Week 4 of the 52 week challenge of a photo a week.
This is the memorial in Gunnersbury Cemetery, west London to the thousands of Poles murdered by the Russians at Katyn in 1940. I’ve inset the inscriptions as otherwise they are unreadable. Click on the picture to get a larger version.
The cemetery itself is rather interesting, if not a little OTT with competing acreages of black, white and brown polished marble. It is owned by the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, although it is actually in the LB of Ealing. Consequently it is the final resting place of many from the Polish and Armenian emigré communities. Many of the Armenian graves are written in Armenian script; and not all have a simultaneous translation. You will also find members of the Chinese community, at least one member of the French nobility and the expected English including architect Aston Webb. There is also a grave commemoration a number of members of the 24th Polish Lancers and a small group of twenty WWII war graves.
It is immaculately maintained and well worth a visit, even on a cold January day; it’ll look really pretty in the Spring when all the cherry blossom is out.
Week 3 of the 52 weeks photographic challenge and I almost didn’t get a decent picture this week. But then I saw this window display in Selfridge’s Department Store in London’s Oxford Street. All these brass instruments looked absolutely stunning – but impossible to photograph well because of all the reflections.
This just leaves me stunned! It is probably the most spectacular shot of a Barn Owl I’ve ever seen. The colours and the detail are just out of this world. Nigel Pye, the photographer, specialises in birds and particularly Barn Owls. Despite my years as an amateur photographer I just don’t know how you take pictures like this. Guess that’s why I’m not a pro.
As most of you will I’m sure realise I don’t generally do cute, even for kittens. And as most of you will also know it was my 60th birthday last week. So what what did Noreen buy me, but these two cute little 15cm high Dodos. We think they’re called Gilbert and George, but that has yet to be confirmed.
I can’t help feeling that there’s something irresistibly appropriate about being given Dodos on one’s 60th birthday. Indeed a Dodo Anniversary – maybe it’ll catch on?
[Oh and so no-one worries, they did come with a handsome dowry!]
This week’s photo in the 52 weeks challenge for 2011. Today’s sunrise from our bathroom window which was absolutely spectacular for all of about five minutes.
This is the view of the solar eclipse just after sunrise yesterday (Tuesday 04/01/2011) from my study window. Like what eclipse? Typical of the UK to cock it up; can’t this country get anything right? Bah Humbug!
This is also my first photo for the “52 weeks” (ie. a photo a week) I’m doing this year. I hope I can keep up the standard of getting something off-beat each week. Watch this space.
Not a terribly good picture as it was taken in a hurry to a waiting taxi, but there were lots of fox tracks in the snow through our front garden and along the pavement. And yes they are fox: you can just see impressions of the claws (which rules out cat, which would be smaller too) and they are too narrow for dog.
Interestingly they usually go over our neighbour’s low brick walls between gardens (there’s a nice trail of tracks and snow knocked off the walls) rather than go round the end of the wall which is only 3 yards away – and yes, I have seen Mr Reynard do this!
Like them or not they are an incredibly efficient rubbish disposal system. Last night Noreen put out the bones from Sunday’s oxtail casserole. No sign of the bones this morning, just lots of Reynard tracks.
I took this photo on the journey from Norwich to London on 27/11/2010, late afternoon. We are heading south across Thetford Chase. I always seem to take shots of those trees as they always stand out well against the sky! Oh, and before anyone asks, no I wasn’t doing the driving!
Something to cheer everyone up a bit on this dull, grey, wet and windy November week.
Having spent the summer outside on the patio enjoying sun and rain our Hibiscus has recently been brought into the kitchen for the winter and is sending out new shoots and leaves and is still flowering!
