Tag Archives: St John’s

Thoughts on coming eye to eye with a pigeon on its nest

Feral, that’s what they are. That means they’re ours, and yet not ours. Their ancestors, the rock doves, are still around, mostly on sea cliffs but also inland. Unlike true wild species of birds their colours cover a dazzling range, … Continue reading

Posted in diary, London | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Thames Water’s revenge, and one foot in the grave.

I had a letter from them recently which said, terribly sorry, but we haven’t been collecting your direct debit, and you owe us £996, but don’t worry, there are lots of ways you can pay. Only do something before July … Continue reading

Posted in gardens, hilarious, language, London | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Water: lids and covers, and illustrations of love

feb 8 two water related experiences today and two new water related words. A. As I was coming out of Finsbury Park station today I heard an announcement: be careful said the voice, because there was an ingress of water. … Continue reading

Posted in crude satire, hilarious, language, London, water | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Garden notes no 37 beeday at St John’s, Waterloo, july 15th, 2022

It was a lovely coincidence of insects – not just bees – and flowers on a sunny day before the burning record breaking heat. The pollen seems extravagantly thrown about. I think it’s a hoverfly, not a bee. The lily … Continue reading

Posted in and the city, gardens, London | Tagged | Leave a comment

still in Waterloo

An image of the Imax I found on the internet. Out of sight to the left is Waterloo station. The old Shell building behind the Imax has mostly been demolished and replaced with something much bigger.  In the foreground you … Continue reading

Posted in and the city, crude satire, going round in circles, history, politics, language | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Garden Notes no 21, picking about the gravel. Verbascum, foxglove, Koelreuteria, etc.

This koelreuteria – sorry, I know, one of the more tricky botanical names, after “Joseph Gottlieb Koelreuter, 1733-1806, professor of natural history at Karlsruhe, a pioneer experimental investigator of plant hybrididization”, aka Pride of India, although it comes from China, … Continue reading

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

searching for vibrant, august 2017

(and isn’t it infuriating how they keep turning adjectives into pretentious nouns?) I wrote about my search for the epic, vibrant South Bank here: new outrage in SE1. I’ve been there a few times since, always hopeful. The mix of heritage … Continue reading

Posted in and the city, crude satire, hilarious, language, walks | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Icons in SE1

David ‘Born to Dare’ Beckham is currently appearing, in rotation with various “punks” for Brewdog, on a monument, a stainless steel hoarding near the Imax roundabout in Waterloo which serves to block off the view of the National Theatre, those … Continue reading

Posted in and the city, crude satire, hilarious, language, walks | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

new outrage in SE1

I’ve been thinking about writing about this for a few weeks now. And I’ve got the photos. I can’t decide whether  it’s a completely cynical project by  developers who maybe controlled and perverted the intentions of all those who took … Continue reading

Posted in community politics, crude satire, gardens, in the City | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

S. speaks

“This morning I woke up at 10.30 – gone downstairs, she’s doing the mail. –any mail? You’ll have to come back in an hour’s time. Walked round the block – go back – we’re doing change over, come back at … Continue reading

Posted in community politics, hilarious, history, politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment