Yesterday we went to Kew Gardens, taking advantage of lower entry price after November 2nd. It was cloudy skies all day, which did not appear to diminish the beauty of the place at all, and was also good for photography as it evened out the lighting.

We began walking around together, then Stephen went to see a gallery and I kept going. We basically did the same things, but I more slowly.

In the first greenhouse we found an exhibition of Australian plants. That section smelled particularly lovely – not sure why. Perhaps I needed to examine it more closely and read all of the labels.

We saw a beautiful old oak tree that was completely uprooted a few years ago in a freak storm. It was replanted and helping beams put in. Apparently it has had a new lease of life from having the soil disturbed, so they now do this with other old trees in the park. The beams grew into the tree, so cannot be removed.

The variety of plants and trees, and the intentional setting up of beautiful areas within the park make it a wonderful resource. If I lived nearby I would definitely become a ‘friend of Kew’ and come often throughout the year. How nice of Queen Victoria to donate it to the nation.

We caught a train to Kew Bridge, then Stephen wanted to try a different way home, via Earls Court to Wimbledon where we could catch a train. We had a cup of tea at a traditional cafe first, then went on our way. It was interesting, but very crowded in rush hour, so we did a lot of standing.

We had lunch at The Orangery – the large white building in the photos. We spent 17 pounds, very unusual for us, on basically vegetarian food. A good idea as most of our walking was after lunch and we had lots of energy.

I couldn’t resist – so after processing my favourites from the photos in Lightroom I made an Apple slideshow to show them off. Last time I did one I had much difficulty getting music from iTunes into the slideshow. But, having managed to do so, thought it would be easy this time. But it wasn’t, so have used one of slideshow pieces.