The simplicity of winter has a deep moral. The return of
Nature, after such a career of splendor and prodigality, to habits so simple
and austere, is not lost either upon the head or the heart. It is the
philosopher coming back from the banquet and the wine to a cup of water and a
crust of bread.
~John Burroughs "The Snow-Walkers"
To enlarge the photos, just click on them
Idyllic landscapewith views of theAppenzellerMountain, Hoher Kasten,
Am Schellenberg - Vorarlberg -Liechtenstein Idyllische Landschaft mit Blick auf die Appenzeller-Berge, Hoher Kasten, Matschelser Ried, Rheintal, Hohe Kugel, First, Hoher Freschen
"Afflictive emotions — our jealousy, anger, hatred, fear — can be put to an end. When you realize that these emotions are only temporary, that they always pass on like clouds in the sky, you also realize they can ultimately be abandoned." ~Tenzin Gyatso
Inspirational Sky Photography: My latest Video:
“Pain is a pesky part of being human, I've learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart, something I wish we could all do without, in our lives here. Pain is a sudden hurt that can't be escaped.
But then I have also learned that because of pain,
I can feel the beauty, tenderness, and freedom of healing.
We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces.” C. JoBell C
“Acknowledging the good that
you already have in your life
is the foundation for all
abundance.”
― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth:
Awakening to Your Life's
Purpose
Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta Nymphalidae (Brush-footed
Butterflies)
The Red Admiral has a very erratic, rapid flight, flight time from July to October.
The Admiral lives in the mild areas of Central Europe,
throughout the year. Due to the climate change it hibernates increasingly also in northeast. In mild
winter also young larvae or pupae can survive.
The Admiral is often observed on fallen fruit in the fall while
vacuuming.
The caterpillars live on the nettle.
Red Admirals prefer sap flows on trees, fermenting fruit,
and bird droppings; visiting flowers only when these are not available. Then
they will nectar at common milkweed, red clover, aster, and alfalfa, among
others.
In northern Europe, it is one of the last butterflies to be
seen before winter sets in.
In my Video you can see this beautiful butterfly suckling the last nectar on flowering butterfly bush and having a rest on the ground:
The spiral in a snail's shell is the same mathematically as
the spiral in the Milky Way galaxy, and it's also the same mathematically as
the spirals in our DNA. It's the same ratio that you'll find in very basic
music that transcends cultures all over the world.
~Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Enjoy my new video about this awesome little creature!
Snails are invertebrates, which are animals with no
backbones. The shell on the snail helps protect it, and also reduces the loss
of water by evaporation. Shells have many different shapes, sizes, and colours.
Snails do not breathe through their mouths, instead they have a breathing hole
under their shells.
As the snail grows, so does its calcium carbonate shell. The
shell grows additively, by the addition of new calcium carbonate, which is
secreted by glands located in the snail's mantle. The new material is added to
the edge of the shell aperture (the opening of the shell). Therefore the centre
of the shell's spiral was made when the snail was younger, and the outer part
when the snail was older. When the snail reaches full adult size, it may build
a thickened lip around the shell aperture. At this point the snail stops
growing, and begins reproducing. A snails "foot" is a muscle which
allows it to move slowly across the ground. The foot puts out ('exudes') slime,
which eases the snail's movement, leaving a trail. Snails can absorb mineral
nutrients through their foot by simply sitting on a rock containing it.
The head is attached to the foot. The mouth is like a cheese
grater. It is called a radula. It is used for cutting food. On the radula there
are little teeth. On the head there are 15 mm stalks. At the end of the stalks
are snail’s eyes, though they do not see very well.
Snails are invertebrates, which are animals with no
backbones. The shell on the snail helps protect it, and also reduces the loss
of water by evaporation. Shells have many different shapes, sizes, and colours.
Snails do not breathe through their mouths, instead they have a breathing hole
under their shells.
A snails "foot" is a muscle which allows it to
move slowly across the ground. The foot puts out ('exudes') slime, which eases
the snail's movement, leaving a trail. Snails can absorb mineral nutrients
through their foot by simply sitting on a rock containing it.
The snail family is big and believed aprox. 200,000 species
of mollusks (incl. Snails), 50,000
classified.
With a wingspan from 6.0 to 7.0 cm, this butterfly is one of the largest ones in Europe. The ‚Argynnis paphia' was mentioned for the first time by Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist physician, and zoologist for the modern biological naming scheme of binomial nomenclature., who laid the foundations.
The butterfly on wild shrub
Buddleja davidii, also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush,
or orange eye, which is a species of flowering plant in the
family Scrophulariaceae.
The term "rhubarb" is a
combination of the Ancient Greek rha and barbarum; rha refers both to the plant
and to the River Volga.
Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a species of plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is a
herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes. It produces large
leaves that are somewhat triangular, with long fleshy petioles. and small
flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red
inflorescences. The value of rhubarb can be seen in Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo's report of his embassy in 1403–05 to Timur in Samarkand: "The best of all merchandise coming to Samarkand was from China: especially silks, satins, musk, rubies, diamonds, pearls, and rhubarb..."
Historical cultivation
Rhubarb has been used for medical
purposes by the Chinese for thousands of years, and appears in The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root
Classic which is thought to have been compiled about 2,700 years ago. Though
Dioscurides' description of ρηον or ρά indicates that a medicinal root brought
to Greece from beyond the Bosphorus may have been rhubarb, commerce in the drug
did not become securely established until Islamic times. During Islamic times,
it was imported along the Silk Road, reaching Europe in the 14th century
through the ports of Aleppo and Smyrna, where it became known as "Turkish
rhubarb". Later, when the usual route lay through Russia, "Russian
rhubarb" became the familiar term.
(Picture taken in beginning of June)
(These pictures were taken at the end of March)
Medicinal uses of Rhubarb
Rhubarb has a long history of herbal
usage. The primary result of rhubarb root as an herbal medicine is a positive
and balancing effect upon the digestive system. Rhubarb is one of the most
widely used herbs in Chinese medicine. Rhubarb roots are harvested in the fall
from plants that are at least six years old. The roots are then dried for later
use. The root is used as an anticholesterolemic, antiseptic, antispasmodic,
antitumor, aperient, astringent, cholagogue, demulcent, diuretic, laxative,
purgative, stomachic and tonic. Rhubarb roots contain anthraquinones which have
a purgative effect, and the tannins and bitters have an an effect that is
opposite that of an astringent.
When taken internally in small
doses, rhubarb acts as an astringent tonic to the digestive system, when taken
larger doses rhubarb acts as a very mild laxative. The root can be taken
internally for the treatment of chronic constipation, diarrhea, liver and gall
bladder complaints, hemorrhoids, menstrual problems and skin eruptions due to
an accumulation of toxins. Note that this remedy should not used by pregnant or
lactating women, or patients with intestinal obstruction. Used externally,
rhubarb root can be used in the treatment of burns.
People have further claimed that
Rhubarb enhances the appetite when it is taken before meals in small amounts,
that it also promotes blood circulation and relieves pain in cases of injury or
inflammation, inhibits intestinal infections. and can also reduce autoimmune
reactions. The impact of the rhubarb depends on how it is prepared. More
recently there have been claims that rhubarb root (Rheum officinale) can be
useful in treatment of Hepatitis B.
For centuries, the plant has grown wild along the banks of
the River Volga, for which the ancient Scythian hydronym was Rhā. The cost
of transportation across Asia made rhubarb expensive in medieval Europe. It was
several times the price of other valuable herbs and spices such as cinnamon,
opium, and saffron. The merchant explorer Marco Polo therefore searched for the
place where the plant was grown and harvested, discovering that it was
cultivated in the mountains of Tangut province.
In culinary use, fresh raw petioles (leaf stalks) are crisp
(similar to celery) with a strong, tart taste. Most commonly, the plant's leaf
stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies and other desserts. A number of
varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are
recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Rhubarb is usually considered a vegetable. In the United
States, however, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the
United States as a fruit, it counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations
and duties. A side effect was a reduction on imported rhubarb tariffs, as
tariffs were higher for vegetables than fruits.
Rhubarb contains anthraquinones including rhein, and emodin
and their glycosides (e.g. glucorhein), which impart cathartic and laxative
properties. It is hence useful as a cathartic in case of constipation.
(Sources "rhubarbinfo" and Wikipedia)
More informations:
The Rhubarb Compendium: More than you ever wanted to know about
rhubarb
