Here's a photo of "Paddy", or, to give him his proper name, Paddington Bear. Paddington was made for my Twins nieces (he must be nearing his 20's now) but when they outgrew him, he came to me Mum knitted him a new duffle, hats and boots seeming his original clothes were either lost or not suitable for him any more, and knitted him a suit case too. A luggage label completes his outfit.

Post deleted by djsgal

This is my local church - St. Margaret's, which is just a 5 minute walk away. The towers were started in about 1150 and added to in 14th century, the final improvements and enlargements being completed in 16th century, making it as big as some cathedrals. It was larger than it is today - storm damage, war and road widening have reduced it's size.

bhs, I've been a bit of a celebrity follower some time now, and although I've got loads of autographs I've got no decent photos. Maybe that'll be one of my next projects.

Here is a garden in Temple Fortune. Ten years ago palms like this were almost unknown in Britain and now they are everywhere. And it was freezing so I don't believe our weather is responsible...

djsgal, I have downloaded that song by Johnny Cash to my iPod and it cracks me up everytime I listen to it. I've been meaning to check off all the places he mentions just to see how many I have been to.

I went to Hillary for President rally today. She wasn't there, but Bill was! Our primary is Saturday, so this will be it on political pics -- at least until the general election.

Wednesday's travels included a stop at the "Big Mac Museum Restaurant" in North Huntingdon, PA, just off the PA Turnpike near Pittsburgh.

Jim Delligatti, one of the first McDonald's franchisees, thought up the Big Mac in 1965 and fiddled with the "recipe" until he convinced Ray Kroc (McD's founder) to let him try selling it. The first one sold for 45¢ in 1967 in Uniontown, PA, 40 miles south of North Huntingdon. Big Macs are now sold in more than 120 countries. The museum is integrated into the seating area of the McDonald's and has good-quality displays of stuff including a big timeline showing the sandwich's history, an old bun toaster, a display of the wrapper's evolution, and a bunch of plates, trinkets, and McD's memorabilia. It is interesting, but a little strange -- a lot of hullabaloo about a sandwich. I guess it has been a pretty influential sandwich, though I have had only one, many years ago -- and had to toss the pickles and scrape off the "special sauce."

Mr. Delligatti, shown above in bronze immortality, is now 89 or 90 years old, eats a Big Mac at least once a week, and is reportedly quite spry and healthy, and shows up routinely at his family's string of eighteen McD's.

I have spent much of today printing photos and otherwise getting ready for an all day crop that my sister and I are going to tomorrow. This is a fairly tidy version of what 'getting ready' looks like.

I don't know, no sooner do we get the Christmas decorations down and it's time to put these up for CNY.

Lucky Fish everywhere!

This is a random view of the shops in Finchley Road, Temple Fortune. I worked in one further down for 5 years.

I took my grand-daughter cycling in the nearby Lea Valley Regional Park today, on the new bike we've just bought for her birthday.

picqero,
Lovely granddaughter! I went through most of the site for the park and it looks fabulous. What a nice place to go and either relax or burn up a lot of calories! I love your Lucky Fish too, ren! Sandy

This could be deliciously enticing or revolting, depending on one's view of fast-food burgers.

Either way, it is a very, very big Big Mac.

All of this is reminding me of a photo my sister showed me today, of her husband and his buddy waiting for the ladies at a McDonald's - in France!

Here are some icicles on a bush.

Here is a 240 bus from Edgware to Golders Green stopping in Hendon. If anyone knows what the weird rails are on the roof please let me know, the only theory I heard was to move branches out of the way but they don't look like that to me.

This is an image of my daughter's Lilac Point Siamese:



Looks a softie but he's quite intimidating at times as he tries to nip (not too hard, but enough to set one on edge!)

another image here:

What a gorgeous creature! He has an egyptian look.

Really, what a fantastic looking cat, lilyalli!

Interesting history and photos of the Big Mac, Kapuskasing!

Yesterday, we drove through freezing fog through most of Oklahoma. These trees have ice on them from the fog. Less than an hour later it was sunny and 57 degrees F.

Beautiful cat, lilyalli! I would do whatever he told me to do!

My sister has perimeter lights in her front yard that change from red to green to blue to white continuously. They're Christmas lights, really, but because of the snow and frozen ground, can't be changed for the everyday lights just yet.

Anyway, a combination of a longish exposure and just the right amount of camera shake ( ) produced this image of one going from red to green.

All the roundabouts between my village and town are nicely covered in petunias.

Southern California is being hit by some heavy rain storms causing flooding throughout the area. This was a small break in the storm yesterday between Arizona and Los Angeles on Interstate 40.

Right along with ClaraSue's photo - yes, we've had lots of storms in the last couple of weeks, and today the wind is blowing like crazy. Have you ever noticed that garbage day and strong wind make for an unpleasant mix? Add a couple of ravens, and ta da - breakfast is served at my neighbor's house. This could also go along with picqero's "pollution" theme suggestion!



Sorry for the blurry image - I took this from my upstairs window and had to use extreme close-up.

Another image from the nearby Lea Valley Regional Park
Black Swans originate from Australia, and have been brought to Britain for many years, for zoos and private collections. Some, like these two fine specimens, escape and seem to manage very well in our climate.

The sweet stalls in the market are full of colourful candies. I will post my traditional sweet box here tomorrow.

Here is a rather unusual pair of houses in Highgate.