The ABC Wednesday concept was conceived by Denise Nesbitt. The idea is simply that a group of bloggers all post each Wednesday on a specific letter of the alphabet.
Round 3 is now complete.
This Anthology blog is now closed to new contributions, apart from necessary announcements. Contributors to this Round 3 anthology are heartily thanked for making this a novel and intriquing document. The blog will remain visible for the foreseeable future. The blogroll on the sidebar will continue to be maintained, but blogs not posting for more than 6 weeks will be removed. New blogs will not be added.
Round 4 has now started, but it is not proposed to produce another anthology blog.
To participate, all you have to do is to publish something appropriate each week on your blog.
The minimum requirement is that you include a link in your post to the ABC Wednesday blog.
ABC Wednesday with Mister Linky blog
http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/
carries a Mister Linky registry of participants. Please register each week, AFTER you have posted your contribution and ideally you should link to the specific week's post, not merely the blog's home page.
19 January 2009
15 January 2009
Another Zoo... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I know... how original... what can I say - it's late... zoo me. :) 
This never before seen idea brought to you by http://penglynns.blogspot.com
This never before seen idea brought to you by http://penglynns.blogspot.com
14 January 2009
A Quilter's ABC--Z
My Z is the same Z word that I used in round two.
I took my signature blocks and arranged them on my design wall to get a zig zag.
ZIG ZAG
Looking for a Z block, I found one that looks something like this in a border.
I took my signature blocks and arranged them on my design wall to get a zig zag.
This post is duplicated at Katney's Kaboodle.
ABC Wednesday - Z
Z is for.............
This is a hard one to believe - they are deceiving - but it is really in there!
Come see what it is at my blog.
Happy ABC Wednesday!
"Z" is for . . . ZERO
Photo c2009 by Nickers and Ink
Click here to read the entire post,
"Z" is for . . . Zero,
including the original poem,
"Bottled Up - A Limericked Rill on Winter's Chill"
at Nickers and Ink
Zoo (again)
A year ago I did Z is for Zoo but then I took you to Tenerife. This time we are nearer home in Blackpool on a very wet November day. As the visit was part of the holiday-package we didn't forego it just because of the precipitation. You can see sea-lions, flamingos, dromedaries and dinosaurs on the original post at Ackworth born, gone West.
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Z is for... Zones!
The United States Department for Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zone map, 1990
If you blog about gardening here in Britain, it's not too long before you encounter your American and Canadian cousins who all talk about which zone they garden in as if it was as natural as breathing. Strike up a conversation with any of these gardeners and it's not long before you're asked what zone is your garden? Luckily when I was first asked this last year, I had just been looking at the above map in The Essential Design Workbook by Rosemary Alexander.
For an explanation about these zones and which one I placed my garden in, without having to read the above book, hop on over to Veg Plotting for the answers.
Many thanks to Denise, Gerald and the rest of the ABC team for ensuring we all made it here to the end of ABC Round 3 :D
13 January 2009
Z is for Zebra
and the zebra-loving boy, Jon, my great-grandson who is perhaps dreaming at left of one of the zebras who have poked their striped noses into the family car on zebra-watching expeditions (in Texas parks). Note his toy zebra and his zebra-striped pajamas. His mother, Josie Andersen (my granddaughter) took these pictures.For other Z entries go to Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday round 3. For more pictures of zebras and Jon, go to my blog, Granny Smith.
12 January 2009
Z is for Zen
To finish my ABC garden theme I present you with the Japanese (Zen) garden at Kingtson Lacey in Wiltshire.
Focusing on Zen - the web gurus amongst us will enjoy this site it is a garden for people who enjoy the potential of CSS.
Finally I shall leave you with this Zen thought:
Cross posted @ Cherie's Place.
Focusing on Zen - the web gurus amongst us will enjoy this site it is a garden for people who enjoy the potential of CSS.
Finally I shall leave you with this Zen thought:
Confused by thoughts,
we experience duality in life.
Unencumbered by ideas,
the enlightened see the one Reality.
Hui - Neng
Cross posted @ Cherie's Place.
Letter of the Week 'Z'
Twenty-six letters and my book is done. Now I need to put it all together for my grandson, Elliott. It's been a fun 26 weeks!
You can see the rest of my alphabet at my blog, Hiraeth. Just click on the letter 'A' in the sidebar!
Z is for ° Zoo on Ice° by JoAnn´s D Eyes-Holland
Z for ZOO on ICE....
ZOO on ice
When you look at those animals on ICE
you may laugh hahahaas loud as I did last weekend.....
I invite you to, Watch my blog to see more ICE FUN
Z Is For Zoom
How Far Do You Want to Go?
Image #1. Focal length 18mm. Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
This series of three photographs was shot on a dull, grey day – simply to illustrate the distinction between a standard lens and a zoom lens. Yes, I could have done the same experiment on a cloudless, sunny day, but the tougher the light conditions, the greater the demands on your lens.
Until about three or four years ago, zoom lenses were the exclusive territory of professional photographers. Amateurs who bought SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras generally bought standard 35mm lenses. But as digital SLRs grew in popularity and the prices fell from around $3000 to the $1200 mark, it became more common for amateur photographers to turn to single compact lenses with adjustable focal planes.
Then came the biggest – and most far-reaching - revolution for the MND (mum ‘n’ dad) photographers. As they embraced digital SLRs and the price of memory cards fell from $200 for a one-gigabyte SD card (late 1995) to $30 for a four-gigabyte SD card, a new school of thought took hold.
As the MND amateurs began looking for more than simply a standard 35mm lens, manufacturers found a new market – complete amateurs who were willing to spend some money on the popular 18-55mm lenses or even the larger multi-purpose 18-125mm lenses.
Logically, the camera manufacturers embraced the new market. It’s been more than a year since the big names started to package novel deals for the home photographer, as opposed to serving only the professional photographers.
Image #2. Focal length 125mm.
Previously, when an MND photographer bought a digital SLR, it came with one lens. Now, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and the other big players are enticing brave new consumers to invest in packages that are tailored to the one-body-two-lenses option.
If that sounds like jargon, let me explain it in the simplest terms. You buy one camera body, but the manufacturer entices you (and a brilliant marketing option it is, from everyone’s point of view) to buy not one lens but two.
Each camera body has a bayonet-type screw-in for a lens. If your standard lens is an 18-55mm lens, you can also buy a second, longer lens and swap between the two. Swapping lenses is a quick and simple process that only takes a few seconds. More crucially, it makes a lot of commercial sense for manufacturers and for the 21st-century buyer as well.
When I bought my Pentax K100D, I bought a wonderful 18-125mm Sigma lens. Then, about eight or nine months ago, I saw a 70-300mm Sigma lens advertised and after mulling over the possibilities for a few weeks, I took the plunge and have never looked back. I carry both lenses wherever I go and to put it quite simply, I revel in the choice.
Now to the specifics of this photo exercise. All these shots were taken from the eleventh floor of a city building here in Melbourne, looking out towards Port Phillip Bay. All three shots were taken from exactly the same spot, with different focal lengths.
In the first shot, with a focal length of only 18mm, the dominant features are two apartment buildings, a set of vertical blinds and an old-fashioned CRT-type computer monitor.
The second shot is also taken with my 18-125mm lens, fully open to a focal length of 125mm. Now you can actually see what looks like an expanse of concrete in the distance but is actually the sea under a leaden, grey sky.
Image #3. Focal length 300mm.
In the final shot (above) taken at the maximum focal length of my 70-300mm lens, you can actually begin to discern the slim grey outline of a container ship several miles away, deep in the Bay that is many suburbs away.
It’s almost like sittin’ on the dock of the Bay.
Image #1. Focal length 18mm. Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
This series of three photographs was shot on a dull, grey day – simply to illustrate the distinction between a standard lens and a zoom lens. Yes, I could have done the same experiment on a cloudless, sunny day, but the tougher the light conditions, the greater the demands on your lens.
Until about three or four years ago, zoom lenses were the exclusive territory of professional photographers. Amateurs who bought SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras generally bought standard 35mm lenses. But as digital SLRs grew in popularity and the prices fell from around $3000 to the $1200 mark, it became more common for amateur photographers to turn to single compact lenses with adjustable focal planes.
Then came the biggest – and most far-reaching - revolution for the MND (mum ‘n’ dad) photographers. As they embraced digital SLRs and the price of memory cards fell from $200 for a one-gigabyte SD card (late 1995) to $30 for a four-gigabyte SD card, a new school of thought took hold.
As the MND amateurs began looking for more than simply a standard 35mm lens, manufacturers found a new market – complete amateurs who were willing to spend some money on the popular 18-55mm lenses or even the larger multi-purpose 18-125mm lenses.
Logically, the camera manufacturers embraced the new market. It’s been more than a year since the big names started to package novel deals for the home photographer, as opposed to serving only the professional photographers.
Image #2. Focal length 125mm. Previously, when an MND photographer bought a digital SLR, it came with one lens. Now, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and the other big players are enticing brave new consumers to invest in packages that are tailored to the one-body-two-lenses option.
If that sounds like jargon, let me explain it in the simplest terms. You buy one camera body, but the manufacturer entices you (and a brilliant marketing option it is, from everyone’s point of view) to buy not one lens but two.
Each camera body has a bayonet-type screw-in for a lens. If your standard lens is an 18-55mm lens, you can also buy a second, longer lens and swap between the two. Swapping lenses is a quick and simple process that only takes a few seconds. More crucially, it makes a lot of commercial sense for manufacturers and for the 21st-century buyer as well.
When I bought my Pentax K100D, I bought a wonderful 18-125mm Sigma lens. Then, about eight or nine months ago, I saw a 70-300mm Sigma lens advertised and after mulling over the possibilities for a few weeks, I took the plunge and have never looked back. I carry both lenses wherever I go and to put it quite simply, I revel in the choice.
Now to the specifics of this photo exercise. All these shots were taken from the eleventh floor of a city building here in Melbourne, looking out towards Port Phillip Bay. All three shots were taken from exactly the same spot, with different focal lengths.
In the first shot, with a focal length of only 18mm, the dominant features are two apartment buildings, a set of vertical blinds and an old-fashioned CRT-type computer monitor.
The second shot is also taken with my 18-125mm lens, fully open to a focal length of 125mm. Now you can actually see what looks like an expanse of concrete in the distance but is actually the sea under a leaden, grey sky.
Image #3. Focal length 300mm. In the final shot (above) taken at the maximum focal length of my 70-300mm lens, you can actually begin to discern the slim grey outline of a container ship several miles away, deep in the Bay that is many suburbs away.
It’s almost like sittin’ on the dock of the Bay.
Zebras at the Zoo in ABC Wednesday
We have finally arrived at Z for the third time. Searching through my hard disks I found these two Zebras in the Zoological park in Kritsiansand, Norway which we visited in 2007.Zo, what iz the next thing in ztore for uz? ;-)
If you would like to make a comment, you are very welcome at Visual Norway.
07 January 2009
ABC Wednesday - Y
Y is for .............
An exclamation describes this week's post. Please visit my site to view the whole post.
ABC Wednesday-Y
YOGA is believed to calm the nervous system and balance the body, mind, and spirit. It is thought by its practitioners that YOGA prevents specific diseases and maladies by keeping the energy meridians open and life energy flowing.*
YOGA is usually performed in classes, sessions are conducted at least once a week and for approximately 45 minutes. YOGA has been used to lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and improve co-ordination, flexibility, concentration, sleep, and digestion.
*
For people with heart problems, studies have shown YOGA to help people young and old. Specifically, YOGA seems to promote heart health in several ways, including regulating high blood pressure and improving resistance to psychological stress.
*
ABC Wednesday is brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt.
*
Mr. Linky can be found here.
*
This post is also at my blog: BearNaked.
*
*
Letter of the Week 'Y'
I had a really hard time coming up with an idea for 'Y.' I finally settled on yellow because it was the only thing I could think of! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with for the letter Y.
One more letter to go!
Yorkshire (again)
words © Susan Shand; photograph © Betty Longbottom.
A year ago I posted Y is for Yorkshire in the first round of ABC and introduced you to haiku in Yorkshire dialect.
I now bring you the work of Susan Shand.
kids laikin'
next doors do a moonlight flit
t' 'uddersfield
up Bingley 5-rise
roses spred all ovver t' walls
even on t' barges
dawn on t' Otley Chevin
747s off t't' sunshine
I have combined the first of these haiku with a photograph of Houses at bottom of Outcote Bank by Betty Longbottom, used here with permission, to create a haiga.
You can find a dialect haiga of my own on Winter Haiku 2008/09.
The original post can be found on Ackworth born, gone West.
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Y is for ...YAWA - Your Guide to January's Top Events!
Last year when ABC Wednesday was back at S, I promised You Ask, We Answer would provide a guide to UK gardening events for 2009. At the time I thought I'd just highlight the quirky like the sprout festival Anna had found, but on doing some research, I thought it would be good to include all manner of things which you might be interested in hearing about or even attending. I found the list got ever larger, so I've divided it into a monthly guide.
Although it's winter and our gardening activities are severely curtailed, there's still plenty of events to highlight this month. To find out more, hop on over to Veg Plotting, where details of Gardeners' Question Time, Potato Days, the RSPB Garden Bird Watch, Wassailing, the Whittlesea Straw Bear and your chance to quiz the Royal Horticultural Society await you!
06 January 2009
Y is for Yate
Just in case you think I have forgotten how to spell, it is an alternative spelling for gate, the dictionary tells me so ;-)
Cross posted @ Cherie's Place.
Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
that sight, touch, and hearing do not lie,
That all thing you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.
You cannot enter. But you're sure it's there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.
Some people say that we should not trust our eyes,
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
There are the ones who have no hope.
They think the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hand of thieves.
Czeslaw Milosz
Cross posted @ Cherie's Place.
Y is for Yorkshire
This is a photo of my daughter and Chelsea our dog taken in 2001 on the North York Moors. My daughter was at uni in York so I often visited. This photo was taken on my trust Canon pre-digital days, and scanned.
Starnitesky
"Y" Is for Yesterday’s Wonder
Y is for . . .
Yesterday's Wonder
Yesterday's Wonder
Photo c2008 by Nickers and Ink.Click here to read the full post,
including additional photos
and an original poem,
"Paging the Prime Veterinarian:
Three Questions in Rhyme on a Mare Past Her Prime"
at
The Mane Point - A Haven for Horse Lovers.
including additional photos
and an original poem,
"Paging the Prime Veterinarian:
Three Questions in Rhyme on a Mare Past Her Prime"
at
The Mane Point - A Haven for Horse Lovers.
You can always be assured of a welcome at our Village Hall!
Pop over to my blog
to read more about our community IT training in the village hall!
05 January 2009
Y is for Yellow
Yellow is sunlight
slanting through south-east window:
early wake-up call.
slanting through south-east window:
early wake-up call.
Yellow is sunlight caught in flowers.
Y is for Yokohama...
Yokohama, the city where is I live is one of Japan's oldest port cities. It is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Port of Yokohama this year!
Allow me to give you a quick tour around this charming big city.
The Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, one of the oldest buildings here that is made of thousands of red bricks! The inside of the warehouse has been converted into a cultural hall, shopping boutiques, restaurants and novelty shops.
The imposing Landmark Tower, Yokohama's famous landmark.
Wanna go for a roller coaster ride? It goes down under a dark passage. Eerie and exciting!
The Giant Ferris Wheel and Cosmo Clock at Cosmo World in Minato Mirai
A View of the bay and beyond in Minato Mirai. Can you see the Marine Tower ahead? This photo was taken last year when I was only a few weeks pregnant.
The Nippon-Maru (the Sail Training Ship) at night in Minato Mirai.
A night view of Minato Mirai area.
The Yokohama Landmark Tower at night.
The penguins in Zoorasia (Yokohama Zoological Gardens) - a zoological park dedicated to the display and preservation of endangered species.
The beautiful Yamashita Park on a fine Spring day.
Flowers bloom in Spring! This is one of the flower exhibition beds in Yamashita Park showcasing the beautiful spring flowers of Japan. Each spring, various landscapers and gardeners participate in this event and display their best spring produce in a very colorful and wonderful mix of flowers and greens!
This is very typical scene in Yamashita Park especially on fine days such as this... People from all ages come to the park to paint and capture the beautiful scenery, even dogs tag along!
A View of the Port at Yamashita Park.
This post can also be found here.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Allow me to give you a quick tour around this charming big city.
The Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, one of the oldest buildings here that is made of thousands of red bricks! The inside of the warehouse has been converted into a cultural hall, shopping boutiques, restaurants and novelty shops.
The imposing Landmark Tower, Yokohama's famous landmark.
Wanna go for a roller coaster ride? It goes down under a dark passage. Eerie and exciting!
The Giant Ferris Wheel and Cosmo Clock at Cosmo World in Minato Mirai
A View of the bay and beyond in Minato Mirai. Can you see the Marine Tower ahead? This photo was taken last year when I was only a few weeks pregnant.
The Nippon-Maru (the Sail Training Ship) at night in Minato Mirai.
A night view of Minato Mirai area.
The Yokohama Landmark Tower at night.
The penguins in Zoorasia (Yokohama Zoological Gardens) - a zoological park dedicated to the display and preservation of endangered species.
The beautiful Yamashita Park on a fine Spring day.
Flowers bloom in Spring! This is one of the flower exhibition beds in Yamashita Park showcasing the beautiful spring flowers of Japan. Each spring, various landscapers and gardeners participate in this event and display their best spring produce in a very colorful and wonderful mix of flowers and greens!
This is very typical scene in Yamashita Park especially on fine days such as this... People from all ages come to the park to paint and capture the beautiful scenery, even dogs tag along!
A View of the Port at Yamashita Park.This post can also be found here.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
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