Gees - Beautiful beach, but I am a bit confused with your statement " A day at the seaside is something that is not done anymore", living on the seaside myself, I find it hard to believe, because our beaches are always crowded.

A stork on her way back to the nest. We have an area not far from here where hundreds of storks come to nest each year on high tension towers.

I thought this odd. It was outside a hotel on the corner of 51st & Lexington, NY and was
warning of bed bugs in the building. It was there all the time that I was over there though it
looks nothing like a bed bug to me. I'm no expert but...
Incidentally, I wasn't staying at that hotel - mine had something FAR more disturbing, at
least my room did! <shudders>

That's a New York bed bug? They say everything is bigger across the pond but if the bed bugs have grown to be that size, I'm not going back!


PS What was in your room? You have to tell now!

Twas a cockroach, big one as well. I tried to stomp on it but it scuttled under the bed. The front desk sent up a flunky who, on finding nothing, accused me of being drunk & imagining it. They offered me another room which I accepted. It was all rather inconvenient as I was due to be meeting up with one of my FT team mates a couple of hours later. (I made doubly sure that there was nothing hiding in my stuff as I shifted it to the other room!)

Ah, cockroaches... we're not used to encountering them in the UK, they're here but small and generally outwith most people's experience and you forget what other people almost take for granted. When I lived in Singapore the roaches did a soft shoe shuffle every evening - we turned on a light, they shuffled down a drain. They were over an inch long, not counting antenna, but in parts of Indonesia they're considerably bigger than that.

Same here Flopsy, they appear, however careful and clean you are. The worst are the flying sort that get in your hair. They seem to be seasonal, thank goodness. I do hate it when the crawly ones come up the drain into the shower floor. Yes at least an inch long, some of them, or even more. Ew!

When I stayed in Hong Kong it was in a five star hotel so if they had roaches there I bet each one had its own personal flunky to shoo it out of the way before the guests appeared.

Here in southern Spain, they seem to hibernate and only appear in late June for a couple of weeks, and then dissapear, luckily they don't fly but they are an inch long. Now when I lived in South America, the roaches would fly all year round and they where bigger than an inch in body. You could be at the most luxurious place immaculately clean and they would just fly in and land on your dinner table .

Yesterday I showed you my stork, well today I am showing you their duplex, with an extra terrace for additional comfort .

I bet those storks think that pylon was put there for their benefit.

On the second floor down, to the left... is that the kids' room? Or the en suite?

LOL!¬ Hilarious
Flopsy I bet those flunkys all wore livery and bellboy hats , and the cockroaches too.

The first time I went to Hong Kong was for a four night stop on my way to Australia. I had got a ticket from a bucket shop - not sure if they have those now but most of the tickets were knock-off or staff tickets sold on the quiet - and I got an incredible bargain, which included an hotel room in HK. I assumed that everything would be cheap like the price so imagine my surprise when I was met at the airport by a chauffeur-driven white Mercedes limousine. I wished Dorothy Parker had been there to see it. And then, just to add to my sense of unreality, my ticket to Australia was upgraded to first class!

Although Bangkok beat it... there I got a personal tour guide as well as a car and chauffeur, lolol.

LOL Flopsy - I think it's the ensuite with jacuzzi and all!!

I am not sure if those bucket shops still exsist, mainly because everything is so computerized now, and it's not so easy to pass on staff tickets. Eventhough I have always worked in the travel industry, I have also picked up those fantastic deals in Asia, but that was many years ago, but they where brilliant!

Pray tell me when the season for flying cockroaches would be? I am phobic about flying insects.

It's been raining till today and only took a few photos I haven't uploaded yet, so meanwhile this where I parked to take a few photos around Brent Cross last time

Don't worry Sue, they like the hot weather. Christmas is cold.

A small broken mirror.

Szabs "Gees - Beautiful beach, but I am a bit confused with your statement " A day at the seaside is something that is not done anymore", living on the seaside myself, I find it hard to believe, because our beaches are always crowded."
Part of the reason is people now holiday in places like Spain where warm weather is certain, the north-east coast of England can be very cold even in summer,and the North Sea could never be called warm.
It is probably a sign of the times that you do not see many groups of children playing on the beach .I grew up from the age of 8 living less than 100 yards from the beach and we played on the beach summer and winter, in the summer on warm days we would be there from 9 in the morning till 6 or 7 in the evening. I do not suppose many parents would allow that, and the 11+ age group are too grown-up for such childish things

From Wallsend Hall Grounds

My Rose of Sharon is blooming.

Martin, that bed bug picture was hilarious. I had to show everyone at home!

View from the helicopter on the way to Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau

Partial view of Malaga city and port

Fans of the [allegedly] popular BBC soap 'Eastenders might recognise this scene on
which it is based. (Well SOMEONE must watch it, mustn't they?) It's the Queen Vic
pub with models of couple of the regular characters stood outside. (And out-acting
them as well IMHO.)



Sharp-eyed viewers might spot the TARDIS in the top left hand corner. Don't ask me
why it's there, it just was.
Incidentally, the picture is a little out of focus due to being behind glass, an
excuse I can't use every time.

There was a time when I watche "EastEnders" religiously, Martin, but I got over it I'm pretty sure I recognize those two in front of the Vic though!

A pair of these little birds were telling me off this afternoon, because I brought Precious too close to their tree. I put her in the house and returned with my camera.

The season is more advanced here in France than back home, and blackberries which to me are a fruit to pick in September, are already in full glory in the hedges and laneways near where I live. I had planned on collecting some today to make jam, only to discover on rising that it's pelting rain. I guess I'll have to wait for another fine day:

Here's my son showing off his booty, collected yesterday while walking the dog, complete with blackberry stained fingers and shorts (though you can't see them in the photo):

I got my first blackberries from the garden yesterday as well, and did expect it later. They arrived in Devon in early august but usually a bit later in London.

This is the view across Kingston from Richmond Park

My second grandson was born yesterday, and I am slowly coming back to earth!




The Williamstown Town Hall is undergoing an extensive and much- needed refurbishment.
Victoria experienced an amalgamation of councils several years ago, so the more modern Civic Centre of neighbouring Altona became the administrative centre of the new municipality (Hobson's Bay).
The lofty section at the back is the ballroom.
Mixed memories there - my first School Ball where I spent all night hoping my stockings wouldn't fall down. Several very boring school annual "Speech Nights".
Moving ahead many years, it was the location of my daughter's and son-in-law's wedding reception. We had hired a smaller room at the back, but because there was no prior booking for the ballroom, the administrator used her discretion and upgraded us at no extra charge.(I was a low-ranking Council employee at the time).
The decaying grandeur impressed the new in-laws, most of whom come from the leafy Eastern suburbs where we westies are frowned upon!

Congratulations on the grandson Auntie

Swan Hunters Shipyard Wallsend on Tyne. This was where the aircraft carrier Ark Royal was built.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/surface-fleet/aircraft-carriers/hms-ark-royal/



No longer a ship-building yard now just a drilling rig repair yard

What an event Auntie! Congratulations!

My father's pocket watch.

The Gateway to Chinatown in Newcastle