I Had A Sort Of Busy Day,

firstly telephoning electricians,

we are going to replace out old fuse wire fuse box with a modern safty trip unit,

not that there is anything wrong with it, but,

we are going to have a new door fitted which will be fire certificated, the problem being the door will need a top closer on it, and where it will be fitted in the arch of the doorway is plaster board, so that will have to be replaced, which means the fuse box will have to be removed, so we are going to replace it and position it above the door,

moving on thanks to Julia at the Beckenham Photographic Society, the mystery bird I photographed a couple of days ago has a tentative identification, it is believed to be a rare visitor to the UK. It is a Pomeranian or Pommern duck, (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), it is a breed of domesticated duck, it is a landrace originating in the German part of the Baltic Sea coast region called Pomerania, apparently there are only a few breeders in Switzerland and Germany who purposefully take on this breed, which begs the question, how did one arrive here in the UK? I did find this on the Internet here:

“The breed's inclusion in international registries further marked its recognition, such as in the Australian Poultry Standards (2nd edition) published in 2011 by the Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association, which provided detailed exhibition criteria for both blue and black varieties. Additionally, it appears on European rare breed conservation lists, including Germany's Rote Liste of endangered domestic animal breeds (2025 ed., assessed 2023), highlighting its preservation value".

"the Pomeranian duck is classified as endangered, falling under category III (endangered) on Germany's Red List of endangered livestock breeds. Limited breeding occurs primarily in Germany and Switzerland, where dedicated conservation-oriented farms maintain the majority of purebred flocks. As of 2016, registration numbers in Germany recorded 213 males and 452 females, alongside similarly small figures in Switzerland. Latest available data indicate ongoing low numbers, with no recent global surveys reported".

only my second day out of bird spotting and I found what appears to be quite a rare bird, how neat is that? Moving on I decided to try some different papers for my photographic prints, the company I choose was PermaJet, some of the other club members use this companies papers, the three papers I am going to try are Matt Plus 240, Photo Lustre 310 and Titanium Lustre 280, the papers have arrived and I have made up a test sheet below,

I have use 4 photographs which I have printed before, so I have a standard to compare the new papers to,

I have rotated the test sheet 90°, now it was time for my evening meal,

first a read, the latest Private Eye had just arrived,

 

'Cheers!', with a glass of milk as I am driving to the photographic club meeting tonight and afterwards picking up Diana from work, for tonight a crayfish tail salad with new potatoes, at the club this evening a professional photographer had brought along his mobile studio, he specialises in food photography, it was I must admit very interesting, apparently the budgets for food photographs are quite high, at the end of the meeting I picked Diana up from work, arriving home it was feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched a Endeavour, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself a double helping of Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

Early Morning I Dropped Diana Off At Work,

at 04.45 AM as it happens,

arriving home I played with a few photographs and later posted the blog, then just after midday I picked up Diana and we were off, to visit Coombe Wood, as it happens we have visited here many times before, 

looking at some of the rhododendrons in the Foxgrove Lodge that have been in flower for the past few weeks, we thought we would pop along to see the ones here that when they flower are so impressive, 

a quick look at the pool,

with a large willow tree gracing the far side, 

not many spring flowers in these beds, 

just a few grape hyacinths, (Muscari),

as usual I was snapping away, 

as we passed the small waterfalls that feed the pond,

a quick pose,

and another waterfall,

it was here near one of the small pools that we saw a few white flowers, that looked like snowdrops or lily of the valley, but they were, Summer Snowflake, (Leucojum aestivum), each petal with its tell-tale spot of green on it, 

in the dappled sunlight these Marsh marigolds, (Caltha Palustris) were just so bright, 

through the rockery, with super sized rocks!

our first magnolia,  

but these were not what was had come to see, 

but as it happens there were so many camellias in bloom,

which gave us a clue, 

that we were too early for the rhododendrons,

and we were, we had been fooled by the early flowering one in the garden of Foxgrove Lodge, I guess it was in such a sheltered position it flowered early, note to self, call back in a months time when they should be in flower,

we walked to the top of the hill, no deer today, although in the several times we have been here we only caught a glimpse of one, once, we live in hope of seeing another every time we visit, 

no undergrowth here, nothing seems to grow under the pine trees, it be the sap I guess, that drops from the trees that stop other plants growing here,

well I just had to,

down the steps, 

carefully! it is a long way down,

to the gully below,

on the other side of it steps leading up the other side,

another magnolia,

this one, 

pure white, 

I tried to capture how red these berries were in the sunlight, and failed miserably, 

they were just so red,

on our way back to the car, past the euphorbia, a pine in the distance, 

a close up of the euphorbia, 

next into the car,

in 10 or so miles we were here,

 at the statue of General Wolff, it was thanks to him that Canada ultimately became British, 

looking across the green,

a quick pose, 

as we cross the road, 

but before I did I had to photograph this scooter, it was the most vivid daffodil yellow, 

and this is where we were headed, the Tudor Rose Tearoom, a quintessential English tearoom on the green,

2 latté coffees and a huge slice of cake for Diana, to start, 

then Diana's ham & cheese panini and my prawn sandwich arrived, 'Cheers!', the meal came to £24.00,

our snack finished we were out, 

for a walk into town, 

for tomorrow we decided to buy a few things for a salad, 

then a walk to the church, 

through the graveyard, 

making our way back to the car park, before we were winding our way back home, arriving home it was feet up for The Chase, after which 3 back to back episodes of Deadly 60, all based in Brazil,

Steve Backshall and the Deadly crew head into the flooded forests of Brazil, one of the many countries I would love to visit, after which a Poirot it was, Diana was then off to bed, for myself a couple of Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.