First outing of new walking boots and Nordic Walking Sticks!!!

My first outing with new boots and Nordic Walking Sticks!!  I love my sticks, makes my life much easier. My back was great and my hips didn't give me any pain...amazing! fingers crossed l may have found away to walk with tony with no ill effects!!!!!
The bird you see below, we think is a jackdaw but what caught our attention, was that he had a white stripe across each wing. Never seen this before!

Need some where to selter when it rain or just to play in with children..here is your tree! great isn't it? the whole pof richmond Park is covered with amazing trees and an awful lot of dead trees that have wonderful holes and tunnels in them! As you can probably guess, l love wood. I have a whole album in facebook, that is just all about wood!Ha!

When you look at the following image...one could ask..who needs Artists? When l look at this dead tree, l always think of Henry Moore or Barbara Hepworth!

Saw these beautiful yellow flowers, don't know there name but they were so bright and cheerful and really cheered me up..as it started to drizzle!

Another of the many trees l love and take images of every month or so, to see what changes through that time. I intended to do some Art with these images..maybe photos and text and also some embroidery work as well!

Oh bless him!Ha! Tony going back to his Army days and praticing being "On Parade"! So great to see that his sense of humour is returning as well as his stamina!
Another gorgeous flower that caught my eye, as we entered into The Isabella Plantation Enclosure.

Everytime l see this tree, l think that any moment it will start to move towards me! I call it my one eyed monster tree!

Once inside The Isabella Plantation, you see the little river that flows towards a small pond which houses many different types of ducks. I love watching and listening to this tiny waterfall which is one corner of the pond.

The image below is of a Mandarin duck which took a fancy to me..l kid you not! They are normally shy birds but not this one. I was standing by the edge of the pond, taking images, when suddenly l was approached by this male duck, who processed to do a mating dance infront of me. One of the Park Wardens was laughting his head off and said he had never seen them do this before! not sure l should be pleased or horrorified!Ha.

After awhile, when he got no response, he eventually went back into the water, found his mate and headed off to the bushs! Men..l ask you!

The bird below is a Coot, l know this because his beak is white, if it was red, it would be a Moore Hen! I think l have it the right way round....In any case, what ever it is, l adore his feet!!!

The duck in the image below has the most gorgeous glossy brown feathers, really would love to be able to touch it, juat to see if it really is as soft as it looks.

These two ducks were so funny, they waddled around the place as if they owned it. At one point, there were quite a few people wandering around and they seemed to appear to be trying to herd the people together. Very funny to watch!

The image of the above duck had a head with feathers the colour of russett. It was amazing, it really did glow and shimmer in the light. The beak was deep blue at both ends and a beautiful pale blue in between. The rest of its feathers shimmered in the bright light and when the sun caught any water drops on the feathers, they looked like small glass beads....beautiful!
The next image is of small of the ducks heading towards a man, who was about to feed them bits of bread.

I just adore the way the feathers on the head of the duck with black and white feathers, form into a sort of quiff but at the back of his head not on his forehead! very cute! The other duck had feathers of a brown that actually looked like velvet!

This next image is of a coot landing in the middle of a group of ducks, so he could be include in the feeding frenzie which was just starting!

It wasn't until l took this image that l realised that this duck had a bit of yellow at the end of his red beck. I had always thought they were just red. Will have to go and check my bird book to see iof this is normal!

I always love going to see the ducks at this particular pond because they are always so lively, funny and there are so many different kinds that it is never boring!

A trip to Wimbledon Park.

The other day, Tony and l went to see what Wimbledon Park was like. We had read about it on the internet and decided it was worth investigating. It is in a REALLY nice area and just to proof it..look at this amazing house and the garden few doors down!! Yes it is a whole house and not flats!

The park has amazing children's play areas but for obvious reasons l couldn't take images of the children or the play area. Each area is gated off and is beautifully kept and was full of children, parents and grandchildren. The Park also has public tennis courts and the lake you see in the images below has ducks and geese on it and also they sail on it. Too cold and choppy today for any action. In the image below on the left handside, you will be able to see a moorehen's nest. 

And here is mum on her nest. As l approached the dad tried to attack me, so l took image and quickly left so as not to frighten them any more. i was surprised to see how much rubbish was in the nest as well as twigs and leaves.

The image below, a pontoon, is where the boats would be  launched from. At the moment it is occupied by ducks, moorhens, geese and pigeons! I have put images up of the birds around the lake.

The area where the boats, canoes, windsurfers and all the other kit is kept, is fenced in and locked but l have to admit the security looks very flimsy!!! 

The next image , is of my husband, being happy watching a game of bowls in the Park. Tony has his granddad's woods (name for balls!) and l think may very soon join to play. One of the things l saw at this club which made me smile, was there were several youngsters playing, as well as the "elderly"players.

As we were walking towards the exit, l looked up for some reason, and there on the roof of one of the out buildings was this young lady!! Strange place for a statue...interesting though!

Can you see the sleeping monster in the below image?!Ha!

The fungi in the image below, was tucked up in the roots of a tree, at the entrance/exit to the Park. I wandered round to the other side of the tree, to see if there were anymore...and got a surprise.

In a crack in the trunk, which in it's self l thought was interesting..was a fungi trying to grow and getting quite contorted! After you have look at the fungi, look again at the wood....isn't it amazing?

Ruby Tueday image for 03.05.2010

                                            Ruby Tuesday

The images below are may images for the Ruby Tuesday challenge!

The first image is a river Island plastic bag, seen outside a shoppiong complex in Morden.

The next image is a group of tomatoes in grates, outside a green grocer's shop in Wimbledon Village, London. I couldn't believe the tomatoes were so bright!

The next image is a piece of my own on-going collage work, on a red carpet in my flat!

Isn't the door in the next image such an amazingly bright red? What a welcoming door to come home to each night! Even the dusbin door is red!

The last image is one l took while looking at a lake near us that has sailing on it. Love the red helmet in this image.

A walk to the hospital gym and back!

We went for a small walk today as we both need to get fit again. The weather was not brillant but at least it was not rainning, as the weather man on the radio had fortold! As we came out of the gates to my 1930's Estate, we were confronted by the sight of a purple jag!!! Such a beautiful car deserves a more respectible colour than this shade of purple. Maybe Racing green, deep blue but purple!!!!!!

Roehampton, which is just around the corner from my home, has a reputation for being quite rough and full of gangs and drug dealers but l have to admit we are very rarely troubled by it. There is a monument on a piece of green, which celebrates the World wars. Each Remembrance Day, wreaths are layed on the steps of this monument.  Frequently there are youths sitting on it smoking and drinking but the wreaths stay there untouched. Quite a feat l think, considering the reputation this area has. I have walked past this monument hundreds of times but it was only today l realised that one of the figures around the top of the monument has it's head missing. Not a mind shattering discovery but for some reason it upset me!

In one of the small streets in Roehampton, is a Convent and looking through my images, l realised that l had no photographs of it. I keep a journal that has images in it, of the area around my flat. I record new building going up, old ones coming down, the trees each year, gardens and so on. So l thought l had better rectify the fact. The Covent appears to also have either rented or sold of parts of it off for flats and also seems to have some sheltered accomadtion flats too. The door to the Convent is quite ornate l think.

As we walking towards St. Mary's Hospital, we went passed this Lilac and l remembered some thing from my childhood. When l was about 12 and at Boarding School, l decided to send some Lilac to my Mother for Mother's Day. I carefully picked a good spray, wrapped it in wet tissue and posted it on Saturday morning. I didn't think how long it would take to get to my parents house....3 days later it arrived...very dead! but the thought was there.

The image below caught both our attention as we carried on walking. The bush was so striking, it appears to us, that the leaves are deep purple and the new growth is pale green. The contrast is very striking and if l ever have a garden again, l want one!

As many of you may remember l love rust and wood, so this next image must be added to my favorites list!

The area we are now walking in, is no longer full of council houses and flats but very large and very expensive detached houses. As the image below will tell you..need l say more?!

In one of these wonderful homes, we saw this wall. What a wonderful way to use drainage pipes! The ivy growing through the terra cotta coloured pipes is gorgeous and has a very softening effect on the bricks as well.

Just along from this decorative wall, we saw this baby's feeding cup. I wonder, if like my children used to do..for fun!..threw the cup out to see if l noticed! Why my little rascals thought it was funny, l never worked out !

We had been to the hospital to find out about their gym, which we had just discovered is open to the public. Anyway, finding out about fees and times, we had a very nice coffee in one of the cafes in the hospital grounds. As l was pouring in my second packet of sugar, l noticed that although they are meant to be the same, one brown sugar was darker than the other! Strange!

After this, we walked home via the woods again. I had not noticed on the way here but on the path was a chalk mark. This normally means to me, a Hash House Harriors running group had been through here recently. When we lived in Dubai, we knew they were around because as well as the signs you would here..a horn being blown and someone shouting..ON ON! I reaslise it could be another running group but the sign means the same...go this way!

As we reached home, l saw this tree and for the first time, l saw this shape on it. Not sure what shape you would call it but l like it!

Night allx