That was the sky on Friday. Amazing, right? In England, it's pretty unheard of to have a sky of unbroken blue with not a single cloud in sight. And the temperature was just right -- mid to high 60's F, perfect for walking without a jacket.
So that's what I did. I went to Hampstead Heath and had a long walk, listening to my podcasts.
I wanted to check out the azaleas in the Athlone House gardens, which are usually blooming like crazy around this time of year. But I was still a bit early. They were beginning to bloom but they weren't quite at full effect. I may go back.
This unusual yellow variety was open, though. This may be the only yellow azalea I know in London.
Meanwhile, the trees on the heath are sending out their new, pinkish leaves, which will darken to green as they mature. I believe those are beech trees.
It was a good walk and I was out for a couple of hours, a merciful escape from some of the noise happening here at home. Our neighbor (not Mrs. Kravitz; the one on the other side) is having work done on her house and/or back patio. She's had a crew out there banging, grinding and sawing -- and bantering loudly and endlessly over the sounds of the machinery -- for a couple of weeks now, and this is after a roof maintenance job that required a huge scaffold over the entire house. (Remember the guys having their picnic in the street?) I think there's been construction inside the house as well. She doesn't appear to be living there while all this is done; at least, I haven't seen her.
All told we've been listening to a couple of months of construction noise. Will it ever end? I guess I should be happy she's maintaining the place, but just once I'd like to live next to (or beneath) neighbors who weren't doing noisy renovations! There's a house across the street having a gigantic renovation done as well.
Anyway, yes, walking gets me away from that.
Just for kicks, here's a video I took on another recent walk, of pigeons congregating on West End Green. I was impressed by how many there were -- more than I typically see. West End Green is very close to our house, so I'm betting some of these birds are the same ones we see monopolizing our seed feeders.
I've toyed with the idea of buying one of those feeders that has a built-in video camera to get footage of the garden birds, but all the ones I've looked at feature easily accessible seed trays, and I just know I would get a million hours of pigeon videos.
Dave will be at school this afternoon for a band performance, and I'll be hanging out at home or possibly out and about. Our skies are not forecast to look like the top photo today; it's supposed to be cloudy and we might even get rain tomorrow, which would be a welcome development.
I'll stay in and read -- my current book is "Sunflowers: The Secret History" by Joe Pappalardo. It's something I found on the library shelf and I was intrigued, and I'm not sure why. But it's quite interesting, if not exactly riveting. Did you know that sunflowers are native to North America, but Russia has also claimed ancestral ownership of them? Even sunflowers are a tool in the Cold War!
Speaking of sunflowers, I need to get our own planted out, as well as my zinnias and cosmos seedlings. I'm a bit nervous about that because the squirrels have been brutalizing our potted plants with their digging -- and I know they'll do the same to any freshly planted bedding plants -- but they can't stay in seed trays forever. Survival of the fittest!
My goodness.. it seems that it's a jungle out there! Everything fighting for survival!
ReplyDeleteWe have light cloud this morning which is already disappearing, children are in the garden, it's a bit cooler but they don't notice.
ReplyDelete"Mum! Mum! There's a man over there filming the pigeons!"
ReplyDelete"Come away Humphrey! Don't look at him!"
P.S. Humane squirrel traps can be ordered via Amazon. When you have gathered several of the little blighters you can release them in the middle of Hampstead Heath.
I suppose the pigeons could make pigeon pie, should food rations be installed.
ReplyDeleteA single man alone without an Olga walking in Hampstead Heath...hmm.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbour noise is similar, except it is a high rise tower.
There should be a better word than flock for that number of pigeons. A shock of rock doves! The squirrels would seriously piss me off. I have only once seen yellow azaleas. So unusual.
ReplyDeleteIt is cloudy and raining in the middle of the Atlantic, your weather in a few days
ReplyDeleteWe had that perfect blue sky yesterday, too. Wonderful! The pigeon video amused me.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of one of our local woods is a lone yellow azalea. I don't know how it got there, but it's lovely to see.
My neighbor was given one of those camera bird feeders, and the first day squirrels bit off the cables and most of the electronics. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOur azaleas have bloomed and gone. I do wish we had some yellow ones to mix with the pinks and fuchsias and whites.
ReplyDeleteWe're still too cold to plant outside, apart from lettuce, which will go in today. (Or spinach). You've had a gorgeous weather period. I don't think I've ever seen a yellow azalea!
ReplyDeleteOh, we always have lots of noise in the neighborhood. Lawn mowing, leaf blowing, construction, sirens, motorcycles zooming - that's just what suburbs are like around me. I guess I am used to it.
ReplyDeleteBlue sky day! That yellow azalea is so unusual. I looked them up to see if they would do well here, three recommended but expensive and unavailable both.
ReplyDeleteYellow azaleas! Imagine that. I have never seen such a thing. Now my flame azalea is sort of yellow and orange but not the same at all.
ReplyDeleteFor us, it's the doves. They try to monopolize the feeder and often do. Glen has enjoyed his Happy Birdy feeder/camera and although yes, he gets lots of dove pictures, he also gets others. Sometimes I see birds looking as if they are practically posing for the camera. The best is the little hummingbird feeder which catches those amazing birds.
I would go insane if I had to listen to construction sounds all day but as Glen has said, "Wouldn't be a long trip." He said it in the most loving way possible.
All your photos here are so beautiful.
Whenever I think of sunflowers (besides the 40lb bag of bird seed I get at least once a month), I am reminded of a 1970 movie of the same name starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni--some of it filmed in Russia. The music by Henry Mancini in that movie is haunting.
ReplyDeleteMy husband bought a bird feeder with a camera and not a single bird has used it yet.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, especially Hampstead Heath.
Your brilliant solidly yellow azalea is outstanding. I can't grow azaleas due to the deer who like eating them as much as the rhododendrons.
ReplyDeleteThe park is lovely with mature plantings arranged to perfection. The Elms are very old majestic trees.
That's a huge flock of city pigeons.
This year we have owls and red tail hawks, and they are keeping the squirrels and small rodents in check.
Construction noise is tiring and unpleasant, especially when it goes on for days/weeks. Hopefully they do not work into the night.