Quickwitter

India Blue Peacock
Pavo cristatus
©Laura Quick

The feral peafowl are back in my hood. This guy was sitting on my car when I looked out the window. I happen to love them in the canyon, a lot of people consider them a nuisance as they are loud and messy.

I brought him some grain and water then got my camera with the big lens. Didn’t need it but could have used better light. Oh well. He stopped by on Friday with his mate. Today he was solo. Hopefully they will both be back soon.

India Blue Peacock Hackle Feathers
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous
©Laura Quick

The feral peacock is back visiting. Squeeeee.

India Blue Peacock Feathers

I’m guessing I didn’t need the big lens…I was too close for sharp focus. But still beautiful color and pattern…

ALLY IN PINK GOGGLES
Alta Sierra Ski Resort, Alta Sierra, CA
©Laura Quck

Allly is 9, “…almost 10” she tells me. She’s a smart, quick, athletic girl with a graceful ease about her. We ran around with the dogs, threw snowballs climbed around on rocks and things. I found her to be utterly charming and surprisingly good company.

Here’s she bored waiting for her ski lesson to start and her mom to get her bindings adjusted. By the time the class starts she’s already mastering the snow plow on her own.

I wanted a photo of her with the goggles in place but I liked this shot better.

LOOKS LIKE FALL - KERN RIVER CANYON
Highway 178 - Greenhorn Mountains, California
©Laura Quick

I took these photos on New Year’s Day while driving from Lake Isabella, California back to Los Angeles. I was surprised to see how much color there was still present on the trees.

MASAI MAN
Outside Malindi, Kenya
©Laura Quick

I like his fierceness.

The piercing and stretching of earlobes is common among the Maasai. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters. Fewer and fewer Maasai, particularly boys, follow this custom. Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe, and smaller piercings at the top of the ear. More

INDONESIAN HEAD WRAP (Back View)
Festival of the Masks, Los Angeles, CA
©Laura Quick

CORDOBA ARCHITECTURE
Cordoba, Spain
©Laura Quick

Very few places in the world can boast of having been the capital of a Roman province (Hispania Ulterior), the capital of an Arab State (Al-Andalus) and a Caliphate. Such splendor is palpable in the intellectual wealth of this city, that has seen the birth of figures like Seneca, Averroes, and Maimonides. The historic quarter of Cordoba is a beautiful network of small streets, alleys, squares and whitewashed courtyards arranged around the Mezquita, which reflects the city’s prominent place in the Islamic world during medieval times.

ALHAMBRA - Granada, Spain

©Laura Quick

The Alhambra’s — which is Arabic for Red Fortress, was constructed during the mid 10th century by the Berber ruler Badis ben Habus of the Kingdom of Granada in al-Andalus.

Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court, of the Nasrid dynasty. After the reconquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 (when the Mulims and Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion from Spain), some portions were used by the Christian rulers. The Palace of Charles V, was inserted in the Alhambra. After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was re-discovered in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers. It was restored and is now Spain’s major tourist attraction, exhibiting the country’s most significant and well known Berber Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions.

The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Fields of Salt by Linda Gass

I love this quilt!

npr:

i-dont-even-like:

Part of Susan Stockwell’s amazing world map sculpture, made of spare computer parts.

muslimerican:

Dazzling truck art from Pakistan.

[image source]

rerylikes:

Motoi Yamamoto. LABYRINTH. Salt, 3.2 x 11m. RELIEFS, Foundation Espace Ecreul, Jan - Feb, 2011 (see more)

VICTORIAN ERA 1890s GOLD BRACELET

Stunning antique Victorian gold filled bangle bracelet with a paste jeweled locket front! Having and Etruscan design, the locket is bordered with paste rhinestones and flanked on each side with an applied flowing design. A simple wide gold filled band completes the piece and is open and closed with a push pin. Very striking and unique Victorian bangle bracelet!

Measurements: 7 1/2” on the inside, locket measures 1”, band back measures 5/8”
Circa: 1890

SAIFUL MALOOK, PAKISTAN

From the Author —It’s here at my lovely Saiful that I met the queen of the mountains, the “Malka Parbat” peak which reigns over its kingdom at a majestic height of 17,360 ft. Standing in the east and looking in the transparent waters of Saiful Malook I can view the majestic mountain in the blue waters of the lake, for the lake itself is like a mirror. It has the shape of a bowl where water from surrounding glaciers and peaks falls to form one of the loveliest wetlands in Pakistan.

Boating facility at the lake is available to but can’t recommend because the lake is so deep, its depth has not been measured yet. And there is no emergency equipment or help. So don’t take risk! There are a few camping sites available though which I would strongly recommend because its here that beautiful lake meets with all its charm, grandeur and its magnificence. There are small huts and shops near lake selling items you may need.