First Kew Gardens trip of 2012

This weekend brought the first proper frost I can recall seeing this winter. Amazing, considering that it's January already. Strange weather indeed!

It was the perfect day to explore Kew Gardens - crisp and cold, with beautiful blue skies. What a contrast to the last time we visited (picnicking amongst the tumbling leaves of the October mini-heatwave)! There were definite signs of Spring, however, with lots of sprouting crocuses and daffodils. I was over the moon to see some beautiful snowdrops, although I felt there wasn't as many as I remember from previous years. Maybe more will have come through when I go back for the Tropical Extravaganza in few weeks!

January review

A month into 2011 already. How time flies! It's been a busy month too, with loads of interesting things going on. I think we surpassed ourselves in terms of exhibitions and museum visits!

Highlights:

• Canaletto at the National Gallery. A thoroughly enjoyable exhibition focusing on Canaletto and his rivals. Canaletto truly was the rich man's picture postcard painter - his paintings of Venice are exquisite and the composition is always excellent (even if it meant bending the truth slightly). It was interesting to note that he wasn't the first to fill that role, as painters such as Luca Carlevarijs had been painting vedute of Venice for years before him. The rival who really stood out to me was Francesco Guardi, one of the last painters of the classical Venetian School. His work really captured the fading grandeur of Venice and seemed to portray Venice as she is now (he was painting around the 1760s). I especially adored how he turned the emphasis from Venice out towards the lagoon itself (becoming almost Turner-esque).
  
  
• Gauguin at Tate Modern. This was a mammoth exhibition - 11 rooms in total - looking at the themes and mythology in Gauguin's work. It was very hard work - far too many people allowed in at any one time and rather poorly curated. Much of the information seemed to be stuffed into corners, or (in the case of sculptures & carvings) hidden in a random location on the wall. As I found out from a friend later, the audio guide had excellent information but I don't really expect to pay out more cash after paying £13 for entry in the first place. Westminster Abbey and the Queen's Gallery include your audio guide as part of the ticket price, which makes much more sense! Anyway, depite that rant, the exhibition was well-worth attending. I had seen some of Gauguin's work before ("Vision of the Sermon" in particular) and the bold, vivid colours had stuck in my mind. However, I did find some of the paintings a bit menacing with their strange characters lurking in the background! One of my favourite things was the two rooms with photographs, books and other paraphernalia, which served to put Gauguin's work into context with the time in which he was painting. I left the exhibition wanting to know more about him, regardless of how arrogant and morally dubious as he seemed!
  
  
• High Society at the Wellcome Collection. This must be the most popular exhibition I've been to at the Wellcome Collection - it was heaving! Something to do with the subject matter no doubt - mind-altering drugs in history and culture. Starting with the discovery of these drugs and their effects (loads of written accounts of self-experimentation), the exhibition progressed right through the 19th century drug trade to the changing attitudes of today. I was fascinated to discover how much the British were involved in the opium trade - the East India Company had opium plantations and sold to Chinese smugglers, despite opium being illegal in China at the time!
  
  
• Our first members evening at The British Museum and an opportunity to view galleries after-hours. Bliss! This evening was focused around the current Book of the Dead exhibition, which we went to see before Christmas (excellent but really needs two visits). We spent some time in the Egyptian sculpture court and listened to a curator talking about how they can date stelae by identifying features unique to the artisan who carved the hieroglyphs - so clever! To round off the evening, there was a lecture by the curator of the Book of the Dead exhibition, which I wish I had seen before we went, as it was such a good introduction to the subject matter. I felt the member evenings really do make the cost of membership worthwhile, and I can't wait until the next one!
  
  
• A members only visit to the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. This was a really fascinating insight into some of the behind-the-scenes work at Kew. The Herbarium was founded in 1853 to store dried plant specimens that were collected to be used to assist in identification and research. It still receives thousands of specimens every year and has staff dedicated to preserving and cataloguing them. One of the highlights was seeing specimens collected by Charles Darwin (in the photo above) and David Livingstone - it's amazing to think how different the world was when they were collected!
  

Kew to Twickenham, and cream teas in Windsor

What a packed Bank Holiday weekend we had! It was great fun and we could not have asked for better weather.

Saturday saw us walk from Kew Bridge to Twickenham along the Thames towpath. It is such a gorgeous walk, which passes by Kew Palace, Syon House and Ham House. Amazingly, we managed to pop into Kew Gardens for lemon drizzle cake. What luck! There were boat races going on too, so that provided some welcome entertainment. On the way to get the train home, we found some gardens with a gorgeous fountain. We had no idea it was there until we saw the statues through the fence as we walked by. Talk about hidden treasures!

On Sunday, we decided to take the train out to Windsor in the morning. Not the best timing really, as it was packed with rugby supporters heading to Twickenham. However, we eventually got there in one piece. We wandered down to Eton first and investigated the College (from the outside as it was closed for maintenance), which is really quite something. Then it was time for some lunch beside the river. It was bliss sitting in the sun watching the boats going along the river. Afterwards, we walked round to the Long Walk leading down from Windsor Castle and lay on the grass for a little while. I'd have liked to go into the Castle but St George's Chapel is closed on Sundays (except for worship), so we're going to go back on a Saturday. Perhaps we'll go when my parents are here in a few weeks.

Back to work now. Funny how four day weeks at work feel twice as long as usual weeks!

Kew Gardens should be charging me rent...

There has been lots of stuff happening here over the last few weeks. I've spent a lot of time at Kew Gardens. Last weekend I went by myself while G was studying. I really needed to get some space to myself and time to work through some of the things happening in my life right now. I discovered the rhododendron dell in full bloom and loads of beautiful bluebells. This weekend, I insisted on taking G and we discovered the lilac garden. The smell was truly divine!

We've also been to the cinema a few times. We went to see Coraline 3D last weekend. 3D has come such a long way from the silly paper red/green specs. It looked amazing and was suitably creepy. On Sunday, we went to see Star Trek on the IMAX screen. It was my first time seeing anything in IMAX - all I can say is WOW! I actually really enjoyed the film. I thought it was nice that they threw the timeline out of the window and did something a bit fresh.

On a boring work related note, I have managed to get a new job. It's still at my current place of work but it's more responsibility and more pennies. I think it's going to be a lot more challenging and a lot less boring than my current job. It's working on a hugely high-profile project too. As per usual, it's not perfect but it's closer to perfect than the current job.

I'm also having a huge dilemma about starting an MSc course in the Autumn. After months of soul-searching (and I mean months), I came to the conclusion that I want to be working in Public Health. It has the research angle and the human angle - perfect. I was looking at doing the distance learning MSc at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine but it is TWICE as expensive as doing it part-time over two years. The downside of part-time is I can't afford to take a cut in salary and if I do compressed hours I'll be working 8am-6pm with no lunchbreaks. I really need to win the lottery! Hmmmm, best start buying a ticket then...

Picnics and 'poles

What a glorious weekend we had. Blue skies and sunshine! We managed to take full advantage of it too.

Saturday was off to Kew Gardens for a picnic. I really don't think I can ever tire of being there. We met up with G's parents and family friends, so there were loads of laughs and good conversation. As an added bonus, there was also plenty of wine and champagne on the go. We even had a rather handsome male peacock keeping us company for a little while. He gave a fantastic display of his tail feathers at several points (mainly when idiots started sticking cameras in his face), which was amazing to see.

Yesterday, I managed to entice G into leaving the flat and taking a walk to Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common. We walked down to the Queensmere Lake and were delighted to see it completely teeming with tadpoles! I had forgotten just how cute they are. It brought back memories of when Mum and I would go to a pond near our house to collect frogspawn. We would bring them home and then hatch them in a fish tank. We'd return them to the pond once they got bigger and more likely to hop off!

Kew Tropical Extravaganza

Yesterday was a proper Spring day here. There were blue skies, and the sunshine was more than welcome. During the week, we decided to go to Kew Gardens to see the Tropical Extravaganza, so the gorgeous weather was an added bonus!

The Gardens were carpeted with beautiful crocuses and gorgeous Galanthus, which were a sight for a sore eyes. I adore Galanthus (Snowdrops) as they herald the coming of the Spring. I also adore their resilience as they fight through icy, cold soil to be the first flower in bloom after the winter. Yesterday I found the snowdrop beds amongst the alpine flower beds, which was a real treat as I had never seen them before.

Then it was off to the Princess of Wales Conservatory to explore the Tropical Extravaganza. Kew Gardens seems to do this every year and it's such a lovely thing to go and enjoy the orchids, pitcher plants and other tropical beauties during the winter months. This was the first time we had been and it was truly amazing! There was just a sea of gorgeousness and colour everywhere. As 2009 is Kew's 250th birthday they had sculpted birthday presents from tropical flowers - lovely!

I always find myself getting overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. Although I'm not particularly religious in any way, I almost feel I can see the divine spark when I look at something like an orchid. I'm not sure why many religions look to the sky when there is such beauty here at our feet.

The Waterlily House had been transformed into a display of orchids also. Some looked almost good enough to eat! There were some real oddities there - some with frilly leaves and some that looked tie-dyed. If they weren't so expensive (and if I wasn't likely to kill them), I would have bought some to bring home.

Despite all my misgivings about London, Kew Gardens continues to be a real delight. I know I am guaranteed a lovely day when we plan to go there. There's also the added bonus of cake and Curiosity Cola at The Orangery! We are really lucky to live near so many green places and it's something I really treasure!

Weekend of wonders!

Went to Kew Gardens today and we had such a good time. The weather was beautiful and all the spring bulbs were out in force! As soon as we entered the gardens, we were greeted with a beautiful carpet of white and purple crocuses. We were snapping some lovely close-up piccies when a huge bumble bee landed on the flower we were photographing. It was so close to us and we got some lovely photos of a happy pollen-covered bumble bee sitting in the crocus. That was the start to what became a day filled with nature's blessings.

Graeme and I love leaving the garden paths behind and rambling through the trees. It seems to be where the real magic happens. As we were wandering through some Beech trees, we were aware of some rather large birds foraging through the undergrowth. They were Guinea Fowl! I managed to get pretty close to them and there was a lovely moment where it was just me and these four birds feeding. It felt really nice that they didn't seem to view me as a threat.

Our next wonderful encounter with wildlife was this gorgeously coloured beast here! There were several of these ornamental pheasants foraging through the trees too. They were so placid as well and came quite close to us as we stood still.

Our final encounter was with a Red Admiral Butterfly that landed close to us to bask in the sunlight on the pavement. It just sat there and posed for the camera :o)

It really was a fantastic day. I had never seen so many daffodils in the one place before. Down both sides of one of the main walkways was a sea of yellow happiness. I just love spring and the feeling of the earth starting to come alive again after the cold of winter.

Yesterday was a packed day as well. I had a craft class in the morning. It was focusing on soldered charms, which I had wanted to try for ages. I really enjoyed the class - the teacher was fab. The only problem was there was only one soldering iron for the whole class, so it took ages to get through everyone's work. The class over-ran by about 40 minutes! Soldering is really quite therapeutic in a way though. I think I might have to invest in a soldering iron of my own.

After that, Graeme and I went shopping. I say Graeme and I, but really I shopped and Graeme carried the bags. Perfect arrangement I think ;o) I managed to get a lovely dress for Dad's retirement and a Momiji Doll. For the first time in ages, I actually seemed to be spoiled for choice when it came to clothes. I went into the changing rooms and thought everything looked fab. Usually, I don't like anything when I try it on!

So that was the weekend of wonders! I feel that I got a lot done this weekend, which makes a change. Doesn't stop me wishing tomorrow wasn't Monday though ;o)