on the way to work ... battersea peace pagoda 

charcoal ovens near warnham in surry 

looking out from a little church in kent 

on the way to work, wandsworth park 

makers of excellent medals, cast, patinated, and polished 

v at the foundry with the "blonde" medal 

v with the olive-coloured medal 

the medal is finished

my sister v came to london and we went to the foundry to collect the medals she designed in memory of colin and sylvia forward

above you'll find several pictures of the designer and one of the sign outside the foundry

joe bialik's tree is still living 

adam and eve at hardham church, west sussex 

hardham church in west sussex 

a busy day

first of all two pictures from hardham church which is a little gem near pulborough in west sussex

then a picture of joe bialik's tree, because it still lives, and because i miss him

the plane tree pushing out new leaves 

it fell out of a little tree in burwash high street 

traction engine at piltdown 

you know its summer when the elderflower pollen gets right up yer nose 

how do i know its summer ?

i know its summer when i step outside after a cool damp night and my nostrils are scoured by the smell of elderflower

when there is a traffic jam of people wanting to buy plants outside every d.i.y

when i see hooray henry types in pressed shirts and creased trousers drenching other with ice buckets after a champagne binge in the kings' road

the distinguished artisans, sam and damon 

v's medal 

v's medal 

the medallists

the large medal my sister v modelled in wax to commemorate our parents has now been cast in bronze

the two halves were welded together ... with some difficulty i should imagine

all that remains is for the guys to polish and patinate or vice versa !

more pictures when the job is done, hopefully in about a week

the captive white boy, santiago mckinn, by camillus sidney buck fly 

anonymous ? 

black history mystery

if you go to

http://www.indianwars.org/images/AI/cwb001.jpg

and study the picture ...

you'll find a little boy who was surrendered after five months in the company of injuns

BUT who was the little BLACK boy at the left of the picture ?

was he captive too ?

this picture was taken in a desert canyon, twenty five miles south of the arizona-mexico border, fully twenty years after the American Civil war had ended

a great bit of skyline from the approach to tower bridge 

i'm a government child-beater and i'm here to help ! said the ice-queen 

hans christian andersen

did you hear those lurid but compelling radio plays ... golly, it set my mind racing and i tried to visualize my time at school through the filter of anguished fantasy ... see above

tower bridge at five thirty in the morning with the mayors office and the gherkin 

tower bridge

i never normally get an opportunity to stop and photograph this scene when i'm on my way out to essex, so i nipped back to tower bridge after i'd dropped her at waterloo in the early quiet of saturday morning.

i haven't done the scene justice this time as it needs a bit of sun, but you have to catch these sorts of skylines before someone builds in the space in front

everything the loved one needs is here 

on her holidays ...

the loved one has gone away for a week to practise yoga for five hours a day in the south of france

she's very organized and this is ALL of her luggage

kentish tiles at lenham ... you can buy killer chocolate brownies in the local bakery 

here's a feller i often nod to as i cycle to work ...