Tigger sent me some of the photos she took during her journey home from the City of London this evening.

I am posting them as they are and without captions. Some were taken from inside buses which explains the reflections.

In a recent post (see Coffee in the square), I said, half-jokingly, that we had seen a number of window boxes and that we should perhaps start collecting them. Being on my own today, as Tigger has gone to work, I thought about testing my idea: would there be enough examples to make a viable collection? I went out to take a look.

I soon discovered a problem with photographing window boxes. The name gives a clue to what it is: window boxes stand in front of windows and behind windows, there are people. Many are working from home and sitting with their laptop computers near the window. Now, obviously, if I can see them, they can see me. In such circumstances, it seems rather indiscreet to take a photo without so much as a by-your-leave and this inhibits me somewhat.

This circumstance explains why many of these photos are taken at an uncomfortable angle: I did this to avoid being seen by those within.

Cloudy but not cold

This photo of a familiar scene is to record the weather, cloudy and rather dull, though it was not cold: 11°C, though it felt warmer than that.

Still leaking

This is obviously not a window box but one of those leaks mentioned in the title. I’ve seen it, and photographed it, before but, call me obsessive, if you wish, it bothers me. All that good water going to waste, minute by minute, day by day, month after month.

Compact with small flower

How do you classify window boxes? Can they be classified? Probably not, because they are as varied as the imaginations of their creators. This one might belong to the group of compact window boxes whose plants stay tidily within their borders and do not trail over the edges as if they trying to escape.

Bushy with tiny, discreet flowers

This house has scaffolding over the whole frontage by this doesn’t seem to have upset the inhabitants of the window box. Neat as they are, some are spreading down the front of the box, not escaping, just showing off.

Fractured pipe?

This is today’s second water leak. Unlike the first one that seems to be coming from a faulty stopcock, this one is filtering through the road surface, presumably from a fractured mains pipe below. It’s not a fast flow but wasteful nonetheless.

Another small, well-behaved display

Perhaps it will perk up and become more spectacular in summer.

Paired window boxes

These window boxes are wider and better suited to the size of the windows. And there are two of them, window boxes in stereo.

Upstairs, Downstairs window boxes

Another matched pair of window boxes but at different levels, reminding me of the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs.

Compact but with a nice cascade effect

Never having tried to grow a window box, I have no idea what’s involved but I imagine it’s important to choose plants whose size is right for the box, an effect that had been achieved successfully here.

Dull greenery but bright flowers

In this one, the greenery is a bit dull but the flowers (are they jonquils? I never did achieve my plant recognition badge in the Boy Scouts) are bright and cheerful.

The cactus garden

Cacti seem to go in and out of favour and its unusual to see them in a window box.

Crowded box with jonquils

This box looks rather crowded but the jonquils provide a cheerful effect. (If they are jonquils…)

My last example is also slightly unusual because of the extra non-plant inclusions.

Flowers and sea shells

This box is quite small but I rather like it (not least because red is my favourite colour). I have nor seen any other boxes with shells as decorations but it works quite well, I think. I love the flowers too: are they miniature roses?

There, I’m sure that that’s more window boxes than you ever wanted to see. Never mind, now I’ve got that off my chest I will be more sparing with pictures of window boxes in future. Promise!

While I was writing these last paragraphs, Tigger texted me to say she is on the way home. I wonder what adventures she has had in town and at work. Well, I will soon find out!

Tigger left early this morning to go to the office. On the way, she spotted a local inhabitant, whom we have seen several times lately, and managed to video him.

Our local fox
Video by Tigger

This is “our” local fox and he is recognisable by the way he holds his tail out stiffly, which we think may be the result of an old injury.

Surviving in the city cannot be easy for a fox though perhaps, as more people are spending more time at home because of the pandemic, they are producing more rubbish, including food scraps.

People in cities seem generally well disposed towards foxes and I have heard of some who put out food for them.

I used to see foxes in town only after nightfall, but these days we see them much more frequently during daylight hours and even in crowded parts of the city, running among the passers-by. Perhaps living in the city calls for a different lifestyle from the traditional rural nocturnal way of life.

Too often, we see foxes dead beside the road, having been hit by motor vehicles. Perhaps a near miss with traffic is how our fox damaged his tail. Maybe he will have learnt caution on the roads from that and enjoy a long life, allowing us to see him from time to time. I certainly hope so!

Just to give some idea of Ari’s dimensions, here is a photo, taken by Tigger, showing Ari near a ruler.

Ari and a ruler
Photo by Tigger

At the time of the photo, Ari had descended somewhat from her usual level near the ceiling and to a position nearer the bedroom door. Is she planning to move somewhere else? Time will tell.

By late evening, Ari had disappeared again, destination unknown…

See also Ari, the spider.

After our long, if enjoyable, ramble yesterday, we felt like staying nearer home today. The weather was still warm (15°C) but the sun was hiding behind clouds.

A little light DIY on a warm afternoon

As yesterday, we decided to have our coffee in the open air and, having visited the deli to buy it, walked the few yards to Myddelton Square Gardens, next to the church and found a vacant bench.

Myddelton Square Gardens

This is a view of one end of the gardens from our bench.

Busy squirrel
Photo by Tigger

There were a few people in the park and some activity among the other inhabitants, including squirrels, pigeons and other birds.

Signs of spring

After our coffee break, we took a stroll round the garden where the new blossoms showed that spring is in the air.

We were mystified by this sign

This sign puzzled us somewhat. To the fourth and fifth floors of what building or buildings is it referring and why would this be in a park? My best guess is that it is a muster point but as this is a residential area I am far from satisfied by that guess.

Pigeons and friends

The garden’s pigeons were very active all the time we were there, suddenly taking off in a flock with a great rattle of wings when something scared them and then dropping back down again in twos and threes when the fright had passed. Someone was giving them food which was keeping them busy in the ground.

Myddelton Passage

We walked through Myddelton Passage which we had not visited for a while.

Gate chained up

This gate leads to a path from which there is a view of the gardens and old buildings on the New River Head site. We sometimes entered here to look at the view but the gate has been chained up for months now, whether because of Covid or some other reason, I do not know.

A quiet street

Myddelton Passage is a pleasantly quiet street because one end is closed to vehicles so there is no through traffic.

No sign of new life

Each time I pass this way, I look carefully at the vine along the top of the pub wall, hoping to see new signs of life. At the moment it still looks dead but Tigger is confident that it will produce new leaves soon. I hope she is right.

Flowering bush

This flowering bush in Arlington Way was a pretty sight with its little red flowers. I hope it acts as encouragement to the pub’s vine.

A small chapel in Arlington Way

Also in Arlington Way is this little chapel called Mount Zion, about which I know nothing. However, what amused me today was the notice affixed to the nameplate with clothes pegs.

Don’t ring – phone us!

This makes a pair with the notice on a door in yesterday’s blog except that this one warns callers that the doorbell doesn’t work and to phone instead – a modern solution that the chapel’s founders could never have imagined.

The clock is wrong but it is working

In my post To the pharmacy and back, I showed a photo of the undertaker’s clock and bemoaned the fact that it had stopped. It turns out that I was wrong about that. It is in fact working but showing the wrong time. I don’t know how it came to be 4h 29m slow (or 7h 31m fast – take your pick) I don’t know.

Window box

We saw quite a few window boxes during our walk. Now that spring is on the way, people are replanting them. This is a sample. We might have to start collecting them just as we collected Christmas wreaths!

The sun briefly appears

Just as we were nearing home, the sun put in a brief appearance between the clouds. Nice but too late. Even without the sun, though, we had had an interesting walk with coffee al fresco to encourage us.