Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Nessie of the Sidewalk


I finally got my Istanbul photos on Flickr. If you're interested you can view them here, though admittedly you've already seen the best of them on this blog.

Dave's crazy week of concerts and work is continuing. I've been home alone for dinner the last two nights, which actually hasn't been so bad. I made pesto pasta, listened to music and read by the light of the Christmas tree.


This is what our poor balcony plants look like these days. Winter is tough on them! The horseradish has died back completely, and our clematis has never really prospered. (I think it's too windy out there.) Last year's heather is a bit scraggly. I may get out there and trim away some of the dead stuff just so we can bring in the pots if it snows -- or I may just let nature take its course this winter, thereby thinning the herd. (Can you have a herd of plants?)


There is a very odd crack in the sidewalk a block or two from our house. Doesn't it look like a snake, or maybe the Loch Ness monster? Olga and I walk past it every morning. I suppose it has something to do with a cable run underneath the pavement, but it's so specifically monster-like I wonder if someone made it on purpose.

(Top photo: A zebra-striped treehouse near where I work, in St. John's Wood.)

7 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Ummm...is it just me or does your snake look a teeny bit phallic?
Okay. Maybe it's just me.

Vivian said...

steve, does England get freezing temp? if so, you may have some cracked pots next spring-summer if you don't bring them in or remove the soil, or at least cover with plastic bags so water/snow doesn't enter the soil.
i would cut them back.

37paddington said...

that monster looks very intentional. i think it's the dot of the eye that makes it so. i love seeing your world.

Reya Mellicker said...

Definitely Nessie in the sidewalk.

I'll be curious to hear what you do with your plants. I had planned to let mine freeze, but it came down to it, I couldn't. I am a pussy. Brought them in.

Lynne said...

Ms Moon is really bad. Now that's all I can see when I look at Nessie. :)

Actually, I thought the log submerged in the ground in the first photo might be Nessie, but I guess I didn't read you title fully. Ha!

Vivian is right in your pot cracking if they freeze. I don't leave any plants in pots out here in NJ. My herbs are in an old washtub and the thyme winters just fine as does the sage. They both come back in the spring. Rosemary is too fragile so she comes in.

Linda Sue said...

Your Nessie is fab-tastic! If you could find a jesus or a virgin somewhere you could build little gates around them and become very wealthy. Your plants are so sad but that is what winter does, culls the herd. I am yearning for sun and warmth.

Steve Reed said...

Ms Moon: Ha! I didn't see it that way, but now that you mention it...

Vivian: England does freeze, but it doesn't get REALLY cold. Still, that's a good point about the cracking.

Angella: The eye is what makes me think someone may have created it intentionally. It seems unlikely that eye could be an accident.

Reya: Yeah, I'll probably do the same. They do need some trimming, though.

Lynne: Some of our balcony plants are in metal pots, like the nandina. They can stay out, like your washtub.

Linda Sue: Too bad I don't OWN Nessie -- I'm sure there's a way to make her a local tourist attraction. Nessie of Notting Hill. :)