In the UK and, yes we do have Parakeets in the garden!!

I was talking with someone at work a couple of days ago about sitting in our garden and hearing the sound/noise of Parakeets. They could not believe that I had not actually lost my mind and was not hearing things.

Well, as I was downloading some photos from my camera yesterday for the class I am taking with Shimille Laine and found these, not very good, photos that I had taken a few days ago and forgotten about.

Why Wouldn't You?

So, as I was cycling home from the station today, taking the scenic route through the park/nature reserve, I spotted people who seemed a little unsure which where they should go and being a little hesitant about directions. Here's a question, had they done as I had, chosen to go the slightly longer, scenic route, home. 

Then I looked around me and thought 'Why wouldn't you?' Given a choice between a traffic jam, or this, there is no choice in my mind, also allowing me to take some photos for 'Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages' Prompt 2, not the best photos I have taken, but still interesting.

The last photo is my favourite, in spite of the flower ( the supposed subject of the photo) being almost invisible at first sight, I love the perspective. What do you think?

What a Special Place

I sometimes have to remind myself about the special place I live in. At other times there is no need to remind myself because it is so clear from the sights around me that I just know. Cycling home from the station one day last week was one of the latter. I chose to come back on the scenic, but slightly longer, route and spotted these little friends as I was coming through one of the parks.

You have to join this class!

 


If you only take one on line class this year, make it this one. Shimelle is an inspiration and I know that this will be a great class. It starts on Monday, but you should be able to join at any time, so do!

I hope to see you all in the Class Forum.

Favourite Photos - what memories, or thoughts, do they provoke?

I am writing this having been prompted to do so by one of my favourite Scrapbookers, Shimelle Laine. She is a wonderfully creative lady who runs on-line classes to help those of us who aspire to do better things get a little closer to doing so. I commend her website to you all. Oh, and she is a great fan of Cupcakes too!! Check out her recipe.

So, her challenge was to choose a photo that you already have, but that you either have not scrapped at all, or not enough. Mine is a photo that my father took of my brother and I with some friends many, many years ago (too many to even think about) while we were holidaying at Daymer Bay, North Cornwall. Looking at it now brings back many found memories, it never seemed to matter what the weather was like, we would be on the beach digging our sand castles and trying, and occasionally succeeding, to fly kites. The others in the picture now live in Germany and Australia, how times change.

Daymer Bay and the surrounding area was, and still is, a favourite holiday destination. My father spent may happy times there during the war, we holidayed there as children and teenagers and now my brother is taking the third generation there. It is an idyllic spot and all these years later is still remarkably unchanged.

Oh, the picture, I almost forgot:

So was it hot enough for you?

So, slightly later than planned, here is the report of our trip on the Jubilee Greenway.

Once we had finished applying copious quantities of sun cream to ourselves and the concourse at Waterloo Station, we set off on our trip at 11.30. 

Out of Waterloo Station, down to Westminster Bridge and these are the views that awaited us.

We then headed to Buckingham Palace, just in time for Changing of the Guard, so one or two people around, but not the Queen who would appear to have been away from town getting ready for her trip to Canada.

Up through, and I do mean through, Wellington Arch, half of which used to house the second smallest police station in London, but that has now been replaced with an English Heritage Exhibition. The other half is hollow and is actually a ventilation shaft for the London underground, good disguise!!

On to Hyde Park and then Kensington Gardens, Paddington, Little Venice and the canal. Where we stopped for lunch; the restaurant straddles the canal and this is the view from our table.

More canal tow path, strewn with bodies dangling legs over the edge and oblivious to everything going on around, it made for VERY slow cycling, but what great views. Eventually we joined the Jubilee Greenway proper, much of which has been relaid in readiness for the Olympics. 

 

We got to see the building site that will soon be the 2012 centre, all very exciting, it even seems to be ahead of schedule, which is a worry of its own.

Then on to the views of London City Airport and the O2.

We crossed the river on the Woolwich Ferry, did you know that it is free? So, we were back on the South of the River and on to the Thames Barrier, what a feat of engineering and slightly out of this world, and more views of the O2.

We cycled round the O2 and saw a very strange piece of modern 'Art' that seemed to be made of used windscreen wipers. I now know that this is 'Quantum Cloud, 1999' by Antony Gormley, one of a series, which is itself a little worrying.

It was all a little intense and hot from there on as we tried to pick our way along the Thames Path, which seemed to spend more time away from the Thames than on it, so eventually we just headed for Waterloo and home. A great day, if a little warm and dirty, and significantly longer/slower than we had all thought so once we eventually got home at something after 8pm, a cool shower and a curry were very welcome.

Oh, and the temperature in the shade in London was recorded at 31 degrees Celsius, so quite hot!

Jubilee Greenway

Today we are planning to cycle the Jubilee Greenway. This is a walking and cycle route around London and is about 35 miles long. Why wouldn't we chose a really hot day for it!! Happily it is mostly flat, and with the Football on this afternoon, it should be quite, with not too many people around. Come back later for photos of the day.