Sunday, May 31, 2009

Mellow Yellow Monday



Drowsy Monkey hosts this colorful meme.

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Two yellow photos in one day:

The top photo I grabbed driving to pick up friends in New York City.

The other is a macro shot of an herb (I think
St. John's Wort) in the Cloisters herb garden, Ft. Tryon Park, N.Y.

St. John's Wort

Highly regarded herb for it's medicinal qualities. Used as an anti-depressant. It forms a shrubby plant with unique and beautiful early yellow flowers. Grows to 12-16" tall.


Go over and visit Drowsy Monkey and see other participants in this meme.




~SCROLL DOWN FOR MANIC MONDAY~

Manic Monday - spice



Mo has given us the word SPICE for Manic Monday. I've chosen to tell you a little bit about the
SPICE TRADE
.

Spice trade is a commercial activity of ancient origin which involves the merchandising of spices and herbs.

Via Live Science:

Pepper, along with other spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, was such a hot commodity five centuries ago that it drove nations to sail across vast oceans searching for new routes to the spice-rich Orient.

Spices didn't just make merchants rich across the globe — it established vast empires, revealed entire continents to Europeans and tipped the balance of world power. If the modern age has a definitive beginning, it was sparked by the spice trade, some historians have argued.

Spices were an important component of ancient commerce well before the 15th-century, but were monopolized for centuries by Middle Eastern and North African middlemen who guarded the Asian provenance of their valuable sources closely and became fabulously wealthy for it. Back then, the colorful grains were used for flavoring food, but also for such tasks as making perfume, embalming the dead, preserving meat and sprucing up salve recipes in traditional medicine.


1425-50—Spices
Spice trade driven by European need for food preservation. Thrived in Venice
because of the sea trading power that they gained during and after the Black Plague.


TIMELINE for SPICE TRADE
  1. 2000 BC
    2000 BC - The spice trade developed throughout the Middle East in around 2000 BC starting with cinnamon, Indonesian cinnamon and pepper. Trade in spices stimulated the Age of Exploration with the constant search for new trading partners and new spices. A common belief is ...

    Show more

    From Spice up your life - Related web pages
    www.euroweeklynews.com/comments/238.html
  2. 1453
    1453 - The global spice trade underwent an upheaval in 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Turks, and the time-honored overland spice routes between Asia and Europe were severed. The prospect of establishing a spice trade via an ocean route opened up new economic ...

    Show more

    From Over the Edge of the World - Related web pages
    books.google.com/books?id=uK9d2EFrMJIC&pg=PA13 ...
  3. 1498
    1498 - Vasco da Gama started the Spice trade in 1498. The spice trade was of major economic importance and helped spur the Age of Exploration. Spices brought to Europe from distant lands were some of the most valuable commodities for their weight, sometimes rivaling gold ...

    Show more

    From Trading - Related web pages
    www.pressarchive.net/libpa/Trading
  4. 1510
    1510 - Portuguese arrived in India that changed the fate of Goa. They came with the intention of trade but ended up setting a colony here. They gradually succeeded and seized total control of spice trade from the European powers. Later, in 1510, Yusuf Adil Shah, the ...

    Show more

    From History Of Goa, Goa History, Goan History, History Tour To Goa, Goa History Tour … - Related web pages
    www.tajmahaltourism.com/history-of-goa.html
  5. 1511
    1511 - Under the impetus of the spice trade, Portugal expanded territorially and commercially. By the year 1511, the Portuguese were in control of the spice trade of the Malabar coast of India and Ceylon. Until the end of the 16th century, their monopoly on the spice trade to India ...
    From Doyle.html - Related web pages
    www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Spice_Trade.html
  6. 1600
    1600 - From the spice trade 'The Company of Merchants of London Trading in to the East Indies', known as the East India Company, was set up by a charter from Elizabeth I in 1600. It was formed to compete with the Portuguese and Dutch for the spice trade with Asia.

    Show more

    From Digital Stroud : The East India Company - Related web pages
    www.digitalstroud.co.uk/working.php?pageid=693 ...
  7. 1602
    1602 - This gave the Dutch an opportunity to seize control over the spice trade. In 1602, a group of Dutch merchants formed the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC), a trade association dedicated to the conquest of the spice trade. Such ...

    Show more

    From Molecules That Changed the World - Related web pages
    books.google.com/books?id=mOcNUTFpOXgC&pg=RA5 ...
  8. 1619
    1619 - Amboyna is an island in the East-Indies, and is the principal place where nutmegs, mace, cinnamon, cloves and spice grow. In the year 1619, a treaty was concluded between James and the JAMES I. 199 their share of the spice trade, cause him to, attempt the ...

    Show more

    From Full text of "An historical and critical account of the lives and writings of … - Related web pages
    www.archive.org/stream ...
  9. 1641
    1641 - The Dutch captured Malacca in 1641, but Malacca no longer had complete control of the spice trade to Europe. To gain a trade monopoly, the company allowed cloves to be grown only on the island of Ambon and nutmeg and mace to be grown only in the Banda Islands. The company ...
    From Republic of Indonesia - Printer-friendly - MSN Encarta - Related web pages
    encarta.msn.com/text_761573214___0 ...
  10. 2001
    Sep 4, 2001 - Americans consumed more than 1 billion pounds of spices last year, according to the American Spice Trade Association, which compiles statistics from the ... The spice trade was an empire builder for some, involving colonial conquests for the English, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese; ...
    From Journeys past and present bring the intriguing flavors of the plant kingdom to … - Related web pages
    www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286 ...

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Notice the similarities?

I noticed my bath towel had fallen from it's hook above and when I looked at it I thought "Gee, doesn't that look like...

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SCROLL DOWN






SEE SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY RIGHT BELOW

Shadow Shot Sunday



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Rhododendron

Planting Fields Arboretum, Long Island

Hey Harriet hosts Shadow Shot Sunday every week and has a gallery of shadow shots to show off. Go over to her blog and have a look!



Friday, May 29, 2009

Manhattanhenge this weekend

Solar Alignments Cause 'Manhattanhenge' This Weekend

For 15 minutes around sunset on two days this summer, the sun will set in exact alignment with the cross streets of Manhattan's street grid, making the city's towering buildings function something like a modern-day Stonehenge.

They call it Manhattanhenge.

The first Manhattanhenge opportunity comes this weekend: On Saturday (May 30) at 8:17 p.m. EDT the ball of the sun will be half above the horizon, half below if you look west down a major cross-street (34th Street and 42nd Street are good viewing locations). On Sunday, May 31, the entire solar sphere will be visible just above the horizon at 8:17 p.m. EDT.

Hey if any of you observe this let me know, okay? Daryl?


Guys, I'll be real busy today... Nephew from Boston visiting. A new BIG flatscreen TV (gotta watch everything and anything!) Going out to Brunch with said nephew, husband and SIL. Mailing the prizes from the Ruby Tuesday anniversary giveaway.

So if I haven't gotten around to you at your blog, PLEASE forgive and I will keep trying to visit asap.


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Looking at the Sky on Friday



Tisha of Crazy Working Mom hosts this popular meme "Looking at the Sky on Friday."

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The photographs of the sky above my house on Monday this week were truly these colors! I did no photo-editing or enhancement of the colors. The first and second photos were taken looking southeast.

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I was lucky to catch this contrail.

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This one was taken looking northwest.

Go on over and visit Crazy Working Mom for other participants.


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Think Green Thursday




Pagan Sphinx hosts this new meme, Think Green Thursday.


Planting Fields Arboretum, Long Island
View from Coe Hall


Serving as a quiet oasis for rest and contemplation, as well as a site for educational, cultural, and horticultural activities, the more than 400 acres of Planting Fields' cultivated gardens, rolling lawns and natural woodlands provide a unique and valuable resource for its community and for visitors from New York City and other areas.

Go visit Think Green Thursday for other participants.

Monochrome Weekly Theme





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Private home in Roslyn, NY


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Ruby Tuesday winners!


TA DA!
The winners of the
Ruby Tuesday Anniversary Prizes are:

Prize 1:

Eaton Bennett of Silently Mine

Prize 2:

DrillerAA of Driller's Place

Prize 3:

Kitchen Maus

I wish I could give everyone a prize because you're ALL such great bloggers and dear friends.

You've been very generous visiting each other and that's what's made RT so successful!

Here's to next year! Hope you all continue with Ruby Tuesday.

Winners please send your snail mail addresses to my e-mail address (which is on my side bar) so I can send you your prizes.

Congratulations to the winners and everyone who has participated over the last year.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Ruby Tuesday



Today we're celebrating our

One Year Anniversary of Ruby Tuesday!

You all should be proud how successful you've made this meme! I promised last week that I would give PRIZEs to 3 people who make a comment today (I can't count on Mr. Linky but please sign if it's there) and post a Ruby Tuesday post.

You can see Prize 1 below:

Posted by Picasa
This Prize contains:

1. A journal with "New York: The Wonder City" written on a red cover
2. A Four-Leaf Clover Kit
3. An Itty-Bitty Buddha in a red box
4. A Barnes & Noble reusable book bag
5. A bookmark

Prize 2:


A suede journal (240 pages)

Prize 3:


Pocket Memo Briefcase with pen

I will post the winners late Wednesday May 27. I'll notify each winner on their own blog.

The winners should then send me their snail mail address (home address) and I'll send them their prize.



Thank you all so much for making this past year so enjoyable! I love going around to Ruby Tuesday players (I know I don't always get to everyone; I wish I could).



Ruby Tuesday comments are now closed.