Today we took a drive out to Wantage to indulge my new hobby (see previous post) by visiting this fabulous shop.  We also had lunch at The Bear, including the biggest chips I’ve ever eaten; and browsed a huge second hand bookshop (And possibly purchased a few books. Maybe. By accident.).  We then headed out of town to see the White Horse at Uffington.

The horse itself is impressive enough but it’s the views that really make the trip worthwhile:  from the Berkshire Downs to Oxfordshire, across to the Cotswolds and over to the Chilterns.    I just couldn’t do them justice, but you’ll get an idea from the picture above and from the pictures I made into a Flick set. (I even took one or two of the horse).

I’ve been a bit slack with the updates lately.  Haven’t been out with my camera since Cornwall.   Hopefully I’ll remedy that next weekend.  In the meantime, here’s a snap of my other new hobby – card-making – which has been taking up a little bit of my spare time lately, what with wedding invitations and 90th birthdays and stuff.    This was how the dining-room table looked a couple of hours ago.  It’s all cleared now and (almost) ready for dinner.    I have a nice glimpse of the garden from my crafting spot.

Like most holidays in Cornwall, for us the weather was mixed.  We had been there a few days before we had an evening sunny enough to promise a decent sunset.  So at about 9.30pm we wandered the half-mile down to the beach at Constantine Bay.  It was surprising how quickly the sun actually dropped below the horizon.  Next time the opportunity arises, I’ll be out there at least an hour earlier.  There are a couple more sunset shots and several more Cornwall photos on Flickr.

There’s something wonderfully atmospheric about a beach in the wind and rain.  Obviously, it doesn’t put the kitesurfers off and this guy was probably warmer in his wet suit than I was in my rainproof jacket.  This is at Constantine Bay, Cornwall, taken on Monday 20th June.

The weather was brighter, although just as windy, a few days later at Watergate Bay:

The British Museum is full of interesting treasures.  I particularly like visiting those from the ancient classical world, of which there are many.    I used one (an Attic vase) in my final Open University assignment recently.  To mark the end of my studies, here is a photograph of the beautiful atrium to the museum.  It’s difficult to take a bad picture in this space: the light and architecture are wonderful.

Anemones are simple plants but with very lovely flowers.  I’m working on my final assignment (about Ariadne) for my OU course at the moment.  It’s a bit hard going.    At one stage I thought about using Adonis as my subject.  In some versions of the Adonis myth, a red anemone springs up out of the ground following his death by wild boar.  The red anemones were past their prime when I went out with my camera, but I hope you like this this purpley-white one instead.

But she really knew how to play it cute…..

I used to tell her that we loved her best when she was asleep (but I didn’t mean it)….

Bye, Frodo. xx

For my May Day post, I’m using two photographs taken a year apart.  The one above was taken last year at the Oxford Folk Festival. The Greenman barely paused long enough from dancing and leading the parade to look directly at me for a photo, but I’m glad he did for just a second.

The photograph below was taken today outside the Ashmolean Museum and there really was a man under that conical pile of leaves.

Title of the post curtesy of this song by XTC.  Do have a listen, it’s a good song.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago in London’s West End.  We actually went to the Palace Theatre to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, but it was much harder to get a good photograph of that as it’s on a busy junction.    I’m quite pleased with the way this picture turned out, although I think I should have stepped back a bit to get the theatre entrance in the shot.

Priscilla was fabulous, by the way.

I love this time of year when the blossom is on the trees and the spring flowers are springing out of the ground.  This is my own edible cherry tree, a birthday pressie from my brother a couple of years ago. This year I am determined to get to the fruit before our resident blackbird family does.