looking upriver towards london 

oh so tired

having tumbled out of a deep sleep at four & pedalled like hell to get to work, i was just driving gently down to a roundabout on the outskirts of london with a relaxed smile on my face when the engine stopped

it hadn't groaned or whined or clunked, it just wasn't there all of a sudden, and neither was the power steering, so the adrenalin rushed up as i used the last bit of momentum to wrestle the long van through the roundabout and into a nice comfy sit & wait forever position

of course the real stress was on my manager rod, who had to sort out a rescue and has been trying to rent another chiller van, almost impossible at the height of the summer season when the outdoor catering business is so busy

and there was stress for quentin, the driver who brought another van out as quickly as possible during the rush hour before the temperature of the goods on board mine had risen noticeably

but then i had to move a ton of boxes from one van to the other double quick, so i'm knackered

on the way back, about eight hours into the shift, i was so tired that it seemed safer to stop and rest for a while, so i turned off to visit the thames barrage and tried to imagine what the river must have looked like when it was full of wooden boats under sail

check above to see what it looks like now

they kept forgetting their dance steps 

waiting for the parade 

wembley temple pigeons 

the new temple in wembley 

wembley afternoon

i went to meet my sister v in wembley and we marvelled at the sari shops and the 22 carat jewellers in enfield road

there was a building site lower down enfield road with a real indian temple nearing completion, the pigeons are already moving in

and then, just as it started to rain, there was a parade

battersea morning 

peaceful 

a silly trick of the light 

quite early one morning....

early sunday morning on putney lower common

sunny sunday morning

i was wide awake at six and so, to give the loved one some peace and quiet, i took the bike out onto PUTNEY LOWER COMMON, nearly two hundred metres from our doorstep

it was like being in open country and was full of birdsong, but noisiest of all were the long tailed parakeets ( OR WHATEVER ) who zoom across the south london tree tops like hawks

then i followed the river down as far as albert bridge, but very slowly, stopping for a while at the huge new curved building at albion wharf ... its another place i'll have to go back to a few times before i can get THE RIGHT PICTURE

got back just in time for another dose of fruit salad with licor de amendoa ... to quote a charming glutton i once knew, ITS LIKE ORGASMS IN MY MOUTH !

it's alright dear ! its just the booze being delivered .... 

blimey ! its july already, nearly !

i'd better order in a few hogsheads for the loved one's birthday !

another dawn in wandsworth 

licor de amendoa 

no picture today ... well maybe on second thoughts

... it is four in the afternoon and i'm still in my pyjamas ...

( people who have known me for years will be shocked to learn that i have acquired some in my fifty-fifth year )

... but i need to remark on this morning's fruit salad ...

the loved one has excelled, again, pouring some sweet portugese almond liqueur over the chopped fruit before adding the top layer of honey and greek yogurt

i am awarding her another gold star forthwith

sunny ! 

surprised at sunrise

a garrulous extrovert stopped me as i cycled to work through her neighbourhood and quickly asked twenty questions about my reasons for cycling by the river, living in london, not doing what my talents fit me for, etc ... and she took my photograph ... then, as the conversation was ending, because i still had to get to work, an early ray of sunshine illuminated her for this impromptu portrait

take it away brick by brick and install it on the strip in vegas 

never say never

surely its time that a new use was found for the tower of london ... i know, what about a casino ?

another dawn in battersea 

a thousand years 

obsessions

i'll have to keep visiting the peace pagoda in battersea park and the ancient yew in kent until i can get one picture of each that says exactly what they are, & in the meantime you'll have to forgive me for today's notquitegoodenoughs

linseed trespassing in the spectrum ... it just shouldn't be that colour ! 

readers, i swam ! 

two kinds of blue

a field of linseed in the early light zapped my visual cortex into quivering hysterics !

and then in brighton the sea was blue, and readers, i swam !

a steamy day begins 

dawn at the peace pagoda 

the singing monks 

soul music

unusually, there were other humans in battersea park this morning before five

two monks were chanting a mantra and beating a drum just as the sun had risen

as they circled the great "?stupa?", their song faded and then returned with a resonance that cleaved my heart like a burning spear and i wept for a few moments

partly for the beauty of their harmony, and partly from a sense that they existed in a oneness with beauty that i might not achieve

a good day and a bad day

i went for a wonderful bike ride in the hush of a perfect summer morning, crossing putney bridge to fulham and exploring the thames path up to the next wonderful bridge at hammersmith, and back through the quiet meadows of barnes common ... then, back in putney someone nicked my bike ... i've bought another, with a bigger lock ... and its safe to say i was traumatised ... for five minutes ... and my credit card will traumatised for months

barnes common oak leaves early one mid-summer morning 

hammersmith bridge south portal 

hammersmith bridge chains 

hammersmith bridge giant coat of arms