Stamps

I wish I could be the glue behind the stamp you're licking to send me a letter.
Where is that letter anyway?



What is my address?

Hummingbird

A bow to a 8.25 cm tiny body, which is migratory and flying all the way to Mexico.


P.s. Sorry, that is not the best shot, but it's the first shot. Hopefully more to come.

Ottawa.....

...is not boring.

Depends on the angle you're looking at.

Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa

I like how you can see a little piece of something and then you realize that this is just a tiny proportion of the whole. And that is huge. More than you can ever imagine. With a little piece of cake from a huge desert it may be hard to get the picture, but the story of a little iceberg floating on water, which actually was big enough to sank a huge passenger liner, it is quite easy.
On that photo you just see a big building and a tiny businessman doing actively his business things, but in reality the hotel Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa is like a real castle from a fairytale. The hotel was constructed between 1909 and 1912. The weirdest thing I discovered after I already had written down the comparison of the iceberg, that the hotel was to be opened on 26 April 1912, but Hays (Grand Trunk Railway president, who commissioned the hotel), who was returning to Canada for the hotel opening, perished aboard the RMS Titanic when it sank on 15 April.

See the bigger pictures here.

Constant red

I am repeating myself for the I-really-can't-count-how-many times, but the biggest beauty lies in the smallest things/moments/emotions.
Even when the constant red is on, try to find your green, which may be written between the lines....
Good luck!

Bonfire

Haven't seen many photos of fire. Well, it is hard to take photos of it, as it gets really hot by the fire. Also you have to pay attention to shutter speed, as it should be exactly somewhere between, as it is easy to get blurry photos and underexpose shots. Not that mine are the best, but I had fun doing this. I definitely want to do more. Also I burned as much wood in two weeks, as I have burned during my lifetime. Speaking about bonfires.





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Solisterra straw-bale house

On the picture above one should see the highest straw-bale building in the world. It didn't make to the Guinness World Records Book, as there is one in Sweden which has been marked as the highest, though in that case the building stands on metal construction, while on this one you can see, it is all made of wood and pure straw-bales. The construction is filled with bales, then wrapped with chicken wire and in the end all is sewed together for lasting build. It is warm when it is winter and it is cool when it is warm in summer. Smells the best, too.
Read more from Wikipedia, the link is below, or go and visit Solisterra in Quebec.

Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "green" construction projects.

Advantages of straw-bale construction over conventional building systems include the renewable nature of straw, cost, easy availability, and high insulation value. Disadvantages include susceptibility to rot and high space requirements for the straw itself. (Wikipedia.org)

Obamu saadab tervitusi

On Ottawa's selline koht, kus Obama käis küpsiseid ostmas, tegelikult ta ei pidanud ostma, vaid sai küpsised niisama. Lugu saab lugeda siit. Ma pole veel ise seda küpsist mekkinud, sest ei suutnud pekanikoogile vastu panna ja panustasin tollesse. Järgmine kord.

Thamnophis butleri

It is a small slender snake, averaging 38-51 cm long, with three yellow to orange stripes along the length of the body. The background color can range from olive-brown to black and it may also be possible to discern two rows of dark spots between the side and back stripes. These features do little to distinguish them from most other garter snakes species, but what is unique to this species is the placement of the lateral, or side, stripes. In Butler's Garter Snakes, the lateral stripes are centered on the third scale row up from the ventral scales, and they also overlap the adjacent second and fourth scale rows. This contrasts with the lateral stripe placement of other garter snake species. (Wikipedia.org)