My friend Elinor DeWire posted a short note on Facebook about this item which she found on ebay. In it she said: Continue reading Another Present from Ebay
DIY Clay Pot Lighthouse
I knew this would get your attention! The author says:
Looking for a simple project to decorate your yard? Why not make this DIY clay pot lighthouse?
For more information check out the Owner Builder Network (OBN).
Let me know if you made one – send me a photo and I will publish it.
Mise Tales Thirty-Six
For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
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[youtube url=”http://youtu.be/b3e7CDg8a3g”]
Here is a great video taken on board the Coast Guard ship CCGS Sir Wilfred Laurier as it services the mountain-top radio sites using the onboard helicopter. Great shots of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwai) and the old lighthouse and radio station at Cape St. James.
It is titled on Youtube as the “Big Red Restaurant“!
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Early 1900’s Tin Lighthouse Windup Toy with Four Airplanes
This item appeared on ebay recently and became an instant hit. On the ebay website it was described as:
DESCRIPTION: This is a very unusual and rare early aviation airplane toy called “Light-house Aero-Planes”. It is marked on the toy and box “Mfgd. By Valentine Sandberg N.Y. Pat. Appd. For”. Included is a partial original box, lighthouse tower, 4 airplanes, and all parts needed to assemble it. When wound Continue reading Early 1900’s Tin Lighthouse Windup Toy with Four Airplanes
Learning From Nature – Improving LEDs
This is NOT a religious rant so please bear with me.
Two Jehovah’s Witnesses dropped by the other day and left after a short time, leaving me with copies of their two publications – Awake! and The Watchtower.
As I deposited them on the kitchen table I noticed on the back page of the February 2014 issue of Awake! a story entitled The Lantern of the Photuris Firefly.
Well naturally the word lantern caught my eye plus the fact that fireflies are prevalent in the Philippines where I am living right now.
Interesting story, and very interesting how scientists adapted it to modern day Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology which is used in your el-cheapo flashlights up to modern high-intensity LEDs for beacons and marker lamps of all sorts used in lighthouses and light beacons. Continue reading Learning From Nature – Improving LEDs
Lighthouse Poems, Prayers, Texts and Graphics
Below are numerous poems, prayers texts and graphics I have collected over the years – all with a lighthouse theme. The lighthouse as a guiding light for our lives as well as our ships seems to be prevalent throughout history.
I am posting some now just for interest. If you have any contributions not listed here please send them to me, and I will add them to this post. It will be interesting to see what turns up. I have given a source or link where I could – if you could do the same it would be appreciated.
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Lighthouse Keeper by David Grimaldi
Towering over
With its powerful beaming light
It could be seen for miles
It was so bright
Operated by an old sea captain
Old man Magee
He never had a wife
His mistress was the sea
He didn’t have much money
His diet was fish and bread
He took pride in his Lighthouse
Warning sailors of the dangers ahead
Old and wise
The mysterious type
With a long white beard
Always smoking a pipe
And when he passed of old age
His spirit may have been free
But his soul was still in the house
Watching over the sea
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Mise Tales Thirty-Five
For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
January 07, 2014 – People watch and photograph enormous waves as they break, on Porthcawl harbour, South Wales, Monday Jan. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/PA, Ben Birchall) . . . more
[private]
LONDON — What used to be Winter Storm Hercules has moved across the Atlantic and is now hammering the United Kingdom with high winds and winter weather.. Britain’s western coast is being lashed by high winds and strong rains following a month of unusually frequent winter storms.
A steady procession of storms has battered the island nation over the past few weeks, making December the windiest since 1969. Monster waves up to 27 feet (8.3 meters) high washed across the British coast on Monday, prompting evacuations and rescues.
“This latest storm actually originated as Winter Storm Hercules in the U.S. just after the New Year’s holiday,” said weather.com Senior Meteorologist Jon Erdman.
(MORE: Dangerously Cold Temperatures Hit U.S.)
The nearly non-stop storms have crumbled long-standing sea cliffs and damaged waterfronts.
“It’s been one after the other with no break,” Nicola Maxey, a spokeswoman for Britain’s Meteorological Office, said Tuesday.
More than 100 flood warnings remain across England and Wales.
“This latest Atlantic storm will slowly wind down and weaken over the Norwegian Sea off Scandinavia through Tuesday, giving way to a well-deserve reprieve from the stormy barrage the rest of the work week,” said Erdman.
Heavy winds and rain have also battered the French coast, driving large waves into southwestern town of Biarritz on Tuesday. [/private]
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Animated Map of Global Wind Conditions
One of the duties of a lighthouse keeper is the reporting of the weather for the boats, aircraft and also for forecasting. One of the things reported is the wind speed. From all around the world the wind speed is recorded and reported from countless weather stations.
Below are two screenshots of a new webpage showing a:
Visualization of global weather conditions as forecast by supercomputers. Weather data, generated from numerical models at Earth.NullSchool.net,…
The photos above are static screen shots – the website is live! Navigate around just like in Google Earth using your mouse and the scroll wheel. Zoom in, zoom out. Enjoy!
Reprint – Sentinels Encased in Ice
Sentinels Encased in Ice by Elinor DeWire
from WeatherWise November-December 2011
The ice was here, the ice was there
The ice was all around;
I t cracked and growled, and roared and howled
Like noise in a swound…
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Caption: St. Joseph Pierhead in Michigan as it appeared on December 20, 2010. Continue reading Reprint – Sentinels Encased in Ice
LEGO Does It Again!
As most of you know I love lighthouses and I have a special attraction for LEGO lighthouses (link1) (link2).
Well, as you can see by the photo at the left, this is not a lighthouse, but it is a marine vessel which could very well sail past a lighthouse, and it is the largest ship in the world (right now!) – the record-breaking Maersk ‘Triple-E.’
Built from over 1,500 bricks, the model recreates the real vessel in amazing detail.
Features include rotating gold-colored propeller blades, brick-built twin 8-cylinder engines, viewing window into the engine compartment, adjustable rudders, detachable lifeboats, removable containers, rotating crane arms and a special ‘good luck’ coin.
It includes rare medium azur, dark red, sand blue and sand green colored elements.
Play with the model on carpeted surfaces or mount the model on the display stand
Building instructions also include interesting facts about the real ship.
The model includes 1,516 bricks
The ship (mounted on stand) measures over 8” (21cm) high, 25” (65cm) long and 3” (9cm) wide – more Continue reading LEGO Does It Again!