Whoever set up this garden ornament display ......

.... clearly didn't understand the true relationship between chickens, lambs and foxes.

The Christmas Season has begun.

Just as hearing the first cuckoo signals the arrival of Spring,

so sighting the first skaters signals the start of the Christmas  Shopping Season.

Short cuts

Lanes and alleys in the old Barbican area.

The failing leaves drift by my window ....

...... the autumn leaves of infra red and gold.

High and Dry

"Little Charlie" is safely berthed well up the river Tamar at Cotehele Quay, as boat owners all along the south coast of Devon and Corrnwall brace themselves for the 80 mph winds that are forecast for tonight and into Monday.

Sketching at Cotehele

Sketching at Cotehele Quay on a fine autumn afternoon.

Winter Quarters

Built in 1899, in Plymouth, the SHAMROCK is a sailing ketch built for cargo work on the River Tamar and estuaries in the South West of England. 

From 1899 to 1962 she worked as a barge in Plymouth and several Cornish ports.

From 1962 till 1970 she was used as a diving support craft and salvage vessel after which she fell into disrepair.

The National Trust acquired her in 1974 and towed her up the River Tamar to Cotehele Quay for restoration.

When this major project was complete she became the centrepiece of the dsplay here at Cotehele Quay.

In summer she often sails on the river and is sometimes seen in Plymouth at rallies of traditional craft.

Click here to see her fully decked out at a rally in Plymouth

The city's latest student accommodation blocks

 .... opened just in time for the new academic year and their 500 students have settled in,

and appear to have survived Freshers' Week.

It turned out just like the architect's impression.

Keeping to the straight and narow

Late afternoon in Devonport Park

Learning to Make their mark ....

.... at the Plymouth College of Art

All that glisters is not gold.

"All that glisters is not gold."

                                                from The Merchant of Venice

                                                                                                              Act 2, Scene 7

                                                                                                by William Shakespeare

Merchandise in a Plymouth street market.

Some tools of the trade.

Lockyer Quay in Sutton Harbour

The Summer is definitely over.

Sunshine and heat are in short supply.

The holidays crowds that have thronged the quay sides in recent months have gone home.

The local people of Looe, in Cornwall, have their town to themselves.

Another watercolour from the waterfront

Shortly after dawn               

Yannick Tonnelier

The watchers on the shore.

No matter what day of the year, no matter what the weather, 

there are always people who love to watch the vessels, big and small,

 go about their business or pleasure in Plymouth Sound.

This marina may not float your boat.

There are many hundreds of marina berths in and around Plymouth Sound 

and the Rivers Tamar and Plym.

But I think THE DRYSTACK MARINA is the only one that doesn't need water.

It is situated up the River Plym, not too far far where it enters Plymouth Sound, near the road bridge 

which carries the main road out from Plymouth into the beautiful South Hams region of Devon.

Chim Chim-in-ey

Looking across the roofs of the Royal William Yard, in Stonehouse,

The mind is everything.

What we think we become.

                                                         Buddha

                                       

              Shopping on a rainy day at my local garden centre.

Artist and Model

His and Hers

Retro Chic Cycling

A Devonport Skyline.

Towers and spires

A stairway in Devon

This stairway provides direct entry from the 600+ mile, South West Coastal Path, over the high-walled perimeter, and right into the heart of the Royal William Yard, and its growing collection of restaurants, bars, boutiques and galleries.

A Bunch of roses.

On a wet and windy morning.

Catching up.

Over a cup of tea and a chat.

Taking it easy

                                                                 Take it easy, take it easy,

                                                                 Don't let the sound of your own wheels

                                                                 Drive you crazy.

                                                                 Lighten up while you still can.

                                                                 Don't even try to understand.

                                                                 Just find a place to make your stand

                                                                And take it easy.

From "Take it easy", 

Written by Jackson Browne and Glen Frey,

Recorded by The Eagles 1972

(Frey singing lead vocal)

Metamorphosis

The image above, began its life as a stain on the window of the cab of a dockside crane.

Hopes of an Indian Summer have faded.

The weather has been atrocious for the last week or so,

with torrential rain and unremitting gloom.

Very few brave customers chance a coffee outside on the pavement, between downpours.

The funny thing is that it's quite warm, despite the wind and rain.