Hanging around . . . !

 a tandem hang glider at Devils Dyke

I took a long weekend to get to know a new friend!! He came over to Brighton and we made an effort to get out and see a few sights. We started with Devils Dyke. The views are amazing. On a clear day you can see all the way over to the Isle of Wight and over to Guildford. It's a great place to go if you need a little perspective in your life. A hang gliding school were putting students through their paces on the side of the hill. It was wonderful just spending time watching these beautiful and very graceful structures glide through the air. There is a great pub with plenty of parking (free if you are a N.T member). An open log fire, great food and fresh coffee, what more could you ask?

views over to Ditchling and learner hang glider - such a brave boy!

On Friday we went to Wakehurst Place, I haven't been for a while and being a member of Kew gardens I get free tickets to take friends to either Kew or Wakehurst Place. Wakehurst is a great place to walk, if you have a couple of hours or the whole day. There is plenty to see and do.

 There is still an abundance of plants in flower in most of the beds at this time of year, the walled garden looks particularly good. The textures all around Wakehurst are astounding, with luscious layers of greenery.

 

  sunlight through the leaves of a Gunnera

 

 Kniphofia cauiescens

I had never seen a Kniphofia cauiescens before. The way the main plant grows out of the stem with those strange triangles is fascinating and the colour combination of brown, pink and green was quite beautiful.
What I most enjoyed about the day had nothing to do with plants - we had tramped up into the Himalayan Glade and were resting in the sun on a bench when we noticed a bird feeder in nearby trees. As usual the squirrels were wreaking havoc, but on closer inspection we noticed lots of small birds fluttering about in the sun and dappled shade. I saw my first ever nuthatch. There were also a variety of tits, chaffinches and greenfinches. 

 Luckily I had a long lens on my camera and was able to get a few close shots of the birds. I thought the nuthatch looked very similar to a small kingfisher.

Taking time out just to watch birds in the sunshine was so relaxing and something I hope to do again very soon. I must be getting old - I'm turning into a twitcher!!!!!

World Community Grid
This has been a weekend of relaxing and learning new things. 
One of the new things I have learned is that if your computer is on all day and you don't use it all the time, your computer can be put to good use by the World Community Grid. There is link on the bottom left of the blog if you want to learn more or even sign up. I don't normally advocate things on this blog but this is a very worth while cause and it doesn't cost anything. We can all do our bit for humanitarian research.

Three weeks to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally and FOUR weeks to the photo shoot for my next book. I had better get a wriggle on - no more relaxing and bird watching for me for a while . . . . . . Have good week everyone.