This amusing dandelion was growing out of the stone wall of the inside of the ruined Corfe Castle in Dorset. A fantastic place with a great steam train ride to Swanage from an old school station. It was a very grey and miserable day, but great fun.
The weather's been so foul recently that I thought a bit of cheery spring was called for.
Another picture from the delightful gardens of Sanssouci near Potsdam in Germany. This is the bubbling spurt of a small fountain, up close.
This is a shot looking into a small building in the grounds of Sanssouci, an absolutely delightful palace and gardens in Potsdam that we visited as a day trip from Berlin a few years ago. I like the composition and the way the light from the stained glass window falls across the stairs. I think I was poking my lens through the bars across a window from outside at the time.
Another quick photo from my trip to Waddesdon Manor. This is the Rubber Tree, constructed entirely from old rubber tyres. Nice concept!
We went to meet some friends for lunch and a wander at Waddesdon Manor, a National Trust property near Aylesbury, about halfway between us in St Albans and them in Birmingham. We're all NT members so it's completely free to park and get in!
It's a bit of a strange place in that it's one of the most opulent and well looked after NT houses I've been to. Perhaps there is some private money in play too – courtesy of the Rothschild's – that web link above is not a National Trust website, though they have their own page on the place as well. Strange.
We didn't explore that much of it this time (we've been there once before) since we had our friends' giggling young one in tow. But we did see the front garden (driveway, grass, trees, sadly dry fountain) and the back (mountainous flower-beds and pleasant water features overlooking distant countryside – see pictures) and the inside (no photos allowed) and the Stables for lunch.
Last time we visited, we ate in the fancy kitchen restaurant and I had the most wonderful duck ever, along with a cracking glass of red. This time we went for the family option in the Stables restaurant and though the service was a bit slipshod and the glasses dirty, the food was really surprisingly good.
The nights are drawing in and the leaves are turning. Here's a photo from last autumn – this one taken in Sherwood Forest.
I really like this photo that I took in Lisbon a couple of years back, but I seem to be the only one. Still, it really sticks in my memory as an image for me. What do you think?
No, this is not really a BMW.
I like this photo, taken by me just the other evening in a small local nature reserve. Click for bigger.
Photo is Copyright me 2008, so ask if you wish to use it.