Secret garden

These pictures below are of the Tate Modern Community Garden, where nearby residents can go if they become members. There is no charge to join.


Often there is no one else in the garden when I visit except for the cat pictured above, the duck, the doves and the fish.





Looks like Mr MacGregor was in the garden today because his wheelbarrow is out.

Bard's birthplace

William Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon in December.





Was told off for taking the picture of the inside. Wished I had chosen something else to take a picture of afterwards.


Thought about working at the Stratford Festival in Ontario while I was there.

Dinosaur tour at the ROM

A docent I met while I was at the Darwin exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum a couple of weeks ago invited me to attend a tour of the dinosaurs.


I had grumbled to her about how I missed the way the they had been displayed before everything was reworked after the Crystal was added to the building.


Marion, the docent, seemed to think I had thrown down the gauntlet with my statements. She wanted to convince me otherwise about the dinosaurs.


It was an excellent tour, despite the crowds. At the conclusion of the 45 minute walk through the galleries, Marion answered questions.


Marion taught biology in high school for 37 years and knows her stuff, but it was so crowded in the galleries that I couldn't hear everything over the racket of the kids and video display monitors.


I saw all kinds of beasts . . .







. . . and parts of beasts.





I didn't use a flash for any of the pictures I took in the museum.


Except when I went into the old bat cave afterwards.

The cave and bats seem to have been dusted recently. The museum seems antiseptic now. Pre-Crystal, the dinosaurs had their own special leafy environment.


Went for cafe latte and baklava afterwards.

Magnifying Darwin

I went to the opening of the Darwin exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum last week. It is titled, "Darwin: The Evolution Revolution".

The exhibit examines personal aspects of Darwin's life as well as focusing on his discoveries about evolution.

There was a large magnifying glass in the children's play area. The enlarged images of the objects put under it were projected on a screen on the wall.

I spent quite a bit of time observing different objects being magnified and taking pictures.








From time-to-time photos flashed up on the screen.



There were two live tortoises in a display case. They aren't the kind Darwin observed in the Galapagos, but they are quite big. It didn't look as though they were having much fun. People kept tapping on the glass to get their attention. It worked, but in general I found they were quite alert to their surroundings and any new presence nearby.


This tortoise in the picture below looked up to see what I was doing. I didn't tap at him or try and get his attention. The tortoises spent a lot of time hiding their faces toward the rocks. It seemed quite bright inside the contained area.


This is a stuffed tortoise--I think. I forgot to read the label.

Mysterious Cornish mini-mountain

This is a view of St Michael's Mount, a 12th Century castle in Cornwall near Penzance.





At low tide people walk across to the island from the village of Marazion on a causeway, but at high tide they go by boat.



The day I took the boat across with my cousins in October the water was very rough and I thought I would vomit from seasickness.



The vistas of the wild Cornish sea and craggy cliffs from the mount are spectacular.



From some of the castle windows the view is only of the sea.



On the way up the mountain there is a giant's heart in the path.



What castle would be complete without a small mummified cat among its many treasures?




The trip back to the mainland was much better because I sat near the captain in the open air instead of under the plastic cover.