There was a chalk art contest here today. Here is one of the entries

Winston likes it when his Nanny comes to visit. Amongst other things, she shares her chicken sandwich with him!

Hi I've been away on holiday for a week and took about 200 photos. Just got back today and need time to sort through them all.
There have been great photos posted while I was away. My husband and I did a trip around the South Island of New Zealand and visited a lot of family and friends. The is a fountain in Timaru where my husband had a lot of holidays as a child. He remarked how some of the places we visited seem to be smaller from what he remembered as a child.

Johnstons opened its first mill in 1797, this is the visitor centre that opened a couple of months ago, in Elgin. Johnstons are the only mill in Britain to take cashmere from raw fibre to the finished article. Brands such as Pringle actually get their yarn from Johnstons.

It's a sunny and warm afternoon here. The garden is buzzing with life. I came across this largish butterfly (a Red Admiral I think) sunning itself on an ivy plant. It wouldn't oblige with the perfect pose but I got some quite good shots. The photo's background is cropped but you still have to get in close with the camera on macro to get the detail. This is where a high megapixel number camera counts. Not only was there this butterfly on the ivy but there were also lots of bees and wasps to buzz around my hands. Us wildlife photographers laugh in the face of danger though.



Link to a larger photo (different photo of the same butterfly).

Wow, beautiful pics, TW! I'm just going to have to get a different camera so I can get good close-ups like that.

In nearby Waltham Abbey, where king Harold is interred, they've been holding a 'King Harold week-end'. Children from local schools have made tapestries, paintings, etc depicting events from Harold's life, the best known of course being his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 during the Norman invasion.
This is one of the tapestries, a copy of part of the famous Bayeux Tapestry.

That is lovely work, Picqero.
In front of the Conrad Hotel on HK Island is this group of statues. Fascinating studies of local people at work,rest and play.

some more
the whole group

Interesting photos, all - welcome back, Peggy!

We decorated for Halloween yesterday. Here's one display of miniature houses that I love to put up.



Closer shot of trick-or-treaters

A little poetic licence today. I felt sorry for the train couped up in an overcrowded shed at the Steam Museum so I took it out and put it in the fresh air!



This is the original photograph, untouched.

Very clever, Sue !

Katt often relaxes under the cobbler's bench. Here he seems to be wondering why there's no food in his dish. I think he was also saying, "Hey! Enough dog pictures, already - I'm cute too, take one of me!"

On our second night we arrived in Kiakora to low cloud and a few rain showers. In the morning we opened the curtains and this is what we saw what a great way to start the day.

Sue, the new-found freedom the train has will probably make it go completely off the rails!

Here is another photo taken while on the Sunday afternoon look around the garden:

Excellent beetle shot, tellywellies..is that a yellow ladybug?

Here are my snapdragons, who are loving the cooler weather we've been having.

Superb shot TW, I'm amazed you managed to maintain the depth of field focus at such a close-up!
It looks definitely to be a Harlequin ladybird, a highly invasive species introduced from Asia to Europe and North America about 20 years ago. There's an official survey monitoring the spread of this ladybird, and digital recordings are requested.
You can participate in this survey at Harlequin_survey

My own offering for the day is this image of a grey squirrel, another introduced species, stopping off at his local 'fast food restaurant' - the park waste bin

Thanks picqero - I didn't realise there was anything unusual about the ladybird apart from the colour. I have participated in the survey and sent the above photo to them (they request this if there is one).

The photo was taken from about 1 foot away with the camera on its macro setting. It was a bright afternoon so the lighting was good. The background of the photo has been cropped away so that the 320 x 240 pixel photo consists almost entirely of the ladybird.

While out walking one night, I heard noises coming from the trash dumpster next to a motel. I got my camera, turned on the flash, pointed it into the bin, and took a series of photos. Since it was dark out, I couldn't see into the bin and didn't know of what I was taking pictures. I had an idea it was raccoons, though. I was right, but didn't know how many until I got home. If you look closely here you can see that there were actually five raccoons in there. The one in the back, behind the one standing, left me in tears from laughing so hard.

Oh how cute! (Well, until they start strewing the trash all over the place and eating your pet's food. )
Are they babies? They look young, maybe a whole litter? Perhaps mom was nearby watching them at their feeding lessons.
Or maybe they're just skinny.

I never saw a mom nearby, but they were babies - and awfully cute. I watched them over the course of several nights after this was taken and they made a mess every night.

They are adorable, the ornery little guys!

They do look sweet at that age, don't they?

I liked the way the sunlight caught this web at the side of my garden shed, just a few minutes ago.



It shows up better in this larger version.

Gnawra had a bath ready for her photo shoot for the pets thread. She doesn't mind, especially the massage part.

The mermaids are gathering from their respective places about town. They get auctioned off the end of next week.