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RickGaehl

@RickGaehl@mstdn.social

Retired bloke in Devon, UK, who feels he's a European and is interested in politics, the environment, photography, the arts, history, cycling, and other stuff.
I try to post a new photo every day.

I'm also here:
https://bsky.app/profile/rickgaehl.bsky.social

All photos by me, unless I credit otherwise - except for RTs, of course.
Please "boost" my postings if you like them.

I tend not to follow accounts with limited posts, bio, or followers.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's a colourful view from an art shop on a sunny Saturday morning.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here are the ruins of Bolton Priory Church, at Bolton Abbey, in Wharfedale. There are some great walks along the River Wharfe from here. The western end of this building is still in use as a parish church, but the eastern end was caught up in the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.

RickGaehl , to random
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Today is a public holiday in the UK. We still call them Bank Holidays, though there are hardly any physical banks left, and virtual banks never close.
I have no pictures of banks to illustrate this thought, but here is a nice picture of a field wall that I came across last week.
I do appreciate a well-built drystone wall. They provide homes for many mosses, lichens and insects. Can you spot the spider's nest on this one?

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's the view from a very early morning canoe trip on Coniston Water for . The only sound to be heard is the gentle lapping of water against the hull...

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's a ghostly lock on an old canal for .

RickGaehl , to random
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This is the view I'm waking up to this week. It's a bit like having a small impressionist painting on the wall.

RickGaehl , to random
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Glad I spent much of yesterday getting to Cumbria now. It's given me another chance to see the Northern Lights. Here they are with the Plough.
If you can view the shot with a black background, it looks a lot more impressive.

RickGaehl , to random
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They may not be the most perfect tomatoes and cucumbers, but they have been grown by us, and they do taste absolutely delicious. 😋

RickGaehl , to random
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Misty morning,

Have a nice day.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here is the interior of a big tithe barn, with very small windows, for .

RickGaehl , to random
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I'm in Wiltshire this weekend, so here's a nice picture of the stones at Avebury.

RickGaehl , to random
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No matter what nonsense and unpleasantness the world throws at us, there's a to be had - somewhere - once in every week. This one can be found in the very upper reaches of the River Thames, just south of Cirencester.

RickGaehl , to random
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Without a word of apology, I'm posting a picture from the Isles of Scilly for the second day in a row. This one is for , and shows the view to the northeast from St Mary's, at Bar Point.
I could look at those many shades of blue all day long.

GottaLaff , to random
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AFP—At least 200 candidates have quit French runoff election race to block far right tally

RickGaehl ,
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@GottaLaff
There's a part of me thinks that this was Macron's plan all along - put the frighteners on everyone, and forestall an even stronger far right surge later. His party was always going to lose big at the next election anyway, and the two-stage process plays into this narrative. He's a very canny operator.

RickGaehl , to random
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I acquired this lovely field a couple of weeks ago - although not the cattle currently living there. I'm planning to turn it into new woodland, but I need to jump through many hoops first to secure some grant funding. For now, you'll just have to imagine the trees 🌳.

RickGaehl , to random
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A view, with seasonal foxgloves.

RickGaehl , to random
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A , and not a soul to be seen...

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...
('Antigonish' by William Hughes Mearns)

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's the view from a forgotten trig point near me.

RickGaehl , to random
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The weekend before last, I was in Oxford. Whilst there, I went to visit the Botanic Garden. I try to look in most times I visit the city.
They have some very fine hothouses there, and one of them contains a pond, with waterlilies. Who doesn't like waterlilies?

RickGaehl , to random
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Our tomato plants are all coming into flower this week. I love the smell of a greenhouse full of tomatoes.
It's chastening to think how grim the European diet must have been before the introduction of all the exotic fruits and vegetables from the Americas - things like potatoes, maize, and peppers, as well as tomatoes...

RickGaehl , to random
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Sometimes I find myself casting around in my files for interesting window shots for a post. When I do, it's amazing how often I end up selecting something from France. The French really seem to have a way with such things...

RickGaehl , to random
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The biggest tree in our garden is this copper beech, although it isn't really quite as big as it looks in the photo. At this time of the year, its canopy is just coming into leaf, and the young leaves are this wonderful red-green colour. They are an especially impressive sight when the sun is shining through them.

RickGaehl , to random
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It's Monday. And it's raining hard. ☹️
But the irises are out and are looking magnificent.
I think they are one of my favourite flowers af all. Just look at the intricate veins and patterns. And the gorgeous colours on those perfectly-arranged petals...

RickGaehl , to random
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A on the Brecon Canal.

RickGaehl , to random
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Just come in from the garden, where I've been entranced by the Aurora Borealis. In Devon ffs! I've waited a long lifetime to see this...

RickGaehl , to random
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It's Friday, so here is a window for - complete with a nosey cockatoo...

RickGaehl , to random
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Here is a nice picture of some restful apple blossom for

This one is a Cox's Orange Pippin, in case you were wondering.

RickGaehl , to random
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'Zaun'

RickGaehl , to random
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The internet seems to be awash with pictures of apple blossom this week, but I don't see any reason why that should stop me posting mine.
This fine crabapple is doing its thing in our garden right this minute. One small tree has no business carrying so much blossom.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's a peaceful clump of forget-me-not for some contemplation.

RickGaehl , to random
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This is one of my favourite times of the year. All the trees are finally coming into leaf, there is the odd, warm, dry day, and the promise of summer stretches out before us. All summers seem to be filled with potential delight in my imagination - before they actually happen...

pluralistic , to random
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Combine Angelou's "When someone shows you who they are, believe them" with the truism that in politics, "every accusation is a confession" and you get: "Every time someone accuses you of a vice, they're showing you who they are and you should believe them."

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

1/

RickGaehl ,
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@pluralistic
That's just so true in politics...
If only there was some way of getting people to become politicians who weren't cut from the wrong sort of cloth to do the job honestly...

RickGaehl , to random
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Here is a very large window for you, with a stupendously ornate clock as a bonus.

RickGaehl , to random
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It's a with spring blossom.

RickGaehl , to random
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A tall, slender magnolia tree, with blossoms the size of dinner plates.
I came across this specimen at the weekend, in Cornwall, and I don't think I've ever seen such large flowers on a tree, anywhere.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's a nice, quiet picture of the dawn for you on this

I'm not one of nature's early risers, so I don't often get to see the dawn...

RickGaehl , to random
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This is an interior view of Wells Cathedral - showing one of the three famous 'scissor' arches, which support the weight of the central tower.
The arches were retro-fitted in around 1340 to stabilise a new tower that had been built about 15 years earlier, and was already showing signs of instability and potential collapse.
The arches were designed by the delightfully-named William Joy, and are an elegant solution to a common Medieval construction problem.

RickGaehl , to random
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A view from yesterday's walk for

pluralistic , to random
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If you've ever read about design, you've probably encountered the idea of . A is an erosion path created by people departing from the official walkway and taking their own route. The story goes that smart campus planners don't fight the desire paths laid down by students; they pave them, formalizing the route that their constituents have voted for with their feet.

1/

A photo of a 'desire path' - a path worn through the turf in a park where people have left the paved path and worn away the grass. The image crossfades so that the grassy lawn of the park is replaced by a 'code waterfall' as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movies. Image: Belem (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Desire_path_%2819811581366%29.jpg CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

RickGaehl ,
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@pluralistic
You really can't defeat desire lines, you have to learn to work with them. If they go places you don't want them, it's because you didn't consider the relative location of two objects of desire in the first place.

RickGaehl , to random
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Here's another shot from our walk last Friday. It's the River Bovey, as it passes through Lustleigh Cleave.
It's a beautiful and tranquil spot for
We saw only two other groups of walkers in our four-hour expedition.

RickGaehl , to random
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This is the northern rose window from Notre-Dame de Paris. I was there not that long before the fire. Amazingly, it seems as though all the stained glass in this photo actually survived the conflagration. This window was first made in about 1250, and most of the original glass is still in place.

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