The King's Observatory

 A roof with a view - over the golf course that now surrounds it. Apparently not only the pagoda in Kew Gardens but also the Shard can be seen through gaps in the foliage of a nearby tree.

The stairs are narrow, but Queen Caroline in the wide skirts of the time came up them, along with 15 other people, to attempt to see the planet Venus cross the sun (which took about 8 hours and was being carefully observed all over the world).

Putting down the covers made more standing room -

... but it must have been quite crowded ...

The telescope isn't original, it's just there to give some sense of what the observatory was like -

Several lovely bits of old ironwork that opened the viewing aperture and turned the entire roof to position it -

And candlesticks for (faint) lighting, so as not to dim the view of the stars -

Cafe culture

Sidewalk seating, Mayfair, London. 

Might these areas outside cafes qualify as parterres? A posh term for a posh part of town.
 

Miscellany of the week

Yet more apples to cook and freeze - they are windfalls and obviously pesticide-free as each has its wormhole and messy core needing cutting away -

The never-ending saga of the railway bridge, once "home" to about a dozen rough sleepers, who were moved on by the barriers going up purportedly for a scheme to improve the lighting. That was in February, if memory serves.

Big bubbles at a funfair - fun, or humiliating? (or, claustrophobic??)

Lunch at a local cafe - pink tables and a choice of seating. And that Stroud Green Road view....

The grandbaby has returned from her holiday and is now a Big Girl. She has a new seat that expedites playing in the bath...

and another for use out of the bath, eg, joining in family meals. With both, she can't resist trying to get some or any part of it into her mouth, and size is no obstacle, not at first anyway; she gets That Look in her innocent blue eye and in an instant the mouth is approaching or has already reached the desired object -

Some of those windfall apples became a cake, whipped up by Tom -

Sunday morning in Priory Park, doing some bushwhacking the with conservation volunteers, revealing a hidden pond -

Preparing for the heat

33 degrees? Continuous sunshine on a bank holiday? Twice in one year??

Blinds (such as they are) down, cross-ventilation established, sundress found, going barefoot on cool floor, fizzy water to hand, ice for other drinks ready - ah, forget to make espresso for iced coffee.

Holiday at home!

Busy week

What makes a week busy? Going out, doing things ... deadlines ... demands ... confusion ... wanting to do too much ... having too many nice things to choose from!

I had several visits with the delightful grandbaby, who in addition to being able to grab and hold things

(fingers can be fun, and teething rings are especially useful) has also discovered her toes and is starting to suspect they really are part of her own body.

Saturday - to Queen's Crescent, Kentish Town, to find RAUMX gallery and see works on paper by four artists, Anna Mossman, Nelleke Beltjens, Irene Weingartner, Andrea Schoenborn.

Irene Weingartner and Andrea Schoenborn

Nelleke Beltjens

Anna Mossman

A cinema evening - biopic about Pavarotti ("syrupy tribute to the legendary tenor" said the Guardian).

Sunday - farmer's market, picnic,  and eventually some woodblock printing -

Monday - visit with grandbaby, and making a birthday dinner and cake for her daddy -

Tuesday - drawing at Docklands Museum

why did I choose this I wonder...

and then to Camberwell to see the final bookarts MA show - the course is closing....

 and the printmaking MA show

after which, a babysitting gig in London N8 so the parents can do some birthday cavorting at the pub ...

 and on my walk home, the partially eclipsed moon rising over London N4

Wednesday, Veronica came to do some woodblock printing, after which I went to the Wellcome for a lunchtime talk on research on ageing -

(Got there early)

 and then to the very interesting Writing exhibition at the British Library (till 27 Aug), followed by a walk partway home, along streets new to me.

Old building contrasts with des-res on Hemingford Road, N1

Thursday was not only rainy ("good for the gardens") but completely "should-free" - gosh, what to do with the empty hours?? This'n'that, including sitting at the table by the window, watching a magpie mother instruct her (large) offspring in how to find food -

 The rain stopped so I went out, to the V&A and the Dior exhibition

"Mexican dress" 1953, my favourite

I also loved the quarter-size models - red dress

... red coat

And this black-and-grey one...

...appeared fullsize later

 Across the road to Luke Jerram's "Museum of the Moon" at the Natural History Museum - late in the afternoon is a good time to go there -

 On the way home, a short stroll along the Parkland Walk -

Friday - rainy, a spur to sifting through some papers - loved this photo -

 It might end up as a woodblock print one day....

 Heading over the hill in the afternoon -

(OK it's topiary, but, er, what is it?)

... for a quick and delicious

,,, dinner

Then, at home again, watching yet another moonlanding-anniversary programme on catch-up BBC -

screenshot

Next week will be different.

Picnic in the park

An annual assembly at a commemorative bench on Ham Common - the weather was good this year, and the company as agreeable as always.

I was busy chatting and forgot to take photos! Just that distant view, and these two - footwear and nail polish -

 ... and "man's best friend" -

On the way home, jackdaws havig a good squawk on the train tracks at Richmond -

 ... and a glimpse of unrelenting construction in the cityscape at Vauxhall station -