Wetlands 28.6.08

I was helping to host a party at the Wetlands this weekend, for a small Charity that is very dear to my heart. We got there terribly early so there was a very short time available for photography.... Then it was back to work!!

My my what big feet you've got. . . . the moorhen chicks are oddly out of proportion

and still being fed by mum. . .

The Whooper swans had 4 eggs this year, all of which were fertile, however only one hatched... but he is absolutley adorable. The swans were very very protective, so I couldn't get close.

and just in case he wasn't clear enough in the last photo . . .

the inevitable bathtime, without which my photos would be incomplete. . .

Even though it was a bit early in the day for Doctor Who, I think that he should have noticed that there was a little alien vegetation invading at the Wetlands...

and as for the party.... well I think it looked like it went pretty well don't you??

even if you did come last in the sack race. . .

Brompton Cemetery

I have wanted to visit the Brompton Cemetery for a long while, but thought that it seemed an inappropriate place to take photographs and then publish on my blog. That may well be true, but a more beautiful place in London would be hard to find. The Cemetery is to be found between the Old brompton Road and Fulham Road. Chelsea Football Stadium dominates one corner of the ground. Yes as soon as you walk into the Cemetery it is like finding the secret Garden. The silence is interupted only by birdsong, and the off jumbo thundering into Heathrow.

The Cemetery was built in the nineteenth century when local parish churches could no longer cope with the numbers needing the graveyard. The graves are wonderfully Victorian, although many are dialpidated. Much of the cemetery is overgrown, but that makes the area only more beautiful. Wild flowers overgow some of the graves along with grass and ivy. .

Borough Market

Today I visited the busy Borough Market . . . . . What a wonderful place. Not really ideal for taking photographs as there are so many people squeezing around, but what a place to shop. Supermarkets will never seem appealing again. I may not have come home with the best set of photos, but I have a rucksack full of delicious salami, cheese, olives etc etc etc

This was a rather intriguing sausage stall. . .

Yummy, this gentleman's salami is absolutely delicious . . . .

These looked far too exotic for me!

But I snaffled some of his olives. . .

and then wished that I had waited until I found these. . .

I rather liked this stall, but there was too long a journey home on a hot sweaty tube to have some fish...

Everyone knows that I absolutely abhor tomatoes. . .



and they are obviously in season at the moment!

I'm also not that keen on asparagus, although it looked pretty inviting on this stall. . .

carrots, now these I do like. . . .

Anyone seen a sliced white?? (Yuk, I do apologise!)

ah, now this is much more my style . . .

and this stall was simply intriguing!

Some of the cheeses were just amazing, but I couldn't capture them well at all. This was my best effort, and was not of the most attractive stall.. and is rather the best of a bad lot!

A waterlily

Brighton Beach

A special Saturday: neither of the boys had commitments (very rare) and it was sunny (even rarer!) It was time for a trip to the beach. Petrol prices being higher that good quality diamonds at the moment we decided to go by train. . . .

Within an hour we had arrived at . . . .

and were happy to find the beach reasonably deserted!

It looked pretty windy out to sea, a fact that was corroborated as we struggled up the pier!!

Couldn't find any Brighton Rock to photograph, so had to make to with starfish!

The visitors to Brighton are obviously more healthy than in Blackpool..very keen on their five-a-day!!


but forget that boats really belong in the water . . .

oooh no thank you!!

Sorry, I realise the seagulls are getting to be a permanent fixture... but they were so kind with the posing. . . .

He loves me? . . . . He loves me not? . . .

Morris Dancers

Well well well, a day at Ightham Mote took an unusual turn today as the sound of bells overtook pretty much else... Not just one but four or five morris dance troupes turned up.. Is there a collective noun for MorrisMen I wonder?

There weren't enough handkercheives for my liking....

. . . . . . . .

In the 'good ole days' Morris Men were pretty violent, both towards each other and to the crowds watching. This was pretty tame, but I think this raggedy man was remembering days gone by judging by the glint in his eye