December first: the ice cleats are firmly affixed to my boots and I’m ready to take on the next ten months of winter! (I exaggerate, but only slightly).
I have a ton of really great stuff to share today – here goes:
New to me is this fantastic site: Plant Curator, a wholly-engrossing mix of botany and art. I seriously could spend hours going through the entries. This link takes you to some floral-themed art from M.C. Escher, but if his work isn’t to your taste, click on the menu headings at the top of the page to see everything the site has to offer.
The New York Public Library has digitized over 700,000 items, including photographs, maps, manuscripts and video – and it’s all free to everyone with Internet access. Click over to the site to enjoy this treasure.
Another amazing treat: the over 10,000 cylinder recordings that have been digitized and are available for free from the University of California-Santa Barbara Cylinder Audio Archive. These are priceless recordings from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s and include music, speeches and readings.
These “shadow” drawings by artist Vincent Bal are just plain clever.
A huge shout-out to some amazing bloggers:
Laurie Graves, of Notes from the Hinterland, has just published her YA novel Maya and the Book of Everything – congratulations, Laurie! Read about the book and how to order it here.
Have you ever felt this way about a book? Yeah…I thought so. Read Margot’s post on Death Defying Acts of Living – I know you’ll agree.
Adrian Thysse has posted some incredible footage of honeybee hive activity – while you feast your eyes on his work, remember that he wasn’t wearing any protective gear while filming!
A fantastic find:
Paul Martin Brown’s book Wild Orchids of the Pacific Northwest and Canadian Rockies (2006, University Press of Florida). Truly, a valuable resource if you want to ID and learn about western wild orchids. The keys are easy to use and Brown offers all the botanical info you need, plus notes on history and naming, as well as decent photography and excellent botanical illustrations by Stan Folsom. Not a book everyone is going to have a use for, but if this is a topic you’re interested in, I’d highly recommend it.
And, finally:
I started a project over at Paper Butterfly Flash Fiction that may interest you if you write flash fiction stories. There is an open call for submissions now until December 25, so send in your work as soon as possible. (If you’ve never written flash fiction before, give it a try – it’s a great way to have fun with really short prose). Please pass along news of this call for subs to any writers you know!
Flowery Prose 
omg yay these are fantastic links i very much appreciate you my first real smile of the day!
love the cylinders
I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
A really great selection of articles and posts Sheryl – thank-you. I loved the bee-hive footage!
You’re so very welcome! Adrian’s macro photography and video always amazes me – he always offers new ways to look at insects.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thank-you Sheryl and to you too x
I’ve only recently learned that not all orchids look like the ones they sell in the grocery store. Silly me! I don’t need the book, but it’s another reminder of the extraordinary variety that exists. The cylinder library is an amazement. That’s been tucked away for some real exploration.
So many wonderful orchid species! I adore the little wild orchids – they seem so fragile, but they are supremely tough (have to be to live in this crazy mountain climate). So different from the coddled Phalaenopsis I have in my livingroom….
I’m delighted that you like the cylinder recordings library – I was thrilled to find it and simply had to share. A real treasure.
Thanks for some more great links. I already looked at the shadows one… brilliant! 🙂
So creative! I loved it.
Thanks so much for the shout-out, Sheryl! I really appreciate it.
You’re very welcome! I ordered my copy yesterday, looking so forward to reading it!
Again, many, many thanks!
Such amazing resources–the NYPL site is amazing!
It really is! I love that they’ve done this for everyone to use.
Thanks for finding these gems for us.
You’re welcome! There is a wealth of really interesting stuff out there, it’s fun to track it down.
Very cool links!
I’m pleased that you enjoyed them!
Looks more than intresting.Thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome! Have a great weekend!