I'd quite forgot about The Shard and it wasn't until I was on my way to London that I saw it
mentioned in the BBC news. That's when I decided to find it if I had the time. I haven't seen
that video yet though I can imagine how scary it must have been. He certainly earned his money
that day!
It would be good to see London from the top to see how the view compares to New York from
the top of the Rockefeller Centre and Berlin from the TV Tower. (One way to overcome any fear
of heights I might have had.)

The main reason for the trip to London was to visit the RAF museum at Hendon. They have
dozens of aircraft that I didn't think I'd ever get to see in the flesh (or metal, wood and fabric).
It was good to see a Chipmunk there. It was one similar to this that I had my first ever flight
in.

Today we went to the local food festival...

More of Stroud Green

Another day, another photo. A traditional house and garden in Thames Ditton

Another aircraft I was fortunate enough to fly in many times was a Slingsby Cadet glider like
the one below. One flight ended early when the towing cable broke when we were half way up.
Luckily, we had enough altitude to be able to do a circuit of the airfield and land again. My
fellow Air Cadets asked if I'd been scared but it all happened too quickly to be frightened. I was
more disappointed about having my flight cut short but I got to go up again later in the day.

Oh satguru that is so pretty, just looks like a chocolate box picture. Lovely to see those can still be found.

Great photos!

We got stuck in a bit of a traffic snarl crossing the top of Toronto yesterday, and kept seeing this fellow alongside us. Snapped him from my back seat vantage point.

Nap time at Caroline Bay yesterday.....

I spotted that garden straight away, besides the house which is quite unusual they'd put an awful lot of effort planting the garden just right to fit in. Every bunch was arranged exactly and they also managed to get it all flowering at the same time which needs a lot of knowledge as well.

Here's another one near Richmond

My pink buddleia has definitely liked the rain this year

I bumped into this happy looking ogre near the Houses of Parliament yesterday. I'd vote for him!

This is Hackney Wick by the Blackwall Tunnel approach road

I always like roads taken from bridges but there was a bit in the way of this on the Blackwall Tunnel Approach

If you are not captivated by the main object in this photo you will notice a little cushion starfish, again at the Smithfield rock pools.

Molten sulfur coming out from the rocks in Kawa Ijen (Ijen volcano), Java, Indonesia. It was relatively safe inside the crater but the smell (like rotten eggs) was appalling. Many Indonesians in the area cart large lumps of sulfur out of the crater as their employment. REALLY tough work.

Loving all the photos... the variety is wonderful.

Incredible that sulphur! We sprinkle powdered sulphur around the fences to keep out snakes. Presume its the same.The colour is amazing.

Yes, one and the same, ren! The poor guys that carried it out of the crater in huge chunks did it by having two large wicker baskets between a pole. The pole went over the shoulders. We watched at the weighing station and the weight of sulfur each man was carrying was between 80 and 100 kg (175 and 220 lb). They made this trek into and back out of the crater multiple times per day in really poor quality air. If you look carefully you'll see some orange colour in with the yellow - just to the right of my friend taking the photo. That's the molten sulfur coming out of the ground. It turns yellow as it solidifies.

Just to prove I can even manage a reasonable photo in Hackney. I'm sure I've just insulted a few people there but expect more people leave too soon to get that attached to it...

Yikes, followed by awesome. The only two words I can think of to describe your photo Mike!

Are you really taking a photo of me?

Good one, I like that.

Mike - awesomme photo.

test

The recent heavy rain has made the soil so loose that a good gust of wind brought this old apple tree crashing down this morning. I was cross as I'd been trying to grow a rambling rose up it. Still, hopefully I can save the rose. It snapped the parasol on the way down and just missed the seat by a whisker. Lucky really, if it had gone the other way it would have taken a shed out.

Ooh, dramatic! I hope you can rescue the rose.

My own rambling rose turned 21 this month.

Just to be clear, I mean my daughter; I haven't actually named any of my plants. (Yet).