Day 188 : no penguins here...no penguins at all!

Since the sinister threat of CJ’s miniature Doberman with their diminutive Stasi handlers sniffing out one of my teeny, tiny penguins, they've been pondering their safety. There was talk of engaging some tigers but then sense prevailed, maybe the tigers would consider the penguin a tasty fishy snack so the initial idea was abandoned and vegetarians should be enlisted instead.

Then the wily penguins hatched a cunning plan. Rather than obtaining their own vicious creature they would deploy a small zebra herd to act as a camouflage shield. These stealth penguins can mingle with their stripy protectors and hopefully bamboozle any passing predators.

Emboldened by the black and white zebra smoke screen Tiny (my baby penguins are called Tiny and Small after the knitted pink Clanger children) tries on his daisy disguise rendering him entirely invisible to scary dogs, or at least I hope he is.

 

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Day 187 : a very a British summer day

A glorious day, I better not speak too loudly but summer might just be here. Marble Hill House Park is chock full of little vignettes.

There are couples stretched out on blankets on the grass sharing lazy stolen kisses. A group of dogs and children are chasing enthusiastically after balls. Two little boys are whooping with delight as their father catches them and tosses them up in the air one by one. Three young girls wearing pretty floral dresses, perhaps they've been to a birthday party, have carefully sat on a checked cloth their mother has spread out and they're now gathering buttercups and daisies.

Three woman are desperately trying to expose as much pale skin as possible to the the warming rays whilst sharing a punnet of strawberries and gossip. There’s a entire family playing a riotous game of cricket whilst children pedal furiously on tiny tricycles. There are impromptu picnics all over the grounds, and hearing the clink of glasses I wish I'd broken out one of my wicker hampers.

Above us all a seagull, clearly lost, is circling and gliding in the cornflower blue sky. A much awaited very British summer scene...finally!

 

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Day 186 : orange and blue

Yay another sunny day and the building across the road from my office looks rather striking. Doesn't a bold blue sky make everything just seem better?

 

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Day 185 : trains and boats and planes

I'm actually on my way home in the daylight, which is a major achievement for me most days. About seven tube stations from home I spot the huge glowing golden ball in the sky and think I might be able to capture a stunning sunset. I make a vain attempt to grab a shot from the tube but I'm fighting with incredibly scratched windows and a speeding train. Hmmm, I try and calculate when I can be somewhere more picturesque and whether the great burning orb will still be hanging in the sky by then. We get into Richmond station and there’s still some sun showing but I need a vantage point. Really I need to head for the River Thames to have some foreground and background interest.

On arrival, I scoot down the cobbles to the end of the towpath but I have, as I feared, missed the sun and the sunset is just not lighting up the sky as yet. Maybe if I stand atop of Richmond Bridge I can get the classic view of the railway bridge in the horizon with the pink and purple stripes in the sky.

I climb the steps to stand on Richmond Bridge, and I opt for a tall portrait shot (i.e. landscape mode but turned 90 degrees) as I wanted to capture both the blue sky and the reflections just below me on the water. As I line up my shot some rowers are manoeuvring their boat back towards its docking spot for the night, following behind is a motor boat zipping under the railway bridge supporting the fast train heading into Middlesex and Berkshire. Up above a jet is making its approach to Heathrow and higher up in the sky there’s a vapour trail from another plane jetting off to foreign lands. I'm glad I got home early enough for this sunset drenched tranquil scene of transportation, I should definitely make more effort to be here more often.

 

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Day 184 : water, water everywhere!

Yep, it’s raining again! We’re officially enjoying summer now but no one told the weather. This morning every flower petal, leaf, iron railing, car roof and bonnet is dappled by large rain drops. The rain pouring from the sky has momentarily abated so I'm able to get an abstract shot across the rain-splashed bonnet of a handy Mercedes.

Many hours later I manage to recreate the morning’s downfall by letting my bath overrun by falling asleep moments after I turned the taps on. The upshot was by downstairs neighbours got somewhat rained on by my boiling hot bath water - whoops!

Well I’ve never done that before and I hadn't really met my neighbours until now. And really the way you want to meet your fellow house inhabiters is when they are banging on your door, sleep drowsy, in their underwear, in the wee small hours after you've rudely woken them by an impromptu shower. Fortunately it seems most of the water was captured by their own bath but the damage to the bathroom ceiling is yet to be revealed. Something to look forward to!

 

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Day 183 : scary flower!

We have the odd random pink orchid positioned around the office. they are not really in the major thoroughfares where they might be admired by one and all but almost secreted in curious little nooks slightly off the beaten track. I discovered this one making a foray to the post room. Normally our post is delivered to our desks so I don't enter often into the little tiny room where two fake cats live in the cubby holes. But our intrepid post room ambassador is out today so a hunting I will go. However the post room is locked so instead I have to take photographs of orchids.

They look ferocious! It looks like if you lean too close to sniff the scent it will have your nose off with one bite. Luckily it let me get my little camera real close and left us intact. Grrr!

 

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Day 182 : unleash the penguins!

I've been planning to introduce my penguins into my miniature world for a while but hadn't had the necessary inspiration. I decided yesterday to take a miscellany of my little figures to the park and see if a little interaction with nature netted any interesting images. The teeny, tiny penguin basking in the late afternoon sun nestling in a buttercup was one of my favourites. I posted it online and CJ countered with a photograph of her diminutive Stasi officer and scary looking Doberman hunting my liddle penguin! What a terrifying thought, I think I need to organise some protection for my penguin posse, um what’s the collective noun for penguins? After some research I've established it could be colony, crèche, huddle, parcel, rookery, formality, parade, waddle or raft. My preference would be “waddle” but it sounds suspiciously fabricated in the style of Not the Nine O’Clock News infamously inventing a “flange of baboons”. Well whatever a collective of penguins is called I think mine might be in peril, maybe they should get a tiger or just a really good disguise!

 

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