Zorba: I agree with Mags comment on all the bright colours in your photos. My part of the world is rather drab by comparison.

Martin: oooo, another "lunch" possibility! lol ty. Seriously though, that's a great picture. I, for one, had no idea the vineyards were that close to the mountains. The only ones I've seen in person were in British Columbia and California - hilly yes, mountains no.

Mags: Well it's a relief to know that the red colour on the stairs is not blood and that you made it down safely lol. VERY cool shot, I must say - at first glance it looked like a really neat "op art" or metal sculpture depiction of a sliced watermelon complete with floating rind : )

and oh yes, I finally found of my cemetery pix of New Orleans that sort of reminded me of your picture. Many of the crypts look like miniature churches or houses. They are constructed that way for two reasons: a) because of the (lack of) sea elevation, traditional below-ground graves don't work well there (the raising of the dead is not appreciated during flooding) and b) the high heat during summer helps to decompose remains quickly - meaning that crypts can be re-used within anywhere between 6 months and 2 years. (hmmm, I feel a quiz topic might be in the works lol)



p.s. One thing I found "ironic" about this location is that the tan coloured modern building in the background is a senior citizen's facility. Imagine looking out your window every day and seeing where you might be going next ~

Cemeteries and graveyards can often make for some interesting photo ops. Nice one, Jakeroo.

From one belltower to the next: At the top of the Le Merced belltower, one can see the belltower of the Granada Cathedral in the distance.

In 1854 the original Le Merced belltower was destroyed, and this one was rebuilt in 1862.



While I was up here, the bellringer did his thing - 3 bells ringing makes quite the noise so close up!

I didn't partake at any of the vineyards. In fact the only wine I drank was a bottle that I bought in a supermarket & drank in my room at the hotel on the nights I was too tired to walk into town. But it was a local 'brew', so maybe that counts.

Spanishliz - Why is Mickey Mouse dressed as santa I wonder? Not exactly traditional I'd have thought!

Mags - that's quite a tricky stairway to negotiate, but the view was worth it.

This is another picture from Venice showing one of the old fresh water wells. Capped & no longer used, it's a reminder of the way things used to be there.


(Slightly blurry due to rain drops on the lens. )

I'm not sure what Mickey thinks he's doing playing Santa, Martin. Perhaps these deer know what he's up to?

lol spanishliz. Not sure they care about Mickey. To me, they look like they're saying "okay, we're all dressed up, now WHERE'S THE PARTY?" lol. Cute pic

This is a place called Brown Moss.

You're welcome to any of the bouquets Jakeroo!

Here's another modern office block (a rare sight in most of the country), South Point in Sutton

One of the stupidest places of all time to build a hotel! The white area above it was clearly made up of loose rocks & scree, even though there were heavy-duty chain link fences criss-crossing it. If anything came loose which the fences couldn't contain, it would head straight for the building. Must be a nightmare during any rain storms too. I certainly wouldn't want to stay there!

I wouldn't stay in it either, Martin, but it is pretty! Looks like a cruise ship, sitting there.

Liz, those deer look very festive. Martin, holy carumba! I've seen what happens to mountains in heavy rain, I wouldn't stay there either.

Yesterday it rained, not heavily but insistently, so I took my camera and umbrella to the local playground. (The umbrella for the camera, not for me, lol ) No picnics on this table today, just a lovely reflection in the rain.

I thought it was a road at first, Mags, until I read what you'd written. Good reflection on the table.

Here's another mackeral sky I cought a while ago.

I thought it was the road too. What a lovely shot Mags. Is it black and white?

I love the view from the bell tower, Mags.

Stepped Street, Mumbai

This friendly chap, out fishing on Lake Garda, had been waving merrily a few seconds earlier. Of course he might have been worried about the bow wave & is seen here frantically trying to get out of the way. Guess we'll never know.


(He wasn't there when we returned a few hours later. The mystery deepens...)

Sitting down on the job....

Here's one of many old painted advertising signs on a building, this is opposite the much newer South Point in Sutton.

Thanks for all the comments, folks! Lady, it's actually a colour photo, you can see a bit of green in the background. I gave it a touch of contrast, mainly to try and hide the raindrop on the lens (which I wasn't completely successful in doing) and also to highlight the reflection. It's pretty true to the original though.

That's an old painted sign, David, only having 3 digits in the telephone number. That might make a nice tightly cropped photo. I like that one!

Love the colours in the sky Dotb, also the golds in the water, Martin.

This mural of dancing jesters is on a restaurant patio wall in Granada.

At the moment the weather is still great, so we can still go to the beach and enjoy some freshly cooked sardines.

Taken from the hotel room right next to the stadium.

I had to stand back to get the bottom line if the sign in or the trees covered it, but can crop it down sooner or later. I didn't even know London exchanges ever had 3 numbers as they still extended well into Surrey.

I've been scanning in a lot when it's been raining and dark, this is the Eurostar at Brussels Midi on my day trip in 1998

Oh Yum those sardines!!
These are the YWCA allotments in our village. The people from town with no gardens can rent the plots. The YWCA pay the local elderly and retired people to tend the plots during the week. The town people come out to visit when they can, usually weekends.It works well, as the plots need watering daily in the summer, well most of the time really.

The YWCA allotments are a nice idea, Ren. I hadn't heard of something like that. Nice mural, Mags and lovely photo, Szabs.

A lamp post peeking out of a tree outside the Governor's bungalow. The sand bags outside the guard's post are an ugly reminder of last year's terror strikes.

Szabs those sardines look yummy delicious. Ren, that's a lovely community endeavour.

This shot was taken at 6:56 this morning. This is what it looked like at 1.33pm

Here's a better view of the chain link fences placed to catch any stray rocks etc. I'd feel a lot safer if all the posts were pointing in the same direction I think!

This is a local mystery maybe someone here can suggest a theory for. This is the electricity transformer station in Sunnyhill Park near me, and although the front door opens onto the street the back is a level higher as the ground slopes down. Besides the window being bricked up, can anyone offer an idea why there was a door built next to it?



My theory is when it was used there were steps but that would ruin the fun.