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Diary – 2020 August
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
1 Aug
I could see the moonlight through my curtains, so I got out of bed and took some photos.
2 Aug
Most of the roses have a second lot of flowers on them. It has been so hot, we have had to cover up some of the newly moved plants so that they don't cook!
I thought this was a few berries on the yellow and green holly bush. But no, it was four blackberries. Just for once, we will leave it all there, so we can have one blackberry each - if the birds don't get there first.
Here is woodie doing what he should be doing - eating greenery from the lawn, and not waiting around for freebie bird pellets.
3 Aug
I just love nasturtiums, and I am going to make sure I let this one seed, so there are even more next year.
5 Aug
This water has run down the path from when I watered the big pots. The young blackbird was drinking it and thinking about having a little bath, despite there being five proper bird baths in total to choose from!
6 Aug
Here are two young wood pigeons poking about near the kitchen. We never feed young ones, as they have to learn where their proper food is, and not rely on us.
Back to the woods for a walk. The blackberries are small and shrivelled, as the very hot weather has been going on for a while. This field is my favourite part and the grass has turned yellowy brown.
The crows were walking about in the grass, with their mouths open because of the heat. This magpie was on the railway track, I am sure he will fly away long before a train comes!
The woodland floor was very crunchy, with dried leaves, acorns and a few pine cones.
7 Aug
The heatwave continues and I have put some greenhouse shading material over my big pots of pansies and fuchsias.
We have sunk some more of these shallow clay pots into the soil, and filled with sedum. Nothing much grows in the soil under the shrubs, so these pots are the only way to get some interest along the border. Sedum doesn't mind being dry, it can survive most things.
8 Aug
The fish don't seem to mind the heat, they bask in the sunny places, and sometimes go round the edges eating the algae and looking for snacks amongst the plants.
10 Aug
The new calendula are now coming out, and I will make sure I get lots of seeds from these as well. The nasturtiums have been nibbled but I have made sure there are no cabbage white caterpillars there, like I found on the nearby nasturtium planted in the ground.
13 Aug
These two wood pigeons were having a noisy flappy fight outside my bedroom window. I don't know who won! At last, just what we want to see, big plops of rain on the paving. I hope it is a good heavy shower.
Brown Teddy has picked up a fallen pear and a fallen Russet apple. There are more Russets on the tree which he is keeping his eye on, as they are his favourite. Here is a cabbage white caterpillar down the end of the garden, looking rather big and fat. He was about an inch long.
15 Aug
Lots of lovely rain overnight, just what we needed. All the spider webs were covered in sparkly drops, this lovely net effect and a diamond necklace one.
20 Aug
At last, back on the trains for a day out. We went to Crystal Palace Park. At the lake we watched the pigeons who were waiting for crumbs.
The dinosaurs are still being refurbished. Some have already been repaired and repainted. they are usually surrounded by a shallow lake, but it has partly dried up in the heatwave.
This is Joseph Paxton who designed the original Crystal Palace, based on a large greenhouse that he designed when he was head gardener at Chatsworth.
This is the grand terrace that leads up to where the Crystal Palace once stood. There is only the transmitter mast there now.
These two Egyptian geese were sitting quietly in the shade by one of the ponds, which was covered in green duck weed. We walked through the wooded part, as it was rather warm in the open sunny areas.
21 Aug
Today we went to Erith Pier. Someone was throwing in bread and the seagulls were swooping and screeching to get the pieces.
We sat and watched the river. I am glad someone remembered to bring the fruit scones! These are the wind turbines at Dagenham on the other side, looking further upriver.
This is the view immediately opposite. The hill is a rubbish dump that has been landscaped over.
22 August
These are the successful ones of my Euonymus cuttings, for putting around the fishpond to make a low hedge. I hope they grow quickly and later on I will plant them in the front garden for a while, grow on in the full sunlight and get some more root. Then they will be ready to go by the pond. We already have some bigger Euonymus there, but these will help fill in the gaps.
23 August
Today we went to Greenwich. This pigeon had a feast on the roadside with all the cars whizzing by. I don't think he could eat it all. This plant bed is by the Greenwich riverside, and the green plants and pale grasses are planted in rows, to look like waves, as well as the grasses actually waving themselves. The building is the south entrance to the foot tunnel under the river.
There are always a lot of broken bricks on the shoreline, I think bricks were used as ballast in ships. The second crow made a good find of a large piece of bread, but eventually flew off to eat it in peace - away from the competition!
We went up to Greenwich Park. This is the view down towards the O2 Centre. People like to stand on the steel Meridian Line and take photos of each other. The far side is west and the near side is east.
We took a train to London Bridge. These are the summer fountains that are set in the paving. In the background is Tower Bridge. We sometimes see swans going past, I think they are hoping for something from the many people eating along the riverside.
27 August
Today we went to the Ecology Park which is near the O2 Centre in Greenwich. It has a long walkway through the wild bit, with ponds all around, connected by little streams. It leads out to the riverside path.
This is the Emirates cable car going over the river, it must be a fantastic view. Along the riverside were lots of these flags made of coloured pieces. It reminds me of washing on a vertical washing line!
The seats are all sloping back, so people can lie back and lounge. There are little holes to go round the trees. It was not lounging weather today!
You can go up onto the O2 roof, but I prefer to just use the zoom on the camera!
28 August
We went to Sydenham Hill Woods. They are owned by Dulwich College and this is their crest. I like the sun and shade patterns.
Brown Teddy likes to look at all the mosses, especially on the fallen trees. This shady brick wall was also covered in green.
This is a disused train tunnel that used to run through here but the old trackway is now part of the woods. The second photo is Sydenham Hill Station tunnel, which is a separate track, through which we went home.
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