Tuesday 28 June 2022

An Early Summer Building Project Completed


Having had this large tree stump at the front of the house for a couple of years,
I never really found much use for it except to stand plants on. And it's actually
a remnant come souvenir of a huge Leylandii tree that our neighbours had chopped
down two years ago.



And it was only after seeing pictures online of a water well and a bird table that
gave me the whole idea of making something. It was almost a eureka moment. And
I've been working on it since our Platinum Jubilee weekend, although I had difficulty
getting the right colour of paint to finalize the project. I was initially after a woody shade.
But after four coats I settled for a mid range natural wood colour.
Of course I'll add a nut container on it for the birds. And I'll put in some straw under the
roof.



The building of it was fairly straight forward. It was just the repetitive painting that
dragged the whole project out. And it felt quite rewarding recently to catch a local Magpie
drinking from the bird bowl.
It makes a great piece of garden furniture and I imagine it's not something you'll find
in a Garden Centre.
  


Below: Fixing side supports so as to build a platform for the roof.

Below: Fixing the roof on.


Below: The finished Bird Table with the final coat of paint.
Below: These were the original painted colours of the Bird Table. And pretty disastrous
they turned out. One was too dark (left) and the colour on the right was way too bright.

Not Another Picture!

While looking around one of our many local second hand Charity shops I came across
this very attractive framed print. Not too sure who the work is by, but our friend Neil tells
me that Google has a picture recognition facility. And what I like about it is it's oval shape
and it's polished mahogany frame.

The shop price tag said £45 but the shopkeeper let me have it for £35, probably so as to shift
it and make room for more vintage surprises.

What was a bit of a trial was getting it hung up on my fireplace wall. Unfortunately
it was too wide to fit properly in between the two wall lamps. So I was forced to pull them out
and fit them back in much wider apart. That of course meant a bit of re-plastering and painting.
But it was all worth it in the end.

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Summertime.....Now it's Official!



So it's official that today is the first day of Summer, Tuesday June 21st. And even though
we've had some early Summer weather already these past few weeks, it looks like
another warm hot period is with us this very week.

Below: That Gershwin classic 'Summertime.' I don't think there is a finer version.

SUMMERTIME - ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG
COMPOSED BY GEORGE GERSHWIN IN 1935.

KINDLY UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY amfc167

Thursday 16 June 2022

The Big Jubilee Party in the Park, The London Bike Ride Returns and Here Comes Summer.

Well we do seem to have jumped into some serious Summer weather even though it's
not actually Summer yet. Officially it doesn't start until next week on Tuesday 21st June.
Yet we Brits see our favourite season start around late May. Even our out of touch BBC
are still transmitting their nightly Springwatch shows when most of us see March and 
April as Spring.

They're saying now that this Friday (17th) could reach 340C, but then it will cool down by Sunday. 



Below are a few shots of the front and side of the house which is bursting with early Summer colours.
And for the last 2 weeks I've been working on a new Summer building project which should hopefully
show up in my next Blog post. It's going to be a cross between a water well, a bird house and a plant table.
It's all but finished but there's just the garden shed roofing material to fit on, which arrives from
Amazon on Friday. And it's already looking like a great piece of garden furniture that you wont
see in any Garden Centre. 







On Saturday 11th June last week I was surprised to find out at the last minute that
The London Naked Bike Ride had returned after a two year hiatus due to Covid. In fact
all the big Summer events seem to be returning. So I popped over to Wellington Arch just
to see them gather and take off. Yes I managed to get quite a few pictures on that sunny
Saturday, but alas I won't be posting them up here. We don't want Blogger's dreaded
Adult Warning sign inserted into this blog.
And although I saw the riders off, I didn't wait around for 2 or 3 hours for them to return.
But it was clear to see that the Ride was once again dominated by male riders,
at least from the Hyde Park meeting point. Other riders took off from other points 
around the capital.










On Tuesday evening around 10:00pm we watched the Full Supermoon emerge above
the City of London skyline at Canary Wharf. Apparently it was the first of three Summer
Supermoons.
I was amazed that from high up on Hampstead Heath that so much of the City skyline was
so visible. Although the best unobstructed views can be had from the top of Primrose Hill. 








Local crowds gathered in Golders Hill Park Hampstead to celebrate the Queen's Platinum
Jubilee to mark our Monarch's 70 year reign. It was very much a similar affair to 10 years
ago when locals gathered for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Food stalls, music entertainment and a Funfair were laid on to mark the occasion.
Also attending the event was the Army Cadets who as well as recruiting, seemed to have
fun with some of the Park visitors interested in trying on Army combat gear.

We returned to the Park later that evening for the lighting of the Jubilee Beacon followed
by the climatic fireworks.
And as many were saying, this is probably the last time this will happen during the
96 year old Monarch's reign. And you imagine that after such a busy hectic Royal weekend,
that The Queen took a well earned rest. 












Returning to the Park later that day for the evening celebrations.