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Diary – 2019 September
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
4 September
Today we went to Well Hall Pleasaunce. The little pond that is usually covered in duckweed is all dried up and full of tall grassy plants.
The pigeons were lounging under the trees, obviously not hungry or they would be walking around.
Brown Teddy just loves the moat. This is the other side in more shadow and by the little bridge that leads to the centre part. There used to be an old house in the middle but it is all flat paving now.
The planting is a Tudor rose, to go with the Tudor Barn just nearby.
6 September
This is the boat festival in St Katharine's Dock. People brought their big boats and visitors were allowed to have a look around them.
We saw the Queen's row barge Gloriana, covered in real gold. This is a fantastic way to travel over the water, a pedal powered water bike.
More Gloriana decoration.
This is how you walk on water, with a modular pontoon. The planting around the edges was quite colourful, although the red and blue are jackets, not flowers!
This is the winding gear for the footbridge, to pull it back when a boat needs to pass.
I like this flying fish emblem on one of the boats. We sat by Tower Bridge and had our sandwiches.
7 September
Today we went to Wimbledon Common Open Day. Here is the donkey ride, and a farm animal petting area. There were three sheep, one goat and a white goose.
The brass band were playing very jolly music under the tent.
Here is the Reptile Events stand and everyone was admiring Citrine, the albino Burmese Python. Their snakes and lizards are all rescued animals.
https://sites.google.com/site/rudgereptileevents/
I really liked the Roman life stall, for Butser Ninth Legion. The guard posed very well to intimidate any enemies and I am glad he is really on our side!
These are Roman writing tablets, where you draw into the layer of soft wax with a stylus. This very tall person was walking around, you couldn't really miss him.
At lunchtime we had our sandwiches and then visited Wimbledon Windmill.
Here are some scythes for cutting the wheat, and working models of different types of windmills.
Upstairs were lots of pieces of equipment. The cog teeth are all separate, so that they can be replaced individually when one breaks. There were lots of woodworking tools.
A windmill workings diagram and more millstones outside.
We watched the birds of prey shows. This is a Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird ever when it dives down from a height. This is a lovely Barn Owl.
This is an Eagle Owl called Boo, flying onto the arm of one of the children. All their birds are ones they breed themselves.
We went into the stables area and saw the horses and two donkeys.
We really enjoyed the Morris dancing as well. All these are lost keys and I hope the owners think of asking if their key has been found, otherwise they will stay on the board forever!
14 September
We went to London Bridge station and saw several displays of archaeology finds from when the new station was being built recently. Then we waited for the river race to begin, and all the boats are rowing boats. The race started at Millwall and would end at the village of Ham to the east of the city. First came the canoes.
There were over 330 boats in the race, and lot of hard work was being done by the rowers, and this was only the beginning of the race.
It was great to see the river sparkling in the sun. Lastly came the paddle boats.
Then we went on to Croxley Green in the north west of London to see Carter's Steam Fair. We were delighted to see a traction engine, and this wonderful very old organ.
I just love the Gallopers ride, but all of us agreed that the Whip is the top favourite, fast and noisy, rumbling around on the steel floor.
15 September
My apples are doing very well, especially those in this sunny spot. Someone moved some garden rubbish bags and Froggie jumped out and hid under a ladder. Now all the bags are up high, so that we don't find him again when we come to put them in the car.
18 September
Today we are Hampton Court. The weather has been hot and dry but the flower beds are still looking good. It is quite a long journey so by the time we get there, it is time for lunch and our favourite raisin scones.
Then we walked down to the lock and watched some boats go through. The swans were watching us but we did not have anything they could eat. We saw lots of tiddlers in the shallows.
Brown Teddy noticed a little white bird, a pied wagtail running about on the mud to find flies and insects to eat.
We had a little while before our train came in, so we watched the river from the other side of the bridge. I like to see the rosehips and berries, which will feed the birds in winter.
21 September
Today we went to the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe. It is all about how the Rotherhithe Tunnel was built under the river. This original sketchbooks shows a cutaway view of the tunnel.
Then we walked back along the river through Bermondsey. All these old barges are moored to a pontoon that is full of big mature trees. Trees normally wave, but these were swaying about with the moving water as well!
Further along they have put some anchors and chains on the riverside promenade, as historical items. Each link in this chain is about 18 inches long, bigger than me!
Finally we got to London Bridge, which is always crowded with tourists. Going back to London Bridge Station, we went past this water feature lit up in red and blue.
22 September
Today we went to Severndroog Castle which is on top of Shooter's Hill near Woolwich. It isn't really a castle, it is a one-room wide tower. As it was an open day, there were lots of stalls and visitors all round.
We joined the tour and ended up on top of the tower. We just managed to get some photos before the misty rain started, but we got a good idea of how far the views go, right to central London, in the middle of the photo.
We had to go slowly down the spiral stone staircase. We ate our lunch in the nearby seating area in Oxleas Woods with a good view overlooking the lower woods. After that we joined a tour giving the history of the woods and buildings, which was very interesting.
23 September
A trip to the local recycling depot can be a bit boring, but while in the car queue we had an interesting time watching the antics of all these crows, especially when they find bits of food and try to keep it to themselves. The notice said children and pets must remain in the car, and we are sure that meant Teds as well.
28 September
Today we went to the Tower Hill area and sat in the memorial garden, which is sunken down from the surrounding park. The plaque shows the ships that were lost, and all round the memorial garden are thousands of names of those lost at sea.
The stonework has wavy seawater lines. These dolphins are guarding the flower tubs on top of the wall, also with wavy water lines.
Nearby is the Tower of London, which is always very crowded with visitors from all over the world. The Tower Ravens were flying round the weathervane, and they all seemed to want to be the one sitting on the crown at the top.
By the riverside we saw this tiny sparrow in front of us, managing to break up and eat a little piece of bread, despite the strong winds. In the Tower of London enclosure, where there is a small stretch of water, we saw this grey wagtail finding flies to eat.
We spent some time on one of the Tower Bridge piers, watching all the river traffic going up and down. There is always something interesting to see on the river, even on a grey day.
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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