Thursday 31 March 2011

Photo Scavenger Hunt 2011 – March…

:: a collection ::
of brown china in my Mum’s cabinet
March - a collection
:: a fancy gate ::
at Kew Gardens

March - a fancy gate
:: a lamb ::
a mere five hours old

March - a lamb
:: a lion ::
at the entrance to the Palm House at Kew Gardens

March - a lion (2)
:: a rainbow ::
on a new-version Monopoly board
March - a rainbow
:: a ring ::
mine

March - a ring
:: a shadow ::
of a wonderful day out at, yep, you guessed it – Kew Gardens!

March - a shadow
:: an empty chair ::
pushed aside in the kitchen

March - an empty chair

:: peeling paint ::
note to self: shed needs repainting!

March - peeling paint
:: something as old as me ::
my first teddy bear
March - something as old as you

:: something green ::
daffodil stems, freshly placed in water

March - something green
:: something sentimental ::
a little clay donkey and cart that my great-Nan always left my pocket money in (2 bob, back in those days!), now on the shelf in my workroom.

March - something sentimental

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Gotcha…

Parakeet in tree (2)

 

Since I last posted about the flock of parakeets that have been feeding in my garden, they have become a more and more regular part of the day.  They always come at around the same time (early afternoon) and they always send a look-out first.  This Very Important Bird sits at the top of the tallest tree and surveys the garden before he lets the others know it is safe to come over.

Parakeet on bird feeders

 

CSC_0395

 

They are becoming increasingly tame too.  Yesterday I managed to go from the back door to the edge of the deck with my camera to photograph them without them spooking and flying off.

 

Parakeet on feeder

 

It feels like such a treat to have them in my garden.

Sunday 27 March 2011

Not magnolia...

This month's visit to Kew rounded off a whole year of visiting regularly and so we have come the full circle.

I've always been fascinated as to why the ubiquitous, builders choice of paint colour, magnolia, has the most boring of reputations, when in real life magnolia's are anything but boring.











The ones at Kew (and there are many) are dramatic and majestic. Whether it is the tree itself simply because it is huge and therefore very old, like the one above, which coupled with a glorious blue sky only adds to its impact, or the individual flowers below, which are like works of art.


















As we strolled along, we suddenly noticed a swathe of lilac colour in the distance and immediately headed over.








The tiniest of flowers, naturalised in the grass...









The membership that I took out will most definitely be renewed and I'm looking forward already to seeing what this year has to offer. Thank you Kristina and Nancy for another wonderful day.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

First flush…

…of the palest daffodils…

 

Pale daffodil

 

…in my front garden…

 

Front garden - first flush

 

…with plenty more to come.

 

I love muscari.  That is just a statement.

 

Muscari windowbox

 

I need to cut my grass too…

 

Pip sniffing

 

…maybe Friday.  Not tomorrow, I’m out with friends.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Photo Scavenger Hunt 2011 – February…

Forgive me from being a day late… the germs have struck again.  On the mend now, though.

:: a big lorry/truck ::

I cheated… it’s a toy I found in the loft!

 

February - a big truck

:: a big round clock face ::

currently in my garage, but it used to be on the back of my parent’s old house.

 

February - a big clock face

 

:: a bridge ::

footbridge linking the hospital buildings at St Mary’s, Paddington

 

February - a bridge

:: a musical instrument ::

my piano

 

February - a musical instrument

:: a newspaper headline ::

the most shocking of the month

 

February - a newspaper headline

 

:: a park bench ::

at Kew

 

February - A park bench

:: a postbox ::

I like that this one has GR rather than ER on it

 

February - a postbox

:: eyes ::

of the puppy dog kind

 

February - eyes

:: something heart-shaped ::

on my flat white

 

February - something heart-shaped

:: something red ::

in the Laura Ashley sale

 

February - something red

:: something with stripes ::

my tea towels

 

February - something striped

:: your shoes ::

year-round wear, paint-spattered

 

February - my shoes

 

Plenty more to see over here and with thanks to Postcards from the PP for giving us the list.