hassock of the week
kezia told me this means no parking
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kezia told me this means no parking
fields of buttercups
buttercups and corn on the cob (below) i think
video recorder on a grass verge
technology moves on and the once glorious objects from the future become pavement kill of the past
barafundle lavatories tearoom
what more could you want (from last year's rainy welsh holiday)
it's as easy as falling off a log
both of these pictures work a bit better big. this is exactly what they were warning us about.
an amazing bank holiday monday 8
i took the girls to two mazes on bank holiday monday. the first one was the saxon maze at the herb centre
jane and i visited this place before we were married and the hedges were just starting to become established. back then you could see over them and easily work out where to go.
these days the hedges are tall and strong and i couldn't see over. they have also got thicker meaning some paths which look like dead ends actually have vital paths off at the end which you can miss.
i did what every father should do and challenged the girls to a race to the middle. they ran and i walked. tortoise and hare style (hair style?). anyway, they must have done the length of the maze about 4 times to my one as they ran in every direction at the same time, often popping out right in front of me and screaming in delight/fear that they were ahead / i was near behind
eventually we made it to the middle.
after a few minutes the girls set off back in to the maze to finish it the tricky way whilst i chose the short cut route
after the blind excitement of the saxon maze we went to the maze in greys court. There's absolutely no way you can get lost on this one.
interestingly the greys court maze is dated 1981 whilst the saxon maze is from 1991. and only a couple miles between them. fancy that.
cd messaging
like many gardeners, greys court use CDs to scare the birds off. it's nice to see the evolution of these CDs over time. years ago they were mostly AOL CDs. there was only one this time.
the rest were giving subliminal messages to the plants:
we have movie themes
summer hits (hoping for some sunny vegetables)
two lots of christmas music
and the classics
i suspect the tomatoes will love this ultimate disco cd
kezia spotted this no 1 selection
but the most disturbing was this one at slug height by 'savage garden'
greys court
we had a lovely afternoon at greys court yesterday
henley art trail
this weekend has seen the henley art trail which has been (and still is if you are reading this in the UK before monday evening).
this was our favourite place with gooses and baby gooses and a number of hens, including the one above queuing for refreshments
grooms behaving badly
kerpow ! is the groom slapping his wife ?
but what is he taking a picture of ? his new wife stuck down a hole
not that they were much better when they were together
they were a jolly good couple though
storming down the aisle
i spotted the bride was secretly wearing bright blue shoes and we got her to show them when they were standing outside.
now, i'm only showing you these photos because i think they are quite funny. quality-wise they are rubbish ! the bride had blue shoes on and we ask her to reveal them as she walked down the aisle
there's a horrible green colour cast on the back wall there.
now, i'm only showing you these photos because i think they are quite funny. quality-wise they are rubbish ! the bride had blue shoes on and we ask her to reveal them as she walked down the aisle
there's a horrible green colour cast on the back wall there.
don't shoot the photographer
that's me demonstrating how to completely ignore my expensive camera grip which allows easy vertical shooting by putting my hand over the top. oh well. thanks to richard for this shot !
the pacific (to be specific)
this is a beach we went to on our last day in new zealand. seems ages ago now. just to prove it can be sunny down there.
wedding photography course
i still don't plan to do any weddings, but i went on a great wedding course yesterday with my good friend richard. plenty more pictures to bore you with, but this is my favourite i think based on a quick skim through. click for big goodness.
the shot below is a closer crop of the shot above. again, click for goodness !
little chef
little chef is brilliant. still doing greasy breakfasts and giving away complementary lollypops which instantly transported me back to childhood trips to (what seemed like) the other side of the planet, but were in fact just a few hours up a non-motorway.
when we arrived we'd peel our bare legs off the faux leather seats and not be able to sit down for the rest of the day. kids today don't know they are born.
tesco discount shelf update
things look to be improving on the tesco discount shelf after the chaos of the last few months. although i did notice when i went by a week ago that some of the Corn Flake Mix had turned in to pick n mix.
however, earlier this week everything was looking very orderly and nice. so well done tesco.
x is for xenopus
people always stall when it gets to x in the alphabet of animals. the usual safe choice is x-ray fish. so why not go for xenopus next time ?
gorilla choices
having emptied the box of wine he then looked for alcoholic ingredients in his cereal box.
well worthit
a domestic glove from our domestic abode
classic escalator disaster
i like the offset triangle. and the look of fun on the apparent victim. he's falling no-one.
out of service (correction)
so is it out of service or not ?
stealth letter box
don't stare in to the flap or you'll be hypnotised
faded glory
ah. queen elizabeth. still ruling over a rather faded empire
the wood festival
jane's now fully in to her exam-marking season which means 4 or 5 weekends of daddy/daughter weekends as we get ourselves out of the house so she can work. yesterday we went to the wood festival which was a great eco-hippy fest of the best degree
this was the main stage which was solar powered and about the size of our garden shed. although our garden shed doesn't have grass on the roof
there were all sorts of sensible eco-friendly things like this stick for putting (used) large cups on. they also had eco toilets which involved a sprinkle of sawdust rather than a flush. the girls thought they were yucky but quiet (if you didn't listen to the sound of 'things' dropping on to the pits below)
the girls did some felting, which was interesting. this wool comes from merino sheep and was lovely
here are a few old records used for recycling, which summed up the festival quite nicely i think
there was a guided tour to go forraging in the local woods in the afternoon encouraging people to go and find their own dinner in the woods. the girls didn't fancy that much so we went crocheting instead. here's my effort which is basically a load of knots as far as i can see. the girls' efforts were much better than mine
so that was our girls' first introduction to a festival. a good choice for a first experience i think as it was nice and small and friendly. and just the right distance for a day trip.
wilde
we went here for it's 25th anniversary of the wilde theatre being opened to watch the importance of being oscar, which was jolly good. we went with a number of friends and had a great evening of jollity and laughter. the play was good too.
funny angry fish
this chap was about 10cm wide and very solidly built. he also had a very funny little angry face. i wanted to lift him out and give him a kiss to annoy him further. thankfully he was in a tank. and i wasn't.
a pile of stuffed animals in the window
it's like there'd been some crazy animal fight or summuk
a tidy standard of dress is required at all time
rules me out. i'm about 5% tidy. at best.
free puncture repairs
free car puncture repairs. bargain
fork in the road
predictable. but good
so jolly yet so scary
this chap dropped out of a dressing up timewarp. a disney reject from the 80s perhaps
i haven't got a category for 'people dressed up as landmarks' so i've used the animal (people dressed up) category instead
discount goods shelves
things got worse at the reduced to clear shelf at tesco. lose spaghetti and a mop alongside the broken french stick. yesterday when i went they'd cleaned the shelf all up nice and orderly which was good. sadly due to having the wrong trousers (grommit) i had a rare camera-less moment and didn't take a photo.
i was delighted to see some reduced to clear stock in a new zealand supermarket. the shot above was at the local supermarket.
and this very neat bargain bin was at a more upmarket shop.
resized brother edd
since you asked, brother edd is now staying at cousin dawn's house and having a great time by the sound of it. he decided to squash his head for us whilst on skype yesterday which esther found amusing and disturbing all at once.
lottie
baby lottie got baptised at church yesterday morning and we were kindly invited to the after party where much jolly chattery was had. kezia took the picture above from below, whilst i took the picture below from above.
i think her picture is more like the kind of one i'd take which is interesting.
happy birthday pooch !
jane's mum kindly had a birthday which gave us a great excuse to get dressed up smart and have a raclette
much fun and laughing was had
health and safety restricted candle-age to 1
and esther even invented a board game for the occasion which we all played. it's called Animal Adventure and was rather good actually, so if you ever come round, be sure to ask for it by name !
hassock of the week
sorry. i've no idea.
wrong way
sometimes you need signs telling you things are the wrong way
the bush
i didn't know auckland had a rainforest, but it has. just to the west of the city up the Waitakere Ranges
it's quite an amazing place, even on a rainy day
plenty of trees to see
although you need to watch out for mad little animals which are harmless to people but scary for trees
extreme danger
there danger, then there's extreme danger
third breast
third breast pump, possibly stolen by someone with an unpumped third breast ?
the nicest people on the planet
here is bnug and wife who went beyond the call of duty to make us feel welcome when we visited auckland last month. as did their children (seen bouncing below with esther and kezia)
hong kong airport instructions
click on these pictures to see them big. the artwork is fantastic !
luxury holiday accommodation
esther's guineas went to stay at her granny's house where they were treated to a luxurious stay. their outdoor run was festooned with a gazebo, an outside windbreak and even some nice little logs for them to sit on and chat about old times.
poor things are back to slumming it with us again now though (the guineas, not my parents in law)
some chinese mountains
and some fluffy clouds (and shadows) spotted and shot by kezia
the requested page is not available
technical problems at altitude
nz790Y
everything needs its own part number. especially the inflight headphones
bank holiday picnic
great british bank holiday picnic in the chilly near-drizzle. makes the grass look very green though.
bluebells
it's funny having come back from new zealand where it's just turning in to winter to see britain blooming, getting ready for summer.
and here's something a bit more pinky
a fine day geocaching
when we were in minehead a few weeks ago we had a great afternoon geocaching with cousin chris of toy ahoy and family fame
it involved rather more vertical walking than originally anticipated, but was great fun for all involved (and the space hopper)
and here is cousin chris.
hassock of the week
will there be golf in heaven ? or perhaps it's more suited to the other place ? those of a more theological background can probably give us chapter and verse on this question.
how to start the seesaw if you are too short to climb on
kezia came up with a scheme to get the see saw started. she sent esther up the pole to balance her out.
angry of london
careful placing of my finger to you can't see the rude word on this sign spotted on the streets of london. frightfully rude
taking the cleaner for a walk
this lady was dragging her vacuum cleaner down the street by its nozzle. unfortunately as i swung round to photo her she stopped to pick it up. funkypancake seems to be all about apologising at the moment. sorry about that.
take away downstairs
you can take it away, but not very far
new zealand house
the whole of the other side of the world packed up and shrunked in to a house
all being well we'll be thinking about getting on our plane and heading home about now (and for the next 26 hours)
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[funkypancake] has a lust and zeal for life and all its quirks that those with far fewer worries in the world could be quite jealous of. From the mundane to the mad, the interesting to the absurd, [he] captures moments and objects that few of us ever notice ... and perhaps don't need to.
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