The Professor's Wife: Walking in Kensington Gardens

This afternoon we took a short walk through Kensington Gardens.

This is a typical flower garden in London. Does not look a thing like gardens in most of France. (Versailles)

A Rolls Royce converted to an ice cream truck.

This is a picture of the hood ornament on a Rolls Royce.

I was especially interested in the distinctive design because I had recently watched this segment

on the Antiques Roadshow.

Appraiser Nicholas Dawes shares his expert advice for art and antiques shoppers on the hunt.

Some objects have such enduring beauty and energy that they evoke a visceral reaction. Rolls-Royce's "Spirit of Ecstasy" hood ornament — or mascot, as the British call them — is one such emblem. First sculpted by Charles Sykes in the early 20th century, it was designed to dazzle. The oversized modern reproduction brought to the 2014 Chicago ANTIQUES ROADSHOW event clearly did just that.

The owner of the piece had recently purchased it, along with another ornament originally designed by René Lalique, for $6,500 at a New York boutique while on a business trip. She said she was under the impression, based on what the dealer told her, that the large sculpture was a period prototype of "The Spirit of Ecstasy" that Sykes sculpted for Rolls-Royce. But decorative-arts appraiser Nick Dawes had to deliver the news that from details in the pieces' casting and bases, both appeared to him to be modern reproductions. He estimated the two objects' more realistic decorative value to be in the neighborhood of $2,000 retail — nothing to sneeze at, but much less than the guest had paid.

The Italian Gardens

Two years ago I almost lost my rain hat in the decorative water feature. It was raining and my hat blew off. It, fortunately, fell on the edge of pool and not smack in the middle.

Growing up in Canada, I remember Queen Anne's Lace growing wild in all of the fields and along

roadways. I thought it was so beautiful with its delicate flowers. Here they are growing in abundance in Kensington Gardens. It is botanically known as Daucus carota part of the carrot family.

Walking along the Serpentine

There are always birds sitting on these posts

Image result for birds sitting on posts in the serpentine

There is also a sign in the park that all dogs must be on leads. Rarely have we ever seen one with a leash. The Gardens are a perfect place for a city dog to run and get exercise, not to mention meet other dogs.

Image result for dogs on leads sign kensington parks

This week my brother John sent a few pictures from a small village in France

where our family lived for four years from 1959 to 1963. A row of huge chestnut trees was planted along the fence between our home and a field. The horses in the field always came to the shade under the trees. My father said that for some reason the trees kept flies away.

I think I have always loved chestnut trees since then.