rubenisrapture:

Broken Embraces / Los Abrazos Rotos. (dir. Pedro Almodovar, 2009.)

My most recent watch. Never disappointed by Almodovar.
21st May 201322:5113 notes
~   JOHN NEAL

“Hang the eucalyptus upside down by tying it to your shower head with twine. When you run your shower, the steam will rise up towards the eucalyptus, filling your bathroom with the most refreshing, relaxing scent. Plus, the added greens are lovely on the eyes. You’ll definitely feel a little closer to nature.”
20th May 201311:5217,379 notes

“During the first years of the sixteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci made careful observations of the Black Kites, larks, and other species common to the Italian countryside, jotting down his ideas in a private notebook that came to be called Codex on the Flight of Birds. Leonardo’s designs for flying machines included a now-famous illustration of a primitive helicopter, as well as a flapping Icarus-style flier, but the most important pictures in the book may be a series of small birds sketched casually in the margins. They look like pigeons in flight, showing a variety of postures and depicting the birds with lines of air passing under and over each wing. Combined with his text on the “thickness” and “thinness” of air, these pictures make plain that Leonardo had begun to intuit the importance and function of airfoils.”

Thor Hanson, Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle.
The pithouhi secretes a powerful neurotoxin that covers it’s sleek feathers to help fight off parasites. It is the only bird that has evolved a way to make it. Its thought that they harnessed the ability to do this by a co-opting a chemical from certain beetles in their diet. It’s the same poison produced by dart/arrow frogs.
trashydyke:

sabrina i luh you
9th May 201320:3922,315 notes
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, is my newest read thanks to a wonderful friend who sent it to me in a package. I cannot WAIT to start it. It’s been on my list for quite some time. 
You can read a nice article about the book and it’s significance over at Scientific American.
(via Queen Anne’s Lace / candace jean)
In Second Nature, Pollan speaks about “weeds” a lot. In fact, he dedicates a whole chapter. He has changed my perspective on them. He says,

“a weed is simply a plant whose virtues we haven’t discovered yet. ‘Weed’ is not a category of nature but a human construct, a defect of our perception.”

Take the “weed” drawn in this lovely illustration above, commonly known as Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). I saw this plant all the time as a child but never gave it much thought. Did you know that it is a wild carrot?! The root is edible while the plant is young (it becomes woody with maturation).
On another note, you should check out Candace Jean’s prints & products. I hope to purchase one to hang in our cabin. She weaves nature into her work so beautifully.

theuncarved-block:

Sara and I planted a new set of tomatoes (black krim) and this yautia was nestled in the middle of where our bed was supposed to be. We dug it up and transplanted it to a better spot!

You can eat the root (tuber) but it’s very beautiful to grow for the leaves also.

Lots of exciting things happening on my other blog! But, let’s be real, I just wanted to reblog this picture of my hot girlfriend. ;)

Opaque  by  andbamnan