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Diary – 2014 October
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
4 October
The sun coming through the trees just lit up all these berries in a
small patch of light. I am really looking forward to when theses bushes
grow up into a big hedge.
6 October
This Met Office weather map looks really wet and miserable, with heavy
rain all over Kent. It was definitely a day to stay indoors and read our
books.
8 October
This is the middle part of our existing shopping centre, which used to
be a boring bit of open space. They cleared it and it was empty for a
while, but now it is all going up. I like these pillow packs, and I
think with a new pillow it would be very easy to sleep in very calmly..
9 October
Another very wet day, with bursts of very heavy rain. The fish like it
because it washes the flies into the water, and I think the frogs will
be hopping around the garden now that everything is soaked.
12 October
A sunny dry day, and we went to a boot fair nearby. It is in a big open
field so the skies look very big as well. These clouds began to block
out the sun, but it stayed warm for the morning.
In the boot fair field, the grass is very interesting, with car tyre
patterns and ridges in the dewy grass. It was all quite crowded, as
people think it might be the last warm day and their last chance to get
some bargains.
I picked the last of the Cox apples, which are very big and red. This
dark red one is supposed to be a Lord Lambourne, but it looks very much
like a Spartan. Eventually we ate it and the flesh was not white, so
maybe the label was right after all.
13 October
Yet another very wet day. We don't always stay in, though, and went
through the park on the way to the warm and dry shops.
Back home to dry out. It is my job to count, photograph and pack all the
knitted mittens that will be going to a charity to send out overseas,
and there were 25 pairs. These two are my favourite design, which is
some cables, and then a chain stitch put on afterwards along the spaces
between the cables. They look very chunky and warm because of all the
ridges.
14 October
We picked the last of the fruit. I saw a squirrel going up the pear tree
so I rushed out and scared him off. The pear tree has not done well this
year and we had only three very tiny pears left, and we have all been
looking forward to just a tiny bite each! We also got in all the green
apples, which I think are probably Golden Delicious. It was labelled as
a Russet but I am sure now that the label was the wrong one.
16 October
I like a good sunrise like this, so I can make plans to go out and
about. We went to Bexleyheath and then walked down the parkland on
Gravel Hill. There is a good view over the countryside from the top.
This cotoneaster bush will be feeding the blackbirds all winter. Further
down the hill, someone had lost their kite in one of the tree branches.
We crossed the road at the bottom and went into Hall Place gardens. More
lofely fruit, I think these are ornamental crab apples. The pyracantha
arch is packed full of more berries.
The cut flower garden was looking a bit untidy and empty, but these
Chinese Lantern plants were the brightest plant there. Another red
treasure was this Robin singing very loudly on the topmost twig of a
nearby tree. I wonder if he is the one that sometimes goes into the big
greenhouse.
With all this rain the moss in the path cracks were a very bright green,
my favourite version of green.
I like this top path, as it is raised up and you can look down on the
gardens. On the grassy area near the river, someone has lost their
frisbee in this tree. I wonder if the gardeners will get it down?
The sunken garden was filling with water after all the rain. I hope the
gardeners are looking in their books for plants that like being soggy. I
don't think they will be needing to use this water tap at the moment!
Brown Teddy noticed that all the wooden seats were missing, obviously to
stop them rotting in all the water that is collecting. At one end is a
beautiful acer with orange autumn leaves with a big clump of cyclamen
underneath.
Further along in the park, we wanted to sit down for our snack but this
seat was too damp and mossy. We saw the gardeners out in these little
trucks, they drove in circles around the trees and all the leaves were
swept into the back container.
We thought it was little leaves or seeds floating all around us, but it
turned out to be clouds of ladybirds. The only thing to do was to get
away from that clump of trees where they were coming from. We made for
another area, where I saw one of my favourite trees in this park - I
think it is a birch, and it reminds me of the planet Jupiter with rings
of colours.
We found a seat well away from the ladybirds, and had our snack. Brown
Teddy and I like sultana scones, as they fill us up quickly.
Suddenly the sun came out for a minute and lit up this beautiful tree. I
like this rock garden, but I wish there were some more rocks just set
into the grass where people could sit on them, as they get warmed in the
sun. It is not allowed to sit on the ones in the flower beds.
This is the river just beyond the weir, where all the white splashing
water has settled and it becomes a peaceful stream again.
17 October
We saw this truck in Dartford. The countryside scenery is made up of
food items and I especially like the broccoli trees.
19 October
Time to cut the newly seeded grass, as it was getting quite long. It was
a lot of work using shears for it all and I will be glad when it is
strong enough to stand up to a lawnmower. At one end I have made a short
box hedge (when it grows) and in the middle is a fuchsia and
forgetmenots. Underneath are loads of tulip bulbs in all different
colours and crocus along the grass edge.
The nasturtiums have grown into the pond and the fish like to poke about
underneath the sagging leaves for titbits. The reflections of the orange
flowers often look like another goldfish.
20 October
We decided to visit Crystal Palace in Sydenham today. On the train
station, this tiny piece of mossy concrete looks to me like a big cliff
with a forest on top.
I like to take pictures of old buildings and this railway bridge was
very big and old. I am glad it has not been replaced with something
modern and not so interesting.
In Crystal Palace park we wanted to see the Victorian dinosaur models
but before we got to that bit we saw this mural on the park cafe. I like
the pterodactyl with his rainbow wings.
The lake is quite large, with all the usual ducks and geese, and lots of
hopeful pigeons wandering around. Well, it was quite close to the cafe!
This prehistoric stag was the first one we saw, and further on there
were some large piggy looking ones under the trees.
This is a pretending bit of geology, with artificial rock layers of
different stones and coal, and a fountain at one end.
Dino came with us today of course, and was delighted to see the big
iguanadons. There were made in Victorian times when it was thought they
walked on all fours. People then had only just found out about
dinosaurs.
This one is about twice as tall as a person. The ducks were resting
under one of the alligator dinosaurs.
This one seems about to slither about in the mud and I think he probably
needs deeper water than this to swim in! There were more smaller ones
towards the end of their pool, lying around and crouching on the
concrete "mud".
We left the dinosaurs behind and went up the hill to the railway
station, where we found another dinosaur mural.
Crystal Palace railway station is very big and old, and obviously it
does not get the crowds that it used to. There are a lot of stairs for a
small person to climb up but I made it to the top. Look at the
handrails, at two heights for adults and children!
In the big open space at the top of the park are the remains of the
Crystal Palace, with only the flights of steps and stone parapets still
standing. The rest is all grass. It is going to be rebuilt but I think
it will take some years to get through the planning department!
Here we got the best view of the transmitter mast. The crows were
enjoying walking about through the puddles, I think they were hoping
there would be some worms in the mud.
At each end are these pairs of sphinxes. Dino felt quite small when he
sat on the stone at the end, which is quite unusual for him!
Parrot wondered what the sphinx was looking at so carefully. Brown Teddy
decided that it was not writing, but pictures of knives, forks and
spoons like you see on road signs telling you that the motorway services
are nearby! I am sure they are not real hieroglyphics because they are
set out in a pattern, with the tennis racquet in the middle and the
others in mirror image pairs facing it!
Dino really enjoyed his day out, especially the train journey back. When
we got to Bickley station, Blue Parrot thought the announcer said Bicky,
but unfortunately we did not have any biscuits to give him. He was quite
happy, though, as we were not far from home by then. Dino is going to be
talking about his day out for quite some time.
21 October
Today we went to Kelsey Park in Beckenham. It is a long thin park with a
lake, between roads and houses.
I love to see little streams and this part is just inside the gate.
Further on it opened out with plenty of room to wander down to the
stream.
On several trees there are these boxes, which I think are for bats, as
there is no bird hole, but instead a roughened piece of wood that the
bats can climb up. The stream continued, with little weirs and
waterfalls.
Here is a duck house, but all the ducks seems to be out swimming. Here
everything widens out into a lake. The ducks and geese swam along
following us so we kept walking.
This island is a good idea, and I think the twigs will probably grow if
they are willow ones. The brick island is drier for their feet and it
must get nice and warm when the sun is shining.
Brown Teddy likes these giant gunnera leaves and said it would be good to
stand under in the rain. The autumn colours were everywhere, but best
when the sun came out to shine through the leaves.
These trees by the lake will never dry out, with all these roots going
down to the water.
Further on there was a big crowd of pigeons, all sitting and sleeping.
We walked past without stopping, as we did not want them all to wake up
and mob us for bread!
We walked quite a way past the pigeon crowd and when we looked back we
saw this one very determined pigeon marching down the path on his own
towards us, convinced we had something for him. We walked behind a seat
and when the Determined Pigeon arrived, we dropped one small crumb at a
time for him, behind the seat and out of sight, to repay his efforts and
confidence in us. We made sure no other birds saw us or there would have
been a big cloud of them all over the place. Further along we saw these
beautiful unusual ducks.
Brown Teddy liked this pampas grass but it is too big to have at home.
This hollow tree stump has a new plant growing in it, sheltered from the
wind and cold. I don't think it is another tree, it looks more like a
bramble.
When we got to the end of the park, the sun came out and lit up all the
yellowy green trees. We turned round the end and came back on the other
side. I like paths that have bends, as it is interesting finding out
what is round the corner.
Back to the gunnera plants again. Further on was this wattle fence, and
I think it would make a wonderful material to build a little house, and
we could have gunnera leaves to tile the roof with. But I think it would
still be a bit too breezy and damp!
This pigeon has a very nice place to sit and sleep, and if it gets too
windy, he can go further inside. We got back to where we came in. The
gardeners had finished raking the soil and here is proof of all their
hard work, clearing up the autumn leaves, ready for spring to come in a
few months' time.
22 October
This is the park gate at Danson Park in Bexleyheath. The Kent horse with
the motto "Invicta" is found in a lot of Kent places. It means
unconquered.
We went straight to my favourite corner, the glade at the end of the
secret pond. These steps lead up away from the pond to the woodland,
where it is very quiet, apart from the crunchy leaves. There were
thousands of sycamore seeds and I am glad they will not all grow at
once.
We had some old bread for the crows, and once one comes down, all the
others come flying in and sit and walk around, getting as close as they
dare. While some are tossing their heads and making cawing sounds,
others are eating the bread, a much better idea!
25 October
Sometimes I get up really early before everyone else to see what the sky
is doing, and then go back to bed for a bit. Mornings like this
sometimes get cloudy again by the time I have got up properly and opened
the curtains.
27 October
We went back to Crystal Palace. At the far end, over the back where all
the buses park for their break, I saw this bus covered in Remembrance
Poppies. Back into the park, we found this circular sunken pond. It used
to be a fountain pond when the Crystal Palace was here.
This is a much better picture of the transmitter mast. This piece of
ironwork is all that is left of the huge Crystal Palace. I am glad they
saved this piece, as it is much better to see a bit of it for real than
looking at all the pictures of how it was before it burned down.
Over the other side of the park is this stage with sloping roof. In
front is a big pond, and the grassy area is shaped in a large bowl so
people can all sit round and see the show. The second picture is the
back view and it has been labelled the "Rusty Laptop" which I think is a
brilliant name! When it was built, laptops did not exist and the
building would have been a very futuristic shape.
We went on into the woodland part. Here is a bat box with its number on.
There is a small gap underneath at the back for the bats to climb up
into. It is very high up, away from any disturbance.
This is the Memorial Bell, in honour of the merchant seamen who lost
their lives in World War Two. The plaque is missing and I hope they put
one back soon, so everyone can know what it is all about.
Here is the maze, which is made of beech hedge, with chicken wire
between so people do not push through the stems. It is not easy to find
a way through because you go a long way before each choice of ways comes
up.
We retraced our steps out of the maze and then re-entered it through the
Escape Gate, which leads directly to the centre.
Here is the centre, with a large circle of marble which is a map of the
maze, with the path being the light coloured slabs. It would have been
quite useful if there had not been a very large patch of muddy leaves on
one side! Outside the maze there is a plaque showing the map again.
It was only midday so we decided to get the train to London Bridge. Here
is Hay's Galleria, which is by the riverfront, and this glass ceiling
over the two buildings looks to me just like Crystal Palace!
This Remembrance Poppy on the warship HMS Belfast is about the height of
a person.
Here is the Tower of London with all the ceramic poppies, which will
soon be taken down and sent to all the people who have bought one of
them.
It is going to be a lot of work taking them all down. Further along the
riverfront this bus-shaped sculpture is a good souvenir photo for people
who have come a long way, showing daytime and night-time London either
side of Tower Bridge.
In the underpass near the Tower of London we saw the Invisible Man
waving at passers-by. I admire it when someone has thought of something
original to do. On the way home we always make for the far end of the
train where we have all the seats to ourselves.
29 October
I saw this on my shopping trip, but I think the answer to the question
is probably No, you have to be properly good, and not a little bit good!
31 October
This sport shop window in Sevenoaks looked so real, I thought the lady
was about to run across the road!
They always have really good window displays in Sevenoaks and the
chocolate shop is generally the best. I am glad this squirrel display is
a native red one.
I really like this open-out tree with birds and I think I will make one
for my Colouring Page. This Nativity popup is also an advent calendar, and
the best calendars always have a chocolate in the boxes.
You can use the space on your 404 page to help find missing people by embedding info from notfound.org See Yellow Teddy's 404 page
Where to report a lost or found teddy or
toy in
the UK:
https://www.facebook.com/LostboxTeddyBears
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