A bit of a field trip, and some squirrel hunting

The other week there was some kind of roadworking happening in my neck of the woods, with the result that all the buses were diverted. And since I needed to make a trip to acquire a new dvd player for my laptop (I can go without tv, sure, but I'm damned if I'm going to last five minutes without my movies), I got to "enjoy" these detours along with a lot of angry Londoners. After being the 57th person to ask the poor bus driver, "Does this go to Muswell Hill?" I sat back and looked around me - this particular detour was taking us into a place called Alexandra Palace, through some beautiful parkland and past incredible views.

Since the regular bus route doesn't go through this part of London, I wouldn't have even been aware of its existence if not for the detours. Anyway, I took a little day trip. I admit the thing I was most eager to see was the deer park - there were deer in the little park near Golders Green, back in the day, so I braved the threat of rain (it turned out to be bluffing) to find them. Here they are, huddling under the trees like a bunch of wusses:

Unfortunately, I didn't adjust my camera settings (buh?) to compensate for the light and so the little critters came out rather washed out. They were also inattentive to my offer of part of the wrap I was eating. Just as well. A sign to the left, and several others, it turns out, read, "don't feed the deer". Ho hum.

Up a little muddy path...

...and under the trees...

...towards the sound of splashing, which could only mean one thing.

Duckies! There wasn't a toddler there who could top my enthusiasm. I especially liked the little yellow ones, and how their feathers still seemed fuzzy even after a dip in the water.

A little trip around the pond, snapping up some photos of OPCs (Other People's Children, tm Kalyna), failing to get a decent picture of a child's sneaker submerged in the pond ("that's what happened to the last little girl who wouldn't do what she was told!").

A few blossom pics (and yes, if you're wondering, people think I'm odd, bending down and taking close ups of flowers)...

...and then what should I see out of the corner of my eye, but...

SQUIRREL!!!!

Ahaha. Only the second squrl I've seen since I've been here and he thinks he can just run away....time for some stalking. Here he is by a log.

There he goes, trying to escape again:

And finally, realising that I'm not going anywhere until he gives me a decent pose...

Down the path past some Gooselets:

and past a very pretty gate...

...back up to the front of the palace. Here's a photo of it, by the way:

The inside looks a bit like a train station, so I kept to the exterior. Here's what THAT looked like:

And here are various photos of the park, for which I cannot think of witty bylines:

Leaving the meadow now for some petal-festooned paths, and a lot of that fuzzy floaty stuff that's always around the ANU at exam time.

Here I found the official Road Less Travelled, in which my shoes got very muddy, and I saw a rat go across the path (not pictured), blocked it out and pretended it was a squirrel instead.

Got a bit lost here and accidentally took some photos of nothing:

And here, a very helpful bin, in case future archaeologists can't be bothered with carbon dating:

After this I took the bus back to what I thought would be a nearby shopping centre but which was in fact a half hour ride in the other direction. Found another bus which (after another 20 minutes) took me to the shopping centre, bought a few essentials (an icecream) and hopped on ANOTHER bus home. Found two more books in the charity shop and avoided purchasing (did not, however, avoid squealing and clutching to my chest) a copy of The 13 and A Half Lives of Captain Bluebear (why would anyone give it away???) for 2 pounds 45. Maybe once I've finished Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian.