Great riverboat. There just has to be a gambler on board dressed like Bret Maverick charming all the ladies and winning all the money.

Just one thing- remember you're a Womble!

The church in Totteridge Village



At least now you can change the record

Ahhh, Christina, you made me think of Mr. Garner with that comment (may he rest in peace). I was in love with him for years lol

Somehow that sounds sort of like cheating to me, clever clogs!

Here's a pic of the Château of Haute Koenigsbourg, in the Alsace region of France. Perched on the top of a mountain, and built on the rock, it's a fantastic site to visit, with the most amazing views of the surrounding mountains and plains.

Looks as if it was built in the late 1800s (against some strong opposition!)
http://www.bythedart.co.uk/The%20Building%20of%20the%20Dartmouth%20Embankment/

Here it is from Kingswear on the other side of the River Dart.

That's beautiful, Santana.



View of Dubrovnik from the top.

That's lovely. I have always wanted to see Dubrovnik

Santana and Zorba need to get together and publish a travelogue book!

What do they use that boat for, Jake? Novelty nostalgic type cruises? It is fabulous.

That is quite a series of grand views! Very pretty buildings.:)

Today has been rainy and grey but the last week has been very hot and sunny and full of butterflies. Very cliched July. I would have preferred to snap the magnificent peacock butterfly that was fluttering all around me, but it is too quick for me, so ye olde small tortoiseshell it is...

I'm still missing Devon now, those were all familiar views.

This is one across Totteridge.

Thanks for the information Martin. I've often noticed that sometimes buildings that go up in the face of much protest end up as much loved features of the town. I think the Louvre pyramid is a shining example of that, and your lovely building seems to be much the same.

This is a white-tailed black cockatoo, one of many I found munching on my neighbour's tree when I came home from work the other day. As I got out of my car, I distinctly heard the crackling sound of fire. I couldn't see any visual signs of a fire so I listened for a moment and followed the sound, which led me to my neighbour's house where I discovered her trees filled with cockatoos. The sound they make as they crack the nuts with their beaks sounds exactly like a raging fire. Ran inside and got my camera. While I was taking photos, another neighbour came out of his house and said "I thought I heard a fire". You can see that this one has a nut in his beak - and he kept his eye on me the whole time that I was taking photos and tried to hide in the foliage.

Misty day on the Coromandel Peninsula, once again taken from the back seat of the car on the way back from Thames.

lovely pics everyone!

We have red tailed cockies on the river near here but I've never seen white ones, MG - very cool!

from Jakeroo


It's just a puppy thing. They're greenish at the moment and I'm pretty sure will be a light brown (judging by his mum) when he's a bit older. This is today .. at 10 weeks old. Not a great pic but it shows his eyes nicely

What a character! Why do I want to cry whenever I see him ?
So exceptionally cute.

And he really does have a gorgeous temperament. He hangs out with the goats and only looks at the chooks when they are wondering around him .. might have to watch him a bit more carefully when he's a bit older but for now it doesn't look like he wants to hurt anything.

Chip is just adorable!!!

Here's one of the 13th or 14th century fortified tower-gates in Rosheim, Alsace:

There are two types of white-tailed black cockatoos - short-billed (Carnaby's cockatoo) or long-billed (Baudin's cockatoo). Their natural distribution is quite small - the southwest portion of Western Australia. Both are listed as threatened/endangered species by the Australian Government Dept of the Environment. They are considered a pest by farmers, especially orchardists.

When we first moved into our house, we did not have neighbours, as we were the last house in the street and beyond us there was nothing but pine trees. They used to get in the pine trees and chew the cones, then drop them onto our front lawn. My daughter and I would go out and collect them by the basketful as they made great fire-starters for our slow-combustion stove.

Howie, I was quite surprised to see that the peninsula is named Coromandel. India's southeastern coast is also called Coromandel. It's the Portuguese name for the area derived from the original Cholamandalam (kingdom of the Chola dynasty).

I'm so glad that my hotel in Torquay wasn't up here.

Sharon, I think New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula is named after a ship, the 'HMS Coromandel' which arrived there in the early 1800's, possibly around 1820 but I am not sure of the exact year.

After last week's flowers I came across these (as well as the others, it was half and half) today on Ham Lands by the Thames, I think these are the wild tansy. I'd never even noticed them before they were mentioned.

How about another holiday shot for today?

Here's a (pretty poor) picture of the Astronomical Clock to be found in Strasbourg Cathedral. This clock is about 18 metres high, and is one of the largest in the world. In reality there's a lot more blue (and other colours) in there, but I only had a point-and-shoot camera with me, the lighting was poor and with hundreds of people in front of me waiting to see the figurines moving when the clock struck 3 O'clock, it was difficult to get a better angle:

Copago: okay thanks. I think he's going to be a handsome dog when he grows up, no matter what colour his eyes are : )

Chavs: In Savannah, the riverboats (at least when we were there) were all for sightseeing cruises (they offer different packages: moonlight cruises, dinner cruises, jazz cruises, murder mystery, civil war themes etc). The Georgia Queen has room for 600 passengers (not sure about lifeboats though lol). The first two decks on that one are dining areas. Upper deck is open to the air on the sides, for viewing/taking pictures. As far as I know, you can't gamble on any of the ones in Georgia, but there are a few on the Mississippi River on which you can.

Another old-looking building in Dartmouth. The local seller of black and white paint must be
the richest person in town.