Sky and Silhouettes

Dudley, West Midlands, England ~ February 16, 2010
Dudley Castle Keep

Image Search / Wikipedia

Fortunately, I finished sorting my used pictures for this blog last night, or I would have repeated this photo of Dudley Castle. I must be in an English Castle mood today. Here is another post, this time from the tower looking down.

Today I am joining others around the world who participate in Skywatch Friday. Click on over to see stunning photos of the beautiful sky that covers us all!

My Web Page: tapirback.com

Garden and Fortress

Vatican City ~ April 15, 2004

Gardens of the Vatican

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

From the Keep

Dudley, West Midlands, England ~ February 16, 2010

Dudley Castle
Image Search / Wikipedia

I've already posted one picture of this picturesque castle. This picture of Dudley Castle (posted earlier on this blog) will show you what's causing the shadow on the ground above.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Gothic Windows in Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Germany ~ January 2002

Scanned from a slide

If you enlarge this one, you can just see a touch of the setting sun on the underside of the balcony. This is a foray into the archives with my slide scanner. It's great to have a way to save the old photos to digital format, but still disappointing as far as the quality goes compared to looking at them with an Agfa Lupe. If anyone has suggestions for getting quality from slides, please let me know. I did tweak it some in Photoshop. I have an ancient version (6.0), mainly because it was free. I got the color about right, but it still seems grainy, and some of my scans have way too much contrast. Are the old slides really that grainy? Have our digital cameras just gotten that much better? Anyway, as I have the time, I hope to post more shots from the slide files. I'd love to hear about anyone's experience with this transformation.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Stags by the Moat

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010
Warwick Castle Moat

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White Bear at Warwick Castle

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010
Warwick Castle

This modern-day placard is part of the interactive display of what life was like in the Middle Ages at Warwick Castle. I don't know the history of this image, but it clearly depicts a bear used for the brutal blood sport of bear-baiting. One of the towers at Warwick Castle is named Bear Tower, and some authorities believe that bears were kept in that tower. Warwick Castle is one of the places in England where bear-baiting continued until a fairly late date. The sport was very popular among all levels of society, including kings and queens, and seems to have created great mirth in the observers. This cruel activity typically pitted bears against dogs, although there are descriptions of bears being allowed to chase other animals and even people. Both bear- and bull-baiting were finally outlawed by the English Parliament in 1835.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Ravens in Leaded Glass

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010
Warwick Castle

The hallway along one side of the castle above the Great Hall had windows of leaded glass. It's surprising how many places you can find animals if you have your radar on.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dudley Castle Keep

Dudley, West Midlands, England ~ February 16, 2010
Dudley Castle Keep

Image Search / Wikipedia

It was a gloriously sunny day when we took the train from Banbury to Dudley to visit Dudley Zoo, its tapirs, and tapir keeper Laura Robbins, along with the historic and extremely picturesque Dudley Castle, begun about 1071. More on all of this in blog posts to come. There are photos of Banbury and two of Dudley Castle on Lee's blog post, Seeing the Past.

I have left both plaque photos large. Click on the image and you can read about this remarkable castle.

This post is a continuation of my personal theme week, "England," which started on March 1, although I posted the first photo from the trip on February 27. See also March 2 and March 3 if you missed them :)

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

How Many Have Dreamt of Living Here?

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010

Warwick Castle Great Room

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.