Photos, videos and docs of Justfolk

Giganteum, yes. Gigantic, no.

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 22:12:04 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

Our Allium giganteum is getting bigger but we are not expecting it to be gigantic this year.

Right now, it is bigger than my fist but not as big as your head.

Nowhere near as big as your head.

Artwork

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 23:11:18 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

It's always a surprise, a pleasant one, to find little works of art in public places.

This is in our neighbourhood, only three or four steps off the sidewalk, and very easy to pass without seeing.

It was probably someone's coal-chute eighty years ago, and then a window which in turn got barred up. And finally decorated.

O is for Open

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 19:30:40 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

Up the street, in front of the church that is there, I see this strange circle, open for interpretation

The deepest one

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:12:28 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

We planted three rhododendrons twenty or twenty-five years ago and they have all thriven, this year better than any year in the past.

This is the slowest of the three and it's at its peak now. Rain is forecast for this afternoon and I expect to see it beaten down a bit later as a result.

It has a much deeper red colour and a more star-like shape than the others. I can't say I have a favourite, but I like this one for being there after the others have faded.

Sunset

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 23:53:57 +0000

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Time was I wouldn't bother with sunset pictures. But the older I get the more I like them. Getting soft.

This was ten minutes ago when the sun had just set and flashed this orange-peachy colour up at the sky.

Jumper

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:25:15 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

I keep trying to get good sharp and detailed pictures of spiders, and especially of zebra jumping spiders like this one. But I keep failing -- for several reasons. The most important is that they keep moving. Oh well, I will keep trying.

This one was going around the doorway in our dining-room this morning.

Fledgling European starling

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 23:35:04 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

What does late June bring?

"Summer," you say?
No . . . not necessarily.

But, baby starlings -- yes

Luna and Venus

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:17:14 +0000

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Venus and the moon passed by each other yesterday. We here were clouded in, but even if it had been clear we wouldn't have seen the occultation that some places saw.

Here is the view a few minutes after sunset this evening. That's Venus down just to the right of the corner in the neighbours' roofline.

Today is Bloomsday

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:11:16 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

I made a little pilgrimage a couple of years ago to the grave of James Joyce.

He was there. He had his smoke, his stick, and his scribbledehobble with him.

Come-hither lips

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:33:53 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

About ten years ago, I dug up our currant because it wasn't doing well where it was in the ground.

Ever since then it's been in a biggish pot and we put it somewhere different every spring. But it doesn't do as well as it will once we find a proper place for it back in the ground.

Just the same, every spring it digs out its lipstick and gets ready for a good time.

Raspberry eating apple

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 23:10:48 +0000

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In our house, the Purple finches are usually called Raspberry finches, at least the males are. Today the Raspberries have all been filling themselves with the unopened buds of apple flowers.

Poor dead wasp

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:16:41 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

I've never been a fan of on-camera flash and, for decades, I have avoided it pretty well altogether.

But now and again I hear or see professional photographers saying something to the effect of that people who hate flash simply don't know how to use it. So, knowing that to be true of me, now and again I try using flash again. Like this morning with a few close-ups, including this dead wasp I found desiccated and partly decapitated on the floor.

I like some flashy aspects of the picture (sharp! that reflection on the floor board!), but others I still hate (too contrasty in the bright spots, primarily). I've tamed the latter here a bit by darkening the picture overall. But, especially on the hairy bits, I still don't like that high contrast.

Townie astronomy

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:52:27 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

They are getting lower in the sky each evening. But this was the view from our driveway a few minutes ago. Jupiter and Venus at bottom. Pollux and Castor are the two stars to the upper right of Venus.

Bluejay on the clothesline

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 13:45:53 +0000

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This bluejay is a little friendlier than his friends or family.

Or perhaps he is just the sentry assigned to our back door.

He doesn't seem to mind being close to the human beings.

He often hangs about when there are no peanuts, and calls loudly to the others when there are.

Red crossbill

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:58:35 +0000

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This afternoon we had a short visit by a pair of Red crossbills. This was the male. The female was a lovely ducketymuck green.

A June day in 1998

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:29:12 +0000

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It being a June today today, and having awakened this morning to a couple of cm of ice in the bird bath in the back yard, I went looking for photographs of other June days.

This was a June day in 1998, near Cape Spear, about ten km from home. I was using my (wonderful) Kodak Reflex camera, one of the few excellent 126 cameras ever made. And I had it loaded with Verichrome Pan film that had expired ten years previous to then.

That's an iceberg at left, and a sailing schooner near the right. On board the schooner were people probably watching for whales.

Wet, probably cold

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sat, 30 May 2026 18:52:15 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

It's three degrees above freezing and raining. If pigeons have any traditional oral history of having been domesticated, they may also have a righteous indignation that we made them dependent but then stopped building dovecotes against bad weather.

Small talk

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Sat, 30 May 2026 00:09:11 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

Like an office party after work on a Friday. Can't wait to get home. It's getting late.

Corvid conclave on the fence

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Thu, 28 May 2026 17:57:42 +0000

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In our backyard this afternoon.

Couple of nuthatches

nobody@ipernity.com (Justfolk) — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:30:24 +0000

Justfolk has posted:

Here is the pair of nuthatches this morning. I think they are nesting in one of the old, tall pine trees in the neighbourhood graveyard; they often head that way when their work is done at the seeds.

L-R: she-hatch, he-hatch