So glad to be back. Thanks all for being so good while I took a break. Happy New Year and here's to a great set of your wonderful Photos!

Welcome back Sara!

In quickly with some new year fireworks. I realised stills weren't much use after looking back and switched to video, but you get the general idea.

On Christmas afternoon we were treated to several supercell storms in quick succession. Very scary stuff! I photographed the evening sky at the time my guests judged it safe to drive home. Apart from roof leaks, my home was undamaged, but several suburbs to the north had extensive property damage from large hailstones.

A wonderful picture, if a bit scary Auntie. Glad you are safe!

I havn't had much a chance to get out with the camera lately, so here is a shot of what my garden looked like at this time last year. It was about -13C daytime as well. Thankfully nothing so extreme this winter (well not so far anyway)

All the Best for the New Year everyone

First sunset of 2012

Auntie, that photo looks more like a painting. Very pretty.
(And I'm glad you didn't have more damage than you did.)

We found 4 of these beauties thrown onto the village rubbish tip. Repotted and perked up, they all survived. They cost about 10 pounds each, even here, at this time of year.

Lovely poinsettias Ren, what a fortunate find! In the same vein I have my eye on a small dog kennel which has been abandoned on a kerbside near me. It would make a good shelter for one of my chooks who needs a few days isolated in the Sin Bin to break her of perennial broodiness.

I'm always amazed by what people throw away!

Here's what Toronto looked like on Friday, around three in the afternoon when I was passing through on the train.

The A3 going through Claygate south of London

The silvery lutung, also known as the silvered leaf monkey or the silvery langur, at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, near Sandakan, Borneo.

Precious wants to wish everyone, including the silvery lutung, a Happy New Year!

Happy new year Precious!

Another straight road, but this one goes nowhere but to the field at the end of it and a muddy path through it we got half way along and had to turn back.

Happy New Year from my two ageing felines as well.
Liz, if I didn't know better, I'd swear Bijou was Precious' Evil Twin!

Funny how innocent looks mean not a thing. This is the villain who pulled down Xmas decs from the tree , batted them around the floor, tried to pull down the whole tree, and "thought that a plate of turkey on the coffee table was for her-honest".
Age means nothing either, Rosie is now 12.
evidence

They certainly could be twins, auntie! Wonder what mischief they're cooking up?

The moon has been clearly visible in the bright blue winter afternoon sky the last couple of days. It has also been very, very cold.

I love all the pictures of our feline friends. Here's Crookshanks chewing on the tinsel as we were trying to dismantle the tree.

A friend of mine has just opened a gallery in rural Tasmania where she sells her own range of teddy bear creations together with dolls, jewellery and photography by local artisans.
I'm about to gladden the hearts of five little relatives with these zipper bags, meant for storing treasures. The pink one has a cord for use as a girl's handbag.

The rural path from Monday where we had to turn back at this point due to the mud.

I expect Crookshanks thought he was "helping" I love the Teddy bear bags!

Here's Precious this afternoon. It wasn't really very cold, but she always wants me to know just how she feels about putting her feet in the snow.

A rather impressive Sainsburys supermarket in Chingford

I was rather pleased with this photo I took from a moving vehicle whilst we were travelling through Sabah. It turned out much better than I thought it would.

We saw a lot of water buffalo, always surrounded by egrets. The egrets have a commensal relationship with the water buffalo, feeding on insects and small vertebrates disturbed by buffalo in the grass.

Yes we have egrets. When I first came here there were buffalo in use for ploughing,etc , not now, and they are now wandering around in such 'wild' as is left, occasionally straying onto the main road and causing a hazard.
Poor Precious! I might knit her some boots.

I told Precious about the boots, ren, and she said "Meow!" Looking again at the pictures of kitties with Christmas decorations reminded me that I had some taken on my little camera that weren't on the computer yet. Here's one of them.

For anyone who hasn't been to England, here is a typical suburban view, another from yesterday's visit to Chingford.

'Cheers' to the New Year to all of you:



Impossible to visit Belgium without sampling some beer ... LOTS of beer (in a pub on the Groenmarkt (vegetable market), Ghent)

Lots of felines time for a canine. Mollie in inquisitive mood

Mollie is just lovely!

I spotted these birds this afternoon as my bus crossed a bridge. I then walked along the river path to get some photos of them on their little ice floe.

Awww! Maybe I should knit them boots too?

Typical 1960s houses, nothing built like these any more unfortunately.



edited the number plate!

That would be lots and lots of boots, Ren!

Here's tonight's evening sky.

Just another view familiar to me all my life, although the road is far wider and the industrial estate fairly new it's somewhere I've gone through many times in both its versions, the North Circular Road in Edmonton.

Some people were obviously fed up with the regular display of christmas lights (Ghent, Belgium) and decided to take things into their own hands (or feet?) in this unique fasion:



You can't say they haven't got a sense of humour in any case

I spotted trainers over wires in Sheffield too, in a student area. Apparently it is a student thing.

The moon as seen through my sister's patio doors yesterday evening.

Unfortunately in London trainers on wires are to show the boundary of a gang. I remember seeing the first ones on Chamberlayne Road in Willesden in 1986 on the way to college. I don't know if they were specifically but the others I've seen around since probably were.

This sign contains a history lesson, and is incredibly rare. These were not made after 1963, and although footpath signs were generally made locally rather than to a national design but nearly all were thin green fingerposts which are still quite common as there are so many footpaths. I came across a photo of one panel type near me but had just vanished before I could take a photo, and was the same thin strip as the fingerpost but without a pointed end. This I came across today was a full size sign, and the third I'd found in Enfield so presumably something they made themselves based on the standard road name plates. The other two (one found today as well) just said 'public footpath' with an arrow underneath, and have left and right now, but this was the footpath equivalent of an old direction sign.

Lady thinks I should have posted her photo before one of Mollie

Lady is beautiful too!

This is what passes for rush hour in downtown Belleville.

Gosh, Liz, remind me to post the contrasting one of Central Hong Kong!
David that sign is very evocative of my youth. Great . Keep the signs coming!And Gees , ditto the pics of Molly and Lady. Lovely!

Funny you should say that, despite having a T junction on my own block till maybe 2005 long after I'd moved away I never thought to take a photo, and just found a tiny blurry image of it in the background of one by sheer chance. The red triangle warning signs, despite being in the millions, were the second to go after the red circle signs I don't even remember, but hung around well into the 80s before finally fizzling out to a bare minimum. As a result my project which started in 2008 only found three, two with pictures although one was missing a corner, and one with just text. I was still searching on Streetview over the weekend as I continue to do, and found this beauty on military land in deepest Surrey. Someone's squashed the triangle but otherwise like new.

Lucky thinks Lady and Mollie are mighty fine looking ladies!

Gnawra thinks it's unfair being tied up when the workmen are here and she thinks the cold weather should go away.

Lucky looks mighty fine too! Poor Gnawra, though. Precious understands, because she goes in her "house" when workmen come.

I went for a walk this afternoon, and the bus came along and posed for me.

Keep those suburban views coming Liz, yours remind me of England in some ways but just a bit different.

This is part of the massive army training ground on Surrey Heath

Winter arrived today, in the form of ice on all the trees, bushes, roads, houses - everything. Actually the roads were passable. This photo was taken around two in the afternoon.

Now that one definitely reminds me of England, David!
Liz, in response to "Rush hour in downtown Belleville"
Here is Rush Hour in Central HK!

Oh, goodness! I'll take my version any day, ren.

Ren, where are the motorbikes? In Athens, they clearly thought that the lane markers were there to designate a cycle-only lane...

We did the Mount Kinabalu Park Canopy Walk, which involved a 30-minute trek up the mountain in the pouring rain (it just about killed me). The Canopy Walk is about 160 metres long and about 30-40 metres high off the ground (41 metres at its highest point). It did wonders for my acrophobia. (Wait until you see tomorrow's follow-up picture - I must have been insane!)

The M25 motorway near Cheshunt

Yesterday it was ice, today the snow came. I was surprised at how much Precious seemed to be enjoying the snow, digging in it, stalking around to the back yard (with me in tow), asking to go out twice. She seemed to be having fun, but when she'd had enough she went straight to the door and yowed to go back in!

Oh MotherGoose, NO thanks, never!
Oh Precious, NO thanks, never!

Dona Paula, Goa

Heavenly, Sharon! Is that a Portuguese nunnery or similar?
I always think of Goa as just beaches. So lovely.

A typical country pub right on the north edge of London. I didn't go in, I was just taking photos.

Lovely view of Goa! Satguru, that pub reminds me of one I used to know, but it was south of London.

Here's today's snowy picture, before the sidewalk plough had been along.

The pub looks lovely, David. Sara, it's a family owned private beach resort. I don't know if it was just a family house or something else before it was turned into a hotel.



Just happened to chance upon this big guy cooling off in the river. He was fast asleep.

Ren, if you didn't like the last photo, don't look at this one!

After I completed the canopy walk, Maynooth kindly drew my attention to the fact that many of the knots holding the bridge together were unravelling. They should look like the knot on the right. Unfortunately, far too many of them looked like the knot on the left. Good thing I didn't notice this while on the walk or I would have had a heart attack.

What a wonderful photo of the elephant!

Love the photo of the elephant! Do not want to do what MG and Maynooth did, even if the knots are perfect. No-no-no.

Here's Precious, engaging in a favourite game of "What do you mean, I'm in the way? Me? Never?"

You didn't need to look at that corner of the screen anyway.

Yes and I'd much rather look at Precious.

The North Downs from Bookham



Precious looks more like Lucy every time I see her, even the white socks are the same. It brings back some good memories. The pub was near Crews Hill which is on the edge of Enfield but it's a very common style everywhere.

You forgot to add...and those knots!

Looking down at the jungle floor from the canopy walk.

We have a new one in Kew Gardens, I did get half way up... Maybe next time?

Mother Goose, please STOP IT!I do not want to look at knots, or drops or rope bridges. Thankyou!

I'm with Ren, enough of the dizzying heights!

It wasn't such a bitter cold day today, and Precious enjoyed the snow a bit more. One of the neighbour cats had walked around to our back deck, and Precious followed the trail, stepping daintily in the other cat's paw prints, and sniffing like a dog.

Okay, okay, I can take a hint!

Here we are, safe on the ground! When I was doing Botany at university (back in the 1970s), I learned about the Rafflesia flower and it fascinated me. I've always wanted to see one. The Rafflesia is fairly rare and it is the world's biggest flower, at about 1 metre (39 inches) in diameter. It takes 15 months to grow, then flowers for only about 6 days. It smells like rotting meat (that is the flower's way of attracting insects such as flies for pollination). Because of the smell, it is sometimes called a corpse flower or a meat flower.

When we visited the park, we were advised that there were none around. Luckily, however, we did manage to find one! The round black things are buds. This flower was 85 cm (34 inches)in diameter.

Well I suppose stinky plants is a step in the right direction!
No seriously MG thats super, so huge!What an incredible thing.

Sunset over Golders Green

That's a very lovely sunset over good old Golders Green!

I agree, beautiful sunset!

Today we had warmer temperatures, but also rain and fog...



(This photo was taken just after noon.)

Glad you enjoyed seeing Golders Green again Sara, I was just coming back from Hampstead Heath and it hit me, and pulled over to take photos. The prints looked impressive as well.

Here's an architect designed house near where I used to live in Hampstead Garden Suburb. I think they all are there. Ours was art deco but this is more arts and crafts and would probably cost about £4 million.

Tonight I used one of my Christmas stocking stuffers (pictured) and saw the local junior hockey team lose 3-2 in what was quite an entertaining game. I took a few photos at the game on my little (old) camera, but they are not very good (and have people in them) so the ticket will tell the tale

Hampstead Heath without leaves

Great Pics as always, David!

Could not resist taking this picture of Lady earlier today. She just looks so settled and comfortable and so not interested in going out

Awww! That's exactly how I feel,sitting at my desk, supposed to be working!

View over Kota Kinabalu (Borneo) from Signal Hill.

Mollie joining in the comfortable and happy to stay here group

Thanks Sara!

St Jude's church from the northern end of Hampstead Heath



We could see this from the back of our house and was built at the highest point of the area so it could be seen from as far around as possible. It comes into view here by West Hendon Broadway and from a wonderful view from the flyover at Brent Cross across the heath and towards the woods in Highgate.

A friend that we meet on walks quite often

Children's pool at the resort. The bucket fills up with water and then tips over every few minutes.

Front entrance ready for CNY which starts tomorrow.

Coolcat90 and I went to a day spa and had a "Borneo Therapy" which consisted of a head to toe massage and being slapped hard with these little bags of steamed herbs (seven herbs including nutmeg, red ginger, betel leaf, and lemongrass) and oil.

The original national signs were standardised in 1933, and this is one of the originals, and may be even older although the specific format continued till 1963 with slight alterations.

This Lion was rushing past on the way to the temple this morning,obviously overslept. I didnt have time to get outside in the road, so forgive the bars!They all went to perform lion dances for good luck in the coming year.

I've never come across friendly sheep in a field before, but you can see these all came to see me as soon as I arrived. The flash went off though when I took this and seemed to put all but one off coming much further.

An almost picture When I pressed the button Mollie had her head up when the shutter opened this was the result



I have lots of pictures of the dogs disappearing like this, is this some kind of natural instinct?

Probably biscuit crumbs from whoever was sitting in the chair. My cat always sat in front of me when I was eating waiting for something to arrive whichever way it did. Pizza appeared to be the favourite.

Some of the interesting things on display in my favourite store.

A rural scene in Mill Hill

The River Klias, Borneo. We took a sunset cruise upriver to see monkeys and then, when it got dark, fireflies.

A snake charmer at Ajmer Fort, Rajasthan

This is the new holocaust memorial garden in Hendon Park

Unusual sight a boat with a puncture. Is this being left high and dry or just wheely unlucky?

Plane tree fruit in sunny Hendon yesterday afternoon

Today it decided to be winter and we got some nice, fluffy, white snow that stuck prettily to the trees. It never shows up as well in photos as I'd like it to.

The Alcazar in Seville

Signs of Spring in the garden today

What it looked like here last week. I took this photo from my livingroom window. The barren open spot is actually a frozen pond.

Welcome! That's a lovely scene

Crusader bug (or Holy Cross bug) in my garden.

"I do NOT like the cold weather"

Welcome Tori, I see we share a birthday of sorts! So I will wish you happy FT birthday.

These sort of scenes may be common elsewhere but in Britain maybe in single figures for more than a few in the same place. London's added many more in the last decade or so, but the one place with them for most of my life is Croydon. The best views are off the flyover where you can't walk or stop, but this is the edge of the office block area.

This is where we began and ended our river cruise. It was actually quite dark (sky-wise) when I took this photo upon our return. Not sure what I did to make it come out so light.

Did someone mention old road signs? It's been a really good month, I was driving through deepest Surrey minding my own business when I came across this beauty. The red sign is the new replacement for a hill with gradient and red triangle above, but the low gear instruction is the original that came with it and as still needs to be followed has been kept. This is the first one I've found outside Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire so extremely lucky one came my way as well.

Frosted Leaves

I am closing this one some time today . Its been a great month for pics as usual. Thanks all!

Here's a wintry picture for the end of the month. Poor bird was looking for some open water.

Satguru,

It has taken me days of pondering to figure out our "birthdays"!

I looked at your profile to see if your bday was Nov. 16, I looked at the days we joined ft and again no match.

Happy belated REAL birthday and thank you for welcoming me to FT on my new birthday.

I've enjoyed all the posted pictures. Its nice to see the world through others eyes.

Tori

Thanks Tori! As there was a cake on my profile for the day as long as you saw it before Monday you'd have seen what I meant, as when I arrived I saw you'd just registered on the same day and posted just ahead of me. But you worked out the puzzle and that's what brought most of us here in the first place.

My FT birthday is now in just over two weeks, and will be 12. I think some would say they just can't get rid of me that easy