City Daily Photo Theme Day: Ephemeral

A face on a mountainside, formed from sediments, uplift and erosion, a process continuing over hundreds of millions of years. Some see the face of a Native American woman, perhaps carrying a burden on her back. It will be gone in a flash of geological time. Photo taken yesterday in Garden Of The Gods Park in Colorado Springs.              

Happy Oct 31

November City Daily Photo Theme Day: Ephemeral

So we're in November and the first of the month is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo blogging community. Ephemeral is this month's theme. Some of you probably remember the fabulous biscuits and sweets shop La Varenne which VDP had shown you just after its opening in May. Well, these little meringues, which would have been served at the table of kings and queens at the palace (the recipe is the one of François Pierre de la Varenne's cookbook dated 1651), are the ancestors of macarons. They did not last long yesterday! So so ephemeral... Oh and the shots below are better views of the inside of the shop, because VDP had kind of messed up the moon in the May post! To view all takes on the theme, click here and happy November everyone!

Nous voilà en novembre, miz du (le mois noir en breton). Le premier du mois est jour de thème dans la communauté des blogueurs City Daily Photo à laquelle appartient VDP, et le thème ce mois-ci, c'est "éphémère". Quoi de plus éphémère que ces biscuits de sucre en neige de chez La Varenne, l'inventeur de saveurs, que VDP vous présentait juste après son ouverture en mai dernier. Ces petites meringues sont les ancêtres des macarons, dont la recette a été puisée dans le livre "le cuisinier françois" de François Pierre de la Varenne, édité en 1651. Les photos ci-dessous sont de meilleures vue du fond de la boutique, dont VDP avait raté la prise de vue dans le billet de mai. Pour voir les interprétations du thème dans le monde entier, cliquez ici ! VDP vous souhaite un bon miz du !

For Those Of You That Have Never Seen A Goose In A Tree....It Happens !!

For Those Of You That Have Never Been Hyderized-----Give It A Shot!

The Barracks Veggie Patch - Part 1

Hyde Park Barracks (2013) with its red-pebble courtyard. The building immediately to its right did not exist in 1819, neither did the roads, obviously. The building on the extreme, upper right is the post-1865 St Mary's Cathedral replacing the original which burnt down. Its axis was east-west, rather than the current north-south axis. The veggie patch was to the right of the cathedral.

Left: Click on this to enlarge. It is an aerial shot taken from Sydney Tower. I have circled the area that was the original veggie patch. Right: Taken from the southern steps of the rebuilt cathedral, looking across to the Museum. College Street runs down the right of the photo. It is a very sloping area, which added to the difficulties that the colonists did not forsee.

For the first quarter-century of the life of Sydney Town, the majority of convicts were not locked up. There was nowhere to lock them into, and just where were they going to run-a-way to? But then in 1810, along comes Lachlan Macquarie (the 5th Governor), who loved design and order. He did things like straightening streets, and constructing what are now called “public” buildings. One such was the Hyde Park Barracks: to lock the convicts up into when they weren’t out slaving in road-gangs. Once locked up, they had to be fed; the cheapest way possible was the mantra. The Governor allocated 11 acres, close-by, for a veggie patch.

Left: "Sydney from Woolloomooloo" (1837)(Robert Russell)(National Library of Australia). On the left is Sydney Grammar School, then the spire of St James, then the gardener's lodge, and in the distance right is the first St Mary's. Hyde Park Barracks is the orange-walled building poking out behind the cathedral. Right: "View of Sydney from Woolloomooloo, looking West"(1839)(Frederick Garling)(State Library of NSW). Ignore the little building in the left foreground. In the middle-distance, we have another view of the first incarnation of Sydney Grammar, then the gardener's lodge. Still too early for the Museum. However. running down beside the lodge, and heading toward us is William Street, and the stone-bridge over the Yurong Stream. Way over in the background, on the right, stands the spire of St James, and to its right, St Mary's. There are walking paths criss-crossing the relatively steep field.

The first governor, Arthur Phillip, had determined a town boundary in 1792, just prior to his return to England. The barracks were close to the eastern edge of this boundary, an edge that was being rapidly populated with imposing government buildings, and parklands dedicated to both military use, AND the hoi-polloi. The veggie garden was constructed in 1819, after the area was denuded of its “forest” of Angophora costata (a native gum tree) and Eucalyptus pilular (a Blackbutt). It was the eastern limit of the Turpentine-lronbark forests supported by the underlying Ashfield Shale soils. The colonists were deluded into thinking that if the land supported all this natural vegetation, it would grow turnips, and carrots, and parsnips, and pumpkins, as well as potatoes and onions: all the ingredients for soup. By 1831, the experiment had failed, and the land left vacant.

Left: "A Survey of the Settlement" (1792)(Governor Arthur Phillip)(???). This is Phillip's "boundary line" inside which all the land was government land, and NOT to be given in grants to settlers. Typically Australian, future governors and civil servants overlooked this dictat. Righr: "Plan of the Town and Suburbs of Sydney" (1822)(State Library of NSW). The site of the convict garden is laid out in a grid just off-centre, and numbered "40". To the right is heading east.

We now know this area as Cook+Phillip Park, between St Mary’s Cathedral (foundation stone laid 1821) and the Australian Museum (building work started in 1846) which is bounded primarily by College Street (street constructed in 1832) and William Street (construction commenced in 1836). The veggie garden pre-dates all four of these locators, occupying some of the Sydney Grammar land, most of the Museum land, the start of William Street, and much of the cathedral forecourt. However, it now exists in historic documents only. There is nothing on the ground as evidence that it existed at all.

Left: Photograph of the Gardener's Lodge (1880)(Australian Museum Archives). This is the only knpown photograph. There are artistic interpretations, as I have indicated. The lodge is the octagonal building on the right. Right: Click on this 2013 photo of the Museum, in an aerial shot from Sydney Tower, I have included a big red X about where the lodge was located. In the 2015 rejuvenation of the Museum entrance, this spot has been overwhelmed by the "floating glass Crystal Hall" which I personally find under-whelming.

There had been physical evidence – once upon a time. The gardens were laid out as one would expect from those accustomed to English gardens: a large square divided by walkways into four (smaller) squares, with a central circle, and in this central circle, stood the gardener’s lodge. The octagonal lodge was located at the NE corner of the first Museum building which was opened in 1857. The lodge was constructed c. 1820 when hopes for the success of the venture were high. It was demolished between 1880 and 1885, in preparation for major remodelling of the two existing Museum buildings, and the construction of the third (southern) wing. It had been occupied by a police constable and his family in the 1840s, and then used by the Museum as a taxidermist’s workshop until c. 1865, when it was converted into a kitchen and wash-house. It was single storey, with a central chimney, made from brick and stucco, with a shingle roof.

Left: Frontispiece to "A History of NSW: From its Settlement to the close of the Year 1844" (1844)(Braim, TH)(Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, SLM/HHT). This appears to be a view from College Street, looking north-east over Woolloomooloo Bay. the Potts Point ridge, with Garden Island and Port Jackson. Right: "Panoramic View of College Street and Hyde Park" (1867-1870) (Johan Nepomuk Degotardi)(State Library - NSW). The western swathe of the Convict Garden is, at least, fenced it, and appears to be hosting a couple of goats.

The convict garden was no more, but the "parkland" remained in government hands, being hived off for a range of uses until 1998. Sydney Grammar was allocated the southern-most portion beside the Francis Forbes allotment. Beside that, land was ear-marked for the Australian Museum, and behind that, one of a number of National Schools. A strip was used to widen the top-half of William Street, some temporarily given to the Blind Institute, some to the Hyde Park Nursery, and some allocated to a lawn-bowling club. Not only did the garden go to rack'n'ruin, but Hyde Park Barracks did not fare much better, until the 1970s, when a new civic awareness, and a respect for our convict heritage blew through the town.

"Looking south-east from the tower atop St James" (1871)(Supplement to Illustrated Sydney News)(State Library - NSW). The cathedral is a burnt shell. The northern side of the Museum is obscured by dense brush. The diagonal walking track through the convict garden is now a road for carts and gigs.

The Barracks Veggie Patch - Part 1 The Barracks Veggie Patch - Part 2 (coming soon)

References "Lost Convict Lodge Rediscovered" "The Convict Vegetable Garden that never really was" Research Skills in Practice (2013) (Matthew Stephens, SLM)(Museum of Sydney) The Sydney Gazette (8 May 1819)(P1-2) Heritage Assessment: Cook and Phillip Parks (March 1997)(Lawrence Neild and Partners, Australia Pty Ltd)(Spackman & Moss Pty Ltd)(University of Sydney) Etheridge, R., 1919. The Australian Museum—fragments of its early history. Records of the Australian Museum 12(12): 339–400, plates xlv–xlix. [4 December 1919] The Domain: Volume 2 - Cultural Landscape Study (Royal Botanic Garden and Domain Trust)(Rosemary Annabel) Cook+Phillip Park(City of Sydney)(March 2013)

Late afternoon in the Overberg

Why go on a road trip if you don't stop along the way to enjoy the views?

A Bit of Colour

A fun piece of street art to get you in the mood for your halloween parties this evening.

The Clyfford Still Museum

I was complaining about the boring architecture in Denver's central business district. A short distance away is an area that contains The Denver Art Museum, the main public library and the Clyfford Still Museum. There the architecture is wild with utterly different buildings piled up on one another, sometimes creating a chaotic effect.

The most unusual institution is the museum devoted exclusively to the art of the American abstract expressionist master, Clyfford Still. Why just the one painter and why in Denver? If you are interested, find out here.                 

All Hallows' Eve... la veille de tous les saints

Isn't this a sight for sore eyes... and very, very appetising? It's entirely made of chocolate! VDP visited fairly recently opened Art et Chocolat shop last week and was flabbergasted by what can only be called very creative chocolate works of art, made from the finest cocoa beans. And trust VDP, they are delicious. Well, yes, of course, it was irresistible!! More about the shop soon! Below is the shop window of Philippe Pelé, the baker-pâtissier next door! VDP had shown you the sign here. Happy Hallowe'en!

Ce n'est pas un délice visuel, ça ? Et pas seulement visuel, puisque c'est du chocolat ! VDP s'est rendue pour la première fois chez le nouveau chocolatier de la rue Carnot, Art et Chocolat. Elle a été sidérée par ce que l'on ne peut que nommer des œuvres d'art chocolatières et vous montrera plus de photos de la boutique et de ses créations superbes... et divinement bonnes (oui, oui, elle a craqué) ! Ci-dessous, la jolie vitrine du voisin, le boulanger-pâtissier Philippe Pelé, dont VDP vous montrait l'enseigne ici. Bonne soirée d'Hallowe'en, bonne veille de Toussaint !

Ephemeral snow poles appear

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I was working in the field yesterday (here at the Franziskusgemeinschaft farm in Austria) when I heard a tap-tap-tap down the road apiece.
Soon this truck drove up and workers from the nearby town hammered a snow pole into the ground.
Something new for me, an Israeli from the desert!

These Schneestangen show drivers how deep the snow is and where the sides of the road are, and they even have reflectors for night driving.
These ephemeral snow poles are here today and gone at the beginning of spring.

EPHEMERAL is the subject for City Daily Photo bloggers' Theme Day for November 1.
Visit the CDP portal and see what others have come up with for this challenging theme.
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Kayak through the City

Not an eyelid battered as the kayak made its way through rush hour in the city.

Some Denver Snaps

So I sort of went to school for a while yesterday and got out to see the city a bit. Above, a downtown shot from the 16th Street Mall. Mies van der Rohe, that blessed and accursed architect, would be pleased. Second, the state capitol building, with a dome covered in gold leaf. Last, drive-through voting outside the city-county office building. There are local elections finishing next Tuesday. One of the staff told us it is totally mail voting but if you want to drive downtown and drop it off they are waiting for you. That's enlightened.              

La quiétude absolue d'un weekend d'automne

We are having such a pretty autumn, despite the grey skies, that VDP has gone a bit wild and is going to show you lots of seasonal photos! These were taken last weekend in the park of the Spiritual Centre of the Sisters of the Cenacle, which you had seen here in the summer.

Quel automne splendide malgré le ciel gris ! VDP s'est laissée un peu emporter et va vous montrer plein de photos de saison ! Celles-ci ont été prises le weekend dernier au parc du Centre Spirituel des Sœurs du Cénacle, que vous aviez vu ici en été.

Back to the future on the Mzamba Fossils and Petrified Forest Trail

The Mzamba Fossils and Petrified Forest on the northern Wild Coast has been on my "To Do" list for a long time now.  I just never had chance to visit that part of the Wild Coast yet.  That was until a road trip to Durban had me spending a night at the Wild Coast Sun on the border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.  The first thing I did after checking in was to enquire about going to see the fossils and I was informed that the tour goes out at 9am every morning.   

 

Nine o'clock the next morning I was there (breakfast and an early morning meeting done already) and met Benny Mbotho who does the tours.  I was joined by a couple of other visitors as well as a school group.  After having a look at the exhibit in the hotel, he took us down to the beach and we headed south. 

 

After about a kilometer we got to the headland area where the petrified forest is located.  Luck was on my side today as it was low tide which meant that we could go out on the reef to see the fossilized wood in the rocks.

 

Although called a petrified forest, the trees that formed it didn't actually grow here.  They were washed down rivers and deposited here millions of years ago.  The wood then got waterlogged and was submerged where marine worms penetrated them.  The wood became silicified (converted into silica) and formed what you see there today.

 

At first I wasn't sure what I was looking for but after Benny pointed out a few I realized that they were all over. Literally. In closer inspection you can actually see the growth rings and other lines.  Again I thanked my lucky stars for the fact that the tide was low as most of these would be covered at high tide and we would have missed out big time. 

 

A short distance further we started seeing the fossils that also form part of the Mzamba Cretaceous Deposits.  Here you really kicked a fossil out from under every second rock, behind it, in front of it and between it.  Fossils are also found in an exposed 10-metre cliff band along the beach.  The deposits consist of greyish-brown sandstone and limestone that is extremely rich in fossil material dating back 80-million years.  The deposits include masses of marine shells which include beautiful examples of tightly coiled ammonites, echinoids (sea urchins) and bivalve shells.

 

Benny even pointed out a fossilized shark tooth in one of the rocks.  In actual fact, Benny isn't just a point out guide.  He is an absolute wealth of information and knowledge, has a permanent smile and will show you as much as possible.

The giant clam shells in the rocks were huge.

One of the fossils pointed out to us even looked like it could be a fossilized sea turtle. The shell is prominent while there is a head and eye socket to the right hand side. 

I have a couple of small ammonites in my own collection, but a few of those that we saw where huge.  I can only wish to be able to add a specimen like this to my collection.  I am able to add this photo to this collection of fossil photos though.

 

At the furthest end there are a series of cliffs and overhangs known as White Man's Cave.  The interesting part of these is that you can sit inside them and look up at fossils in the cave roof.  Benny even pointed out a fossilized Strelitzia and compared it with a modern day Strelitzia.  You won't believe it if you don't see it and posting this I realize that for some reason I excluded the pictures of that.  You will have to maar go and look for yourself.

 

As we got to the furthest point and turned back I had to leave he group behind and hurry back to the hotel as I still had to drive to Durban.  I did get one of my fellow fossil "hunters" to snap a photo of myself and this ammonite in the rocks.  I have so much to say about this tour yet find myself at a loss for words when trying to describe it further than I have already.  Visiting the Mzamba Fossils may be ticked off my "To Do" list but I really think it should be on everybody else's as it is a piece of natural history that is very rare and can't just be recreated elsewhere