#great green bush-cricket

[antiqueanimals]

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: vol. 2 - Insects. Written by Dr. Bernhard Grzimek. 1984.

Internet Archive

1.) Wart-biter (Decticus verrucivorus)

2.) Great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

3.) Saddle-backed bush cricket (Ephippiger ephippiger)

4.) European earwig (Forficula auricularia)

[michaelnordeman]

Great green bush-cricket/grön vårtbitare. Värmland, Sweden (August 14, 2016).

[kuhliloaches]

[dansnaturepictures]

Knapweed full of insects - Durlston Country Park 24th June 2023 

As sea mist began to lift and reveal the intense and hot June sun beating down on the emerald landscape, we were fixated by a patch of deep purple knapweed. These flowers acted like a nectar petrol station, hosting a vibrant array of summer insect life. Marbled White and Small Skipper butterflies, dazzling Six-spot Burnet moths and shiny Swollen-thighed beetle. The jewel of the crown, what most captured our attention, were Lulworth Skippers. Numerous Lulworth Skippers. It was a pleasure to spot several on these plants, a real wealth of this rare and localised butterfly species. A mark of identification, the gorgeous crescent of the females was a sight for sore eyes as these miniature butterflies glowed golden in the sunlight. A luxurious and thrilling wildlife encounter. 

The tranquil scene would be somewhat shattered as upon one knapweed up the stem did climb a giant. An enormous cricket which was striking to see and an instant attention grabber, a Great Green Bush-cricket. It commanded the purple flower head when it emerged, snapping at a Lulworth Skipper as if to hunt. A captivating few minutes watching this colossal insect which we had never seen before. These few minutes immersed in the wonders of summertime grassland was exceptional. 

All of the pictures in this photoset are ones I took yesterday of the species mentioned, however not all of them were at this particular patch of knapweed. The photos in order of appearance are of; knapweed, Marbled White, Marbled White and Six-spot Burnet together, Great Green Bush-cricket, five consecutive images of Lulworth Skippers and Lulworth Skipper and Six-spot Burnet. 

[skulllesbian]

some nice bugs ive seen this summer! (red admiral, silver-washed fritillary, great green bush-cricket, spongy moth & european peacock caterpillars)

[not-quite-there-myself]

A Long-Awaited Proposal

Synopsis: Mozus Trein proposes to you! What exactly does he have planned for you? Notes: 800+ words; established relationship; reader is well over 18; gender neutral reader; slight inspiration hinted from Cinderella and Emma: A Victorian Romance Tagging: @hipsterteller—thank you for recommending Emma: A Victorian Romance to me (whether it was your intention to recommend it or not)! I've watched a little bit and so far I think it's a great anime, definitely underrated. Thanks for your request :)

Mozus Trein is described as strict and scary from the students of NRC, but there are a few exceptions to this rule. He is stern, but he can also prove to be quite kind-hearted and extremely considerate... at least, when it comes to you.

For a while, he fancied you—it was obvious to NRC staff and students alike that both of you had a close relationship. Nothing was confirmed until you two made it official, establishing that you were, in fact, together.

A long while had passed by then, it was almost like a dream. He loved being around you and how you were so thoughtful and compassionate and bright, and each conversation the two of you had together was always a pleasure. You even managed to make him laugh on occasion. Your presence was almost enchanting.

Sometimes he would receive letters from you, and after reading them some students would notice a subtle smile on his lips when he entered the class. If you were able to make their scary, strict professor smile like that, you must've been quite an impressive partner.

He'd asked his daughters about you, too. What they thought of you, if they were happy at the thought of their father possibly remarrying...

It was on one particular day that the professor had made up his mind: he wished to tie the knot and spend the rest of his life being with you. As such, he has everything prepared in advance. And of course he does, what would you expect from a man like him? His plan is nothing dramatic or extravagant, and considering that he's rather old-fashioned, you can expect something more on the traditional side, something simple but no less meaningful and romantic. On a day as beautiful as you, he thought that now would be the perfect time to initiate his patiently awaited, carefully crafted proposal.

As soon as he finishes his last class, he comes to find you. Some students can't help but noticed how focused Professor Trein looked, his normally proper stride looking more like a speedwalk. Some students snicker after they see him leave, joking around and saying that he's probably in a rush to find you. Whether it was unbeknownst to them or not, their suspicions were right.

"There you are," he says, approaching you calmly when he finally finds you. He claims that he's made plans to take you out to dinner tonight, and that if you're willing to join him he'd be delighted. Of course you agree, and by the evening you are dressed and ready to go out.

He doesn't tell you exactly where you're going. Instead he poses it as just another night out, perhaps a date staged like a formal outing. Assuming he's taking you out to dinner, you're surprised to learn that your final destination is not a restaurant, but a place outdoors and secluded.

After he takes you to dinner, you follow him to an area in the Shaftlands, a bit farther away from the more busy streets in town. He lead you through a path amidst trees, shrubs and bushes, passing the flora and fauna and hearing crickets in your wake.

Finally you hear the sound of rushing water. He steps aside to let you into a small clearing, and in the center was a pale marble fountain, its stark white complexion contrasting with the dark greens and blues of the greenery and the sky above you.

You approach it, looking at your reflection in the water as your body leans forward to touch it. A cold feeling meets your fingertips as you retract your hand, water droplets falling away and back into the fountain.

"Love," he calls behind you. "Would you turn around for a moment, please?" You were so preoccupied with the fountain that you forgot to give any attention to your partner.

"Ah, sure," you reply, turning around.

He takes out a small box from behind his back and your eyes go wide. You knew what he was doing; he had a feeling you knew, too. He had this odd look in his eyes. Was he... embarrassed? That itself was a curious thought.

"...Are you sure?" You ask, almost hesitant as tears formed like small crystals in your eyes. "Are you truly sure... that you want to be with me?"

He smiles softly, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Don't be silly, I've wanted this more than anything."

He steps closer to embrace you, and you hold him just as tightly.

"You're one of the most dearest people to me," he says. "I love you." He finally opens the box. From far away, a bell chimed at the stroke of midnight.

"Will you marry me?"

The sparkle in your eyes and the way you beamed at him made his heart swell and soar. He smiled to himself, as childish as it was, and thought the same thing he did when he first realized his feelings for you: "So this is love."

[emsee22]

Reasons I believe Beth is alive

Season 4 episode 16, A, flashback where Rick puts his hat ono her head. The hat symbolized being part of the getting shot and making it club (based on a line from Rick to Carl in season 2). She is the only member of the group to have worn the hat that was not part of the Grimes family. If they wanted to use this flashback to show when the group was happy and when Beth was not missing, they would have done something else beyond putting the hat on her head in the flashback. The hat had specific symbolism.

Season 3 episode 12, Clear, the writings on Morgan's wall. Specifically, the frantic repetition of the phrase "No KIA's on BEF". That would be, Beth/blue-eyed-female not killed in action. We also see a Great Green Bush Cricket in this episode, and the next time we see one is Inmates with the Beth and Daryl sequence. Crickets are signs of good luck. (I could be wrong that is the next time we see one, or that these two instances are the only times we see it)

Comic book Andrea parallels. She has the scars, and they have a magazine with issue 44 on it (the same issue comic book Andrea is shot in the head and lives) seen twice in Coda season 5 episode 8.

Resurrection & luck symbolism around her, from the spotless lady bug (4x12 Still), the Great Green Bush Cricket (4x10 Inmates), the Bennu blue heron (4x12 Still), threes, bible quotes (5x7 Crossed) etc.

The real musical meaning behind the word Coda

The after credit sequence in 5x8 Coda with Morgan where he walks up on the Issue 44 magazine, and then places a bullet, a lucky rabbit foot, and a goo goo cluster on the alter at Gabriel's church.

The missing 17 days and lack of a burial

The weirdness TF has with cars and blond walkers following her death, which alludes to TD theory that they were unable to bury her after getting stuck in a hoard of walkers and hiding her in the trunk. The opening sequence to Still basically alluding to TD theory on what happens to her body and her resurrection after Grady. (idk how to link my post to that).

The music box being presumed broken. Then Daryl fixes it, "It had a little grit in its gearbox is all". Then they still think it's broken when suddenly it wakes up.

No closure to the Grady storyline. All the wiki pages for the Grady characters says they all died during the time jump in season 9, but idk where that comes from. If that's true, it's just bad writing.

[ronimiez]

to start this blog, ill present you the insect that sparked my interest for entomology: the great green bush-cricket (tettigonia viridissina) ☆

this species of katydid (kay-tee-did) can be encountered in most of europe, the eastern palearctic realm and north africa. its one of the largest katydids in europe, with the males reaching a length of up to 36 millimetres and the females up to 42 millimetres!

this species doesnt exhibit major sexual dimorphism, apart from the fact that the females have an ovipositor, with which they lay their eggs.

thank you for reading!

(pic. 1, male. pic 2, female, with ovipositor visible)

[syn4k]

Ashes Pix and dandelions (symbolism, healing, however you want to interpret that)

They stepped out into a forest dimly lit with the greyish-blue of late dusk, the breeze flowing between the leaves and the bountiful foliage on the ground- when had Pix last seen a fern? When had any of them last seen a miracle such as this?

"Oh, my gods," Fwhip murmured, looking up.

They all simply stood there and drank in the scenery: the gently fading light, the brush of plant against leg, the coolness and freshness of the breeze. Somewhere deeper in the forest, an owl hooted. A cricket chirped somewhere nearby and Pix flinched, startled, but held still, held rapt by this simple but infinitely sweet noise.

"I think we made it," said Gem.

"Yeah," said Fwhip, turning around. "Oh, the portal's gone already."

Pix didn't look behind him to check. He trusted Fwhip's word, and anyways, forests at night were dangerous places to be wherever you were. He took his time finding his way through the thicket, almost blessing the way that there were so many living things here that they could obstruct his path like this.

The bushes he pushed his way through thinned suddenly, and in the middle distance between what could be guessed was more forest if you squinted and where the three stood now, a small collection of yellow lights shone and illuminated the familiar angular shapes of low houses: Pix suddenly found that his throat had choked up.

Beside him, Gem gently gasped. "There's people," she whispered excitedly. "There's people!" She whooped so loudly that the inhabitants of this small cluster of buildings surely could have heard her even from there. "Oh, my gods, this is..."

"Yeah," said Fwhip. "It's great. But also, we haven't talked to anyone else but ourselves in literal months. We don't know if they're friendly or if they even speak our language."

"Well," said Gem hesitantly but determinedly, "there's only really one way to find out, right?"

:-<•>-:

It was a tiny place, as it turned out, with nobody in the streets and only five or six buildings clustered around a small central green with a well in the middle. Gem marched right up to the nearest house and knocked on the door.

"Gem, what are you doing?" hissed Fwhip.

"Hoping," Gem whispered back.

The door opened.

An older woman stood there, long hair greying and carefully braided back into a large poof of curls at the back of her head. She was a little shorter than Fwhip and looked at the three of them with no small measure of surprise, which made sense but made Pix suddenly want to run back into the forest. What would she say? What would she think? Surely she would turn the three of them out. Three random strangers in the middle of nowhere, of course there was no reason to let them in. He had followed Gem with a small measure of caution but nothing more but now he was starting to have serious doubts. From Fwhip's face and the way he froze, it was clear he felt the same.

Gem took a deep breath and nervously exhaled. "Hello," she started tentatively. "We uh- hello, we're travelers and we're not from anywhere around here and it's getting dark. Could we maybe have some directions or a map please?" She winced, and Pix internally curdled back into his skull, but the woman just raised her eyebrows minutely and looked behind her.

"Kaloh," she said in a thick and unfamiliar accent, "we have visitors."

A young man with the same thick hair as the woman came to the door and startled a bit when he saw the three at the door. Gem, who was closest, stepped back a bit.

"At least we can understand you," said the woman with a sudden laugh. She stepped aside. "Come, come. This is a place in the middle of nowhere and I do not have the knees for travel. Do you know how rarely we get guests? No, come in. I cannot leave you standing out there."

The three glanced at each other, clearly unsure, each waiting for the other to make a move.

"If we were to kill you," said Kaloh bluntly, "we would have done it immediately. No use wasting food on those who will be dead in the night."

"That is true," said the woman with a nod. "But you three are far too awkward to be lying. If you want a meal," she gestured inside, "there is broth in the pot."

"If you'll have us, then we will gladly enter," said Pix after a short pause with a small bow. "Thank you."

"Manners, too," said Kaloh, mildly impressed. "Where are you from?"

"That's a conversation best had over dinner," said the woman, ushering the three inside. "In you go."

:-<•>-:

Pix let the other two do the talking, simply focusing on the meal at hand and the room around them. There was a woodstove against one wall, some chairs with clearly handmade pillows sitting adjacent, and several doors which Pix could only assume led to bedrooms. The whole place had a comfortable, lived in sort of glow to it, and he could feel himself relax automatically even as he kept an eye on both the food and their hosts, as bad as he felt for being suspicious of them.

The woman's name was Myra, and she had lived here for decades. Her wife had died several years previous, leaving her with a spare bedroom and a son to raise alone. She managed well these days, though, she said while bustling around to hand off the dishes to Kaloh. "It just gets quiet around here sometimes, so forgive my excitement."

Pix nodded as he took a sip of water and a small mouthful of soup, which was a veritable feast after surviving on scraps for the past eight months. He felt that the sheer amazement of the situation they had found themselves in had not settled in quite yet for him, which was lucky because he knew that as soon as it hit him he would not be able to compose himself. That was okay.

Somehow, he figured he'd be alright.

They were informed that this house had a shower, with warm water of all things, and Gem was pointed towards the door ("th' lady goes first, it's only manners") with a promise that the other two were soon to follow, reeking of horses as they were.

"I genuinely cannot thank you enough," said Pix, looking up after Myra passed by his seat, which had been dragged at incredible speed out of a closet as soon as they had entered. "However I can repay you, I would be happy to."

"The company's payment enough in itself," said Myra with a smile. "And the fact that you're all soon to be clean. The whole house will smell like onions in only hours at this rate."

Kaloh looked over from where he was standing at the sink. "I am curious, though," he said. "All travelers have some sort of story to tell, and you haven't told a single one yet."

"Well," said Pix slowly, "there's not much to tell." That wasn't strictly true, but anything more than a brief synopsis would take the entire night and halfway through the morning to explain. "We've been traveling for eight months- when we started, it was autumn, and when we got here, summer had begun. The place we came from- it wasn't safe to be there anymore, and so we went looking for somewhere kinder."

"This soup's really good," added Fwhip. "But yeah. It's a really heavy story, and a long one too, and I don't think we're ready to tell it yet."

"Oh," said Kaloh. "I didn't mean to press. I was just curious."

"No harm done," said Fwhip with a half shrug. "You didn't know."

"Shower's vacant," announced Gem, walking out with a burst of steam and wet hair. "Which one of you wants to go next?"

"This one smells worse," said Myra, pointing at Pix.

"Guess that settles it, then," said Pix with a laugh.

:-<•>-:

He took as much time as he dared himself to allow.

The water was warm. It came freely and it came hot, washing almost a decade of grime and sweat and blood and tears and sin from his skin and from his tangled hair. For a short amount of time, he just stood there with his forehead pressed against the wall, heart full to bursting.

The spare bedroom had two beds- two! With mattresses and sheets! Gem and Fwhip took one, and Pix the other. It was strange sleeping alone after so long of having someone else beside him, pressed shoulder to shoulder, gentle breaths and heads leaning sideways, but although the soft sheets were strange on his rough, calloused skin, they were a blessing nonetheless. He lay faceup for a while, just staring at the ceiling.

"You good over there?" asked Fwhip, who was tucking in the blankets more securely over his shoulder while also making sure Gem had enough to do the same.

"Oh, yeah," Pix said without really feeling it. "This is great. I just was wondering- like, what did we do to deserve this?"

"I don't think we deserve or don't deserve it," said Fwhip after a short pause and a shrug that Pix could see even though he wasn't looking anywhere at him. "I'm kind of done with the whole 'prove you have the right to be alive' thing. I think it's really nice of these people to do this for us and I think I wouldn't mind doing their chores for the next few days just as an extra thank you."

Pix exhaled and rolled onto his side, towards the wall. "That's a good way of thinking about it actually. I guess I just sort of expected... worse."

"So did I," said Fwhip, "but I will gladly take this. I stopped believing in an afterlife or really any sort of all powerful benevolent deity years ago, shortly after you left the second time. I think the best Heaven I can get is gonna be in places like this."

It was quiet after that. Pix stayed in bed but let his eyes wander around the section of the room in his view: there was a door to what he assumed was a small closet, and a window letting in silk-soft beams of a full moon's light. Kaloh had hurried in shortly before bidding them goodnight with a small clear cup full of what Pix assumed was water with a couple of dandelions suspended in them. Didn't dandelions represent hope or something? Gem had told him that once.

It didn't matter. He could think about it tomorrow. Pix got the feeling that this was the best turn of luck the three had gotten in a long time.

[clavainov]

katydids // tettigoniidae

saddle-backed bush cricket - ephippiger ephippiger, barbitistes serricauda (m)

great green bush cricket - tettigonia viridissima, dark bush cricket - pholidoptera griseoaptera

blue-winged grasshopper - oedipoda caerulescens (f), red-winged grasshopper oedipoda germanica

other grasshoppers 🤷

[katherinewrites83]

Mother Moon, Dancing Moon

-----

The light from the blue corn moon cast dancing shadows amongst the green giants, trees older than the far off village. A song carried on the wind, crickets playing out, controlling the sea of dancing shadows. As night carried on, so too did the song - changing, adding the young frogs and the ancient toads, croaking out an applause. The dance of the frozen night continued, twinkling bugs flowed through the dark tendrils of their fellow, loved guests.

You see, my dear readers (and fellow welcomed guests), this ritual happens every night Great Lady Moon changes from her beautiful pearl slip and dawns a gown of bluebells and forget-me-nots. She too, partakes in this dance, a sweet lovely night dance. She is the glitter dawned hostess, smiling radiantly down upon her guests as they danced in tandem to the rhythm they set. It is such a splendid occasion, a special one at that, one that gathers everyone around in harmony - from beings of old to the newborn doe. The royals of the old forest twirled around with the common folk, a dance that comes only every few moon's. No matter the issues of day, the dancers prance around with friend and foe. A kingly rose in the shadowed meadow takes the blushing Dahlia, a peasant to his static, whisking her away he does, off into a magical spin far into the night.

-----

As day faded to night, a piercing howl rang through the air. Lady Moon's children sang a lovingly greeting up into the sky, watching as Lady Moon faded to Mother Moon and Sibling Stars. The great pack of Mother Moon's furred children stalked through the darkening wood, weaving through the towering trees. Hunting they were, for offerings to appease their sweet mother and siblings. Their mother shone glittering silver upon the multicolored fur of her children, aiding them in their ventures.

-----

Great Mother Moon wept as a small, white figure laid unmoving in her light. A small hare, taken far too soon by her Brother, Death. He swept another guest into his arms, dancing merrily with the silver souls, guiding them in pained walts into his kingdom shrouded in perpetual darkness. Sister life watched him go, kneeling to the crimson soaked snow, placing a small star in the center of the bloody circle - a gift from her Sibling Star's.

In the years following, as a grand dance was preformed, a glowing gardenia bush swayed gently on the breeze, following the movements. Snow white petals chiming in resonance with the soul taken so long ago.

-----

Flowers twinkled softly in the night, acting as shimmering guides to their unseen guests. The wood and creatures alike were not the only souls to gather for the dance. Those once housed in house of flesh and bone, they too join in dance, swaying in the gently sewn breeze, following their shimmering guides. Each Blue Moon Ball, the souls of the lost dance in merry joy, a dance of death, orchestrated by the lovely Lady Moon.

-----

[papermoonloveslucy]

THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

Part 1 ~ The Ricardos & Mertzes Commune with Nature

“I Love Lucy” generally took place indoors - at their East 68th Street apartment or Ricky’s nightclub. As residents of New York City, they had little opportunity to commune with nature - but there were exceptions. In nearly all cases, these outdoorsy moments were staged indoors - in a Hollywood studio.  

“The Marriage License” (1952) ~ To correct an error on their original marriage license, Lucy and Ricky travel to Greenwhich, Connecticut to renew their vows. While there, Lucy makes Ricky renact his proposal at the tree bench where it first happened.  

LUCY: “Gee. I don’t remember this seat being so small, do you? I guess the tree grew in a little from each side.”  RICKY: “Let’s face it, we’ve grown out a little from each side!” 

This brush with nature came during the 26th episode filmed and is the very first time Lucy and Ricky have been seen outdoors.  The Desilu set designers finally had a chance to use foliage! 

“Lucy’s Last Birthday” (1953) ~ Depressed that no one has remembered her birthday, Lucy wanders the city at night, eventually arriving at Central Park - Manhattan’s equivalent of The Great Outdoors. 

While sitting alone, the Friends of the Friendless come marching through the trees, stopping to console her. Not used to negotiating the outdoors, FOF extra Barbara Pepper (the only Friendless female) loses her hat on a low-hanging branch! 

“The Camping Trip” (1953) ~ Lucy wants to do everything Ricky does - including going on a camping trip to go fishing and duck hunting. 

This is by far the most exensive use of greenery in the series. Assessing Lucy’s camping attire, Ethel is typically blunt.

LUCY: “Well, do I look like I stepped out of ‘Field & Stream’?” ETHEL: “You look more like you fell in.”

Although the campsite is located in the woods near a stream, the exact location is never stated. It is must be within driving distance, so likely upstate New York.  

“The Fox Hunt” (1956) ~  At an English country manor Lucy goes on a fox hunt, despite never having ridden a horse.

Lucy really gets back to nature by becoming ensared in a bush. Unbeknownst to her, the fox does too! 

“Lucy in the Swiss Alps” (1956) ~  After a mistake in booking during their trek through Europe, the Ricardos and Mertzes go mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps. 

This establishing shot tells the audience the enivronment that the gang will be dealing with: snow-capped mountains. 

The “I Love Lucy” set designers were charged with creating a realistic mountain top, then making it snow!  

The Great Outdoors weren’t always green!  This sequence was later integrated into the promotion of Paramount+ streaming service, showing various CBS / Paramount characters scaling ‘Mount Paramount’. 

“Lucy’s Bicycle Trip” (1956) ~ When leaving Italy for France, Lucy has her heart set on biking along the coast and across the border - until she can’t find her passport!

In the middle of nowhere, she tries everything she can think of to get past the border officials. Before the border, the gang gets in touch with nature by sleeping in a barn!  

“Off to Florida” (1956) ~ When Lucy misplaces their train tickets to Miami Beach, she and Ethel must share a car ride to Florida with Edna Grundy (Elsa Lanchester), a woman they suspect might be a hatchet murderess.

Mrs. Grundy insists on driving the backroads from New York City to Florida. Instead of stopping at a roadside cafe, Mrs. Grundy has packed watercress sandwiches, which Lucy calls ‘buttered grass’.  

Instead of stopping at a hotel, they simply pull off the road and try to sleep in the car. The ominpresent chirp of crickets keeps them awake. 

LUCY: “Who can sleep with all that noise? Sounds like feeding time in a pet shop.” 

“Deep Sea Fishing” & “Desert Island” (1956) ~ While visiting Miami Beach, Lucy and Ethel make a bet with Ricky and Fred that they can catch the bigger fish. Not all nature is green or white - sometimes it is blue, too!  The scenes on the ocean were filmed in a water tank in Hollywood, while actor doubles were also filmed off the coast of Miami. The two films were then edited together.

When their boat runs out of gas, the gang is stranded on a lush (what they believe to be) deserted island. The island seen in the second unit footage (above) is not nearly as large or verdant as the one built in the studio. 

RICKY: “Hey!  They have caca-nuts here!” LUCY: “Caca-nuts? (she looks around) Oh, yeah. A lot of caca-nuts.”

Palm trees and whie sands are usually an idyllic way to commune with nature - except when a giant native (Claude Akins) shows up!  

“Lucy Raises Tulips” (1957) ~ In Connecticut, Lucy turns gardener. When she takes charge of the rider mower, the landscape changes for the worse -  including the garden! For city folks, nothing says Back to Nature more than gardening. 

“Lucy Hunts Uranium” (1958) ~ The third of the hour-long episodes later called “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” takes the gang to Las Vegas, where they hunt for uranium with Fred MacMurray. As with previous episodes, this was a combination of studio shooting and second unit location footage.

Location filming took place in California’s Mojave Desert. This is the first time Lucy and Desi have gone on location as the Ricardos.

During the exterior prospecting scene, the actors actually ‘fall asleep’ on a Hollywood sound stage and ‘wake up’ on location in the desert!  Movie magic!

Although the actors went on location, the car chase sequences were filmed using stunt doubles intercut with studio-filmed process shots. 

“Lucy Goes To Sun Valley” (1958) ~ The gang travels to Sun Valley, Idaho, where they meet Fernando Lamas. 

Sun Valley is a resort city where tourists can enjoy ice skating, golfing, hiking, trail riding, cycling, tennis and (of course) skiing on Bald (“Mount Baldy”) Mountain and Dollar Mountain. It was a favorite vacation spot for the Arnaz family. They spent part of their 1952 summer hiatus from “I Love Lucy” at the resort and later returned in 1959, after Lucy and Desi had separated, staying at Ann Sothern’s home.

As usual, the episode was a combination of studio shooting and location footage of the actors at the resort. This episode, however, featured far more location footage than any previous episode. 

Lucille Ball was called upon to really get back to nature by skiing, skating, and even frolicking in the snow with animals!  

“Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (1958) ~ Danny Williams (Danny Thomas) and his family sublet the Ricardo home during the winter.  Building snowmen and throwing snoballs were part of the show’s plot. Unlike their visit to Sun Valley, this snow was a studio creation. The episode was a clever way to tell viewers that “Make Room for Daddy” (aka “The Danny Thomas Show”) would be taking over “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” time slot!  

“Lucy Goes To Alaska” (1959) ~ The gang travel to the nation’s newest state to buy some discount land - but end up out in the cold - literally!  Red Skelton guest stars. 

Although the action is set in and around Nome, the second unit footage was filmed in Lake Arrowhead, California, about 100 miles from Hollywood. 

The exteriors were done with doubles and none of the regular cast left the newly-purchased Desilu (formerly RKO) Studios.

“Lucy’s Summer Vacation” (1959) ~ Lucy and Ricky go on vacation to Vermont and end up sharing their cabin with Howard Duff and Ida Lupino.

In the story, Lucy and Ricky have been invited to spend a week at a cabin on (fictional) Lake Wotchasokapoo, Vermont. 

The show took the Ricardos out of their Connecticut home, but the scenes were not filmed on location in Vermont, but inside Desilu Studios. There is one brief establishing shot of a lake.

[teabooksandsweets]

A City of Bells

Chapter II — Part III

It was Henrietta who had discovered him in the first place, and all because of the stuffed owl in the parlour at The Green Dragon … Afterwards it was extraordinary to think of the effect that owl had had upon the lives of them all, and pathetic to think that the poor thing was dead all the time and could take no pleasure in the fuss and to-do it created.

The discovery of Ferranti by Henrietta was in this wise. When she first came to Torminster it was ordained by Grandfather and Grandmother that in the mornings she should share Hugh Anthony’s lessons with Miss Lavender, but that in the afternoons, when Hugh Anthony was playing cricket with the boys at the choir-school, she and Sarah should take a short walk for the good of the health.

But Sarah was not keen on walking. It made her corns jump, she said, and, though corns were only to be expected at her age, she saw no sense in making them jump unnecessarily. So instead of patrolling the lanes where the white violets grew, as Grandmother thought they were doing, Sarah and Henrietta went to The Green Dragon and sat in the parlour and talked to Mrs. Wilks, the proprietress of The Green Dragon, who was a great friend of Sarah’s, being in fact Sarah’s brother-in-law’s second cousin on his mother’s side.

Mrs. Wilks was very beautiful, with wonderful golden hair, a bulging figure and a blinding magenta blouse, but Henrietta did not like her. She did not like her loud laugh, nor her well-meant but smacking kisses, nor her jet ear-rings, nor the way she asked questions. Still less did Henrietta like her parlour, which was hot and smelt of lamp-oil and last Sunday’s dinner, and least of all did she like the stuffed owl.

It was rather moth-eaten and it had glass eyes that glared and in one of its claws it held a very realistic dead mouse. Henrietta, sitting one day on the edge of a hard chair with her legs dangling, gazed at that mouse and wondered if it had cried when the owl caught it … And if owls eat mice … And who had killed the owl … And whether it had cried … And suddenly she could not bear it any more and slipped off her chair.

“Could I go out in the garden, please?” she asked Mrs. Wilks.

Mrs. Wilks, who had a kind heart in spite of her blouse, said, “To be sure, lovey, you hop along out.” So Henrietta hopped.

The garden was at the back of The Green Dragon and was not particularly interesting, for there was nothing in it but a water butt, a cinder path and Mr. Wilks’s nightshirts hanging out to dry on the line, but there was no terrible moth-eaten owl gazing at you out of baleful eyes, so Henrietta preferred it to the parlour.

The only source of amusement available was kicking cinders up and down the path, so for a solid ten minutes Henrietta kicked and then, quite suddenly, she became aware of the next door garden over the wall.

Someone was gardening there, for she could hear the soft thud of a spade being driven into earth. Henrietta loved to watch people digging, for the disinterred worms fascinated her. She liked watching them clinging to the earth with their heads and their tails while they heaved their middle parts up into the air like a railway-arch. She thought it was wonderful of them to be able to move along like that, without legs or wings, and wonderful of God to have invented so many different ways of progression for His creatures. The wall between the two gardens was low and Henrietta, hoping for worms, put her hands on the top of it, gave a little jump, dug in her toes and heaved herself up so that her chin just came above the level of the wall.

She saw a wild, tangled strip of garden, a confused jumble of apple-trees, currant-bushes, weeds, rose-bushes, cabbages and long grass. A tall, thin man was gardening quite close to her. He had untidy black hair and a white face and a torn blue shirt and Henrietta liked him, though he was not in the least like any of the people who came to Grandmother’s.

“Hullo,” she said.

Gabriel Ferranti started and looked up. He saw the face of a child framed in a sailor hat which had slipped backwards and encircled the back of her head like a halo. Ten finger-tips were gripping the top of the wall, but he could see no more of her. She looked like one of the bodiless little angels in her own room, or like their Italian cousins who float about in pictures of the Madonna. Her dark eyes had the same gravity and her lips the same sweet earnestness.

He stared at her for a moment and then came over to her, smiling at her and pulling down his shirt sleeves. She saw when he came close to her that he had deep lines scored across his forehead and round his mouth and somehow, for a brief moment, they made her feel sad. She did not know that the man in front of her was living through that difficult moment when the scarred and dying beauty of youth is putting up its last fight before the approach of age, and so she did not know why she felt sad.

The sight of her saddened him too, but he knew why. He was a natural pessimist and the sight of the young always depressed him … They seemed to expect so much of life that life would never give them and so soon their smooth flesh would be wrinkled and ugly.

“Hullo,” he said. “Are you bodiless, or are you just hung up on the other side like a bat?”

“I’ve my toes in cracks,” said Henrietta.

He reached a long arm over the wall and gripped her blue linen smock in the small of the back. Henrietta on her side scrambled with her toes and in a minute she was on top of the wall and he had lifted her down.

“So you have got a body,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” asked Henrietta.

“I had hoped you were a celestial apparition, and so exempt from the troubles of this world.”

Henrietta did not know what he was talking about and asked if he had dug up any worms. He said he had and they looked at them together and marvelled at the way they got about. Hugh Anthony, had he been present, would have wanted to know why God made them without legs, and if Ferranti had admitted to ignorance of the divine purpose regarding worms Hugh Anthony would have wanted to know why Ferranti didn’t know why God didn’t say in the Bible why it was that worms hadn’t got legs? But on this occasion Hugh Anthony was not present and Ferranti and Henrietta just marvelled quietly together, storing up a wriggly memory in their very similar minds … That night he wrote a strange poem called “Convolutions” that was afterwards famous, and years later she painted a picture full of queer spirals that created a great sensation in artistic circles but was never completely understood.

When they had exhausted the charms of worms they sat on the grass and Henrietta made daisy chains, while Ferranti told her a story of how he had sailed in a golden gondola in a city where the streets were not paved with noisy cobbles but with silent, silver water, and where the sun was so hot that it could melt the ice out of your heart and the pain out of your mind. No one ever grew old in that city, he told her, and love never died, and Henrietta, gazing at him spellbound, believed every word he said. It was years since anyone had believed anything he said and he found her faith entrancing … Here at last, after years wasted in writing books and poetry that no one would read, was an appreciative audience … They were both completely happy, Ferranti for the first time in years. Two of Nature’s oddities as they were they fitted each other like hand and glove.

And then, just as Ferranti was describing the meal of pomegranates and red wine that he had partaken of in the watery city, eating off a blue glass plate and drinking out of a crystal cup, Sarah came out into The Green Dragon garden calling for Henrietta. They could see her gaunt head and shoulders as she stalked up the cinder path, looking for Henrietta behind the water-butt and amongst Mr. Wilks’s nightshirts.

“Sssh!” said Henrietta to Ferranti, but he, with that heartless loyalty to each other’s discipline that seems to afflict even the best of grown-ups, immediately got up and handed her back over the wall.

“Well, I never,” said Sarah, “I didn’t expect that!”

Henrietta, usually a moderately good child, behaved abominably. She yelled and stamped her foot on the cinder path and wrenched at her hat elastic so that it snapped and her halo fell off. “I won’t go home!” she stormed. “I won’t! I won’t!”

“I never saw such an exhibition in all my life,” said Sarah.

“Stop that row!” said Ferranti sternly, from the other side of the wall. “With your face screwed up like that you are no longer beautiful.”

Henrietta seemed to know without being told that he cared for nothing that was not beautiful. She choked back her yells and composure came back to her white, starry face. “Please may I come again?” she asked.

“Don’t choke like that,” said Ferranti, “it spoils the timbre of your voice.” And then to Sarah he said, humbly and pleadingly, “May she come again? I will take good care of her.”

But Sarah, murmuring something vague about “not knowing, she was sure,” hurried Henrietta away, employing the homeward journey in telling her what she thought of her. Henrietta was a naughty girl, she said, to get over walls and talk to strange men like that, strange men who wrote poetry and were erratic about their meals, so Mrs. Wilks said, and though pleasant-spoken enough were probably no better than they should be, as Mrs. Wilks said and should know, living next door and baking him an apple-pie once a week as she did, and Sarah never had trusted men with long hair and never would, and Henrietta must not tell her grandfather what she had done or he would be very angry, and this sort of thing was only to be expected when an old couple as should know better took to adopting children with one foot in the grave, and she’d said the same to Ellen only last Wednesday.

But Henrietta, who always lost her way in Sarah’s remarks and hardly ever emerged at the other end with any clear idea of what she was to do or not to do, failed to grasp the fact that she was not to tell Grandfather, and told him all about it that evening while they watered the tulips.

Grandfather, far from being angry, was highly interested. He had heard that some unknown young man who wrote books had come to live in the house with the green door, but had also heard that the young man did not wish to be called upon and so had not called, for Grandfather in his humility was always careful not to push himself in where he might not be wanted.

But Henrietta’s story made him feel quite differently. She made Ferranti appear as a fairy-tale man, a teller of tales, tall and thin, with a blue shirt and black hair and a white face with lines upon it, a person of such attraction that it seemed little children would follow him to the world’s end.

“Dear me,” said Grandfather. “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.”

And it was this thought of the Pied Piper that made him decide that he would go and see Ferranti that night, for Grandfather had always felt sorry for the Pied Piper … A bitter man … A disillusioned man … A man whose faith in human nature had been so shaken that he had disappeared inside a mountain and been no more seen … Poor fellow … Grandfather would go and see him, he told Henrietta, and if he turned out satisfactory of course Henrietta should continue her friendship with him.

So after dinner, disregarding Grandmother’s wishes that he should let well alone lest the person turn out peculiar, Grandfather placed his round clerical hat on his bald head, clasped his plump hands behind his back and strolled off under the stars to the house with the green door … Returning home again, to the intense annoyance of Grandmother, at the—for him, at his age, as she pointed out for three-quarters of an hour before they slept—disgraceful hour of midnight.

All through that summer the three-cornered friendship between Grandfather, Ferranti and Henrietta flourished like a green bay-tree. Grandmother, though she once met Ferranti at the butcher’s and was introduced by Henrietta, thought little of him. The person was, as she had expected, peculiar, and though she asked him to tea from a sense of duty, and bestowed upon him the rather frigid smile that she kept for those unfortunates whom as a Christian she must love but as a human being intensely disliked, she found herself incapable of going farther. Hugh Anthony, too, did not much like Ferranti; his knowledge of cricket was negligible and he always lost his temper if asked more than one question per minute … But Grandfather and Henrietta loved him.

He would hardly ever go to see them at the Close, being afflicted with the misanthrope’s “house bound” attachment to the sorrows of his own roof tree in a very acute form, but they went to see him. To Henrietta he revealed one side of the Pied Piper character, the piping side, that opened to her a new world of fairy-tale enchantment, but with Grandmother he ceased to pipe and became just pied, a poor parti-coloured creature whose original bright hues of romance and idealism had been dimmed by failure and disillusionment. He was, as Grandfather had suspected, a bitter man, a man whose faith in human nature had been so shaken that he had elected to disappear from the world as he knew it. The house with the green door was his Pied Piper’s mountain, whither he had withdrawn with his unwanted dreams.

Grandfather, though he loved him, could do nothing with him. Their arguments usually ended with Ferranti’s parrot cry of, “Religion … Bosh … I’ve seen through all that.” Grandfather, scratching his bald head in perplexity, seemed to remember that George Eliot had once remarked that when people said they had seen through a thing they usually meant they hadn’t seen it at all, but this remark, though shrewd, did not help Grandfather in the difficult task of trying to make a man see what to him is invisible … Grandfather knew of nothing harder, except trying to bring home to a wasp or butterfly the existence of a pane of glass in a window.

And then Ferranti disappeared.

[dansnaturepictures]

Eight of my favourite photos I took in August 2024 and month summary: Baby steps into the shift of the seasons

The photos are of; view with a moody sky at Lakeside Country Park, young Mute Swans at Keyhaven, Jersey Tiger moth at Lakeside, Chalkhill Blue at Stockbridge Down, Common Darter at Lakeside, Roe Deer at Acres Down, harebells at Shipton Bellinger and King Alfred's cake at Fishlake Meadows.

August is a time to enjoy high summer sights including butterfly filled meadows and darting dragonflies but also a time to prepare for change into an equally exciting wild season, as subtle signs like the drawing in of the nights and emergence of berries hint at the imminent baton exchange of summer and autumn. I have really enjoyed this August to the full for wildlife, walking and photos.

In the early days as the Big Butterfly Count drew to a close I ended triumphantly observing a big increase in species such as Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Speckled Wood being around. There were some stellar additions to my butterfly year this month with Essex Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper, Chalkhill Blue and Brown Hairstreak seen. Other standout species of a fantastic butterfly month included Brown Argus, Wall Brown, Small Heath, Small White, Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Red Admiral. I had a marvellous month of moths centring on a phenomenon over a week or so seeing a fair few Jersey Tiger moths at different locations a species I’d only ever seen three times prior to that, a really exciting influx of this resplendent moth. I was captivated by a splendid Swallow-tailed moth at home at the month’s start, with Double-striped Pug, Wavy-barred Sable, my first ever Purple Bar, Grass-veneer, Silver Y, Small Dusty Waves and Six-spot Burnet also enjoyed. As the month went on butterflies rather made way for dragonflies to take centre stage a little, with mesmerising times watching Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, evocative of late summer for me Common Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer, with Beautiful Demoiselle and Blue-tailed Damselfly good to see too.

Shift in the year was evident in my birdwatching month too which was another brilliant one with some migration movement. I loved seeing Whinchats at Hook-with-Warsash, Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper at Pennington and Osprey at Fishlake Meadows. I got some splendid views of the Peregrines at Winchester Cathedral this month, very much enjoyed the new Great Crested Grebe chicks and young Moorhens on regular walks at Lakeside Country Park and was thrilled to see adorable Mute Swan cygnets well a few times at Winnall Moors and Keyhaven in a strong year I’ve had for seeing young birds. Other highlights this month included Ravens, Jay, Red Kite, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, the last Swifts, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Stock Doves, Stonechat, Bullfinches, Great Spotted Woodpecker at Lakeside and Green Woodpecker there and heard elsewhere, Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit and Goldfinches including young at home, a few Kingfishers, Cormorants including notably at Lakeside and Winnall Moors, Grey Heron including notably at Lakeside and in Winchester, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Spoonbills, Knot, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Avocet, Common Sandpiper, Dunlin, Snipe, Whimbrel, Curlew, Eiders and some Tufted Ducks including ducklings.

Other nice sightings this month included of Roe and Fallow Deers on wonderful afternoon of deers at Acres Down in the New Forest, Grey Squirrel, Common Red Soldier beetle, my first ever Tawny Longhorn beetle at Shipton Bellinger, ladybirds, pondskater with especially lots at one point at Lakeside sticking in my mind, sawflies, charming Hornet mimic hoverfly at Stockbridge Down, Yellow-haired Sunfly, other hoverflies and bees, Ichneumon wasps, Fox and Cinnabar moth caterpillars, crickets/grasshoppers including Roesel’s bush cricket, Long-winged Conehead and Common Field Grasshopper, snails at home on wet nights and gorgeous Ambersnail at Winnall Moors, Common Lizards at Magdalen Hill and Grey Silverfish and spiders at home.

Onto plants and I saw some more thrilling wildflowers this month including fairy flax, water speedwell and another speedwell, St. John’s-worts, fleabane, ragwort, bird’s-foot trefoil, forget-me-not, scarlet pimpernel, water mint, sundew, bog asphodel, hemp agrimony, purple loosestrife, great willowherb, rosebay willowherb, small-flower hairy willowherb, marjoram, wild basil, tufted vetch, vetch, viper’s-bugloss, scabiouses including fine devil’s-bit scabious, wild carrot, upright hedge-parsley, sea aster, scentless mayweed, pineappleweed, dock, self-heal, sainfoin, creeping thistle, spear thistle, woolly thistle, horseweed, common mallow, musk mallow, marsh mallow, golden samphire, nightshade, broad-leaved enchanter’s nightshade and some of my favourites centaury, restharrow, common toadflax, eyebright and endearing nodding harebells. It was amazing to see sunflowers at home in the garden a stalwart of August with the fuchsias and black-eyed Susans coming on nicely too. The aforementioned berries I really enjoyed seeing this month included loads of blackberries and hawthorn, blackthorn sloes, rowan, guelder rose berries, nightshade berries, cuckoo-pint berries, elderberries, wild service tree berries and wayfaring tree berries with apple, acorn and chestnut seen too. There were some nice mushrooms seen this month as well including King Alfred’s cake and panthercap and I took in some stunning views at various locations and habitats with epic sky scenes including moody scenes, the moon and sunsets observed. Have a great September all.

[honoraofthebrightmeadow]

Great green bush-cricket!

[myrachidh]

Great Green Bush Cricket ~ Tettigonia viridissima ~ Grande Sauterelle Verte ~ Tettigonie Verte ~ Sauterelle à Coutelas ~ Sparta, New Jersey

#Cricket #GreatGreenBushCricket #Tettigonia #Tettigoniaviridissima #Sauterelle #GrandeSauterelleVerte #TettigonieVerte #SauterelleàCoutelas #Sparta #NJ #NewJersey #Macros #insects #insectsofinstagram #entomology #Wildlife #wildlifephotography ~ https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachidh/albums