planning

Other Half & I both have An Important Birthday™ coming up soon (too soon!)
To celebrate (or commiserate) we are planning a trip.

A Road Trip.

This will involve driving from Los Angeles to Savannah, with some very interesting stops on the way (not least for sleep, gas & food.)

Watch this space.

in an english country garden

From the buzz and the busyness of the city to the peace and calm of
Polesden Lacey. A perfect example of late Georgian grace and grandeur, it's been a favourite of mine since I first visited as a child.

Earlier this year Mr A's father was staying with us for a few days, so we took him there for a surprise day out. And what a surprise! He'd been evacuated to Surrey during the war and had been the paper boy for 'the big house!'

A day of happy memories (and the sun shone, too.)


clematis


walled garden


shaded walk


red ball

september

It was warm and sunny on Friday and I was totally over-dressed when going into the city to meet up with Mr A for lunch. But, by 4pm, when the shadows were lengthening, there was a chill in the air.

When the cats come in from the garden their paws are wet, although there's been no rain this week.
Garden spiders, tiger-striped in black and brown, have hung their webs from the eaves and on the rotary clothes drier.
Autumn is here.
She crept in quietly while I wasn't looking and has touched the garden. The pinks, yellows and blues of summer are fading. Although the hydrangea is still in flower, its leaves are tinged with bronze. The grass needs cutting less.
Everything is slower.
And quieter.

Best I love September's yellow
Morns of dew strung gossamer,
Thoughtful days without a stir;
Rooky clamours, brazen leaves,
Stubble dotted o'er with sheaves-
More than Spring's bright uncontrol
Suit the Autumn of my soul.

~Alexander Smith

a day by the thames

On Saturday Mr A & I took ourselves off to the Thames Festival.
It was a beautiful day.
There were stalls selling food and crafts, and entertainments, which ranged from Morris Dancing, through Country & Western to Korean theatre!

And the Thames has a beach.
Who knew!





Down on the beach we found ourselves in the midde of a party.



Some people came dressed for the occasion.



Others were a little less formal.



At the end of the day the setting sun gilded the bridges and the trains



and we made our way home.

richard wright

So sad to read in the news today of the death of
Richard Wright

I'm sitting listening to Pink Floyd at the moment and am somehow lost for words ....

ghent revisited

Wherever you look there is something to see.

In the air





On walls





On the ground





And in surprising places

ghent

Time I introduced you to one of my favourite places in the world ...

Belgium and, specifically, Ghent. Located in Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north of Belgium, Ghent has a charm all its own.


Canals wind between buildings old and new.

Thanks to living in London and being not a million miles away from a Eurostar terminal, it's relatively easy for us to hop onto a train and, a couple of hours later, hop off into a different world.


Late mediaeval house.

My Dutch (Flemish) is limited to the usual courtesies and being able to navigate through a menu.

Well, sort of navigate. I have eaten some interesting things. Last summer we were over there for a few days and found a lovely little cafe for lunch. I thought the bread & cheese with salad and radishes sounded just the thing.

There was bread. Good, hearty, stoneground wholemeal bread. And cheese. Copious quantities of fromage blanc, making the bread soggy. Not quite so good.

And there were radishes. Numerous radishes. Neatly sliced and laid in overlapping layers, making pretty patterns on the cheese.

It was interesting. Mr A made little snorting noises into his fish soup. I took a picture.


(There are more radishes hiding under the salad!)

But what's a bit of indigestion between friends when you can take a romantic stroll by the canal at night?

more greenbelt

It was a sunny day at the festival

But the clouds came

people looked for their wellies

and put them on

but then the sun broke through the clouds

and the people were happy.