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i had a few minutes to kill at portsmouth harbour and found my inspiration in the mud at low tide ....... each "vehicle" doubtless has a story to tell .... probably involving alcohol ....

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here is venus at bignor roman villa
the backroads of west sussex were like a flood zone in central america!

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the return ferry crossing to the north island was choppy, to say the least.

and on the walk home the footpath was strewn with blossom which looked like pink snow.

my favourite phrase of the day (courtesy of mum):

'yes, you know, that's the place where we saw the albino squirrel'.

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on days like today,

all you can really do is snuggle up on your favourite blanket

and dream about sunshine.

alternatively, a trip to a spa -

a completely new and wonderful experience.

thanks, sarah!

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island-bound again for stag/hen weekends.

gathered myself a nice collection of random bruises at the laser quest evening.

makes me wonder why on earth anyone would go to an aerobics class when this is on offer!

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i put this together as a picture for my new leaflet .....

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the theme looks like DIY which might have been more rewarding than sitting in front of a computer all day ......

a quick look in the garden confirmed that the weather was doing wonders for the plants

 

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a peaceful, sunny moment sandwiched between the chaos of work, delayed trains and another evening spent as wardrobe assistant at the theatre.

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after another foul morning all the clouds were blown away ....... the disembarking ferry passengers will never believe we had it so bad

this evening i really have got a pottery session (after false alarm of last week!) :o)))

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all was grey and wet today
the rain and wind around the castle was fearsome
i was attracted to these figure-like decoratiions over the fireplace in my office

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i watched a bobbing sea of umbrellas flowing past my office window all day.

it rained so hard that everything actually began to look clean - 

the colours looked brighter, like a washed painting.

when i left my choir rehearsal at 9pm the clouds were breaking up

and the sky beyond was the most fabulous shade of blue:

a reward for getting through all the different shades of grey.

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armed with trusty needle and thread,

i spent the evening helping with costumes

at the final dress rehearsal of 'come on jeeves'!

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so many questions ........
what is large?
what is small?
what is near?
what is far?

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after a weekend's respite 

the weather has turned decidedly english again. sigh!

the wind whipped all the lovely blossom from the trees today.

desperately trying to imagine it's spring, indoors.

a busy week ahead...

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april showers return with a vengence ......
so i turn to some curiosities for my photo - my plaster cameos which look suitably ........ antiquarian

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this must be the biggest flowering cherry ever
grafted onto the white flowered cherry tree is a pink cherry
it's in the graveyard of Arreton Church

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spent this lovely sunny sunday morning in blackheath,

watching the start of the london marathon

in the hope that i might spot my colleagues.

absolutely amazed by the number of runners!

what an achievement.

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today i baked,

i wrote an essay,

i cleaned,

i shopped.

i stayed up til nearly midnight playing monopoly.

man, saturdays are wild round here.

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our house at the end of the rainbow ...

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not even a breeze over the solent this morning - so the vapour coming out of the chimneys went straight up to form a massive cloud - amazing

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blogger says it is no longer supported by my browser so I'm keeping things crossed that this will upload! let's see ..........

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april showers indeed.

meanwhile our precious seedlings are safely sheltered on the right side of the window...

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juxtaposition.

brings the whole world to life.

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thankfully i came back over the downs after the rain which enabled me to capture something of the rolling hills .... though more pleasing to see in the flesh

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glad to have had a day off today, though was a bit dodgy weather wise ....... tomorrow throwing pots again following the easter hols ........ hurrrrraaaaah!

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after a busy day at work,

i think i bit off more than i could chew when it came to creating this colourful mess of a sweet potato salad.  it took me a ridiculous amount of time and effort.

but i just couldn't face sandwiches again for tomorrow's lunch ...

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i was happily snapping away in the kitchen,

and suddenly realised the neighbours were getting paranoid.

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it's a large chunk of rock crystal ......

it's been a very odd day when things went very wrong but the outcome was nonetheless satisfactory

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a nice day to contemplate upon ..... the calm before the storm if the forecast is anything to go by ....

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the lotus 7 owners club descended upon the iow this weekend ....... and the 4 wheel theme continued today with an excellent chinese f1 race

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getting up early on a sunday morning

beneath a blustery constable sky

was completely worth it for this photo at the local car boot sale.

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grand national day.

we all four had a flutter,

and h lost out on a win by less than a nose!

spent a great afternoon at the v&a museum.

so much inspiration packed under one roof ...

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this morning on a few errands which eventually led me to Yarmouth, my favourite island town .....

was pleased to come home with some calibrachoa plants (south american relative of petunias) - had one last year which was in flower for 9 months!

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sometimes i feel like i'm in black and white, on autopilot all week,

and then on friday afternoons, walking along the road towards home

suddenly i snap out of it, and suddenly the whole world is full of colour again.

i feel like i'm wishing the time away until it's the weekend.

is that wrong? what about all the moments that happen in between?

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with spring come summer migrants ...... this one all the way from walberton :o)

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the morning seemed full of promise ........... until lunchtime, when along came rain, thunder and lightning ... which set off our fire alarms!

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april showers.

feeling pretty overloaded at work at the moment,

and very much looking forward to the weekend.

one of those days where nothing was straightforward,

everything turned into a bigger job than it should have been.

and april showers.

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what's this? ...... it's the screen linked to our seismometer in the museum which recorded the Indonesian earthquake as it was happening this morning (those massive squiggles at the bottom). ...... it's the first time i've ever seen a seismograph trace actually during an earthquake - very scary

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lunchtime meanderings,

and a happy coincidence:

red buses, orange hair 

and orange window frames.

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got back from my easter break to find the house was infested with these yellow critters ...... i keep finding more in out of the way places ........ have rounded 'em up in the kitchen cupboard while i decide what to do next .......

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easter monday was wet wet wet ...... and not the best time to experience racing at goodwood ...... some drivers appeared to be testing new devices to increase downforce in wet conditions .....

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easter day and a quick look at the sculpture park ...... i love the juxtaposition of modern sculpture and nature ....

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easter saturday and off to jackie's party where no expense was spared with Rod giving us non-stop melodious hits .....

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good friday ...... and here we were in L.A ......... well ventnor actually, but it seemed more exotic

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day one hundred. 100!

bit of a milestone.

today was a truly english day.

it rained, and rained, and rained.

we watched it from the window for most of the day,

walked round the block in a break between showers,

and i stepped just outside the door to take today's photo - 

a worm's eye view.

tomorrow, a new week,

new beginnings.

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we spent the weekend on the isle of wight.

the spring weather seems to have deserted us for easter,

so the much-longed-for beach time didn't really happen.

but still, 

still.

it was wonderful.

thanks, everyone!

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you can always count on the mums when it comes to a bit of home baking at easter ...

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ventnor. possibly my favourite place in the whole world.

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the great easter egg hunt in covent garden ...