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this morning went to the antiques fair at Calbourne village - here is an oddball item - a Victorian child's goat cart - the family dog probably had to pull the kid [unintended pun] around when the goat was off sick!

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a holiday weekend means the scooter clubs converge on the IW ...... 100s go buzzing past my front door heading for Ryde sea front

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a brief trip to ryde today via wootton creek to collect a large collection of old iw photos assembled by an hungarian count!

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friday was a busy catching up day spent mainly at home ....... despite the lack of rain and the efforts of snails the garden is beginning to blossom

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these cygnets were on the river just outside the Jubilee Stores building where i was potting tonight

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a farewell drink before i fly off to norway tomorrow for the long weekend...

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walking to cecil sharp house, home of the english folk dance and song society!

i wish i could spend more time here ....

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here are just a few roses coming out ..... there are millions of rose buds waiting to burst forth in the back garden

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spent a very pleasant Tuesday in Lymington with cousin Maggie & Bob. On returning the ferry ramp got stuck and cars & passengers trapped for over half an hour!

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i love these sultry evenings where it's too hot to sleep.

tonight,

it felt like there was a storm brewing ...

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signs of life ...

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this is what the snails see when they look up amongst the allium stems ....... it's a long way up

it's good to have access to a garden at work - it neutralises all the momentum of work pressures ........ unless you are a snail

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visited marwell zoo with friends.

the leopard was my favourite

(though the capybara and the ural owls were pretty awesome too).

impromptu belated birthday tea for hillman this afternoon

which was a lovely surprise!

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our first camping trip of the year, near studland in dorset.
i love sitting outside in the evenings
listening to the world...

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another busy morning in London but nice to escape the city to see the family in Woking and conclude the journey back over the Solent with a dramatic sky over the solent on a balmy evening

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saturday was a very welcome and enjoyable break in between two busy London trips

here is pagham nature reserve in the early evening, a place of wonderful tranquility with all the sights and sounds of nature at its best

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set out on Friday for London on a misty but sunny morning .... a hint of the nice weekend ahead

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new eye candy on the south bank ...

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self-portrait, after a night at the wine bar.

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back at brading today and took advantage again of some time at lunchtime to soak up a bit of sun - this pic is in the little roman garden where the fig tree is just coming into fruit ..... just like being back in cyprus

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i went to visit the bees on our office roof today.

the hives are a frenzy of activity now the weather has warmed up!

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back to work today but consoled by a wonderful sunny day and some lovely unvisited corners of the castle when you know where to look .....

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Tuesday. Ending my travels as I had begun them 10 days ago on Ryde Pier, greeted by blue skies.

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summer arrived unannounced some time between mid-morning and lunch time.

it took us all a bit by surprise.

after work, we sat out in the garden soaking up the sunshine.

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for the first time in ages,

we went for a walk after supper.

it was hazy and warm:

a sign of better weather to come ...

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Monday. Landed back in Blighty at about 3am to a freezing cold morning ........ but on surfacing (MUCH later!) what a pleasure to see the sun  in the UK - looks like we have imported some Cypriot weather for you all. The change in time zones has been very confusing to adjust back to.

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Sunday. This was the last day in Polis before setting off in the evening for the airport. It was again wonderful weather and the town was practically deserted. It was a good day to relax after the big excursion of the previous day, and this restaurant was particularly pleasing to chill out in with a glass of Pims and and excellent menu!

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Saturday. Went on a long organised excursion right around the West of Cyprus, entering the Turkish side, and back into Greek Cyprus through the Troodos mountains. Visited several amazing Greek Orthodox churches, archaeological sites, villages and saw wonderful scenery through the mountains. It was a long day but we saw a lot of Cyprus!

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Friday. It's not what you might think - this is the young growth around the trunk of a palm tree. There were endless interesting plants where ever we went, including all around the appartments endless orange groves with the MOST delicious oranges (the best I have ever tasted)which we just picked at random when out walking.

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Thursday. Spent the day in Paphos - in the morning in the old town where there were museums, a market etc, and in the afternoon briefly in the resort area for lunch, and escaped the millions of Brits to visit the huge protected area of the ancient city (archaeological site). But enough of ruins, here are some amazing trees with blue flowers growing in the old town centre.

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Wednesday (Happy Birthday Frances!). Did a long walk along the (deserted) beach to Latchi up the coast whch has a modern marina next to the fishing port. This ancient vessel was much more interesting than the new flashy motor boats.