Today is election day in the United Kingdom. The polls do not close until ten o'clock this evening so it will be awhile before we hear the results. I have seen Prime Minister May on TV a lot lately because of the terrorist attacks in England. She has commented expressing her sympathy and concern and determination to stop terrorism in the UK. I have no idea what anyone stands for in any of the parties so it is a good thing I am not voting today.
Theresa May
The Professor has been invited to comment on a speaker's comments on Wednesday, the 14th. The subject is NAFTA and the future of South America in trading with North America.
He will also comment on Trump's first 100 days in office.
We have seen lots of branches broken off by the wind. The ground and streets have been covered
with leaves (which are slippery when wet). We were a bit surprised to see the damage to this tree in the park. There definitely has been a lot of wind in the last few days.
Walking through Kensington Gardens, we stopped at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. The last time we walked passed here there were lots of people here with children wading in the fountain. This is a good view of the oblong shape of the fountain.
The fountain's bed changes as it runs along. This area is like a small culvert carrying water down to a drain. Instead the water runs into a series of small waterfalls. At the top to the fountain the water begins to run in opposite directions so that at the bottom the two flows of water converge. There is a drain in the side of the fountain that the water runs into so that it can be recycled and used continually in the fountain.
We saw very few birds in the water today when we walked by the Serpentine. I was amused when we found this one pigeon enjoying itself all alone in the fountain.
An Egyptian goose with its tiny family. I have struggled to find the name of this species I have never seen before. It looks as if my duck is a goose from Africa imported from Egypt 300 years ago to add to the population of gentlemen's pond ducks. The goose found it hard to adapt to life in the UK. In recent years the population has grown and recently moved to London. There is an article from the Guardian below if you are interested in more information.
A small girl stopped to feed the geese and they eagerly kept her company.
The new Egyptian Goose family near the Dell restaurant were examining a patch of windblown scum.
A native of sub-tropical Africa the Egyptian goose was brought to Britain in the late 17th century as an ornamental bird for the lakes of country gentlemen. Its attraction is its apricot breast, white wing patch and the dark brown patches over its eyes that make it look as if it is wearing dark glasses.
Saint Paul's church Knightsbridge
Search Results
St Paul's Church - Knightsbridge | Anglo-Catholic, Church of England ...
https://www.stpaulsknightsbridge.org/
St Paul's Knightsbridge, an Anglican Church in London's West End, is a lively 21st century ... St Paul's is a place for gathering, but also for formation and mission.
Another exterior shot of the church on a crowded street.
Canning House on Belgrave Square where the Professor will participate in a discussion on Wednesday
A sign on the side of a tall building that I could not resist.
St Michael's on Chester Square
St Michaels Chester Square
www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk/
St Michael's is a lively, all-age, cosmopolitan church in the heart of London. Our members are united in our belief that Jesus Christ transforms life.
Peggy's Cakes
Peggy must be doing well because she also has an academy
Victoria Train Station
Contrast between the old architecture and the new.
The decoration on this building is made up of seashells.
It would be lovely if an article like this one was available for every place I was interested in. Great black and white photographs of the progress of garden over the years.
The shell huts were built in 1952 as part of a re-landscaping of the Lower Grosvenor Gardens in a French style to commemorate Marshal Foch and Anglo-French understanding. The gardens already had a statue (by Georges Malissard) of Foch – the French hero of the First World War – which was erected in 1930. During the Second World War, Grosvenor Gardens was covered with air raid shelters and littered with dust and debris, so a clean-up was in order. An initial one took place in 1948, at which time the photograph below was taken, giving us some idea of how the gardens looked at this point.
Lower Grosvenor Garden
Foch - French hero of WW I
The World War I soldier at the top center of the monument.
Two eighteenth- and nineteenth-century soldiers flank the central inscription, which reads: “In memory of the 575 officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and riflemen of the Rifle Brigade who fell in the Great War 1914-1918.”
Wikipedia adds this: An inscription on the memorial commemorates the 11,575 men from the Rifle Brigade who fell in the First World War; a later inscription mentions the 1,329 men who fell in the Second World War. All are listed on a Roll of Honour held at Winchester Cathedral.
Rose garden in Hyde Park
More tiny Egyptian geese. Three darling little ones huddles together trying to keep warm while
the mother nonchalantly sits off to the side.
Not just the waterfowl think it is cold outside. The park is almost deserted and no one wants to
pay to sit in a deck chair. I was lucky. It only sprinkled a little bit.
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