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This week I briefly hosted an American friend, stopping in London en route to his semester abroad in Mallorca. Yes, it seems some people have all the luck. He hadn’t visited London for twelve years and so we embarked upon a whirlwind tour of the city, fast-walking so as to avoid frostbite and see as much as possible. As I walked around, I was struck by something so small and yet jaw-dropping that it stopped me in my tracks. London is absolutely beautiful.
How had this eluded me before? How did I ignore this crucial aspect of the city that draws around fourteen million visitors per year? The answer I found is simple; I’m too busy rushing around that I don’t look up. It seems silly and trivial, but today I looked up a lot more and found Soho incredibly aesthetically charming.
Of course much of our aesthetic appeal is down to history, which gives us a significant advantage over younger American cities; Wellington Arch, its appeal somewhat muted by its location on a roundabout, is stunning, with the four horsemen imposing and dominating. Stand under Big Ben and look up – when was the last time you noticed those gold and black adornments around the face of our iconic New Year’s symbol? Need I even mention the neighbouring Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and nearby Buckingham Palace?
…pumped full of curves, arches and dramatic lines…
A seemingly mundane and tourist-filled walk down Knightsbridge became, with a glance skywards, a revelation of the most stunning white and terracotta facades that create the distinctive character of this area. Even humble King’s Cross and Waterloo have stunning interiors and exteriors, pumped full of curves, arches and dramatic lines. How often do we stop and admire the clock hanging over the Waterloo concourse? Not often enough – we’re too busy checking our trains and rushing past the other ants milling around the station.
Such grandeur isn’t found everywhere in the city, but around every corner post boxes, lampposts and house fronts scream to be noticed. Whilst a block of flats or row of terraced houses may not be immediately appealing, their beauty is unique and charming to such an extent that it has become emblematic of the city; so much so that my friend kept commenting, as have others from across the pond, that the city resembles a movie set.
…a look to the skies reveals history and splendour galore…
We often look indoors – to museums, art galleries and concert halls – to find beauty and aesthetic fulfilment. What we should try to do, perhaps, is get our art kicks for free simply by walking around the city. There’s plenty to see and do on the ground, but a look to the skies reveals history and splendour galore. The next time you find yourself in the middle of London, look up.

domain: geography


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Ukraine Crisis Today: Punitive Operation in Eastern Ukraine – Interviewing civilians [Eng subtitles]
The Essential Saker IV: Messianic Narcissism's Agony by a Thousand Cuts
The Essential Saker III: Chronicling The Tragedy, Farce And Collapse of the Empire in the Era of Mr MAGA
How do you save Daonbass people? Where do you send the contribution please?
The core problem is here in the US. A lot of good things like democracy and liberty are given lip service while all the actions of legal entities, and a vast undergreound of violent criminal activity, are directly opposite to these values. A totalitarian regiem has occupied the US and, over the last 30-40 years has cemented its control. Vanisingly few people here are exposed to anything but the oligarchic line, and most are afraid to even think outside the dimensions of the ever more constrictive box we are being forced into. Ours is a police state of a new and vastly evil nature, but, even if they realize this at some deep level, they are afraid, emotionally blocked really since they have no image of what to be afraid of (American fascism) and fantasy is the only emotional defense available to people who have been so deluded and filled with false narriatives. We are stuck emotionally in a reality we percieved to exist prior to President Kennedy’s assassination. Needless to say there are very few people I can talk to here, and when I can, it is in whispers. No one can express dissent here without being labled a potential terrorist, and the 99% of those of us on the bottom have essentially had our civil and human rights cancelled. The US has become the home of monsters seeking to enslave the entire world through state terror, ethnic cleansing, starvation and endless war. I fear that until this nest of oligachic psychopaths, and their patological lying and enless manipulation of the rest of the population, is cleaned out the World will know no peace or any hope for the future of our species. For all our excess consumption (5% od the World’s population consume a quarter of its resources) we are, in a sense the unluckyest people in the world because we are not allowed to know the truth about what our government, in the service of psychopathic oligarchs who are not fully human for lack a conscience, is really up to.
There is no way this arrangemen will not lead to generalized destruction of a vastly more horrifying nature than when the world last dealt with muscular Fascism. Since the normal, ordinary people, of the world are looking at the same fate, our only hope is to rise up everywhere simultaniously to reject illegitamate and depraved rule.
Ucraina: pulizia etnica finale.
Terminato un cessate il fuoco mai rispettato, il presidente ucraino Poroshenko ha annunciato questa mattina la ripresa della cosiddetta operazione antiterrorismo, in realtà una vera e propria operazione di pulizia etnica, un massacro sistematico della popolazione civile.
Due giornalisti russi sono stati gravemente feriti nei pressi di Lugansk. Ma i bombardamenti sono ripresi in tutto il sudest dell’Ucraina.Ci giunge una corrispondenza di Christian Malaparte che è a Kramatorsk con il fotografo americano Patrick Lancaster.I centri abitati dell’Ucraina sudorientale sono sotto assedio, con posti di blocco non aggirabili delle milizie di Kiev. Questa notte il centro di Kramatorsk è stato bombardato a più rirpese, anche con bombe incendiarie al fosforo. Malaparte e Lancaster hanno trovato rifugio nella cantina del loro Hotel, con gli ordigni che esplodevano a poche decine di metri. A partire dalle 22.25 di ieri ora locale ci sono state più ondate di bombardamenti, direttamente contro le abitazioni dei civili, molti dei quali avrebbero perso la vita.
Queste le drammatiche immagini che Patrick Lancaster è riuscito a girare sotto le bombe
Viva la Russia – Viva Vladimir Putin
How is the public sentiment in Russia on the Nazi onslaught? Is it enough to actually make any difference on the decision making whether save the Novorossiyans or not? Indifference?
It’s hard to say, but the mainstream Russian media has toned down the rhetoric a lot, it’s much more compromise-oriented.
See, I think most Russians are pro-Novorossiya, but are aware of what an open military intervention would entail – another recession, at the very least, and a threat of global war.
Considering a draft of something called Russia Agression Act is in progress at the US congress: https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2277 – what kind of message does this send to the world and Russia, as well?
The majority feel for the Novorussians, but in reality, Ukraine has been a mess for so long, and the Russians are just now – barely – emerging from a decades’ worth of a mess themselves. To jump headlong into one that’s bloody and will destroy the country’s economy – I think the majority are not in favor.
The carnage and devastation being perpetrated by the terrorist Kiev government is getting harder and harder to bear. I am not Russian. I suppose for Russians this must be totally unbearable. I want Russia to intervene and put an end to this madness. Enough already!
@Anonymous, I want Russia to intervene and put an end to this madness. Enough already!
How much have you paid for the Russians to do your bidding?
Russian politicians have to first of all take care of the interests of Russians. The job of “righting wrongs”, even of ethnic Russians outside Russia, comes later.
US wants to wipe Russia off the map.
In order to create UNIPOLAR world.
This is an excellent video. I mean, I mourn it’s contents, the “room got dusty” (i.e., I was crying) through several parts of it, but at last there’s a solid and long video, with good subtitles, that shows the people of Novorossia and what’s being inflicted upon them.
I’ve tried to spread it far and wide.
I hear these Novorossians speak, and I hear Ukrainian and Ukrainianized Russian (and South Russian), much like the Kuban Cossacks, who regard themselves as Russians, yet the Ukrainian fascists prefer to speak Moscow Russian. Ethnic hatred can only lead to cultural loss. Pathetic, indeed. Who doesn’t jump is a self- and other-hating psuedo-Moskali?

domain: politics


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Juan Antonio Samaranch (pictured), the former president of the International Olympic Committee, is on a respirator and undergoing an intensive program of drug treatment. The 89-year-old man was admitted yesterday into a Barcelona hospital.
AFP - Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, 89, has been admitted to a Barcelona hospital suffering from severe heart trouble and his prognosis is "very bad", a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.
"He is suffering from acute coronary insufficiency and is prognosis is very bad," a spokesman for Barcelona's Quiron Hospital told AFP.
Samaranch was head of the IOC from 1980 to 2001. Only Pierre de Coubertin, the "father" of the modern Olympics and IOC chief from 1896 to 1925, has held the post longer.
In recent years he was a key part of Madrid's failed bids to hold the Olympics in 2012, which London eventually won, and 2016, which went to Rio de Janeiro.
Samaranch has been hospitalized several times in recent years, most recently in Monaco in 2009 after he fainted.
He was hospitalised in Lausanne, Switzerland for "extreme fatigue" on July 17, 2001, his 81st birthday, shortly after he stepped down as IOC head and in Barcelona in 2007 for high blood pressure.
Date created : 2010-04-20

domain: news


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After refusing to leave Vancouver General Hospital until her health care needs were met, Langley’s 22-year-old Tavia Marlatt is a step closer to receiving what she needs.
Tavia suffers from epilepsy, and can have anywhere from six to 50 seizures a day. Last week, she was at VGH undergoing a series of epilepsy tests that revealed she’s been having seizures from three parts of her brain.
Through a YouTube channel, Tavia documented her stay at the hospital, and said she was refusing to leave the hospital until she was given at at-home care plan.
“Basically, what the plan is, is stay here until my needs are met or the police come,” Tavia explained in a YouTube video.
Fortunately, officials from Langley Memorial Hospital agreed to meet with Tavia and her mother, Renee, last Friday to discuss health care options.
Renee explained the family has been asking the Fraser Health Authority for in-home care support at their family home since Tavia turned 19. She said there is a gap in funding from when children age out of school, and become adults.
Prior to the meeting, Renee said Fraser Health has repeatedly denied funding for in-home care, and has instead suggested Tavia live in a group home.
“We want funding released to have staff at home,” she added.
On the same Friday, Tavia agreed to leave the hospital on “good faith” that long-term funding will soon be provided.
Tavia was diagnosed with epilepsy at age seven, and the severity of it increased when she was eleven.
According to Renee, Tavia’s condition was more manageable when she was school-aged, because the family had the support of her being at school during the day, with people who could administer medications if needed.
Since becoming an adult, the medical system has failed Tavia, according to Renee.
“She needs support to be successful, and hasn’t been given the opportunity to be successful, and that’s hard to see. She [Tavia] says, ‘It’s hard to connect and make friends because they’re too independent for me.’ It’s hard to watch her suffer.”
Renee confirmed there is now short-term funding in place.
After Friday’s meeting, Renee said there is now a proposal for long-term services being drafted, and she is hoping to find out more information by the end of this week.
“They [Fraser Health] recognized there’s a gap in services,” added Renee.
“This isn’t just for Tavia, it’s for any person with epilepsy.”
Fraser Health confirmed they met with the Marlatt family.
“We continue to have ongoing conversations and work on a plan to support the patient’s needs,” Fraser Health said in a statement.
Currently Renee is unsure what type of funding they will receive, but hopes it will be long-term funding to access Choice in Supports for Independent Living (CSIL) – a self-directed home support services program.
“The benefit of having individualized funding is you can customize those supports to be responsive and flexible to a person,” added Renee.
Ideally, Renee is hoping for an in-home support system that is able to administer Tavia’s medications, bring her out into the community, and take her to activities such as her volunteer job.
This would also allow Renee to go back to work, since she wouldn’t have to stay home to care for Tavia herself.
“We’re very hopeful those supports will be in place. As a parent, it’s been really encouraging to see her [Tavia] taking a strong role and lead in advocating for people with epilepsy.”
Renee emphasized her and Tavia’s advocacy isn’t just for their own family needs.
“Our goal is that this isn’t just something for Tavia. Hopefully it will further support change for people with epilepsy or invisible disabilities.”
Is there more to this story?


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Happy Diwali people!! Hope you had a fabulous, bright, sparkly and glittering one! :)
For those who don't know what Diwali is, Diwali is the 'Festival of lights' in India and involves the lighting of diyas i.e small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil in every Hindu household. PS and me lit oil lamps all over our house which looked sooooo pretty.
I stayed away from the fire crackers this year. The fire incident at Sivakasi(where there is a fire-cracker production factory) took away whatever little interest I had in burning the few I did over the last few years.
Deciding to wear a saree this year, I chose a pink one :) The sparkly effect was added by the silver blouse and pink shimmer slip I paired it with.
|Pink Saree - Gift from Aunt (bought in Kolkatta)|
Silver Blouse - Ri(t)ch Styles
Pink Shimmer Slip (worn under the saree) - Taken from another saree :)
Diamond Earrings - Myra
So how did you guys celebrate your Diwali? And what did you wear? I'm sure each one of you looked really pretty and handsome :)

domain: artistic


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There is no moral compulsion to admit millions of Jew hating Muslims into our countries, none whatsoever…
Swedish PM Condemns His Country’s Anti-Semitism Problem
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden has admitted his country has a problem with anti-Semitism in general and the attitudes of immigrants from the Middle East in particular.
The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that Mr. Lofven made his frank admission Tuesday at a news conference on the sidelines of the climate conference in Paris.
“We must be very clear that this anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews has no place in our society,” the Social Democrat prime minister said. “Absolutely no room at all.”
“This shouldn’t have any place,” he continued, expanding on an earlier statement in which he said he was “terribly upset” by recent attacks on Jews and called for “a tolerant and open society where everyone feels safe.”

domain: sociology


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use the following search parameters to narrow your results:
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The Effect of COVID-19 on Cryptocurrencies and the Stock Market Volatility: A Two-Stage DCC-EGARCH Model Analysis
29 days ago by N01 to /s/cryptocurrency from mdpi.com
Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line. (MDPI, April, 2022)
4 months ago by HibikiBlack to /s/conspiracy from mdpi.com
4 months ago by HibikiBlack to /s/VaccineInjuries from mdpi.com
there is no increase in the incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis in COVID-19 recovered patients compared to uninfected matched controls
6 months ago by iamonlyoneman to /s/Medicine from mdpi.com
Study results: Yeah you guys remember how we said electric cars emit less CO2 than internal combustion? Yeah . . . not so much.
8 months ago by iamonlyoneman to /s/environment from mdpi.com
Athletes receive no benefit from high-carbohydrate diets. Very small amounts of carbohydrates are required to prevent hypoglycemia during exercise, but ingesting more than that will not produce a superior outcome, and may cause significant long-term harm.
10 months ago by Drewski to /s/Health from mdpi.com
Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line
11 months ago by fschmidt to /s/nonmorons from mdpi.com
UK study finds 20% of trans patients stop treatment
1 year ago by jet199 to /s/detrans from mdpi.com
LSD, Psilocybin, and DMT in Depression Treatment: A Systematic Review
1 year ago by Drewski to /s/psychedelics from mdpi.com
The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy
1 year ago by slushpilot to /s/Coronavirus from mdpi.com
J. Intell. | Free Full-Text | Effect Sizes, Power, and Biases in Intelligence Research: A Meta-Meta-Analysis [Nuijten et al 2020]
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Chicks perceive men that like cats as less desirable.
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Health Effects of Coffee: Mechanism Unraveled? - The association of habitual coffee consumption with a lower risk of diseases, like type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic liver disease, certain cancer types, or with reduced all-cause mortality
2 years ago by magnora7 to /s/science from mdpi.com

domain: literature


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Big Al’s 45 Mix Show
You can listen to my Mix @ PZR 91.1 FM
w/ Big Al
Pittsburgh, PA – Home Of The 2016 Stanley Cup Champs!
Fridays: 9 AM – Noon ET
50’s, 60’s, DooWop
My love for Music has made me a Dee Jay .. Now The Rest of the Story..
Loved music since i was knee high to well you know . I always thought what a deal if i could mix songs and have folks listen to the mix as well it happened and that is awesome! So you can listen to my Mix @ PZR 91.1 fm/PowerZoneRadio.Rocks Fridays 9 am – 12 pm. Join Big Al’s 45 Mix Show, I will be playing your favorites and your requests on the 45 Mix Show.
Keep A Song In Your Heart …..Now You Have..The Rest Of The Story


text:
The Voices (2015)
Dude who hears voices in his head lives in a fantasy world and becomes a serial killer. Dark comedy but the acting was good. Going to call this average for 3 out of 5 stars.
Check Out The Voices on Hulu. A dark comedy about a likable guy (Ryan Reynolds) pursuing his office crush with the help of his evil talking pets – but things turn sinister when she stands him up for a date.
( http://www.hulu.com/watch/876136 )

domain: entertainment


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Medicinal chemistry Reference Libraries
The European Journal of Medical Chemistry is a peer-reviewed scientific journal for medical chemistry. It is published by Elsevier. It was established in 1966 under the title Chimica Therapeutica. That name was maintained until 1973. Even after changing to its current name in 1974, the journal was still subtitled Chimica Therapeutica until 1981; from 1982 to 1986 it was subtitled Chimie...
- Small missiles, especially grape, canister, fragments of iron, and the like, when fired, as upon an enemy at close quarters.
- To fire mitraille at.

domain: chemistry


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The father of a 20-year-old woman killed by a driver operating with a suspended license is pushing for drivers with a history of suspensions to receive harsher sentences, according to The Boston Globe.
Marc Cremer’s daughter Haley was struck and killed while out jogging in June 2014. The driver, Jeffrey Bickoff, was driving with a suspended license. Cremer will testify today on Beacon Hill in support of legislation that would allow judges to gradually increase sentencing for drivers that repeatedly drive with suspended licenses.
“There needs to be proper penalties to go along with this crime,’’ Cremer told the Globe. “This is a good bill that clearly addresses a gap that needs to be closed. We need to target people who blatantly disregard the law. We are endeavoring to take people off the road who are a risk to others.”
In the time since his daughter’s death, Cremer has also actively supported legislative change involving information sharing between local police departments and the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Read the full story here.


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3 - 5 years. "A told B, and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree." In this lively alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the coconut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no -- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Paperback. 40 pages.
While riding on a bus with her grandmother, a little girl imagines that they are carried up into the sky and fly over the sights of New York City. Splendid collages transform the city into a rich mosaic of buildings, people, and places.
By admiring her finer points and showing that she can take care of herself and have fun even when there's no one else around, a charming pig proves the best friend you can have is yourself. Paperback. 32 pages.

domain: library


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Placing Planetary Urbanization in Other Fields of Vision
Co-authored by Linda Peake, Darren Patrick, and Gokboru Sarp Tanyildiz (of the City Institute) and Rajyashree N. Reddy, Sue Ruddick and Roza Tchoukaleyska.
This article is part of Society and Space's recent special issue: volume 36(3). This piece considers the theory of planetary urbanization and raises many theoretical and political questions that the articles and interventions in this theme issue address, such as: How best to conceptualize the global urban condition and its implications for social change? What to do with the “right to the city”? How does planetary urbanization contribute to our understanding of present day radical social movements? What to do with the notion of city as “form”? How do we comprehend the “non-urban”? What room is there for social reproduction and the politics of subjectivity? Who is included in a vision of the urban subject-citizen? How do urban inhabitants and those who are deemed its un-inhabitants make life possible in and through their shaping of cities? How does migration factor into planetary urbanization? And what are the political and quotidian implications for the replacement of boredom (the dominant affect for Lefebvre and the Situationists) by anxiety, arguably the linchpin of subordination, in the early 21st century?


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Doubletree by Hilton Annapolis, MARYLAND
SIGN UP TODAY!! DISCOUNTED ROOM BLOCK ENDS SEPTEMBER 28 (IF WE ARE NOT SOLD OUT BY THEN)
Come join the fun! Learn something new and make new friends from around the world. Newcomers and beginners are welcome! Lectures, workshops by talented DAG Instructors, DAG Competition and a great salesroom with lots of treasures. Doll Artisan Guild Conventions are so much fun!!
October 31 - November 2, 2019
Annapolis, Maryland USA.
DAG International Convention 2019 - USA
JOIN THE FUN!!! WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
©2019 Doll Artisan Guild International, Inc.

domain: hobby


text:
Sarah questions how far she will push herself in the compound in order to protect her friends and keep Ivan's secret. After a run-in with the Warden, Sarah must meet with the boss...
Self-improvement - One Simple But Powerful Life-Changing Guide!
Everything that happens to us happens in purpose. And sometimes, one thing leads to another. Instead of locking yourself up in your cage of fears and crying over past heartaches, embarrassment and failures, treat them as your teachers and they will become your tools in both self-improvement and success. This ebook will help you Self-improvement…
Medical, Genetic & Behavioral Risk Factors of English Springer Spaniels
This book (English Springer Spaniels) provides you with a through description and positive attributes of this breed including origin, purpose, history, normal heights and weights, acceptable colors and behavioral traits. Our books differ from most…
The Doctor's Secret Child
FOR THEIR CHILD'S SAKEBeautiful Hopewell Vineyards was the perfect place to raise the cherished child that Caroline had adopted as her own. Only now, a carbon copy of her blond boy, though muscular and over six feet tall, was here…
Hot Wife Punished in Saudi Arabia
David worked in the office of a foreign-owned business in Saudi Arabia. His wife Helen, bored, began an affair with Deshawn, a black African-American also in country as a foreign national. David found himself in the role of a cuckold. David loved…
Telling Our Own Stories: Poems by Rwandan Youth 20 Years After the Genocide
Inspired by the history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, this collection contains 20 poems by Rwandan youth between the ages of 14 and 28. The poems celebrate the lives of over one million victims of the genocide and calls on all of us,…
Synchronicity: One Man's Experience
He first noticed the coincidences sometime in 2007. Small, trifling things really, involving certain repeat numbers – but they didn’t stop, and they refused to be ignored.As it turned out, he wasn’t alone. Other people were seeing the numbers. The…
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Bleach (Japanese: ブリーチ Hepburn: Burīchi) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of the hotheaded teenager Ichigo Kurosaki who inherits his parents destiny, after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper (死神 Shinigami, literally "Death God")—a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. His new-found powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife, and set him on journeys to various ghostly realms of existence.
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In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of dentistry, particularly in the realm of dental implantology. Sterling, VA, has emerged as a hub for cutting-edge dental practices that are leveraging AI technology to enhance the quality of dental implant procedures and ultimately deliver brighter smiles to patients. By integrating AI into dental implant dentistry, practitioners in Sterling can provide more precise diagnoses, personalized treatment plans, and improved patient outcomes. This blog post will explore the smart solutions that AI brings to the world of dental implants in Sterling, highlighting how technology is elevating the standard of care and shaping the future of dental healthcare.
Understanding Dental Implants
Dental implants are artificial tooth roots that are surgically placed into the jawbone to support replacement teeth or bridges. These implants provide a strong foundation for fixed or removable replacement teeth that are designed to match the natural teeth. Using advanced technology and materials, dental implants are carefully crafted to ensure a comfortable fit and natural appearance. The process involves careful planning and precision to ensure the implants integrate seamlessly with the jawbone, providing stability and durability for long-term use.
Dental implants play a crucial role in both oral health and aesthetics. Beyond just filling in gaps from missing teeth, implants help maintain the structure of the jawbone and prevent bone loss that can occur with tooth loss. By providing a stable base for replacement teeth, implants allow for improved chewing and speaking abilities, enhancing the overall quality of life. Additionally, dental implants support facial contours and prevent the sunken appearance that can result from missing teeth, helping to restore confidence and a brighter smile.
Evolution Of Dental Implants In Sterling, VA
In Sterling, VA, the evolution of dental implants has been a remarkable journey, reflecting the continuous advancements in dental technology and patient care. Historically, dental implants have played a crucial role in replacing missing teeth and restoring oral health. Over the years, Sterling has witnessed significant developments in the field of dental implant dentistry, with cutting-edge techniques and materials being introduced to enhance the effectiveness and longevity of dental implants. From the early days of rudimentary tooth replacements to the sophisticated implant procedures available today, Sterling has embraced innovation to provide patients with durable and natural-looking solutions for missing teeth.
Innovations such as computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology have enabled dental professionals in Sterling to create custom-designed dental implants that perfectly fit each patient's unique oral anatomy. Additionally, the integration of artificial intelligence in dental implant procedures has enhanced treatment planning and precision, leading to better success rates and reduced treatment times. These advancements have not only transformed the way dental implants are placed and restored but have also elevated the overall patient experience, making dental implants in Sterling, VA a smart and reliable solution for achieving a brighter smile.
The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Dental Implants
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the field of dental implant dentistry by offering innovative solutions that enhance precision, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Through the use of AI-powered software and technology, dental professionals in Sterling, VA, can now accurately plan and execute dental implant procedures with a level of precision that was previously unattainable. AI algorithms can analyze patient data, such as 3D scans and medical history, to create personalized treatment plans that are tailored to each individual's unique oral health needs. This not only helps in improving the success rate of dental implant surgeries but also reduces the risk of complications and ensures a more predictable and smoother recovery process for patients.
Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence in implant dentistry streamlines the workflow for dental practitioners in Sterling, VA, by automating time-consuming tasks and providing real-time insights during procedures. AI systems can assist dentists in analyzing images, identifying anatomical structures, and even predicting potential challenges that may arise during surgery. By leveraging AI technologies, dental professionals can make more informed decisions, improve treatment accuracy, and ultimately deliver a higher standard of care to their patients. The role of artificial intelligence in dental implants is not just about enhancing clinical outcomes but also about transforming the overall patient experience by making dental procedures more efficient, reliable, and comfortable.
Advantages Of AI-Driven Dental Implants In Sterling, VA
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been revolutionizing various industries, and healthcare is no exception. In the field of dental implant dentistry in Sterling, VA, AI-driven solutions are enhancing the patient experience and improving treatment outcomes. Here are some of the key advantages of AI-driven dental implants in Sterling, VA:
Precision Planning: AI algorithms can analyze a patient's dental structure and create highly precise treatment plans for dental implant procedures. This level of precision helps in ensuring that the implant is placed in the optimal position for long-term success.
Faster Treatment Times: AI technology can streamline the treatment process by assisting dentists in performing procedures more efficiently. This can lead to reduced treatment times, allowing patients to achieve their desired smile makeover in less time.
Enhanced Patient Safety: With AI-driven dental implants, the risk of human error is minimized, leading to enhanced patient safety during the procedure. AI technology can help dentists identify potential risks or complications before they occur, ensuring a smoother and safer treatment process.
Personalized Treatment: AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of patient data to create personalized treatment plans tailored to each individual's unique needs. This personalized approach can lead to better treatment outcomes and improved patient satisfaction.
Predictive Analytics: AI technology can be used to predict potential outcomes of dental implant procedures based on historical data and patient-specific factors. This predictive analytics capability allows dentists to make more informed decisions and optimize treatment plans for better results.
Overall, AI-driven dental implants in Sterling, VA offer numerous advantages that can enhance the patient experience and elevate the quality of care provided by dentists. From precision planning to personalized treatment and enhanced patient safety, AI technology is transforming dental implant dentistry and paving the way for a brighter smile.
Finding The Right Implant Dentist In Sterling, VA
When it comes to enhancing your smile with dental implants, finding the right implant dentist is crucial. In Sterling, VA, there are several factors to consider when selecting a dentist to ensure you receive the best care and optimal results. Here are some key tips to help you find the right implant dentist in Sterling, VA:
Credentials and Experience: Look for an implant dentist who is highly qualified and experienced in dental implant procedures. Check their credentials, certifications, and years of experience in performing dental implant surgeries.
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Contact An Implant Dentist In Sterling, VA
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domain: health


text:
The New York Times bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss embarks on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers and showing us how each—from Epicurus to Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir—offers practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times.
We turn to philosophy for the same reasons
“Your illustrated guide to the perfect West Coast road trip.”
Roll down the windows, turn up the radio, and take a drive up the world’s most magical coastline.
It’s a beautiful and practical travel guide. An illustrated keepsake. An inspiration to get out and visit.
"Polished, poignant... an inspiring story of true love."—Entertainment Weekly
A BEST BOOK OF 2019, NPR's Book Concierge
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BOOK AWARD
OVER 400,000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
The true story of a couple who lost everything and embarked on a transformative journey walking the South West Coast Path in England
Naturalist Craig Childs's "utterly memorable and fantastic" study of the desert's dangerous beauty is based on years of adventures in the deserts of the American West (Washington Post).
Like the highest mountain peaks, deserts are environments that can be inhospitable even to the most seasoned explorers.
An unforgettable spiritual journey through the Himalayas by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), the National Book Award-winning author of the new novel In Paradise
“Strikingly dramatic, yet simple and unrestrained . . . an unusual and intensely interesting book richly packed with strange information.”
—New York Times Book Review
I realized I was alone and the trail had completely disappeared. I had no idea where it was, nor did I know where I had ventured off from it. I was lost, and I had backpacked enough to know this was not a good sign, not a good sign at all.
From Roxane Gay to Leslie Jamison, thirty brilliant writers share their timeless stories about the everlasting magic—and occasional misery—of living in the Big Apple, in a new edition of the classic anthology.
In the revised edition of this classic collection, thirty writers share their own stories of loving and leaving New York, capturing the mesmerizing allure the c
Featuring an all-new cover, New York Times bestseller Bill Bryson's irrevent and hilarious journey through the beloved island nation he called home for two decades. From Downing Street to Loch Ness, this is a delightful look at the United Kingdom.
Hone your senses and learn to read the hidden signs of nature—from master outdoorsman Tristan Gooley, New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs
“Equal parts alfresco inspiration, interesting factoids, how-to instructions and self-help advice.”—The
A collectible 50th anniversary deluxe edition featuring an updated introduction by Jay Parini and first edition cover art and illustrated maps of Steinbeck’s route by Don Freeman
A Penguin Classic
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A delightful sampler plate of our national parks, written with charisma and erudition.”—Nick Offerman, author of Paddle Your Own Canoe


text:
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has said that ‘a massive effort’ is required for its driverless cars to get to ‘99.999’ safety.
In a recent tweet, Elon Musk said that intersections with lots of traffic lights and shopping centre car parks are among the technology’s biggest challenges.
Business Insider reports that Tesla’s CEO has admitted that the company has got a lot of hard work to get through if it’s going to launch a robot taxi network in 2020.
It’s been reported that Musk had set out plans to have over one million robo-taxi’s on the road by 2020 and in his recent tweets had been more specific that it would be ‘by the end of’ next year.
Business Insider said that Tesla will want to finesse the technology after its Autopilot feature’s controversy. Around four people have been killed by using the Autopilot feature, which has raised questions over the technology’s safety.


text:
“A remarkable achievement—a learned yet eminently readable and provocative exploration of the four small books that reveal most of what’s known about the life and death of Jesus.” (Los Angeles Times)
Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What the Qur'an Meant, coming fall 2017.
In his New York Times bestsellers What Jesus Meant and What Paul Meant, Garry Wills offers tour-de-force interpretations of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Here Wills turns his remarkable gift for biblical analysis to the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Wills examines the goals, methods, and styles of the evangelists and how these shaped the gospels' messages. Hailed as "one of the most intellectually interesting and doctrinally heterodox Christians writing today" (The New York Times Book Review), Wills guides readers through the maze of meanings within these foundational texts, revealing their essential Christian truths.
“A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Praise for What the Gospels Meant: “Full of riches . . . Wills brings to bear the skills that have justly brought him renown as America’s greatest public intellectual: encyclopedic erudition, concise prose and a polyglot’s gift for ancient languages. . . . This introduces . . . biblical scholarship as a whole to a wide audience of readers hungry for a sophisticated account of those eternally curious texts.” —Chicago Tribune “What readers will find here is an engaging look at the Gospels, informed by the best biblical scholarship, as well as by Wills’s own faith. . . . This eminently readable volume . . . underscores the attributes of each narrative to highlight truths more crucial than whether there were four discrete Evangelists.” —The New York Times Book Review “Wills’s scholarship . . . is impeccable, placing the gospels within their original cultural and religious context . . . A book that offers profound spiritual and historical insight in an accessible and intriguing format.” —BookPage “Poetic, penetrating, and moving. General readers and scholars alike will profit from Mr. Wills’s basic contention, that reason and faith are not antinomies.” —The New York Sun “An engrossingly concise sequel to his Paul book. Wills . . . shows that [the Gospels are] theological statements, applying Jesus to the different situations confronting each writer’s community.” —The Boston Globe “Readers willing to have their impressions about these texts challenged by an erudite scholar will find this to be fascinating and worthwhile reading.” —Publishers Weekly “A remarkable achievement—a learned yet eminently readable and provocative exploration of the four small books that reveal most of what’s known about the life and death of Jesus.” —Los Angeles Times”


text:
|Affiliation and military information|
|Real world information|
|Appearances||Armored Core: Master of Arena|
An AC design pleasing to the eye. Its combat performance rating also receives high marks.
Ancient is a lightweight four-legged AC equipped with a multi missile double back weapon, laser rifle and a laser blade. He launches into battle overweight.

domain: design


As the first city of the world Manchester kept on growing and eating up surrounding areas right up to the 1930s. Recently Lancashire has been dropped and now Greater Manchester is the area of choice. Such is the power of Manchester its expansion is devouring all before it. As it grows in an area of de-industrialised north, small local villages and towns have amalgamated into Manchester, thus creating a council with nearly one hundred seats up for grabs every election.
And every election, as night follows day, only one political party is elected time and time again. That party has lorded over Manchester with impunity. Absolutely no counter-political party could ever be elected. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? As a resident and committed Labour member it should be not only a good thing but a great thing. The stuff of dreams for a life-long Labour party supporter. It's not until you realise that a rosette and a social party are made up of more than just ideals; it's also made up of people with agendas. Those agendas have become very skewed from the what I call the Labour party ideals.
Take for example the recent local referendum on whether to elect a mayor for Greater Manchester. After much debate and door knocking by individuals wanting to become the mayor, all the residents absolutely rejected the idea of an elected mayor - that was the will of the people. The choice was made. The decision was cast iron. NO! Roll forward a few years on and Liverpool and Salford have chosen to have elected mayors. So when a Tory government that has no MPs in Manchester decides you need to be more like Liverpool and Salford and have a mayor, every resident thought the Labour council would object and kick up a fuss. What the residents got instead was George Osborne handing over control of the Manchester budget to them in exchange. What the government did next was extraordinary. They took the ex-Labour police commissioner and installed him as mayor and placed him on £250,000 a year. And all this without even so much as an election.
If you ever wanted a freedom of information enquiry Manchester city council is possible the most difficult council to enquire on. The Liberal Democrats found this out, and after much stalling they got an astonishing answer to a very simple question. “How much is spent on outsourced staff by Manchester council?”
The city spent an average of £14m a year on agency workers between 2007 and 2012, according to data supplied to the Liberal Democrats. That’s £70 million and counting. From a council that is supposed to be socialist at heart, it has surprisingly very Tory leanings when it comes to spending people’s money. At a time when the council is laying thousands of workers off and imposing harmful cuts on Manchester communities, it is hugely wasteful to be spending millions on agency staff when permanent employees would keep the city running more effectively. Channel 4’s Dispatches investigated the council and have shone a light on utterly bizarre relationship Manchester council has.
This is the stuff Donald trump is accused of with Russia. The relationship between the Manchester council and China In a meeting it was stated (so the minutes say) that the Dali Lama is evil and no officials from Manchester council should meet him. Just how have we got a foreign country telling Manchester council it's policy on any affair? Is the answer something to do with money, and a lot of it?
Imagine if we had the same relationship with countries such as Iran who, by the standards of the Middle East, are a democracy (unlike China), there would be uproar from all over the world. When Conservative ministers says it’s a corrupt state of affairs then there has to be questions raised! Adam Prince, from Manchester Shield, a local leftwing-leaning activist group, says: "the reason I set up the movement last year was because of all the difficulties I and other campaigners had against the ruling party. It is very disappointing when I, as a would-be Labour voter, witness bad behaviour, vested interests, cronyism, nepotism and the intimidation everyday citizens have faced from that dynasty. It made me belligerent and determined to push back against what people are beginning to see as toxic.”
It seems to me that this arrogance and entitlement for power and the old tribalistic labels have nothing to do with the realities of policy and politics in this city. There are far too many vested interests and far too much careerism, which makes the whole field disingenuous. It is not just Manchester Shield that is finding this problem, but I am often told, on and off the record, that so many campaigners, groups and agencies feel there is a sense of monopoly, inflexibility, contempt for citizens, and a real sense that people are not important in ‘their’ Manchester.
There is a need and a purpose to go beyond the old politics and our current realities. Everyday people do count, and engagement has to be more than election rhetoric and false promises. There is something very dark, and a lack of imagination, at the very heart of Manchester council.
Alim Haider for Political Provocateur


Mrs Rabbit was feeling very nostalgic and remembering sweeties from her 1970's childhood. Candy necklaces and bracelets, refreshers, fizzers, lovehearts and chalk lollies... all the inspiration she needed for Candyland ~ 🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬 5 x 20g sweeties, subtle colours with chalky hues. Fizzers with every order! 🥰🐰Deluxe High Twist Merino Sock Yarn ~ 85% Extrafine Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon (360m / 100g). This yarn base is soft, strong and perfect for socks, shawls and accessories. All our skeins are hand-dyed in small batches using a range of professional acid dyes. We are conscious to be environmentally sound in our process and we, therefore, ensure that all the dye used is fully exhausted. We rinse the skeins until no colour remains, however, please be aware that a slight amount of colour bleed could occur and so we always suggest washing separately and by hand. All indie dyed yarns are unique by virtue of the techniques used. This means that no two skeins will ever be exactly the same - the charm of indie dyeing!


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12.31.02 - Washington Resolution Run
01.19.03 - San Diego Marathon
07.13.03 - Tri For Real #2
10.23.05 - Nike Women's Half Marathon
11.23.06 - Sparks Turkey Trot
05.05.07 - Marathon de Mayo (Half)
05.13.07 - Moms on the Run
10.??.07 - Nike Women's Half Marathon
05.10.08 - Moms on the Run
06.21.09 - Pleasanton Spirit 5K
07.29.09 - San Francisco Half Marathon
10.04.09 - SJ Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon
10.18.09 - Nike Women's Half Marathon
11.01.09 - New York Marathon
11.26.09 - Spark's Turkey Trot 10K
02.20.10 - Bay Breeze Half Marathon
03.14.10 - Shamrock 'N Half Marathon
03.21.10 - LA Marathon
03.27.10 - Scheel's Fanatic 5K
04.25.10 - Marin County Half Marathon
05.02.10 - Reno Rock 'N River Half Marathon
06.05.10 - See Jane Run Half Marathon
07.25.10 - San Francisco Half Marathon
09.05.10 - Pier to Peak Half Marathon
10.10.10 - Chicago Marathon
10.30.10 - Healdsburg Half Marathon
11.07.10 - U.S. Half Marathon
11.25.10 - Scheels Turkey Trot 10K
02.06.11 - Surf City Half Marathon
03.13.11 - Dublin Shamrock 5K
04.18.11 - Boston Marathon
05.01.11 - Big Sur Marathon
06.11.11 - Lake Tahoe Relay
07.31.11 - San Francisco Half Marathon
09.11.11 - Walnut Festival Run 5K
09.18.11 - NorCal Half Marathon
11.24.11 - Scheels Turkey Trot
12.03.11 - Las Vegas Santa Suit 5K
12.04.11 - Las Vegas Half Marathon
03.11.12 - South Bay Duathlon
03.25.12 - Oakland Half Marathon
05.20.12 - Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon
06.24.12 - Silicon Valley Intl. Triathlon
07.15.12 - Ironman 70.3 Vineman Triathlon
03.09.13 - Lucky 13 Half Marathon
04.28.13 - Eugene Half Marathon
05.11.13 - Folsom International Triathlon
5k:19:17 @ Dublin Shamrock 5k 2011
10k: 41:01 @ Scheel's Turkey Trot 2010
Half:1:30:07 @ Oakland Half 2012
Full: 3:31:44 @ Boston Marathon 2011
70.3: 5:20:07 @ Vineman 2012
Tag Archives: IMCDA
Well would you look at that, today marks day one of a gradual three week TAPER! We have reached taper…uninjured (knock on wood). The past two weeks haven’t been as long in duration as originally planned (life got in the way), but I still got in some solid training.
Unlike last year’s IMAZ training, IMCDA training has consisted of two 20 mile runs, two 2.4 mile swims, three 100+ mile rides, multiple double bricks and the big triple brick. All of which are far more than I got in before because of my knee injury – phew! With that, here’s a look at the past two weeks…and I’m going to abbreviate it as much as possible.
Oh, and more importantly, BIB NUMBERS ARE OUT!
Mon. 5/20: Rest
Tues., 5/21: Swim & Competitive Eating
I am continuing to work on my incredible eating skills, including this taco salad that will only set you back $12. Life is good.
Wed., 5/22: Run
Thurs., 5/23: Ride & Run
Fri., 5/24: A Special Visitor
Guess who came to visit… only the most adorable nephew in the world’s best t-shirt ever!
Sat. 5/25: TRIPLE BRICK!!!
Once in the training cycle we complete the infamous triple brick. This daunting day starts in the early a.m. and by the time you’re done, the rest of the world is getting ready for dinner.
While the triple brick (bike-run-bike-run-bike-run) makes for a long day, I actually think it’s quite manageable as you mentally break it up into chunks. Rather than “I have almost 100 miles of cycling and over 15 miles of running to do in one day,” you break it into the chunks and celebrate each chunk’s completion. In fact, the worst part of the day is the fact that you have to load your bike into your car three times for the run.
I thankfully rode with my friend Tom, where we commiserated about the heat and rejoiced in its completion. I felt strong, probably didn’t eat enough, but was happy to have that epic training day under my belt.
Sun., 5/26: Long Open Water Swim
2.4 open water miles with practically no anxiety. I’m happy to say that I think I’ve beat this whole open water anxiety thing!
I’m about to throw my Garmin against the wall as it keeps malfunctioning, so some of this data is an estimate, but I believe I closed out week 19 with:
12 hours and 13 minutes of training:
8,300 yards swimming
109.22 miles cycling
24.16 miles running
Mon., 5/27: Rest
More R&R time with the world’s cutest nephew who demands to hold my finger (well, I may place it there myself)…
Tues., 5/28: Run
This week I struggled to find the balance between training and life, and on this particular day, life won and I missed a swim.
Wed., 5/29: Ride & Run
Thurs., 5/30: Ride
Fri., 5/31: Yoga & Open Water Swim
Sat., 6/1: Long Ride
Holy mother of all that’s summer. 111 miles in 95 freaking degrees, plus a special guest appearance by the wind. Sure it was heat training, wind training, mind training, yada yada yada. But by the end, I was ready to never see the sun again.
Sun., 6/2: Run
Confession time: I overslept my 2.4 mile open water swim. GAH! But alas, I made it up by getting in 13 miles where my legs proceeded to feel heavy from Saturday’s ride. My body is tired and ready to do this thing.
I closed out week 20 with:
12 hours training:
2,200 yards swimming
135.73 miles cycling
21.41 miles running
15 minutes yoga
So there you have it. Not a lot of volume, but some solid workouts. Taper here we come!
The past two weeks have been nothing but packed and exciting! I got my five seconds of fame when I was quoted in the WSJ for an article on cycling (it’s one line, but I’ll take it) and I was honored to be featured as Amanda’s runner spotlight.
Training included two 20 mile runs, a surprisingly difficult triathlon, my longest swim and ride EVER, and that one time where I almost did an entire Ironman in one weekend.
I’ll try to keep this brief…
Mon., 5/6: Rest/Yoga
I may be resting, but I’m super pumped to have won this Vega contest. WAHOOOO vegan protein! I’ve been using their Recovery Accelerator and holy amazing, why wasn’t I using this stuff from the beginning?! I can’t wait to test the rest of their goodies.
Tues., 5/7: Run
Wed., 5/8: Swim
Thurs., 5/9: Long Run
With my weekend triathlon on the horizon, my schedule got all screwed up and I manage to convince two suckers…ehem…friends, to run 20 miles with me pre-work. This was the longest run I had done in quite a while. With my knee injury, I didn’t even get up to this mileage while training for IMAZ. I was beyond happy for the company and the fact that I had run 20 miles. My hips were complaining by the end, but I was still all smiles.
Fri., 5/10: Yoga
A few personal things came up that forced me to take a rest day and just get in a quick yoga session.
Sat., 5/11: Folsom International Triathlon
Oh yes, the triathlon that I didn’t see coming. I was so happy to see my family, my nephew and to have taken 3rd in my age group, but you can read all about that here.
Sun., 5/12: Open Water Swim & Long Ride
Nothing like getting up early to get your open water swim on followed by 100 miles in my new SOAS race kit. I can’t get over how much I love these kits (you don’t want to hear what happened to my ass when I tried padded shorts again…)
Last year, I trained with two buddies: Ilona and Jared. I hadn’t seen Ilona in what feels like forever, so when she offered to join me on my long ride I knew we were in for a gab-fest. And that’s just what we did: cycled and gossiped. It was awesome.
When she stopped at 75 miles, all I wanted to do was call it a day. But of course, I knew I couldn’t. I made my way and completed 25 more solo miles. My trophy for my first 100 mile ride of the season? This sunburn that turned into a second degree, bubbly, oozing, sleep on a towel, gross mess:
I closed out week 17 with:
15 hours of training:
7,240 yards swimming
125.28 miles cycling
29.24 miles running
47 minutes yoga
Mon., 5/13: Rest
I’ve never loved rest days as much as I do now.
Tues., 5/14: Recovery Run
What was supposed to be a tempo workout was turned into an “OMG my legs are so freaking heavy I hope I can just shuffle through this” run.
Wed., 5/15: Indoor Ride & Transition Run
Pretty standard, indoor trainer ride and run. Wooooo…
I also went into the city for a Luna Bar event for their new carrot cake flavor and met Jacqueline. Is it just me, or is this vending machine completely normal? In fact, it’s just a fancy version of my desk drawers. Well, way fancier, but I’m sure I stock the same quantity of Luna Bars:
Proof that I only wear my hair in top knots these days. It’s the easiest way to pretend like you care.
Thurs., 5/16: Pool Swim
I skipped a bike workout – guilty as charged! However, I hadn’t hung out with Chicken Face in what seemed like ages, so I felt like some husband and wife time was much needed (and well worth the trade-off). I’ll take a quick swim instead.
Fri., 5/17: Yoga, Core & Open Water Swim
I haven’t seen anxiety’s face around in a while, it must be my restraining order against him. Excellent.
Post-swim, I slapped on some new Nike tights for only the finest date night apparel.
Sat. – Sun., 5/18 – 5/19: My “Almost” Ironman
Saturday was my longest ride EVER! 110 miles was on the schedule, but come on now, I had to go the extra two for a new PDR and to see what it felt like. Thankfully, I rode a majority of the time with some guys from the group who kept my mind off of the fact that I was riding 112 freaking miles!
After I finished the ride I wondered how in the hell I was going to run a full marathon after that. But as Coach Paul reminds me, I’m putting trust in the taper
Sunday was another early morning with my longest open water swim ever (2.46 miles) and my second 20 mile run. When Tom and I started the run, I questioned how we would survive 20 miles in the heat. But taking it slow and steady with plenty of fuel and commiserating got us through it.
I couldn’t help but to think that over the weekend, with tired legs, I was only 6 miles short of an Ironman! I’m more excited than ever and I celebrated this achievement by eating this same braised tofu bowl three times in one weekend:
I closed out week 18 with:
15 hours and 13 minutes of training:
8,819 yards swimming
123.5 miles cycling
28.49 miles running
45 minutes yoga
15 minutes core
We are getting so close.
This week was ripe with lingering injury pain, mini bouts of strength, yoga and massage, quality time with the treadmill, challenging hills and a day when you are reminded just how much you love being on two wheels. This is week 11.
Photo courtesy of Coach Paul, five second before my precious last piece of PB&J fell to the ground and I had to make a very serious decision. I ate it.
Mon., 3/25: Strength
Oversleeping = moving your schedule around and just getting in a quick strength training session. The highlight? A Monday evening “hurts so good” sports therapy massage at my chiropractor.
Tues., 3/26: Swim & Hill Repeats
The swims are getting longer and so are the hill repeats. The hill repeats were challenging, but not as much as the foot pain I got at the end of the last repeat. Cue the nerves.
Wed., 3/27: Ride & Swim
Paying close attention to my foot pain, I changed my indoor ride and transition run to a longer indoor ride. Later that night, more time in the water.
Thurs., 3/28: Ride
Another indoor ride. Nice and sweaty, trying to focus on my petal stoke (think oval, not circle).
Fri., 3/29: Long Run
Guilty confession: I’m afraid of running solo in the dark. I will do it only if I know that the majority of my run will be in the light, rather than the other way around. I’ve tried to conquer these fears, but it’s not the night that I’m afraid of, it’s just plain runner safety. If I was with anyone else, it’s not a problem. Just solo running in the pitch black seems unsafe and something I don’t want to risk if I don’t have to.
Thus, with 15 morning miles on tap, I did the unthinkable: I ran 15 treadmill miles. I used to do long runs on the treadmill when I was commuting to my old job, but since then, I have done that sort of mileage on the dreadmill. Thankfully, the ClubSport treadmills all have personal TVs, I had my podcasts, my fuel, and of course, Matt Lauer soon kept me company.
Sat., 3/30: Long Ride
Every so often, you are reminded why you do all of this. This moment came again on Saturday.
75 miles through Morgan Territory, Diablo and beyond, where we climbed for what seemed like an eternity – over 7,700+ in total elevation gain for the day! There were points on the Morgan Territory climb that I thought my bike would actually fall over it was so steep, and the VIEWS, oh the views! I was tempted to stop and take photos, but then I’d have to figure out how to start climbing again and that wouldn’t be a pretty picture.
I heeded Coach Paul’s advice and really focused on getting in the right gear to keep my legs spinning to preserve them, and would you look at that, it worked! I rode for the majority of the ride by myself, just breathing and smiling so hard you could probably hear it. It was challenging, humbling and motivating all at the same time.
I love you cycling.
Oh, and I love you new sushi place that we just found. Thanks for filling my calorie defecit.
Sun., 3/31: Ride with Chicken Face
To top off my cycling high on Saturday, I woke up on Easter morning and made Chicken Face and I breakfast: orange vegan cinnamon rolls (SO, SO GOOD!) and spicy veggie scramble. It was heaven in my mouth.
Just when I thought the morning couldn’t get any better, Chicken Face asked if I wanted to go on a ride. Of course I said YES and we went on our first-ever ride together. 21.5 happy miles for his first “real” ride. I shared a few tips (weight back on the downhill, grip the horns, this is how you signal for debris) and it made my heart wanted to explode! He’s a natural already!
I closed out week 11 with:
13 hours and 33 minutes of training:
5,800 yards swimming
125.43 miles cycling
19.69 miles running
30 minutes strength
15 minutes yoga
While little injuries started to act up again this week, the weekend left me the happiest that I’ve been in a while. There’s nothing quite like finding the joy in what you love again, then sharing it with those you love.
Happy Easter and Happy Running!
The IMCDA training flight has officially taken off and we are now safe to remove our seat belts. Week five was packed with training and personal life balance, but I finally saw a few glimpses of getting back to where I was. From my first group ride back, my first double brick back, Valentine’s Day, birthday runs and more – high five to week five!
Here’s how it went down:
Monday, 2/11: Swim & Yoga
I’ll never get sick of looking at the Club Sport Pleasanton adult, saline pool.
An 800 meter marker in the pool and once again, my swim pace isn’t where it used to be. Maybe it’s my scrawny arms and lack of any shoulder muscles — most likely. I guess we’ll just have to keep working on that. Oh, and 30 minutes of flexibility yoga on The Yoga Studio app.
Tuesday, 2/12: Ride/Transition Run & Strength
Wednesday, 2/13: Tempo Run
Have to give a quick shout-out to my Oakley TwentySix.2 glasses c/o Oakley. Cute glasses that fit my wide face and actually don’t bounce by running. BONUS: I don’t look like an alien.
You guys. A TEMPO RUN. And not just any tempo run, but a TEMPO RUN IN A TANK TOP! Whaaaaat? My ankle was curious, my heart was rejoicing and my arms were thankful to be fabric-free! It felt great to push myself and my speed, even if it did mean I was gasping for air. Oh how I’ve missed you, tempo runs.
Thursday, 2/14: Ride & Valentine’s Day
I’ll leave our Valentine’s Day between Chicken Face and I, but he did surprise me with the medal rack and my hurst burst with glee!
Friday, 2/15: Rest
Sleeping in and relaxing during the evening. A perfect way to chillax from a busy week.
Saturday, 2/16: Double Brick #1
It was far too easy to slip back into my normal Saturday morning, pre-bike routine: wake-up too early, tea, breakfast, messed around on the computer for a little bit and final bike prep. It was my first group ride/double brick back and all went seamlessly.
20 mile ride, 10 minute run, 20 mile ride, 10 minute run. I was tired afterwards, but everything held up leaving a solid smile smeared across my face.
Sunday, 2/17: Long Run
Sunday was Kristin’s birthday celebration where all of us crazies (i.e. her runner friends) met at her place to sip, celebrate and run around San Francisco.
While the rest of the girls ran 10 miles, I was determined to stick to my plan and not do anything stupid as I am building my strength/increasing mileage. I ran the first 3.5 miles with Jojo and Jess (two of my faves) and then ran the rest home by myself as the other girls went on. I waited for them to all arrive back and then what we do best: EAT.
I brought ridiculously easy peanut butter and jelly muffins to the party — you can get the oh-no-she-didn’t recipe here.
I closed out week 5 with:
8 hours and 55 minutes of training:
4,300 yards swimming
68.41 miles cycling
17.5 miles running
30 minutes yoga
30 minutes strength
I’ve mentioned the emotional roller coaster that is recovery, but I’m happy to report we were on the fun part this week. How so? Allow me to count the ways…
Monday, 1/28: Swim
Nothing too special to note here, just getting my swimmy swammy on. Oh, and it was frickin’ freezing. The end. I also got a deep massage where we literally worked on my lower left leg for an entire hour. It was glorious.
Tuesday, 1/29: Indoor Ride & Run
Sweaty indoor trainer ride in the am, followed by a “I’m so f-ing pumped up on endorphines right now” treadmill run. Eminem you know how to cut to my soul. Not really. But thanks for letting me feel like I’m a straight up bad ass for a couple miles.
Wednesday, 1/30: Weirdness
With a check-in PT appointment in the am and then heading out of town directly after work, I only got in a 15 minute core workout. I ended up shuffling the rest of my training schedule around for the remainder of the week, but that’s what training is. Making it work with your life.
Thursday, 1/31: Yoga & Indoor Ride
30 minutes with Yoga Studio App to warm up the body, followed by an indoor trainer ride at my parent’s place. This ride was also my WITHOUT MY BRACE! Fist pumps ensued.
Oh, and for the record, Matt Lauer makes every morning better. Thank you, NBC, for nailing him down into a long contract.
Friday, 2/1: Indoor Ride & Run
With the baby shower on Saturday, I had to squeeze in both workouts on Friday. Another indoor ride followed by what was my first RUN WITHOUT MY BRACE! I thought this called for a ridiculous treadmill selfie.
Saturday, 2/2: Baby Shower!
Can I count running around like a chicken with their head cut off (whoa, bad image, sorry Chicken Face) as cardio? Nah. Well it was worth it celebrating my sis and soon-to-be nephew.
Sunday, 2/3: Indoor Ride
If you’re paying attention, I only swam once this week. Beeee-doooooo. I was supposed to travel home then head to the pool, but I was too anxious to watch Beyonce do her thang, errr…I mean watch football. So I swapped my workout for an hour on the trainer while Beyonce immortalized herself in my brain as queen of everything. Fair call?
I closed out week 3 with:
6 hours and 5 minutes of training:
1,400 yards swimming
60.5 miles cycling
6.5 miles running
15 minutes strength
30 minutes of yoga
So that was the week. Did you experience any highs? Anyone else madly obsessed with Beyonce now?
This week, I was reminded the importance of warming-up. You’ve heard it before, warming-up prepares the body for physical activity, gets the blood pumping and can help prevent injury. For me, warming up is paramount to getting my ankle ready for activity that it’s definitely not ready for/used to.
I should have smiled for the photo — I AM that person taking a photo of themselves in the gym after all.
For any run or ride, I always do my ankle balance/strength exercise, followed by either walking briskly for five minutes of the treadmill, easy pedaling for 10 minutes on the bike or 15 to 30 minutes of flexibility-focused yoga with my new best friend: my Yoga Studio app. After these warm-ups, I can absolutely telly the difference in my ankle’s range of motion. It’s not to my good ankle’s level, but I’m definitely in a better place for activity. Speaking of which, here’s a look at my slow-but-sure IMCDA Week 2 training:
Monday, 1/21: Swim
1,400 yards, with the entire main set using the buoy. At least my pull buoy is pink… it makes it a little easier.
Tuesday, 1/22: Indoor Ride
50 sweaty minutes on the trainer, but guess what… SMASH is coming back! Ah yes, the ridiculous show that kept me company on all of last season’s training rides. Oh Katherine McPhee… I can’t wait until we ride together again.
Tuesday was also when my ankle decided to be a biatch again. Like pain going down the stairs, biatch. Trying to be safe, I pushed out all of my runs until later in the week as the pain went down each day. I have a feeling that going for my second outdoor run and my longest run yet may be the culprit here.
Wednesday, 1/23: Swim & Yoga
More time soaking up the sweet saline pool at Club Sport (hello underwater speakers!) and a bit more time getting with the Yoga Studio app. I’ve been alternating back and forth between the flexibility and balance classes: flexibility to loosen things up and balance to get the neuromuscular strength back in the ankle.
Thursday, 1/24: Indoor Ride & Run
50 minutes on the sweaty trainer and then back on the treadmill to see how the cranky ankle was doing. I was uber-nervous on the treadmill as it was stilly being a pain, but I managed to warm it up enough and get my run in.
This was also the first “Oh dear God did I sign up too soon?!?!” melt-down I had with my coach. He assured me that I’m going to have my highs and lows, and yes, it will take time. But we need to listen to my body, communicate a lot, and it will all be ok. Oh the mental mind-games of training.
Friday, 1/25: Yoga, Run & Strength
A little pre-run yoga to warm-up, and then another outdoor run where I ended up taking the same fateful road. F-YOU MANHOLE COVER!
Later that day, it was time for some lower body and core work. It sounds like a lot, but with the small increments that I’m doing, it was totally manageable. Chicken Face and I even managed to make it to a date night. SCORE!
Saturday, 1/26: Long Ride
An hour and 15 minutes on the trainer is a lot indoors. With Chicken Face insisting that we watch Gold Rush (ugh), I struggled maintaining my zeal. Lola and I later made our way downtown to look at overpriced vegetables at the farmer’s market — it was delightful.
But later that night, the amazingness that was the gut bomb above happened. It was dreadfully unhealthy but amazingly delicious.
Sunday, 1/27: Yoga & Long Run
Hmmm…I wonder why I felt like a sloth on this run? Oh wait. See photo from Saturday (still worth it).
I warmed-up with yoga then went for my longest run yet, 4.7 miles, outside and it was much better than the runs earlier in the week. Still working on my fitness and still not trying to freak out at every twinge, but it was a step in the right direction.
I closed out week 2 with:
7 hours and 9 minutes of training:
2,875 yards swimming
46 miles cycling
10.21 miles running
30 minutes strength
1 hour and 15 minutes of yoga
Do you regularly warm-up? If so, what do they consist of?
Well, week one of IMCDA training is in the books! It was a chilly week one for California, but nothing too crazy. In fact, I must admit that it didn’t feel so much like Ironman training, but rather a week of completely manageable, yet scheduled, workouts. They were all short in distance and time as I get my ankle (and body) back up to speed.
It’s frickin’ freezin in California!
Monday, 1/14: Swim & Long Run
Hot damn it was cold that morning. Shivering on the ledge I took the plunge and just jumped in. Soon I realized that I have a lot of swimming work to do to regain my old fitness and I need to take it easy on my ankle. A majority of the 1,400 yards used the pull buoy.
Also, Mondays (for now) are my long run days to ensure that I have at least one weekend day to spend with Chicken Face. But this “long run” was just 3.5 miles.
Tuesday, 1/15: Indoor Ride
Simply 40 minutes on the trainer, all at 90+ RPM. It still got me nice and sweaty.
Wednesday, 1/16: Swim
Lola is not impressed with these workouts.
1,400 yards with the a mix of regular swimming and the pull buoy. Pretty standard.
Thursday, 1/17: Indoor Ride & Run
Another 40 minute ride on the trainer at 90+ RPM and a 2.5 mile run on the treadmill. Like I said…the turtle wins this race.
Friday, 1/18: Run & Core
With the approval from my PT earlier this week, I got the approval to run outside for the first time in 10+ weeks! I was nervous and frightened that I’d slip and eat in on secret, evil black ice, but alas, I survived 2.5 outdoor miles. But hot damn do I have a lot of work to do. What the hell happened to my speed?
Saturday, 1/19: Long Ride
If only all “long rides” could be an hour on the trainer at 90+ RPM.
Sunday, 1/20: Long Run
As mentioned earlier, all of my long runs are scheduled for Monday. But it was finally a beautiful day and Chicken Face said he’d go with me, so I couldn’t pass it up. We ran 4.2 miles outside, together, very slowly. It was lovely being with him, but the mental games I’m playing on my lack of speed are quite frustrating. Le sigh…patience young one, patience.
I closed out week 1 with:
5 hours and 14 minutes of training:
2,900 yards swimming
35 miles cycling
12.8 miles running
How do you prevent getting frustrated when coming back from an injury?
Hello! I’m back from vacation and feeling exactly what I set out for: rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to take on 2013. While I’ll share the tales of my trip to Utah with Oakley and to Mexico with my family later, today is an exciting day that I wanted to share.
Today marks the first day of training for Ironman Coeur d’Alene, Idaho!
First and foremost, I am working with Coach Paul again. He was incredible throughout this entire journey, plus he listened to me sobbing multiple times as I gave him the bad news.
Second, we decided to take each day as it comes and monitor my ankle closely. While I am getting back into the swing of being active again, I need to make a natural progression and not push it. If I push it, I risk re-injuring myself.
With my IMAZ training not too long ago, Coach Paul and I are going to focus on a) rebuilding my fitness, b) rebuilding my endurance, and c) work on speed over multiple long, long, loooooong workouts. The goal: GET FAST and STRONG!
IMAZ’s training cycle was long…too long. While much of it wasn’t specific IMAZ training but rather teaching me three different sports and how you put them altogether, I will admit that I was burnt out by the end. So much so in that it is probably what caused my body to be lazy, trip and sprain my ankle. This training cycle will be just about six months. My mind, body, family and friends much prefer the sound of this.
Preventative care will be a top priority. With the mysterious knee injury behind me, I know I’m not out of the woods. Regular rolling, stretching, ankle strengthening, chiro ART and monthly sports massage appointments are incredibly important.
Last year I learned a lot about how to fuel, but I’m almost glad that I’m getting this extra chance to really optimize and perfect my fuel plan. To be honest, I still feel like I wasn’t 100 percent sure what was best for me.
We’re also switching to TrainingPeaks from WorkoutLog to schedule and track workouts and I’m excited to be better about uploading detailed data and analyzing it.
Oh, and I WILL overcome my continual fear of open water swimming, seamlessly fix flat tires, learn about bike maintenance, and take better care of Dora’s chain. It got pretty bad.
These are some of the big changes, but I’m excited to continue adding more triathlon knowledge to my neophyte athlete’s knowledge library. More than anything, I’m ready to show failure that it hasn’t deterred me. I can, and I will, pick myself back up and give it the bird as I fly by on Dora.


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I signed up for a work service program with Road Scholar to assist at the global farm of ECHO , (North Fort Myers, Florida) wherever they needed some help. I thought my efforts would be spent doing gardening work but that was not the case. One of the main areas they needed help with was renovating a bamboo fence that was a bit worn and rickety.
So, the first step is to get some bamboo. There was plenty of that growing in designated areas around the farm, all we needed to do was pull it out. Fortunately, we had at our disposal a John Deere 4-wheeler and a chain..which made the effort a lot easier.
Here one of our Road Scholar hosts, Junior, is removing a live bamboo plant for us to strip and prepare for making into a fence slat.
It is a bit difficult to pull one plant out of a cluster...the branches become entwined and pulling is challenging. The real fun begins when we have to remove the little branches growing along the bamboo pole; this stuff is way harder than I ever imagined. We used machetes and sometimes handsaws; the work was slow and tedious but we finally got about a hundred cleaned bamboo poles for repairing the fences around the property.
The next step is to cut them into proper lengths and deliver them to the fence repair sites. Several of us were working at each site. We had to remove the top hand-rail on the fence and re-align it so it was plumb and vertical, after that we added the newly cut bamboo to the areas that either had none or replacing those that had disintegrated.
Fortunately, we had power drills which made the job go a lot faster than if we had to do the work using an old fashioned screw-driver.
Here is the finished product...much better than that rickety old fence and chicken wire; the ducks will not escape anymore!

domain: agronomy


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Not only do we get to feature a very famous and loved children’s author in this post, but we also get to wish her a very Happy Birthday! Judy Blume, a name well – known in children’s and YA literature, has a birthday on February 12th!
Judy’s book have delighted generations of fans with her wit, humor, and willingness to write books with situations and characters that her readers can understand and relate to. Judy is also a champion for intellectual freedom – the right of everyone to read what they want, where they want, when they want.
Some of her most famous books are parts of series, which certainly helps when you have young readers that get latched onto the first book and want more! The Fudge Books and The Pain and The Great One series are wonderful books to give to kids who are wanting chapter books with great stories and plenty to giggle over. (Plus, they’re great when read out loud!)
Here are some more resources on Judy Blume, her life, and her books:


ashy mining bee, Bee-fly, Blackcap, blackthorn blossom, Chiffchaff, comma, cowslip, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, hairy-footed flower bee, tawny mining bee, tree bumblebee
April 19th – Bryn Euryn
Today was the middle day of the three consecutively warm sunny days that tantalised us with the notion that Spring had truly arrived, and judging by the activity here today it had a lot of our wildlife fooled too. The sky was clear and that almost-unbelievable shade of deep blue, the birds were singing and best of all, it was warm!
A few metres along the Woodland Path of my patch is an untidy-looking stretch, divided by the narrow path, where missing trees have opened up the canopy, letting in the light and warmth of the sun. Somewhat mysteriously, it holds great allure for diverse species of insects, some of which at certain times can be found here in surprising numbers. At the right time on the right day, ten minutes spent in this ‘hotspot’ can be as productive as two hours spent ranging over the rest of the site.
11:44 Today I was here at the right time to see a surprising amount of insects. Most prolific were hoverflies in all shapes and sizes from big and bulky to teeny-tiny and dainty.
There were few flowers here for nectaring upon, so that wasn’t the attraction for the majority of the hoverflies; I caught just one on the tiny flowers of Dog’s mercury. There were dozens of this small black and yellow striped species here, all very fresh and shiny and mostly basking on the sun-warmed leaves of brambles and nettles.
One side of the ‘hotspot’ is open to sunlight, clear of trees but sheltered by those standing behind it and by large shrubs of laurel and holly on either side. A large tangle of bramble fills the gap in the vegetation and is the only barrier between you and the Expressway below at the bottom of an almost-vertical slope. (Only joking, there’d be plenty of trees to stop you if you fell!) On the other side is a large patch of nettles, the aforementioned Dog’s mercury, more bramble and a pretty patch of periwinkle, all growing through a ground-covering of ivy.
A lone Tree bumblebee flew in, visited a couple of the periwinkle flowers then stopped to bask on a last-year’s half-eaten bramble leaf. I think it was a male (no pollen baskets) and was looking a bit the worse for wear. He seemed to have a burden of mites and I wondered if exposing them to warm sun might dislodge them. I’ve seen birds do that.
A smaller bee caught my eye as it came to rest on an ivy leaf. I didn’t realise what it was until I saw my photograph, then was excited to see it was a Hairy-footed Flower Bee, this one a male and my first record of this species here.
Hairy-footed Flower Bee (m)-Anthophora plumipes
A species common and widespread in much of England and Wales, especially in towns, cities and villages. Often nests in the soft mortar and exposed cob of old walls, but occasionally will nest in the ground, preferring bare compacted clay soils. Flies from late February to mid-June, and is particularly partial to Lungwort (Pulmonaria) flowers.
Males and females look very different from one another: the female resembles a small, black bumblebee with orange-red hairs on the hind leg and a rapid-darting flight; she’ll often approach a flower with her long tongue extended. Males are mostly brown with a dark tail (fresh specimens are gingery). Cream markings on face distinguish it from all bumblebees.They are often among the first bees of the year to emerge and often hover in front of flowers and when pursuing females.
Another little bee came to rest on a nettle leaf, this one I recognised as an Ashy mining bee and another male.
Ashy mining bee (m)-Andrena cineraria
A distinctive and obvious spring-flying solitary bee. Females are black, and have two broad ashy-grey hairbands across the thorax. Males emerge well before the females. They look similar, but their thorax is entirely covered with less dense grey hairs, and there’s a pronounced tuft of white hairs on the lower face. Species has a single flight period each year from early April until early June. Nests are constructed in the ground; entrances are surrounded by a volcano-like mound of excavated spoil; often in dense aggregations in lawns, flower beds, mown banks and in field margins.
And where there are mining bees there are those who would prey upon them….. Bee-flies: quirkily-cute in appearance but not good to know if you’re a hard-working mining bee; they’ll spy out your nest-hole and craftily kick their eggs inside with those long legs, then later their hatched larvae will feast on yours.
Wasps were out on the prowl too; I didn’t get a clear enough image to tell if this was a German or Common Wasp – the latter have a distinctive anchor mark on their face; this image is a bit fuzzy.
12:07 I could have lingered longer, but birds were singing, I’d been serenaded by a Song thrush and a Robin as I stood watching insects, Blue tits twittered on all sides and I was keen to see what else was happening.
Bluebells are beginning to flower and offer nectar to those that can reach it, there’s also Greater Stitchwort and lots of Dog Violets. A male Orange-tip butterfly raced past me over the bluebells and through the trees, clearly on the trail of a female and not stopping for an instant.
There are masses of glorious glossy golden yellow lesser celandines shining in the sunlight too.
I stopped to admire the celandines lining a section of the path and not at all concerned by my presence, a Blue tit perched above me and began to sing.
Beneath him dozens of shiny new flies arrived to bask on soft sun-warmed new bramble leaves.
There’s one special spot I know where Wood Anemones light up the woodland floor like fallen stars, turning their faces to the sun
and another where those of the shamrock-leaved Wood sorrel shyly hide theirs.
Over the boundary fence, the formidable thorny boundary hedge of gorse and blackthorn is softened now with their fragrant gold and white blossoms.
I heard a bird singing, a short loud burst of notes that I thought at first was a Wren, but it wasn’t quite right. I’d forgotten that another tiny bird, the Goldcrest also has a disproportionately loud song, remembering when he broke cover and flitted about in shrubbery in front of me. He wasn’t going to oblige me with a photograph, much too busy! So I stood gazing upwards for a while – you can’t get too much beautiful blue sky…
… or pretty blossom, can you?
12:58 There’s another hotspot around the junction of my Woodland Path with the reserve’s Woodland Trail, this one for birds. Here there is a territory of both Blackcap and Chiffchaff so there is the possibility of hearing if not seeing both species here. Today I was lucky; I heard the Blackcap’s song as I approached and walking slowly and as quietly as I was able I spotted him. He continued to sing but moved restlessly through the branches as I got nearer then flew off across the other side of the track.
While he sang from behind foliage over there I watched a pretty female Tawny mining bee feast on Blackthorn blossom.
Then the Blackcap came back to where he’d started, so I think perhaps his red-headed mate may be on their nest somewhere close by.
This gorgeous gorse is below his singing tree. It would make a safe place to nest and the flowers would attract insects for dinner.
I had heard a Chiffchaff singing nearby too but was pleasantly surprised when he appeared, continuing his song while flitting about amongst the twiggy branches searching for insects.
13:21 Further along the trail I spotted a flutter of orange – a lovely fresh Comma butterfly basking on dry leaves at the edge of the path. As I watched it moved, (look away now if you’re squeamish) onto a thankfully dryish dog poo deposit. I had to take the picture as it nicely presented its underside showing off the distinctive white mark for which it is named.
The disturbed ground of the pathsides supports some of the ‘weedier’ wildflowers like dandelions which provide important nectar when there’s not much else in flower.
You’d be very unlucky not to hear and see a Robin singing along here, there seems to be one at regularly spaced intervals. They sit and watch out over the track then dart out to pounce on any potential prey they may spot. This one had been singing but stopped to watch me.
I waited to see if he’d start singing again and was distracted by a bird whistling loudly. I scanned around searching for whatever was making the sound, one I didn’t recognise at all but that sounded to be being made by quite a large bird. After a few minutes the whistler appeared and to my amusement turned out to be …. a Great Tit! Of course it was, one of the basics of birdsong recognition is ‘when you don’t recognise it or haven’t heard it before, chances are it’ll be a Great Tit’; they have an incredible repertoire of sounds to call upon. I was thankful to him for keeping me in that spot though, as this gorgeous Greater Spotted Woodpecker flew onto a tree trunk literally right in front of me.
The Woodpecker stayed there, keeping a watchful eye on me. This bird is a female and is holding something small in her beak, so I imagine she has a nest nearby and was unwilling to reveal it. I moved away quickly, thanking her for the photo opportunity as I did.
Great Spotted Woodpeckers are about the same size as Starlings. Their plumage denotes their age and sex. Juvenile birds have red foreheads that are replaced by black as they moult in the autumn. Adult males then have a red nape while females have no red on their head at all.
The Lesser Celandines have been late flowering this Spring but are glorious now and more prolific than I’ve seen them before. It’s not just the flowers that are prolific, so too were hoverflies and Bee-flies seemed to be everywhere.
Approaching the entrance to the meadow another Robin, which looks as though it is singing, but was actually ‘ticking me off’, let me know it didn’t appreciate my disturbing it.
THE UPPER MEADOW (ADDER’S FIELD)
The grass of the meadow was cut back hard last autumn and so far there’s not much happening there yet, but the grass is beginning to grow and the cowslips are starting to come out. They’ll be later on the more exposed ‘downland’ side of the hill.
Another Bee-fly settled on an exposed rock in the pathway, fluttering its wings rapidly and making flicking movements with its legs as they do when depositing their eggs, but there was no sign of a mining bee nest anywhere near, so not sure what it was doing.
Summer Rainfall Prediction:
If oak is out before the ash, there’ll be a splash ; if ash is out before the oak there’ll be a soak…
Keep the brollies handy, looks like ash is furthest on so far….!
Wriggling across the still-damp ground on the way to the Summit Trail was an earthworm. Double jeopardy came to mind – exposure to warm sunshine and hungry birds; foolish worm.
Last year I noticed spots along the trail here where Mining Bees were making nests. having seen a few about today I kept an eye out for more signs of their activity and spotted these little ‘volcanoes’, evidence of their presence. I waited a while but no bees showed, so I don’t know which species had made them, but I think maybe Tawny Mining Bees.
It was cooler and breezier up here. I walked carefully, hoping there may be Small Tortoiseshell butterflies basking on the bare earth of the path, but not today, although I did see two busily chasing one another at speed as they disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
The mountains and the distant Conwy valley were veiled by a misty haze.
The blackthorn is smothered with blossom and looking beautiful. It will be interesting to see how much of it gets pollinated and develops as fruit this autumn. Sloe gin comes to mind.
The path back down to the Woodland Trail felt almost bridal with falling petals showering down onto the ground like confetti. A pretty way to end this account of a lovely walk.


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In order to prolong the probe's service life and obtain optimum performance, please follow these instructions:
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4. Do not attempt to heat the probe.
5. Do not attempt to bend or pull probe cable, otherwise the internal connection will be broken.
6. The Gel should be placed only on probe’s header and after using it, clean with a damp cloth.
7. Inspect the probe acoustical window, enclosure and cable carefully after probe cleaning. Never use the probe again if any crack or breakage is found.
1. Install the battery correctly into the main unit.
2. Insert the plug of output DC14V/3A of the adapter into the DC14V interface on the side.
3. Connect power cord of "Input AC220V,50Hz" of the adapter to the EPS. <0.
4. No matter the main unit is power on or shut down, when the "under-voltage" indicator flickers, the adapter is charging the battery; When the "under-voltage" indicator turns off from flickering, the battery is fully charged.
Under normal and reasonable use conditions, our product host mainframe warranty is one year, probe warranty is two years, battery warranty is six months. Beyond warranty period or artificial abnormal use (such as: accidentally broken, influent phenomenon, etc.), we exempt maintenance fee, Only cost of replacement parts is charged.
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Six Flags America is one of 16 Six Flags locations in the United States. Based in Bowie, Maryland. Six Flags America offers a great day of fun to thrill seeking BPA chapters. The thrilling environment offered is a nice change of pace to most of the history offered by DC.Visit Website Get Directions
13710 Central Ave, Bowie, MD 20721
Mon - Thurs: 10:30 - 6:00
Fri: 10:30 - 7:00
Sat: 10:30 - 9:00
Sun: 10:30 - 8:00
General admission tickets are $69.99 at the gate.