One single plant has produced around £100 worth of redcurrants this year. I was somewhat amazed to find a few more the other day at the tail end of September. Tasted amazing. Thoroughly recommend a redcurrant plant for 2016.
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
This guy just flew in and smiled at my macro lens. I smiled back. Surely the guy is just posing? I mean the folded arms?
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Dragonfly
Copyright Chris Bushe 2015
Denbies is a wine estate or perhaps better termed, vineyard in Dorking, surrey established in 1986.The vineyards of Denbies Estate are situated on the North Downs with its famous chalky soil, in a protected valley of south facing slopes. In size it is the largest in the UK with 627 acres of land of which 265 acres have been planted representing more than 10 per cent of the plantings in the whole of the United Kingdom. This makes it three times the size of any other in the UK and the largest independent vineyard in Europe. Around 65% of the wine is sold at the visitor centre. From a good harvest around 400,000 bottles can be produced of different types from the 18 varieties of grape grown. The main grapes grown include : seyval blanc, reichensteiner, Muller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Ortega, Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Dornfelder.
Denbies run tours of the vineyards using a small “train” that takes around 50 people each trip for 50 minutes. Trips cost £6 for adults and £4 for children and there is also the option to have a glass of the sparkling wine for an extra £4.50.
There used to be a house on the property that was requestioned by the Canadian military in world war 2. When they left they took their tanks with them except three were non-functioning and were pushed down a hill and buried. To date only one has been excavated and the other two remain buried in the fields and are marked there by two tall trees. There is a possibility that further excavations of at least one tank may be considered in the next year or two.In September 1940 the Canadian West Nova Scotia Regiment was camped at Upper Common, Netley Heath, West Horsley, on the North Downs
where a Bf110 crashed after bing shot down (4th Sept.).
The Greenfields sparkling wine is bottled for Sainsbury’s under their label. This is a mixture of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The 2014 crop was bottled in May 2015 and will get laid down for 2-4 years aging.
In 2013 there were 470 vineyards in UK and the commonest types of grape grown were
Denbies wine Estate
Copyright Chris Bushe
Denbies wine Estate
Copyright Chris Bushe
Denbies wine Estate
Copyright Chris Bushe
Denbies wine Estate
Copyright Chris Bushe
Flint Valley English WineDenbies wine Estate
Copyright Chris Bushe
Greenfields Sparkling Wine. Denbies wine Estate Copyright Chris Bushe
Just a various eclectic mix of food photos taken in various locations. Nothing special. Just enjoy and be hungry.
Coconut Tart
Sliders and Beef Wellingtons
A new painting entitled Poverty.
Please do spread the word on this new and exciting young artist. He comes from a hairdressing background, where hairdressing and not painting exist.
Vincent Van B
Vincent Van B
Radioactive New Malden
Copyright Chris Bushe
For anyone who does not know, LCY is an airport easily accesible from the centre of London and is used by many city types and those that inhabit Canary Wharf. Mere mortals like myself may use the airport when it is easier than travelling out to Heathrow. Tonight I was shocked beyond belief at the cost of meals on offer in essentially a bar area.
The layout of LCY is essentially open plan with a few barriers separating out a few areas. There is only one bar and that is in the main section of the deparature lounge and in fact one has to walk through the lounge with tables on either side to get to the departure gates 21-24. So there is a constant stream of people rushing past these tables to head off to the airport.
The cost of meals in this area is astonishing, ranging 20£ up to 35£ for a single main course. So for a couple with a bottle of wine eating a quick meal before flying off they will leave with their wallet emptied by potentially over 100£.
Prices of Food at London City airport
The 12- year old went to Marwell zoo on an educational school trip recently and having been allowed to take their cameras they can enter into a form competition only one photo each. But which one? We have narrowed them down to this selection and would be interested to know which one you think she should enter. The entrants are
A few days before xmas we were shopping in Wimbledon and looking around an impressive WH Smith shop that maybe focuses on books. To be fair there were many true bargains there. But what caught my eye was a shelf that had many ” £20 for 2 books” offers on there, some of them again real bargains, like Guiness Book of Records, £19.99 each or 2 for £20. But I digress. There was also a huge selection of books far less than £10 included in the 2 for £20 offer and stickered. I did an A level in Maths ( or as the Americans like to say, Math)so was not too numerically challenged by this. But there are folks who struggle with numbers and these are the folks who maybe may have been taken in by this. For one book, one might say a simple error, but at least 5 books, suggests perhaps not. This suggests a cynical ploy that does not endear me to WH Smiths, and one that maybe they might like to explain.
So as a few examples here are some I Phone photos, less than perfect but nonetheless clearly visible what the stickers are offering. The worst culprit was a £2.49 book, that had never even been £10 at full price, so could never in any system generated by a computer be suggested as stock that should be sold in this great alleged bargain.
Ann Wildgust has her latest exhibition at Holt, a small Norfolk town in UK. A truly superb series of paintings all around a theme. European links with early US settlers, hence some are painted in UK and others in Holland, Leiden. Well worth a visit. What is equally amazing is that Ann has only been painting now for a few years but is starting to attract attention as she is working in different styles and themes. We are fortunate enough to have one of her paintings and another print of one in our house. 
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 