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Diary – 2020 October
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
1 October
This is the pier house at Erith, inside is the huge gate that rolls out when there is a very high tide, for possible flood prevention. A nice warm roof for the pigeons, but a little too many of them!
The opposite bank is in Essex and the hill is a landscaped landfill site. Brown Teddy was glad someone remembered to bring the fruit scones.
We watched lots of big cargo ships go past, and then you have to wait a while until the big waves travel towards the pier and slosh under the pier legs.
The blue ship seemed to be carrying piles of recycled metal. Some ships we couldn't guess what they were carrying.
5 October
A day out to Greenwich Park. This is the gate of the Queens Orchard, so we will definitely be coming back next year when it is open. Lots of interesting stuff in the playground but no-one playing there, as the day was cool and breezy.
Further along is the boating pool, and next to it the big Millennium Sundial, famous forever for having been put in slightly the wrong position! After giving it a lot of thought, Brown Teddy and I agree that moving the sundial to the right position is no problem at all, but all that big expanse of huge marble blocks in a circle around it definitely is!
Then we toiled up to One Tree Hill, a very steep path but we went slowly. We had our sandwiches here on the flat top with views over to the Observatory.
The view over to central London, with the pointed Shard in the middle.
Greenwich Park is well-known for its Victorian style bedding, still good at this time of year, but probably soon to be replaced with tulip bulbs, pansies and primulas for the winter and spring. At the lower end of the lake, the pigeons always congregate in large numbers. The seats have now gone, as being unhygienic with all those pigeons lounging about on them.
Lots of acorns still on the trees, and plenty of crunching underfoot. More fat squirrels no doubt!
We walked over Blackheath. This is the old Victorian drinking fountain just on the edge of the village. In the station, several of the downpipes had little trees in, a warning to always look after your gutters!
6 October
We went to the small Leathermarket Garden which is near London Bridge Station. It is not so much a park but more a large green sitting area for the residents round about, but very pleasant to have if you live in the city.
We walked back to Potters Fields which leads up to the riverside.
Here is the famous Tower of London lit up by the afternoon sun. No visitors on the Tower riverfront area at this time, but usually very crowded.
We walked towards Tower Bridge, also lacking its usual tourist crowds. We saw this sundial which was very smart and clean, I wonder whose job it is to polish it, it was like a mirror!
We crossed Tower Bridge, and went past these sail-boat-looking seats, with a riverside/water mosaic pattern.
We sat on a riverside seat to have our sandwiches. It was not too cold but the sun had gone in. We like to get home before any rush hour starts.
9 October
This is a track cleaning train and I am told if the train stops unexpectedly, the very very high pressure water would cut the steel rails! It has a cab at both ends.
We went to Nunhead Cemetery which is also a wildlife park. The main gates were shut because of building work. The upsidedown torch is supposed to represent the end of life, rather a gloomy thing to put on the gates.
It was a very long walk around the whole park but quite interesting going up this footpath. It was very shady and when you get to a bend and think it is the end, there is another long bit!
We came to the entrance at the far side. Although the cemetery is sometimes used for present-day burials, it is mainly a Victorian site given over to wildlife conservation. There are lot of interesting monuments with inscriptions, but all very old, covered in ivy and moss, and none of them quite upright! You have to keep to the paths for safety.
This stone will not fall over, the ivy stems are gripping it tightly all round the edges. I quite like the stones made to look like little open books.
At a high point, we could see St Paul's on the other side of the river. This photo is well zoomed in, so it is not as near as it looks. All the moss and roots make interesting patterns on the stones, this one looks like a painting of a big tree.
14 October
We went to Crystal Palace Park. The sphinxes are at the very top part, and these steps used to lead up to the Crystal Palace itself. Down at the lake, this Egyptian goose was bravely sitting on the Megalosaurus.
These ducks don't care that a dinosaur is towering over them. This is a walkway being constructed to the dinosaur islands in the lake. This could be interesting if the dinosaurs decide to go for a walk!
We had our sandwiches overlooking the lake. These two young magpies came down for crumbs but kept coming and going, as they don't like to get too close. They were happier when the bits rolled downhill away from us.
15 October
We went to Dulwich Park and walked around the lake.
We brought a few bird pellets and caused a big scrum of backs and wings. These two pigeons thought they had a better chance on the railings in front of us, but all the food was on the ground.
We walked through Sydenham Hill Woods. The broken and trimmed branches are left in piles along the paths, to make an edging.
19 October
This is our long-term friendly blackbird. We always recognise that it is him, because he has a bent foot. For several years he raised two broods of young, so he is doing very well. He is getting a handful of bird pellets each morning that he is there, to get him tanked up for a day's worm hunting.
I wonder if any of the smaller birds use this water saucer that I put up in the summer. I have not seen any but then they are very small and quick to come and go. We had to cut back two skimmia bushes on one side, and again I have stripped the berries for the birds to have. Red is the normal skimmia colour, but one bush is white berries.
Still lots of colour in the garden, but in small patches. This is houttuynia which grows in and around the pond. The nasturtiums are carrying on but will collapse when the first real frost comes.
I pushed in all these euonymus shoots around the pond, they are doing well and I am sure they now have lots of roots.
22 October
Today we went to Surrey Docks. We went to Canada Water Station, which is below ground, and very modern and shiny. Then we walked to Canada Water not far away.
The birds have rocks to sit on, and several duck houses to shelter in. I like the little steps on each side so that they can hop up easily onto the platform.
We walked through the housing area where they have little canals with bridges. I really like these huge ornamental stones, very smooth and would be great to sit on when warmed by the sun. Just as long as no dinosaurs hatch out from these eggs!
This is interesting, little tabs across the road that can only be down by cars going one way, but not the other way. This is Greenland Water. The iron figures are of the actor Michael Caine, and Phyllis Pearsall who created the A-Z map books of London.
History everywhere, these are iron tracks in the granite pathway, and this looks like something for winding cables or ropes.
This is the remains of the turntable for a swing bridge over the canal. The bridge is long gone and the canal is now a lower walkway with an ordinary road over it instead. Then we went to Russia Dock Woodland and walked up Stave Hill, all 58 steps.
At the top is this brass map of the docklands as they were in the past, and views over the surrounding area, and across to Canary Wharf.
We walked on to the river. This is Rotherhithe bascule bridge. The only boats on the river today were the river taxis. The round thing on the left is an old mooring point for ships that were waiting to enter the docks.
We walked along the riverfront. This sculpture becomes a big bird as you get level with it. I think it is a cormorant drying his wings. It is at the end of a jetty.
We got to King's Stairs for our snack and watched the river. In the distance is the Shard by London Bridge.
We went back to Rotherhithe Station. I like this distancing floor sign, it has Mr Brunel himself in his top hat. The railway now uses Brunel's Thames Tunnel, which I think he would be very pleased with.
25 October
Colder and rainy weather is here, so time to put the covers on the garden benches, that really looks like winter now. This rambling rose bush has loads of berries, I always leave berries on for the birds.
Never mind the weather, we can sit indoors and sew up the knitted garden. Once this base part is done, the more interesting bit is making up the hedges, flowers and other plants.
26 October
Today we went to Beckenham Place Park. At the Ravensbourne Gate, there is a geological feature of a natural concrete formation of stones, called Blackheath Beds, 58 million years old. I just love history that old!
We came today because it will not be green much longer. Lots of acorns are falling about and crunching as we walk. They look like the geological formation as well!
We sat at the top of the hill for our sandwiches. There were three people swimming in the public swimming lake, which we were very surprised to see. It was not a warm summer's day! This ring-necked parakeet was making a lot of noise in the tree next to us.
In the corner of the park is a community cottage garden. I really like this rhubarb plant with its red stems. I think I would have one in a glass flower vase, rather than eat it! It was still sunny but clouds were slowly coming over.
31 October
Here are my large knitted garden pieces laid out in the kitchen. We pinned them onto big pieces of card over a bin bag, to keep the card dry. I had the job of spraying them with warm water. We put them in the greenhouse so the sun could dry them, with the doors open so the breezes could help as well. I had to put a book in a plastic bag and put it on some absorbent paper over the fishpond part for a while, as that was quite bumpy and it has to be absolutely flat to look like water. When the sun went in, I brought them indoors and put a fan on them to help them dry quickly.
I still have about 20 apples left on the tree. These tiny red ones are not worth taking in, I will leave them for the birds.
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