Saturday 15 December – Mountain Bears

Austria

Artist: Berrenice Darrer

Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. (from Wikipedia)

 

Norway

Artists: Laila Holm & Vivianne H. Nustad

“We wanted to capture the moods and the light of the dramatic mountains and fjord landscapes of the West coast of Norway.

In this environment people often seem very small. The scenery hasn't be touched for thousands and thousands of years.

Two original Norwegian rock carvings have been painted on the bear.

The Buddy Bear is a sort of artefact and a symbol of ancient history, wild landscapes and a joint, new future.”

 

 

 

North Korea

Artists: Chang Bok Rim + Ik Hyon Kim

“The North Korean bear shows a reunited Korean landscape, thus expressing the desire for reunification. --- The top part of the bear shows the Paektu Mountain in the North of Korea, whereas the bottom part shows the Hallasan Mountain in South Korea. Joining the two mountains symbolises the unity of the Korean people.”

 

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Repetition

There’s a lot of repetition going on in Nature this time of year…

Raindrops falling…

Leaves dropping to the ground…

Frosty nights doing their job…

And even an itsy bitsy snow-fairy sprinkling a few crystals about now and then…

… and of course, we humans do our bit to follow, too:

The first Christmas decorations in the supermarkets turned up around mid-October, and no doubt there will be a lot more repetition of that kind over the next two months!

 

To see what other patterns of repetition people have found, visit FMTSO

Friday My Town: Shallow Depth of Field

A new butterfly friend I found in a wetland meadow near the lake outside town some weeks ago.

In Swedish there is one name covering a number of look-alike butterflies (‘pärlemorfjäril’ = ‘mother of pearl butterfly’). In English/Latin it turned out to be a little more complicated… I think it is probably a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene). (Feel free to correct me if you think I’m wrong!)

We haven’t had much of a butterfly summer this year, but here’s another one – the Common Brimstone:

Have to confess I’ve not had much luck with the shallow depth of field thing except when zooming in on small things, like insects and flowers. So I think for this post I shall stick to “field” rather than “town”…

Thistle

 

 Haven’t got a clue what the flower is called.

 

Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera / jättebalsamin)

Friday My Town: Symmetry

  

▲ Reflection symmetry ▲

▼ Nature’s symmetry ▼

▼ Butterfly Symmetry ▼

▲ One Red Admiral, one Small Tortoiseshell ▲

 

▲ Red Admiral ▲

▼ Small Tortoiseshell ▼

 

▼ Man-made symmetry: ▼
 

 

▲ Medieval ribbon-weaving shown at the Textile Museum ▲

 

▲ Kaleidoscope Symmetry ▲
made by me in Corel Paint Shop Pro X
▼ from these autumn leaves ▼

▼ Couples Symmetry▼

Sea lions at the Zoo – in perfect sync!

 

 

This pair of grandparents (I assume)
seemed pretty much synchronized too!

~♥~♥~♥~

I wish you all a nicely balanced weekend!

~♥~♥~♥~

For more symmetry, visit Friday My Town

Ruby Tuesday: Red Berries

Not sure what these are. But red they are!

Look for more red at Ruby Tuesday!

Mosaic Monday: Frozen Beauty

For more Monday Mosaics, visit Mary’s Little Red House.

Mosaic Monday: Web

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday: Autumn Colours

Autumn colours from the past weekend.

See more Monday Mosaics at Mary’s Little Red House.

 

PS – On request:

Ruby Tuesday: Life Buoy

Another photo from Ålgården; you can see 
a glimpse of the old mill in the background.

The flowers on the ground are Wood Anemones.
… … …

For more RED, visit Ruby Tuesday