Kew Gardens - Tropical Extravaganza

Every spring Kew Gardens kindly lift the gloom by displaying the most incredible orchids in the Princess of Wales conservatory.... This year is the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the gardens at Kew, and big celebrations are planned.. This Tropical Extravaganza is the first of these celebrations and therefore the orchids are stupendous...

This is my first attempt at a collage.. it doesn't really show the flowers at their best...
This was my one attempt at a long exposure picture...



and then there were just plenty of beautiful, bright and vibrant flowers. . .

WWT Welney - Fauna - well OK swans

WWT Welney is an exceptional spot... The WWT has purchased 10 miles of the ouse Wash in the Fens and has worked hard to achieve ideal conditions for thousands of Whooper, Bewick and mute Swans to spend the winter on this stretch of water. If you look at the website you get the impression that you'll see all 9,000 swans here at Welney, but the reality is that they spend their day stretched out over the 10 miles, plus quite a lot of farmland around to boot.. Realistically during the day there were only about 50 swans aound the Observation Centre..

However once the sun set the swans began to fly in to roost for the night.. Such a majestic sight to see families arrive in the dark.. shame I couldn't photograph them...



and this is the chap the swans have come to see... it's true... the way to get good swan art is through it's stomach.....

although a bit of swan love never hurt anyone!! except maybe Mrs Swan... it looked viscious...

At 6.30 there was a floodlit feed - again impossible to photograph.. but this was a fluke, and I like this fluke!!


while we all watched from the Observation Centre as the sun set over the Wash

WWT Welney - Flora

The WWT Welney Wash is stunning, absolutely everyone should visit at least once. It is one of the most peaceful spots in the world....
This shot seemed very Lark Rise to Candleford to me.. I loved the way the sun played with the grass seeds...

Sunset over Ouse Wash - Welney

Having found a relatively free day I decided to flex my WWT card and visit Welney a WWT reserve on The Ouse Wash in the fens of Cambridgeshire. The Ouse wash is an area that is flooded in the winter purposefully to avoid flooding local rivers and towns. During teh summer, cattle eep the reeds and grass down, which attracts winter visitors when flooded. WWT owns 10 miles of the wash.. and over 9000 swans winter here.... Sadly only about 50 of these actually visit the centre during the day when they can be photographed by amateur photographers..... However once the sun begins to set, a magical sight of hundreds of swans flying in o roos in the water around the reserve begins... Impossible to photograph (by me!!) but never to be forgotten, it realy is a place that everyone should see....

The ducks roosting on the ice are Pochards.....





see, told you I couldn't photograph anything moving after about 4pm.....

Snow - Snow - Snow 2-2-09

Last night the snow fell, and then fell a bit more and then just a wee bit more..Just before we went to bed last nigth the snow had started.. and Jamie couldn't resist.. this was taken about 1 second before I got hit!!


and this was the view at 4am this morning... who was the child in the sweetshop.. little miss excited up with her camera... need you ask???




and then the joy... phonecalls established that the boys had two days off school.. two stolen days... and the cycle of going out throwing snowballs, getting cold, coming in warming up, going out etc etc started. . .



whereas I had work to walk to . . .



and no, I didn't take the train . . .


and the boys went off to Wandsworth Common to meet most of the people they didn't want to go to school to see . . .

Chinese New Year 2009

The Ox apparantly is good at fighting hardship, and with the economy in it's current state it will have to be... there was no parade this year... good for saving London money, bad for giving Anya photo opportunities.... The day didn't really work for me.. I was always 5 minutes too late getting somewhere, or left 5 minutes too early....


The firecrackers were just starting when I arrived, all you could hear was banging and children crying!!!!
Tis was the best view I got of a dragon all day... there were too many dignitaries in the best seats to be able to take any photographs. . . oh yes and I was 5 minutes too late to get a good spot....




This lady seemed more than happy to spend the entire day outside in freezing temperatures... it started snowing a couple of minutes after this photo...



However this chap struggled with his balloons.. it was all those fiesty oxes!!

UK National Coldwater Swimming Championships -2009

The morning dawned chilly, there was a samll baby frost on the car this morning... nothing to be worked up about... unless you were foolish enough to be swimming in the UK Coldwater Swimming Championships at Tooting Lido that is. . . .





The lady in the great hat won this Breastroke final. . .


and this marvellous lady is the gold medal winner of the over 80's race. . . She and her competitior got the loudest cheer of the day and they really deserved it....



and while this lady did not win her race, I think it shows how cold the day was... and how brave (or mad??) the swimmers were.. look at how warmly dressed the official is!!


and as I could no longer feel my toes, I decided that it was time for me to wend my way home... perhaps I'll wait for May to send in my membership forms!!