cleaning caddy
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April 2006 Archives
hassock of the week
the dog - surely the holiest of all animals
a day out with daddy
kezia and i had an impromtu day out in london yesterday.
we started off at little venice (now a very short walk from Paddington station) where there was a canalway calavcade (it's on until 1st may, so you should pop along if you live near/in london). more info here.
we then tracked down the canal boat stop and got a canal to Camden (more info here). the canal trip was very nice and stops by London Zoo which might be a neat way or reaching it from paddington.
we then wandered round camden looking at people's hairstyles and enjoying the various smells and sounds, before dropping down the Northern Line to Bank where we got on a DLR driver-less train. unfortunately the one we were on broke down so it was driven a little of the way, but it was still good fun to sit at the front and pretend to be the drivers before it broke down !
then we had a wander round Canary Wharf and West India Quay before heading back on the Jubbly Line.
despite all the loveliness of the canal and the crazyness of Camden, Kezia loved the Docklands and the dark tunnel on the DLR (as it leaves Bank) best
directions
it's appropriate the angel is in the sky. (these signs have sticky outy writting and the black edges are shadows from a rare appearance by the sun)
painted railings
they are trying different sorts of paint out in this graveyard to work out what sort of coloured fences work best. this sign explains it all
i know what you are thinking. what colour is invisible green ? well, it's bronze of course
jacob and esther
here are jacob and esther walking down a sandy beach (great photo by andy !)
how the queen avoids the hose pipe ban
i'm not sure how many visitors will be aware, but in southern england we've already got a hose pipe ban as we've had two very dry winters (apparently). that and the victorian pipes carrying our water supply around are all leaky and no one can find any victorians to get a refund.
anyway ... here's the queen blatantly flouting the rules, or is she ...
well, it seems she might not be as there was this funny bubbly thing in St James' Park (and the hose pipe in the background). so i think she was just draining her lake instead. hopefully no pelicans will have been sucked up
top trumps
after the other top trumps cards, i saw this one which when i flipped it over was of grampa' simpson
british gentlemen
you used to get people dressed like this all over the place in london. i'm going back a bit obviously. england was/is a funny old place.
you miserable thief
i love this sign. it says "why don't you leave our plants alone, you miserable thief".
there's a good use of capital letters (even i agree with their use in this case). And the sentiment is tremendous.
we can only hope the thief reads this little label which was tied to the neck of a large pot plant. they don't call those bits of a plant necks do they ? trunk i meant. sorry.
buses
these buses were all lines up in covent garden and there were various press photographers waiting for something to happen. i didn't wait though as i had real life to get on with. sorry about.
i've no idea why they were there. perhaps they were lost.
the wrong clothes
luckily her fear of horses didn't apply to bicycles
modern-ised
click the picture to see the big version and enjoy the modernisation
steaming pile and a big dog
michelle sent me this sign which she spotted in Fielding Park, Sudbury, Ontario. which is in canada i think.
death - the same the world over
death hey. funny old thing. i assume this cigarette packet says "smoke these and you'll croak" in polish or something. i don't smoke, but i think i'll still die sometime.
2 cigarette related posts in one day. what are the chances of that ? perhaps it's to do with this
inhalers
on the way to lunch with russel i saw these two loud inhalers next to a cigarette. a bit like doc leaves around stingy nettles i thought
when i came back they had been elevated and put on a railing
then i read the sign which nearly says private property left on railings will be removed (but doesn't quite)
funkypancake's third birthday (and i forgot)
we were obviously celebrating other things, but on Easter Sunday, Funkypancake was exactly three years old ! i've only just realised, but none of you mentioned it either did you. that probably shows how old we are in web years.
so, without realising it we celebrated it by being live on national TV. in fact the blog was running on automatic that week so i wasnt even around to notice i hadn't noticed the bloggy birthday, which is also somehow fitting.
anyway, i've updated funkypancake each day for the last 3 years with around 10 new photos for your enjoyment. , and funkypancake has had somewhere around 634,000 unique visitors, causing 35million hits and well over a million visits ! fancy that.
still no awards though. not to worry (although you could pop over and nominate me for the photobloggies - you need to enter http://www.funkypancake.com/blog in the relevant places)
thanks for all your comments and visiting - i very much appreciate of it.
i wonder what the next 3 years hold ? probably more photos i expect.
footpath to north hill
i like this picture. i think it's the directness and pointyness of the sign. click for the big version and make it your desktop (or something)
stingers
kezia got stung by stingers/stingas last weekend and i found a doc leaf for her. she thought it brilliant. (because they are brilliant).
human chain
these chaps are facing the wrong way down a one way street. this may have been their final mistake (but it wasn't)
no access to the toilets
this is a great sign generally, but the little handwritten graffiti makes it even better. was this written by the toilets ?
planner's lunch
yesterday i had lunch with fellow blogger, and occasional commenter Russel of eggs bacon chips and beans. What a nice and interesting man.
of course he beat me to blogging about it as he uses real time whilst i blog in advance. so perhaps i was there first after all (i wasn't)
the city as seen from BT Tower
this photo is quite dense so is worth clicking for the big version. it's a shame about the hazy day, but you can make out St Paul's Cathedral, Natwest Tower, the Gherkin and the Docklands in the distance
where to check in (chicken) at the bird hotel
bird box with the word 'reception' writen on it. can birds read ?
emily-rebecca (invisible), kezia and a dog sign
this is a pretty historic photo. kezia spotted the dog sign and said "do you want to take a photo dad", so i said yes.
she ran up to it and posed in front of it. just as i was about to take the photo she said "make sure you get emily-rebecca in", so i did.
emily rebecca (not sure about the hyphen) is kezia's (invisible) friend who came on the walk with us. this is her first appearance in a photo.
deep water
someone should have warned the trees
no cyclists
what if you are a cyclist and happen to be walking that day. can you still use the footpath ? they need an FAQ for signs like this.
castle closed on thurs & fri
the castle is closed on thursdays and fridays, so if you are thinking of invading, best to wait until the weekend or early next week
invasion of the beast
this is a bit of a long post, but hopefully you'll understand why (there's a picture at the end)...
we've been hearing funny sounds downstairs in our house for the last few days which we've assumed were the dishwasher reaching the end of its life.
however, we suspected it wasn't the dishwasher when we started to see green poos in our utility room floor. They were too large for cat poos (we thought) and for a while we thought we'd got a goose in the house. Another popular suggestion was a bat. certainly more popular than a rat. so generally, we thought we were looking at a three lettered animal ending in at. *at if you like.
anyway, we left all our doors and windows open on saturday and hoped whatever the monster was it would leave of its own accord. esther and kezia were slightly excited, but also a bit worried, because we had an unknown monster, but that's all part of the fun of growing up isn't it ?
Sunday night jane and i slept very badly. every bump and squeak was analysed and rationalised as 'the central heatings', or 'kids moving around in their sleep'. it was too creepy to accept that the beast might be moving about the house late at night.
At about 1.30am i was awoken by jane telling me wake up and be quiet ! we lay in silence and listened, and there, in our bedroom, upstairs, in our house, there was a rustling sound coming from near where i was laying
we turned the light on, and there, just a few inches from my face on the floor below me was ...
thames path - part 3 somerford keynes to hailstone hill
back we went to Keynes to continue our walk of the Thames Path.
the first thing we did was have a good game of pooh-sticks
then we walked along a lovely wide, smooth, quite shallow stretch of the river
we continued through Ashton Keynes
then we didn't see the thames much for the rest of our walk as the thames path veers off through some quarries
the walk did rejoin the river just before we ended the day's stretch
all in all, a very successful trip. we didn't get too cold, rained on or tired !