173 years old ... 

... and complicated 

the jill windmill on the downs near brighton 

the bourgeoise spider 

solomon guggenheim meets ned kelly 

travellers' tales

who dares to say the basques have no humour ?

street furniture outside the bilbao fine arts museum 

typical bilbao shop window 

i said open the door, cloth ears ! 

pre-guggenheim 

bilbao viscaya

we'll be catching a bus to stansted airport in the early hours on monday and then flying to bilbao

will a deputation of swooning marxist feminists be waiting to greet me when we land ?

will our hotel be nearly posh enough ?

can there possibly be enough alcohol in the city for both of our thirsts ?

will they sell me a half-price ticket for the train to san sebastian if i shave and approach the ticket office on my knees ?

if you really really care, then watch this space ...

i was going for the last swim of the summer but the tide was out 

wooden ducks and fevvered ducks at the garage by the village pond at four elms in kent

in memoriam at mereworth, gor blimey ! 

too early for confession ...

mereworth church, clumsily ostentatious, proto-gothic-revival ?

the cheese man pauses at mereworth church in kent

1831 Topographical DictionaryMEREWORTH, a parish in the hundred of LITTLEFIELD, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 5 miles (S.E.) from Wrotham, containing 711 inhabitants. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was rebuilt by John, Earl of Westmorland: it is a very handsome structure, with a fine Corinthian portico, and surmounted by a lofty spire: the whole edifice is constructed of different sorts of stone, and the eastern window is of painted glass, collected for the purpose by that nobleman. The grazing land in this parish is supposed to breed the largest oxen in England, some of them having exceeded three hundred stone. This parish is bounded on the north by the Hurst woods.

chocolate cake with ganache icing and piping - a public announcement

it's no use begging; the cake in yesterdays blog has all gone !

boord street gas works in greenwich; the pillars are of uniform thickness, as are the concentric rings, but the diagonal ties or reinforcements get thinner towards the top ! weren't the engineers clever ?

sheila evans, linda crabb, and roy hewish, not in the least bit hung-over ! 

sheila's cake for tristan ... i know what you're thinking ... and you're right again ! 

one of wandsworth's many cormorants 

sunken boats and a wary heron in wandsworth's river wandle

wandsworth's river wandle

george and lea, two very sharp madrillenos

the red cranes are in at battersea power station 

an unsignposted diversion

sometimes chance provokes what i like to call "an unsignposted diversion"

having set out unusually early for kent, and seen the sky colouring up quite psychedelically, instinct commanded that i drive half a mile away from my regular route to the waterside at greenwich

alright, i know pink skies are two a penny on the internet, but i was very happy !

dawn at greenwich 

looking over towards canary wharf from greenwich 

a surprise just inside the m25 to the north of reigate 

no need to photoshop, some workaholic has hand-painted it ! 

a daily glimpse on my way home