Monday, October 26, 2015

Glasgow - a bit of sightseeing while looking for art shops..

so, on Friday, Sam, Emma Lin and I went to Glasgow for the weekend, for the Stitching Sewing and Papercraft  show at the SECC . Suffice it to say some of us had an easier journey than others...
Lin and I booked a very early seat on a train leaving London Euston at 5.30.   in the morning.. so we got there first, and once we'd left our cases at the hotel we went to find some art shops Sam had researched.

Of course I took my camera..
 Glasgow Central station

 this photo doesn't do the magnificent peacock justice atop this shop, it was fabulous
 and the wall was covered in these




 we didn't have time to go in this art gallery.  the traffic cone on the statue is obviously a permanent feature (rather than a drunken reveller prank) as I saw it on postcards for sale.


We did find the art shops (this is opposite our favourite one, the Art Store)








Saturday saw us SECC bound..(pics from inside on the other blog!)
when we came out the sky had cleared and was blue. Loved the industrial landscape.
another venue at the SECC site

and the light was gorgeous reflecting on the red struts of the covered walkway back to the station
 you can tell it's on the way back, as Emma is laden down with her shopping!
 Sunday was taken up with visits to the station for the trip home - suffice it to say we all had problems again, Sam's journey once again involving more disruption than her intended 4 changes... good old Sunday train journeys!  but we did all make it home eventually!

we had time to rest a bit (after some more retail therapy) in the lunge at the hotel..
 should have corrected the exposure on this one, and as it turned out we should have just walked Emma back to the train rather than staying in the hotel but hey ho!
the outside of the station
and a view snapped from the train window on our way home - Lin and I ended up on the train that takes 6 rather than 5 hours back to London, not sure how as we were sure we'd booked the quicker one that we went up on. but again, there you go!!

Check out the post on "stampingbyh" for the crafty bit!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Kew.. the one where Kirsten came too..

Quite by chance it turned out, my friend Kirsten and her friend Jen who is visiting from California, were heading to Kew today so we arranged to try and meet up somewhere inside!

It was chilly, but lovely and bright as I left home, with a watery sun... which soon more or less disappeared so this (combined with lots of chatting) means lots less photos today!
Lots of the leaves are falling now, but the trees still have lots of colour and they're rich now.
 it would be better if the sky were blue, and the sun shining, but you can't have perfection every visit!
 nice to see the work progressing on the Broad Walk, (plus Christmas trees have arrived ready for the Christmas Trail next month)
This bed is obviously marked out ready for some intense planting!

Sun was still out at this time as you can see by my shadow!
 the light was quite low, but I low the shadows it throws on the grass




 wouldn't be Kew without a shot of the fountain.. is better in full sun, so I didn't bother changing lenses...

and there was enough sun to get some good shots of the leaves
 the spring/summer bedding has been removed from the Parterre outside the Palm House, and it's been well dug over ready for the next planting - the gulls were very interested too!
 still got the bedding in the beds outside the Waterlily house
 most of the blooms are past there best now, but this pink one was still looking great.
 my lens was partly misted over still from the humidity inside, but I love the effect it's given this shot. There was only one other photographer inside (with some fabulous looking kit on her camera!) so it was great to get such a people-free shot!
 caught sight of these berries that she'd been snapping too...
 and this just inside the main door to the waterlily house.
 nipped into the Palm House to see if Kirsten and Jen were in there...

In the end I got her number (long story!!) and rang her - they were in the Princess of Wales glasshouse, so headed over there...



where I saw them watching ....
 the Chinese Water Dragon.
 we headed outside again and past this beauty..
 love this one!
and so many trees full of berries..
 this is always one of my favourite trees at this time of year.  looking gorgeous, although again, it's dropped a lot of leaves, so you can see the branches between the rich colours now.

 quite a carpet of leaves round it's base as you see.
and just to prove Kirsten was here!

and while I was taking the one of the tree above, Kirsten was taking this..





I love the symmetrical pose we made without realising it! Thanks for letting me use it, Kirsten.







Media preview


 we headed for a coffee (and cake...)  past more lovely trees

 and twisted stumps round the base of a vine outside the Pavilion restaurant where we stopped
 gorgeous red  - again, would be best if the sun had come out!
 this shrub was huge, well over 8 feet I reckon, both in height and almost as much in width - and smothered in berries
 we were heading for the Treetop Walkway before Kirsten and Jen headed for their next stop on their day in London...

 I stopped on a bit longer, and grabbed some more shots


 I know these are autumn flowering crocus, but it seems quite a contrast between them and the rusty red and gold trees.

 and this mossy branch caught my eye
before I headed for my exit and the way home.

I decided not to go into the Handmade at Kew event taking part so I don't know if it was any good - though from the leaflet I saw on my way out I am guessing I couldn't have afforded to buy anything anyway!!

Hope you enjoyed today's trip..