Dog Problem in Valetta

During my time in Valetta, I had only one really negative experience. On two occasions, when I was wandering off the beaten track, I found dogs that were kept in what I considered very bad quarters. The dogs were being kept in enclosures inside the body of the stonewalls at the base. There were few dogs on the streets of Valetta but there seemed to be quite a number imprisoned within the walls. The doors were metal and barred and only once did I see any of those dogs out for food and water for a short time. All other times the dogs were barking, growling, and snarling behind the closed doors. I did not ask anyone about them and assumed the worse. Perhaps there is a good explanation but I cannot think of any.

Below are two photos of dogs behind bars:





As my personal response, I made two photomontages asking why? In this first montage, I included the Eye of Osiris that is on almost every boat in the harbour.



In the second montage, I included an image of what is probably the most famous hand sized goddess statue found in Malta.



I invite responses from Malta, if there are any readers from there, or notes from any others who know why dogs are kept in dark stone places.

Mini-Sculpture

Here is another little art project that I did in Malta. I made a very small sculpture out of old plant material. I used my pocketknife to make holes in stems and put bits of other stems through the holes to make a new structure out of the old. Having done that, I photographed the little sculpture on paper that was dappled with sunlight through a nearby tree. Observe the result:



Near the old stem was a plant that I suspected was the living image of what the old stem had been a year before. I did a quick watercolour sketch and added ink to highlight the lines and then photographed the mini-sculpture on top of the new painting.



As a final project, I placed the mini-sculpture over a bit of rock that I had brought with me from Canada and placed both on the cover of a sketchbook which I photographed and then changed a few colours with photoshop. The end result is as follows:



I was rather pleased with my use of old plant stems. What do you think?

Ontario April Flowers

Just a quick three photos while I fill out my almost late tax returns. I can't put it off much longer.

Here is an insect's view of a Common Blue Violet, (Viola sororia).



Here is a close up of a flower on a native shrub with many names: Shadbush, Serviceberry, Juneberry, (Amelanchier arborea).



And finally, here is a close up of a wild flower that is not popular here because it is an invasive species from another continent. (It has that in common with most of the human population here, but that is another matter.) Anyway, it is called Butterbur, (Petasites japonicus).



Guess I was in a macro mood today for some reason.

Ontario Dandelion Visitor

Here is a close up of one of our dandelions.



There are three species of dandelion in our area and I am not sure which one this is as I forgot to check. Meanwhile, we had these little bee like creatures visiting about one of every ten dandelions as we walked along the trails today.



Below are two more views of the same kind of insect on another dandelion.





Is there enough information for anyone to make an ID?

There are now 40 wild flowers that are in bloom listed on my wild flower web site and some other wild flower photos too if your are interested.

GĦAR DALAM

When one reaches the entrance to Għar Dalam (Cave of Darkness) in Malta, one is greeted by the buzz of bees; many, many buzzes of many, many bees are heard. For those brave enough to brave the buzzing bees, there is a sign.



Looking into the cave, one can see electric lights illuminating the path going toward darkness.



Here is another view from inside the cave looking outwards.



The cave has both stalactites, hanging from the ceiling, and stalagmites building up from the floor. Below is a stalagmite.



According to the write ups, this cave was home to people as long as 5000 years ago, or 3800 years ago according to another account. At any rate, there are remains of pots, and bones of men from ages ago and, from even longer ago, there are the fossilised bones of animals long gone from the island including dwarf elephants and dwarf hippopotami as well as red deer, brown bear, wolf, fox, and giant swans.

As one of my art projects for the day, I made up a photo montage of cave, bones, words and a ghostly figure in the cave.



(Yes the Maltese have an h printed like ħ or Ħ used for the letter when it is not silent.)