Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

Worrying about what's going on in Sydney with regards to the #sydneysiege . My thoughts are with the hostages and all who know and love them. I have friends and family in Australia; really don't like how close to home this feels. Silver lining to this horrible situation must be the " I'll Ride With You " social media posts tagged #illridewithyou and the way Australians are coming together as one. It's good to see that the Australian people won't let terrorists scare them into being quiet, going into hiding or turning on each other.

Abandoned train station | Abkhazia, Georgia I love taking photos, sharing the world I see with others, showcasing the beauty of the natural world and capturing the magic of a moment. The magic of the moment was certainly captured  by the very lucky and talented photographers who captured 21 photos of nature winning the battle against civilisation . From Hong Kong to Russia to Namibia, the photos show what can happen when humans abandon a site or an item to nature; when we leave nature to rule instead of mankind. This post features three of my favourites images from the 21, however I very much encourage you to read the article for yourself and have a peek at the other 18 images! Especially the mill in Italy that looks like it came straight from a fairytale. And the abandoned hotel in Kamchatka, Russia. And the piano. And the Ferris wheel. And... The SS Ayrfield in Homebush  Bay , west of Sydney, Australia Features images: (above) An abandoned railway station ...

I'm a huge fan of Australian author Traci Harding. She's written quite a few books by now, has an online community dedicated to her work and the ideas that inspired her work, and would very easily qualify as "one of the authors who has inspired me the most". I came across her first book, The Ancient Future , some time in 2002. It looked like an interesting and entertaining story of a modern Australian woman, Tory Alexander, who accidentally goes back in time through a stone circle while on holiday in Britain, then finds herself in Wales some 1500 years ago where she meets and marries the love of her life, Prince Maelgwn Gwynedd. She becomes Queen of Gwynedd (in modern-day Wales), enforces new child- and female-friendly laws and teaches the ancient Britons a new way of fighting and with it, a new way of thinking. As the book unfolds, Tory learns that her coming to the 6th Century wasn't an accident but deliberate, and was orchestrated by Merlin - yes the Merlin...