Sammy Rescues Lucy From The Dinosaurs At Eden

As Sammy made his way through the undergrowth he heard a deep roar and knew something was dreadfully wrong. It sounded like a dinosaur was on the prowl and his suspicions were confirmed.

Sammy was worried about his sister, Lucy, and realised she was alone and no doubt frightened.

There had been a dreadful battle that day and one of the dinosaurs had fallen to the ground.

While the bigger dinosaur looked at his prey ...

... Sammy donned his protective glasses and set off to rescue Lucy.

The dinosaur glanced at Sammy and Lucy, as they both ran away to safety, but was too slow to follow them.

Lucy was safe, thanks to Sammy, and soon forgot her ordeal ...

 ... and chuckled herself silly as Sammy the hero made her laugh.

The photos were taken at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Sammy and Lucy are my wonderful grandchildren. I have previously published several posts about Eden including:
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
Arctic Gnomes And Other Photos Of Eden
Eve Shows Herself At Eden
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster At Eden

Photos: © Mike Perry

Arctic Gnomes And Other Photos Of Eden

A metal eagle perches in the Eden Project gardens

Karin and I were at the Eden Project in Cornwall yesterday to renew our annual passes. Locals can have as many visits as they wish for £7.50 (about US$10) a year. Normal entry costs £23.50 (US$33) per adult.

If you don't know about the Eden Project there are details and photos on my post In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden

As we walked round Eden I snapped a few photos:

It may be a cold winter's day but Adam still ploughs the fields at Eden

The leaves have turned brown and it's a little chilly for the naked lady

The cow munches with the biomes in the background

Not too sure what happened to this motor bike

Info that California is famed for the catalytic converter

And despite the cold outside there are still flowers in the biomes

And an old sugar lorry!

A wigwam in the Eden gardens just in case it rains

Next comes the Arctic Gnomes! This is what they say:

"We Arctic Gnomes represent the Arctic sea ice and how it is changing. This summer saw the most dramatic decrease in Arctic sea ice since records began. The Arctic is a major cooling system for the Earth, so the ice is crucial for the health the of planet.

We are at the Eden to share our story. As the ice melts, we will disappear. We Arctic Gnomes want to protect our home and you may be able to help us." The Arctic Gnome

And, of course, with Christmas approaching Santa's reindeer are resting, ready for the busy night on the 25th.

Other Eden Project Posts:
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
Believe And You Can See Eden Even In The Rain
The Rites Of Dionysus The God Of Wine At Eden

Believe And You Can See Eden Even In The Rain

I don't like to moan about the weather - but I will! It's been horrid here in Cornwall and England.

June 2012: wettest since records began, 100+ years ago
April 2012: wettest since records began, 100+ years ago

It should be dry and sunny instead of wet and fifty shades of grey - or am I getting confused with something else there?

But no matter, stiff upper lip and all that, and my wife and I headed off to the Eden Project - which is quite near to us - in the rain. Well if you stay indoors nothing much happens outside of the usual.

As we approached Eden I switched on the car radio and it was an oldie's segment. They were playing I Believe by Elvis.

We parked the car and headed down the path towards the entrance to Eden, and there was this huge poster - as photo at the top of the page If you believe ...

"Hallelujah!" I said jokingly, "I believe."

And, in a way, that's what the Eden Project is all about - belief.

Belief that they could turn an old, disused white clay pit into a major green attraction and learning centre.

I watched it develop right from the start and one of the design architects said it would be like watching the Pyramids being built. A bit over the top, but it has become a special place with millions of visitors every year - perhaps, in all honesty, too many visitors.

The rain had now stopped for a while so we decided not to go to the biomes, for which Eden is famed, but to meander around the grounds and outside gardens first.

I like the Cornish wild section.

You never know what you might find ...

... or see. Like this poor bedraggled little robin at a seating area.

There's a traditional home garden growing veg with a not very scary scarecrow ...

and, of course, you can't have an Eden without an Adam toiling away against the grey sky.

Inside the biomes it's full of colour.

So, yes, as Elvis would sing, "...for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows."

We had lunch at Eden and, being Eden, it's very natural and back to basics. Nothing flash, you help yourself to healthy food and drinks. Sit on solid benches by solid long tables. And when you have finished your meal you find one of the payment posts and tell the guy or girl what you've devoured - they are very trusting, but that's the theme behind Eden. Hopefully not too many people fib.

These are the Eden biomes on a sunnier day. I think I took the pic in 2010, it has developed a lot since then.

Belief is almost everything. From an idea or dream anything can develop.

Other Eden Project Posts:
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster At Eden
Eve Shows Herself At Eden

The Winds Of The Shacapa At Eden

I came across the slightly faded wall painting - The Winds of the Shacapa - as shown in the picture above at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.

The Shacapa (or Chacapa) leaves, a kind of palm, are made into a rattle for Shamanic and similar ceremonies in the Upper Amazon region. They are used rhythmically in a similar way to a Shaman's drum.

The Shacapa is said to draw impurities from the body. The Shaman rubs and shakes the Shacapa over the patient's body to remove and capture any unwanted spirit intrusions. Once captured these spirits are blown into the rainforest where the spirits of the plants are used to absorb and discharge this energy.

In the picture above the bands of colour from the universal eye represent the energies of the Shacapa. The photo below shows a well used Shacapa.

Further Eden Posts:
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
Eve Shows Herself At Eden
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster At Eden

The Lungs Of The Planet Illustrated At Eden

I have mentioned the Eden Project in Cornwall - which is near to where I live - several times, links below.

Eden is about to demonstrate how we humans need plants to survive. To do this they have locked a professor in an air tight chamber - with insufficient oxygen for a person to survive for 48 hours.

Professor Iain Stewart's chamber is 2m x 8m x 2.5m and, along with him, will be 150 plants. It is the plants that will allow him to stay locked up - otherwise the result could be fatal. That's the professor in the photo at Eden.

Professor Stewart explains: "Obviously when I’m in the chamber I’ll be using up oxygen so the oxygen levels will be dropping and I’ll be giving out carbon dioxide, so if it was sustained it would be a lethal combination.

But six to seven hours in, they’re going to switch the lights on.

The chamber is packed with plants, which as soon as the lights come on, start to photosynthesise and should take the carbon dioxide that I’m breathing out, take that in, photosynthesise, and give back oxygen for me to breathe."

The experiment will be included on UK television as part of a BBC series called How Plants Made The World. This should be screened in the New Year.

Plants are the lungs of the planet. Without them we'd be in a right old state ... and yet we continue to destroy the rain forests and trees and ... well, I'm sure you get the picture.

Other Eden Posts
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
Eve Shows Herself At Eden
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster At Eden

Eve Shows Herself At Eden

I was at the Eden Project in Cornwall again yesterday and took a few more photos, but not of the usual biomes, plants and flowers. (The links to other Eden posts are below).

Where there is an Eden there also has to be an Eve and that's her above. She's quite a size and seems to erupt from the ground amongst the small trees and bushes. Not sure if she's actually happy in paradise but she seems pretty relaxed.


There's also a full size wooden horse, though with a difference as it is made out of driftwood from the beaches. The artist is Heather Jansch. She was told that she wasn't the stuff that painters were made from so she started creating her own style of art from bits and pieces around her - and especially of horses made from driftwood.



There is usually some form of art exhibition at the Eden project, but the art work is not necessarily traditional. Not sure what to make of the two exhibits below but the framed prints in the background were excellent.



The whole Eden Project is an educational charity, so all of the money is ploughed back into getting the importance of the environment message across, but in an interesting, subtle way. Education without realising you are being educated!

It's now the peak holiday season in Cornwall so in the Eden gardens there are challenges for the children. Everything from making dens to playing about with water using pipes, pumps, buckets, funnels and so on. The kids learn while playing.

Other posts about the Eden Project include:
In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden
The Rites If Dionysus The God Of Wine
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster

In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden

As my wife and I walked through the forest in search of the Birth of Spirits rock painting it was hot. So hot it was almost steaming, we could barely make out the small bird feasting on some sort of fruit in the trees (photo above).


Gradually, as we continued walking, things became clearer and a small stream somehow guided the sunlight through as it mastered its rocky river bed.



Suddenly, there it was. The picture we had hoped to find painted on the rocks - the Birth of Spirits (photo below).

The story is that when the spirit was born, all the flowers and plants were also born. The first were Tobaco Bravo to purify and Campanita del Campo to announce the birth. The sun and moon are shown giving energy to the birth.


Pleased with our find we continued on our way and passed a bamboo hut (pic below) where we were invited inside to rest.


Nearby was a stall (below) with bananas and other herbs and spices - it seems that the banana is actually a herb. I didn't realise this.


A little further we discovered a gathering of wooden totems and also some unusual forest flowers growing high in the trees.



There is no getting away from it, the Eden Project in Cornwall, England holds a host of mysteries - including an enormous bee happily collecting nectar beside the huge biomes that hold many of the exhibits.



But there is much more to Eden than this. There are the gardens with a multitude of flowers and plants, depending on the season. And to think that this whole project has been built within an old deserted clay pit and is now a major visitor attraction.

There is also the Core learning centre (two photos below) with all sorts of interesting items about plants and the environment in general.



The Core also houses the Seed sculpture (pic below) made from a 167 tonne block of Cornish granite. This took two years to complete and had to be lowered into position by the largest crane in Europe.

The quote is that the Seed 'carries nature's design blueprint and pays homage to working with the grain of nature. It serves as a reminder to us all - forever - encouraging respect and a duty to hope for the future.'


On our last visit to Eden there was also an art exhibition:




My wife and I, and my son and family, often visit the Eden Project as we are lucky enough to have passes for a year (otherwise it would cost £18 [about $25] per adult per visit). Our six month old grandson has already been twice. Not on his own, of course! Hopefully he will grow with a respect and love of nature and the environment.

Other Eden Project Posts:
The Rites Of Dionysus The God Of Wine
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster


Photos: © Mike Perry 2011