All posts by She Seeks Serene

My Journey of Reimagining Life, Love and Education

Nature: A Great Horned Owl Chick In Florida

“Sunday Morning” takes us to Titusville, Florida, where a great horned owl chick is being cared for by Mom and Dad. Videographer: Doug Jensen.

Great horned owls are usually 18 – 25 inches tall, have tall ear tufts, and large yellow eyes. Their size, ear tufts, and eyes make them easily recognizable when seen during daylight hours.

They are found throughout Florida and roost in large, messy nests, in tall trees. The female is larger than the male, but the male has a larger and deeper voice box.

Italian Islands: Top Ten Places To Visit In Sardinia

Sardinia is a large Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. It has nearly 2,000km of coastline, sandy beaches and a mountainous interior crossed with hiking trails. Its rugged landscape is dotted with thousands of nuraghi – mysterious Bronze Age stone ruins shaped like beehives. One of the largest and oldest nuraghi is Su Nuraxi in Barumini, dating to 1500 B.C. 

London Views: Houseboat Living On Regent’s Canal

From Chelsea to the canals, Londoners are taking to the water in search of a more peaceful way of life on a houseboat. Jo Rodgers clambers aboard.

Not far from World’s End, the Chelsea neighbourhood of 1970s council blocks and top-tier antique dealers, there’s a turn-off toward the Thames that you could pass 100 times without noticing. Next to the Embankment, a pair of planked wooden doors open to a quiet boatyard with a few handfuls of moorings, including the sunny houseboat of Alexandra Pringle, a publisher, and her husband, Rick Stroud, a writer and film-maker. A sturdy green gangway (‘the Waitrose delivery drivers are sometimes very nervous,’ says Alexandra) takes you over the riverbank to a red front door, flanked by hale plants, in terracotta pots and dolly bins, and a brass ship bell.

Tibetan Views: Tsurphu Monastery Near Llasa

Tsurphu Monastery is a gompa which serves as the traditional seat of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Gurum in Doilungdêqên District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Lhasa. The monastery is about 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) above sea level.

Ancient Walks: Petra – Al Siq To Treasury In Jordan

Petra is a famous archaeological site in Jordan’s southwestern desert. Dating to around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the “Rose City.” Perhaps its most famous structure is 45m-high Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek-style facade, and known as The Treasury. 

Walks: Dean Village In Edinburgh, Scotland (4K)

Dean Village is a peaceful village on the Water of Leith, Edinburgh’s largest river. Founded during the twelfth century by the Canons Regular of Holyrood Abbey, it is also known as the Water of Leith Village.

Dean Village (dene means “deep valley” in Scots) was a prosperous hamlet for over 800 years. In the past, the area had eleven working mills on the strong currents of the city’s river.

Trade in Dean Village diminished and the village soon fell into decay and abandonment especially during the second half of the twentieth century. Ten years later, the greenness, tranquillity and proximity of the hamlet to the city centre made this area extremely popular and plans to redevelop it were put into place. It quickly became one of the most sought-out residential parts of Edinburgh.