Sorry for the delay... now post away!

A very busy but colourfully cluttered quay at Brixham here in south Devon.

The beautiful Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus... These wonderful birds can be difficult to get close to - the last time I attempted to stalk a mating pair, I ended up waist deep in icy lake water - but this specimen was very accommodating and swam right up to my hide... Wonderful creatures.

The orange and yellow summer theme in the local park has been replaced with primroses.

The Goosander, Mergus merganser... This is the male and the female of the species. Any guesses as to which one is the female?

The ingredient of the day in the Author's Kitchen is daikon. Some people mentioned that they had never seen any.

Come to Las Vegas!

Here is another shot of Podiceps cristatus, the Great Crested Grebe. This is the male adopting a mating posture. Both sexes perform a most intricate dance on the water which includes bubbling, head bobbing and the giving and receiving of gifts of weed and fish, all performed with most amazing elegance.

This young Buzzard has become something of a local celebrity. Unlike other Buzzards that spend hours soaring in search of their food, this canny bird has realised that it is far easier to find yourself a nice perch just above a pond and feast upon the frog population. Frogs must be very nourishing as this bird is very active and very well fed. I have pictures taken just before it flew off after despatching its latest victim; I won't post them here in order to avoid distressing some of our more sensitive readers!

The Shell garage in Norbiton

Another view of Brixham harbour here in sunny Devon. This is a view of a (not particularly accurate) replica of the 'Golden Hind', the vessel used by Sir Francis Drake in his travels around the globe. It actually proved to be quite a draw for tourists in the area and also forms a focal point for the Brixham 'Pirate Festival', an event that takes place towards the end of April and the beginning of May each year and which attracts amateur and professional 'pirates' from around the world to the town for a weekend of fun, eating and drinking... Predominately drinking!

This was one of the landmarks on the way to my grandma's house in Ilford till 1975. I remember the entire route like my own house.

Another great landmark on my journey to Ilford a mile from the last one, Walthamstow Town Hall.

This is a local landmark in the town of Paignton, Devon, known as 'The Big Tree'. It is all that remains of a 140 year old Cypress tree that stood nearly 100 feet in height. During roadworks in the late 1990s it was discovered that the tree was dying and the local council took the decision to cut it down much to the consternation of the local population. The faces and seating were carved into the stump in 2001 and the Big Tree now provides a welcome break for anyone walking in the area.

From the Big Tree to the tiny iris.

A 1960s office block in Luton

This is the view across the City of Bristol from the top of Cabot's Tower, a popular location for walking and family picnics, looking in a south-westerly direction towards Brunel's great steamship the SS 'Great Britain'.

I tried to poke my camera up the nostrils of some daffodils yesterday but most of them turned away in disgust and kept their heads down.

Begorra, begorra, let the celebrations begin!

A church in Luton

Crocuses are much more helpful than daffodils when it comes to displaying their tonsils:

Back in December 2016, I posted an image of a master thatcher hard at work on the roof of the old mill building in Cockington village just outside Torquay here in Devon. His job is done and the building itself, and a few others in the village, are now complete and looking resplendent with their new thatched rooves. Not only has the old mill got a new roof but a renovation project has now resulted in a fully functioning water wheel which can just be seen in the centre of the picture.

Sadly, someone has seen fit to turn this lovely old building into an ice-cream parlour... What a shame with a great opportunity missed!

Well to me it would depend on the ice cream. Hockings for instance and they can do what they want..... yum!

This is the Old Forge, another old building in the village of Cockington. This has also recently had its thatched roof replaced; the style of decoration along the rooves of the buildings in Cockington is unique to this area with many buildings in the village finished with various creatures such as a brace of pheasants, songbirds and in the case of this one, a fox chasing a hare up to the ridge from the eaves.

The Old Forge is a very, very old building with records of it in existence in the Domesday Book; It is highly likely to have existed for hundreds of years prior to the Domesday Book being compiled under the orders of William the Conqueror which was finally completed in 1086.

This lovely old building now earns its keep as a popular gift shop.

Hi Ren... I would imagine that the ice-cream will be good quality and made locally, albeit very expensive!

I just think that there are few enough old agricultural buildings still in existence and being used for their original purpose, and they're becoming fewer and fewer all the time. There aren't that many really interesting attractions in the Torbay area anymore and I think that a genuine, working old mill would've attracted more visitors to the area than a run-of-the-mill (please excuse the pun!) ice-cream parlour.

If you're lucky you may catch a shop where they've taken off the current name to reveal the original one. I just spotted this one in Hendon.