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9 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

Iceland in the 1990s sounds very authentic and unspoilt @Deja Vu.

So Icelandic ponies are quite tall then, @Kazbe, they do have beautiful manes as well.:D

 

I always worry when I hear people taking so much pleasure in killing, my mother used to put wasps on the gas ring and laugh with delight when they burned. If you take the time to really look at a wasp, they are so beautifully marked. I love the close up photos of moths and other insects because they are so intricately formed. Some have furry shoulders , some have iridescent scaling on their wings. Oddly enough my mother eventually had terrible burning pain in her feet due to diabetes, so she understood how that must have felt for the wasps!

@faraday☘, Cuba was a very popular holiday for a colleague I used to work with, he went with his whole family every year and loved it. All that music and culture was a magnet. 

 

When I was in Nepal I loved the food, it was a twist on Indian food, but they had this really dangerous Lime Pickle, I'm sure it could eat a hole in anyone's stomach.

 

Nepal is on my bucket list! How did you like it?

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4 hours ago, Gentle Giant said:

@Kazbe happy belated birthday! :cake:

 

What kind of art did you do, @Finding myself? Anything you could share here?

 

We also have an ant problem. I don't take pleasure in killing anything either. Just don't want them in the house.

Here in Minnesota I've never had an ant problem unless I left fruit out on the counter too long.  Dave, you might not have ants now that you're farther north. 

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10 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

 

So Icelandic ponies are quite tall then, @Kazbe, they do have beautiful manes as well.:D

 

13 to 14 hands isn't considered tall (although compared to a Shetland it's a giant). Thoroughbreds are 15-17 hands and Clydesdales 17-18 hands. There's a cute chart here:

 

http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-breeds/horse-height-explained.aspx

 

Icelandic ponies are between a Welsh pony (another fine breed) and the Haflinger (a man I knew who had these called them his 'pocket rockets').

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2 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

Dave, you might not have ants now that you're farther north. 

Oh, people get ants here alright. We even saw some scouts in this house.Earlier this year (in Spring).

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I think ants live everywhere. 

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa

@Deja Vu, I loved Nepal! I took my nun vows there and lived in the monastery at Yamdi. I taught the little monks English and looked after the stray animals. One thing always makes me laugh. I was out walking when I came upon a crowd of local people gathered in a circle 'ooh-ing and aah-ing'. When I asked what had happened, they pulled aside and there were

two enormous Cobras, standing up on their tails , in an embrace. It was mating season. One of the men said to me 'not for you, Ani-la, .....sexual intercourse!'.  How ironic and funny. If only they'd known...the people are lovely and the circumstances they live in are very hard, but it's a laid back culture in a beautiful place. walk the Annapurna range from the monastery at Yamdi, travel in buses, the planes have a 50% chance of botching the dangerous landing between Pokhara and Kathmandu. The bus is 6 hours, stops twice at great eateries and very cheap too.

 

@daveb, you are every perceptive, ants are so clever, they must have been actively looking for a new home before the season changes. I was amazed to find out how they are hunter gatherers and also farmers. They farm the greenfly and in return, drink the sweet sap these greenfly produce. If you see little patches of wild clover, they've planted it there too. They say the sun is very active right now, so the aurora is a higher possibility in your neck of the woods:D

 

Yes, @Kazbe, I'm not acquaint with the smaller horses and ponies at all, as we used heavy Clydesdales on the farm for the ploughing and the carting. A friend of my family still keeps them on his farm near Edinburgh. In the area where I live now, near Suffolk, there's the equivalent , the Suffolk Punch, which is not unlike a Clydesdale. I suppose they're descendants of the medieval Destriers.

 

So busy! clearing up after the painters, packing away the next room, but they are making a much better job than I could, so it's worth it. I won't get a rest till Sunday, the day after my wedding gig. My friend that I used to work with asked me to play my uke , so it'll be ,as I think I said earlier, 'It must be love' (also ironic )....:lol:

 

 

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa

PS: I'm not even going to mention what I think about those at work. I'm definitely in the wrong society. Perhaps I'll go for something a tad more academic next time, after all, I've over 5 years to kill!

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DigitalBookDust

I know I've probably posted (much earlier) on this forum but have been away from AVEN for awhile. I'm 56 so do consider myself in the "older" category. I have been told I don't look nor act my age. For instance, my hair is currently buzzed and electric cobalt blue, lol. One of pet peeves is having people, usually younger than myself, call me "young lady".  I find this patronizing as well as incorrect, gender-wise. I usually address it with humor but also use it as an educational opportunity to inform people that the gender-binary is dead. Along those lines, I also dislike the phrase "X-years young". It really irks me. You are the age you are. Own your maturity.

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24 minutes ago, DigitalBookDust said:

I also dislike the phrase "X-years young". It really irks me.

this!

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19 hours ago, Tja said:

 

**I mean, I'm sure hands are clean, but, no one is putting food they touched into my mouth**

If you tagged along with me on a day of routine restaurant inspections, you would see many people touching the food being served to customers.  It's gross.  I avoid eating out whenever possible.

15 hours ago, Kazbe said:

@chandrakirti I missed that bit about your work until I saw it mentioned later. That's almost frightening. Welcome to dystopia?! I don't get that at work as most people must have a Bachelor's degree to work in IT nowadays, but I have had to leave my PhD off my resume. However, more akin to what you are experiencing is socialising. I live a working class area and I've joined a few social groups out here. I've learned not to mention that I have a university education, especially in science. It opens up the way to all kinds of mean comments about 'ivory towers', 'science whackos' and 'money wasters'. I feel for you.

Really?  I have never been amongst company hostile to the idea of better education.   Education has always been "the more the better" in my life.   I read a study one time that less than ten percent of all scientists voted Republican in American elections.   No wonder, since they are the political party of climate change denial. 

10 hours ago, daveb said:

(mind if I brag a little?)

 

The last couple of days I've been looking at things like my expenses so far this year and my 401k performance and such, and it looks like everything is going very well. At this rate I will end up with more money at the end of the year than I started the year with. Of course it helped that I got some pension money and proceeds from the house sale (although most of that went back into my current house to reduce my monthly mortgage payments). But even so, things are looking good. I don't expect that to be the case every year, but so far, so good. :D 

 

(on another note - speaking of insects, I heard this noise earlier today and realized it was a wasp buzzing loudly on the other side of my front door. Hopefully it doesn't try to get in the house!)

I am really glad your post retirement life is financially stable.  One of my biggest fears is that after I retire, inflation will skyrocket and my pension will remain stagnant.  Unlike Social Security, our state pensions do not have any cost of living adjustment built into them.  And of course we don't mind if you brag a little.   Sharing our victories and successes is just as important as venting our trials and frustrations in this community.  

9 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

Here in Minnesota I've never had an ant problem unless I left fruit out on the counter too long.  Dave, you might not have ants now that you're farther north. 

I had a nest of flying ants in my attic for the first 15 years I have lived in my home.  A double dose of a bug bomb fogger - a can of bug spray that you activate and the entire can empties as you leave the room - finally did the trick when I "bombed" my attic a couple of years ago

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7 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I think ants live everywhere. 

Even Antarctica?

 

7 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

the Suffolk Punch

I learned of those when I visited Ipswich and Sutton Hoo several years ago. Although I never saw any, just pictures. I seem to recall a big picture of one painted on the side of some building or wall in Ipswich...

 

5 hours ago, DigitalBookDust said:

I know I've probably posted (much earlier)

Welcome back

 

35 minutes ago, Muledeer said:

Sharing our victories and successes is just as important as venting our trials and frustrations in this community.

Good point. And good to you and everyone else here when it comes to pensions, retirement, etc.!

 

 

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa

Welcome back then, @DigitalBookDust:D:cake:

 

You're very fortunate @Muledeer, probably because you've worked in more accommodating professions. the one I'm in right now, although a challenge to me as a non-computer literate person, is mainly composed from of large local schools that just seemed to suddenly empty into the office, so there are suddenly large cliques of late teens. They can be really nasty, coming from the age of online trolling, etc. The UK as a whole doesn't appreciate  education as a way to a better life now, so , as @Kazbe says, when you work and live in a heavily working class area, being seen as 'elite' , even if you too are the product of working class parentage, is a distinct disadvantage.

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BobRossRules
On 7/24/2017 at 0:49 PM, Semisweet said:

 

@faraday☘, in theory I'd love to visit Cuba, though probably not soon. Trump has been moving to retighten some of the travel permissions for Americans wanting to go there, it's still a restrictive country, and news reports have said increased U.S. tourism there has led to food shortages for locals. That said, I know some Americans who've visited in recent years (some on a group tour, and a couple surreptitiously) and thought it fascinating.

 

I didn't realize that!  I probably won't visit for a while.

 

On 7/24/2017 at 0:54 PM, Tja said:

India is out, as I have never liked Indian food. I think I could go everywhere else.

*Except for Ethiopia. They have a tradition of feeding each other the first bite of food. I couldn't do that*

**I mean, I'm sure hands are clean, but, no one is putting food they touched into my mouth**

Agreed!!

 

15 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

@Deja Vu, I loved Nepal! I

I'd like to visit Napal too!

 

12 hours ago, DigitalBookDust said:

I know I've probably posted (much earlier) on this forum but have been away from AVEN for awhile. I'm 56 so do consider myself in the "older" category. I have been told I don't look nor act my age. For instance, my hair is currently buzzed and electric cobalt blue, lol. One of pet peeves is having people, usually younger than myself, call me "young lady".  I find this patronizing as well as incorrect, gender-wise. I usually address it with humor but also use it as an educational opportunity to inform people that the gender-binary is dead. Along those lines, I also dislike the phrase "X-years young". It really irks me. You are the age you are. Own your maturity.

Welcome back.  Your hair sounds cool!!

 

I also think bugs are awesome.  I'm amazed with ants and what they can do.  And they're so strong!  However, I don't want them living in my house, and I also do not want any wasps in my house.  If I can move them safe without harm, I will do that.  I typically remove one beetle per day, and 1 spider per day and take them outside.  Bugs are a part of life.  I deal with ants and wasps more.  No roaches in Idaho.  Probably not in Antartica either.:lol:  

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8 hours ago, Muledeer said:

If you tagged along with me on a day of routine restaurant inspections, you would see many people touching the food being served to customers.  It's gross.  I avoid eating out whenever possible.

 

I try not to think of this, as I'm on the road, and don't have much of a choice.

 

28 minutes ago, faraday☘ said:

.I'm amazed with ants and what they can do.

I love ant documentaries, and watch them whenever I can. Ants are awesome!

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15 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

Yes, @Kazbe, I'm not acquaint with the smaller horses and ponies at all, as we used heavy Clydesdales on the farm for the ploughing and the carting. A friend of my family still keeps them on his farm near Edinburgh. In the area where I live now, near Suffolk, there's the equivalent , the Suffolk Punch, which is not unlike a Clydesdale. I suppose they're descendants of the medieval Destriers.

How lovely! I've helped look after some Clydesdales and there were gorgeous horses. I've heard of the Suffolk Punch - apparently we have a few in Australia and New Zealand but I believe they're quite a rare breed nowadays.

 

8 hours ago, Muledeer said:

Really?  I have never been amongst company hostile to the idea of better education.   Education has always been "the more the better" in my life.   I read a study one time that less than ten percent of all scientists voted Republican in American elections.   No wonder, since they are the political party of climate change denial.

I've noticed that my American friends are all quite positive about my PhD and urge me to claim the title Doctor even though I'm not currently working in science. It's quite different here in Australia though. Mind you, if I lived in the trendier, middle class suburbs of Sydney it wouldn't be an issue, but working class folk and country folk are not impressed. And employers think I can only do science research - they don't seem able to understand that my PhD has given me transferrable skills useful in project management, no matter how much I tell them. I've now done a Diploma in Project Management where I passed most of the modules on the basis of Recognised Prior Learning from my PhD and my work - clearly those in education "get it".

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On 25/07/2017 at 4:54 AM, Tja said:

India is out, as I have never liked Indian food. I think I could go everywhere else.

*Except for Ethiopia. They have a tradition of feeding each other the first bite of food. I couldn't do that*

**I mean, I'm sure hands are clean, but, no one is putting food they touched into my mouth**

Ethiopia was on my now defunct bucket list. I saw a documentary on Ethiopia - I think with Joanna Lumley - where she visited Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains. Stunningly, magically beautiful. However, that feeding each other tradition is a turn off. She didn't mention it, so maybe they let foreigners get away with not doing it.

 

This was my bucket list:

  • Icelandic Pony Trek
  • Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia
  • Sail on The Eye of The Wind
  • Northern Japan
  • A trip to the Białowieża Forest
  • Gypsy Caravan Adventure
  • The "Ancestral Tour" - London, Wales, Cornwall, Normandy, Germany (Frankfurt-am-Main)
  • The Carpathians - e.g. Horse riding in the Calimani National Park, or a four-day trekking tour in Gorgany, the wildest region in the Carpathian Mountains 
  • Horse riding the Camino de Santiago from the Pyrenees (Camino Frances)
  • Finistere in Brittany
  • A week in Paris
  • A week in New York
  • Comic-Con 
  • A White Christmas with real snow
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BobRossRules

Unfortunately, I've had to kill an ant colony that was living in my foundation.  They barrow into the wood, and that wouldn't be good. Their trail was right under the dog door, so the dogs would track them in.  The wasps I've had to kill were ones that built a nest right near my door or where I'm very active, and I have getting stung a few times.  If we can live in peace, however, I'll leave them be.  The methods I use are at least humane.  They die instantly rather than suffering for a long time.   

 

 

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Welcome (back), @DigitalBookDust :cake:, and you're so right about patronizing expressions like those you mentioned. Only people older than about 80 can call me "young lady" without getting the evil eye.<_< I'm still debating how I feel about being called "Miss"--it's not as if "Ma'am" is too appealing either.

 

@Kazbe, your bucket list looks fascinating. Here's hoping that it won't always be defunct, and that you'll find a way to get to a couple of those places, at the least! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Semisweet said:

 

@Kazbe, your bucket list looks fascinating. Here's hoping that it won't always be defunct, and that you'll find a way to get to a couple of those places, at the least! 

I agree.

 

4 hours ago, Kazbe said:

but working class folk and country folk are not impressed.

That's generally true in the US, too. I come from what is basically a working class neighborhood and a lot of people thought (and said) a number of times that I must think I'm better than everyone since I got a college degree. And in politics some people prefer politicians who seem more on their level. There's an idea that's been around a while, something about "he (since it's never a woman) is the kind of guy you could have a beer with" when talking about politicians they like. There's also an anti-science/anti-intellectual sentiment among some groups. One reason a certain politician appeals to some people is he talks more like they do. (not to get into politics) :huh:

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Autumn Sunrise
4 hours ago, Kazbe said:

 

This was my bucket list:

  • Icelandic Pony Trek
  • Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia
  • Sail on The Eye of The Wind
  • Northern Japan
  • A trip to the Białowieża Forest
  • Gypsy Caravan Adventure
  • The "Ancestral Tour" - London, Wales, Cornwall, Normandy, Germany (Frankfurt-am-Main)
  • The Carpathians - e.g. Horse riding in the Calimani National Park, or a four-day trekking tour in Gorgany, the wildest region in the Carpathian Mountains 
  • Horse riding the Camino de Santiago from the Pyrenees (Camino Frances)
  • Finistere in Brittany
  • A week in Paris
  • A week in New York
  • Comic-Con 
  • A White Christmas with real snow

 

Your bucket list looks interesting (and adventurous :D), @Kazbe. I hope you do get to visit at least some of those wonderful places!

 

My bucket list would be pretty hypothetical, since I'm not sure I'll be doing much more O/S travelling - I feel guilty because of climate change when I think of all the carbon pollution caused by flying :( (I guess maybe I could offset . . . ) I have done one thing from your list: several years ago, *cats* and I did a winter trip to the UK and Europe, and one of our goals was a traditional "white Christmas" which we celebrated in a tiny village called Igls, just outside Innsbruck in the Austrian Tirol. It was a magical and unforgettable experience :wub: . . . couldn't have been more different from our Australian Christmases :D.

 

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DigitalBookDust

Thank you all for the warm "welcome back" and for cake!

@Kazbe Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your bucket list sounds amazing. I hope you get to cross off every item!

Re: ants. I've been fighting a battle with sugar ants (part of the Southern living experience). I tried the natural remedies first-lemon juice and oil, peppermint oil, scrubbing the floor with  vinegar, etc. That did nothing but make my apt smell wonderful. Then my landlord brought out the industrial strength chemicals. Those also had no effect. I think these must be mutant ants capable of withstanding a nuclear attack, lol. I don't mind co-existing with ants BUT I've found these crawling on my pc (making concrete the notion of computer bugs) and even in my bed! I HAD thought perhaps they were coming in for food and water, except that I've not found them on any food item. My dog always has food and water available. The ants haven't touched these, nor have I found them in the kitchen surfaces. So I'veconcluded they are coming in to enjoy the ac, chill, and maybe watch Netflix. 8)

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8 minutes ago, DigitalBookDust said:

chill, and maybe watch Netflix. 

Even ants "Netflix and chill", do they?

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12 hours ago, Kazbe said:

Ethiopia was on my now defunct bucket list. I saw a documentary on Ethiopia - I think with Joanna Lumley - where she visited Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains. Stunningly, magically beautiful. However, that feeding each other tradition is a turn off. She didn't mention it, so maybe they let foreigners get away with not doing it.

 

This was my bucket list:

  • Icelandic Pony Trek
  • Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia
  • Sail on The Eye of The Wind
  • Northern Japan
  • A trip to the Białowieża Forest
  • Gypsy Caravan Adventure
  • The "Ancestral Tour" - London, Wales, Cornwall, Normandy, Germany (Frankfurt-am-Main)
  • The Carpathians - e.g. Horse riding in the Calimani National Park, or a four-day trekking tour in Gorgany, the wildest region in the Carpathian Mountains 
  • Horse riding the Camino de Santiago from the Pyrenees (Camino Frances)
  • Finistere in Brittany
  • A week in Paris
  • A week in New York
  • Comic-Con 
  • A White Christmas with real snow

That's a great list! And quite varied, too. Lots of horses in there - perhaps best to avoid them in NY and Paris, though...

 

I'll be ticking off a few of my own early next year having, at long last, booked a Singapore/NZ/Australia/Hong Kong trip. :D

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8 hours ago, daveb said:

I agree.

 

That's generally true in the US, too. I come from what is basically a working class neighborhood and a lot of people thought (and said) a number of times that I must think I'm better than everyone since I got a college degree. And in politics some people prefer politicians who seem more on their level. There's an idea that's been around a while, something about "he (since it's never a woman) is the kind of guy you could have a beer with" when talking about politicians they like. There's also an anti-science/anti-intellectual sentiment among some groups. One reason a certain politician appeals to some people is he talks more like they do. (not to get into politics) :huh:

That was my experience too.  When I went to nursing school in the 1970s I got a lot of flak about trying to be better than everyone else.  There were comments like, oh I suppose once you go to school you won't bother coming back here, we won't be good enough for YOU!

 

i would agree about politics too,  if you talk like a 5th grader you are deemed more honest than those high talkers.  

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DigitalBookDust

You are all old enough to remember those "help, I've fallen and can't get up" commercials. This morning while on my morning hike I tripped on a rock and went down HARD. Luckily, I was heading uphill....^_^

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2 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

Even ants "Netflix and chill", do they?

Supposedly "the birds and bees do it"... :P

 

2 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

I'll be ticking off a few of my own early next year having, at long last, booked a Singapore/NZ/Australia/Hong Kong trip. :D

Cool. Have fun!

 

2 hours ago, Aqua Blue said:

That was my experience too

Yeah. I don't get it, but I had to do what was best for me. :)

 

52 minutes ago, DigitalBookDust said:

You are all old enough to remember those "help, I've fallen and can't get up" commercials. This morning while on my morning hike I tripped on a rock and went down HARD. Luckily, I was heading uphill....^_^

Ouch! I hope you didn't get hurt too badly.

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DigitalBookDust

@daveb No, just some scrapes and maybe a bruised knee. I just hope I can get the coal dust out of my pants. The Creeper had a coal dust and packed dirt trail bed with plenty of random rocks. IT can be tricky to navigate, esp. after a rain. 

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Never thought of myself as 'disabled' with my SAD but the Open University does and provides additional support with mental health issues. I suppose I've always felt ashamed of it, during my first bout of severe depression (in the late 70s when things were very different); a visiting 'Welfare Officer' informed me that I would be considered a security risk and never allowed to progress. Now whether it was because of this or I was just incompetent, I don't know but I never did get promotion.

So I've decided to go ahead and enrol for October; I'm getting 50% refund of fees paid (absolute BONUS - thought the entire sum was written off), applying for a student loan again (now I've found my Statutory Declaration...only ever one copy of that - not even a Central Registry). But have to speak with the OU advisors as I need to change from 2016 - 2017 to 2017 - 2018. Will do that tomorrow :)

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We have had a cool several days here in the northeast that will be coming to an end tomorrow.  The last two days it had been 30 degree F cooler than the previous week.  Quite a shock to go from hot and humid to early autumn chilly.  I went for a bike ride down the south shore beach last night and it looked a lot like photos I took last October.  The beach was deserted and it was gray and overcast.  Hard to believe it was July 25th.

 

36183111505_66a826b7f8_b.jpg

 

36050392591_ca338e2dd3_b.jpg

 

Back in early April, I took a handful of sunflower seeds from my previous years plants and tossed them into an empty flower bed at a small park near me on the beach (north shore).  Unfortunately (or so I thought) about a week later the volunteers who take care of the flower beds dug everything up, tilled the soil and planted new flowers.  Well some of those seeds managed to establish themselves and produce some huge sunflowers.  The only one blooming so far is a somewhat exotic variety.  They are being cared for by the people who take care of the flowers but I am sure someone was curious where they came from.  The only problem is that some of them are right up against one of the benches as the seeds had gotten moved around:

 

36142721966_968c666d78_b.jpg

 

This is the somewhat exotic sunflower.  It is a Lemon Eclair variety:

 

36183114035_f5e7f764ec_b.jpg

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