Thursday, 11 October 2012

A legend from Bolivia

I came across a photo of an unusual tree on Facebook. I was intrigued and after a bit of googling, I discovered this interesting legend from Bolivia:

A long time ago, when gods lived on earth as people, the dark spirits (Añas) haunted the early Guarani people, killing the men and stealing their women.


In a small village lived a beautiful young woman named Araverá (Sparkle in the sky), the daughter of the grand chief Ururutï (White Condor). She recently married the hummingbird god, Colibrí (Chinu tumpa), and hoped to soon have a son, who would grow up to be the best Shaman (Paye) of the area, capable of destroying all of the evil spirits.


The Añas got wind of her plans and schemed to kill her. They mounted their fire-breathing winged horses and pointed them to her small town. But Araverá saw the danger and escaped, flying to the ultimate ends of the universe in a tiny flying chair that her husband Colibrí gave her.


The Añas pursued her everywhere, the the depths of the waters, under the earth and higher than the stars. When her tiny flying chair finally couldn't support the weight of her and her growing baby anymore, they descended to earth and hid inside a Toborochi tree (Samou).



The Añas passed them by and never found her. Inside the tree, Araverá bore her son. The boy grew and took revenge upon the evil Añas, but his mother remained in the trunk of the Torobochi, as she does to this day. Sometimes, when she does go outside, she becomes the tree's beautiful flower, so that the hummingbirds can come and enjoy her nectar.


Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Green fingers

This is quite funny. The tweet is from Bedford police in the UK:


Beware of pretty plants in garage sales. I must say, it's quite a handsome bush!

Read a bit more HERE.

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

The allure of meerkats

Pirate and Pirouette are great fans of the meerkats! The photos were taken three years apart, almost to the day. [Can you see Peter's birthday cards in Pirate's photo? Pirouette's photo was taken the day before Peter's birthday this year, no cards yet...]



Monday, 8 October 2012

Ah... Italy!

Una canzone italiana per CC:



*****

Today it's Peter's birthday, so it's quite nice to get into a romantic mood...

[Happy birthday, darling husband. Prepare your taste buds for your favourite meal tonight! Funnily enough, it's not Italian.]

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Fabulous

We had a post about great comebacks recently. View_From_Here sent me this joke, which fits in with the theme quite nicely...

Thank you, View.

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband... She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

"Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty, you're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?

"We're taking Easy Jet," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Easy Jet?" exclaimed the hairdresser... That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome ?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it's going be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome .

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Easy Jet's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, so they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a £5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their presidential suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What did he say?"












He said: "Who the f*ck did your hair?"