We had a very domestic day yesterday. Olga and I took a long walk in the morning around West Hampstead and Cricklewood, the neighborhood to the northwest of where we live. The sun was out and the shadows were long, and I took some fun pictures. I let Olga lead the way, even as we wound into areas she didn't know very well. Every now and then she'd look back at me for reassurance, as if to say, "Is this the right direction?"
I finally got a clear shot of this place, which usually (and appropriately) has cars parked in front of it. It always looks like this, even when it's seemingly open for business. The mattress is an added bonus.
Anyway, we came home and spent some time in the garden. Dave bought a bunch of new plants -- a hollyhock, a snakehead fritillary, a yellow primula and others -- so he put those in the ground while I neatened the flower beds. We also filled the birdbath and restocked the feeders, which have been doing a booming business all morning today -- at this moment there are two magpies on the birdbath, a pigeon waiting nearby, and big brown Eurasian jays and little black-white-and-yellow tits keep swooping in to eat from the peanut feeder on the fence. That jay is so full of peanuts I don't see how it can fly.
It's so nice to see things coming back to life again after a winter of dormancy. The bursting buds, the bright sun. Spring is a wonderful time.
In the afternoon I read my New Yorkers and in the evening we had pork roast and watched Season 4 of "House of Cards." We're only a few episodes in, but I'm still trying to figure out what's going on -- Season 3 seems so long ago!
Sounds like a perfect Sunday.
ReplyDeleteSounds great...Would you be up for another investigative trip to a location in London that relates to books and reading? I read about it online. It is a bar called Swan and Edgar in London...apparently it is touted as the place to go if you enjoy reading and a drink or two...other than that, I know nothing other than the fact that it is supposed to be well known.There was a photo from a Flickr account by someone called Jennifer Whitehead, but when I went there, I was unable to find it as she has almost 800!
ReplyDeleteI thought you might like to check this out. It might make an interesting post.
Shadows and light. Indeed.
ReplyDeleteSundays are good for puttering around. I worked out in the yard all day and was very dirty and very tired when I came in.
ReplyDeleteI saw that season 4 of House of Cards was available but, I haven't been able to bring myself to watch again. I think I'm so disturbed by the characters, I'm not sure I want to watch their exploits any longer.
ReplyDeleteI did watch the last episode of Downton Abbey last night. I'll miss that show.
Jays? Jays are huge robbers. They have a large pouch that holds. lots of sunflower seeds. they take the peanuts and hide them. I don't feed peanuts ,but my neighbors do. When I rake my yard I find all kinds of peanuts!
ReplyDeleteLove the bonus mattress :)
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the jays reminded me that we used to find peanuts in the shell hidden under our artificial greenery that we put along our veranda railing every Christmas. That greenery was only up for a week or so each year, but it never failed that there were peanuts under it when I took it down! So, maybe your jays were hiding - not eating - your peanuts. (Or maybe storing them, like Red said.)
ReplyDeleteA domestic day is my idea of heaven.
I still give peanuts to the Stellers jays here, They do hide them and squirrels find them , so eventually the peanuts do end up inside of some creature. I might be doing them a disservice, the peanuts are not organic...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, everybody!
ReplyDeleteE, I e-mailed you about Swan & Edgar. It is no longer open. I've photographed it before, actually:
http://shadowsteve.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/an-outdoor-bookshelf.html
Thanks for the info about the jays, Red and Jenny-O! I couldn't imagine that bird was eating all those nuts. As Linda Sue said, I don't mind if it carries them off -- they'll wind up nourishing something.