Blood Root

Blood root is named for the colour that your fingers will turn if you touch the exposed flesh of this plant's rhizome. It appears and blooms before any of the deciduous trees that this plant lives under can leaf out and block the sun. I love this little plant; its tiny, delicate bloom and heavily veined, curled leaves that curve around each stem like a shawl. A group of blood root is called a colony.

Bees, hornets and ants seem strongly attracted to the scent of the blooms.

The colony:

New Tenants!

After two years of waiting, someone has finally decided to move in to our posh Lee Valley bird house. There was a flurry of activity yesterday as nest building took place. Aren't they adorable! Now, I am NO bird photographer. That's for sure. Those little critters move too fast for me but at least these give you an idea.

We actually don't know if this is the Mrs. or the Mr. Regardless, one of them keeps hauling moss into the nest and the other one hauls it out just as fast! They clearly have different tastes in decorating.

I guess he/she didn't care for this particular piece of moss.

Here they are checking out their new digs:

Maybe this piece of moss will be better:

Spring

Three quick photos from the rock garden behind the garage.

Cardiff Bay Area

Being in the Cardiff Bay area was so exciting. Yes, its the location where so much Doctor Who and Torchwood have been filmed but it has so much history, beautiful views of the sea, great restaurants, shopping, theatre. Everything one could want in a vacation destination.

The bay area:

The Millennium Center, a world-class venue for theatre, musicals and concerts, and the water feature most commonly known as "Torchwood Tower"

The Millennium Center at night:

One more shot of Torchwood Tower with the moon:

Doctor Who

The whole reason I dragged P out of London and all the way to Cardiff was entirely due to my life long love affair with Doctor Who. When we got there however, we found that Cardiff was a wonderfull destination in itself with beautiful scenery, friendly people and great shopping.

Today's post however is about our prime destination: The Doctor Who Exhibition. It did not disappoint with tons of set pieces and costumes and enemies from the new series. We went through twice and visited the shop three times.

Here's P on the planet of the Ood:



Here I am taking pictures of New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. Smell the Apple Grass!

ENEMIES!








Our girl: Donna Noble!

"Why do you keep looking at my back?"

River Song's Diary. "Spoilers!"

Seedlings

To counteract the depressing effects of April snow storms here in Southern Ontario, I bring you the following two images. Soon, these insignificant sprouts will produce the most sumptuous flavours of summer.

The first is the seedling of a Black Cherry heirloom tomato.

This seedling is a Mennonite Orange or as my friend Cath calls them 'the pumpkins'. I no longer know of any commercial source for these seeds. I found a jar of 10 year old seeds in my basement last year and out of total desperation for what I consider to be the finest tomato EVER, I tried starting them. To my very great surprise, they germinated! I no longer have to worry about going a year without these beauties. 

Cardiff

I never dreamed that I would ever stay in a 5 star hotel but that is exactly what happened in Cardiff (thanks to Expedia).

The St. David Hotel and Spa is built right in Cardiff Bay overlooking the sea. The room was luxurious, the view was unimaginably beautiful, the breakfasts were wonderful, and the staff was always happy and helpful. It exceeded every expectation and made our short stay in Cardiff pure magic.

Our room was on the second highest floor, third from the left overlooking Cardiff Bay.

The hotel is built in such a way that all of the rooms faced outwards towards the water. The lobby is open from floor to roof.

Look upon our view, Ye Mighty, and despair! 

Yes, that is the Millenium Center and Torchwood Tower just outside our window!!!!!

The view from our walkout balcony:

Our favorite meal and the end of London

The best meal we had when in London was at a restaurant called Imli. Their specialty was Indian dim sum!!! The table was covered in super yummy dishes, the staff was friendly and helpful and they make a heavenly mango daiquiri topped in fresh mint. We left totally satisfied and strolled home through Soho and along Oxford Street.

After 8 days and seven nights, we left London with heavy hearts but excited about our arrival in Cardiff!!! You know which post is coming up - yes, its the Doctor Who exhibition. Check back next week! See you then.

Here's our carriage that will take us from London to Cardiff in under 3 hours out of Paddington station; a 5 minute walk from our London apartment.

Cathedrals

This week, we're back to the business of vacation photos.

Cathedrals. Oh my. Cathedrals are very tricky places to take pictures in and not just from a technical stand point. In England, cathedrals are considered, rightly so, houses of God and as such, no photos of any kind are permitted; flash or otherwise in order to minimize the disruption to worshippers. In order to enforce this rule however, there are literally dozens upon dozens of pious volunteers in bright red shirts ready to shout at you across the church to tell you to put your camera away. The shouting is almost constant and takes on a new level of irony when it occurs in the "Whispering Gallery".

So how is it that I have any photos at all? I kept the camera around my neck, never raising it to my head to look through the viewfinder. I made sure I had a fast lens on the camera and waited to snap a picture when no one was within earshot to hear the shutter go off. Consequently, these photos are strange in the sense that the focus isn't perfect, the composition is non-existant since I snapped them with the camera against my belly. I decided to leave them all as-is since its all part of the story now. I hope you can still get a sense of the beauty of these places.

I have since read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and wish I would have read it before I saw these places. It is an amazing book that chronicles cathedral building in medieval England.

This first set of photos is from St. Pauls Cathedral.

These next two pictures are the chancel.

The next two pictures are taken from the Whispering Gallery which is the second level of St Paul's above the nave.

The Whispering Gallery is a truly wondrous place. When seated on the bench that runs the entire circumference of the gallery, you can whisper and be heard clearly on the opposite side of the gallery. Whether this was by design or some quirk of design I have no idea but it is nothing short of amazing and it speaks to the magical nature of this place.

This next one was taken on the enormous spiral staircase leading to the Whispering Gallery.

This flag is from WWII.

The next set of three photos are from in side Westminster Cathedral. The first is of the nave and the second two are from the trancepts.

Westminster is supported by "flying buttresses"; external skeletal supports that allow the walls of the cathedral to be made up of thin support pillars and huge windows without falling down. It makes for an awe inspiring tour.