mandolin mama

@mandolinmama.bsky.social

7007 Followers 5536 Following

poet, musician, singer-songwriter, environmentalist, animal and human rights advocate, adoptive mum to naleku at sheldrick wildlife trust, book lover, librocubicularist, vegan, love baseball, recovering anthropologist, carbon-based lifeform, peacenik. 🕊 🇨🇦

photo of a small herd of african elephants walking towards the camera. there are three adults, two teenagers and two youngsters. photo by andy rouse.
photo of a smiling young boy holding a little lamb. his big dog leans over the boy's left arm and rests their chin on the lamb. quote:- "not the ones speaking the same language but the ones sharing the same feeling understand each other." -rumi
photo of a mother tiger lying down with her cub draped over her shoulder. happy global tiger day!
head and shoulders photo of toronto blue jays pitcher dylan cease.
painting:- the boat studio' by claude monet 1876. a view of a small wooden boat with a tall square cabin floating along a calm, tree-lined river. there are two people in the bow. monet built this boat so he could paint in complete freedom.
painting:- 'the studio boat' by claude monet 1876. view of the stern of a small, flat-bottomed boat floating on the water. the back doors are open and we can see a person seated inside presumably working on a painting. there are lovely trees in the background and beautiful ripples and reflections in the water. monet built this boat so he could paint on the water in complete freedom.
"scorned as timber, beloved of the sky" by canadian artist emily carr. 1935 an extremely tall, thin tree; bare except for the very top; stands alone in a clearcut of the forest. there is a whirly, white cloudy sky over an undulating landscape.
quote of the day by charles darwin:- "if i had my life to live over again, i would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week."
painting-'a new beginning' by sunshine coast b.c. artist greta guzek. an arbutus tree with its characteristic peeling red bark grows out of a rocky outcrop overlooking the ocean. there are other trees and some ferns and green plants as well. the coast meanders towards snow-capped mountains in the background. both the sky and the ocean are a beautiful shade of blue.
'the trail islands from snickett park' painting by sunshine coast b.c. artist brian romer. a big rock formation on the beach with waves lapping at the base. on the beach and up on the grass are many logs that were probably from a log boom being towed that broke up during a storm. the sky is overcast with streaky clouds but you can still see two of the trail islands and behind them the snow-capped mountains on vancouver island. the big rock in the middle is my favourite place to sit when i go to snickett park.
quote:- "no amount of money, oil or gold is worth more than the bees, trees and clean water."
painting by sunshine coast b.c. artist brian romer. it is a view of the trail islands in the salish sea through a leaning maple tree and a cedar on the left, and a distant tree on the right with smaller shrubs in the middle. over the blue sea are two of the trail islands with a bank of white clouds behind them. this is the view from his house on a high bank above the water.
steven miller as a gargoyle.
photo of the dalai lama playfully posing with muslim leaders from turtuk who came to meet him on the final day of his teachings in disket, nubra valley, j&k, india on july 13, 2017. he is tugging on both of their beards. (photo by tenzin choejor.)
black and white photo of the dalai lama as a very young child. he is sitting on a simple throne draped in fabric. behind him is a statue of the buddha. it must be very soon after he was discovered in amdo province, tibet.
poem by victor hugo (1802-1885... 'be like the bird, who pausing in his flight on a limb too slight feels it bend beneath him yet sings knowing he has wings.'
"we all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." -maya angelou
two beautiful photos of costa rica. on the left, two beautiful birds soar over the rainforest. on the right, a view of a healthy green forest under a blue sky with puffy clouds. quote:- "in 1987, costa rica was 21% forest. today it's 57%. they did it by paying landowners, funded by a fossil fuel tax, to keep trees standing. biodiversity rebounded and lost species returned. costa rica became latin america's top per capita ag exporter." "forests can be the economy."
painting by canadian artist emily carr- 'forest' 1931-1932. an impressionistic view looking through a dense forest, done in swooping smooth brushstrokes in warm browns and many shades of green.
photo of a huge field with rows of a green crop. there is a winding, wide row of wildflowers down the middle. quote:- "strips of wildflowers attract pest-eating insects and reduces the need for pesticides. we need more solutions like this."
a young boy is holding a tiny lamb. his large dog is leaning, resting his chin on the boy and the lamb. it's snowing. quote:- "not the ones speaking the same language but the ones sharing the same feeling understand each other." -rumi
photo of a rooster standing beside a bowl full of a delicious looking salad with lettuce, veggies and fruit in it. quote:-" how to make a chicken salad: 1) make a salad 2) give it to a chicken
quote by kabir:- "i don't think there is such a thing as an intelligent mega-rich person. for who with a fine mind can look out upon this world and hoard what can nourish a thousand souls."
mohammed sallam and daughter julia with two of their rescue cats in happier times before oct 7th 2023.
the rising sun shines directly through an arch at stonehenge on the summer solstice.
a path through dense trees that ends at a comfy wooden bench
black and white photo,taken from above, of dozens of WW1 soldiers in dark and light uniforms making the shape of a horse's head, complete with bridle. they are paying tribute to the millions of donkeys, horses and mules that died in the war.
'mid ocean' by american painter frederick judd waugh c.1920. a vivid, realistic and atmospheric depication of the wild ocean under a stormy sky. huge whitecaps crash on dark blue water.
'the voyage of life: youth' 1842 by anglo-american artist thomas cole, who founded the hudson river school art movement. an allegorical painting, done in lush, mellow colours, of a youth in a boat cruising up a river towards a castle in the sky. an angel stands on the riverbank and waves to the youth. along the bank are many large trees. in the distance is a sharp, rather ominous mountain peak. in the far distance is a mirage-like castle with a big dome.
a black and white dog sits on a coat in a wooded area. quote:- "a dog went missing and the owner was advised to leave clothing where it was last seen. despite a thorough search, there was no sign of the dog-until the morning when the dog was found sitting on the coat. good advice, and perhaps worth sharing."
screenshot from stellarium of the moon, jupiter, and venus lined up under ursa major in the western sky.
photo from 1920 showing passengers, wearing their best clothes, waiting on selma park wharf for the steamship to take them back to the city from a resort on the sunshine coast, b.c.
photo of my neighbourhood in 1924 depicting two rows of big white tents in a clearing above the ocean. my cottage was built a few years later where the 2nd from the left tent on the far side is.
photo of poet robert frost quote- "half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it."
a book open to the first page lies on a desktop. haiku:- some quiet advice... the best cure for being sad is to learn something
a watercolour image of two salish sea orcas swimming up to the surface of the ocean. the one one the left is being touched on the snout by a small person in a rowboat. quote:- "if we lose the salish sea orcas, it will be the first extinction where every individuals name was known." -alexandra morton, gwayum'dzi.
woodblock print- kameido bridge by hiroshi yoshida 1927. a charming, steeply arched taiko bridge over water with many people on it. overhead is a large lattice with pink wisteria in full bloom. the reflection of the bridge in the water makes a full circle. in the background are many temple-like structures.
the statue of saddam hussein being pulled down. at the time someone said," he looks like a narcoleptic hailing a cab."
a chocolate labrador retriever is lying on a bed. under his chin and right leg you can barely see an orange cat with a white face and legs. caption, 'the cat? no, i haven't seen him.'
"war is a place where young men who don't know each other fight for the sake of two elderly people who do know each other and who won't be harmed." - mohammed sallam, hospital worker and cat rescuer gaza city
'the window' by pierre bonnard 1925 a light, sunny scene looking out the window of an apartment above a charming village with red-tiled roofs, in the côte d'azur. on a table in the window are books, an ink bottle and pen and a few other items. out the window in the middle of the picture is a balcony. you can just make out the head and arm of his wife marthe. she is leaning on the railing.
'young woman with her hand over her mouth' by edgar degas 1875 head and shoulders image of a young woman holding her left hand over her mouth. it is done in muted colours of black, grey, white and a bit of blush red on her cheeks. haiku:- i have many words that build up behind my teeth composted english
head and shoulders photo of a very ruffled and confused crow looking straight at the camera. photographer unknown
'a subject from the runic superstitions' by jmw turner 1808. a dark landscape lit by a crescent moon shows an enigmatic figure seated near some trees on the left. he is pointing to ghostly figures on the right who appear to be dancing (?) around a glowing light hovering above water.
a rock shelf on the beach at the base of holy joe’s rock, sechelt b.c. on the shelf are 4 small rock-balancing sculptures.
a cluster of stars and clouds in the night sky create what looks like a human figure looking out to space. text:- happy world astronomy day! haiku:- 'a cool starry night i hear tiny voices sing out behind the stars'
'stacks of parisian novels and roses in a glass' by vincent van gogh. 1887 there are rather chaotic stacks of books, mostly in tones of yellow, sitting on a table top beside a glass with roses in it.
pale blue dot photo taken by voyager 1 space probe in 1990. it shows the earth from 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) away.
a red-shafted flicker’s nest hole, in the shape of an eye, has been excavated under the eaves of a very old cottage. above is the repaired hole of last year’s nest!