Winter Flowering Jasmine and ‘Falling Leaf’

Just outside our back door we have a lovely Winter Flowering jasmine bush:

Winter Flowering jasmine

It always gives us a good display and is another sign of Autumn.

My next image I have titled ‘Falling Leaf’:

'Falling Leaf'

I am quite pleased with this image, but it is not what it seems.
Any ideas of how it was taken? – no post processing or copy/pasting took place – I promise.

A Dog Remembered in Pictures

Janet (our oldest) writes in her blog about the loss of their dog Jessie.

On Monday when we met her, Tony and the boys (Joseph and Henry) in London we were given these two paintings by the boys.

Joseph’s is of him and Jessie. He is saying “No Dog” and Jessie is wagging her tail.

'Joseph and Jessie' by Joseph

Henry’s is more descriptive and shows the family in their car and Jessie.

'Family in Car and Jessie' by Henry

What a lovely way to remember a much loved dog. The whole family (Mae and me included) will miss her.

The paintings now have pride of place in our Picture Gallery – the kitchen door – for all to see.

Henry also coloured this picture of a flower.

'A Multi-coloured Flower' by Henry

As you can see both boys are ‘budding artists’.

Thanks Joseph and Henry.

A Day Out In London

On Monday Mae and me went to London to see the Annie Leibovitz Exhibition of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in London. We met up with our daughter Janet, Tony and the boys.
Here are some of my images from the day, taken using my Canon Powershot.

We gathered in Trafalgar Square. I said we would meet under one of the Lions.
While I took photographs of the Lions Mae wandered off, found Janet near a fountain and then ‘phoned me to say where they were and scolded me for ‘going off and doing my own thing’ The fact that I was under a Lion when she ‘phoned me was ‘not the point!’

Most of Trafalgar Square was blocked off while a stage was dismantled which was a bit disappointing.

The Annie Leibovitz Exhibition of photographs was very good especially her recent ones of the Queen. The one of the Queen in a cape with a very moody sky behind her is an amazing Photograph.

The Queen. A photograph by Annie Leibovitz

After the Exhibition and lunch in a nearby Restaurant (I had a Green Thai Vegetable Curry which was very nice) we walked to Covent Garden where we were in time to see a Street Theatre Show which was good fun.

We decided to leave London before the rush hour as we preferred sitting for the journey. On one memorable trip we had to stand all the way to Faversham.

Thanks Janet ,Tony, Joseph and Henry for a lovely day.

Visitors to Our Garden – Week Ending 26/10/08

The usual visitors to our garden this week with two exceptions – a Chaffinch and a Parakeet.

The black cat was found hiding behind a potted plant but it was too slow to catch any birds.
I was pleased to see the Chaffinch as it is the first time this year that I have spotted one.
The parakeet and the black bird seem to be having a ’stand-off’. I think the black bird won!
The Sparrows again proved entertaining in their efforts to get to the food. They really do bully one another out of the way.

Click on an image to see it full size.

Chrysanthemums Means Autumn

The Chrysanthemums (I trust I have spelt it correctly – I’ll think I will copy/paste this so that I don’t have to spell it again!) are in full bloom which means Autumn has arrived, well, in our garden anyway.

Golden Chrysanthemum Flower

Mae likes Chrysanthemums because they always give a good display, last a long time and she likes looking at them – and me, I just take a photograph.

Visitors to Our Garden Week Ending 19th October

These are the various birds and animals that have been in our garden week ending 19th October 2008.

A nice variety as usual.
A couple of interesting things I noted during my observations:
1. The Greenfinch has been ringed (I wanted to say it has an ASBO and is tagged but Mae thought it unkind to label the bird as such!)
2. The Squirrel was enjoying his meal until ‘Tim’s Friend’ (no longer with us) scared the daylights out of him and he scarpered fairly sharpish in to the trees. A close run thing. We call this cat ‘Tim’s Friend’ as she (I have a photo that shows this cat to be a she!) was always hanging around where Tim was and not knowing her name started calling her this.
3. I concentrated for a while on the Sparrows feeding. They squabble a lot and bully each other out of the way in their efforts to get to the food. These a just a couple of the images I took.

Thanks again for looking.

Early Morning Waning Moon

What a lovely morning in Ramsgate. Clear blue sky and a waning moon in full view.

Waning Gibbous Moon. 0815am Friday 17th October 2008

This was taken with Canon 350D 600mm Mirror Lens (on Tripod). ISO400 at 1/1600sec.

Pfizer Wind Orchestra 5th Birthday Gala Concert Spectacular

Book your tickets soon before they all go!

Pfizer Wind Orchestra Gala Concert Poster

The Pfizer Wind Orchestra is five years old.
To celebrate this the Orchestra is holding a Gala Concert Spectacular at the Theatre Royal, Margate on the 22nd. November 2008 starting at 7.30pm.

Music being played includes:
Fanfare for The Common Man
Light Cavalry Overture
Pomp and Circumstance
Big Band Classics

Join us for a special evening as we celebrate our anniversary in style. An evening to reminisce and also look forward to the next five years.

This will be a good evening with excellent music beautifully played by an orchestra who enjoy playing together and that is reflected in the quality of the music and the camaraderie in the orchestra (and yes, I’m saying that because I am biased – as a flute/piccolo player).

Tickets available from the Theatre Royal box Office.
Telephone: 01843 787787
In person at the Theatre
Online: www.marlowetheatre.com
Visit: www.pwo.org.uk for further details.

WE/I look forward to seeing you there.

A Good Morning For Spider’s Webs

Saturday night was foggy (I drove back from Canterbury and it was not a pleasant drive) and the fog was still with us on Sunday morning.

This seems to be the perfect weather conditions to photograph a spider’s web. The fog turns to droplets of water on their fine web structures and make them a real treat to see.

Spider's Web

I managed to catch this spider before he scurried away as he usually does when I approach.

Lesser garden Spider and Web

I then decided to try an ‘arty’ photograph.

Close-up of Dew Droplets on a Spider's Web

I really need a close-up lens.

Maybe ‘Father Christmas’ will read this and oblige.

Please!

Visitors to Our Garden Week Ending 13/10/08

Rather than list the visitors, be they two legged or four legged, to our garden on a day by day basis I thought a ’round-up’ at the end of the week would be better – and save you from ennui.

Here are some of the visitors to our garden over the past week. I have not included some of the regulars and I missed the Robin. He was here but was never in a favourable position to photograph.
Click on an image to see all of it.
I trust you enjoy looking at this collection.