....and here is bird masqurade

Me and Mum love jigsaws - especially Christmas ones. Here is our latest one just completed, a Waddingtons jigsaw, they bring out a limited edition each year

Looks to be a nice jigsaw Jane. I used to buy a couple of new jigsaws every Christmas; maybe I should start doing so again!
OnimisiB, those stiltwalkers dressed in yellow in the background of your photo look very interesting, and very skilled too. Did you get a closer image of them?
This is one of our local 'doubledecker' buses; this one runs to North London.

How many pieces has the jig-saw got? I don't know what sort of flower this is. It's a very attractive one though.

It has 1000 pieces, wouldn't attempt anything more or anything less

Another view across the lake. This is the bit where you can hire a pedalo, have your wedding photos taken, knock golfballs into the water ( a seemingly ridiculous occupation I would think) or peoplewatch in general.

Late afternoon sunshine on a nearby apartment building, on a very cold winter's day...

Many years ago, my Dad;s sister visited another brother in South Africa. She brought me back a selection of precious gemstones, which were glued onto cardboard. Eventually Mum had them framed and they are now on my bedroom wall.

This metal puzzle was included with a grandchild's Christmas presents. He didn't seem interested in it, probably because it doesn't turn on and make bleeping noises. I used to really like these when I was a boy. Not surprising that I played with this one for a while then. I can do it quickly now and miss the challenge .

One of the smartly dressed commissionaires at the Burlington Arcade in Picadilly - every bit as smart as the guards outside Buckingham Palace!

It's still as cold as....well it's just COLD!!!!! So here is a photo from the sculpture garden in our city park this summer.





It was so warm that day. Oh well, we are off to Hawaii for two weeks this Wednesday. I'll think of all of you that are in the northern climates as I bask on the beach.

My kids had a ball yesterday playing mudbaths in the vegetable plot with rainwater which had gathered in some buckets outside.

Needless to say Mum was less impressed when they let Dog romp through the house before being bathed!!!
The kids, freshly showered that morning, had to go through it all a second time at the end of the afternoon, which didn't go down too well either



My washing machine was worth it's weight in gold too, after the mudbath. It worked overtime in the garage while we all ate pancakes and drank hot chocolate in the cosy (and CLEAN) kitchen.

Picqero, the bus to Turnpike Lane has such memories, we usually picked my grandma up there every week till I was 15 on the 144 from Ilford.

Here is Staples Corner from just opposite Brent Cross in Cricklewood.

Katt and Winston were manning their lookout posts this afternoon. I often find them like this when I come in from being out somewhere, but this afternoon they just wanted to look out the window.

This is the closest I could get...

I cleaned my piano today

Here is a picture of the keys before:



and after

This mornings sunrise.



Here's hoping it's not a sailors warning

Larger pic, from downstair window.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa315/deadlydalton/CIMG0441-1.jpg

Gosh that is gorgeous DD!
Here is another run up to CNY photo , from the Flower Market. I can't remember what the yellow gourd things are called, but they are very lucky as they signify happy family groups.

Looked out this am to see this - I believe it probably came in at high tide across the Wash from Lincolnshire where there has been some flooding, and deposited itself right outside - the river is full of debris and grass today. There's no access at this spot, so expect it will just get broken up on the next tide. We have been lucky - no flooding here. I feel for the poor families who have to suffer all this repeated damage to their properties.

I am quite high up, so it's larger than it appears.

Feeding frenzy at my neighbour's bird feeder, as seen through my computer room window, just a few minutes ago.

That's some sky DD, though could almost be from a disaster movie, and lilyalli I found that image kinda spooky. My friend's son was drowned while moving a yacht across the Wash, sadly a graveyard for may vessels. Both fascinating images anyway!
The South Bank of the River Thames is a great location for graffiti artists, or maybe it should really be 'graffito' artists when there's only one of them as this guy

Here is another shot from the market. The Kumquat trees are ready. Means I shall be making lots of great marmalade after CNY.

The other day I took a series of sunset photos in Atlantic City, NJ, so this morning I got some great sunrise pictures, but they'll have to keep for another day since DD beat me to the punch.

This is a set of near identical houses near Atlantic City on a very cold day.

I saw this block again on a recent TV programme, the Isokon building in Belsize Park. It's a modernist design which had been derelict for many years, and has recently been restored to its original condition inside and out.

A Christmas present from my sister was a copy of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. It's a great read, and has made me look at ingredient labels and non-labeled food, such as beef, with more scrutiny and skepticism. Among other things, the book presents a case of how and why corn has come to be so prevalent in our diets, and how cattle can't digest corn without a lot of intervention by man.

Because of that, here is a photo from a summer walk at the State Arboretum of Virginia, showing cattle eating what they are designed to eat -- grass. They are at the Tuleyries, an estate adjacent to the arboretum.