The Daisies of Cliveden

 

The lawns at Cliveden are famous for their profusion of daisies. Maybe.

Maybe not so much now

Bonus - I decided to quit my job, and travel the world until I run out of savings.

By my calculations, I should be back home around 6:30 tomorrow morning.

The Less Visited Sites of Idaho

 

Mention Idaho to most folk, and a majority will say "       What?", and some will thinks of a fairly dull state.

However, if you know where to look, you can find marvels such as this. It's "Burt Coleman's Retreat" built by Burt in the 1930's using the proceeds of his moonshining business.

You'll probably recognise the design as being a scale model of the Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna. Unfortunately, Burt chose to scale it by 93% meaning that it was actually more trouble that it was worth. So, despite using cheap labour from the post-Wall St Crash depression, Burt went bust just before completion.

Bonus - When UK citizens move, where do they move to? This shows data for 25 big cities. Beware - Big Image. ( Reddit )

The Formal Garden (with idiots)

Circumstantial evidence is that this might be Chatsworth House,, but I'm fairly certain that the people in the shot are common or garden, bridge-playing idiots.  Probably UKIP voting NIMBYs as well.

Bonus -

The Drum, Edinburgh

Architectural scholars (Hi Kathy) will recognise the classical lines of William Adam, and yes, this is The Drum, just south of Edinburgh.

Nice.

Bonus - An auto de-featherer for birds

Willow Tree Fountain

Once again, all it took was a quick glance at this slide, and I said "I know that ".

Today has been the hottest July day in Britain, since records began, with temperatures hitting 38.1ºC in Cambridge.

While I had the luxury of an air-conditioned office (Yay for me), it would have been most pleasant to sit under this Willow Tree Fountain in Chatsworth Park in Derbyshire.

Bonus -

Chatsworth Lawn

So, last night, I started scanning a fresh batch of slides (Yeah, crazy Saturday Night) and realised - "Hey, I've been there".

Yes, a quick glance made me realise it was Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire.  The rest of the slides were an odd mix of Venice, France, Switzerland and Italian Alps...but this was Derbyshire.    Someone's European tour, I suppose.

Bonus - Have Humans Reached Peak Intelligence?

Gaulden Manor

As a slide, not very interesting.

Looks like a very skew window in that wall, but checking the For Sale brochure suggest it's not that bad. (And is partially hidden be foliage now.)

Bonus - Karl-Gerät 600mm self propelled mortar firing

(More info)

Farkham Hall

I'm sure many of you will recognise this ancestral pile as being The Château, from the penultimate series of "Allo, Allo". The scene of the final confrontation between Madam Edith and Rene Artois, and they escaped in a homebuilt hot-air balloon.

Well, in real life it was played by Farkham Hall, located a few miles from Eastwood. Notts. It was knocked down to build the IKEA superstore. That's progress.

Bonus - Here's Your Zombie Apocalypse

Danish Chateau ?

OK, I admit it. I have no idea what the Danish Equivalent of "Chateau" is.

But this is what they look like.

The Swimming Pool Shot

Greetings slide fans. Today's shot actually works quite well as a PC Wallpaper.

As usual, I know nothing about the history of this shot. So you can guess the basics. Swimming pool. Money and Power. Visitors. There...nothing even remotely insightful.

What I like about this shot is that by luck or design, the photographer hasn't used flash. If he had, it would have illuminated a little more, exposing some details...and that would have spoiled it. Oh, and the mirror-smooth water surface is definitely a plus.