Author: sharonstjoan

By Sharon St Joan

The stone steps, narrow and slightly sloping from centuries of use, extend downwards from between the paws of the great lion down into the green waters of the tank where devotees put their hand into the water and sprinkle it on their heads. The largest and oldest of the temples in this area, the Vrinchipuram Margapandeswarar Temple stands near Vellore, in Tamil Nadu, in south India.

Its outer walls tower perhaps forty feet into the air and are massively thick, like those of a fortress. The atmosphere in the courtyard paved with giant stones is peaceful and very ancient — its ancientness being interwoven with its peace and its massive structure. Like eternity, it seems indestructible, permanent, and unmoving, calm like the great stones that dot the nearby granite hillsides.

Two Ganeshas in bas relief stand near the temple entrance – one for the main…

One of the major attraction for me in Uyo is “art everywhere”. A really big influence. Right behind me there  is sculpture on the wall depicting our traditional ways of life. Especially the cross-cultural harmony of Igbo of south east Nigeria and Ibiobio of south south Nigeria. Different culture that has married and become one. More prominent both in here, Akwa Ibom
state and Anambra State in the
eastern side. The  drummer. The  dancers will feature in the subsequent  posts of  this week theme. Hope you will enjoy it.

This video from the Netherlands says about itself:

30 November 2015

Het Noordbrabants Museum presents: Jheronimus Bosch – Visions of a genius. From 13th February to 8th May. Twenty panels and triptychs and nineteen drawings are making it the largest exhibition of Hieronymus Bosch in the Netherlands ever. The exhibition is a highpoint of the National Event Year Jheronimus Bosch 500 in 2016.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands today:

The Hieronymus Bosch exhibition in Den Bosch attracts so many visitors that the hours will be extended.

As of next Monday, the exhibition will be open for one hour longer until 20:00 daily. And from 24 March on the exhibition will be open from Thursday to Saturday until 23:00.

Since its opening on February 13, the exhibition attracted 90,000 visitors and now a total of 300,000 tickets have been sold. So, March and April are almost fully booked.

The…

This video from Britain says about itself:

Blue Tit Birds on The Gate – Filmed in Slow Motion

Filmed on March 3rd 2016

Video Produced by Paul Dinning – Wildlife in Cornwall

The video shows great tits as well.

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National Geographic has an article on “How to See the Total Solar Eclipse, No Matter Where You Are”

Lucky skywatchers in Southeast Asia get a rare front-row seat to a total eclipse on March 8 and 9, and Pacific islanders will see a still-dazzling partial eclipse. But the rest of the world doesn’t have to miss out: If you can’t hop a plane to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you can watch it live online, right here.

Read more and  see links at How to See the Total Solar Eclipse, No Matter Where You Are

In the last post I identified that there is still a lot of winter birding to enjoy whilst celebrating a bit of Spring. Today I got a brief opportunity to check the West Hethersett Loop and the weather was definitely Wintery with North winds and frequent showers. Whilst I waited for the worst of the winter down pour to pass I checked out the water meadows and fields either side of Market Lane. I was rewarded with a splendid grey heron in full breeding plumage. I had to do a double take as it was very white from a distance and might have been the great white egret which has been frequenting Bowthorpe marshes for the last couple of weeks. It was not to be but nice to see and it was in company with some greylag geese . Next on my warm car journey was a flock of thrushes. I…