It’s friday again everyone! The Olympics are nearing the end, concluding this Sunday with the Closing Ceremony. It’s crazy to think of all the events that have been crammed into just two weeks. But then it’s on to more athletic action in the Paralympics starting August 29th. I know I’ll be cheering on double amputee Oscar Pistorius tonight in the 4x400m final, an inspirational runner competing in BOTH the Olympics and Paralympics. Now on to my Friday Favourites!

Pin of the week

Butter cow and milkmaid in Balboa Park, 1915.

Pin of the week comes from the Committee of 100, which works to preserve the architecture, gardens, and public spaces of Balboa Park in San Diego, California. This is really fun photo of a cow and milkmaid carved out of butter, on display in the Southern California Counties Building during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. At the time, San Diego was the smallest of any city ever to attempt holding an international exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal that same year. The displays from all over the world were fabulously eclectic, including fruits and vegetables arranged in colourful piles, elephants made of English walnuts, a Hawaiian village with a volcano, a working miniature oil well, and the turning out of maple syrup in a log cabin. That syrup plus some butter off the cow and milkmaid sculpture are only missing some waffles for a great breakfast!

The Southern California Counties Building housing the butter sculptures burned down in 1925, and was replaced by the present-day Museum of Natural History in 1932. Check out some great personal memories of the Exposition of the Committee of 100’s Channel.

Pinner of the Week

Virginia Woolf at Monk's House, 1931.

Pinner of the week goes to the Virginia Woolf Blog, which is dedicated to the life and legacy of the great writer. Whether you are a fan of her work or interested in literary society in the beginning of the twentieth-century, the Blog’s Channel has some lovely images that give us an insight into some of Woolf’s more intimate moments with friends and family. This was one classy lady!

Visit the Virginia Woolf Blog’s Channel to browse some more photos and the blog itself to read more about her life. Maybe you will find a candidate for that summer read you have been searching for.

Story of the Week

Spot the calf? Matthew and Mary Hannah, 1930-1932.

Story of the Week comes from user History Buff, whose Channel has some fantastic photos of local life in Ayr, Scotland. In the photo above, brother and sister Matthew and Mary Hannah are seen walking on the High Street in Ayr on a rainy day in the early 1930s. If you look closely, halfway between Mary’s shoulder and the lorry at the left of the photo there appears to be a calf crossing the road. A rather unfortunate explanation for the calf’s being there is that it could have escaped from the nearby slaughterhouse. The calf apparently made quite the journey along several streets and through a churchyard to where it can be seen. Everyone on the street seems unfazed by this moment, although Matthew may be looking at the calf over his shoulder. I love this photo because it is a classic example of ‘what doesn’t belong in this scenario?’

Do you have a photo of an encounter with an animal in your town? Pin them on our site! I have definitely had some standoffs with coyotes in my San Francisco neighborhood, but unfortunately getting away as soon as possible trumped any urge to take photos.