71 Years Old Today,

who would have thought it?

firstly many thanks to everyone for wishing me a Happy Birthday,

the glorious 14th! secondly as there are so many photographs I am only making this one post today, it was Diana's day off so we were out,

in the newly cleaned car,

to Coombe Wood Gardens, we have been here before, but much later in the year,

as you go into the gardens there is an ornamental pond,

and flower beds, Diana wandered off for a coffee,

I took a few photographs of the pond, which was unfortunately a little bit cloudy,

Diana returned with her coffee and breakfast,

as I started to take a few photographs,

this part of the gardens is out of bounds,

to give the lawn a chance to recover looking at the bald bits of it,

there were not many flowers at the moment,

 we passed the café,

where Diana bought a snack and a coffee,

we found a place to sit down,

as Diana ate,

I wandered off

snapping away,

Diana was back there,

I continued past the heathers,

and into the area where there are camellias and rhododendrons,

a few were in flower,

this area is predominantly pine trees,

and hilly,

there also were a few flowering shrubs,

like this one, I do not have a clue what it is, but it had so many flowers,

this one in flower,

a quick pose,

and we continued into the woods,

rather like our trip to Kew Gardens at the weekend, 

we seemed to be mid way between the early flowering and middle flowering season of the camellias and rhododendrons,

so a walk in the woods it was then,

the day was quite dull, but just occasionally it brighten up,

and nicely illuminated,

this rhododendron,

one of the few in bloom,

I had the double camera set up with me today,

one shooting normal images, the other infrared,

Diana had to have a go as well,

one, two, three go!

we continued our walk,

I continued snapping away,

we had to have a selfie,

or two, as you can see I had a birthday beard and haircut,

a quick rest,

and onwards,

to the steps, down,

and up on the other side,

a quick pose,

or two,

I made my way down first,

Diana following,

that was the easy bit, these are the steps up again,

the bit between the steps,

all set to go up,

on our way,

to find a little camp,

and back down again,

we had made a circuit of the woods,

a small collection of hellebores,

a magnolia, now just past its best,

we went back past the house in the park,

into the gardens at the entrance,

where these euphorbias were putting on a good show, 

as an aside here are a few cautionary words about growing this species of plant, here is a clue, the name Euphorbia is considered by many in South Africa as synonymous with poison, also I did read somewhere that food cooked over a fire made of dead, dried Euphorbia will poison you!

back past the café,

 and here is the legend, a trip later in the summer is on the cards,

arriving home a shower and a change of clothes,

and we were on our way out,

a selfie from Diana,

and a pose from myself,

we were off to,

Pierluigi's in Beckenham High Street, this is a photograph I took of a previous visit, tonight as there were diners outside I did not wish to photograph them,

like the front of the restaurant, along the side there was outside seating, with thankfully lots of gas heaters,

'Cheers!',

Diana choose a Maria Special, which is a sweet fruity mixture with light citrus that combines vodka, strawberries, raspberry liqueur, lime, simple syrup topped with lemonade,

which Diana found delicious, I settled for a glass of bubbly,

then on to the red,

for her starter Diana went with the Caprino alla griglia, grilled goat cheese on roasted aubergine and focaccia, topped with caramelised onions,

for myself, Granchio, salsa tartara e focaccia, king crab meat, homemade tartar sauce and focaccia,

it all looked,

and was delicious,

'Cheers!',

on to the mains, for Diana Aragosta, lobster, wild clams, garlic, Datterini sauce and lobster bisque,

I went with the Filetto di Manzo alla griglia grilled Aberdeen Angus fillet, served with sautéed potatoes, with a side of Verdure di Stagione, sautéed vegetables, extra virgin oil, with garlic,

I had to have another 'Cheers!', well it was my birthday treat from Diana,

eyes down and tuck in,

Ah!,

we were so full, we decline dessert, but we both went with a Baileys coffee,

what a feast, and many thanks to Diana for such a nice birthday treat,

and the treat did not stop there, arriving home I rounded the evening off with another treat from Diana, a Kirk and Sweeny rum, that Diana had bought for my 70th birthday back in 2020, what a fabulous day and evening, I am looking forward to next years celebration already! and with that we were off to bed.