Wordless Wednesday :

Japanese Gardens, Kew Gardens, London

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Wordless Wednesday : Thirsty?

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Up, close and personal ...

... that's what you see when on the Xstrata Treetop Walkway in Kew Gardens in London ..



... a treetop walkway is exactly what it is ... a platform walkway built at treetop height ..



One of the mum's, whose son does karate on the same day as Bradley, was saying yesterday that she and her hubby are flying off to London today .. which made me think of our last trip - to Ireland, stopping off in London for a few days on our way home. On one of the days, hubby and I visited and walked around the most beautiful Kew Gardens. I love gardens, so this was special for me!!!! On our walk around we came across the treetop walkway and climbed the steps into the tree canopy, 18 metres above the ground ..

Quite a unique experience walking at the same level as the tops of the trees ..

.. where all along are 'pausing' areas with small plaques such as this one which reads "89 million trees in England live in fields, hedges, orchards, gardens, parks and streets" ...

There is also a lift for those who cannot climb the stairs ...

At the base of the walkway is a replica of a fallen tree to show how a tree 'works' with a simple diagram and explanation for children ...

On the board is a quote by Lucy Larcom :

"He who plants a tree plants hope"

Wish we were flying off to London like the 'karate mum' and her hubby .. !!!

Skywatch Friday :

Following on Jenty's blog yesterday about the possibility of the Cape Town City Ballet Company closing down due to lack of funds (absolutely tragic) and their drive to raise the necessary funding ... I remembered I had taken a photo of the beautiful and graceful ballerina catching the sunlight on a grey, cloudy day in London last year when we were on holiday ... she stands, on point, on top of the dome of the Victoria Palace Theatre ...

... and then I thought I would show you what our sky looked like this morning at 6.20 am ... a crisp Autumn morning on the Highveld in South Africa ...

... all photos taken from my back courtyard ... there is a dove - sitting on the edge of the roof ..

.. and then looking to the East ... there is a dot above the grey puff near the centre of photo ... the dot is a plane ... but it's difficult to see (very faint .. it was a small plane!!) I didn't take the photo for the plane - I took for the sky !!!

For more spectacular skies around the world go to Skywatch

Barges,canals and locks ..

... the likes of which I found so fascinating when hubby and I were holidaying in England two years ago. I had never seen a barge before, or for that matter, canals and locks ... I am from Africa .. we don't have such things !!


My previous post with photos of barges and the relaxed lifestyle it portayed ... although, I would hate imagine what it's like during the winter months ... brought back memories of our visit and in particular the Kennet and Avon Locks in the quaint town of Bradford-on-Avon , near Bath, Southern England ...

Hubby and I watched the process or whatever it's called .. of a barge going through the locks from the one canal to the other. Friends of ours have done a barging holiday and they said it was glorious but going through the locks is tough going, especially if there is no Lock Key Keeper - he is the chappie in the photo above wearing the red T-shirt.

His 'special key' unlocks the gate .. and the gate has to be cranked open - he on the wide side and one person from the barge, on the other side ... if there is no Lock Keeper then it really is tough!! That 'chosen one' from the barge has to run from one side to the other (one gate to the other) and crank each one open a little bit at a time ...

Once the barge is within the two sets of gates water gushes through the small gap between the gates ... raising the water level to the height of the next canal ...

... and 'Bob's your uncle' as they say in the classics ... the 'chosen one'-from-the-barge, in this case, the lady with the white shorts and pale blue T'shirt, pops back onto the barge ...

... and off they go ... ready for the next barge to come along .. in this case it's that red one on the left side of the photo below ...

... and so the procedure continues .. in reverse ...

... the barge is safely tucked into the lock while water gushes out ...

... lowering the level of the water to the height of the next canal ..

... and off they go ... " cruising down the river ... on a Sunday afternoon .... with the one that I do love ... la la la la la la ... "

Another thing that was fascinating were the aquaducts where the canals are carried along bridges over other canals and rivers .. !!! Mind boggling!! Of course, I've seen them in photos and read about them in cultural history books .. Romans etc .. - as we had to do at school - but to actually see them is amazing!! Mmm .. another post in the future !!

Wordless Wednesday :

Avon River near Bath, England

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Skywatch Friday :

Could this be Santa criss-crossing the sky ? !!!!!

For more spectacular skies around the world go to Skywatch

Wandering around the Victorian Walled Garden ...

... at Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, Co. Galway .... (will do a post on the Abbey as it's spectacular with breathtaking scenery .. sooooo watch this space!)

... we came across a pumpkin patch ... never seen one before !!! (Oh, I lead a sheltered life ...!)


... with big round orange -well, turning orange - pumpkins ... (we don't get pumpkins like this in South Africa - well if we do, I have never seen them) ...

.. just perfect for a Halloween face .. which I've also never ever seen before !!!!

I spotted this table of pumpkins .. one with a carved face .. yippeeee! .. I can now say I've seen one !! This was outside a small veggie/herb and all-sorts-of-things shop in Kew, outside London on our recent trip.

Happy Halloween to all those happy halloweeners .... (it's not a big, important event on our South African calendar) I suppose, one of the reasons, is the availability of pumpkins in the Southern Hemisphere. They're an autumn veggie and we are in late spring/summer now.

Wordless Wednesday :

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"The little red car .... "

"The little red car goes vroom, vroom, vroom
Vroom, vroom, vroom .. vroom, vroom, vroom

The little red car goes vroom, vroom, vroom
Vroom, vroom, vroom .. vroom, vroom, vroom

The little yellow taxi goes toot, toot, toot ..... "

We (Pete and I, Elaine and Bryan, and Carl) went to the Johannesburg International Motor Show on Saturday. It has all the up to date vehicles, some very very smart and some not so very smart. Apparently this runs after the Paris Motor Show so it has the latest cars etc. Pete has been to several shows previously but this is the first time we tagged along - very interesting and well worth it - if you like this sort of thing, of course. All types of vehicles are there from trucks to street sweepers but we concentrated on the 'good stuff'.


We all had our cameras !!!! So we came away from the show having taken loads of photos ... here are just a few .. from both cameras ..

The Audi stand was very smart - all black and white. Elaine was impressed! She had recently done a project for her Honours Marketing degree on VW and knows lots! and she knew their new image and advertising would be and now is, all black and white ...

This was the cutest little concept car (like a teenie tiny space car) - Nissan Nuvu

Cute, hey !!

Maserati

Aston Martin

Bentley

On our recent holiday to England (and my very very first !!!) we used to pass the 'Bentley shop' near Berkeley Square. Our hotel was close by ... and hubby drooled over all the smart cars in and around that area. The cherry on top was the Bugatti in the window of the 'shop' on our last day there ... but that's another story ! The jaw dropped as well as the drooling and he marched right in to take photos ! None of the 'taking photos through the window' stuff !

"Strive for perfection in everything that you do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it!"

Sir Henry Royce

Ps - Jeanette - it's taken me simply ages to do this post !!!! I hear you now - download photos first then write - I keep deleting photos by mistake! Still learning !!