Talking Tree (ThursdayTreeLove)

Today's post is about a tree that's really telling a story..

I met this tree in Waterford, Wales located right in the middle of a bylane. It is a 23 metre long masterpiece carving by John Hayes and his team on an entire Douglas Fir that was uprooted in a storm. The uprooted tree was used to carve the story of the Vikings and their history in Wales. 

Sounds amazing isn't it? And it is... 

The 'sculpture' if I can use that word, is too long to capture in a single frame..so here are part wise images. 

From a distance, I thought the building was the focus here.. but it was the installation that caught my attention.

Cycle Explorations

Being on the wrong side of the fifties brings more than silver glints to hair... And my knee suitably reminded me of this. That put paid to my dream trek to the Valley of Flowers or ambitious EBC. However as my Ortho Doc freely permitted cycling, I found new options opening up. 

Having spent up to five years in the North East, Assam had a special place in our lives . On Facebook, I had seen Bishwajit (Jitda) pedaling across this state. The curated routes of the Brahmaputra Cycling Expedition  were attractive and seemed doable to me. After Jitda cleared all my doubts, we decided to take the (metaphoric) plunge and signed up for the tour. 

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post.

Being a weekend cyclist meant I had to focus on daily cycling to be able to complete the tour. Even though the monsoon chose to stay longer in Pune, we managed to train. I got a good idea of my endurance, and even increased it to an extent. The more difficult part was in choosing the right clothing for our tour, saddle covers, compact packing (is there such a thing?????) and so on. 

Sigh.. it was easier to cycle...

Along side, I was researching plants that I was likely to see. I prepared notes, local names and created my own reference guide for the tour. This helped to some extent but since we had cell phone connectivity all through, I often referred to Flowers of India. My study was vital as we were planned to do a forest walk at Kakoijana (home to the endangered Golden Langur) and were visiting the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (Manas is a world heritage site). As it happened, we made an unplanned visit to the Pobitora Sanctuary as well! 

We worked our way through the rain fury in Pune, packing travails and D day arrived. Armed with good wishes of friends and family we reached Guwahati and met our enthusiastic co cyclists! A diverse interesting group of all ages and backgrounds. The next week looked very promising.

I had to make 'friends' (and quickly) with 'my' cycle and it was reassuring to interact with the BCE team who adjusted cycles for all of us. The back up logistics support and the bus were superb and gave me confidence and helped overcome last minute doubts. 

Cousins (ThursdayTreeLove)

I had a different tree in mind for todays post but I just read Parul's TTL 132 post and decided to share some plants from my home balcony garden. 

To be more specific, three plants that are so called 'cousins'. 

They belong to the same Genus of Malpighia but the specific epithet is different. Hence they are different species. I am growing them to be Bonsai and they do grow as trees in Nature. 

They all belong to the family Malpighiaceae and you can see the distinct flower similarity. The frilly flowers are very pretty but not fragrant. The three plants I am sharing all have simple opposite leaves. 

Here is my Cherry or Malpighia emarginata. The leaf stalks are short, margin are entire and the leaf tip maybe rounded or notched. This is an exotic species but seems to like the environment in my house. It is in fruit right now. 

Cherry flower

In fruit. This is an old image. I have repotted the tree to a different angle now.

Here is the Hawthorn or Mapighia coccigera. It has spiny leaves which makes it difficult to handle or hold the branches or trunks. My plant is very young and will take a while to become a proper bonsai. Come November, it flowers in my home but has not yet borne fruits.

Spiny Leaves

Here is what we call Frooti. There is a lot of debate about its correct botanical name and it is definitely from Malpighia genus. Most likely Malpighia glabra. Its branches tend to droop unlike the other two above. Leaves have a wavy margin and pointy tip. This plant flowers profusely once it rains and also bears fruit in August/September. This fruit is much smaller than the Cherries on my tree. 

Frooti flowers and buds

Fruits of the Frooti

I hope you enjoyed meeting these 'Cousins' in my balcony garden ---- with a teeny bit of botany thrown in!

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

X is for Xmas

   I am participating in the April AtoZ Blogging challenge and my theme is Plants featured on Indian Stamps. This is my eight attempt at the AtoZ and the focus is on plants. 

My theme is inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps. 

I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. Hence almost all my posts are purely based on research on the internet. I have tried to cross check the info before posting here. Please do share correct info and links to the same in case of discrepancy. 

India Post has a very strong network reaching deep deep into the interiors of the country and I depended on it for news from home when we were posted in far away places.  In this age of smartphones, Internet, how many of us really write letters - snail mail as they are now called? Despite this , I find that new stamps are being issued and we have stamps on diverse topics including Armed Forces, Films, Personalities, Wildlife, Handlooms, Handicrafts and so on.. It is amazing!

X . This alphabet has again been a bit of a stretch but I am sure you will love this stamp. And the tree! 

:-)

Xmas is a much loved festival all around the world. I love the Xmas trees and in fact we visited the US in winter 2021, just to see the lovely decorations and celebrations. 

Fir (Genus Abies), Spruce (Genus Picea) and Pine (Genus Pinus) are common conifers used as Xmas trees. This article describes some popular species used.

Here are some of the wonderful trees we saw.

At the Myrtle Beach airport

At Washington Dulles Airport

At Home

Here in India as well, Christmas celebrations are seen across the country with special decorations being put up in hotels, restaurants and markets. Special cakes and puddings and cookies are on sale. 

So its but natural to find this beautiful festival represented on our stamp. India Post's Season GreetingsIndia Post's Season Greetings stamp with a decorated Xmas tree was issued in 2016 of denomination 10 INR. 

Post of India, GODL-India <https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf>, via Wikimedia Commons

The India Postage Stamps website  has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.

Colnect is a comprehensive portal for Stamp collectors. It gives detailed information about every listed stamp.  Click here for detailed info about Stamps - what is a stamp, types, formats, water marks, perforations and much more.  

We meet tomorrow for yet another beautiful plant and its stamp!

You can catch up with my previous posts here. 

Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!  

Campus Trees (ThursdayTreeLove)

Last year, I had the fortune to visit Stanford University, an Ivy League institute that needs no introduction. I was in awe of the majestic buildings and beautiful campus.

The majestic trees added to the intense academic and intellectual aura of the campus.

Here is a glimpse of some of the trees.

Memorial Church

Hoover Tower

The iconic Palm lined driveway

Feast (ThursdayTreeLove)

 Who would have thought that my tiny balcony would be the site for a feast for birds!! Yes that is what happened when my Wax bonsai was in fruit. Click here to see the photos and video. 

Wander Into Nature (ThursdayTreeLove)

 My first trek to Bhorgiri was in the monsoon and remains an unforgettable trip. Here are some images

Well Settled (ThursdayTreeLove)

 Pune has a huge diversity of plant species many of them exotic - that means non native. Yet many of them are happy here and flower and fruit profusely. Bougainvillea is among the few introduced species that has well settled in our country. Do read about it in my post here. 

Morning Hues

 Morning walks gives an opportunity to see the glorious sky as a new day begins. Here are some images.

Success

 Yet another attempt at Flash Fiction using a photo prompt! Do read and comment! Thanks! :-)

The Will

 Using the word prompt and photo prompt to write flash fiction ... Click here ... Who do you think is the beneficiary?

The Envelope

 Here is another Flash Fiction using a photo prompt by Vinitha. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! 

Sweet Offerings

 All of us have eaten Ber .. It also owes its fame as offerings by Shabari to Lord Ram.

I meet a Ber tree on my walks. Here it is.. 

Wall Flowers (Wordless Wednesday)

 These flowers catch my eyes on morning walks.. 

Click here to see what I see! 

Henna (ThursdayTreeLove)

 All of us love Mehendi or Henna.. It rightly deserves a place in TTL..

Click here to read  more about this tree...

Mirror

Continuing the new found creative streak ... another installment of Flash Fiction..Using the word prompt Mirror.

Click here to read this story....I am sure some of you will relate to it! :-)

Drops (Wordless Wednesday)

 A collection of drops of water around me...

Click here.. 

Aai

 Anita finished folding a tissue into a fan and kept it on top of a pile which she had made today. 

Click here to read more about this heart wrenching post.

Surprise

 Meena sat desultorily in the Mall, guarding the numerous bags that Anu, her daughter-in-law had deposited in her care along with the children. Anu was getting her nails done.

Catch up with Meena's experience at the Mall here.. 

The Fall

Fiction is not really my forte and if at all, I can write something when prompted.

Here is my effort from Vinitha's Fiction Monday using the picture prompt..

Awaiting your feedback.

:-)

Click here to read my story...

Thanks for stopping  by folks!