The Lake District, or Oh So Many Photos (Part 1)

First of all - I'm alive.

When I got back to Euston Station in London I picked up a paper and was immediately met with a horrible story about a man who had killed several people after going on a gun rampage in the Lakes District - the place I had just been. Of course, the Lakes District is pretty big, and I was actually never in the region of the shootings, and at the time was further into Northumberland anyway. Very disturbing to hear of something like that happening anywhere, but for some reason it's particularly horrible to think that it happened in such a quiet, idyllic part of the world.

Anyway. Let's move on.

So I got myself together enough to actually go somewhere, and since I had such fond memories of the Lakes District, and since I was eager to spend some more time near Hadrian's Wall, and since it all seemed like a good place to go horse riding, I travelled north. I decided I wanted to try my hand with driving, and so I rented, for a very small sum, a car. Thought it would be a bit of a bomb, but upon arriving in Kendal, this is what I got:

Now since I know nothing much about cars, I will classify this one as "Fancy". Look at all the shiny new buttos and lights! Of course, there were bound to be changes, the biggest one being that the indicator switch was on the side where the windscreen wipers usually are, and vice versa. Consequently, I was to spend a lot of time switching my wipers on unneccessarily. I'm sure the locals loved me.

Anyway, onwards! After finding my way out of Kendal I followed the signs to Windermere. I'm sorry to say that I was so taken by all the green that I took this very stupid and unsafe shot out the window. Very sorry, and it was before I got to all the narrow roads. Still, check out the green!
Got to Windermere and immediately reconsidered my plan to "wing it" with regard to . Still, eventually and quite by accident I found my way to my hotel, named "The Cottage" and famous for its extensive breakfast menu.
You think you're bored with hotel shots? Wait until I get to the sheep - you'll be begging me to show you more interiors.

Advised by the Cottage owner that there was "a nice walk" up the hill behind the cottage, I set off up Orrest Head. Met an elderly couple (the lady had a walking stick) who told me they had just been up and that it was "a nice little walk". They were, as I was soon to find out, LYING LIARS WHO LIE.

Still, in the meantime I busied myself with my camera - this is probably one reason why it took me more than the recommended 20 minutes to get to the top.

At length I had travelled sufficiently uphill to be panting and wheezing and generally cursing the elderly couple for their general fitness. So I stopped at a dry stone wall and peered over:Now, at this point there was a locked fence in front of me......and steps up to the right, which clearly I was to follow......and yet at the same time there was this stile, begging me to climb over it and into the paddock. Well what do you think I did?

Yessiree, thus begins my Great Harrassment of the Sheep (and Farm Animals in General). I don't know why I was so fascinated and camera-happy - I've certainly seen sheep before. I can only suggest that it was the combination of little sheep in such a perfect setting. Observe:

Of course, there was one sticky, Black Sheep-reminiscent moment. Had just knelt down to get a photo of the view when I turned around and...

ACK! They're advancing! Acted casual, took another photo and turned back...ACK AGAIN! Clearly time to leave.

Random shots along the way - provided for by many, many rest stops. Other elderly people met coming down the hill (what the heck is in the water here?) and FINALLY, finally, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, The Top.

My word, it was worth it. Thankfully also it was very nice weather, so I could sit down for aaaages on the grass and just take in the 360 degree views.

After what I judged was enough time to make the walk up worth the rest, I made my way back down. Stopping at the paddock where I had tresspassed before, I met a man on his daily walk. He lived at the base of the hill, and talked to me of how his wife was making him go to France, but he honestly couldn't see the point in leaving Windermere. You could sort of see what he meant.

Anyway, he let me know that it was ok to walk through the paddocks as long as I wasn't bothering the animals too much (...er...) and pointed me towards some badger setts. So off I trod, loose in the field!

Sheep, sheep, cows and sheep.

Doctor Doolittle, anyone?

Here's the badger sett, sadly bereft of badgers (at least ones who are awake):

Took a couple of interesting turns after that (after much deliberation I decided the hole in the wall was for dogs to go through - very thoughtful)...

...including one down what turned out to be a private drive - must get a lot of wanderers thinking everything's so beautiful it must be part of the walk. This, for example, is Someone's House.

Next: I go riding on an enormous Clydesdale horse. Hilarity ensues.

Spring at Regent's Park

Before we get started, I feel compelled to share with you all, this photo:

Somewhere in there you are looking at the First Leaf on the tree outside my house. All of the trees in the street have been pruned within an inch of their life, and its debatable whether we'll get any decent greenery. Still, this is hopeful.

This weekend is apparently "The Hottest Weekend of the Year" (at tops of 26, one assumes this is "so far"), and the week leading up to it had its share of lovely sunny days. And so on the advice of my cousin (and now seasoned traveller) Vivienne, I went to Regent's Park.

I've never been. Sure, I've been to the zoo, which occupies one of the top corners of the park, but never the park itself. It's lovely. One can only assume that the people who live nearby are the luckiest (richest) in the city. Imagine being able to take your lunch break here each day.

The park is divided into a bunch of different gardens and ovals and fields - people eating, jogging, training, walking their dogs...and then there's this guy:

I had to zoom in from the other side of the park (God bless 12x optical zoom) but oh my, was it worth it. At one point he stood on his head for a full two seconds before he overbalanced and went back to waving the staff around and (for some reason known only to him, but clearly something for which you need to be topless) juggling one of his shoes.

After this lunchtime entertainment I was free to view the rest of the park, taking advantage of people in close conversation in order to get these shots:

This next one I especially love - I suspect the guys knew they were being photographed, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. What a resourceful couple of businessmen. What an obliging tree.

Well, enough of the human residents of the park. Because in the Queen's Gardens section there was a pond, and in that pond (apart from INCREDIBLY large fish) were ducks. This one is rocking the punk look:

This one is asleep, foolishly unaware of how close I am.

I feel this next one requires an explanation. The swan is not dead. Promise. He is just dabbling, something I have never seen a swan do this before.

And then, a little turn down past some tennis courts (perfect weather for it too, unfortunately, as the best I could have managed was running REALLY fast around to the other side of the net to return my own serve), there he was! Squirrel!!!

Followed him for a bit, then stopped harassing the wildlife (before they get organised and start protesting) and got back to the gardens:

Over the bridge to a little island, just for this view of some curly willow leaves over a welling:

Then just when you think it's all Victorian hedges and flowerbeds (not that that's a bad thing - exhibit a:)...

...you come across a gorgeous little thicket like this:

And with that, it's off to the Honest Sausage for an icecream.

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.

The Great Outdoorswoman

It's raining.

Not just a sprinkling, either. It's coming down in a lovely English shower. Hurrah!!! First good rain we've had in daylight since I moved into this flat (not that I'm complaining about the recent spate of Spring weather). This evening, after a solid few hours of work, I set out into the downpour, armed with not-quite-waterproof jacket and umbrella, in search of my free evening newspaper (I like to do the crossword). Unfortunately I only realised once I reached the shops that this newspaper doesn't come on weekends. Made a cursory purchase (largely, I suspect, to stop from feeling foolish for coming all that way for nothing in the rain) and splashed off home through the puddles. Tonight I am having leftover thai chicken curry and watching Tootsie. Fail to see how it gets any better than THAT.

Thought I'd make this blog about Highgate Wood. This enclosed wood is a short bus ride (or a medium walk) away from where I live in Muswell Hill, and it's marvellous. When you get to the middle you might as well not be in London, surrounded as you are by mossy tree stumps and tall trunks, and sprinklings of little white flowers. These photos are from a little earlier in the Spring, so while it's gotten leafier since then, I still like the woodsiness of it all.

I think plans are afoot to try to stop the spread of ivy. They've got a job ahead of them.

Also, I managed to get this photo of a robin before the little bugger flew away.

Gotcha!

The funny thing is that getting into the wood is a bit of work - they've constructed these weird panelled fences which, possibly, at one stage, were supposed to keep bikes out (? - either that or keep deer in), the upshot being that there's a very narrow space through which people have to squeeze before they can enter the wood. And yet I see prams and buggies aplenty. God knows how they got in - I suspect sheer force of will on the part of the mother. "We're going to have a nice walk in this wood if it's the LAST THING I DO!"

Then there are the dogs that run through this place - let off their leashes and bolting about as if they can't believe their luck. One little spaniel kept getting caught in the underbrush - every now and then you'd here semi-panicked yelps coming from the clumps of branches and leaves, until his owner would whistle and he'd be tearing out of there again, loving it.

In house news, my noisy upstairs neighbours have (noisily) departed for the long weekend, it seems, which means I have a few nights where I don't have to listen to medicine balls being rolled about the place (or whatever they're doing) or - much less frequently but infinitely worse - noisy "relations". God bless the iPod and its headphones, is all I can say.

Meanwhile things continue to potter along. This week I ventured towards the Southbank for a place I know that sells used books. Unfortunately the wind and on-and-off rain meant they had to batten down the hatches, but there's something nice, even in the middle of the jubilee bridges, where the wind is blowing a gale - there's something very Londonish about the river Thames on a cloudy day. Also there's something random, and therefore quite wonderful happening in London - all over, these Asian Elephant statues have been placed, each painted in a unique way, to protest and raise money to save the endangered species. Raise money how? Apparently they're for sale. I SO want one. This one is - for some reason - decorated with the titles of a very English film series. Photo courtesy of my fancy new phone:

Off to bed now. Toodles!