Church painting

Along the road from Mwanza, I noticed that 

the small Catholic churches were all 

getting a paint job.

Beautiful colors!

Mwanza 4

 These are Brachistegia trees, typical 

of these dry forests.  They are left 

because they are poor firewood.

 Charcoal, the main product

of Mwanza.

Crushed rocks in three colors, 

another major product of  Mwanza.

Mwanza 3

The landscape was desolate.

 Trees of any size had been 

burned into charcoal.

 Even here there was beauty.

Mwanza 2

The land that we were studying 

is rough and dry and rocky,

With occasional patches of 

soil in the valleys.

Taking samples in the rocky 

soil was difficult.

Mwanza 2012

We did a land degradation study in  

Mwanza a couple of months ago.

Mwanza and Neno are the two districts 

in Malawi where there is the 

most charcoal burning.

Mwanza is a border crossing, 

so it swarms with trucks.

Mota Engil is building a railroad through 

the southern part of the country, also 

through our study site.

Last of London Hampton Court Palace (2)

 

My camera battery went out, so I bought 

some post cards.

This was a residence of Henry the 8th.

 Here is Henry's Hall

 

The chapel is beautiful.

The grounds are extensive.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

The flower show was on the grounds 

of Hampton Court Palace.

 The displays were from associations 

and garden suppliers from all over England.

 The displays were beautiful

Kew Green

 

We stayed at the Coach and 

Horses Hotel in Kew

 

 

 One morning I got up early to take pictures 

of the shops around the town green.

 It seemed like an old and settled place.

This park bench was dedicated to a 

couple who lived in Kew for 80 years.

Jacarandas

 

The Jacarandas are blooming 

along my street.

 

They have beautiful purple blooms.

 

I think that they are originally 

from Brazil.

 

This one belongs to my neighbor.

 

 This part of the street goes down to 

the Natural Resources College.

Kew (2)

The rose bowers were beautiful.

 And we met an inquisitive duck.

It was a pity my battery went dead before I could 

get a photo of the famous glass house.

Kew Gardens (1)

Kew Gardens was beautiful, and 

had many huge old trees.

and beautiful water gardens,

and beautiful rose bowers.

Hever Castle (2)

Hever castle had a chapel.

 And a family of swans.

 And beautiful rose gardens.

Thames

 Ham House is very near the Thames 

river. The paddle-boat reminded 

me of the Mississippi.

The tide was coming in, and 

the current was very fast.

The bike and walking path was 

busy on a sunny day.

We had supper that night 

in a pub on the river.