Monthly Archives: July 2014

Cats and Cake

For my Birthday last weekend I was treated to a visit to Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium in East London.   What could be better than cake and cats?

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The cafe is laid out over two floors with tables, chairs and sofas for us humans and shelves, baskets and hammocks for our feline friends.

Cat

It was rather a hot day and I think the 10 or so cats inside were happy to laze about, just out of reach.

Cat feet

Cat

Cat

Cat

Cat

Cat feet

Apparently the cats are all from rescue shelters and are all beautiful and look very healthy. Although I went there to enjoy their company, I’m relieved to know they are able to escape the relentless stroking and grooming from us ‘cat lovers’ by retiring to a high shelf or tunnel.

Cake & coffee

The Guinness chocolate cake with cream cheese icing was absolutely delicious :)

A War and a Wedding

Eccentric Parking Dizzy Blonde Hmmm ….. where to park?!? Eccentric Parking   This will do! Fanny's Farm map Fanny's Farm 25.7.14 (19)   Fanny’s Farm was looking particularly spectacular on Friday.  The garden was in full bloom, the sun was shining and indoors, Granny B’s room was all spruced up because, at 3 pm it was to host a wedding. Wedding announcement Granny B's Room Fanny's Farm 25.7.14 (31)   Congratulations to the happy couple. Fanny's Farm chalkboard Dress & hat Flowers Artichokes Bee Staff bike   Steps leading up to the famous tree house. Treehouse steps   Fanny's Farm Calendar Fanny’s Farm celebrate many seasonal and current events and put a lot of effort into their displays.  At the moment they are marking the First World War Centenary. WWI bunker

Pottering around my garden

Wow, isn’t this weather glorious?   I’ve just been wandering around my garden and thought I’d take a few snaps.

Agapanthus

Agapanthus  (African lily) are high on my list of favourite plants.  I rescued the original clump from a neighbour who was throwing them out and over the years they have multiplied and multiplied.   At the moment many are in various stages of flowering and I love seeing them open up and then blossom into deep blue bell-shaped flowers.

Agapanthus

They should look spectacular over the coming weeks.

Agapanthus 3

Bird house

Caster Oil leaf

Plane trail

Grapes

We only have one vine now, so not enough to make any wine, unfortunately!

Hydrangea

A new addition last Autumn, glad to see it’s doing so well.

Sunscreen and Mosi-guard

This is the reason I’ve been quiet lately;  replacing painting and mosaicing with shopping and packing.  My family all got together for a lovely holiday in Corfu (‘Kerkyra’ – I rather like the Greek name).

Plane wing

Shark!

Such amazing shades of blue everywhere.

Palm

Our villa was surrounded by stunning palm trees and beautiful gardens and it wasn’t long before we met some of the local wildlife!

Lizard on tree

Blue Lizard

You may have noticed that I like lizards – I’ve had a lizard tattoo for many years, have made two or three lizard mosaics and once had a go at a dot painting of a lizard.

Grasshopper

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We had a day out in Corfu town, which is a maze of narrow streets dominated by the 16th century fortress

Old Fort

Statue

This was a beautiful statue of Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, who, in the early hours of 19 September 1970, set himself ablaze in Matteotti square in Genoa as a protest against the dectatorial regime.  His last words were: Long Live Free Greece

Fishing boat

After lunch we drove back to our Villa in Acharavi along the east coastal road passing through Dassia, Ipsos and Kassiopi.  The scenery was just breathtaking.

Dassia

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Ever had the feeling you’re being watched?   There were four of these beauties living next door.

Ginger cat hiding

One of them popped over for a spot of lunch, but generally they were very shy.

Ginger cat

We visited Sidari on the northern coast which has striking sandstone rock formations, sculpted by both wind and waves.

Sidari

Sidari

Cliff jumpers

Crazy cliff jumpers!  I wasn’t brave enough to jump myself mainly because I wasn’t sure how I’d get back up the rock,  but I did try paragliding for the first time.  Another tick on my bucket list :)

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Hungry dog

This little dog was with the cliff jumpers and while he was patiently waiting for them he decided to have a spot of lunch,

Dog

and this little chap came and flopped down in the shade of an umbrella right beside us.

Bench

This made me laugh, you get the sentiment!

Sunset

The most perfect sunset on our last night.