My cousin's house near Goring on Thames, Berkshire


A few at Grandma's house in Dalwood, Devon
June 20th


June 22nd






Pebble balance in the Hill Garden on Hampstead Heath (North London)
June 23rd


Cassiobury park in Watford North London
June 24th

Day in North London with Dad, step-mom, bro and sis.

Rupert's new guitar! Taken in the Hill Garden on Hampstead Heath.


Cassiobury Park near Watford.
Nadia and Ruperty on children's toys!


A lovely view of a weeping willow.


A barge on the canal. We had to help them open the lock as it was slightly broken.


And then I left!!!!

Another day on the train. Grandma and Grandpa dropped us off at Axminster station and we had to make it all the way back into north London where my dad lives.

Me uploading pictures on the train.


Paddington tube station! Mind the Gap Yo


That night we went into London to see a comedic version of The 39 Steps, at the Criterion theatre in Piccadilly Circus.
View of the electric signs and the fountain.


Sis, bro, Dad and step-mom.


British Bobbies near Soho because of all the pickpockets.


Funilly enough there were no police men next to my Dad's car after it broken into!!!!

Grandpa drove Grandma, sis and me into Lyme Regis for a walk around today. He had to go back home for a nap so we were going to take the bus home.

An old cannon and view of the sea. The weather was rubbishy, but it didn't rain while we were out.


It did start raining later so I couldn't take any more pictures till we got home. Here are some parts of Grandma and Grandpa's house I don't want to forget.

Grandma's Aga-an oil heated stove that stays on year round and Pippin the dog (all Grandma's dogs are named after apple varieties, where the heck is Bramley?)


Grandma's doll's house


A view into the doll's living room. It looks so real from this angle!

Me and sis had to get up early to catch the train down to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Devon. We caught the train in Reading and had to change at Basingstoke. From there it was about an hour to Axminster, the closest station to my Grandma's village of Dalwood.

View of a lovely castle from the train. Again the livestock is totally unappreciative of the beautiful scenery.


After lunch Grandma and Grandpa had to take a nap so I took pictures of the garden.

Grandpa's vegetable patch!


Some rockbalancing.


Balance on one of Grandma's statues!


After their nap Grandma took the dogs for a walk. We went down into the village and I had to take a picture of my favorite pub ever. The Tucker's Arms was built 800 years ago and it has a lovely thatch roof!


Sis and Grandma resting on the bench by the stream that runs through the village.

This was my last day at my cousin's house. We decided to go and visit Avebury stone circle and henge. Just in case you don't know a henge is a roughly circular area enclosed by an earthen boundary, usually a ditch and the resulting pile of earth formed into a bank.

S looking very happy!


Avebury is larger (there is one very large stone circle enclosing two smaller stone circles) and older than Stonehenge (the megalithic stage anyway). It dates back 5000 years and today it encompasses the village of Avebury that grew in its midst. Apparently the settlement began as a defensive encampment for a Saxon army


My sis and goddaughter in front of one of the stones in the Cove which is in the northern inner circle. The two stones in the Cove represent male and female. This diamond shaped rock represents the female.


Sheep enjoy the shade of this stone which is part of the large outer circle.


After visiting Avebury we headed over to Silbury Hill, the largest man-made mound in pre-industrial Europe. It is about 4,500 years old and 130ft high. We couldn't walk up to the top as it was closed for restoration work.


Luckily West Kennet Long Barrow was not closed. This huge burial chamber was constructed around 3700BC, and is just over the horizon line to the South of Silbury Hill.


The view looking into the chambered area.


The view looking out from the final chamber.


A flint rockbalance inside the barrow!

The day after the party. Time to relax and enjoy the English countryside!

We went into Goring on Thames and walked along the river with my cousin and goddaughter. This is the path down to the lock.


A barge on the river.


Later that afternoon we went to see the Uffington white horse and Wayland's Smithy, a neolithic site near by.
Here is a European black slug we found (Arion ater). It was huge!!


Wayland's Smithy a burial chamber dating back 5500 years! Legend has it that if you leave your horse and a silver coin Wayland, the Saxon god of metal working, will shoe your horse!


Mummy, sis and me by the tomb entrance


After we left Wayland's Smithy we hiked up to the Uffington white horse which dates back to 1000 BC! Some people think it is more of a dragon than a horse and that the valley below is the site where Saint George slew the dragon.


Check out this link for a view of the horse from the sky!
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/img_400/se_uffington_horse_01.jpg

Sunset over the fields!

Sunday, the day of the big party! I had to get up early so I could make tea-time style sandwhiches for 70! Ater all the food was ready the party started at 3 o'clock sharp.

Everyone enjoying the beautiful British summer. Yay for no rain!


My Goddaughter enjoying the party


Nanny cutting her cake, right before the champagne toast (yum)!


Someone enjoying the champagne.


...and someone else too!


My little bro:)


A Mayfly on car bonnet

Day two of our trip was a Saturday and Nanny's actual birthday. We all went out to one of our favourite local pubs, the Catherine Wheel, for lunch.

The front door of the pub!


About to make a toast to Nanny


Leaving the pub we found rain imminent:(


After lunch at the pub, why it was time for some rock balancing!


Then it was time for some can balancing!


Because it looked like rain my Mum, step-dad, aunt and her friend decided to go for a walk to the village of South Stoke. Of course we had to go by the field full of white opium poppies first.


A cinnabar moth we found!


The village's only pub, the Perch and Pike


After we had our fill of alcoholic beverages (and the rain had stopped) we made our way over to my uncle's house. Of course we had to stop by the Manor Farm where my grandparent's used to live.

The Manor's back garden with the second largest pigeon cote in the whole of Europe (seen over the churchyard wall)!


Gravestone in the churchyard!


A grain storage shed on balanced stones! These balanced stones are so rats cannot get into the building (the steps wouldn't have been there).


Of course at the point most far from any shelter the rain buckets it down!


Finally soaking wet we get to my uncle's house!

I went to England for my Nan's (mum's side) 80th birthday party in the middle of June. Here are some pictures from my trip.
This was our first day in England. Since jet lag was making us want to go to sleep at 4 o'clock in the afternoon we went for a walk. Of course I took some pictures while we walked.

Wow it is not raining!


The pigs didn't appreciate this beautiful view from their stys.


A picture of my cousin's house. It is literally 200 meters from Nanny's!


We went to the chip shop to get good old English chips, mushy peas, pineapple fritters and curry sauce on the first night. On the way back home we followed this three wheeled car, also known as a Robin Reliant!


My aunts came over after dinner so we could all hang out. Yay still no rain!!

Here are my latest images from work and play!

Rockbalance sentinels at Rockport Massachusetts. May 29th


Rockbalance at Mount Misery in Lincoln Massachusetts. May 30th. I love the reflections in this one.


Whale watching at work. May 24th. We saw so many hump backed whales, it was crazy!


A Racket-tailed Emerald Dorocordulia libera in Petersham. May 31st.

My latest balances at Mount Misery in Lincoln. I love this place!!!!





And the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton.

I left work early today, at 2pm! I went home and realized Justin was working, so I decided to go rockbalancing. I was debating either going to a beach in North Quincy or to the Blue Hills Reservation. I flipped a coin and it said I should go to the beach. So I went to the Blue Hills:) I went to Houghton's pond as I am really enjoying pond balances. Here are some pictures.
p.s. The water was really quite cold!!

First balance of the day! There weren't many big rocks.


Second balance of the day.


View number two of balance two.


Balance three. My favorite picture of the day (I think).


Balance four. I can't leave a balance with only two rocks alone. It has got to be at least three!

I have been having a hankering for stream balancing lately. It is easy to fullfill this need, if only one can find a stream with ample rocks. After I went for a walk at the Stony Brook Reservation this morning I realized there are plenty of rocks by the stream (or rather the brook) at the entrance! I got to Stony Brook around 3:30ish and didn't leave until 5! Time flies when I am balancing!

By the way, I always try to put the balances in oder of creation.










View number two of the previous balance.

Here are my latest pictures from being out and about over the last week or so!

Saturday April 28
A jelly fungus, witch's butter in Lincoln.


Cedar Apple Rust, also in Lincoln.


Sunday April 29
Inky cap mushrooms by Leverett Pond in Brookline.


Dead painted turtle in Ward's Pond, Brookline (or is it Boston?).


Monday April 30
A deer's leg found in Stony Brook Reservation, Roslindale. There was no sign of the rest of the deer.


A pygmy mole cricket also in Stony Brook. I found it while I was stroking the moss!


Spring azure butterfly in Stony Brook. This was a male as there were no black borders on the upper side of the wing. Very difficult to get a picture of the lovely blue wings though.

I went for a walk with urbpan, cottonmanifesto and another friend on Sunday. We saw this rock wall while were we were walking at Noon Hill reservation in Medfield.


It was quite hot so at the end of the walk we let the dogs go swimming in this pond while myself and urbpan did some rockbalancing. Here is my balance.


I went out rockbalancing on Monday too. I was checking out the lay of the land for rockbalancing at Castle Island in South Boston. Way too windy on this day (>20mph)!


Deer Island and the digesters in the background!


Urban and I had loads of fun watching them all fall down as the tide came in. I didn't get any pictures of that though.

Instead of my regular lunch time walk, I decided to balance rocks. Myself and urbpan went out to the rock island in the fields and balanced rocks. Here are some of the pictures.

A terrible picture, but it really gives one a sense of the size of the rock pile!


Urbpan balancing-his balance theme is animals, I think this one is a stegosaurus?


Another counter balance. It was fairly windy so it didn't stay up for long.


Long enough for the farmer to go by and wonder what the heck we were doing:)

I was sick and tired of the rain last Monday so I decided to balance indoors. I took it one step further and did it in Justin's installation. Here are the pictures

Balance numero uno


You can really see the installation in this one. The balance isn't very good but I like the picture just the same.


A first attempt at a counter balance


The second attempt at a counter balance. I like this one the best and it was ultra sturdy too. I came back 45 minutes later and it was still up.

This past Saturday (April 14th) I led a rockbalancing activity for Drumlin Farm visitors (Lincoln, Massachusetts). The kids absolutely loved it and so did some of the adults. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

A nice array of balances


A family learning to balancing together


Most little children are more into the destruction of rockbalances than the construction, but not this one!


This boy had never stacked rocks before and he did this stack (which grew to be 13 tall) on his first try!!

Oh Monday was awesome. I finally got to go out and balance on my Monday off! The sun was out, and it was warm enough to only wear a light jacket! Unfortunately it was a bit windy so I had to find sheltered spots to mess about. Here are some pix!

First balance of the day-This was taken at Standish shore where Captain Myles Standish, the military leader of the colony, lived in “the Nook.” There was only 30 minute parking so the pressure was on!


After driving around and not finding a suitable place to park (without getting a ticket and close to a beach). I finally stumbled upon a parking lot overlooking a beach on the west side of Powder Point Bridge (look up Duxbury on mapquest to find it). The beach was deserted (barring the gulls) and there were plenty of rocks.


One of the day's favorites. I like the orange colored tree in the background.


View number two of the previous balance.


View number three. Out of balance!


After spending about an hour at the previous beach, I ventured over Powder Puff Bridge. It was an old looking wooden bridge which sounded pretty rickety and you could only travel at 10 mph. However, the spit of land on the other side (Duxbury Beach proper) was impresive and there were more rocks there! Much windier on this side though and therefore much harder to get a balance to stay up long enough for a photo.
I liked this balance with the truck in the background. I hope they are not taking rubbish to the beach, let us think instead it is sand to supplement a beach goers paradise.


This balance had to be rebuilt at least three times before I could take the picture! The wind was getting fiercer and I was getting frustrated. Not very zen I know!


The last balance of the day and what a lovely note to end on!