We Are Only Making One Post Today,

as first thing I have a doctors appointment,

 

 the results from my blood work will be back, and shortly after that I have a double appointment at the dentist, so back to today we were off, 

 to Keston Common and ponds,

 we followed the woodland pathway from the car park,

 to Caesar's Well, the start of the River Ravensbourne, many years ago, back in the 1950s/60s a Mecca for aquarists wanting fresh soft water to breed many species of tropical fish, when water softeners were very expensive, this is where you came for your supply of soft water,

 looking down towards the top pond,

 and here it is, 

 we made our way around the side of the pond,

 to the far end of it,

 looking back to Caesar's Well, 

 Diana poses by the small waterway the links the top and middle pond,

 looking down to the second or middle lake,

 the waterway that links them,

 emptying into the pond,

 in the distance the public road at the bottom end of the middle pond,

 we took the path by the side of it,

 and continued, 

 untill we reached the shallow beach by the road,

 where ducks and other wildfowl congregate,

 I mentioned to Diana in the summer it is not unusual to see swimmers here,

 but not today! having said that it was so warm in the sun, 

 we treated ourselves to a couple ice creams, 

 and they were big,

 and really nice,

 if you fancy fishing here, remember to buy a licence, 

 unless you are a resident,

 my what big feet you have!

 tuning our backs on the middle pond,

 we made our way to the lower,

 bottom pond,

 of the three,

 at the far end of it,

the River Ravensbourne continues its way under a bridge, 

 looking back to where we walked down to the bottom pond, 

 Diana,

 making her way across the bridge and pathway,

 then a surprise, one of three,

 stands of bamboo,

 that had made its way by the ponds,

 there were a number of homes with gardens backing onto the bottom pond, so I am guessing the bamboo escaped from one of them,

 the River Ravensbourne leaving the bottom pond,

 and making its way to Beckenham,

 we both commented on how few birds there were here compared to say Kelsey Park, but we did spot one favorite, a Mandarin duck, a male, no female, 

 we made our way up to the middle lake,

 and started our return on the opposite side that we had walked down,

 past the main bay where I used to fish many years ago,

 now home to some geese,

 in the distance the ice cream van,

 crossing the path by the top lake,

 we walked towards the common,

 and it was still there, the site where the group Voodoo Factor gave its first live performance,

 on these very logs Peter Thompson, vocals, Trevor Jenkins, guitar, and myself as drummer, with a few others kitted up, 

 and let our music burst forth, but not today,

 to which Diana replied, 'thank heaven for that' to be fair she has heard me sing on more than a few occasions, I looked in vain for a marker or marble plaque that celebrated the event, but to no avail, our performance was forgotten,

 the treeline in the distance was where the crowd of our followers and members of the public finally petered out, as they stood there I wondered how the three of them could hear us, such great memories from the 60s, 

 back to the car park and on to our next stop,

 for Diana's breakfast,

to the Holwood Farm Shop and Deli,

 which was packed, we managed to park in the last parking place in the car park,

 the cafe upstairs shows off the old beams that have been repurposed,

  a triple club sandwich for Diana, with an ice latte,

 and for myself a latte coffee,

with a current scone served with fresh cream and jam,

diet starts tomorrow!

 after our meal on the way out we bought for our starter tonight, a Scotch egg, from one of the 7 different varieties on offer, 

 then home,

 with clear blue skies all of the way, 

I am still really enjoying driving the car, but two things keep catching me out, the electric brake, I keep going to the place where the handbrake was in the truck, and the same when I get out, I keep reaching for where the keys would be on the steering column,

 in the evening, time for the Scotch egg we bought earlier today,

for our main course,

a steak with vegetables and a salad,

 'Cheers!', only a couple of days to go then back to a proper toast with our meals, later in the evening after a few quiz shows and Antique Road Trips we settled down to Last Action Hero, we had watched the film before, but it was great fun to watch again, with the end of that we were off to bed.