the son watched.  It wasn't until later that I realised I'd managed to catch a view of the massive Thanet Offshore Windfarm on the horizon.  There are 100 turbines in place, and you can only hope they will help reduce that smog.  It may be just possible to see some of the turbines if you click on the photo for a larger size. 

Towards the end of the day this group arrived with a picnic, sat together yet apart, and left shortly afterwards.  You could write stories about why.

Count the triangles

The wonderfully grand staircases in the National Museum in Prague making beautiful shapes, among them are triangles.

If you'd like to join in the PhotoHunt and discover other players' interpretations, pay a visit to TNchick's site where you can find out more.

I am not going to be able to be at the computer very much this weekend, but I'll catch up with you as soon as I can.

Marines on the Green

There is a bandstand near where I live, in fact well within earshot.  Throughout the summer months there are concerts (free) every Sundays and occasional other days.  This Sunday we had a special concert from the Band of the Royal Marines Portsmouth.

The day started early, with the setting up.

Each individual microphone was tested - "forty three, tuba", "forty four, euphonium" - while they battled with the sound of the very strong wind.

Even with 4 hours to go, people were taking position, well equipped with chairs, tables and picnics, even umbrellas.  The umbrellas though, were for protection against the sun rather than the rain.

All the instruments arrived on the back of a lorry, all right, inside a lorry.  The bandsmen and women unpacked them and put them into position.

 Several groups of musicians rehearsed, including these five with their hand signals.

The crowds assembled and sat back to enjoy the concert.

The band played....

... the drummers drummed (and I saw the reason for the hand signals)...

... and the princesses did whatever princesses do.

It was a beautiful day and approximately 10,000 people attended.

You might be surprised at the number of people who were there, when the local population is only about 30,000.  The reason is that the Royal Marines established a depot in Deal in 1861 and in 1890 included 17 musicians at there.  They have been Freemen of Deal since 1945 which gives them a right to march through the town with fixed bayonets, drums beating and colours flying.

In 1950, the Royal Marines School of Music moved from Portsmouth to Deal.  In 1989 a bomb exploded in the recreation centre of the School of Music and 11 bandsmen died, the majority in their teens.  The bandstand was erected as a memorial to those who died, who "only ever wanted to play music".

Free

I was intending to have a free week this time but as I was walking along the sea front into town it occurred to me that there are so many things we take for granted, purely because they are free.

This pub in particular always has a superb display of hanging baskets and window boxes, but many houses along the way do the same. A free flower show.

A little further along you can have a free time check, and even a free history lesson.  Originally the ball on top of the tower would rise half way up the pole five minutes before 1:00pm.  At precisely 1:00 it dropped so that ships off shore would have accurate time. Nowadays it drops every hour for the entertainment of visitors. 

The Time Ball Tower was once a semaphore tower to relay messages along the coast in the effort to suppress smuggling activities.  Before that it was a telegraph tower used to realy messages between the Admiralty in London, and Deal. 

Walking along the beach I came across what must be an example of free text messaging.

Further up the beach at this time of year many of the plants that colonise the beach are thriving and coming into flower.  The seakale above is one of the first plants to colonise shingle beaches.  It is edible but you aren't allowed take it from the beaches.  Several of the plants on the beach are quite rare.  A free botany lesson.

Finally, the beach provides its own free flower show, again with species that are specific to this type of area.

If you'd like to join in the PhotoHunt and discover how other players interpret "Free", pay a visit to TNchick's site where you can find out more. 

Open

There are so many ways to interpret this, I was almost spoilt for choice.  But I didn't let that stop me!  The first two shots show the open, arcade-style, belfries found on churches throughout France in various forms, called clocher-murs, or bell walls.

This one I noticed in Moissac, I think part of an old religious order near the abbey.

This was taken from the roof of the church in Saintes-Maries de la Mer in the Camargue.

An open courtyard in a restaurant in Avignon.  It was mainly shady, welcome on a hot day to have fresh air without direct sun.

An open door in Châteauneuf  du Pape - there is more there than merely wine.  Though the wine should possibly not be described as "mere".

Another open door, this time from the inside looking out. This is one of the doors in the remarkably well preserved old city wall.

If you'd like to join in the PhotoHunt and discover how other players interpret "Open", pay a visit to TNchick's site where you can find out more. 

Keeping cool

Six months ago, even two months ago, I could hardly imagine writing this.  But here I am, too hot.  To avoid thinking about it too much, I am looking at fountains and rivers, imagining that cool, cool water.....