Wonderful Wetlands (and William Morris too)

What a beautifully sunny day! A missed opportunity to try out my new sunglasses...

Anyway, today after yoga I set off on the (thankfully un-busy) tube to Tottenham Hale (a rather snazzy-looking neighbourhood with very tall buildings, and a canal of all things. Feeling the sun on my face and resting my eyes on the locks, the water, the barges, the geese... it was the first time in a while my face just properly beamed.

I then walked to my first stop of the day, Walthamstow Wetlands. 

Words can't really describe how I felt walking around this place. It's the first place where I really felt for some moments that I had escaped London. I just loved looking out on those open expanses of water...

There were many young families, as well as couples and groups of friends, and quite a few solo walkers too, which was lovely to see. And many anglers, of course. But despite this clearly being a popular place to visit, there were a couple of moments where I even found myself completely by myself (which was wonderful). Certainly the most peaceful place I've visited so far.

Seeing all these perching gulls made me chuckle

The only sad thing about this place was that the viewing room/platform at the Engine House wasn't open (due to social distancing) and a number of 'seasonal' paths were closed off to public access - I will definitely have to return in the summer. (Though I'll probably be back a number of times before then!)

Couldn't resist a little shadow snap

The Engine House

Saw a swan going for a run

After exploring the main wetlands on the south side of the road, I then crossed over to walk up through the reservoirs on the north side. At first I wasn't half as impressed by the sites of these reservoirs, that was until the sun came out...

I also saw some interesting bird activity, including:

... two geese a-strutting

... and a-swimming

... multiple ducks flying 

... one swan looking cool

... and doing some rather impressive neck yoga

When the sun came out it was just... mwah! Visiting these wetlands was like a huge breath of fresh air... (and not just in the literal sense).

So then I left the wetlands behind to have a spot of lunch on a bench in Tottenham Marshes...

Look at this thing!

Clouds!

... before walking for half an hour in the sunshine through some (rather nice) streets towards my second and final stop of the day - the William Morris Gallery.

I must admit I hadn't realised he was so much more than a wallpaper and furniture designer! He was a socialist, a lover of books who formed his own printing company, impassioned by art... His life and work wasn't just a hobby or pleasurable pastime, but him chasing his vision of wanting art (and freedom) to be for all.

William Morris himself

Look at the detail on these pages!

Anyway, so I very much enjoyed looking at his sketches, his paintings, his stained glass windows, his furniture, his wallpaper, his printed books and his own written works (poetry and novels!).

To end the day before heading home, I spent a while enjoying the sunshine in the back garden.

Regents, Roses and Reading

Another weekend in London!

Today I set off early. The weather forecast predicted rain for the afternoon so I figured I'd want to do all my outdoorsy stuff in the morning.

So I hopped on a bus to Regent's Park (which I somewhat surprisingly have never been to before).

They have a Frieze Sculpture exhibition on at the moment, which is the main reason I went this particular weekend. Here are some photos of some of the works that caught my eye...

'L'Age d'Or (Green and Red)' by Gavin Turk

This was a beautiful first sculpture to come across. It was just so mystical and fantastical. Very 'Alice in Wonderland'-y. And such a beautiful setting with the backdrop of trees. I expected to walk through the door and come out in another land/ world/ universe/ reality...

'Torso' by Eric Fischl

'Lupine Tower' by Arne Quinze

'Torre di Saba' by Gianpietro Carlesso

'The Plait' by Kalliopi Lemos

I quite like the way the light illuminates the outer edges of the plait as it hits the sculpture from behind... And I also quite like how the giant plait could almost semi-disguise itself as a dark tree trunk.

'Five Conversations' by Lubaina Himid

'Untitled 1 (Bronze Bodybuilders)' by David Altmejd

Apart from the mystical door at the beginning, this sculpture was my favourite.

Brings a whole new meaning to 'bodybuilders' - a man seemingly forming and constructing his own body, multiple hands scraping and shaping the bright white.

'Humans-Animals-Monsters' by Patrick Goddard

So after browsing the sculptures I decided to spend some time slowly admiring the park itself.

I didn't actually go too far around the park, spending most of the time in the rose garden of Queen Mary's Gardens, where I took the time to stop and smell almost every type of rose.

'Rock & Roll'

'Nostalgia'

One type of rose was called 'Rachel'!

But my favourite by far was this beautifully bright yellow rose which somehow magically smelt of lemons (and reminded me of my yellow umbrella), suitably called 'Keep Smiling'.

After pulling myself away from the roses I found myself in a water area (I'm not even sure if it has a name) which was beautiful too!

View from the top of the waterfall

Looking up the waterfall

They're so easy to photograph.

And so after photographing the little tracks and gardens and trees and wildlife, I stopped off for lunch on a bench in the rose garden (where a number of magpies and pigeons joined me, waiting eagerly for some morsel to be dropped) before walking half an hour eastwards...

This morning, when I was finalising what I might like to do today, and browsing what places of interest were nearby Regent's Park, I found that the Wellcome Collection's Reading Room was surprisingly open to the public, and there was only one space left available to book (entry time 12pm - another reason why I set off early this morning).

Having been here once before I knew I'd want to return again, and now, due to limited entry to help social distancing, is the perfect time to visit, since it is so empty. At times there was only me and one other person in the room. It was lovely to have some peace and quiet.

In one section of the Reading Room is a desk set up with a mirror (like on a vanity desk) and a sign encouraging people to draw self-portraits. And so I sat down to draw.

I then also did a little sketch of the room from a position halfway up the grand red-carpeted stairway.

And then after my sketching I settled down into one of the cushioned chairs by a window, opened up my own book ('Hopscotch' by Julio Cortazar - I have a lot to read before it's due back in the library next weekend!) and just let myself read for a while.