There now, you've made me hungry and homesick!

Me too, liz, and I'm not even Spanish! LOL

Beachy head from Seaford

In my part of the world it is an oddity to see a shingle beach. Now I understand why deck chairs and sun beds are popular in the UK!
Beachy Head is very impressive.




Thankfully, my foraging hens did not destroy all the orchid flowers. This one was out of their reach.

OOh thats a lovely orchid, Auntie. What is it called?

It's one of the huge range of cymbidium orchids Ren, but I don't know its cultivar name.

I had my 50th birthday party on a narrowboat. I hired it for the day, we had a buffet lunch on board, and my friends tell me they still regard it as the best birthday party ever. This boat takes people out for an hour or so:

This is from the Virginia part of my vacation. We rode the Creeper Trail - one day we rode from Damascus to Abingdon and back (34 miles round trip) and then the next day we rode the shuttle to the top of the mountain and rode the 17 miles down. It's an old railroad that has been turned into a very awesome trail, and it parallels the Appalachian Trail for a good part of it. This is one of the trestles we crossed over:

That is spectacular! I'm so used to completely flat beaches here.

It is spectacular... but that's not Beachy Head, it's Seaford Head. East of Seaford Head lie the Seven Sisters - a range of even more spectacular chalk cliffs at the edge of the South Downs - and beyond them lies Birling Gap, then Belle Tout, and then Beachy Head, the most spectacular of all. I've walked the Seven Sisters and my feet still bear the scars!

I took this shot from the 'Top Of The Rock' observation deck at the Rockefeller Centre. This
is looking down towards the south of Manhattan, you can see the Empire State building top
centre of the picture. Not a place for those with no head for heights, even though there is a
thick piece of perspex to prevent anyone getting too close to the edge.

I haven't posted a picture in a while. My internet/computer was acting up. I got a new camera! A Nikon D3000; I love it so much! Here's a picture from my new camera. I love food dye.

Oops, you beat me to the correction Flopsy, I'd never been to Seaford before and only seen Beachy head via Eastbourne, and already got a message telling me that before I came here. But from distant memories I think it looks just as impressive.

This is from the top of a steep slope in the woods in Esher.

Let's see it for September springtime!

I took this picture back in April - looking across the last turning place before boats commit themselves (or not) to the Northampton Arm, a stretch of canal which is only four miles long but has 17 locks to get through. Once you start on the Arm there's no going back.

Do I really need to tell you what building this is?


(Bad timing on my part, King Kong had just disappeared around the
other side of the building. )

This is such a COOL house! As you enter Damascus, VA from the west you'll see this house. It is owned by Nancy Lamb who founded Iron Mountain Pottery. Notice the door on the second floor?

I've seen a couple of buildings with upstairs doors as well, and still can't understand why.

Are you looking at me?

Really interesting photos - I love the variety

Here's a bearded dragon my son caught.

"I've seen a couple of buildings with upstairs doors as well, and still can't understand why."


Not sure if this is true, but I asked the same question once and was told that it was so you could exit the house when the snow piled up that high, as it often did in winter.

Actually it also makes sense when you consider that it would give easy access for maintenance, cleaning windows etc.

No I'm not coming down

We went to a wildlife park where this cockatoo had escaped from his cage and was resisting all attempts to bribe, cajole, or otherwise get him down and back in.

Maybe he wants to be a voice coach. There's a news article today about escaped birds teaching their wild cousins how to speak.

My previous picture showed the start of the Northampton Arm, which connects the Grand Union Canal with the River Nene which flows from the west of the county, almost in the very centre of England, to The Wash. Today's picture shows a narrowboat making its way east on the river towards the sea although it will have to turn off before it gets that far - narrowboats aren't built for waves.

The discussion about doors in apparently odd places reminded me of something. The company I
work for moved to an industrial estate a few years back. One day, one of the secretaries
looked at the building across the road and made a comment about something being dangerous.
When asked what she meant, she pointed to the warehouse door of the building which was open.
'If someone uses the small door, they'll fall down to the ground' she said, meaning the access
door within the main door, as seen on the photo below. She didn't realise that there was nothing
behind the door when it was raised.


(The story could be explained better I know. Hope you see what I'm getting at.
True story BTW.)

Flopsy, that photo is lovely!

Still in Virginia, the trail rides along through fields, along the river, and sometimes right across someone's front lawn! Someone took some felled trees and turned them into planters. I thought they were a lovely place to stop for a few minutes and relax.

I went out to raid the ripe thorn-less blackberries we have at the end of the garden and was eating a few when this dragonfly made an appearance. It must like blackberries too.

It's the first time I've felt the need to reach for the camera in ages. I had to crop the image otherwise it couldn't be seen, especially the wings. Such a delicate and beautiful creature:

Thank you, Alex, it's very nice of you to say so.

The poor cocky looks a bit dishevelled! Can't blaming him for wanting to stay out.

The boy is having to write a story for school and he is doing a Star Wars one and has set up his lego to play out the scenes for illustrations. I'm told this is Captain Rex and Cody discussing how they went in the battle that just took place.

Great pictures, as usual!
I'm particularly enjoying flopsymopsy's series of narrowboats.




A friend in Tasmania has organised a group of women to knit or crochet beanies or to donate yarn to those who do. The beanies are destined for a food van which assists homeless folk in Hobart.
I have lots of yarn left over from other projects, and I like to keep busy while watching television, so this collection will soon be winging its way across Bass Strait.

Some colour in Hampstead Garden Suburb