NATIONAL DOG DAY

Today is the National Dog Day in USA. Here in Brazil the Dog Day is in October 4th. Created by the National Dog Day Foundation, National Dog Day has two goals: to honor dogs and to rescue dogs from homelessness and abuse. It's an opportunity for us to recognize and appreciate the value and importance of dogs in our lives.

I just found in Jan, from "The Pritz Family" , in Dot, from "Strolling Through Georgia (and Sometimes Alabama)" and in Shammickite, from "Rook's Nest", a nice homage to their dogs. I like to join this homage, posting photos of my adorable friend Flora. By the way, as Flora was rescue as a little puppy by my daughter, no one knows exactly when Flora was born... then Sofia chooses September 3th. Flora will be eleven years old soon.

Happy Birthday dear Flora!

My husband and Flora: both loves each other!

Flora loves to take a nap in a chair

After her bath she loves enjoying the sun in a beautiful day

Young Flora

BLUE SKY AND YELLOW TREE

Welcome to Sky Watch Friday


Tabebuia chrysotricha (Golden Trumpet Tree)

These sets of photos of Tabebuia chrysotricha, known as Ipê-amarelo (yellow ipê), where taken by husband and myself in my garden just this week. Tabebuia is a genus of about 100 species of large shrubs and trees in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. The species range from northern Mexico and the Antilles south to northern Argentina and also Brazil. Many species are dry-season deciduous and flower on leafless stems at the end of the dry season, making the floral display more conspicuous. The bark of several species is used medicinally. The wood is used for furniture, decking, and other outdoor uses. (Deciduous means temporary or tending to fall off).

Click on photos to view larger version

July Club Run

This commenced at the car park at Western Springs which is near the new Valentines Restaurant and was organized by Harvey and Val.

The group of club cars departed at 11am for West Auckland, going along the North Western Motorway, and then Highway 16 towards Kumeu, turning off on to the Riverhead - Coatsville Road, which in the distant past was a main route North towards Whangarei. We then turned off just before Coatsville on to a series of scenic side roads, going past the North Shore Aero Club, and later down Glenvar Road which takes one to Beach Road, which when followed goes through most of the Eastern Beaches which look out to Rangitoto Island which is a dormant volcano just off shore and is a prominent feature of the outer harbour.

We made our way through busy Takapuna, on to Lake Road which goes down towards Devonport where the Naval Base is located doing a circuit of one of their playing fields then on down interesting old streets to Devonport it’s self, where we stopped for lunch at "Clarrie’s" one of the many cafes.



Devonport is a mixture of old and new there are a lot of Art Gallerys, antique stores and small select stores and is busy on a weekend with sightseers wandering in and out the shops. After lunch and a wander about we all returned to the parked cars, and departed to Vauxhall Street where the museum we were to visit at 2pm was, it is in an old church behind some trees and a big gate which was very tightly shut and apparently according to some local residents was going to stay that way.

So to Plan B, go home or go somewhere else, John and Janice left to visit relatives while the Brewers and us decided to go to North Head where the first pilot station for Auckland was established in 1840. Then the first Defense System for Auckland was originally established this was used by both the army and the navy. The army left in 1950 and the navy in 1996.

North Head is a volcano it’s proper name is Maungauika, the first guns were installed in 1885 and for a number of years afterwards prisoners were used to reconstructed the gun sites and build tunnels and storage underground for searchlights and magazines for the guns installed there. Three disappearing guns were installed there as well; one still remains and is now one of the few left in the world.

We spent some time there climbing all the over the mountain going in and out the tunnels and gun placements a very interesting afternoon was had.Those who went all had club cars they were Harvey and Val (organizer), John and Janice, and Bud and Thelma.

ECOLOGICAL DAY

I invite you all to join ECOLOGICAL DAY, a Collective Blogging I will be hosting on my blog every second day of the month. The first one will be set at September 2th. The theme is ECOLOGY, an important issue nowadays. You can post on your blog a diversity of issues about the master theme of Ecology. Feel free to post what you like in relation to the subject. You can post photos of landscapes, trees, flowers, fruits, wild animals, pets, birds, butterflies, ocean, fishes, human being, etc. You can also write your own articles if you wish or post videos and music, too.

How to Join: Create a post on your blog with an ecological image or text and mark it as an ECOLOGICAL DAY post. Link back here, so that your visitors can see more Ecological Day Posts. Enter your name and URL in Mister Linky and please go out and enjoy another posts. And thank you for been part of Ecological Day!

Convido todos vocês para participarem do ECOLOGICAL DAY, uma blogagem coletiva que estarei realizando todo o segundo dia do mês, a começar no dia 2 de Setembro. O tema é a ECOLOGIA, um importante assunto nos dias de hoje. Você pode escolher postar em seu blog uma diversidade de temas, sempre ligados à Ecologia. Você pode postar fotos de paisagens, árvores, flores, frutas, animais selvagens, animais de estimação, pássaros, mar, peixes, ser humano, etc. Você pode também postar artigos, vídeos e música.

Como participar: Crie um post em seu blog com uma imagem ou um texto ligado à Ecologia, escreva no título do post Ecological Day e faça um link para o Leaves of Grass, para que seus visitantes possam visitar outros blogs que também estejam participando desta postagem coletiva. Coloque o seu nome/ou nome do blog, seu link no Mister Linky e pronto. Divirta-se visitando outros blogs. Obrigada por fazer parte do Ecological Day!

Feel free to add this logo on your blog's page and to link us.
Fique à vontade para colocar este logotipo em sua página e nos lincar.

PS: I was inspired to create this Ecological Day by Dot, from Strolling Through Georgia, by the Blog Sky Watch Friday and Tertúlia Virtual. Thank you!

PS: Me inspirei para criar o Ecological Day por Dot, from Strolling Through Georgia , pelo Sky Watch Friday e Tertúlia Virtual. Obrigada!

"WATER" IS TODAY THEME OF TERTÚLIA VIRTUAL - VIRTUAL GATHERING

Every 15th of each month, the blog Expresso da Linha, from Portugal and Varal de Idéias, from Brazil, set a Collective Blogging with a theme or a question. This current theme is WATER. You can post photos on your blog, write stories illustrating this theme or both. Come to join us clicking on Mister Link .

Photos taken by my daughter Sofia at Jurumirim's Dam.

Photos by Sofia de Amorim Mascaro

Jurumirim Dam is a large reservoir built in 1962 for generating hydroelectricity. It is located in the upper region of the Paranapanema River (Upper Paraná basin), State of São Paulo, Brazil. The reservoir receives two large tributaries on its southern side, the Paranapanema and Taquari rivers, and several small rivers and streams enter the northern shore. Jurumirim's dam dimension: area 173,359 sq mile; perimeter 799,083 miles and the water's volume 7.007,51 hm³. The water is clean and non-polluted. The Jurumirim reservoir further to being situated in an area of great economic development, in the State of São Paulo, is also a place for aquatic sports, pleasure and tourism activities. Jurumirim was the second hydro-electric utilization of the Paranapanema’s River. The Paranapanema River is a natural limit between the States of Paraná and São Paulo.

A Represa Jurumirim fica no Estado de São Paulo, é formada pelo represamento pela Barragem de Jurumirim, no Rio Paranapanema e banha dez municípios no centro-sul do Estado. O nome Jurumirim vem do tupi e significa "foz pequena". A Represa Jurumirim é um imenso reservatório de água doce, cujo espelho d’água varia de 321,15 km² a 448,93 km², com 1.286 km de perímetro de margem e um volume de água médio de 5.425,20 hm³. O comprimento da Represa Jurumirim é de aproximadamente 70 km, com larguras que variam de 3 a 10 km, dependendo do local. Distribuídas ao longo da Represa, encontram-se 26 ilhas. (Informações da Duke Energy). A Represa Jurumirim possui usos múltiplos, como regularização da vazão do rio Paranapanema, geração de energia elétrica, irrigação, pesca, recreação, aqüicultura e turismo. A Represa Jurumirim está inserida na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Paranapanema, sistema hídrico de águas limpas, não atingidas pela poluição e, segundo dados da CETESB, água de ótima qualidade.

Barrage Jurumirim

Logo of Tertúlia Virtual by Peri S.C.

LOVELY PLACE

Today I want to share with you this lovely place.

Photo taken by my daughter Sofia at Jurumirim's Dam.

THE ART OF BRAZILIAN HANDICRAFT

These are photos taken by my daughter Sofia at the National Fair of Handicraft and Tourism occurred in São Paulo last June. Click on photos to see better the details.

These photos shows many objects that demonstrate the amazing skills and tradition of Brazilian artists. This gallery of popular Brazilian art is impressive by its beauty and richness in colors and shapes, due to the cultural diversity of the Brazilian people. You can see works in wooden carving, ceramic, clay, fibers like cotton, sisal, corn and banana trees, stones, beans, metal, fabric wood, lace, embroidery, weaving, straw, leather and yarn.

These Brazilian handicraft were created by regional artists from all over the country, from Amazon to the south of the country.These collection reveals the creativity and sensitivity of Brazilian artists.















These purses were made with aluminum pop can tab.

Purse made with the leader of Tilapia, species of cichlid fishes.

Photos by Sofia de A. Mascaro
Click on photos to enlarge