A beautiful card from Lotte(Purple_girl).This card is showing landmarks in Somerset - Burrow Mump, Dunkery Beacon, Glastonbury Tor, Cheddar Village , Wells Cathedral , Uphill church.Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Neolithic times, and subsequent settlement in the Roman and Saxonperiods. Later, the county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion.
Agriculture is a major business in the county. Farming of sheep and cattle, including for wool and the county's famous cheeses (most notably Cheddar), are traditional and contemporary, as is the more unusual cultivation of willow for basketry. Apple orchards were once plentiful, and to this day Somerset is known for the production of strong cider. Unemployment is lower than the national average, and the largest employment sectors are retail, manufacturing, tourism, and health and social care. Population growth in the county is higher than the national average.
Early morning sunrise at Second beach on the Washington coast.It looks sooo beautiful.
The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. The falls are 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York and 75 miles (120 km) south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which lies on the Canadian side of the border, and American Falls on the American side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.
Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m³) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000 m³) on average. It is the most powerful waterfall in North America.
The Niagara Falls are renowned both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 1800s.
The city was founded in 1764 just south of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers by colonial French traders Pierre Laclède and René Auguste Chouteau, who named the settlement after King Louis IX of France. The city, as well as the future state of Missouri, became part of the Spanish Empire after the French were defeated in the Seven Years' War. In 1800, the land was secretly transferred back to France, whose leader,Napoleon Bonaparte, sold it to the United States in 1803. Nicknamed the "Gateway to the West" for its role in the westward expansion of the United States, the city gave the moniker in 1965 to the new Gateway Arch built as part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; the arch has become the iconic image of St. Louis.
Once the 4th-largest U.S. city, St. Louis proper has seen its population slip to 52nd.At the peak of the city's influence, St. Louis hosted the 1904 World's Fair and 1904 Olympic Games, both the first of their kind held in the Western Hemisphere.
In the 19th century, immigration from Italy, Germany, Bohemia and Ireland flooded St. Louis, coloring the cuisine and architecture of the city. Many African-Americans moved north to the city during the Great Migration.
St. Louis has been at the forefront of the 21st-century wave of urban revitalization, receiving the World Leadership Award for urban renewal in 2006. In 2008, the U. S.Census Bureau reported St. Louis had a net population gain of 6,172 from the 2000 Census, to 354,361, the first gain the city has had since 1950.
The city contributed to the musical styles of blues, ragtime, and jazz. The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams, make their home atBusch Stadium. Other professional teams include the St. Louis Rams (football) and St. Louis Blues (hockey). A diversity of successful sports franchises has led to St. Louis being called "North America's Best Sports City." The city's many 19th-century breweries shaped beer in the United States, most notably Anheuser-Busch, Falstaff Brewing Corporation, and Lemp Brewery. The vestiges of French and Spanish colonization make St. Louis one of the largest centers of Roman Catholicism in the United States.
St. Louis lies at the heart of Greater St. Louis, a metropolitan area of nearly three million people in Missouri and Illinois. The Illinois portion is commonly known as the Metro-East. The region is home to some of the country's largest privately held corporations, includingEnterprise Rent-A-Car, Graybar, Scottrade, Edward Jones, and is also home to some of the largest public corporations and corporate divisions, including Emerson, Energizer,Anheuser-Busch InBev (North American Headquarters), Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Purina, Express Scripts, Charter Communications, Monsanto Company, andWells Fargo Advisers.
The Killer Whale (Orcinus orca), commonly referred to as the Orca and, less commonly,Blackfish, is the largest species of the dolphin family. They are found in all of the world'soceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Killer Whales as a species have a diverse diet, although populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, particularly salmon, and other populations hunt marine mammals such assea lions, seals, walruses and even large whales. As they are known to be predators of large sharks, Killer Whales are regarded as the ocean's apex predator.There are up to five distinct Killer Whale types distinguished by geographical range, preferred prey items and physical appearance. Some of these may be separate races, subspecies or even species. Killer whales are highly social; some populations are composed of matrilinealfamily groups, which are the most stable of any animal species. The sophisticated social behavior, hunting techniques, and vocal behavior of Killer Whales have been described as manifestations of culture.
Although the Killer Whale is not considered to be an internationally endangered species, some local populations are considered threatened or endangered due to depletion of prey species,habitat loss, pollution by PCBs, historic capture for marine mammal parks, and conflicts with fisheries. In late 2007, the Killer Whales known as the "southern resident killer whales" were placed on the U.S. Endangered Species list. Because it is unlikely that all Killer Whales belong to a single species, the IUCN currently assesses the conservation status of the Killer Whale as data deficient.
Wild Killer Whales are not considered a threat to humans] although there have been cases of captive Killer Whales attacking, and in at least one instance, killing their handlers at marine theme parks. The Killer Whale features strongly in the mythologies of indigenous cultures. In Western cultures, it has had a reputation for being a fearsome predator, but in recent decades better understanding has led to widespread appreciation of the species.
The most famous killer whale was Keiko.
