Wildwood

Well school holidays are here again and we are up for some child care.  We took two grandchildren to Colchester Zoo, mainly because I wanted to go and get some photos but we had a great time.

these were the first two we met, such beautiful colours and did everything in unison including scratching their backs.

This little fellow was only a baby and was having so much fun performing for the visitors whilst Mum and Dad looked on they had plenty of room and lots to eat and seemed very happy.

Now don't mess with this purrrrrfect pussy whilst she is sleeping she has one eye open I am sure, her mate was stalking around the enclosure to keep off any danger, but she does look rather beautiful doesn't she?

Well isn't this a proud and majestic profile? He was so hansom and blended in with the scenery so well he almost disappeared. I can't say I am happy about wild animals being kept in captivity but there are lots of breeding programs for endangered species and it enables us to see them up close and appreciate their beauty not everyone can get to Africa to see them in their natural habitat.

The captions for these two are 'reach for the sky' and 'does my bum look big in this?'

We are on child care duties again next week so no doubt we will find some where interesting to take them and you can come too if you like!!

I hope you enjoyed Colchester Zoo it is well worth a visit if you are in Essex, very crowded during school holidays LOL x

Suki x

We recently made a return visit to Kew Gardens which are the Royal Botanic Gardens of Great Britain.  Their latest installation is a walkway which takes you way up to the top of the trees and gives splendid views over the parklands and across London.  It is quite a steep climb to the top and although there is a lift it is not yet working.

  Here you can see the walkway and that I did arrive at the top!!

Kew of course in renown for the flowers and here are two different types of lily, the fragrance is terrific I wish you could smell them!

But there is so much to see at Kew the many famous glass houses

This is the Palm House they are renovating the garden here and restoring it to Victorian splendor, it will eventually be a Knot Garden made up of lavender and roses.  Unfortunately there was a huge grass box dumped just where I wanted to take the picture so I could not get it completely symmetrical, oh well a good excuse for another visit!

The wild life is to die for! this little family came eagerly to meet us and   willingly posed whilst I took the pictures with so many children life must be a balancing act especially if you only have one leg!!

 Here is another resident who willingly stood still whilst I took my pictures

Well I hope you have enjoyed this walk around Kew with me, it was  a lovely day and I hope you did not get dizzy on the tree walk LOL

Walk with me again soon

Suki x

A few weeks ago we went to stay with my brother in Bournemouth on the South coast.  We had a lovely time the weather was better than expected and we had several days out. 

Zena never leave home with out a bag of food for any wild life that we may meet, and I think they sense this as we have all sorts of creatures come and greet us including this beautiful peacock who followed us constantly hoping for food.

He continued to dance around us until we convinced him the food was all gone.  these pictures were taken on a trip to Brownsea Island also on the island is a colony of red squirrels a treat to see in the south of England as they have mainly been replaced by gray ones, we were told by the guide we would be lucky to see any at this time of the year but sure enough a couple showed them selves I did not get great pictures but I will share them with you as I was so pleased to see them. Brownsea Island is a nature reserve but also well known for being the location of the very first Boy Scout camp, founded and instigated by Lord Baden Powell

We also had a trip to the New Forest there were lots of new born ponies

This is one of my favorites shots, but it is hard to choose and there were so many wonderful mothers with their babies

showing such affection and some who couldn't find mummy at all

don't worry mum was not far away.

While we were there the family got together for a Bar-b-q, and although I rarely publish family pictures I thought this was worth showing you

this is Nicola my niece and and you can see the wonderful array of food she prepared for us and the meat beautifully cooked by her husband Dave

Lastly I must show you a little experiment!

This is my first attempt at a panorama picture, it was taken from Hengisbury Head and shows Christchurch on the left side right across the harbor to Mudeford sand bank on the right it is made up of 5 pictures, it is too small to display effectively here as it covers a large area, again this is a nature reserve we walked as far as the sandbank and had a cup of tea and walked back, whilst the guys were playing golf!

Suki x

We have just come home from a very restful and pleasant holiday in Spain we stayed at the Finca el Cerrillo in the Sierra Almijara region in the mountains about an hour from Malaga.

This was a painting holiday and although I am not a painter I did have a little dabble and have been inspired and will try and do a little more.   Whilst Peter was in the studio or around the Finca painting I went walking in the mountains with the other non-painters

On our walks we saw many wild flowers that I had never seen before such as this, known in Australia as Patterson Curse but what do we call it ? I am sure it must grow in the UK but I understand it is poisonous to cattle, though very pretty.

Every bit of land available is farmed even if it is on a vertical hillside, and very often the old traditional methods are the best, here is a local farmer tilling the ground in between the olive trees with his trusted donkey.

Fruit and vegetable are growing everywhere these avocados growing over the path were not ripe enough or I doubt they would stay there long, but what is this beautiful flower?

Can you guess what fruit we get from it? this is today's competition no prizes it is just for fun!  I will give you the answer in a week if nobody guesses it, there is a clue look at he edge of the outer petal it is replicated on the fruit.

here is our happy band of walkers, it is such beautiful countryside and there were so many wild flowers.

Mean while back at the Finca the artists were finding plenty to pain here is the Moorish courtyard

which had just been hosed down in the cool of the evening by the local handyman..

We also visited the caves at Nerja , now these are quite spectacular, they go on for miles  with wooden walkways so you can safely walk around and see all the beautiful rock formations

We also visited the town and the place to eat is the Balcon de Europe, with it's wonderful views up and down the coast, this is a place designed for tourists and as you can see two young entrepreneurs taking a nap between clients

Well I hope you have enjoyed your little tour around my holiday destination, and you will take another trip with me again soon

Suki x

Back down to earth

Have just arrive back home from a painting holiday in Spain, no I do not paint but my husband does!   I spent my time walking in the foothills of the Sierra Almigara region of southern Spain.

The wild flowers growing in the mountains were many and varied and so beautiful, here is my first flower picture from the region I hope you enjoy it there will be more later.

Suki x