Whimsy

Back by popular demand--LONDON! And BATH!

As anyone who has perused my baskets of photographs for sale knows, I am a big fan of whimsy. Actually, I call it "funk", however, I believe that is going to change beginning this very weekend. Whimsy is such a delightful word, don't you think?

I will warn you in advance--this is going to be a VERY photo-intensive post. None of my ramblings; hopefully the photographs will do the talking!

So, let's see...where shall we start?

How about this crazy sight, seen during our visit to the Columbia Road Flower Market? The sad dog's owner was nearby, and if my memory serves me correctly, he was playing some sort of musical instrument. Undoubtedly, Matthew or Bruce can fill in the details for me. Sad, but true, using a blind dog to attract money.

I guess this person really wants a pet? I took this early one morning while doing my breakfast run.

On our first day in London, we strolled along the Regent's Canal from Hackney to Shoreditch. But you already knew that didn't you? Silly me. Matt wanted to keep us moving, lest we fall prey to jet lag. During this pleasant stroll, Matt explained that artists were encouraged to make a piece of art that was enhanced by the location. This person had the right idea.

Aren't folks so clever?

Although, not technically whimsy, I thought these flats along aforementioned canal were super cool:

One of the nice things about taking photographs during our stay was the lack of intense sunshine. What is that supposed to mean you ask? Well, in Florida, the light is so darn bright, invariably, there are what I'm calling "hot spots" in the photo. For example, the walk, pictured on the right would be so bright as to take away from the photograph. Technical details that mostly I ignore, but even I know that much!

Moving on, very roughly in order, Sunday evening while in Soho with Bruce, I saw this funny sign in the restaurant:

It kept flashing off and on, amusing this blogger. After dinner, we roamed around a bit, taking in the sights. People, people, and more people! There was a big crowd around this:

Years and years ago, or more specifically, while I was pregnant with the twins, Bruce worked in an exhibit shop here in Orlando that made things such as this huge sparkling pump. Pump, now there's a funny word for you. This makes me wonder about the origin. Then again, where did the term stiletto come from? Curious.

Here in Orlando, this might cause quite an uproar, however, no one seemed fazed to see this on a busy street:

The say sex sells, so probably I should include this image in one of my collages...

This wasn't the only time we encountered SUPERBOY!

He seemed to be flying all over East London. (taken through bus window)

Near the entryway to the Museum of London, we came across this:

Play Me, I'm Yours. How cool is this? Decorated no less.

Later on, before our Tift Merritt concert, I wandered in a little shop that sold clothing and accessories--like dresses made out of comic fabric, to name one of the items. Who knew you could use old vinyl for flooring material?

Here's one way to look at what is happening on the street:

Even in the "World Heritage" city of Bath, I discovered graffiti:

I couldn't pass up this street sign:

Our niece Laura came to mind. Last I checked, she was using it for her Facebook profile picture. :-)

The garden behind the fun wine bar we went to had this bright little whirligig amongst their nasturtiums.

It's all about color coordination folks!

Before we left Bath I just had to take a picture of those pesky seagulls perching on all the rooftops. I never knew they could be so loud!

Please don't take offense at this silly graffiti we saw during our tour:

You have to admit it's pretty well done.

Ben Eine makes an appearance once again. This was taken from the vestibule of the restaurant, Cargo, where we took a short break in the action during our tour. Some years ago, Banksy did a show there. To prove it, there are two old Banksy pieces preserved under plexiglass. Shepard Fairey makes an appearance there as well.

The full piece says scary....gosh that red is good! I neglected to mention previously that for about half the tour there were these people from France filming the tour for a documentary. Gotta keep the cameraman dry!

Finally, the South Bank was full of goodies, such as this cool art piece documenting children's immigrant experiences in London on paper.

The fountain provided much amusement, watching the folks playing in the cooling waters:

It was mostly kids, however, I did see a few brave adults.

While Bruce was perusing the book stalls, Matt was enjoying watching the children play in the giant sand box set up for the summer, possibly remembering his childhood.

This is the kind of thing that suburban dwellers, like ourselves, take for granted. Our children just loved playing in both of the fancy sandboxes Bruce built for them. In the distance on the far right is the Charing Cross station in case you're wondering.

I roamed while they were doing their thing, coming across this:

I'm thinking this one was done with permission. I just now noticed that one of the eyes is a heart...

This seems like an appropriate place to end this photo excursion---- from my heart to yours. Thanks for joining me.