Just in the last few days, it seems, the Japanese maple at the back of our garden has turned fire-engine red. Things are looking quite autumnal out there, aren't they? I have more work to do this weekend, clearing and trimming and preparing for winter, but it won't affect this view much at all.
The £200 DVDs have not surfaced yet. I'll tell you if they do. Some of you asked what they were, and honestly I'm not exactly sure -- I wasn't involved in the purchase. But I don't think they're anything that anyone would steal. They're instructional videos, not the kind of thing you'd watch at home with a bowl of popcorn and your feet on the coffee table.
Academic materials sometimes cost a ridiculous amount of money. We get a few academic journals in the library, and without fail their subscription costs run into the hundreds of pounds, often for quarterly issues -- as opposed to £40 or so for your typical monthly magazine. I assume this is because they have smaller circulations and don't make much if any money from advertising.
Yesterday morning I was walking the dog (yes, she wanted her walk!) and Dave, who was on his way to work, pointed out this gigantic crane that rose up seemingly overnight behind the houses at the end of our street. It's got something to do with the housing development that's being built on the site of the old council office building. There will eventually be multi-story apartment buildings there, which will change our streetscape quite a bit.
(That's Dave on the sidewalk on the other side of the street, and you can see that the blue car is still in its parking spot underneath the tree, now devoid of leaves. I have realized that's a permitted space, so I guess it's set aside for just that person. Oh, and it was trash day yesterday, hence all the bins.)
(That's Dave on the sidewalk on the other side of the street, and you can see that the blue car is still in its parking spot underneath the tree, now devoid of leaves. I have realized that's a permitted space, so I guess it's set aside for just that person. Oh, and it was trash day yesterday, hence all the bins.)
Those cranes are a common site around here. Dave looks like he’s got quite a brisk pace.
ReplyDeleteIt seems they're a common sight everywhere, although this one is bigger than anything we've recently seen in our immediate neighborhood.
DeleteGood job the development is not happening closer to you. It is far enough away to be ignored.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Could you please explain the meaning of the word "sidewalk" as I have not encountered it before. Dave appears to be walking straight ahead not sideways like a crab.
You WALK beSIDE a road, right? I still think it's a better word than pavement, which could be any paved surface -- a car park, a roadway, or yes, a sidewalk. They're all paved with pavement.
DeleteGosh, I love a Japanese Maple, especially when they go vibrant red. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the new building won't be a terrible addition to your view.
I don't think we'll see it from our flat, because there's a bend in the road that diverts our view from this particular vista!
DeleteThat back garden looks like a wild place. I love that. Was Dave late for work? Because he really appears to be moving right along.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's less wild now than it was earlier in the year! Dave is a fast walker. I'm a fast walker too and I sometimes have trouble keeping up with him.
DeleteI like that view of your wild garden! Your yard looks quite large in that photo and you fit so many different plants in there! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteYour neighborhood is packed too! I guess there is no where to go but UP, hence, the crane!
Yeah, typical urban area -- every inch of space in use!
DeleteI love the view of your backyard and then the street side of your place. It's a wonderful contrast and perspective. It'll be interesting to watch a new apartment building getting built there.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting. It's just far enough away that I don't think it will bother us or impede our view.
DeleteYou've shown us the front of your house but I think this is the first time, that I remember anyway, that you've shown the street. It will be a shame to have tall apartment buildings there. I imagine it will feel more closed in. At least you have that wonderful garden.
ReplyDeleteWell, this section of the street is actually down the hill from us. Our house is on a different part of the street. I've shown pictures now and then of roadwork or our front garden.
DeleteI don't know why academic journals should be so expensive. They certainly don't pay either the authors, reviewers or editors. Now I've retired I'm not even allowed to look at my own papers in them unless I subscribe.
ReplyDeleteIt's CRAZY how much some of them charge! I guess they must have some paid staff just to put the thing together and get it in the mail.
DeleteMore crowded than ever with all the waste carts on the street.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a busy day!
DeleteYour garden certainly does have the look of fall. That maple is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI hope the new apartment building will have a look that fits in well with your street.
It will be interesting to see what it looks like. I know the people in those houses that back up to the site are not happy. They're probably going to lose some sunlight.
DeleteJapanese maples are so beautiful. Textbooks are the same racket; they are outrageously overpriced but for a limited market, thus a monopoly of sorts.
ReplyDeleteYeah, similar situation!
DeleteSo an individual on a residential street can get a permit for a specific parking spot? I bet that's pricy!
ReplyDeleteThe Maple is gorgeous! I love fall colors. :)
I wonder if it's a matter of paying, or maybe they're disabled or something. Not sure.
DeleteNice maple! We have a Japanese maple that someone planted so that it will block the walking path, drape over the air conditioning unit and be a general nuisance. We cut back a rhody to give the maple a direction in which it could grow, but it's in a bad location. Yours looks free to roam.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you can train yours to not be too much of a problem. Yeah, ours just does its thing. It's a bit lopsided because it's growing next to another big bush, and it seeks light so it's reaching in the opposite direction.
DeleteMy husband and I plan to visit London next year, on the way to meeting our friends who live in Germany, in France, and touring around the continent. I have to say, my desire to visit London again in life has EVERYTHING to do with your photos of it, and your account of life there. When last I left there, I was sure that I would never visit again. That feeling has completely melted away.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure London is a LOT different from the way it was when you were here as a young person. Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised! Give me a holler when you're in town and we'll meet up!
DeleteMost Excellent Captures There Brother Reed
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thanks, P! No treat for Olga today?
DeleteI love the reds of autumn. Heck, I love the golds, too. It's always so bleak when the leaves fall and the trees are just skeletons in the sky.
ReplyDeleteAbout the package at school, if it was still in its shipping wrapper no one would know what the subject matter was, would they? I do hope it shows up. And preferably before it is re-ordered ...
We're at a pretty time of year at the moment. Still lots of colors in the foliage. We're hoping even if they haven't opened it, someone will realize they have a package that doesn't belong to them.
DeleteOh, if they would only begin a project like that near Levon's house! He would be in heaven! His parents not so much.
ReplyDeleteMy Japanese maple is not red but it sure is orange.