I spent today walking around town visiting some lovely gardens as today was the annual Garden Tour put on by the local branch of CFUW (Canadian Federation of University Women). I took my new camera with me so I could take pictures

Very good use of a new camera too.

This was taken on the beach at Brighton; hauling a boat ashore up and across the pebbles can't be easy.

During my weekend in Torquay, I spotted these and thought that they went well with
my earlier post.


(I had a quick look to see if they were marked as 'Ladies' and 'Gents'. They weren't.)

I thought this was a fine fellow at Durrell this afternoon. It is not mono, it is how it was.

It looks like one of my team mates on a good day. I would tell you which team mate but I think PDAZ will be along later so I'd better not.

My beautiful cat, Grey.

Passing a farm saw this old water pump

I saw this sign at the model village at Babbacombe. We all like a bit of toilet humoUr
now and again, don't we?

It's winter but Ollie is quite comfortable on an old pillow with a faux fur rug. Nope, not spoilt at all.

This is for Martin - the remains of the West Pier at Brighton.

It looks even sadder from that angle. You're right about it making for a great photo though, I'm very impressed.

From the older part of Newcastle a variety of exterior decor for the shop-fronts and the buildings generally

I took this photo in April (my apologies to July ) and have been trying to discover the name of the flower ever since. They had quite a lot of them at the Royal Wedding but naturally none of the commentators mentioned its name. They identified the trees, the celebrities, the visiting royals and every single needlework stitch used on the dress but the flowers? Nope. Any gardeners out there?

This is a model of Stonehenge, taken at the Babbacombe model village, Torquay.

Flopsymopsy, your picture is Solomon's Seal, one of several species of Polygonatum.
And a very dainty old-world flower it is too.

Thank you, Auntie! It's been bugging me a lot as I'm usually pretty good with plant names. Not so good with the plants but I do usually know what they're called before I kill them.

I have Solomon's Seal in my yard as well (it doesn't bloom til June for me though). It's not an invasive plant (here, at least, whereas things like lily of the valley are), so please don't kill them flopsy! lol. Great shade plants, I have them combined with Anemones, jacob's ladder, bleeding hearts, pulmonaria ("girl and boy plants"), hostas and hops in the area between the houses that doesn't get much sun. I would go take a picture, but lately it's been nothing but thunderstorms or a plague of mosquitoes, so nobody is venturing outside much after work here!

Visited St Albans Church in Earsdon today and took this picture of the Hartley Colliery Disaster memorial, one of the worst ever in UK



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Colliery_Disaster

My goodness Gees, you sure have LOTS of fascinating things to take pictures of where you live. Might have to put your area on my "bucket list". I think it's wonderful when folks like you and zorba and szabs (and many others) take so many photos of where YOU live.. it's like a travelogue almost. So thanks to everybody here who allows each of us to take a "dream journey" from the comfort (and low expense) of our favourite computer chairs : )))

I agree with Jake. Even when I visit certain places, I don't get to see as much as I get through photos on this forum.

An old style house in South India. The water surrounding it is usually filled with lotus flowers.

I think the root of Solomon's seal is used to cure backache. I will look it up later but I think it is that one.

The bouquet flowers were...

* Lily of the valley – Return of happiness
* Sweet william – Gallantry
* Hyacinth – Constancy of love
* Ivy – Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection
* Myrtle – The emblem of marriage; love

The Solomon's Seal flowers were over the High Altar in the Abbey and the doors the wedding party used to enter and exit the chapel where the registers were signed. I paid particular attention to them as they were the mystery flowers in the photo I'd taken, lol.

Somebody mention flowers? I took this photo of a floral arrangement as the coach passed
through Dawlish which is just to the north of Torbay in Devon. I've visited the town many
times through the years and as far as I can remember, they've always had a similar floral
feature here - right in the middle of the Crazy Golf course!

Martin_cube, I visited the area of Dawlish and also Babbacombe model village three years ago - a really beautiful place to visit.


It's Elliot's second birthday today, and Mum made the traditional Victoria sponge Birthday cake (with jam and butter-cream). Be assured it is as tasty as it looks

Cannon Beach, OR

An awesome lightbulb.

Welcome Vanya98 Please read my pm.

Welcome - and nice picture Vanya, especially since you can't really identify the folks that are in it, but I have to wonder... who is having more fun - the adult or the child? lol

We spent several days of our "honeymoon" (way back in the late 70's) in Oregon. I'm hoping it is still the "wonderland" of natural beauty that it was back then : )

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Re: Solomon's Seal
quote from my "Magic and Medicine of Plants" book (ISBN 0-89577-221-3):
"The 16th Century herbalist John Gerard claimed Solomon's seal rhizome was a panacea for cuts, wounds and bruises of all kinds, including those 'gotten by falls or women's willfulness in stumbling on their hasty husbands' fists'.

Each year the rhizome produces a new stem that withers in the summer, leaving a scar resembling the wax seals once used to close letters. Theses seal-like knobs (which inspire the botanical name Polygonatum, meaning "many-jointed") gave rise to the belief that it was effective in curing water on the knee and in stemming blood flow"

The book also states that pharmacological studies find no evidence that it is effective (as traditionally believed) as a hemostatic (agent that stops bleeding), nor as an antiemetic (agent that stops vomiting). However, they did find that the roots contain allantoin, which when derived from other plant sources is used today for external treatment of wounds and skin ulcers.

As for Kate Middleton, she assigned "confirmation of love" as the symbolism for her usage of the plant in the wedding decor. Poetic license regarding a "stamp" or a "seal", perhaps, but hey, it was her wedding I guess lol.
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JaneM: that cake looks (and sounds) delicious!

This was taken at Whitley Bay beach last Sunday about midday, it was a pleasant summer day a few years ago it would have been crowded with people there for the day, now most of those in the photo are walking dogs.A day at the seaside is something that is not done anymore