Columbia Road Flower Market

This morning my Mom and I decided to visit the famous Columbia Road Shops and Flower Market. 

 

The market runs each Saturday from 8am until about 3pm.

The vendors' displays were amazing, as were the prices!

Orchids for £5, Lewisia for £2, Conifers for £1.50.

Much better than I could ever get back home.

I understand that if you arrive from 1pm on, the vendors will really deal, as they want to get rid of the merchandise rather than transport it again.

Dahlias for sale - four for £5 (about $7.60).

Tomato plants

A store called Open House had great garden supplies.  My very favorite were the Pantone pots on the top shelf on the left. 

 

I also liked these.

 

The market had everything floral for sale:

Alpines, cacti, bedding plants, conifers, orchids, and citrus trees.

 

As the morning progressed, Columbia Street became jammed with prospective buyers and the cries of the buskers.

 

Garden in an urban area using public transportation has many challenges including getting the items back home. Here's a lemon tree headed to its new abode.

 

And yes, a new bird today.

This is a male Gray Wagtail.

Farmers' Market and Gardens

Today generally replicated a day I might have back in Oregon...

Except I did all of this in London. 

 

 My mother and I started the morning with a visit to a Farmer's Market.

We chose to visit the Kensington Farmer's Market.

Though it is hidden around the back side of a car park, it was extremely well attended. 

 

I'd guess it was smaller than the Lane County Farmers' Market I'm used to attending.  Nonetheless, there was a great selection of produce, food, and plants. 

 

The last think I expected to see was a large selection of apples and pears this time of year. 

 

After exploring the market, we walked down Kensington Palace Gardens road, one of the prettiest streets in London. It has a wonderful view of the Palace gardens, thus the name, and is home to many of the embassies located in London.  I wish I could share photos, but in this post-9-11 world, there are guards at both entrances and photography is forbidden.

 

I can share photos of Kensington Roof Gardens - it is amazing. 

It has flamingos for gosh sakes!

 

And it is a BIG garden.  I cannot imagine the engineering required to allow the building to support this garden with water features and full sized trees.  A pretty visionary idea someone had back in the 1930's. 

The garden also had some awesome views of the city of London.

 

From the garden it was only a short walk to Kensington Square.  It is one of London's oldest squares having been laid out in the 1680's.  This is a photo of the two oldest homes in the square.

And here's the garden.  It was private, so we admired it from the outside as we strolled around the square. 

 

A quiet, tranquil spot not far removed from the noise and bustle of Kensington High Street.

 

This is one of the side streets off the square.  I loved the geometry of the row houses first off to the right, and then in the distance on the left as they curve out of sight.

 

In the evening Mom and I took a walk to the west along the Thames River.

 

Part of the walk marched along the well-named Narrow Street.

 

At the far end of the walk, we had a great view back toward Canary Wharf. 

There was even some wildlife.  Now I can include a British Goldfinch to my bird list.  It has a most merry song to go with its cheerful appearance. 

Books and Birds

Why is it so much more fun to grocery shop in a different country even when buying mundane items like milk and cereal?  I think it is because even if the items are familiar, many of the brands and 'flavors' (or being in England should I say flavours) are different.  We have a Waitrose, a Tesco, a Mark and Spencer in the area, so we'll be trying them all out.

This morning we headed over to the British Library, first passing the wonderful Victorian monstrosity the St. Pancras Hotel established in 1873.   

I particularly liked the juxtaposition of the roof line of St. Pancras Train Station (almost cathedral-like) against the smooth geometric lines of the British Library.  Both brick buildings, but two very different looks.  

 

The British Library courtyard has this wonderful statue of Sir Isaac Newton.  Love it! 

 

Inside, there is this great bench - perfect for a library.

We visited the British Library to look at it's treasures  The permanent exhibit of 200 items includes the Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible, Handel's 'Messiah', and a volume from 1590 detailing the importance of insects with the prettiest bee skep ever!

My mom is an avid murder mystery reader and so she was pleased to explore this small exhibit.

This evening we took a walk along the Thames River and did a bit of bird watching.

There were several Mallards who were at home in the river...

...and several Blackbirds merrily singing to each other in the trees along the embankment.

 

Now for some dinner, and then I'm hoping for a better night's sleep as I continue to adjust to life 8 time zones earlier than my body is used to.

Oh To Be in England Now That May is Here

Here's my newest stitch.  A little bee skep from Prairie Schooler's "June" pamphlet.  It's about bees, but I was attacked by a herd of bullfrogs while stitching.  I think I've practically stitched it twice thus far. 

Did you read my post title and wonder?  Have you thought that I've been somewhat distracted and scattered lately? 

All true!  My Mother & I flew into Heathrow airport this morning.

We are spending several weeks here.

  

This longer trip has been my Mom's Bucket List Wish for ages.  To be able to explore London and environs at leisure.

So yes, I've been distracted getting ready for this trip.

And now that I'm here, I expect my blog will be a bit different in focus.

I hope that you all will continue to Follow along as I write about Our Excellent Adventure!

 

The Weekly Walk - Part 2

The weather is better today, so let's continue our walk.

There are still raindrops on the blades of grass as we stroll along.

Here's a nice stand of Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina) growing near a seep.

Even if I'm unsure of a plant's identity, that does not detract from it being a pleasant sight. 

The wild Nootka Roses (Rosa Nutkana) are blooming now. 

Here's a close up look.

The roses are joined by our native columbine.  The Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa).

The Indian Plum or Osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis ) is the first shrub to bloom (way back in March).  It thus follows that it is also the first to set fruit! 

Though our wild Cherry is not far behind...

...nor is the Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium).  I must come back in the fall - the berries will be a wonderful purple color. 

I found a sunny meadow full of Scotch Broom and Large-Leaved Lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus).

I think I could happily stare at this photo for hours.

The Western Trump Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa) thrives in the shade of the forest and provides a shocking jolt of color. A Hummingbird happily worked the blossoms though I was not able to get a photograph.

Here's our reward for looking down.  A raindrop covered spiderweb.

Each year we have a few more of the perfectly named Elegant Cat's Ear (Calochortus elegans). 

The inside of the flower is every bit as fuzzy as a cat's ear!